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"education overtime." history. >> reporter: most of you know who this person is, but can you good morning to you all. thank you for spending part of name two reasons he's important your weekend with us. to american history? i'm t.j. holmes. if not you're in good company. we do need to start with a debate that was supposed to be a recent study called "the over already. nation's report card" says fewer we are less than three days from a possible u.s. default. than a quarter of all students are proficient or show a solid this clock is still ticking and a deal is not done. academic performance in american we are expecting a lot of action history. shockingly, while most could on capitol hill today. identify a photo of abraham both houses in session, but whether there's going to be any lincoln, hardly any could say why he was an important real progress, that's anybody's guess. president. this is what we've got going on if there was anywhere they could today. the house starts debate at noon answer the question, it would be here at the lincoln memorial in with the likely vote on a democratic proposal expected washington, d.c. can you tell me who this some time after 1:00 p.m. president is right here? not expected to pass, however. >> abe lincoln. then over on the senate side, >> abraham lincoln. >> lincoln. they kick off debate on the >> first name? democratic proposal around 1:00 >> lincoln. eastern time. >> abraham lincoln. they could be debating that for >> tell me, why was lincoln an up to 12 hours before they even important president? >> because he was honest. vote on whether to vote. kind of a procedural vote would >> he did very important take place, possibly around 1:00 a.m. speeches. >> i don't know this. we did hear from president obama >> both the study and my field this morning in his weekend white house message. listen. trip made it clear that kids aren't learning history. >> the power to solve this is in why that's the case and how to our hands. fix it is up for debate. all that's needed is a simple possibilities include apathetic vote that democrats and republicans have taken for students, how history is tested and the no child left behind act decades, including all of the leaders in congress today. squeezing history out of the it was done 18 times under classroom in favor of math and president reagan, 7 times under reading. when i went to see the guy in charge of the nation's report george w. bush, and it must be card he told me poor history done again now. scores are actually nothing new. it's not a vote that allows >> there's a core of kids who congress to spend more money. are outstanding. another small percent that our raising the debt ceiling simply gives our country the ability to policymakers would call proficient. pay the bills that congress has and then there's a big chunk of already racked up. kids who are, you know, below >> well, let us give you the that line. republican response. that was delivered by arizona and that's not changed much. >> just going through a pile. senator jon kyl this morning. >> president obama is simply too >> reporter: in massachusetts, committed to the european style will publishes a journal of big government, that his highlighting the work of the core gifted students and he policies have set in motion. thinks the history scores are to democrats in washington, the troubling. >> it's an old story. answer isn't to cut spending, nobody's doing anything to fix but to raise taxes and keep on it. >> reporter: i tracked down some spending. of the bright young minds he republicans believe we must solve our debt crisis. spotlights to ask what advice and we believe we can solve it they would give to a struggling if democrats will work with us. history student. >> they should try to find the fun. >> when it comes down to it >> all right. we do have our correspondents up history is about people and early this morning. people like us who shaped the athena jones at the white house course of this nation's history. for us this morning, also our joe johns, keeping an eye on >> reporter: maybe he's right. capitol hill. one option might be to keep joe, let me start with you, reminding students history is forget all the symbolic votes, just that. the one we saw yesterday could all about people just like them. see another one today this early afternoon. for "education overtime" i'm forget that stuff. what is a real possibility of jak happening right now? how are they going to get this jakob. >> do you think you would do done? well on that history test? check it out, it's on our >> okay. first, you got to say, this is a website, cnn.com. poisonous environment on capitol you'll be able to see it there. hill and in washington in we have sample test questions up general, but the way the democrats have been able to do there for you. close to the bottom of the hour. this before is they've reached a check of the day's headlines next. multivitamin with more. out to a group of potentially only one a day women's 50+ advantage persuadable senators in the has ginkgo for memory and concentration, middle. plus support for bone and breast health. these would be people who can a great addition to my routine. sort of move in, take a look at [ female announcer ] one a day women's. this thing, try to fashion some kind of language that you might call a compromise, and those it's the cleanest, clearest water. people become the power brokers we find the best, sweetest crab for red lobster we can find. and then they have to sort of pass it and hope for a deal over yeah! in the house of representatives. [ male announcer ] hurry in to crabfest at red lobster. of course, the big question is, the only time you can savor even if they're able to do all three sweet alaskan crab entrees all under $20, of that, what's the house of representatives going to do, like our hearty crab t.j.? and roasted garlic seafood bake >> athena, let me bring you in there. or snow crab he talked about brokers on and crab butter shrimp. capitol hill. is the president still a broker [ jon ] i wouldn't put it on my table at home, today? i wouldn't bring it in. my name's jon forsythe, and i sea food differently. >> well, certainly, t.j. of course the action is taking place on capitol hill. the action we can see in front i understand you need a little help iwith your mortgage,in. of cameras. but there's a lot going on want to avoid foreclosure. behind the scenes. candy? the white house isn't just sitting idly by. um-- we know there a lot of well, you