>> now, the plan does not address the debt ceiling. you see the debt clock there. it ticks down to august 2nd. that's when the u.s. could start defaulting on some of its bills. it could be a jumping-off point for a bigger deal. here are some of the highlights of the plan according to cnn senate forces, it shaves about $4 trillion off the debt load. rejiggers the tax load, cuts short-term spending by about $500 billion. it changes the entire budgeting process and it reforms social security. now, this plan is not to be confused with something you heard about yet, cut, cap and balance. that's a house plan that passed last night, imposing strict limits on future federal spending. that is likely doa, probably won't pass the senate. the president is promising to veto it if it did. in about 90 minutes, the spotlight in the news corp. phone hacking scandal turns to british prime minister david cameron. he'll be front and center at the house of commons talking about his links to the murdoch media empire, this just a day after rupert murdoch insisted to lawmakers he didn't know much. >> i don't know. >> i don't know. >> i was not aware at the time. >> i don't have any memory. >> i don't know anything about that. >> i'm not sure what i said. >> i cannot spare to the accuracy of it. >> i just don't remember. >> check this out, a pie attack. you see it there, bottom left of your screen. the most memorable moments of the intense two-hour hearing. the pie man is a comedian who sent a tweet before the attack comparing murdoch to mr. burns, yes, that mr. burns on the left, the sinister but powerful simpsons character. the attacker is facing criminal charges this morning. will rupert murdoch face any? here is jeffrey toobin on "ac 360." >> a lot of people have talked about the possibility of criminal charges in the united states, the foreign corrupt practices act or something connected with hacking of 9/11 victims. there is really no credible evidence at all of any sort of american criminal violations by anyone in connection with news corp. so i really think the question is really a business one over here as well as in england, can the murdochs stay in control? and i think probably yes is the answer. another hacking headline, 14 accused hackivists are wanted for a sish attack on paypal. the sweeps span the country tarthing people. this video is from a raid on long island. they're said to be from the hacking group an none mist which claims to have attacked visa and master card after the companies refused to process donations being made to wikileaks. the crew of the shuttle "atlantis" waking up to the last full day in space and the last full day of a nasa space shuttle mission ever. ♪ >> waking up to the song "fanfare for the common man," a fittal title for the one final trip home. they're scheduled to land tomorrow at 5:56 eastern time. in about five minutes, i'll be talking to the crew of "atlantis" live in space about their historic flight and where space exploration goes from here. you'll want to stay tuned for that. an air traffic controller in colorado has been pull friday his post, in trouble for allegedly being drunk at the switch. the faa says the controller was about six hours into an eight-hour shift at the denver air route traffic control center when he failed a routine alcohol test earlier this month. the faa says there was no indication of any problems during the shift. heads up for gay couples looking to tie the knot in new york city. they will have to hit the lotto. that's how mayor michael bloomberg is handling the high demand. >> the last thing we want to have happen is for couples to wait online for hours and hours only to walk away upset on what was supposed to be the biggest day of their life. we believe the fairest way to determine who gets the chance to wed on sunday is through a lottery system. >> city officials are capping the number of nuptials at 764. time for a quick check on the world's markets. a strong day on u.s. markets last night. let's go to nina dos santos live from london. nina, this is coming after a strong warning from the international monetary fund about the debt crisis in europe? >> the imf issuing some strong words for eu leaders just ahead of tomorrow's summit, ali because they'll be trying to hammer out a second bailout for greece tomorrow when they meet. let's also take a look at why this should be concerning some of our viewers. a lot of economists have been saying that they're worried about this greece issue bays it undermines the stability of the euro which is a major trade in currency around the world. economists telling me it's not a good time to have worries about the euro because you've got worries about the u.s. dollar when it comes to the debacle when it comes to raising the debt ceiling ahead of august 2nd. >> a lot of things investors have to digest today, the strong markets yesterday largely had to do with earnings reports in the united states. one stock we've seen do nothing but lose value for the last couple weeks did quite well yesterday. that was the stock of rupert murdoch's company. >> that's right, ali. this stock is down by about 12% since july 5th. that's when the phone hacking scandal started gaining more momentum here in britain. that means it's wiped off about $5 billion off his market capitalization. nevertheless, the stock did rally about 5.5% yesterday as rupert murdoch and his son james gave testimony to the parliamentary select committee here in the united kingdom, spiked significantly higher when james murdoch himself made a number of comments about transparency at the company. but this has affected the value of the shares that the murdoch family own. they've lost about $750 million on their own stake. wouldn't feel too sorry