>> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> i appreciate you very much. thank you. that was a lot of fun for me. >> oh, well, thank you. of course, george's show "lopez tonight" weeknights at midnight eastern on our sister network tbs. that's all for us tonight. good sunday morning. we're a day closer to default and still no deal on the debt ceiling. and the tone yesterday took a bit of a nasty tone during the day. but the tone seems to have changed overnight with more talk of compromise. also this morning, we are standing by for news about two american hikers held in iran for the past two years. this morning, they may be closer to freedom.

also, you may not know the story of the monford point marines. the men who integrated mat reenz yooms. welcome to the men and women serving us in uniform and thank you for being here and what you do. let's talk about three important deadlines that we are keeping an eye on today in this whole debt ceiling debate. a vote is scheduled this afternoon in the senate on majority leader harry reid's plan. that's the vote that was supposed to take place overnight but it was delayed in the evening. the second deadline is at 8:00 eastern time today. why that is important? because that is when the asian markets open. the u.s. stock market as you may know had its worst week last

week in over a year. what happens today in asia could set the tone for what could be another rough week on wall street. also, the last deadline is tuesday, maybe the most important one. that is when the federal government says it does not have enough money to pay all of its country's bills and the country could start for the first time defaulting if no deal is reached. again, we are just a day and a number of hours away from that important deadline. so where do we stand on a deal? it seems like we're in a better spot than we were at this time yesterday. senate leaders on both sides spoke with the president and vice president throughout the day yesterday. the white house has been involved. and that involvement was key for the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell. >> we are now fully engaged, the speaker and i, with the one person in americaof 307 million people who can sign a bill into law, i'm confident and

optimist thak we'll get an agreement in the very near future and resolve this crisis in the best interest of the american people. our country is not going to default for the first time in history. that is not going to happen. we now have, i think, a level of seriousness with the right people at the table that we needed and thought we had as the speaker indicated last weekend. we're going to get a result. >> all right. both sides are negotiating elements of the deal, but not the whole package just yet. take a listen to the marge or the leader, harry reid. >> glad to see this move toward cooperation and compromise. i hope it bears true. i'm confident a final agreement will be a long-term approach rather than the short band-aid proposed by the house of representatives will move forward. >> let's turn to athena jones at the white house and joe johns is keeping an eye on things for us this morning on capitol hill. let me start with you. the vote was delayed yesterday by harry reid. should we read into that?

is there significance to that that he wanted to hold off until he got a deal that he thought could pass. >> that's absolutely right. the bottom line here, when you have two sides trying to negotiate, there's things going on on the floor of the house and senate, particularly in the senate if offline negotiations are going well and it looks like you're moving towards something that could be construed as a deal, then you can loosen things up on the floor as it were. so that's what he's doing. he's basically saying, all right, i'm not going to keep moving forward on this bill that doesn't make any sense, because something else is being negotiated and it's a hopeful sign. it's certainly a hopeful sign, t.j. >> to athena at the white house. athena, the senate minority leader, we're seeing right there, mitch mcconnell was insistent that the president be involved in these talks, be back at the table. was the white house happy to

oblige? >> certainly. the white house said all along the president is prepared to play any role necessary to reach a deal. even though yesterday there weren't meetings on the schedule, meetings took place. we know senator mcconnell spoke with president obama yesterday, he spoke with vice president biden several times over the course of the day. we also know that democrats came up to the hill, harry reid and nancy pelosi came up with and met with president obama. there was a lot the movement. we saw mitch mcconnell looking optimistic. senator reid didn't seem as optimistic at one point. it's looking like right now, things are moving forward. we'll have to see what happens today, t.j. >> joe, let me bring you back in on these deadlines. we've been keeping an eye on august 2nd, of course. the markets opening on monday here. the asian markets opening in just a matter of hours, if you will, later in the day today, do

lawmakers think that deadline is important as well to make sure they announce something before the asian markets open here later today? >> well, sure, this is a guessing game, totally. what the markets will do. but there is a lot of thought out there that if you have the outlines of a deal, if you have something happening and it's looking good, then that will keep the markets from going crazy. you know what i mean? this deal, borrowing authority extended into 2013, not revisiting this issue in the middle of the campaign which was important to the president, and a trillion dollar debt limit increase plus about a trillion dollar in cuts to government agencies, these are the outlines and if this thing, you know, moves forward, then maybe they'll have a deal, maybe it won't be on august 2nd because there's a lot they have to still go through but if they have the outlines of a deal, that probably helps a lot. but it's hard to guess what the

markets are going to do, t.j. >> last thing to you, athena, the president seems to, at least in what we're hearing, the president will get, it sounds like, if you believe what we're hearing, what he wants in that we don't have to have this debate again until after the 2012 election. >> well, certainly sources close to the negotiations have begun to lay out some of the aspects of this possible deal. of course it's important to say it's possible deal right now we heard vice president biden say repeatedly in the going back several weeks, several months when these talks began that nothing is agreed upon until everything is agreed upon. one thing we've heard is that the vote will come in two steps, the debt increase will happen in two steps but the second step, something the democrats wanted to avoid in order to avoid the showdown in the future, that the second increase will be automatic. we're listening, trying to find out more details of what this

will turn out to be. if that's the case, that's something the white house looks like it could live with. >> joe johns and athena jones, appreciate you being with us here early once again. i know you'll be hear throughout the morning and throughout the day, likely a lot more developments. thanks, guys. you can hear much more from mitch mcconnell. he's the guest on cnn's state of the union with gloria borger. also tonight, a cnn special report about finding a solution to this debt crisis. wolf blitzer and don lemon breaking down the obstacles and options. that's countdown to debt crisis, tonight at 9:00 on cnn. turn to iran now where a last-minute pardon spares one man, the retaliatory eye for an eye sentence. literally. it was the change of heart behind this decision.

