the museum regained the horn and promptly stowed away in safekeeping. >> a horn like that is worth 25,000, 30,000 euros perkier kilo. this would be worth 100,000. >> the foreign poachers have several museums. among them was the natural history museum. its main attraction enjoys high security. >> the horn was located here on this upper shelf. it is obvious where these things at end up. it is in eastern asia, where there is a big demand. it is the source of these robberies. people pay a lot of money for chinese alternative medicine, and that is where the job orders come from. >> the belief that powdered rhino horn has sexually stimulate properties is particularly widespread in eastern aged, where there is a black market for the product -- in eastern asia, where there is a black market for the product. it is becoming increasingly popular in europe. >> the problem is the medicinal use of rhino horn. that stems from the preferred a belief that rhino horn it is a big thing that points upwards. that, of course, leads to such perversions that have nothing to do whatsoever with the additional usag

we have chet playing his horn, just playing his horn, kind of a bluesy jazz thing. that's supposed to speak to where else at that moment at the end of the play. as i watched it, i thought of some stuff we cut before. he used to say simple things. i come into your house, you come into mine. trust, that's all, just a little trust. i thought that would work really well. but i sort of brought it up and everyone was saying, no, if -- the music seems to say it all. i thought, well, that's right. if the music can say it without any words, then that's what we should go with. so that's a moment where hopefully if you have lined everything up correctly, at that moment that chet pulls out his or not after he's a blow out with earl and everyone, he pulls out this horn and it's the first time he plays, it's whatever he feels at that moment and sums up where he's at at the end of the play. that's what we tried today. the tricky thing is it's a built of a stretch of reality. ever have a character in theater ever pick up a horn and play who is not a horn player? unless you do it ri

. >> okay. [ laughter ] [ horn blowing ] >> chris: "night and day." [ laughter ] [ horn blowing ] >>wing ] >> chris: "yellow submarine." [ laughter ] [ horn blowing ] >> "paisley park" by chris. >> jimmy: it's pretty good. pretty good. [ horn blowing ] pretty good. [ laughter ] i can't believe you're not getting this. >> chris: wait! [ horn blowing ] oh, my god. >> jimmy: consistently the same note the whole time. >> chris: i cannot -- [ horn blowing ] >> jimmy: fantastic. [ cheers and applause ] so close. >> oh, my gosh. >> chris: was it beatles? >> jimmy: that was -- >> chris: was it beatles? >> it was "the star spangled banner." >> chris: oh, well. [ laughter ] i haven't done that in years. >> i know, and that's hard to play anyway. >> chris: i know. >> right? >> chris: on a trombone. that was really good. >> thank you. >> jimmy: you got that one note perfect. >> thank you. thank you from another horn player. thank you. [ audience yelling ] >> jimmy: hmm? [ laughter ] >> chris: two. >> jimmy: all right. >> chris: the temperature's nice in here. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: okay. >> okay

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. [circus music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> from hong kong, and rome, this is world b"world business." rupert murdock's news corporation is facing new investigations into whether its journalists allegedly tried to hack into the voice mails and phones of crime and terror victims in the united kingdom. and on the other side of atlantic, the fbi has now said that it is looking in to allegations that murdock controlled news outlets tried to tap into the voice mails and phones of september the 11th victims and also their family. and now there's also cause for congress to investigate. brian todd reports from washington. >> reporter: a law enforcement source tells cnn looking into the news corporation is now a high priority, so high that t

>> today on "christian world news" droughts and famine strik horn of africa, millions in danger. what is keeping aid from reaching these december rat people. >> in the city where goliath grew up. what archaeologist are learning about these ancient philistine ruins. >> why christians and secularists are joining forces and they want to turn them into an islamic state. >> welcome everyone to "christian world news" i am george thomas. >> and i am wendy griffith. somalia is suffering from the world's worst famine in a generation. a severe drought is put an estimated 11 people at risk. tens of thousands have already died. >> and many more forced to flee their homeland. >> they are moving because they have lost all their stock as a result of the drought, and no other hope. >> worst drought in 60 years in southern parts of the country. somalia racked by little rain. malnutrition rates are among the highest. 1 mother makes a desperate plea for health. >> we are dying in the absence of humanitarian assistance, where is the u.n., where is the muslim world? we are suffering so the world shou

