as possible that order from a florida judge to casey anthony. he wants her to serve one year supervised probation for a check fraud conviction. anthony's lawyers say they will fight the ruling. a slight increase from the month before and adding to fuel of uncertainty surrounding the economy this morning. right now u.s. stock futures dropping further on news ahead of the opening bell. you're caught up on today's headlines. "american morning" will be back after the break. beautiful n

city. 78 right now and going up to 92. i don't know if there is rain later on tonight. i can't keep track of it these days. it's warm. and warmer when you wear a three-piece suit. >> why do you? wait. i don't want to know. his own difficult childhood is an inspiration to make growing up more fun for needy kids. >> this store fri from our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. >> reporter: daryl hammonds dream is to build a safe playground within walking distance of every child in america. >> the real spark came when i was reading the paper one morning about two kids who had died and suffocated in a car and they had no place to play. the pure sense of what their life was like versus what my life was like really struck a justice nerve with me. >> reporter: that is probably because his childhood wasn't so easy either.

>> when i was 4 years old and my father left my mother and all eight of us children, and after several years of trying to raise us, she had a nervous breakdown. we had an option of either becoming wards of the court or going to this group home outside of chicago. >> reporter: they moved to the home and separated from his brothers and sisters into age group dorms, he kept everything he owned in a small trunk ready to move to the next dorm. in college, he took another hit. >> i learned i had a severe learning disability and was list l dyslexic. >> reporter: it ininstilled in him the desire to give back. >> i was not neglected. i was not abused. i was given clothes and a great education. i just wanted to be a contributing member to society and not be a nuisance. >> reporter: and to contribute he has. he found you a nonprofit group called kaboom which brings together corporate sponsors and residents of needy communities

to build playgrounds in a single day. to date, they have built more than 2,000. >> what it shows me was the power that play actually had for kids in bringing back -- >> we had a bit of technical problem there but we got most of that story out there. sanjay, wrap up what we didn't hear. >> reporter: it's a lot about the idea he goes in the areas around the country that have been nowadays particularly hard hit. i helped him build a playground in metairie in louisiana. people may know that area. it was under five feet of water and similar to a lot of the places in that area. they decided to come build a playground and a lot of community members come together. it's quite a scene. 500 people on that day came together to build. imagine that happening in your community, especially after something devastating has happened. they put that playground up. it's a very durable playground.

sometimes he takes flak saying, look. so many things that need to happen to rebuild a busted community after a hurricane or something. and he says, watch the kids play, see how it transforms a community and it's one of the first signs of things are starting to get better. >> i have to agree with that. because you think, look. why isn't it schools and libraries? first of all, we need all of those things. but it has to be -- it's the center of a child's life and the idea that they will think of that community as the place that they grew up and loved and continued to invest in it and not just think about getting out of it. >> absolutely right. it is all, you know, mainly donations, money wise. it's not taking away from the other public buildings and things like that. remember the goal at the very beginning? a safe playground within walking distance for every child in america, that is his goal. >> a good one. sanjay, thanks. >> i'm just impressed the fact he built a playground. it takes brains. >> brain surgery thing? >> not that much different. >> a multitalented fellow.

>> thank you, sanjay. if you want to know more about draell's story and go to the chart on cnn.com/health. still to come, how the mr. rogers neighborhood will have a new start and whole new look. >> eddie murphy is going to star? just kidding. almost tastes like one of jack's cereals. 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. [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why would you let something like erectile dysfunction

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okay. the senate. i'm sure they are already getting ready for their big vote today, huh? 84 degrees right now in washington. 97 later. 97 when senators go into the chamber and vote on the debt ceiling deal and hopefully pass it. it won't be completely done but close. >> then walk it over to the president. rye vifal in t revival ahea rogers neighborhood. star of a new animated version of the show is called daniel tiger. it's daniel tiger's neighborhood. >> clever.