you saw her picture just there. she was blinded when a man threw acid in her face. after he was convicted her attacker was sentenced to suffer the same fate in accordance with islamic law. but today, minutes before he was to have acid put in his eyes, blinding him, bahrami asked for the punishment to be stopped. the case got a lot of attention around the world that may have played a part in her decision. also in iran this morning, two american hikers held in tehran for the past two years are back in court today. this is the second hearing for josh fattal and shane bauer. the two men along with sarah shourd were hiking along the border of iran when they were arrested. this was two years ago. iranian police say the three illegally crossed into iran. they were charged with spying.

shourd was released last september for medical reasons. no decisions have come out of this. we're keeping an eye on this. the attorney for these two men believes possibly they could be released with essentially time served. they have been held for the past two years. we are standing by, word for that could come to us at any moment. let's turn to syria where a human rights group says more clashes today between government forces and protesters have left at least 61 people dead and 100 more wounded. many of those casualties have been reported where residents say gunfire and explosions were heard for hours. this video is from youtube that you're seeing here. we have not been able to independently verify what you're seeing here. the group human rights watch says hamah is being targeted by al assad. caught on tape for a second

time, i want you to look at your screen and listen closely. this is an ohio police officer threatening a motorist with extreme violence. look at this. >> two steps back, pull my glock 0 and put ten bullets in your [ bleep ] and let you drop. >> we will show you more of this, let you hear more of this video that has gone viral. also, coming up next, indianapolis colts said they wanted to make peyton manning the highest paid player in the nfl and you know what he said? no thank you. the details of that, coming up next. if cnn offers to make reynolds wolf the highest paid meteorologist in the country, your answer would be? >> show me where to sign. anytime, any place, anywhere. absolutely. >> good morning, sir. >> good morning. we have an interesting morning in terms of the tropics. we have a system that has 100%

chance of becoming something bigger, possibly emily, that's later today. your forecast in just a few moments. you're watching cnn sunday morning. naturals from purina cat chow. delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um...

try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. 12 minutes past the hour on this cnn sunday morning. good morning, reynolds wolf. >> everything is focused on the atlantic. we normally shift our focus into the middle of the atlantic this time of year. water temperatures are very warm, that's where we see the storms beginning as small cla clusters off the tip of africa. the next one could be emily t. sounds so sweet and innocent. >> it does. it could be wind after the desert in africa and turns into something monstrous. we don't know really how big this might become. we know there's a fairly good chance this cluster of storms you have on the map might become a named storm.

emily would be the next one. don was a bit of a dud. maybe emily will but you never know, this might be something it could be, maybe the best next to katrina. you never know. these storms form and veer off to the north and usually avoid much of the islands in some of the east coast. there's always the scenario we could see this take a trajectory, make affect the leeward or windward islands. there's also the chance it could thread the needle, go into the gulf of mexico. everything bears watching and that's what we're going to do with this particular system, again, as we speak, it is about 100% chance, the national hurricane center believes, 100% chance this will become a named storm. meanwhile in terms of storms, we might see plenty of them in parts of the northern plains today. all the components are there, the high humidity, with that we also have a lot of heat. that could help spark storms

into the afternoon. also showers possible through parts of the southeast. one of the reasons it will possibly drive up due to the heat, very quickly, to wrap things up, 85 in atlanta, 95 in new york. 88 in salt lake city, 69 in san francisco and 72 in los angeles. that's a quick snapshot on the forecast. now it's time to pass it over to you peyton manning style. t.j.? >> everybody loves peyton manning. does he the right thing, does he it on the field. he's funny in the commercials. >> he seems like a real guy, a likable dude. >> another reason for you to like peyton manning. the colts had been offering to make him -- they said clearly we are going to make him the highest paid player in the nfl. you know what he said, reynolds? he said, no, that's okay. they were offering him $23 million a year. what he's going to get now is $18 million a year. he got a five-year contract extension. so what this does is ties him with tom brady for the highest sal ray in the league, but he could have been the highest but

what he said was you all save that money and use it somewhere else to keep other players on the team, joseph addai is one of them. use it on other players to keep them here to make us a better team. >> i'm thinking there are some people that say once you reach a certain point in money it doesn't matter. this will have a huge affect on his teammates. this is a guy who's for him. think of the offensive line. defense will step it up a little more. it's a big motivating factor. >> it makes all the difference. i did something similar with cnn. that's why you're still here. >> that's why i'm part of the offensive line. that's right. >> all right, reynolds. the new york yankees, a storied franchise, as you know. it's hard to believe they're still setting records but they set a new club record last night. they scored 12 runs in one inning against baltimore.