for far too long, somalia has been a cancer on the horn of africa. criminals not only plagued surrounding countries, and have been involved in drug and human trafficking. however, the most serious involvement in international criminal activity is by far is piracy. pirates attack in the waters off of somalia and in the horn of africa, including those on u.s. flag vessels have brought reviewed attention to the long standing problem of maritime piracy. according to the bureau, at least 219 attacks occurred in the region in 2010 with 49 successful hijacking. the pirates have attacked ships, along somalia's eastern coastline and outward. using tactics, the pirates now operate as far east as the malbabe and as far south as the most sam beak channel. ransom is now up to $5 million. two years ago. hillary clinton announced a plan to combat piracy. coordination with the international contact group, encouragement between government and shipping companies in defending vests. -- vessels. yet the threat is not combined to the waters. in recent years, dozens of yo

with more than 10 million people in the country of the horn. were all deeply connected in an arc of drought, crop failure and high mortality the crisis is further complicated by the continuing conflict in somalia. and our inability to fully and reliably reach more than 1.8 million somalis primarily in the south and parts of central somalia, and the outpouring of somali refugees into the drought stressed areas of kenya, ethiopia. they are as you now have been cyclical droughts in the horn for decades, and has resulted we have very advanced early warning systems that we established and funded, including the famine early warning system network, and the food security and nutritional analysis unit. they continually collect data and provide analysis that has enabled us to pre-positioned stocks in the region, to target our assistants working and to look at. and according to its usenet, the drought that we're currently seeing in the region is the worst in the horn of africa since the 1950s. in somalia, the combined effect of consecutive seasons of poor

they can revolt or they can die. >> in the horn of africa they're doing all three.s news, new york. osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing of the skin or eyes. talk with your doctor about your medicines, including those for migraine, or if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles, to address a possible life-threatening condition. tell your doctor about alcohol use, liver di

the un has airlift of food aid to the horn of of a cup. more than 12 million people are on the brink of starvation. a combination of regional conflict and the worst drought in 60 years before some people from their homes in search of food and water. people from somalia, ethiopia, and kenya are all affected. it is somalia, without a functional government, that is almost completely broken by drought and famine. more than 300,000 people have fled to kenya. people are fleeing both hunger and violence. even there, food is in short supply. >> as if it was not bad enough, he developed pneumonia while walking hundreds of kilometers with his wife and five children. they had nothing to eat in their village in somalia, so they set off with their donkey cart for kenya. >> we were traveling for 35 days. we went through our food supplies fast, and we kept walking. i had to leave behind might a- year-old father. he was too weak for the journey. -- might 80 year-old father -- my a-year-old father. he was too weak for the journey. >> the children have witn

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner.us music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> welcome back. you're watching "world business today," live on cnn. >>> now, dubai is known for its flash and its crash. nevertheless, in an emirates, group buying on discount websites is taking off. marketplace midwest analyst, kim hiala, has the story. >> reporter: from her home in dubai, she logs on to gonabit.com. >> first thing in the morning, i check to see if i have e-mails or texts from the night before, to see what the deal of the day is. >> reporter: the mother of three, an american, is one of the many people in the region taking advantage of online group buying that's all the rage. >> it's also introducing you to a new facilities offered here in dubai. >> reporter: group buy is a strat

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner.honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> 37 minutes after the hour. after today's show, i'm heading off to florida because it's the last launch of the shuttle tomorrow or this weekend. today's get smart question, we asked you how much the "atlantis" weighs. the answer, 176,000 pounds. good thing we did that question because i wouldn't have known. big news about the debt ceiling talks. we might see a big shift in the negotiations. just hours from now, the president is going to meet with top senate and house leaders, republicans and democrats at the white house. officials tell us he'll put medicare and social security changes on the table. that is a big about face and it drives hope the urgency of the debt situation. now, obama is hoping republicans will support some tax increases

oh. [ horn honks ] welcome.ttle help with your mortgage, want to avoid foreclosure. smart move. candy? um-- well, you know, you're in luck. we're experts in this sort of thing, mortgage rigamarole, whatnot. r-really? absolutely, and we guarantee results, you know, for a small fee, of course. such are the benefits of having a professional on your side. [whistles, chuckles] why don't we get a contract? who wants a contract? [honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. [circus music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> the company has decided to fly your son, aaron, to be here today. and would really like you to be. take a look right there. [ applause ] >> that's a very emotional moment from billy ray's latest television projec

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner.us music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> 19 minutes after the hour. three things that need to be on your radar today. the senate is back in session. they'll try to come to an agreement on the debt ceiling. the house is back tomorrow. this morning at 9:00 eastern time, the new international monetary fund director will be officially seated in washington. >>> at 9:30 eastern, john edwards will be back in court on federal criminal charges >>> let me tell you more about the new head of the imf, first woman to run the financial institution. she replaces dominique strauss-kahn who's under investigation right now for sexual assault charges in new york. she'll serve a five-year term as the imf's managing director and chairman. she used to be fi

