atia is live in afghanistan. >> reporter: he made his way down to kandahar and helmand. he was expecting questions on the war. i'm sure he wasn't expecting questions on the debt crisis. one of the number one questions he got from the troops here in afghanistan was, will we get paid? his answer was, quote, i actually don't know the answer to that question. i have confidence that at some point in time, whatever compensation you are owed, you will be given." what's interesting here is that the sailors, the soldiers, the air men and the marines here in afghanistan have enough to worry about. they are thinking about bombs, ieds, rpgs, the taliban and the insurgency. now they are thinking about their paychecks, as well. will they be paid? will their families be provided for? many of these service members that come, the men and women come because they get an increase in pay if they go to a war zone. they were hoping for that money to go to their families. they wonder if their families are going to receive that money. >> atia, thank you very much. the reaction to the debt ceilin

>> so, atia, then did they get reassurance at all? >> reporter: well, that was the interesting part. i wasn't actually down in kandahar with them, but from the reporters who were out there, they said admiral mullen didn't really have an answer for them. but what he did say he kind of made a joke out of it and said you should probably write letters to your congressmen and women. and that received chuckles from the crowd, because they realized as well, how ridiculous that is, because they're in a war zone. they're here risking their lives. but at the same time, they're also worried about their paycheck. >> they are, indeed. and really they should not be. thank you very >>> the house will convene in less than two hours with the debt ceiling crisis coming to a head. i'm joined live by michael grim of new york. congressman grim is a member of the financial services committee and frequent guest on our broadcast. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> before i get to questions we've prepared for you, i want to have you react to what atia w

atia abowie, nbc news, and ka buhl. >>> a 10-year-old white tiger gave birth to quintuplets today.rs at the park in northeast china say all five cubs are healthy, and the mother is caring for them. they say it's rare to see a white tiger have cubs that are also all white. the mother is now on a special diet to make sure she has enough nutrition for her babies to grow up healthy. and ferocious. >> they're beautiful animals. >> they are. >> aren't they? >>> there is more to come on news4 at 4:00. we will head to new york city to preview tonight's fireworks show there, featuring beyonce. >>> plus, a feud is brewing between exxonmobil and montana's governor over an oil spill honey, why aren't you playing with your friends? i am playing with my friends. hey, mrs. d... joseph? sarah! it's mommy's turn now. let's go. [ male announcer ] the average home has over four internet-connected devices. we were gonna storm the castle. i love your hair. [ sarah ] thanks i went to your guy. it's perfect. i thought we were storming the castle. [ male annncer ] that's why you need the internet rated #1

atia abowie, nbc news, kabul. >>> general petraeus is expected to turn over his command in afghanistan18th of this month. he'll retire from the army on august 31st, and then he will take over as cia director right after labor day. >>> the ft. meade military base is having its annual 4th. many military families are ther enjoying the music and food while the kids play on the free carnival rides. active duty members we spoke to today say it is all about family and freedom. >> i probably have been away from my daughter half her life due to deployment. so it's nice to spend time with her. >> i think i'm most thankful for being an american. having traveled throughout the world, seeing other countries and what they do, for us it's clearly the best country in the world. >> the night will be capped off with fireworks. they start at 9:30. >>> britain's prince william put his experience as a military helicopter pilot to the test today in canada. on prince edward island, the prince strapped into a seeking helicopter to practice emergency water landing procedures. william pilots rescue helicopters

>> okay, atia shubert joining us live from westminster, many thanks for that, atika will also be on the show later on to give us more insight into what we can expect and what the consequences of what's going to be said today will be. manisha? >> also nina you mentioned earlier how the stock price has been affected. we've been tracking the slump in news corp stock in the wake of the hacking allegations. news corp shares actually closed up by just over 2.5%. in australia today, that reprieve coming after a two-year low on monday and as bloomberg reports that news corp is considering replacing rupert murdoch with coo chase caray. the company dismissed speculation that murdoch may step down. as for news corp's u.s. shares they sank to a six-month low monday dropping another 5% and the company's loss more than $8 billion in market value in the past two weeks alone. july 5th, which was when those allegations about the scandal started to surface and at that time news corp's share price was $18.54, let's move on, by july the 11th, news corp stock actually reached over $16 a share. now that was

. >> atia, thank you so much live there in kabul. >>> weeks of triple digit temperatures, combined withs of little raunfall, is turning texas into a dust bowl. it could mean billions in losses for the state. an update on that, next. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ going to the bank without going to the bank... that's a step forward. with chase quickdeposit on your smartphone, you just snap a picture, hit send and done. chase quickdeposit. take a step forward and chase what matters. ♪ we just keep on keepin' on ♪ ♪ keep on >>> the air campaign and the battle for libya is aiming at on-air targets now. nato warplanes disabled three television transmitters in tripoli to stop gadhafi from using tv as a means to threaten the libyan people and insite acts of violence against them. >>> texas is experiencing one of the worst droughts since recordkeeping began ther

>> thanks so much, atia. >>> u.s.relations with pakistan are getting icier as drone attacks are intensifying following this suspension of one-third to u.s. military aid to pakistan. u.s. slammed pakistan's reluctance to fight afghan militants along its border. >>> a government accountability report released today finds the system for detecting medicaid and medicare fraud are inadequate and underused. billion of dollars and claims are paid out each year, according to the report. >>> final spacewalk of the nasa era is conducted today. it won't be conducted by atlanta's astronauts. two space station residents will execute the walk to retrieve a broken pump. meantime, the landing plan for the "atlantis" has changed. it will now touchdown in the predawn hours of july 21st at the kennedy space center. >>> meantime, all eyes are going to be on sergeant scott moore at the marine corps ball this november when he shows up with movie star mila kunis on his arm. he asked her to the ball on youtube. take a look. >> hey, mila. serg