a new club record. the yankees win, 17-3. it's amazing that every record of theirs -- any record could still be broken. yes, they broke another record. >> we're talking about a team that had dimaggio, ruth, gehrig. >> at this same game win believe, a yankees fan, i need you to look closely at the screen for this next one. people go after the foul balls all the time. look closely at this one. you hear the commentator? it gives you an idea of what happened. yes, he got clocked. >> unbelievable. >> he did not bring his big boy glove to the park on this day. >> oh, my goodness. >> it gets him right in the face. you can see him banged up pretty good there. >> wow. >> apparently he was all right later. but -- sometimes you get hit. you're not paying attention, sometimes people not watching

the game. >> very true. >> he was looking at it. >> never try to catch a ball with your face. don't you think if anyone in the field does that, if you make a catch, it's one out. you have to have three outs to retire the side. what do you think, your team's at-bat and the first baseman tries to catch one with his face, wouldn't you say we're done for this inning. that counts as three. effort is everything. it's your turn. >> we don't recommend that, though, the guy's apparently okay. i think he stayed throughout the game. have you seen this video as well? watch closely and listen closely to this. >> put ten bullets in your [ bleep ] and watch you drop. >> it's always scary when you get pulled over by a police officer. would you believe this officer in question, now that the video has gone viral, it's not the

first incident of his caught on camera. that story coming up. . also, a little later, a first on the front lines. the montford point marines hold a special place in american history. you'll meet one of these originals, one of these historymakers this morning. 18 past the hour on this cnn sunday morning. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve.

i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas. 20 minutes past the hour on this cnn sunday morning.

let's turn to canton, ohio where some people are demanding a suspended police officer be fired. dash cam video that you are about to see appears to show that the officer has been threatening to shoot people during traffic stops. here is eric mansfield of affiliate wkyc. >> two steps back, pulled my glock 40 and just put ten bullets in your [ bleep ] to let you drop. >> reporter: it was posted one week ago. already it's an online must-see. canton police officer daniel harless berating a driver who appears to be showing harless his concealed weapon license so he would know he's armed. now comes a second video. >> i'll kill every one of you mother [ bleep ]. >> reporter: this one from a year ago. >> i'll shoot you in the face and go to sleep tonight. >> reporter: as his temper again flares while instructing who

people in the back of a car. >> we're seeing repeat behavior. >> it's a disturbing pattern. >> in both cases, this officers' behavior is entirely egregious. he needs to be removed at once. >> reporter: in both cases, officer harless is encountering a gun during a traffic stop, always a perceived threat for police. now it's up to police brass to determine what's acceptable. >> you [ bleep ]. get the [ bleep ] out before i shoot you. >> a little early on a sunday morning for that. that was wkyc's eric mansfield reporting for us there. the canton police department released a statement. in part, the officer was relieved of duty and has not worked since the incident. it is being fully investigated. 22 minutes past the hour now. from oscar winner natalie

portman to ben stiller, they've all done pretty silly commercials but you may not have ever seen them. we'll break them out for you this morning. stay with us on this cnn sunday morning. [ female announcer ] two hours to vegas. two hours to whiten. ♪ crest whitestrips two hour express. in just two hours you can have a noticeably whiter smile that lasts for months. ♪ hi. hi. where you guys headed? i think we're here. [ female announcer ] whitening without the wait. 3d white two hour express whitestrips...from crest. life opens up when you do. and try 3d white toothpaste and rinse.

♪ you are my sunshine ♪ my only sunshine ♪ you makes me happy ♪ when skies are grey ♪ you'll never know, dear ♪ how much i love you ♪ please don't take my sunshine away ♪ [ male announcer ] as long as there are babies, they'll be chevy's to bring them home. ♪

♪ dollar bill y'all 26 minutes past the hour. just want to take a little break and give you relief this morning. maybe some comic relief this morning. we could all use a break. >> every day. we all could. >> we're talking about celebrities for a second. often times they make a lot of money by going overseas to sell particular products and we never see those until now. because with youtube and the internet, you can see everything. we've got classics here that you've never probably seen

before. the first one we'll show you is ben stiller who's doing a commercial for a japanese alcoholic drink. take a look. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> wow. see what you have to do sometimes. whatever it takes. we'll switch gears and talk about natalie portman. she is a "star wars" actress. she's been in japan, commercials for shampoo. >> that was not so bad. >> yeah but it's -- is she a crime fighter, just trying to

have nice, clean suddency hair? >> she's a crime fighter with good hair. >> it's confusing, too much for me. actor nicolas cage, is selling a product in japan. >> i'm nicolas cage and this is say song for you. ♪ my favorite things ♪ blue jeans red haired girl ♪ peanut butter ♪ slow burning candle ♪ cup of tea and a good book >> wow. >> nick cage has great movies and then he has some that are so the great. there are probably commercials that he might do that are okay and some that aren't so okay. >> he was having fun there. >> he was having something. >> i kind of like that one. ♪ slow burning candle ♪ cup of tea and a good book >> i like that. you know, they pick up a lot of money sometimes going overseas, do what you have to do, not

making fun of them for it, not to say their careers aren't doing well over here and they need to sell themselves. if you can pick up extra change. >> i have no idea what sanco is. >> cnn.com put this together for us. they took a look at some of the silly ads. you can see them, break them down on cnn.com, breaking down the most ridiculous 11 japanese ads with american actors. in washington, d.c. there's optimism, albeit cautious as we get one day closer to the debt deadline. another big day on capitol hill with an important vote on the agenda. can we come together? [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language.