>> it features the original mr. rogers characters as grown-ups. only they have young kids of their own in the neighborhood of make believe. >> i'll have to watch that. >> i wonder how that will play in this new world where it was a simpler time. >> it was a simpler time way back when, back in the day. >> to preschoolers it is still a simple time and then it gets really crazy! >> stop it! >> sorry. >> let's get it our question of the day. we are asking this morning is compromise a good thing? is it a sign of weakness? >> right. this from jeff. it's the opposite. a sign of strength. we will always have two significantly different and opposi opposi opposing viewpoints. killy says compromise to save a nation is a sign of strength. if all of the instruments dominate it sounds like noise. thanks for all of the responses this morning. appreciate it and continue the conversation.

>> really, really good. absolutely. keep on e-mailing us and tweeting. these conversations don't end because the show is over. we will have another good question for you tomorrow morning. that brings it to a close for us here on "american morning." we will be back bright and early tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. eastern time. for us, that is is. "cnn newsroom" begins right now with kyra phillips. >> good morning, guys. it's 9:00 a.m. on the east coast and 6:00 a.m. on the west coast. now the senate's turn. lawmakers schedule a lunch time vote on the debt ceiling plan as washington races to the default deadline. house members guaranteeing 4,000 employees will remain furloughed for the next month. florida keeping an eye on tropical storm emily. it's in the eastern caribbean now, but could hit the states this weekend. all right. senate showdown at high noon. three hours from now voting is scheduled to get under way on the debt ceiling plan to keep the government from running out

of money. it passed the house with surprising ease. >> bill is passed and without objection, a motion reconsider is laid on the table. >> today's vote will cap one of the most bitter fights washington has ever seen over spending. but for one brief moment, a burst of unity. that is arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords wowing the house floor. this was her first appearance since being shot in the head six months ago. we are covering all angles of this developing story. dr. sanjay gupta with a look at gabby giffords and her triumphant recovery. ali velshi in new york waiting the open of the new york markets this house and wolf blitzer and joe johns watching the political maneuvers. ali, how do you expect wall street to react this morning?

>> reporter: two things going on. debt ceiling the passage of it but now we know we have a deal and most people expecting it to go through investors concentrating on other things going on. the gdp, weak number on friday. right this morning a mixed picture of reports on personal spending and income. income is up which is good. spending is down a little bit, which is bad. so what is happening is investors are focusing on a couple of things now. we will a down open to the markets this morning. if something goes wrong with the passage, see another leg down. if it doesn't you probably won't see much reaction at all. that is to say the days leading up to the passage of that agreement where we saw losses in the market, it does not look like the market is all that

willing to give that money back now that a deal is done. that money, that capitalization might be wiped out. >> okay. joe johns, all along, the house was seen as the greater hurdle to passing the deal. does that mean it's pretty much a done deal in the senate? >> reporter: well, people who should know say they expect it to pass the senate. 60-vote margin is needed to overcoming delaying tactics but given the chance the heartburn over this deal someone might try to filibuster this. 60 votes will get around that and pass the bill. some on the right don't think it goes far enough and some defense spending could cut and others concerned taxes will be raised and some like assurance more a balanced budget amendment going out to the states. people on the left, democrats, worried about entitlement, social programs and a lot of people don't like the idea what is going on with this super committee of 12 that is going to have an say on where the

spending debate goes from here you can say people who know think there will be enough votes to get this bill to the president's desk, even though they will be holding their noses as they vote. >> i you brought up key words. wolf blitzer, you write on your blog that folks need to read between the lines. we hear entitlements or tax reform, dot, dot, dot. what we hear is, go ahead and fill in the blanks. >> reporter: those are polite words when you talk about entitlement reform, what effect they are saying are cuts in spending for medicare and medicaid, social security. let's not beat around the bush. when they talk about tax reform, in effect what they are saying are tax increases. you speak to democrats, especially over at the white house, that would be tax increases from the current level for the wealthiest americans, the big corporations and corporate jet owners and the millionaires and billionaires as they like to say in the white house and the democrats like to say but, in effect, it will mean