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner.ic plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> the train rolls south down florida's east coast. it passes crossings at st. augustine, flagler beach, daytona, new smyrna. under the protective tarps, the last space shuttle's solid rocket boosters. destination, the kennedy space center. on board people who build them, launch them, and ride them to space. all that is clear is uncertainty. what do you do when the shuttle stops flying, mike? >> well, let's see. i'm the launch director, and there will be no launches to direct. and so i don't really know. >> in both years and miles, the end of the line is much, much closer now. three months earlier, a couple thousand miles from florida, a transporter moves slowly through the falling snow. it is carrying o

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner.gn it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... ♪ there's really no better time than now to give great clips a try. relax. you're at great clips. >>> just a few years ago all the talk in governmental circles was green subsidies for one environmental effort, tax breaks for the next one. but the financial crisis and economic recession has put a stop to that. one of the first things to get slashed in budget cuts around the world has been environmental initiatives. so today our reliance on oil and natural gas is actually increasing. to discuss this seeming paradox and the future of energy in general, we're delighted to have back with us bjoern long berg, the collector of the copenhagen consensus center. in your first book you were described as skeptical. i was watchin

now, back to judy. >> woodruff: and to the growing desperation in the horn of africa. more than 11 million people are at risk from hunger in somalia, kenya, ethiopia and djibouti. somalia is the worst hit by famine, drought and a civil war with islamic militants. nearly half a million refugees have left somalia to go to kenya. most are headed to the dadaab camp just inside the border. we begin with a report from martin geissler of "independent television news." he's spent a week reporting from the camp. a warning: some of the images are distressing. >> reporter: the patients just keep on arriving. there is no weekend for the staff at hagadera's children's unit. time here is measured in bed space. today as ever the ward is packed, but the doctors are happy. two of the babies causing most concern are improving. when manaj was admitted on monday, he was close to death. at seven months old, he weighed just 6.5 pounds. five days on he's improving. still weak and still frail, but still alive. >> ( translated ): surviving a nearly a week. he fought for his life. we are giving

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner.usic plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> i'm fredricka whitfield in atlanta. here's a check of our top stories. breaking news out of egypt this hour. egyptian state television is reporting that ousted egyptian president hosni mubarak has lapsed into a coma. this comes after months of ill health. egyptian state-run television quotes mubarak's attorney as saying the former president is in a full coma after his health suddenly deteriorated. >>> a top executive in the rupert murdoch media empire was arrested in london today. rebekah brooks was once the editor of murdoch's london-based tabloid "news of the world." she was taken into custody in connection with a phone hacking and police bribery scandal. >>> and casey anthony in this country is o

there have been cyclical droughts in the horn for decades. we have advanced early-warning systems that we establish and fund, including the famine- early-warning system network, and the food security and nutritional analysis unit. they continually collect data and provide analysis that has enabled us to pre-position stock in the region, to target our assistance where we can, and to look ahead. the draw that we're currently seeing in the region is the worst in the horn of africa since the 1950's. in somalia, the combined effect of consecutive seasons of poor or failed rainfall, coupled with the conflict, have resulted in rising inflation, severe crop failure, very high loss of livestock, and significant, even alarming, malnutrition rates. there are 1.4 million somalis who are displaced now. there are thousands of refugees. it takes great resilience for the somalis to continue. this is a 19% increase in six months. that means of the estimated 9.9 million people in somalia, one in four now needs international assistance to survive. in may, i tra

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. >>> all right, so before the break, we asked you, a little harry potter trivia, we all know that j.k. rowling cashes in with every film and book release. but which harry potter movie has brought in the most cash so far? the answer? harry potter and the sorcerer's attorney, the very first movie released. >>> so the eighth and final harry potter movie is already working a little magic at the box office, harry potter and the deathly hollows part two opened this week to spell bound fans and midnight screenings, already brought in a record breaking $43.5 million. unbelievable. an

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> 22 minutes after the hour. despite the fact that it is july 4th there are some things you need to know. three things to put on your radar. declaration of independence will be read at the national archives in d.c. today at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. plus, the crew of the space shuttle "atlantis" arrives in florida this afternoon at 2:45. scheduled to take it to space on friday, july 8th. i'll be there for that. president obama will celebrate the 4th with service members and their family on the south lawn of the white house. there will be a barbecue, a concert, and fireworks. the event will be streamlined wive -- stream lived on whitehouse.gov/live. >>> lucky service members who get to party with the