♪ in here, forklifts drive themselves. no, he doesn't have it. yeah, we'll look on that. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. [ding] announcer: clean kitchen surfaces, utensils, and hands with soapy water. one in 6 americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. keep your family safer. check your steps at foodsafety.gov.

unlike fish oil, megared softgels are small and easy to swallow with no fishy smell or aftertaste. try megared today. welcome back. we are just past the got o the hour on this cnn sunday morning. i'm t.j. holmes. thank you for spending part of your weekend here with us. take a look at some of the

stories we're keeping a close eye on. a new hearing is being held today in iran for two american hikers arrested with iraq's border with iran two years ago. josh fattal and shane bauer are accused of spying. a third hiker, sarah shourd was released last september for medical reasons. she's back in the u.s. in iran, spying is punishable by death. we are standing by for word from their hearing today to see if they could possibly be released. an iranian woman blinded in an acid attack by a man refused to date changes her mind and spares that man's sight. a court in tehran agreed to an eye for an eye punishment for the woman's attacker. the sentence was halted just minutes before it was to be carried out today. iranian news agency says the victim had a sudden change of heart. law enforcement officers in california are looking for 26

ak-74 assault rifles and a sniper rifle stolen from the ft. irwin army post. the fbi is offering a $10,000 award leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone behind the july 15th theft. some of the weapons may have ended up in fresno, officials say. some arrests may have been made but no details are available just yet. all right. to that debt ceiling debate that continues. the delay of a key vote seems to be sparking confidence in a possible deal getting done. the senate was supposed to vote late last night to end debate on a plan for majority leader harry reid. that they decided to table while negotiations on modifying the plan gained some steam. that vote is now scheduled for 1:00 p.m. eastern time today. the white house also got involved in the discussions yesterday. the president and vice president spoke with leaders from both parties. let me say hello to joe johns

once again. when we heard that that vote was being delayed at first you might think this can't be good. actually he wanted to try to give them some time because maybe progress was being made in discussions. >> absolutely. and the other thing is, that the bill they were putting on the floor of the senate, the senate republican leader had already put out a letter saying he had the votes to block it. so why even go there? what this really means is that the president and the senate or at least senate republicans seem to have something going on right now. they have the framework and a bunch of ideas. it's also clear, you know, the republican leader did a lot of talking to the president and the vice president, too, yesterday on the telephone, apparently. and have just gotten started on something they think is about right. senate democrats clearly are just a little bit worried right now about what the president is talking to those republicans about and it sounds like they

want to know more because there's a constant fear that the president, in their view, is going to give too much to the republicans. so it's a work in progress. and don't even start talking about house republicans and their views on extending -- >> i was, joe, that's exactly what i was about to ask you about with all the action and you're talking about everything happening in the senate, what's the house hanging out and doing right now? >> the house did what it was going to do. they basically took the original harry reid democratic senate plan and slam dunked it with about 40 minutes of debate. and they did send a clear message that, hey, what you came to us originally with is going nowhere. so that's the message they sent. it will be really interesting to see how they weigh in on anything the senate comes up with because, remember, a lot of house republicans are very wedded to the idea of pushing

through a balanced budget amendment in the house and the senate and sending it on to the states and the senate says, we just can't promise you that, because we can't tell you how members of the senate are going to vote. so a lot up in the air right now, t.j. >> joe johns, we appreciate you as always. thanks so much. we'll see you again. you can hear much more from mitch mcconnell in a few hours. he'll be joining cnn's "state of the union" and sitting down with gloria borger. tonight at 9:00, cnn's wolf blitzer and don lemon. "get it done: countdown to debt crisis," that's tonight. helium, the same gas used to fill birthday balloons, it may also be used to kill a weed that some say is taking over the south and spreading up the east coast. >> what is this again? >> 96% to 100% pure helium.

>> yep, it's helium. it definitely is. >> reynolds wolf, having fun but also talking to a whiz kid who has maybe done something now that people have been working to do for a long time. also ahead, if you like big butts and you cannot lie, i have got the story for you. a beauty pageant where you have to be at least 220 pounds to enter. they are celebrating big is beautiful. stay with me. but not your wrink. new neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula smoothes wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. [ female announcer ] sweet honey taste. 80 calories per serving.

40% daily value of fiber. i'm here in the downtown area where the crowd is growing. [ female announcer ] watching calories at breakfast never tasted this sweet... i'll go get my bowl. [ female announcer ] ...or this huge. new fiber one 80 calories. yes, you can actually love breakfast. captain. unidentified object. it's a cascade complete pac. the best of cascade powder and gel combined in one vessel. fire! ♪ [ mom ] wow! [ female announcer ] cascade complete pacs. love it or your money back.

40 minutes past the hour. a beautiful look at downtown, atlanta, georgia, a beautiful shot this morning. how are we doing weatherwise. >> it's going to be a warm day,

going mid-to-low 90s. it will feel like it's a million degrees. >> that's from the meteorologist, a million degrees. something in the south, atlanta, and making its way up the east coast, kudzu. what is this stuff? >> kudzu, is not a crazy rap group from the '90s. it's a vine, it robs other trees of nutrients, sunlight. it's a huge problem, in terms of farmers, the agricultural industry. it's a mess. we found a kid, not an adult, a kid in south georgia who may have found the answer to this incredible problem. amazing story. check it out. >> reporter: jacob chandler is not your typical teen. he spends his days battling kudzu. >> it's been called the mile a minute vine.