increased taxes for those individuals making more than $200,000 a year, families making more than $250,000 a year. so the debate is going to continue, kyra. the debate right now, may be ending with the senate passage and i think the senate will pass it in a few hours. the president will sign it into law over a signing ceremony over at the white house but not uncorking champagne because nobody is thrilled about this but they did get over a significant hurdle. let's get raet feady for novemb. the prethanksgiving day the debate is coming out the super committee will come out with recommendations with they are agree on a. by no means a done deal they will be able to agree. >> you write on your blog saying if you like this debt ceiling debate the last few days you will love the debate that is going to occur in the days leading up to thanksgiving. >> i write if you hated this debate, a lot of people did hate this debate, they will despise

the debate that is coming up in november and december, because it's going to be -- it's going to play out once again. the trigger, if you will, if they can't reach an agreement, either the 12 members of this p proposed committee if they come up with recommendations or congress didn't approve those recommendations there is painful sweeping across the board spending cuts, including 50% defense spending of the cuts, 50% will go to defense spending and 50% nondefense spending, including some cuts in payments to medicare providers, whether hospitals or doctors. so that is going to be painful. democrats don't want to see that. republicans don't want to see cuts in defense spending. it's going to be fun, i got to tell you. >> you noticed i mentioned your blog twice, right? should i mention it one more time? >> cnn.com/situationroom. i mentioned a little while ago i was going to be with you. i tweeted at kyra cnn. i know all of your followers are

following us right now. >> i follow you, you follow me. it's a very happy relationship. wolf, thank you. >> thank you. how about that remarkable return of congresswoman gabby giffords? a mere six months after a horrific gunshot wound to the head she was alert and standing. dr. sanjay gupta was watching the video like the rest of us. what did you notice? >> it is remarkable if you take it from a pure medical sense. about 75% of people who have had this type of injury don't survive at all. the fact -- that was january 8th. i think most people have seen this video by now. seven months later almost, she is standing there. she is, obviously, conversing and reacting and recognizing her colleagues, giving them high five's. saying short sentences. i notice as well from a medical standpoint, she is not moving her right arm really at all. it's all left-sided waving and everything. she got some assistance, some helping her down the aisle and that is not all unexpected as well.

this is a left-sided brain injury as you remember. that affects your speech and ability to express yourself and the strength on the right side of the body. to is all makes sense. but, again, seven months almost later, this is pretty remarkable recovery. one of her rehab doctors said she is in the top 1% of people who recover from this. >> do we expect anything less? she is a fighter and survivor. does this anticipate getting back to work? >> rehab is a fascinating process. they focus on the things you think they do improving strengths and things like that. in terms of speech, speech is really two things. your ability to understand and your ability to express. she was always able to understand. a and that, obviously, is helping her now. now it's all about, you know, expressing herself, longer sentences and not having word-finding difficulties. all of that is seemingly starting to improve. even teaching someone to write with their left hand because her right arm is so weak. she was right-handed before. that is all part of it.

getting outside, out of the hospital with friends and family and getting the kind of emotional support she got clearly on the floor last night. a lot of people say that is part of rehab as well. reminding someone their purpose and their sense of vitality. >> you got to love her husband too there by her side the whole entire way! >> it's remarkable. sanjay, thanks so much. next hour, i will talk to the intern who helped save the congresswoman's life, about her recovery and daniel hernandez will join us at 10:10 eastern time. he was one of the few democrats who voted for the debt deal along with the republicans. we will hear from steve israel about his yes vote just ahead. also ahead, a vile of serial killer blood. ted bundy, it's found. will it lead to solving more cold cases? that story after the break.