know, you're in luck. we're experts in this sort of thing, conversations going on between members of all levels here, mortgage rigamarole, staff at all levels here at the whatnot. white house and people on the hill. why don't we get a contract? who wants a contract? democratic officials told cnn that both the president and the [honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. vice president have been in touch with members of congress thanks, betty. these past several days, and so betty: we're out of toner. announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, we can expect that to continue. we've heard also that vice talk to the right people. president biden has been in speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... touch particularly with republican senator mitch mcconnell who has said that the white house has got to be involved in any negotiations leading toward this final compromising. we can expect that kind of talk to continue these conversations relieve the pain and itching fast to continue as we go forward the with gold bond maximum relief anti-itch cream. next few days. >> joe, we've been hearing about cool and soothe pain and itch on contact. this deadline for months, august gold bond maximum relief. 2nd, that's coming up on tuesday. that's when the treasury department says we won't have enough money to cover all of our bills so we'll have to start deciding. that's tuesday. but there's another important deadline if you will coming up all right. on sunday night, because they do it's just three days left just not want the markets it to open under three days to raise the after the week they just had, nation's current debt ceiling or we're going to have a problem. the markets just had their worst the house starts debate at noon week in a year, and to open on eastern on a proposal from senate majority leader reid. monday with no deal in place, a vote after that is expected nobody wants that. so they need to get something around 1:00 eastern but it's not done this weekend, don't they? expected to pass. the senate begins debate on >> yeah, they certainly do. reid's plan at 1:00 eastern. that means the senate comes in also over in italy american at 1:00 in the morning, if necessary. amanda knox who is serving a unless there's some deal worked 26-year sentence for murdering out today or even tomorrow some her british roommate meredith time, the senate would have to kercher is back in court. come in around 1:00 in the independen morning and just sort of go through debate with an eye toward getting a vote some time on tuesday. it would be better for them to try to shift that timeline, shorten it, compress it if you will, and send something over to the house a little bit earlier because they're, obviously, going to need more time in the house to try to get the sort of conservative caucus together to decide what they can do with anything the senate sends them. >> and athena, one more to you here. are there -- i mean i don't know how much the white house may be letting you and other reporters up there know about contingency plans. there was talk that president could maybe try to use some constitutional power some think he may have to raise the debt ceiling if a deal isn't made or talk the treasury secretary could stretch things out for another week or two. is there a backup plan? >> well, this is really going to be unchartered territory if we get to that point. it's going to be the treasury department in the end that's going to have to prioritize what bill gets paid, who gets their checks. we've been told as we get closer to that date we may get some idea more of what the treasury department's plans are. the white house maintains we're not going to get to that point. we heard the president say in his weekly address today and yesterday in the comments he made, that they don't believe the two parties are really all that far apart. there's still room, many different ways to resolve this problem and to come together on compromise. they still maintain that we're not going to have to worry about what happens on august 2nd because there's going to be a deal by august 2nd. i'll tell you, t.j., i wouldn't put any bets on when exactly that deal will be struck. >> we have learned, haven't we? athena, john, good to have you here on a cnn saturday morning. we'll be checking in with you two plenty throughout the morning. coming up next hour we're still looking deeper into this debate with a couple favorites on cnn saturday morning, strategists along to break this down for us. tomorrow night a cnn special report on the debt crisis, join wolf blitzer and don lemon for a breakdown on the hurdles, options, obstacles, "get it done, countdown to debt crisis" right here on cnn. let's get out of d.c., shall we, and go a few hundred miles south. in another government is dealing with its own debt problems. we're talking about jefferson county, alabama. officials there were ready to file chapter 9 bankruptcy. that would allow them to restructure more than $4 billion in debt. a lot of that debt is from a court-ordered improvement to the county's sewer system. but the bankruptcy deal is now on hold for at least a week as the county tries to work out a settlement with its creditors. >> we will take a look at whatever they propose, if they propose something. they may not propose anything. fine. then it's our move. >> it would have to be close and it cannot involve a double digit rate increase. so we're open for a bankruptcies have always been my last option and we're down to the end of our rope. we have to have a settlement. >> let me explain what this means now. jefferson county, if they end up filing chapter 9, it's believed this would be the largest municipal bankruptcy case in u.s. history. at eight minutes past the hour now, let us say good morning to our reynolds wolf. we have been looking at this storm, it was -- we thought it was going to be something. people were hoping it was going to be something. nothing. >> what's funny when we think about storms hitting texas in the past, we've had some that have been really strong ones, thought about with fear in terms of recent ones, ike, we've got rita, even have dolly. in this situation this is one they were hoping would come onshore and provide rainfall. rob marciano happens to be in padre island and rob, this was definitely a bit of a disappointment, wouldn't you say? >> huge disappointment, not only for forecasters but obviously for the folks who are wanting the rain. this thing really fell apart. we've seen tropical storms