there are old wives tales about how it would climb into your windows and take your children. >> reporter: it was first used for erosion control by the u.s. government. it now covers millions of acres in the southeast, is spreading and is almost impossible to control. t. kills the local growth. and the only thing that winds up growing is more invasive species. >> reporter: experts have been trying to get rid of it for more than a century. after years of his own research, jacob, now 17, thinks he may have found the solution. >> what if i could plant something that's virulent, something that grows fast on a planet where there is nothing. but what it really became was how can i eliminate kudzu in an environmentally friendly way. >> reporter: his solution, suffocating the kudzu with helium. >> a vine like this can be killed with the same gas that goes into a birthday balloon? >> pretty much. >> reporter: he shopped his

discovery to science fairs and university research labs. but at first even his mother was skeptical. >> the roots were dead on the helium. they weren't dead on the oxygen and the co2. at that point i thought he's got something. >> reporter: now, she's his biggest supporter. >> he's an exceptional kid, isn't he? >> yes, in more ways than one. he's a normal teenager, but he has grand ideas. >> reporter: here's how it works. jacob invented this special drill and hooks it to a helium tank. and that evenly distributes it to the root system. >> where we're standing is a place that was once covered by kudzu. >> where i had the kudzu originally was probably about six or seven, maybe up to ten feet in some areas. >> reporter: his success in killing kudzu in this south georgia town has earned him congressional praise do you see

yourself as a pioneer? >> i see myself as doing what any other scientist does. you do your research and build on what others have done. >> not only is he a brilliant kid, he's a very, very kind kid. very, very friendly, wonderful family. the entire family, you wonder if some of the traits go from mother to son. they absolutely do. they're all brilliant, everyone in the family is. no surprise this kid is a genius. his work has been recognized by a lot of universities. there are a number of ivy league schools. >> why did you pick auburn first? >> favoritism. i have to be honest. auburn is a tremendous agricultural school. it's close in proximity to south georgia. we'll see some of the work firsthand. >> auburn, harvard, that's a tossup, man. i'm kidding. i'm with arkansas. i love the s.e.c. schools. >> yes, you do. >> thank you, buddy. thanks so much. stick around for this one, mobsters inside a famous italian

jail. they are upset because the new governor there is taking away their armani suits. yes, mobsters in jail wearing designer suits. that story coming up in our passport. also in our passport, big is beautiful. they are celebrating. as beyonce says, i don't think you're ready for this jelly.

♪ she told me to start over. i'm talking and my mike wasn't up. quarter till the top of the

hour. we're starting in italy. we showed the video of a beauty pageant where you had to be 220 pounds. first, armani suits being issued to some of the inmates? >> not issued. they wear gucci, prada and they come to prison in their suits. that's a huge status symbol. the new governor of this particular prison is saying, enough. you are not going to be wearing your armani suits. this has caused a huge outcry, particularly among the wives of the inmates who are going, what are our husbands going to wear then? exactly. one woman says we don't buy this because of the status, we buy it because of the quality. >> this is different from a u.s. prison where we're used to people going in, giving up your personal possessions and you're issued a jump suit. doesn't work like that.

>> no. >> you wear your own clothes. >> you're aloud about 44 ki kilograms of clothes. nike and adidas is not allowed either. >> do you think, as you said, is it a dangerous situation? >> not dangerous. she says there's disparity between the inmates and this is punishment after all. let's go from the high fashion of italian prisons to beauty. >> beauty pageant. >> translated means miss chubby. this is in italy taking place this month. you have to be at least 220 pounds to enter the competition. and as you can see, these ladies have lots of personality, full of vitality and some of the categories are miss sweetness, miss sympathy, miss smile and miss elegant and miss fantastic. >> is there a talent

competition? >> absolutely, based on personality and talent, much like in america, you have miss plus america, which is celebrating the beauty of the larger woman. >> and let's be clear here. we've seen the video of the ladies hopping around and having fun in italy. this is not to make fun of anybody. this is to celebrate a bigger woman. >> exactly. as i said, celebrating large and enjoying your buxom figure. >> your buxom figure. this is what you were referring to. >> this is miss plus america. >> celebrating beauty that comes in all sizes. great morning passport. >> we're going to the other royal wedding. >> you find one every weekend. nadia, thank you. ten minutes after the top of the hour now. these men answered the nation's call to arms in world war ii. they marched right into history. fighting, yes, the enemy but also fighting racism. the montford marines, finally

getting the recognition for their contribution to the nation's freedom. stay here. the planned combinatn of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's the at&t network... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. but for some of us with overactive bladder, our pipes just don't work as well as they should. sometimes, i worry my pipes might leak. but i learned there's something more i can do. now, i take care with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night.

if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. so why wait ? ask your doctor today... ... about taking care with vesicare. 3q naturals from delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c.

[ male announcer ] glucerna. helping people with diabetes find balance. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve. we're about eight minutes to

the top of the hour now. in 1941 president roosevelt opened the door for african-american recruitment into the marine corps. young men from all walks of life heeded that call. they were not sent to the traditional boot camp, paris island, south carolina or san diego. instead they were segregated at newly constructed mornt fontfor point, a facility at camp lejuene, north carolina. >> we fought two kinds of wars, one in combat and the other was right here. we fought jim crow and we fought the enemy. >> reporter: the men of montford point were trail blazers, the first, hand picked to integrate the u.s. marine corps, the last branch of the armed services that was still segregated. >> these men were men,

understand, who were so proud to be the first and they were eager to learn. >> reporter: their initial excitement would soon be replaced with the reality of racism. in basic training and the lack of support waiting at home. >> in the corps at that time, they were hell bent on making sure that we were not going to succeed in what we were doing. >> now, here we are returning from combat from fighting 18 long months, 18 hard months, and having all of the relics, we had some of the japanese flags we captured and other relics and we literally showed the crowd what we earned and what we did and what we had to do to get these relics. and despite that, that did not help. the fact that we were black men

and so racism continued on. >> across the armed services, african-americans were delegated to serve in noncombat support roles and the marines would be no exception. >> what happens when you place someone in a support role and they have to fight their way to support you, they demonstrate what marines have always done. they rose to the occasion. >> reporter: gaskins understands the importance of the montford point marines and how its legacy has paved the way to rise through the ranks as a three star general. >> when they see me and i'm wearing three stars, they says it was tough for me but it was worth it. now i see you. >> reporter: this weekend's event marks the 4 th convention for the montford point marines association whose sole purpose is to preserve a legacy. >> we are working aggressively with the legislators on capitol hill to confer the congressional gold medal this year on the

