the cars and they're letting the workers get sick. and he is the grand prize in the nba's free agency exam bell, and the lebron-athon playing out. >> your comments right here right now in the cnn newsroom. i'm melting. i'm melting. >> this is very hot. we're not used to this. >> it's pretty disgusting out here. it's hard to go to work in the morning. >> spending more time at work than i otherwise would because the air conditioning is awesome there. >> the whether is so hot, it's killing people. at least two. where is rob? there he is. at least two confirmed death at this point from the heat. sweltering in the northeast. rob, we mentioned a moment ago that the heat wave is starting to dip farther into the south. the question is, is the cooldown in sight? if not, how long will it stick around? >> it is cooling off around the northeast. this thing, this cold front -- you know that. even you know this. there's cold air behind that but at this time of the year, it creeps so slowly to the northeast. they will not get a dramatic cooldown for a few days, not until the weekend. once that happens, we will see things crank up a little bit as far as temperatures dropping. here in atlanta, southeast, temperatures close to is 100. as far as the temperatures are concerned, this is where we are right now. 89 degrees already in d.c. we will get into the 90s. probably won't touch the 100 degree mark any time today but yesterday records up and over 100 degrees in places like baltimore, central park, washington, d.c., second day in a row seeing temperatures over the century mark. today, lower to mid-90s in places like d.c. and richmond but not the 100 degree mark. look at new york, 81 degrees, the current temperature. it's trying to rain their but having a tough time doing so. atlanta, 98 degrees or so later on today. the tropical depression, which is going to make landfall in the next hour of two, heavy vein in brownsville. you mentioned, tony, this is a dangerous heat wave. heat is really the number one related weather killer. take care of your elderly. if you have neighbors who you know are frail, check on them, rap on the door and make sure e are okay and get through this together. >> wise, sage, wisdom, advice. other big stories we're following in the cnn newsroom. bp reportedly plans to cap the gulf oil well by july 27th. the wall street journal says that's the same day they release their second quarter earnings. they are ahead of an initial completion day of mid-august. tonight on espn, basketball superstar lebron james will answer a question people have been asking for months. will the two-time mvp free agent stay in cleveland or take a multi million dollar offer from another team? our sports die max kellerman ways in on the decision. >> it's obvious from day one if he wasn't staying in cleveland, the logical defendant snags for lebron james was new york. >> huh. the pentagon has mailed u.s. troops a survey asking them what they think about repealing the military's didn't didn't policy. the question's repeal wants to military competes its internal review but some are critical of using a survey. >> it's a terrible idea because, really, what you are doing is you're giving the troops the impression that they can change the policy or alter the policy. also, if you go back and take a look at how the troops fell about other social changes, integrating african-americans, opening up combat opportunities for women, had you taken a survey and paid attention to it, those things would never have happened. illegal immigrants coming to the united states in search of jobs. what about the companies that hire them? the debate of penalizing those businesses. [ male announcer ] this is rachel, a busy mom on a busy game day. she starts at dawn and so does her back pain. that's two pills for a four hour drive. the drive is done. so it's metal benches, a day of games and two more pills. the games are over, her pain is back, that's two more pills. and when she's finally home, but hang on, just two aleve can keep back pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rachel, who chose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ you know, we have all seen pictures of illegal workers being rounded up, but what about the economies that hire them, the issue of punishing employers who hire illegal immigrants will go before the supreme court this year. it is another immigration case coming out of arizona. andrew thomas is a former attorney who helped write the law and is also a candidate for state attorney general, and glen hammer is president of the arizona chamber of commerce. he opposed the law and still stands in opposition to the law. they are both joining us from phoenix. >> this everify system is supposed to help employers from hiring undocumented workers. is the system working? >> well, the system, overall, is working, but there are a few holes in it. the major hole is in the area of identity theft. the system does a good job of determining if a social security number is valid, but there are still problems in terms of whether that social security number actually belongs to the person who presents it. >> okay, so, andrew, is fixing that system ,that a common sense way to go here? and should everify be mandatory for all employers? >> e-verify is an effective tool for trying to ferret out illegal immigrants in the workplace, and arizona law has boot-strapped onto that and i think it is working effectively. we do have a problem with identity theft in arizona and that relates directly to our illegal immigration problem, and i agree with that. our law has been effective. it has had a broad deterrent effect on illegal immigration, and the studies show the illegal immigrant population has dropped by 18 to 30% over the last couple years, and i believe the employer sanction law played a role if that success. >> glen, if you would, explain your view of this, the basis of the challenge to that 2007 arizona immigration law. >> sure. well, first, we support penalties against companies who hire illegal workers. there's no disagreement there. we believe, though, that this is a federal responsibility. let's remember, the e-verify database is not a state by state database. it's a federal database, and we believe that the sanctions should also be on the federal level. now, we do believe that it would be appropriate -- would should have one standard for every company in the united states, and it should be the e-verify or another system that is bullet proof so employers can easily and without much cost determine the legal status of their employees. >> and, andrew, is