for them, ali. they still own shares that are worth more than $5 billion in total. >> nobody ever wants to lose money though, do they? good to see you this morning. i'm check in with you later. let's go to jacqui jeras live in atlanta in the weather center. activity in the tropics that might be of concern to us? >> good morning. we've been watching tropical storm bret, winds about 50 miles per hour. it will stay offshore. the good news is we're not expecting this to bring showers and thunderstorms to the u.s., but we've got a lot of beach goers this time of year. this could bring in rough surf and also the threat of rip krentsz in georgia and florida. something to keep in mind over the next couple days. the heat continues to be a huge story across the nation. good news for folks across the nation's midsection. we're looking for some relief by tomorrow. however, that heat has got to go somewhere, right? watch out for folks along the eastern seaboard. we've got excessive heat warnings and watches already in place as that heat starts to make a little bit of a shift off towards the east. if you're traveling today, looking for problems in san francisco due to the wind. chicago we've got thunderstorms moving in as we speak. atlanta and miami will have problems later today because of thunderstorms. that will be the same case in the houston area as thunderstorms pop up there. ali, pay attention to this next story. i'm not normally a potty mouth. however, we have a story to tell you about today. bill gates says it's time to reinvent, yes, the tail let. it's serious business, however. the foundation is offering up about $41 million for anybody who can reinvent this. basically it's been the same deal for about the last 200 years. they say it's important because people in other parts of the world can't really afford the porcelain -- >> it's actually done more for health and hygiene, the toilet than anything else. let's find a new one that even goes further and becomes more affordable. >> you're usually not a potty mouth. jacqui jeras, we'll check in with you later on. the astronauts on "atlantis" are orbiting hundreds of miles above earth. coming up in three minutes, we'll talk to them live on cnn. they they are standing by. the quote of the day is from one of our congressman. can you guess which said "you are the most vial, unprofessional and despicable member of the u.s. house of representatives. if you have something to say to me, say it to my face. otherwise, shuck the heck up. we'll talk about it right after the break. it's nine minutes after the hour. 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! 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[ pigeons ] heyyy! hooo!!! shuttle launched into space. this week the shuttle era ends. the first reusable space program. the orbiter holds the crew and payload. the huge orange external tank holds fuel, and the two solid rocket boosters, those things on the side, provide most of the shuttle's lift during the first two minutes of flight. all the components are usable -- reusable except the big orange tank. it burns up in the atmosphere after each launch. fully loaded the shuttle system weighs about 4.5 million pounds for those of you counting, that's about 300 el fantsz. columbia, challenger, discovery, "atlantis" and endeavor have taken 130 flights in total into the final pro tear, carrying more than 350 people in space. the shuttles have traveled more than half a billion miles, more than enough to get to the planet jupiter. >> two, one, zero and liftoff, the final liftoff of "atlantis" on the shoulders of the space shuttle america will continue the dream. >> that was the stirring moment on july 8th at the kennedy space center, the final shuttle mission that took off that day is wrapping up now. it began on july 8th with the incredible launch of the space shuttle "atlantis." there you see it heading towards the clouds. it was a cloudy day. there were questions as to whether it would take off, but it did. an historic takeoff watched by over a million people in person, never mind those watching it on tv. chris ferguson, doug hurley, rex walheim and sandy magnus have been in space ever since that day. they're still there. there they are. right now the shuttle is flying above the atlantic ocean. those astronauts join us live from space prepping for tomorrow morning's landing, 24 hours from now. thanks to all of you so much for joining us. this is the last time the shuttle astronauts will ever be interviewed live on cnn. let's start with commander chris ferguson. chris, this is the last space shuttle mission. when you think of all that's been done in space and all that is being planned from here on, it almost feels like you are going to be a veteran of the golden age of space travel. >> first off, hello, ali. it's great to speak with you. welcome aboard the flight deck of the space shuttle "atlantis" on her final day in space. you know, i wouldn't say this is the end of the golden age. it's certainly the end of, perhaps, a very specific age where just a select few can go into space. i think what we'll see in the next few years is a very broadening horizon, an opportunity for people who have never had an opportunity to go into space, to at least get to lower earth orbit. we'll turn over the reins of that business to our commercial partners and that will enable nasa to take the resources we put into the shuttle and hopefully go beyond lower earth orbit in the not-too-distant future. >> sandy magnus, mission specialist, you enjoy cooking, known to cook up special treats. i know you made christmas cookies once and made salsa for the super bowl. anything planned for the final meal up in space? >> i don't have anything planned. i may end up