shuttle. we are now less than one hour away from the final space shuttle landing. just in the last half-hour, we got a go for landing from nasa. the deorbit burn took place in the last couple of minutes. in the burn, the shuttle's engines are fired to help it slow down before it hits the atmosphere. in less than 30 minutes the shuttle and crew will start to feel the effects of the atmosphere. they'll be about 80 miles above the earth at that point. as the shuttle comes through the atmosphere, it heats up to about 5,000 degrees on the outside. when it breaks through the atmosphere, many of the folks in florida will hear those famous son iic booms. about five minutes before the landing, the commander will take manual control of the shuttle and pilot it to the grounds. when the orbiter hits the runway, it will be going 220 miles an hour. the shuttle will land for the last time ever at 5:56 a.m. eastern time. and just so you know, nasa is considering this a night landing. the landing time is 42 minutes before sunrise in florida. once the shuttle touches down on the runway, you want to listen for the commander of the "atlantis," chris ferguson, to say the words, "wheels stop." when this happens, the shuttle program is officially over. let's go to houston mission control where ed lavendera joins us live. so our viewers know, the space shuttle takes off from kennedy space center in florida, but as soon as it is up houston takes control for that time and for the rest of the mission. how's it looking down there at mission control? >> reporter: everything we've kept hearing all morning long is that everything is looking absolutely perfect, especially the weather. no complaints so far that deorbital burn that you were talking, but everything there went smoothly, as well. look behind me. these are the men and women who have been working on this last, final shuttle mission, ali. and you can tell there are a lot of emotional people in there. we've seen a lot of smiles this morning. several people with cameras taking pictures of themselves. nasa has photographers inside, as well, documenting these final moments. these are the men and women who round-the-clock man the shuttle mission, make sure everything goes smoothly. in the middle, there's a man by the name of tony zacacchi, flight commander, bringing the shuttle down for the final minute. an hour ago, they were going through the final checks to prepare for the deorbital burn. he said, i never thought this this moment would ever come. talking about making the call for the final systems check. so you can -- i think it speaks stroms what these men and women are experiencing. there's a great number of people who filled up the visitor gallery off to the side. families of those who have worked so many space shuttle missions. an emotional moment. mission control, this is the area where the astronauts live. this is where they train. this is where thousands and thousands of people who have worked on the space shuttle mission for 30 years have -- and they're watching this moment closely. in fact, just outside of the mission control building outside, many people gathering, setting up a viewing location to watch the shuttle "atlantis" come home. you can imagine that this is an extremely emotional moment. and everyone here hoping everything here goes smoothly in the next hour. all of these people, you imagine after the shuttle lands and everything goes so well, everything looking to go smoothly, these people will have a lot to say and a lot to feel based on everything that they've been through the last 30 years. ali? >> about a half-hour ago we got word that it was go for landing, which means it was beginning its final orbit, probably the final orbit, 200th orbit of earth. what are the contingencies if it doesn't land at 5:56? does it take another spin around and try and come back? >> reporter: yeah, they have contingencies for a lot of that, and what might happen. you know, i don't get any sense here that any of that is actually a concern at this point. we've heard repeatedly here this morning that the weather is absolutely perfect. that everything, all the machinery, everything on board the space shuttle is working perfectly. so any other contingency plans, i'd be shocked if we go to at this point. so everything seems to be clear to -- for the space shuttle to land within the hour. >> ed, thank you very much. we will be staying with us through the course of the hour. we're watching this closely. as we said, the space shuttle "atlantis" now on its final orbit of earth. it's got a go for landing, the landing is expected in the next 50 minutes. we'll stay with it closely. it's going to be another extremely hot day on earth as a deadly heat wave dprips much of the nation. it's already been blamed for 22 deaths. the high temperatures are affecting 141 million people in more than 30 states. there are heat watches, warnings, or advisories. rob marciano is live in atlanta. rob, what's the situation? and when might we get some relief from this? >> well, we'll get relief across the northern tier. a little cool front will clip the northern plains in through the western great lakes. as it presses off to the east, it kind of shoves all the heat that was in minnesota and wisconsin to the south and to the east. so places like new york city now, philadelphia, baltimore, d.c., are going to see some of the hottest weather this season. we'll see it for quite some time. we have these heat advisories that have been posted for the area. basically almost 1/3 of the country under heat advisories with indices that could be up over 110. dangerous if you're out for any extended period of time. be aware of that to the south and the east. it's a fact we don't say too much, but we've seen it in the past. a few years ago in europe, in the '90s in chicago, heat is the deadliest form of fatality. take care of yourself and do what you need to do to stay cool. we'll talk more about this. >> what's the weather doing for flight delays, for