here is the current u.s. debt ceiling. it 14i$14.3 trillion. we hit it in may. if they don't comeup with a dee. they have a scheduled meeting in about five hours. listen to how far republicans, other republicans and democrats are. this is from "anderson cooper 360" late last night. first majority whip steny hoyer. >> even within their own party, it is deeply divided party, divided against their leadership, angry at their leadership, and a party that has divided itself, has difficulty working with the president and with us and that's unfortunate and the country is the poorer for it. >> i don't buy this notion of e default. to me that's a false choice. default means you can't service your debt, you can't pay off your debt, anderson, and there's plenty of government revenues to do that. one of the things that's been harmful in this debate is there's been this obsession with august 2nd, august 2nd. we need to get this right. we need a balanced budget amendment. if it takes us a few days more to make sure we get it right, let's do it. >> so congressman walsh doesn't sound too wired. maybe he hasn't read the new reports, say, from credit suisse which says if the u.s. eventually defaults on its payments stocks could fall 30% in the next year and the economy could contract 5% over the same period and every month that there's a stalemate, 1% comes off the u.s. gross domestic product, the gdp. happy friday. on the upside third quarter say there's less than a 1% chance that the default scenario actually happens. but what if it does happen? the president has suggested that the august social security checks might not go out. not everyone agrees that those checks are hangs in the balance however. cnn money points out that social security has an enormous trust fund and that the social security act requires the fund and payroll tacks be used to pay those benefits. medicare and medicaid represent another bill. they have to pay out several billion dollars for those programs next week and they represent some of the biggest payments. and a debt default doomsday could mean students who took out or will take out private loans to cover their education will pay higher interest rates. executives from some 20 major banks are meeting with treasury officials today and it's a fair bet to say the debt issue will be a major topic on their agenda. the nikkei and hang seng closed down. let's go to kristie lu stout. what's the big headline this morning, kristie it's all a ar w rows down. the yen soon as a safe haven continues to rise. meanwhile stocks in europe are also dae cleaning. europe is battling its own debt crisis. moody's has placed spain's government bonds on a downgrachltd government pressures and weak growth were behind that decision. ali, back to you in new york. >> kristie, we always worry when we get into a weekend and we have a deadline and we don't have a deal here that that's going to start touching asian markets more quickly than it's going to touch u.s. markets on monday. what's the reaction to the u.s. not having a deal so far? >> let's look a at the political reaction out of china, the largest foreign holder. chinese leaders, the they're not just worried. they're angry. stephen roach, of morgan stanley, he's been telling cnn that chinese leaders are appalled and that they think that america's behavior could create havoc in the global economy. meanwhile the news agency shing wa released a statement says, quote, the well being of many other countries is also in the impact zone. that's referring to other foreign holders of u.s. debt including japan. so, ali, there's a lot of fear, there's a lot of anger here in asia. >> kristie, we'll keep in touch with you on this. just how bad off are we, the united states, when it comes to the nation's debt? team co-has some ideas. >> our government is days away from being broke. congress's latest plan is to see how much cash they can get for john mccain on antique road show. >> they excellently crossed the border into mirk? did you hear about that? think about it. things have got son bad in this country that people are only crossing the border now by accident. according to a recent survey, this year kids are receiving an average of 40 cents less under their pillows from the tooth fairy. the economy is so bad even make-bee believe people are feeling the pinch. >> all right. let's go to meteorologist lex draw steel live from atlanta. alexandra is watching tropical storm don. >> good morning. it's the fourth named storm of the season. so let's show you where it is. getting better organize. right now winds at 50 miles per hour. you can see we are seeing gusts to 65 miles per hour. it is moving west-northwest moving at 13 miles per hour. here's what we're going to seem again, you heard ali say expectation is landfall late tonight or early tomorrow morning, should not come ashore as a hurricane. shouldn't make hurricane status at all. the wind should stay in the 50s to low 50 mirp rage. late tonight, early tomorrow, slight strengthening is expected. it's gotten better organized. what we're going to see is tropical storm force winds extend out about 100 miles from the center of the core of circulation. on the average, rain, three to five inches all the way to south central texas. isolated seven inches. but, ali, this area is in such a desperate drought they need 15 inches of rain. it certainly will be beneficial. it's a small type circulation. expectation is it will stay small, but what they need as a state is a big expansive system that moves pretty quickly so it brings the beneficial rain but the flooding is really kept at bay. >> alexandra are what are we looking at? >> chicago, detroit, areas that have seen these thunderstorms day after day, again today and tonight. we will see delays in chicago, also in detroit. the san francisco, morning fog, but a big story also we could talk about later in the morning. the heat. mid-atlantic, 100-degree heat, richmond, virginia, washington, d.c., intense heat, record heat, we're flirting with 100, 101 degre degrees, breaking temperatures from 100 years ago. the quote of the day about the debt ceiling, quote, washington may be broken, but it will not break me." find out which newsmaker said this about the debt ceiling debate. before you go, your voice needs to be heard, so throughout the hour we're going to hear from you, our viewers. here is vernon hill. >> the u.s. of america is about to go broke. we're about to lose our credit ratings. the people of the world are looking at us and wondering what the hell is going on with the greatest nation in the world. all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? 