surprising the guys. the problems with the shuttle missions is they're so busy. this one has been incredibly busy. it haven't had time to do much space cooking. i gave some tips so they can try a few of my recipes. >> chris ferguson, you'll be watching you closely. one of the cities i spend time in is philadelphia. you're a local to that area. what do you have to say to the folks on earth watching you bring that thing in beautifully tomorrow morning? >> well, i guess what i said to the folks when we left mission control, one of our orbit ships we spoke to them for the last time from orbit yesterday, i said as they walked out of the room to look up and make a memory. i'm say that to everybody who has an opportunity to perhaps see the landing realtime or see the shuttle on the runway, take a good look at it and make a memory because you'll never see anything like this again. it's been an incredible ride. >> rex, how are you kneeling about this? normally there's a comradery, a club of people who have flown on the space shuttle. that club sort of closes tomorrow. what's your feeling about this final landing? >> i think it is historic in that nature, but i think it's going to open up a new era of space flight. right now there have been a tremendous amount of people who have flown, the vast majority that have ever flown in space. we want the next step, get access to lower earth orbit cheaper and more frequent. we can do that by partnering with our commercial partners. that can allow nasa to focus on the exploration, going beyond lower earth orbit, astroids, the moon or mars. i think it's going to be an extremely enjoyable and exciting time for nasa. we have to get through transition. transitions are always hard. we'll get through it. >> the whole world will be watching when you land tomorrow as you approach for the final time the landing of the space shuttle "atlantis." good luck to all of you. god speed and have a save next 24 hours. rex walheim, sandy magnus, chris ferguson and doug hurley, thanks to all of you. we look forward to watching this. cnn will cover it live tomorrow morning. coming up on "american morning" at 8:10 eastern, the head of nasa, dr. charles boulden will be live to talk about the next big pron fear. as rex talked about, whether it's an astroid or mars and how commercial space travel plays into the equation. that's nasa's charles boulden, 8:10 a.m. eastern time. it's 19 minutes after the hour. back to the quote of the day from one of america's distinguished congressmen. he said you are the most viable, unprofessional and despicable member of the u.s. house of representatives. if you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face. otherwise, shut the heck up. that was freshman republican congressman alan west of florida ripping into fellow congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz via e-mail, wasserman disparaged his bill which passed the house last night. here is watt wasserman said that provoked west's response. >> the gentleman from florida who represent thousands of medicare beneficiaries as do i is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for medicare beneficiaries, unbelievable from a member from south florida. it slashes medicaid -- >> we always have a national day for you. today is national day of the ugly truck contest. basically you need to be on the luckout for the ugliest truck on the road. tell me if you find one. 20 minutes after the hour. 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[ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. and i am a phoenix. somewhere in america, a city comes to life. it moves effortlessly, breathes easily. it flows with clean water. it makes its skyline greener and its population healthier. all to become the kind of city people want to live and work in. somewhere in america, we've already answered some of the nation's toughest questions. and the over sixty thousand people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. 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. time for your political ticker with tim farley from serious xm powe does live from washington. good morning, tim. the stalemate over the debt ceiling, it feels like there might be cracks in it, feels like this new deal -- i don't know what you want to call the gang of six, but looks like they might be making some progress. >> the gang of six was down to the five guys, then it was the four seasons and the three amigos, but now back to the gang of six. i think what we're looking at is there's going to have to be a shermt measure. even though the president gave it a little bear hug yesterday during his appearance in the briefing room, we'll have to see how it turns out. polls are showing people want it desperately. >> let me bring up this brand new abc news "washington post" poll which reflects stuff you and i have been talking about in the last week or so with other polls. it shows more than six in ten americans say in agreement on the deficit needs to include a combination of spending cuts and some tax increases. >> and both polls seem to indicate that the president and republicans are not doing enough, more so republicans, and even independent voters feel that way. i was thinking about this as you were talking to the shuttle astronauts, ali, tomorrow is the anniversary of man walking on the moon 689 i remember that feeling in 1969 of can-do spirit. that's what people are looking for in the debt ceiling talks. we'll see if they get it at least by friday of this week which is the deadline for some general agreement. >> you're absolutely right about that. it's hard to garner that feeling around budgets and deficits. tim farley the host of morning briefing on serious xm powe tus. zain verjee in london,