montford point marines for their service to the united states from world war ii to the vietnam era forever anchoring their role in the history of our nation's great military. >> so glad we could bring you a part of that history this weekend. the montford point marines. maybe you hadn't heard of them before this weekend. hopefully you'll remember them from now on. we're getting close to the top of the hour now. we're also getting close to the countdown clock expiring in washington. just a couple days until a possible first-ever default in u.s. history. now, senators will tell you and they told us yesterday, that will not happen but they are cutting it close, aren't they? we'll take you back to washington, d.c., back to the white house, to see what the president is doing to help reach a deal. stay with me on this cnn sunday morning. specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full.

i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. any questions? no. you know... ♪ we're not magicians ♪ we can't read your mind ♪ ♪ read your mind ♪ we need your questions ♪ each and every kind ♪ every kind ♪ will this react with my other medicine? ♪ ♪ hey, what are all these tests even for? ♪ ♪ questions are the answer ♪ yeah ♪ oh

all right. we're coming up on the top of the hour here on this cnn sunday morning. hello to you all. i'm t.j. holmes. glad you could spend part of your weekend here with us. we continue to watch this debt ceiling debate. it ain't over yet. in a day and 17 hours, as you

see there, we could be in unchartered territory. that clock is ticking but in the meantime, there are three important deadlines we're keeping an eye on. so yes that one is one. the first one today is at 1:00 eastern time. 1:00 this afternoon is when a vote is scheduled in the senate. majority leader harry reid's plan, that's the vote that was supposed to take place overnight but was delayed late in the evening. the second deadline we're watching is at 8:00 eastern today. what's that? when the asian markets open. you'll remember the u.s. stock market had its worst week last week in over a year. so what happens today in asia could set the tone for what could be another rough week on wall street. and then finally, the clock we just showed you, tuesday, that is the big deadline we're watching. that's when the federal government says it will be out of money, not going to be able to pay all of the bills. they'll have to decide which ones to pay. that's when the u.s. could start, for the first time in its

history, default on some of its obligations. where do we stand on a possible deal? it seems like we're in a better spot than we were at this time yesterday. senate leaders on both sides spoke with the president and vice president throughout the day yesterday. the white house's involvement was a key ingredient for minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> we are now fully engaged, the speaker and i, with the one person in america out of 307 million people who can sign a bill into law, i'm confident and optimist thak we're goiic that get an agreement in the very near future and resolve this crisis in the best interest of the american people. >> majority leader harry reid says many elements of a possible deal still need to be worked out. and there's still, quote, a distance to go. listen to harry reid. >> i'm glad to see this move toward cooperation and compromise. i hope it bears fruit. i'm confident that a final agreement that will adopt the senate's long-term approach rather than the short-term

band-aid proposed by the house of representatives will move forward. >> all right. we have our folks up early this morning in washington, d.c. athena jones at the white house, joe johns keeping an eye on things at capitol hill. athe athena, i want to start with you. yes, it's early, yes, it's a sunday morning but they're clearly working at the white house. even you're talking to them this morning. >> the white house is cautioning us of some of the details of the tentative framework that are trickling out. there's so many details to be iraned out they can't even really say how close they are to a deal. some of the numbers we're beginning to hear or read in reports will not necessarily be the final numbers that come out. certainly both sides are working. as we saw yesterday, there was no meeting on the schedule at the white house. we had the democrats come up and meet with president obama. we know that the president and vice president were talking constantly throughout the day with people on the hill, including senator mitch mcconnell. we can expect more of that to continue. again, this sort of gives you an

idea of mcconnell being optimistic but we heard from reed s reid saying there's a distance to go. >> all right, joe, they'll telling us to be cautious here. >> right. >> yesterday at one point in day you had mitch mcconnell get up and say it looks like we're close and right behind him on the senate floor, harry reid opens up and says, huh-uh. we don't know what to believe up there on capitol hill. >> right. a senior senate republican aide telling me this morning that what he's been seeing in the media reports is essentially what athena reported, that the numbers seem to be a little bit off, either they're too big in some places and too small in other places. that's the reason people haven't come out yet. i don't think anybody's shooting down the idea that there is a framework out there that they're working on now and that the republicans mostly have really been having a close conversation

with the president about how to get something that can be signed. by the way, you know, all eyes this morning on cnn as senator mitch mcconnell, the republican leader, is expected to go out on cnn "state of the union" about 9:00 eastern and then we'll be able to get a little bit better idea, perhaps, on what the republicans are thinking and just where we are at this point. but, yeah, you're right. this is a very fluid situation. and we're only a couple days out now from that august 2nd deadline. >> that's why i love you, joe, you do the promo for me. i don't have to do it myself. athe athena, let me bring you back in here. there weren't necessarily planned meetings yesterday but they were happening. what today? >> well, as joe just mentioned, things are still in flux. it's a fluid situation. it wouldn't be at all surprised if you saw meetings suddenly

appear on this schedule. everyone knows the clock is ticking down. they're running out of time. so the president is standing by, ready to play whatever role is necessary as senior administration officials told me yesterday. who knows. we'll have to be standing by to see. i can tell you that the phone calls are going to be going on. that's behind closed doors. we'll see what happens here. >> athena, thank you. joe johns, thank you as well. we need to be getting on the air, by all means we'll get you right back on. thanks to you both. we'll talk to you again shortly. to our viewers, 9:00 eastern time, a special report, wolf blitzer and don lemon breaking down the obstacles and options. maybe we'll have news by the time this does happen, this special report for you. they'll have everything you need to know, 9:00 eastern. get it done. the countdown to debt crisis, 9:00 eastern right here on cnn. also, a developing story today. we're standing by for possible news out of iran about two american hikers. they've been held in tehran for