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line comedian jay leno gets very candid about the players in washington. >> i understand that they cut, cap, and balance. of course the democrats have their plan, duck and cover. that doesn't work either. and house speaker john boehner urging republicans to support his bill by telling them to get their asses in line. this is typical. if it's not wall street it's -- they're a bunch of asses. that's the trouble. time now for your political ticker with tim farley, host on serioirius xm live from washing. tim, i woke up this morning and tweeted it's like groundhog day. >> i know exactly what you're saying. my favorite quote, ali, is jennifer who blogs and writes "the washington post." the house just emailed me buckets of crazy. the vote was postponed yesterday. there's a meeting this morning. there will be a vote at some point today, we anticipate, although maybe not. here we are just a few days away from what will be a default and as you made the point so well this week is default and downgrade. and downgrade looks even more likely the way that things are playing out. i talked to a senator on the air, he was one of the gang of six. he said the senate can move pretty quickly on this. they can do unanimous consent. the question is what will they move quickly on. we wait to see what happens in the house and the senate because both the house and the senate will be in session all weekend so they can move quickly and -- i know, hard to believe -- they can do this to get something done. >> this is the key point. this is the boehner plan. boehner's working to get his votes behind him to get the votes passed in the house. that may not be the plan the senate is interested in. there's a plan that the house doesn't seem to like. they're going to be working through the weekend. but we're actually -- the one advantage we've got is solid plans on the table. but we don't have agreement on those plans. >> number and we could have a simple one-page agreement that. is something that's been done in the past and whatever gets to the president's desk, i have maintained all along and i maintain in this, he will sign because it may not be the most optimum outkombu it is preferable to have a debt ceiling raised as to what might happen as a result of not signing it. >> he may have to sign it like this, closing his nose. >> use the auto pen. >> the auto pen. that's it. that might happen. tim vrks a good show this morning. tim farley, host of morning radio on sirius xm. authorities say private first-class na sir abdul was arrested with nufl materials to make two bombs. found gun powder, gun shells and islamic literature in his hotel room. you'll remember ft. hood, by the way, is where the shooting spree left 13 people dead nearly two years ago. a close call for a pilot of an f-16 fighter jet attempting to land in wisconsin. take a look at this. as you can see, the pilot is making what appears to be a routine landing when something goes wrong. the jet ended up crash landing off the runway and stopped in some grass. the mishap sunday investigation. a former astronaut who made headlines for going cross country wearing diapers is forced to resipe. they accuse lisa nowak of drien ing driving 900 miles to confront a coleague who was dating her foreign love interest. she wore diapers to cut down on the number of stops. they said captain nowak's conduct fell well short of that expected of senior officers. talk of the debt in the elevator today or at least talk to yourself because july 29th is national talk in an elevator day. don't be shy. you know you ride up the elevator with the same person every day. ask them where they're from, what they do, what floor they work on. we want to make sure your voice is heard in the debt debate. this comment was posted. quote, when i was a small boy, i used to think we had the greatest country in the world. at this time in our history, we are a mockery of global economic economy and politics. we can't seem to work together any more. why does it take something catastrophic like 9/11 to make us come together as a nation? that's a good question. 17 minutes after the hour. naturals from purina cat chow. delicious, real ingredients with no artificial flavors or preservatives. naturals from purina cat chow. share a better life. discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the jetta, awarded a top safety pick by the iihs. that's the power of german engineering. hurry in and lease the jetta s for just $179 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today. 20 minutes after the hour. tropical storm don could reach the texas coast by tonight. it could bring heavy rain falls in the state. president obama is set to announce new fuel economy standards for cars and trucks today because he doesn't have anything else to do. we're expecting the proposal to call for all vehicles sold in 2025 to call for 50 miles a gallon. >> and we're watching the latest from capitol hill as boehner tries to muster enough votes to pass his debt plan. cnn will bring you extensive coverage throughout the day. the debt ending is days away. if august 2nd comes and goes without a deal, who gets paid, who won't? that's the $14.3 trillion question. here is our chief national correspondent john king. there's a funny date on the calendar called august 2nd at which something bad is goichk to happen. are they exaggerating how bad? who knows. we've never done that before. something bad is going to happen and it cost somebody, a