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checking stories across the country. former detroit mayor kwamie kilpatrick a free man walking out of prison three hours ago. he served more than 14 months for violating probation that forced him to leave office in 2008. the website for central falls, rhode island, calls itself a city with a bright future but that may be stretching it a bit. they filed for bankruptcy after failing to get police and firefighter retirees to give up half of their pensions. here is the governor. >> its ability to provide basic

services for its citizens and to meet the obligations that are made to city retirees and beneficiaries have been endangered by years of unfortunate fiscal mismanagement. a vile of ted bundy's blood could help investigators close cold cases. the serial killer was executed in 1989 after confessing to more than 30 murders but he could be tied to even more killings thanks to a detective who came across the vile of blood taken in 1978. it was still on file. a complete dna profile on bundy will be uploaded to the fbi's national database this week. steve israel voted yes on the debt deal and the influential members of the democratic house of leadership. your fellow democrats emmanuel cleaver is chairman of the american black caucus called

this a sugar-coated satan sand win. if you happen to bump into him in the hallway today, how will you persuade him this is a good deal? >> i won't persuade him it is a good deal. every member of congress has to do what is in the best interests of the districts they represent. i didn't like this deal but i didn't like the notion that the republicans were going to drive this economy off a cliff. the notion that my middle class constituents on long island would wake up today to high interest rates, to exhosh tantly high interest rates. the notion that the republicans if we had defaulted could create a economic catastrophe and why i voted for this compromise. it is done. it is literally a done deal and now with these republicans in the house, what they need to do is quit talking about closing the government and start helping to open small businesses. start helping to create new jobs. and end their relentless march to end medicare. the debt deal is behind us. it is time for the republicans

to get serious about jobs and to talk about extending medicare, not ending medicare. >> harry reid said no one got what they wanted here. do you agree with that? >> of course i do. if the democrats had the majority in the house of representatives we wouldn't be in the position we have been in and would not surrender our caucus to the extremist that john boehner did. we would make sure we were making the right investments in middle class growth and ask oil companies to shave some of the $4 billion in subsidies they get and close down the corporate tax loopholes. the fight has been put to another day. we are going to form this bipartisan commission and i relish that battle in november and december because the choice will be put before the american people again. do you want to raise taxes and raise costs for middle class americans? down do you want the middle class to bear a disproportionate loophole? >> you made it clear this is

going to have an impact on the 2012 election. explain. >> no question it is going to have an impact. the fact of the matter is over the past week, my office and all congressional offices were inundated with calls from americans saying quit this nonsense, do a fair and balanced approach that asks oil companies and corporate tax loopholes to share some of the sacrifice. the american people are holding republicans accountable for their actions. they did it this week. they will do it going into the 2012 elections. our choices are better than the republican choices. and i think that this is going to be very well for the democrats. >> you sent out a fund-raising letter after obama spoke about the debt ceiling crisis. how is this going to affect your fund-raising? >> you know, fund-raisizing an important element both for the republicans and for the democrats. but there is a time when you have to put that aside and do what is best for the long-term future of the middle class in america. when i cast my vote last night it was not based on fund-raising at the d triple c.

it was based on the amount of money my qaets would have to take out of their pockets to pay higher credit card interest rates and mortgage interest rates if we allow the republicans to drive the economy off the cliff to default on a good faith and credit of the united states government and to end medicare. >> what do you say to the medical perception he is using this as a launching pad to raise money. >> we are using this crisis to frame the essential and fundamental debate between republicans and democrats. democrats want to reduce spending. we voted for a bill yesterday that cuts a trillion dollars. democrats want the rich people earning over a million dollars, big oil companies and big corporations to sacrifice something. the republicans were willing to end our economy as we know it in order to protect and defend those corporate tax loopholes. that is the defining difference between democrats and republicans and continue that contrast between now and november 2012. when we win the majority back we will grow the middle class

rather than asking the middle class to bear the sacrifice as these republicans have done. >> thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> the senate still has to vote and that is expected to happen this afternoon around noon, less than three hours from now. we expect to hear from the president today. that will happen sometime after the vote so we will follow that live for you all day so stick it out with us here on cnn throughout the day. coming up, she actually beat out some much younger women for owner oscar. now helen mirren has done it again in the hot bod contest. stay tuned. if you're walking away from your tv, you don't have to stop watching. you can live stream on your phone, computer, ipad. cnn.com/video or download the app. get on there and hit live tv and you can see your options. pop it. hit "cnn newsroom." oh, you have to select your tv adviser. sorry. the ipod, something always goes wrong! bottom line, get on there with the new app and click