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> two years ago the initial reports of a phone hacking scandal at "news of the world" had fade friday the headlines, the mess being blamed on a single rogue reporter. but "the guardian" stayed on the case, leading the the appalling revelation that is prompted rupert murdoch to shutter the tabloid. i spoke with alan rushbridger from london. >> alan, welcome. >> happy to join you. >> you started digging into this story at "the guardian" two years ago. the police said there was nothing else to it. murdoch's people said there was nothing else to it. did you have any doubts that this wouldn't lead anywhere? >> there was a moment at round the end of 2009 when nobody was biting. the police had put the story to b

and the united nations say more needs to be done to fight hunger in the horn of africa. the world barely got a glimpse of the man who says he committed the worst massacre norway has seen in more than 60 years. anders behring breivik appeared in an oslo court on monday, but the judge said no to cameras. behind closed doors, breivik admitted to the bombing and the killing of scores of people. he will spend the next four weeks in solitary confinement. >> anders behring breivik was photographed leaving the courthouse. he did not look distraught, even after acknowledging he was responsible for the oslo bombing and massacre. it is one of the few photos of norway's most infamous man. reporters waited for hours. the hearing was held behind closed doors. afterwards, the judge disclosed what breivik had said at the hearing. >> while the accused has acknowledged the circumstances, he has not pleaded guilty. the accused believes he needed to carry out these acts in order to save norway and western europe from, and i quote, cultural marxism and an islamic takeover. >> police are sear

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner.n. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> a new poll conducted by an arab-american organization suggests that the u.s. support in the islamic world that was relatively sky high just two years ago, well, it's quite different today. here with cnn international. the obama administration is now getting low marks from the arab world, whereas about a year and a half ago very high marks. what happened? >> what happened? the palestinian issue, what happened? hopes that were not met. they were raised with this cairo speech two years ago, people were very hopeful, now they feel let down because the palestinian issue has not made progress because the u.s. is still involved in middle eastern affairs. and those are the two top issues that they're judging him on. so that's why his

they call it the triangle of death, an area across most of the horn of africa were 12 million peopleng of starvation. the united nations world food program plans to extend emergency aid airlift to cover the border region in ethiopia. yesterday, the united nations managed to deliver several tons of food rations to the somali capital, mogadishu. that is not a task without major risks. >> african union peacekeepers face off against militants in mogadishu on thursday. the two sides exchanged heavy gunfire, leaving several insurgents dead. the au says the offensive aimed at getting supplies to those in need. a militia had barred eight agent -- agencies from operating in regions of the country under their control. that means even more somalis are going hungry. tens of thousands have fled to the capital to escape the drought. many more continue to cross each kenya -- east kenya in hopes of reaching the camp complex. >> i spent 17 days on the road with my 12 children. thank god we made it. i have just been given a tent by an organization here. >> additional emergency shelters are being set u

[honks horn] oh...look at you! ha ha! [honks horn] high 5. yeoww! ha ha ha ha ha ha! from comedy central's world news headquarters in new york, this is "the daily show with jon stewart." captioning sponsored by comedy central [theme song playing] [cheering and applause] >> jon: welcome to "the daily show." my name is jon stewart. oh, we got a big one tonight. our guest tonight, mr. tom hanks. he is man so likable, so polite that his name actually contains the word "thanks." [laughter] it's right in it. we begin tonight with the economy, which, as many of you are aware, sucks. [laughter] right now we're looking to pay down $14.3 trillion of debt. [audience reacts] [laughter] apparently i'm reading a scary story to my children. they're going to do all the noises like it's "peter and the [bleeped] wolf or something." we're going to pay down $14. trillion of debt with a economy struggling to produce jobs, in large part because american workers still stubbornly cling to the idea that they should be more highly compensated than say suicidal chinese computer part factory hel

