mare mary snow takes a look. >> reporter: when edgar opened this hardware store nearly three years ago in brooklyn, he planned on getting it up and running and then handing it over to his parents for their financial security when they retired. but the recession changed everything. his small business is struggling. he's had to lay off workers, and now taking in relatives who are out of work themselves. >> i wanted to get a business running, being an owner of a business. that was my dream. and basically this dream has become not a nightmare, but basically really hard. >> reporter: for minorities like edgar, the recession has taken a particularly heavy toll. they have fallen further behind in the wealth gap behind whites. the median wealth of hispanics fell by a staggering 56%. for blacks, the drop was 53%. compared to a 16% drop among white households. senior researcher rikesh coacher says the study was done between 2005 and 2009 and finds the main reason for the huge drop in wealth among hispanics is due to the housing crash. >> hispanics are much more likely to live in areas like arizo

mary snow will tell us. it's 26 minutes after the hour. you are watching "american morning."s water from the drinking fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can now come from any faucet anywhere. introducing the brita bottle with the filter inside. >>> time for your top stories this morning. as we mentioned this morning on capitol hill house speaker john boehner is again going to try to muster enough republican support to pass his debt plan. last night the vote was called off. it was supposed to be yesterday afternoon. they delayed it. supposed to be last night. it was called off after the speaker was unable to convince enough hardline fiscal conservatives to back the plan. >> police uncovering a terror plot targeting soldiers at ft. hood in texas. naser abdo an awol muslim-american private was arrested. police say he planned to kill soldiers outside the base. army major nadal hassan is accused of killing 13 fellow soldiers at ft. hood, just two years ago. >>> and tropical storm don is expected to hit the texas gulf coast around midnight tonight. hea

thanks so much, mary snow. so much. >> you bet. >> republicans on parade, most of the gop presidential candidates are spending this holiday with voters and key battleground states. a look at the politics and patriotism. a murder suspect taunts police saying meet him for brufrp at his mexican hideout. [ male announcer ] this...is the network -- 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. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money

let's go to jerusalem there is with me you know mary snow head first answer go ahead let's let's go let's let's deal with both of those charges very very early the first charge is that the attack or the hallmarks of them aside you know we did mossad homeworks include confirmation of the kill lots of agents targeted a single person in the included specific kinds of most when the mossad allegedly killed. in syria that was one person when they killed. when they did the hit in dubai it was aimed at one person it's not the case now there are people who say that the fact that this given period a hallmark of a messiah here but rather than. the hallmarks of a syrian hit was the messiah's attempts to make it look like syria did it ok listen if the argument is that it's them aside when it looks like an aside and it's them aside when it doesn't look like them aside then that's not an argument that can be answered that's that is the essence of a non-fossil viable conspiracy theory the second charge which is that israel benefited is an absurd charge israel did not benefit by putting his pala by elimin

. ♪ >>> mary snow is monitoring some of the other top stories in soich right now, including growing fearsn oil spill. mary, what have you got? >> exxon mobil is facing more criticism over the handling of an oil spill. reuters reports that 40 landowners claim their properties have been came nated by crude oil from a ruptured pipeline. exxon says it's found oil 25 miles downstream, but the feds say they've observed crews at a distance almost ten times that far. >>> a roof clams at a dutch stadium has left one person dead. team officials are pleading with fans to stay away. the club has been growing in popularity after winning the top dutch league last year. >>> dominique strauss-kahn is sticking to his guns and won't plead guilty to anything, his lawyer tells cnn. the former imf chief and his defense teamed met with prosecutors for two hours yesterday. the manhattan district attorney says there are problems with the accuser's credibility. this could leave him with no choice but to dismiss the charges. >>> you can add cussive writing to the list of things being cut from public school curricu