viewers who are traveling this morning? >> so far, so good. we'll have pop-up thunderstorms in spots. for those folks there will be cooling, but if you're traveling, you know, airplanes have to fly around those. that will add time in various spots especially across the eastern 2/3 of the country. >> and in this weather, some of those are unpredictable. we'll check in through the course of the morning. rob marciano in the weather center. the debt ceiling deadline is closing in, and there's no deal even though the president said he wanted something worked out pie tomorrow, giving it enough time to get through congress by august 2, the day at which we don't have money to pay all our bills. that's had the federal government starts -- that's when the federal government starts defaulting on its obligation. the white house is opening the door to an idea that was off the table a few days ago -- a short-term hike to buy more time. >> we would not support a short-term extension absent an agreement to a larger deal. that's not acceptable. obviously if both sides agree to something significant, we will support the measures needed to finalize the details of that. this time yesterday we reported a burst of enthusiasm for a bipartisan plan put forward by the so-called gang of six in the senate. today, that excitement might be fading. some republicans complain that it raises taxes too much and cuts spending too little. democrats, meanwhile, don't like it because it makes changes to social security and medicare. a new terror report warns that an insider at a utility company could plot sabotage, giving would-be attackers detailed information about what goes on at specific facilities. homeland security officials say they are on their toes about the ongoing threat after a series of incidents. the agency stresses there is no credible intelligence about an imminent security threat but says it will work hand in hand with state and local officials to keep the country's infrastructure safe. two convicted killers were set to die by lethal injection overnight. one execution went through, the other was delayed. in texas, mark anthony strohman died at 9:53 p.m. eastern time. the admitted white supremacist went on a post-9/11 shooting rampage, killing two men and injuring a third. the surviving victim created a web site hoping to stop the execution, but it didn't work. in georgia, andrew grants deyoung is alive. his execution pushed back to tonight. the videotaping is at the request of a separate death row inmate that worries the drug in the needle causes needless suffering. deyoung was convicted of stabbing his parents and sister to death for inhair tan money in 1993 -- inheritance money in 1993. self nfl players are sug the league saying they knew as early as the 1920s how harmful head injuries could be but they kept the information a secret from players, coaches, and trainers until june of 2010. in a statement the nfl told us, "we have not seen the complaint but would vigorously contest any claims of this kind." the company that makes helmets for the nfl is named as a defendant. they told us they don't comment on pending lawsuits. for a check of world markets, the nikkei closed slightly higher. the hang seng closed down. the dax and ftse are down at this hour. let's go across the world to kristi live from hong kong. good morning. investors cautious about a euro zone meeting, important meeting of european leaders to discuss the greek debt crisis. >> that's right. and you can see the signs of that clearly because there's been no clear direction for markets in asia or europe. a lot of uncertainty before the e.u. debt meeting. word of a possible deal to bail out greece, that generated some cautious, early optimism in trading in europe. that has since diminished. a european policy -- the policymakers are set to discuss a range of measures today including a new loan package to greece and the role of private investors in any debt restructuring. angela merkel has warned about too much optimism so we have to wait and see. >> no kidding. tell us more about the $100 million deal between tesla, the electric car company, and toyota. >> it's interesting. tesla motor has announced a $100 million deal with toyota to provide parts for an electric rav 4. tesla will supply toyota with all the parts to power an electric version of the suv including a battery, charging system, and software. and the production is slighted to start early next -- slated to start early next year. sales of tesla enjoyed a pop on the news, jumping nearly 5% wednesday. toyota's stock was flat. aly? >> i know you get to china from time to time. we heard about fake purses in china and fake watches and fake software. now we're hearing stories about fake entire stores. >> this is an incredible story. a blogger in china has been reporting that three fake apple stores have popped up in her neighborhood. she says she was initially duped by the quality of this rip-off retailer. and it's not hard to imagine when you see the pictures. look at them, you see the iconic clean wood interiors, the apple branded poefsters. employees in blue shirts. they appeared to sell real products. here in hong kong i've come across a fake ipad, fake iphone, but never a never fake apple experience. >> that's something. we'll check in with you later. reporting for us in hong kong. she is one of the top contenders in the republican presidential field. will michele bachmann's migraines hurt her bid? should it even be an issue? we'll look at that after the break. plus, we're counting down to a history-making moment. the shuttle is flying east of australia. it is scheduled to land in less than an hour. watch it live right here. first, here's the quote of the day, "i'm in better shape than he is." can you guess who said this about the president of the united states? 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[ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. 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. 