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. [circus music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> welcome back. here is the latest news you need to know now. >>> just moments ago, route newlyweds arrived in california, the first stop, beverly hills. prince william and dutch chest katherine probably had more fun today, they attended the calgary stampede in canada. >>> africa gets a new country tomorrow, the republic of south sound, declared ind pen dense from the north, agreed to let it go crowds in juba started celebrating early. 7,000 troops and 900 uniforms police were sent to keep the peace. >>> after a week of doubt and angry demonstrations since austerity measures in grooerks the international monetary fund released the equivalent of almost $5 approximately billion tonight, which

did you ever hear owen do the air horn? owen do the air horn, could you please?ll right. thank you very much. hey, congrats on "the addams family," this thing is a monster hit. >> thank you. >> jimmy: super smash. [ cheers and applause ] you're killing it. you're a musical theater superstar. >> i'm hardly but it is -- >> jimmy: you are. >> it is so much -- >> jimmy: i mean you're killing it on broadway. it's great. >> it's -- the audiences are loving it. i think there's such an identification, when one person here saw it. [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: yeah, yeah. >> thank you. you know, either you're a fan of the original show from way back in the '50s, or you're a fan of the movies, or you're seeing it for the first time with your kids. and it's, i mean the references are so -- we changed them. but, people have such an identification of them as a family. i mean they're morbid and they're dark, but they say things that you want to say, but you probably can't get away with it. but the underlying feeling in this family is that it's like a loving family. and mor

and million people in the horn of africa are expected to have food shortages. tens of thousands of been on the move seeking aid in rescue decamped in kenya. one of those agencies has said this is a preventable disaster. i asked the u.n. undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief. >> we have got to work really hard to manage a looming disaster. we have children who are malnourished. we have adults a malnourished. part of the problem is not just the drought, but conflict in somalia. in terms of preventing this for the future -- and we all remember the terrible pictures from the 1980's -- we have to make sure that we deal with the underlying poverty. we need to help in education and we need to support rural communities to target chains and a lot of things are having an impact. we have to deal with the now and we have to deal with the longer- term. >> if i can stick with the now, the urgency is upon us. what can be done? the scale of this seems beyond anyone's capability. >> the one thing not make a huge difference is the war in somalia. w

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner.sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... six of our viewers and i will be standing at the hudson river and jump in. it will be my second time. for our six-pack it will end a huge change from the sedentary lives they used to lead. joining me from kansas city is one of those soon to me tri-athletes. we've been at this for some time. let me ask you, how has the training been going for you? >> been going good. it's hot here in the midwest but i'm definitely getting everything done. i can't wait for the new york city triatholon. >> the heat wave is something that everybody has talked about. what have you done specifically to get your workouts in? >> as much as i hate it i've been waking up early before the sunrises and getting out there before the sun is out a

[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner.lays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... >>> good morning. i'm ali velshi. we are live at the kennedy space center here in florida. see the countdown clock over my shoulder, it has not started yet but we are expecting that space shuttle "atlantis" to take off, the planned takeoff is 11:26 eastern. we have weather issues but we're not sure how that's going to go. we are all here for it. maybe up to a million people in the area to watch this launch. two self-proclaimed space geeks, though, have a front seat for history. sarah and -- sarah and todd are two of the winners of nasa's tweet up contest. they're getting a chance to watch the final shuttle launch live and in person and they're with me now. welcome to both of you. congratulations. tell us what

. >> lehrer: still to come on the newshour: drought and famine in the horn of africa; the standoff on the debt crisis; shields and brooks; and the anti-government protests in syria. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: the long bout of searing weather hit the northeast full force today as the death toll neared 30 nationwide. extreme conditions also lingered across the plains and the midwest. for soldiers in the battle to beat the heat, it was another long day. >> leave your jacket and tie in your office, and you dress with your shirt and pants, and move on. >> sreenivasan: in new york's central park, temperatures hit 100 by early afternoon, accompanied by punishing humidity that made it feel like 116. mayor michael bloomberg warned that increased use of air conditioners and fans could push power usage to an all-time record. >> this, we think, will be the most stressful day on the electric grid in recent history, maybe ever, and what we need is for people to turn their air conditioners to no cooler than 79. it's a little uncomfortable, but not

calls for massive action in the horn of africa as the somali ministers warned millions could starve toeath. it is a 11:00 a.m. here in singapore. >> it is 4:00 a.m. here in singapore, broadcasting to viewers on pbs and around the world. this is "newsday." president barack obama has warned the republican party that they were playing a dangerous game in the country's approach to resolving its debt crisis. in a live broadcast to the nation, he said the failure to solve the problem with tax increases would damage the economy. he also accused many of his republican opponents of refusing to compromise and allow for a temporary revising of official limits on arwin. >> despite our disagreements, republican leaders and i have found common ground before. and i believe that enough members of both parties will ultimately lead us put party politics aside and help us make progress. i realize that a lot of the new members of congress and i do not see eye to eye on many issues, but we were each elected by some of the same americans for some of the same reasons. yes, many want government to start livin