family, son, daughter, husband or wife in affect, might cost them their check if we get three or four or five days past august 2nd. as john says, we don't really know what's going to half. consequences could hit your home, your neighborhood, your city, your country, your world. it's like dominos. that is likely to trickle down and everybody would pay higher interest rates, higher mortgage rates for those with a fixed rate, a bigger credit card bill. it could spook companies leading to job losses and the stock market could take a big hit. other than that, probably no problems. right now these are all ifs. the world is watching. we've got to get our stuff together lchlt's go around the world with zain verjee. a libya commander has been found dead along with two officials. what's his name. >> he was assassinated in benghazi, which is the rebel stronghold in the center in the eastern part of libya. this is a really significant development and could be a major blow to the rebels. but it's really unclear who killed him. was it moammar gadhafi's forces, or was it the rebels, many of which who don't like him are responsible for his death? the circumstances are really not clear. one version that we're hearing that we understand is that eunice, the zwren real, was on his way to meet with a panel of judges because they wanted to question him about military strategy and concerns. they have been making strategic advances. they've seized some important town bus there were ke questions about how younis was conducted matters. this guy was pretty crucial to the rebels. ali. >> he's krubl, but, you know, these rebels were not a standing force before all these problems came up. what was his standing? did the guys in his group trust him? >> well, you know, there was a lot of internal rivalry and is with the rebels, particularly in the top echelons. younis was one. the rebels have been divided. because he was gadhafi's interior minister for a long time and helped him come to power back in 1969 he was also responsible for cracking down on a lot of dissidents in libya. so they just didn't trust him. so it's unclear whether the rebels themselves may have taken him auto. the faction that didn't want him and didn't like him. ali. >> all right. continues to be complicated. what's the latest, zain? i know you're following amy winehouse. her "back in black" is selling out everywhere. it's become the number one in a lot of places. >> yeah. it is sky rocketing. it's just make its way back up to number one. what a lot of people are saying, too, is she laid down some kind of bear bohns tracks as well for a third album she had been working on for a long time, and they may be releasing that too. but back to black, i mean i've been listening to it a lot. a lot of people i know have as well. the words have stuck in my head. yeah, it could be number one. >> a lot of people saying she was one of the most creative musicians to come auto of great britain in a long time. all right, zain, we'll continue to follow that and other stories. i'll take to you later on. pay one price, jet set all you like. jetblue is rolling out all new travel packages but they're a little more targeted than the older version. they're tailored to businesspeople flying auto of boston and long beach. there are three version ares depending on where you're copping from and where you want to go. it costs 1,300 bucks. if you travel lot to the west coast, check it out. don't steal the hotel towel, by the way. it might be tagged with a small microchip. they're sewing their chips in the linens for you people who steal the hotel linens. up to 20% of hotel lis linens seem to be go missing. you sticky-fingered guests. apparently you're not the biggest concern, by the way snit's outside laundry services that are responsible for that. so you're off the hook. tequila and driving, not a good combo but we could soon be topping off our gas tanks with a tequila by product. behold the agave plant. they say its environmental impact is way lower than ethanol crops like corn. that's worth a toast or shot. if you're suffering from a migraine, check out our businessman's special. we've got new business guidelines for tylenol that can help save your liver. here is cnn ireporter zet harris. >> american people out there, do not hold this as the top 2%. they pay for the campaigns, they pay for lobbies to push their agenda, and because of that, our voices aren't heard. 29 minutes after the hour. good morning. it's friday, july 29th. this is your a.m. "wake-up call." i'm ali velshi joining you live from new york. no vote but plenty of white knuckles as time ticks down. august 2nd now just a few days away and house speaker john baner is trying to coax gop holdouts, calling them into his auvgs ordering pizza. some just won't budge. >> i simply cannot raise the debt ceiling if we another going to fundamentally change the way we do business. i just -- i just kept vote for it the way it is. >> our republican colleagues in the house are playing a game here. speaker boehner has to keep throwing piece after piece after piece of red meat to the hard right lion that seems to be dominating his caucus. it's time he contained the lion, not connell to throw red meat to him, which isn't going to accomplish anything. >> now, speaker boehner must have ordered meatlovers pizza if all of the available house speakers are present and voting. boehner has got to get 216 votes. white house correspondent dan lothian is on the phone right now. dan, what is going on at the white house? they kept saying the vote was going to be last night. then late last night, they pulled the plug. >> well, you know, first of all, i think there is still this level of frustration at the white house because they see yesterday as another lost opportunity because yet another day that passed without there being any progress. having said that, what the white house has been saying now is that they believe there's still some compromise possible, that the boehner bill and the rebill are not that far apart. bill daley said that he believes there's some ground