the past two years. they are back in court today. this is the second hearing they've had, again, in two years. this is say hearing for josh fattal and shane bauer. two other hearings had been scheduled. those never happened. these young men along with bauer's fiance, sarah shourd were arrested two years ago while hiking along the border of iran. they have been charged with spying. shourd was released last september for medical reasons. so far this morning, no decisions coming out of court. but we are keeping a close eye on it. their attorney believes that maybe they could be given time served, if you will. they've been over there in prison for two years. maybe a release could be forthcoming but we are keeping a close eye on it. certainly the families and also the attorney optimistic but still, we could get news out of that. we'll bring it to you when it does happen. can you imagine witnessing a human tragedy firsthand? we have been showing you these

pictures out of somalia. and they are just devastating to see them from our vantage point. can you imagine being there? we will talk to a relief worker who is just back from there. the place where the u.n. says the worst humanitarian disaster in the world is happening. [ male announcer ] if it's true that sharks can sense even a drop of blood from a quarter of a mile away, which razor would you use? ♪ ♪ ♪ we get double miles on every purchase, so me and the boys earned a trip to dc twice as fast! oh hi! we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast...

one more chariot please. ...we can bring the whole gang! i cannot tell a lie. he did it. right... it's hard to beat double miles! read my lips -- no new axes! [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one, and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? so, you're a democrat right? [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the cc. and every volkswagen includes scheduled carefree maintenance. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the volkswagen cc sport for just $289 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today. sure, but let me get a little information first. for broccoli, say one. for toys, say two. toys ! the system can't process your response at this time.

what ? please call back between 8 and 5 central standard time. he's in control. goodbye. even kids know it's wrong to give someone the run around. at ally bank you never have to deal with an endless automated system. you can talk to a real person 24/7. it's just the right thing to do. excuse me? my grandfather was born in this village. [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪ in here, forklifts drive themselves. no, he doesn't have it. yeah, we'll look on that. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say.

[ kimberly ] the university gave me the knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. [ carrie ] you're studying how to be an effective leader. [ cherie ] you're dealing with professionals, teaching things that they were doing every day. [ kimberly ] i manage a network of over a thousand nurses. [ carrie ] i helped turn an at-risk school into an award-winning school. [ cherie ] i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah. [ kimberly ] and university of phoenix made it possible. learn more at phoenix.edu. ten minutes past the hour

now. an important story we want to continue to tell you about. the ongoing crisis in africa where a deadly combination of drought and famine has forced tens of thousands of people to seek refuge. what you're seeing here is northern kenya overwhelmed at the dedahb refugee camp. many are starving every day, many of them children. i want to bring in a guest who has seen this firsthand, her name is elizabeth mclaughlin. she's executive director for care foundation unit. she's joining me live from miami. ma'am, thank you so much for being here and taking time out with us. you spent ten days over there. how would you put it in perspective, what you saw? >> i've worked in the aid sector for 18 years and i've spent a lot of time in africa. my last mission was four years

in sudan. i was quite shocked, what i seen here and in ethiopia. i didn't expect it to be as shocking as what i saw last week. >> to remind our viewers what you're seeing, many people are fleeing somalia to try to make their way into these camps. ma'am, how much aid is getting in? clearly not enough but how is that process working? is it trickling in? we knew there was at least one militant group that says they weren't going to allow some aid agencies in. what is the aid situation? >> there is a lot of aid getting in but what is happening is the number of refugees arriving is increasing. about a month ago, it was 10,000 people per month.

and now we're seeing 30,000 people per month. so care is distributing aid as fast as they possibly can. but the number is rising. that's the challenge we're facing now. >> what is your assessment of the international response to this crisis? >> sorry, can you repeat that question? >> my question is, how do you think the international community, the rest of the world, has been responding so far to this crisis? >> i think the response has been -- in fact, i think it's been amazing response, especially over the last few weeks. but we didn't know about this drought about a year ago. we knew it was going to happen. the response should have happened then. but now we're seeing a massive

response, yes. >> i guess what is -- i guess part of the problem in getting the message out about africa for one thing, it's a distant place and also this is a slow moving disaster. this is something you just said, we knew was going to happen, but often times in the world we see disasters and we can see a tsunami, we can see the damage from an earthquake. was that part of the problem, people just couldn't see it? >> what we're very concerned about now isn't an earthquake, one day you have an earthquake and everyone helps. this is going to be there for a very long time. i'm afraid that the number of death is going to rise unless we really keep our eyes on this. and you know, continue the response nonstop. i was shocked what i seen in

ethiopia. and there's many cattle dying throughout the south. and that is an indicator that soon we're going to see people dying. so just because we're not seeing, you know, lots of people dying right at this moment, there will be a big number unless we do something about it now. >> all right. ma'am, last thing here, just a lot of people who are watching these images and hearing this story, they would like to find a way to help. what would you recommend to people watching right now? how could they get involved and help in some way? >> i recommend everyone goes on to care.org and they will learn a lot just from going on that web page. and, you know, read the news, reach out to people who know something about this drought. and we need as much help as we possibly can get.

