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"american morning" starts right now. >> no vote on the debt plan again. i'm christine romans. as the u.s. economy lurches closer to a financial crisis, the political crisis continues. house speaker john boehner calls off a vote, unable to convince hardline conservatives in his party to sign on to his plan. >> i'm kiran chetry. more than 90% of texas is now in extreme drought. the state could sure use a lot of rain and now tropical storm don is expected to make landfall along the southern coast today. >> and it's happened again, a muslim-american soldier in police custody for allegedly plotting to kill fellow soldiers at ft. hood. a live report from texas on this "american morning." good morning. it is friday, july 29th. this is "american morning." a lot going on to get you caught up today. it's interesting there's a report from credit suisse that says if the u.s. were to default, u.s. stocks would fall 30% over six months to a year showing you just how serious this is for your investments. we're already seeing signs of strain in the financial markets in terms of companies pulling money out of some instruments that could -- showing, you know, trouble in the lending market. >> the big question is, will washington let that happen, and right now that answer is not any clearer than it was yesterday morning. we begin with breaking news, though. this titanic struggle that's continued to go on right now to end the debt crisis before next tuesday's deadline. here's a live look at the capitol where overnight, infighting among republicans forced house speaker john boehner to yank his debt bill. they thought there was going to be a vote last night. there is hope he will try to pass it again today. in four hours the speaker will again sit down with fellow republicans and again try to entice just a handful of hardline conservatives to fall in line. >> the bill's not perfect. i never said it was perfect. nobody in my caucus believes it's perfect. but what this bill reflects is a sincere, honest effort to end this crisis in a bipartisan way to send it to the senate where it can receive action. >> now the speaker's bill would cut $900 billion from the budget over ten years in exchange for a short six month extension of the debt ceiling. the conservatives are angry the cuts don't go deeper. >> we want to make sure we never get here again. i want to support something that makes sure we never get here again. >> the deal that is on the table makes the hole deeper and so don't -- you shouldn't expect people who believe we should balance the budget to vote for a deal that makes the hole deeper. >> i can't support this plan. i would love to be able it to support speaker boehner, leader cantor. i have to have something that transcends election cycles. i can't support it. >> senate majority leader harry reid is blaming the tea party which is quickly bringing the government to the edge of a disastrous default in which treasury may not be able to pay all of its bills. >> the white house is warning even if the speaker's bill does make it through the house it it's expected to die in the senate. >> spending hour after hour here waiting for the republicans to twist arms for a vote that is essentially irrelevant because as soon as they pass it, if they are able to, the senate will vote it down and we'll have to get back to the table and get something done. >> all right. also this morning, as the debt -- nation's debt continues to mount amid all of this, right up there, very, very close to $14.294 trillion debt limit. as that mounts so does the anger across the nation. you're paying the price for what has become an ugly partisan battle. over the past five consecutive days the dow has dropped a total of 484 points. and i'm telling you this morning, you have futures lower again, that's a problem for the market today. we're going to have a gdp report later today that's likely to show the economy is slowing and frankly, not growing as we would have liked, growing less than 2% and you have grave concerns about what this is going to mean for companies who are just sitting there on their cash not making any decisions because they don't like this uncertainty. that means jobs. >> and there are also large concerns as well, just for everyday folks sitting at home, does this mean that my social security check or my benefits check, my disability check is not coming come august 3rd and that's quite a reality here. the u.s. is racing toward that debt deadline. a lot of americans want to know what's going to happen. what about the 401(k)s, the car loans, mortgage rates and there are a lot of seniors worried about cuts to the programs that they depend on every day. we're talking about medicare, medicaid as well as social security. >> i worked years and years to save money to live off when i become a senior. what do i have to look forward to now? >> i think i would like to see all of them have to trade places with us. and let them try and live on what we don't have and what they're trying to even cut more of. >> now the social security administration's response to the questions about what will happen to the debt ceiling, if -- what will happen if the debt ceiling is not raised is short and not very comforting. this is the quote. we're sorry, but we don't know. right now it's still unclear if the debt ceiling will be raised by august 2nd, so the administration is preparing for plan b. one of those options, a pair of trillion dollar coins. our mary snow explains in less than 20 minutes right here on "american morning." the uprising in syria appears to be gaining steam. opposition leaders say they're planning massive protests with the holy month of ramadan starting in three days. a demonstration in the city of ha ma and we're told more will follow every night with the hope that opposition forces will be able to wear down, finally, the syrian government. in cairo, tahrir square is heating up again. today has been declared a friday of unity in egypt. protesters marching in the heart of cairo demanding military speed up reforms now that president mubarak has been ousted from office. they go on trial wednesday for plotting to kill hundreds of anti-government protesters. in less than an hour norway's prime minister will be joining hundreds of grieving relatives at a memorial service in central oslo. honoring the victims of last week's bombing and massacre that left 76 people dead. the service was organized by the youth movement. 