this another case of the state steps into an area where the federal government hasn't been as effective as you think and many others think it could have should? >> that's exactly right. if the federal government were doing its job, these reforms would not be necessary, but the reality is we've had illegal immigration building in arizona and throughout the country for deca decades, and the federal government has not done its job, and you're seeing arizona, because we are the hardest hit state, stepping up and passing one reform after another, and they're working. they are upheld by the ninth circuit of appeals, and it is going to the supreme court. if i'm elected attorney general, i will defend the law next year, and i think it's defensible because they are well crafted laws and they're working and necessary because the federal government is not willing to take on the problem. >> can i ask you a bigger question here? is there a vested interest by businesses in this country to not push for a tougher ver fekz system? employers actually want the wiggle room to hire undocumented workers? >> no. absolutely not. employers want a bullet proof, 100% functional federal system to determine the legality of their employees. now, employers also want a system where they can legally bring in workers of all skill levels. we want to have the ability to bring in high-skilled workers. we want to have the ability to bring. workers in industries like agriculture where you simply cannot get domestic workers to fill the needs. even in this tough economy, we haven't seen people flood out of phoenix and move to yuma to work in the fields. so, you know, there are a number of aspects to this problem, but we absolutely support a worka e workable, even a mandatory, verification regime but it shouldn't just be arizona companies, it should be every company in the united states participating in it. >> why did you write the law? why did you push for sanctions against employers? do employers have a vested interest in not pushing for stronger enforcement in this area because they want the wiggle room to hire undocumented workers? >> well, i think there are certainly some employers that fall into that category, and they may not be the ones that glen represents but there are certainly some shady companies out there be i know because as county attorney, we busted a number of them and we suspended and revoked their business license in a few cases and we had raids on businesses and found a lot of illegal immigrants employed there and it was clearly a concerted effort. so we do have moyers and managers involved in illegal hiring and, again, the reason arizona has had to do this because the federal government has refused to. they have not taken care of the problem, and any time they're willing to step up and take care of the problem for us, i'm sure we can find something else to spend our time and money on, but we've been waiting for decades. they refused to do it and we now have a crisis situation in arizona and this law deals with that. >> glen, one last question. why is it -- it doesn't feel that enough of the fire is being trained at congress for not taking up the issue. >> i will tell you that the business community is aiming its fire at washington. andy thomas is fundamentally correct that this all stems from the federal government's inability and unwillingness to secure our border, and it also stems from the federal government's unwillingness to compensate arizona for the costs of this problem. i mean, when janet napolitano was our governor, she held a press conference demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars from the bush administration to pay for the cost of illegal aliens. those bills are still in her desk now. i encourage her to rifle through her desk and for the federal government to step up and help out the state of arizona. >> let's aim the fire -- >> that would be constructive action in our view. >> i kind of agree with you. >> that would help dampen a lot of enthusiasm in the state of arizona to pass these types of laws. >> gentlemen, enjoyed the discussion. thank you for your time today. one day we worry about a double dip recession, and the next day the market is rallying. taking stock of your money in a live report next. let's get you to the very best financial website on the web, cnnmoney.com. the lead story, the biggest companies. it's walmart. it's always walmart leading the pack. let's look at the big board. 37 points. i'm not sure if we are on-session highs, below or above but we will talk to alison kosic about that if a second. we have encouraging news when it comes to first time claims for unemployment benefits, sliding, more expecting by an hifts. we have a little bump. >> the rally we saw at the opening bell has lost a little steam because when it comes down to it, the number you are talking about is better but not really great. the good news is we're moving in the right direction but not fast enough. the number of new jobless claims filed last week filed by 21,000 to 454,000. the reality is that number is still high. we are making improvement from last year when the number was 571,000, compared to two careers ago. we have a lot of ground to make up. we still have layoffs happening. wells fargo is cutting 3800 jobs and we're seeing the ripple effect in the retail sector. walmart is getting retail sales number for june and at best they're tepid. the retailers have to discount their items to get people into the stores to spend money. that's the reality out there, tony. >> we're talking about a slide. we're talking about some jobs here. are these good jobs, good-paying jobs? what are we talking about? >> that's an issue. even if there are jobs, they're not necessarily quality jobs. traders are saying the quality of jobs out there, that's questionable, and what salaries go with those jobs as well because that ends up being the buying power for consumers. the other bad thing is those jobs could be temporary and people are on the unemployment line again. >> if the jobs market is still precarious, and the numbers seem to indicate that, i'm trying to figure out how we go from deep depression and a big selloff to a nice rally over the last couple of days. can you explain what's going on here? >> it comes down to jobs but then you get bleak outlooks from the national monetary fund. the imf came out with a bleak outlook saying they expect to see slow growth over the next five years, growth of 2.6% in 2015, five years from now, worse than where we are now. this is really worrisome because we are still going to be plagued by the