cnn's mary snow is in new york. she's joining us with this part of the story. mary?, wolf, stocks had their worst week in a year with stocks down 4% for the week. as one trader put it, people are now just crossing their fingers that a deal will be done by monday. >> we are almost out of time. >> reporter: in washington, an impasse. on wall street, growing anxiety. stocks had their worst week in a year. how nervous are people right now? >> they're very concerned. >> reporter: trader alan valdez says while a deal to raise the debt ceiling is expected to happen, there's also the belief that a downgrade of the u.s. credit rating will happen. and he is bracing for what's to come. not far from his memory, the market losses prompted by the collapse of lehman brothers. >> with lehman, it caught us by shock. but we knew the feds would come in and save the day eventually. right now, there's not that feeling out there. we don't know for sure what's going to happen. >> reporter: one bank took a look at the what-ifs in the worst-case scenario of a first-ever default in u.s. histo

mary snow takes a look at what's behind this gender gap in hiring. >> reporter: of the people who aree dominating, getting more jobs than women since the recovery began. the health care industry has been a rare bright spot in a dismal jobs market. and it's one of the reasons why 47-year-old steven wah switched from a tech career to nursing. he landed a job here where he saw an opportunity in a field traditionally dominated by women. >> i came into the workforce as a man in his 40s going into this field where i knew there wouldn't be a lot of men my age that i would be competing for jobs with. >> reporter: health care is one field where the pew research center found that men are finding jobs at a faster rate than women. since the recovery started two years ago, men gained 805,000 jobs while women lost 281,000 jobs in that same period. it's a major shift from the start of the recession. this economist says then men lost 7 out of 10 jobs and says it's not surprising they are now gaining jobs faster. a pick-up in manufacturing earlier this year helped put men to work. but there's another

mary snow is looking at this part of the story. mary?fore has the u.s. had a credit rating downgraded. the immediate effect would be higher borrowing costs and average americans would not be spared the cost. >> officials feel the questions and they have no direct answers. at the same time a senior government bank examiner told lawmakers there is reason to worry. >> am i right to worry that this could be bad? >> it's hard to measure, but i think you are right to worry. it could happen. >> the down great on the rating would be costing the u.s. government $100 billion a year in borrowing costs over the long-term. consumers would pay. interest rates that would mean higher borrowing costs on home mortgages and car loans and student loans. by how much is inn clear, but to give know awe example of impact, let's say interest rates were to go up by 1%. on a $200,000 mortgage, that would mean $124 in payments. 401(k) could lose ground triggered by a credit downgrade. businesses would feel the effects. >> they are talking about how uncertainty is p

. >> mary snow is monitoring some of the other top stories in the situation room right now, includingan accused of shooting congresswoman gabrielle giffords. mary? >> hi there. a federal appeals court is suspending the force medication of jared loughner until it hears arguments from loughner's attorneys. he's accused of killing six people. he's been diagnosed with schizophrenia. a judge found him incompetent to stand trial and ruled he could be forced to take an psychotic drugs. montana governor is touring oil-stricken areas of the yellowstone river today. since friday, 42,000 gallons of oil have poured through a crack in one of exxonmobil's pipelines. clean-up efforts are under way, and exxon mobile says it closed down the pipeline within minutes, but the spill has spread as far as 15 miles from the initial leak site. two bombser to through a government building north of baghdad today. iraqi police say the explosions killed at least 35 people and injured 28 hours. while sectarian violence in iraq has diminished, bombings and attacks are still a daily occurrence. that's heightening co

cnn's mary snow is working that part of the story. mary, you've been talking to some experts.e for investors? >> well, wolf, their advice is simple. don't panic but be smart. as one financial adviser put, it at this point tweaks may be necessary to investment but not major changes. wall street is warily watching the high stakes political battle in washington over raising the debt ceiling. as the august 2nd deadline inches closer with no deal, investors are growing edgy turning to financial advisers like greg olson >> they are asking what effect will the budget impasse have on their portfolio. >> reporter: and what are you telling them? >> most likely nothing. >> reporter: olson says for long-term investment likes 401(k)s, investors should ignore the headlines and leave their money alone, but for money needed sooner than that -- >> if there is money that they are going to need in the short term, a year, two years, that's money that most likely should not be invested in equities at this point. >> reporter: so where should they put it if not stocks? cash, says olson, is one optio