care has a lot of people in the field, but we need more resources. so, again, people should go on to care.org. >> all right. elizabeth mclaughlin, we appreciate you taking the time and sharing this story. i know it had to be a tough experience for you. you have a lot of years in doing this work but even shocking for you to see what's going on there. thank you for your time. hope to talk to you again down the road. >> thank you. 16 minutes past the hour on this cnn sunday morning. we will turn back to news here in this country, now a lot of people across this country are dealing with what has been intense and even in the past several weeks, deadly heat. we have at least 13 states affected. are we going to get a break? reynolds wolf will have the details as my director takes me to break right now on this cnn sunday morning. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for.

salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas. any questions? no. you know... ♪ we're not magicians ♪ we can't read your mind ♪ ♪ read your mind ♪ we need your questions ♪ each and every kind ♪ every kind ♪ will this react with my other medicine? ♪ ♪ hey, what are all these tests even for? ♪ ♪ questions are the answer ♪ yeah ♪ oh

♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah

♪ hello good morning good morning. new york city. gorgeous shot at lady liberty this morning. in new york city, reynolds wolf will give us a forecast. it looks gorgeous from there. a lot of names in new york, a lot of unique names shall we call them? we did a segment here yesterday that got a lot of people talking. we showed you a number of names. people thought we were making them up. we weren't. espn on the list. congratulashayla is on there as well. ish is in there as well.

the book, "what yo nayme iz?" is the name of the book. it's the children who keep these names who end up suffering even professionally. >> when the regret comes in is when they join the work force or attempt to join the work force. there's been a study in 2003 and did dummy resumes. they showed a drastic drop in the percentage of responses to the resume according to the name. to where it shows that there's maybe a bias that people don't know they have toward certain names. >> let me put up more here. we certainly were itching to share as many as we can here. there's an orangejello and a lemonjello. >> and they're twin brothers. >> that's orangejello and

lemonjello. rainbow, there's a cheeto in there as well. give me a couple you've come across, some that blew your mind. >> my favorite isn't because it's so different, it's differently spelled. and the name quincy, nothing too special. >> how would you spell that. >> c-u-e-y-e-n-c-i-e. it's spelled cue yencie but it's pronounced quincy. >> do they end up regretting it as well, the parents that you researched for your book? >> they probably see it when the children grow up and get older and they come across the hindrances. >> i know people personally in the book but they're successful, lawers, teachers.

>> there are some countries that give you a list, if you will, you can only pick from these names and they will only allow you -- what countries are we talking about? why do they have laws like that? >> iceland, denmark, new zealand. new zealand just recently, i don't know if a lot of people read it, outlawed the name lucifer. i think it is iceland that has a list of 7,000 names, period. they want to save the child embarrassment. >> wow. >> they don't want you having a noble name of a noble family. they say it in the way of we're protecting your child from future bullying, future harassment. >> has it gotten out of hand? >> i think so. >> people focus, we hear celebrities name their child this and that. >> it's not just celebrities. >> a lot of people are doing. >> this they want their children to be unique. but i think they're going about it the wrong way. it's to the detriment of the

child. >> what are some of the hottest baby names of 2011? well, the baby name website put out a list of the hottest names. trending high is pippa, because of that young lady right there. that is the sister of the duchess of cambridge. they made such a splash during the royal wedding and for the guys, asher pushed out henry as the number one most popular name. reynolds, what do you think about that? >> i think it's great. what was your nickname in college, what did people call you. >> i had so many. >> no, it's okay. >> some people called me lucifer. >> shoe fits sfits. >> it doesn't. >> there was a reason for that. it's a long story. >> we'll touch base on that one. we had don yesterday in terms of weather, basically it's fizzled out, unfortunately.

another one could be named within an hour or so. we're talk about the next one is emily. i'll jog on over, we'll talk where emily may pop up. this is what we're watching right here. this area, this big reddish color, this area right here, a lot of convection, a lot of clouds beginning to form there. this may be named emily. first place we're threatened is the leeward and windward islands. after that, it's anybody's ball game. we'll give you updates as we get them. the next thing we'll update you is the chance of strong storms developing in the northern plains. you could see showers in the northeast and the four corners. high temperatures going to the 90s for much of the eastern seaboard, new york and boston, cooler, 96 in denver, 71 in seattle. t.j., back to you. >> appreciate you as always, buddy. thank you very much. 25 minutes past the hour. quick break. stay with me.

grandfather was born in this village. [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪ in here, forklifts drive themselves. no, he doesn't have it. yeah, we'll look on that. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network. and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. u.s.a.a. auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation, because it offers a superior level of protection and because u.s.a.a.'s commitment to serve the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. u.s.a.a. we know what it means to serve.

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. i understandn to even skin tone in four weeks. you need a little help with your mortgage, want to avoid foreclosure. candy? um-- well, you know, you're in luck. we're experts in this sort of thing, mortgage rigamarole, whatnot. why don't we get a contract? who wants a contract? [honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. betty: we're out of toner. announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, talk to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at...

taking a look now at some of the stories making headlines on cnn sunday morning. we have the deadline still lurking. it's less than two days away now. congressional leaders and the white house reportedly mulling parts of a tentative deal that would extend the debt limit through next year. nothing is official yet. we will be keeping a close eye on this one throughout the morning and all day. also in iran, two american hikers of accused of espionage are in court today, happening two years after they were arrested for straying over the iraqi border into iran. the attorney representing josh fattal and shane bauer says he thinks the court will find them innocent but if found guilty, their time in jail awaiting trial should suffice as a sentence that has raised hopes for them possibly getting out of prison and coming back home. also from iran this morning, a change of heart from a woman blinded in an acid