16 minutes after the hour. "i am in better shape than he is," who said this about the president of the united states? that would be first lady michelle obama. she said she's able to stay in better shape because she has more time to work out than her husband does. check out her interview in next month's "better homes and gardens." time for the morning punch line. late night comedians are not about to let the rupert murdoch pie-throwing contest fade into memory. >> i was horrified. he is 80 -- he can't digest pie! the instant murdoch was hit with the pie, news corp. stock spiked, regaining $395 million in market value in five minutes. this is brilliant! he needs to be hit with more pies! perhaps a scalding mincemeat or savory steak and kidney or snout and pancreas. >> what about england's second most powerful man -- david cameron -- who -- whose hiring of andy coulson as press secretary despite his rencently resigned after the first count of allegeds. >> how can he smell a rat when he has one in his midst? >> that was awesome! that's your c-span? i imagine the prime minister never had a chance. >> i've asked this question once already. i can set the answer to music if you like. just once in a while it would be nice to hear a little bat squeak of responsibility from the party opposite. i don't recall every single conversation i had. and you would be mad to try and pretend that you do. >> england is awesome! >> certainly was fun to watch some of that testimony. time for your political ticker with tim farley, host of "morning briefing" on serious xm in washington. it strikes me if we had more exchanges like that the debt ceiling thing would be more exciting than it is. we've gotting in august 2 to raise the debt ceiling. president obama said he's not going to extend it for 60 days, 90 days, he didn't say for a week or ten days. now it looks like he's opening the possibility of a short-term deal. >> you had the money quote at the top of the show, that was the press secretary saying the president would not sign a short-term deal absent an agreement to a larger deal which means that there is the possibility that as long as there are -- there in general is an agreement on some larger picture that he could sign. the proposal can't get done by august 2. we know the cut cap and balance is not going to get through the senate. if it does, it would not get the president's signature. essentially it sounds like there's going to have to be a stopgap or agreement in principle to something along the lines of this gang of six proposal. president obama met yesterday with democratic and republican leaders separately. no word yet exactly on where they are. we'll have to wait and see. >> tim, let's talk about michele bachmann, doing particularly well in the presidential race, probably a lot better than anybody would have thought she would have done six months or a year ago. she says a lot of thing that -- that beg closer examination. but now everybody's examining the fact that she gets migraines. should this be an issue in her ability to run and win the presidential nomination? >> that's classic politics, you know. my opponent's debilitating illness should not be an obstacle to his election. and you can insert the debilitating disease in here. the question is how she handles this. so far she's handled it well. she issued a statement yesterday that says, look, i appreciate people's concern for my health, but the debate is in washington over raising taxes and the debt ceiling. and despite the fact that there's been a push from the press, it may wind up actually backfiring because people would have sympathy for a woman who suffers from something that about 30 million americans suffer from. so it's how she handle it that's key. >> she tends to handle things a lot that way, though, pie saying that this isn't the issue, it's something else. in this case, she might be right that people should push off and worry -- >> she's disciplined. >> that's right. thank you, my friend. our big story, big story this morning. "atlantis" is heading home. right now it is flying over the pacific ocean. this is not just any shuttle landing, this is the final landing of the space program, of the space shuttle program. watch the landing live this hour right here on cnn in less than half an hour. first, get ready for the struggle today. it is national day of tug-of-war. when you go to work, have some laughs, get out some frustration, take the staff out back for a quick tug. if that's just too much for you, there are tug-of-war apps for your smartphone, believe it or not. it is national day of tug-of-war. 21mint after the hour. [ diane lane ] is your anti-wrinkle cream gone... but not your wrinkles. new neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. its retinol formula smoothes wrinkles in just one week. why wait if you don't have to. neutrogena®. 23 minutes after the hour. here are three things you need to have on your radar today. 10:00 a.m. eastern -- the federal election commission holds an open hearing reviewing an audit of john edwards' 2008 presidential campaign books. it could decide whether he has to repay more than $2 million. also at 10:00 a.m. eastern, entrepreneur and former nba star magic johnson set to make an announcement out of detroit. magic tweeted yesterday that he's looking forward to helping put people back to work in his home state. and on capitol hill at 10:00 a.m., ben bernanke testifies along with other regulators to update us on whether there's been progress in setting up a new framework to better protect consumers and oversee wall street. let's go around the world with monita rajpal, joining us with an update on, what else, british prime minister david cameron, downright combative with lawmakers yesterday while he faced questions in parliament over this hacking scandal. what's your take on it this morning? >> yeah. he was really feisty yesterday when he answered -- when he attended that special session of parliament. he faced over 130 questions