problems, the problems of credit and joblessness and housing. the worrisome thing is if you think about it, we're in 2010, this is five years from now and we could still be feeling what we feel now then. something to think about and to prepare for. >> this idea, you had a guest with you a couple days ago who talked about this recovery being more l-shaped than anything else, more than v, more than u. maybe that's an indication of that. >> exactly and you get the worrisome thing called deplags where we are stuck in a pattern of low interest rates, no jobs, and we don't see the economy moving in that way. it's anyone's guess what can happen but what it stems from is we need to see the european debt issues go away. we need to feel more security about what's happening overseas and to feel more secure here. we are all tied globally. what affects them overseas affects us. >> alison kosik on the floor. good to see you. russians accused of spying while living in the united could be heading back to her homeland and a russian scientist convicted for spying in the united states could be part of a deal. ol announcer andrés cantor make any sport exciting? ha sido una partida intensa hoy. jadrovski está pensando. está pensando. veamos que va a hacer. moverá la reina o moverá el caballo? que tensión. viene... viene, viene, viene... gooooooooooooooool! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. late details now on the gulf oil disaster day 80. the government's point man on the bp oil disaster says the first relief well could intercept the leaking deepwater horizon well in seven to ten days but admiral thad allen says the capping procedure is not expected to be completed until mid-august. police in northern india say a newborn is in critical condition today after the mother delivered the baby in an airline toilet and left it there. the toilet had to be removed from the plane and taken to the hospital with the baby inside. are you kidding me? surgeons used a saw to free the child. spain says it will take in 52 political prisoners from cuba over the coming months. the arrangement was apparent negotiated with the help of the catholic church. officially cuba does not admit it holding political prisoners. ten suspected russian spies scheduled for arraignment this afternoon in new york. at the same time, word of a spy swap, a russian scientist convicted of spying for the united states already out of russia and heading east. let's get caught up on this one. susan candiotti with us live from new york. what is the latest on all this intrigue? >> reporter: tony, this is happening so quickly it practically makes your head spin, but according to a source with details of this investigation, there are pleas expected from everyone this afternoon at what had been scheduled to be an arraignment, where you enter a plea. and we are told that the plea will be guilty. now, according to the source, they're going to plea to failing to register as a foreign agent and as part of a plea deal, the other charge against them, conspiracy to commit money laundering would simply go away. it would be dropped. this is all said to be a part of an elaborate spy swap that has been in the works according to sources for several days now. what would happen as part of the spy swap is that according to russian state-run news agency, at least one person is convicted russian spy who has been in russia and convicted in 2004 has already, we have been told, confirmed to cnn been put on a plane in russia and has already been transported to vienna. now, according to that russian convicted spy's lawyer, that's what they were told, that he's already in vienna, that his father was informed that information. so this is the man believed to be a part of this hufrp spy swap. remember, ten people are in custody in this case. one remains at large. you have children of at least two couples and other children from another couple involved here. we don't know what's going to happen to them. this is all part of a ten-year investigation conducted by the u.s. attorneys office here in manhattan as well as the fbi, and for this to come together so quickly after this amount of time is amazing. the thing is we are told they could be leaving the united states as early as tonight. and, tony, one last thing. we expect there to be a massive amount of reporters, you can imagine, at the courthouse this afternoon. a lot of people lined up to see for themselves what's going to happen and as part of the publicity in this town, look at the headline, spy swap, and there's a picture of one of the suspects, anna chapman, the red head we heard about, the subheadline, but can we keep her? they are joking about it, some people might feel that way. >> you have obscured the name of the newspaper, but i think we can figure it out. susan, appreciate it. thank you. a new tropical depression formed over night in the gulf. how will it impact the oil in the gulf. attention medicare recipients! the following is important news from hoveround. rob, let's see, let's start with this story, southern california, an earthquake rattled parts of the region yesterday, a moderate one with a magnitude of 5.4, put it still had people scrambling. the quake was centered about 64 miles southeast of san diego. no reports of injuries or major damage. good news there. we're concerned about what's going on in the gulf right now. did i read this correctly, a tropical depression is forming there? >> overnight and about to make land fall here in texas. let's talk about where it is, very close to brownsville, about 15, 20 miles away. it is far enough away from the oil slick to where it's not really having much of an impact. earlier there were strong winds pushing oil on shore with coastal flooding but now it hasn't strengthened, and make landfall close to brownsville, we are not concerned. conditions in the gulf will improve for the oil cleanup there. this thing is not well organized. you don't see an eye or the beautiful cloud canopy that we see with a well-developed tropical system. it has not been upgraded. if it were named, it would be bonnie. bonnie will come ashore at some point later in the hurricane season. the main concern going forward is where the action is and where the rainfall is going to be, which is going to be centered right around brownsville, and it's also going to make its way up the rio grande and places like laredo, texas, they have some issues. the main bridge that takes not only cars but also pedestrians back and forth to mexico is closed right now because they already have the river, the rio grande, that has come to about