let's go to mary snow who has been looking at the ideas for us. what did you find?e been talking about the 14th amendment, but as the deadline approaches with no deal, other scenarios are examined. include with minting a coin. it speaks to the nervousness as the deadline draws closer. >> t minus four days until the government can no longer borrow money if congress doesn't reach an agreement, is there a plan b for president obama to raise money? under the category of desperate times calling for desperate measures, there is some talk of issuing two $1 trillion coins y. coins? constitutional law expert said there is a statutory limit on the amount of paper currency that can be in circulation. not on coins. it's an idea he calls science fiction. >> what it underscores is that people are now trying to investigate different ways of resolving an artificially created crisis. i think the problem is that the solutions have been offered precisely because the situation we have been put in is absurd. >> an option for the president that is taken more seriously is the idea of him

this is mary snow. >> the dwight between whites and minorities with wealth is the widest it's been in comes as no surprise if communities like this. when edgar opened this hardware store nearly three years ago in brooklyn, he planned on getting it up and running and handing it over to his parents. the recession changed everything. his small business is struggling and he had to lay off workers and now taking in relatives out of work themselves. >> my american dream was to get a business running. being the owner of a business. that was my dream. this dream has become not a nightmare, but really hard. >> for minorities, it took a heavy toll. they have fallen further behind in the gap behind whites. the research center found that the median wealth of hispanics fell by 66%. for blacks it was 53%. compared to a 16% drop with white households. the senior researcher said the study was done between 2005 and 2009. it finds the main reason for the drop in wealth with hispanics is due to the housing crash. >> hispanics are much more likely in live in areas like arizona, california, florida, and n

. >>> mary snow is monitoring other items in "the situation room" what do you have?h in the central african nation of congo according to a government official, but the number of dead still isn't known. an aviation official says the plane likely went down due to bad weather as it was land income a provincial cap nat northeastern part of the country on a flight from the national capital, kinshasa. >>> here in the u.s., casey anthony lend will be spending a few more days in custody than expected. officials say they recalculated her release date and moved it from next wednesday to a week from sunday but they aren't say how they came up with the new day. anthony was acquit old of murdering her daughter but convicted of trying investigators. she was sentenced to four years credit for time served. >>> and there is fresh fallout from the scandal that caused ohio state football coach jim tressel had his job. the school now stays is vacating all ten of its victories from the 2010 season and putting itself on two years' probation. the scandal centered on players getting special

." ♪ >> mary snow is monitoring other top situations including whitey bulger back in court this afternoon>> reputed mobster james whitey bulger pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including allegations he took part in 19 murders. prosecutors say the 81-year-old headed up the south boston irish gang before fleeing a racketeering indictment in 1995. he was on the run for 16 years before he was apertured last month in california. newly released faa recordings show a dramatic exchange. the pilot of flight 812 put the plane into a rapid descent when a huge hole appeared in the fuselage.scending -- >> probably going to turn around and go back to phoenix. >> yuma was closer so he landed there. no one was hurt. an initial investigation blames metal fatigue for the fuselage hole. now a sight you don't see often. two women in an allout brawl in afghanistan's parliament. one lawmaker threw her shoe. the other threw a water battle. >> we thought the fighting in washington was bad. >> wow. this's something you don't see every day. >> a mexican man convicted of rape and murder is about to be

mary ann here on gig began's island ♪ >> his legacy will be his shows and they go on forever. >> reporter: ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles. >> they don't make them like they used to. >> what snow> i would go with gill lan's island. >> who knew it would be the blueprint for "survivor." >> put four perfect strangers on a couch in the morning. >> only thing missing is the ,,,,wreck. k9 advantix ii. not only kills fleas and ticks, it repels most ticks before they can attach and snack on us. frontline plus kills but doesn't repel. any tick that isn't repelled or killed may attach and make a meal of us. [ male announcer ] ask your veterinarian about k9 advantix ii. ♪ hershey's drops. a lot of hershey's happiness in a little drop of chocolate. headlines... in about an hour, fa >>> good morning. it is 8:55. i'm elizabeth wenger with your cbs 5 headlines. >>> in about an hour, family and friends will pay their final respects to the fisherman who died in baja, california. he was 63-year-old leslie yee from ceres. he he tired in 2009 after 37 -- retired in 2009 after 37 years at the "chronicle." >>> cal state is boosting a 12% tuition hike yesterday. it also approved a $100,000 raise for