that weren't very organized kind of fall apart gradually when they hit the coast, but this thing just completely died, completely faded once it came onshore. that was certainly disappointing for the folks that want that rain. i've never been involved in a tropical cyclone where so many were cheer leading for this to come onshore with some amount of strength and moisture. just to give people an idea of what it was like to -- when the storm came onshore, a lot of times we like to do a tick tock in the business do taped pieces throughout the storm because it came in overnight -- this what is we came up with. >> it's about 8:00 local time. tropical storm don is only about 40 miles south of here. right now making landfall on the padre island national seashore. we have felt little more than a few sprinkles here but the winds have picked up. some rain has fallen down to the south but the widespread rainfall that this state so desperately needs has so far been elusive. don's made landfall about 20 miles to our south. getting a lot of wind, sand in our face, but no rain. check out the pocket radar here. this storm is dead. radar empty. rain nonexistent. that has at love folks disappoint -- has a lot of folks disappointed. it was unreal to watch this thing make its way here. there was dry air ahead of it, but maybe the ground here and resulting air has been so dry, that that's one of the reasons. regardless, this storm just soiled the sheets when it hit the shoreline. but there's some good news here. because a lot of farmers have planted cotton this year because cotton is drought resistant. the harvest is coming in now and they don't want rain when the harvest -- when trying to harvest the cotton. diminishing the quality and yield. ironically enough, the cotton farmers who have something to harvest, are happy that it didn't rain. so there you go. there's a nice end to this story. the drought continues as you've been saying. deficits well up and over a foot and they didn't get much to put a dent in that at all with don. >> do bring a ray of sunshine perspective in terms of the cotton growers. we'll be chatting with you later this morning. folks, another system possibly another system out in the atlantic. we're talking about the potential of emily. more on that in your national forecast in just a few moments. >> we appreciate. we'll talk to you again in just a second. 11 minutes past the hour now. we're going to take you to a story that maybe the world is not talking enough about. we're talking about somalia where the u.n. says the world's worst humanitarian disaster is taking place right now. a report coming up. also coming up next, the chances are that this debt crisis is going to hit your personal finances in some way, form or fashion. you need to know how to get ready for that. that is next. this debt ceiling debate as it goes on, as tough as it is to come to an agreement, you would think maybe they don't do this often, you would be wrong. they do this all the time, raise the debt ceiling. do you know how many times it's been raised since 1962? would you think 34 times, 74 times, or 110 times in 60 seconds i have your answer. stay with me on this cnn saturday morning. yoo-hoo. hello. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall. 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[ female announcer ] we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. 13 minutes past the hour. before the break we asked you, how many times do you think the debt ceiling has been raised since 1962? it's actually been done, at least according to the congressional research service, 74 times, including ten increases since 2001. 74 times. boy, getting to 75 has been a doozy, has it not? this debt crisis? washington may be beyond your control but ways you can protect yourself from some of the fallout, if the u.s., that's if the u.s. defaults on its debt next week. cnn explains. >> reporter: the gridlock is here, but the impact will be felt here and in the final days before a deadline to raise the nation's debt ceiling, many americans wonder if there's any way to prepare for a possible default. >> you can't control what's going on in washington, but you can control your own purse strings. >> reporter: interest rates are likely to rise if the nation can't pay its debt. that would impact everything from mortgages to car loans and credit cards. you may not be able to pay down balances before next tuesday but you can help yourself by not adding it to the load. >> we can address the credit card by simply putting less on the card. again, using more cash. your interest might go up, but the amount outstanding will go down. >> reporter: take stock of all student loans, check in with lenders to see what might happen and how they might help. >> it's certainly a wise idea to contact your lender, always have a good relationship with your lender, keep the communication lines open and see if there's anything that can be done. >> reporter: a monthly budget helpful in any financial climate but especially when things are uncertain. it you're looking for more wiggle room, try making calls about recurring bills like cable and mobile phones and insurance. >> if you can prove yourself to be a less risky consumer in those regards with car insurance and home insurance, you might be able to get 10 or 20% knocked off your bill. >> reporter: and make sure you're ready to weather any future crisis, even the smallest amount of money saved is a start. in washington, i'm karen kaifa. coming up next hour as well, you don't want to miss the friends of our show on cnn saturday and sunday morning, maria and lenny. they will be along coming your way at the top of the hour. also coming up, a lot of people might be looking for a nice car that's going to set them apart from everybody else. how about a vintage 1940 pontiac? that's see-through. it's made out of plexiglass. i am going to show it to you after the break. also coming up -- it's unfortunate, but we are looking for someone to replace reynolds wolf. our first applicant, you are seeing him there. fabio trying to give reynolds a run for his money. reynolds' job is safe and you'll see why after the break. it does something to your heart. i think what people like most about the grilled food is the taste. the flavor comes from that oak wood. the shrimp, the fresh fish, the steaks. it locks in the flavor, it seals in the juices so that when you put the fork in it, it just goes through it like butter. it's beautiful. [ laughs ] i'm proud to be a grill master. i love food. my