68 of their friends were slaughtered at the group's summer camp outside of oslo. a suspect in those attacks, anders breivik, will face a second round of questioning today by police. he'll also be evaluated by psychologists. breivik has been in solitary confinement since monday. police say they've uncovered a lot of new leads in the last few days and make sure there is no further threat. it's happened again. another plot to kill soldiers at ft. hood uncovered by texas police and it looks like this one was foiled just in time. >> this is an amazing story. an awol muslim-american army private is in police custody this morning. by all accounts he he was close to pulling off a massacre at a military base that's still reeling from the 2009 attack that took 13 lives. ed lavender ra is live in killeen, texas. the similarities between the 2009 tragedy and this plot are pretty striking and scary. >> absolutely frightening. you can imagine the ft. hood community, many of these people live here in the town of killeen just off the army post and this is a soldier naser abdo, a private first class, known to the military community. for the last year he had been going through this process of getting conscientious object ter status. said he couldn't fight against muslims anymore. on july 4th started facing child pornography charges and then he went awol and turned up here in what the authorities say had to be a frightening plot. >> so springfield xd. >> reporter: from the moment greg ebert set eyes on nasr ab bowe, he said something didn't seem right. >> he shows up here in a taxicab. how many people go shopping at gun stores in a taxicab. >> reporter: the army private spent about 20 minutes inside the guns galore gun shop in killeen, texas. he said private abdo acted guarded and asked odd questions. >> he selects six canisters, brings them to the counter, sets them down, and that's when he asked kathy what is smoke [ inaudible ]. hello. why are you buying this if you don't know what it is? >> reporter: ebert says abdo then spent almost $250 on a handgun magazine, three boxes of shotgun shells, and six pounds of smokeless gun powder. >> rang it up, he paid cash, took his bag and left without the receipt or his change. >> reporter: left without his change? >> yeah. wasn't much, like 18 cents, 20 cents. >> reporter: ebert is a retired 20-year law enforcement veteran. it was that old cop's hunch that convinced him to report the suspicious customer to local police. within 24 hours, officers hunted him down and say they unraveled his horrifying and deadly plan. >> we have interviewed him and have the information as a result of that other leads we're following up on. >> during the interview -- >> let me finish my statement. that leads us to believe that military target personnel was targeted. >> reporter: but police say this attack wouldn't have occurred inside ft. hood like the deadly massacre in 2009 where major nadal hassan, allegedly gunned down 13 soldiers. instead, authorities say abdo planned on attacking soldiers in popular gathering spots around killeen outside ft. hood. >> how close was he to pulling this off? >> that's a good question, and i can tell you that we would probably be here today giving a different briefing had he not been stopped. >> reporter: law enforcement sources it tell cnn bomb making materials were found in abdo's room inside this killeen, texas, hotel. another source says islamic extremist literature was found in his backpack. ft. hood is still reeling from the deadly mass ker two years ago and greg ebert could not think about what happened this time if he had not called police. >> i would be devastated, especially considering i might have played some role in someone being injured, seriously injured or killed, that would be very unsettling. >> reporter: for now, private first class abdo is being held here at the jail at the killeen police department. but we're told to expect federal charges that will be filed against him, perhaps at some point today. back to you guys. >> was he on the radar at all in terms of military authorities? you know, as we know in the wake of the 2009 ft. hood shooting a lot of people said there were missed warning signs and, perhaps, even people turning a blind eye out of fear of not being politically correct? >> i mean, obviously him going through that process of conscientious objector status, that, you know, put them -- put him highly on the radar of military authorities and, obviously, when the other criminal charges came forth against him near fort campbell, kentucky, where he had been stationed and he went awol on july 4th, clearly over the course of the last several weeks, a lot of military officials had been wondering where he might be. of course unsuspecting he would turn up here in killeen. >> wow. ed lavandera for us this morning, thanks so much. here's some big medical news out this morning from the maker of tylenol, reducing the maximum daily dosage of the pain reliver to lower the risk of any accidental overdose. beginning in the fall, labels on extra strength tylenol packages will list the maximum dose as six pills. that's down from eight. johnson & johnson also plans to lower the daily dose on regular tylenol and other adult products containing acetaminophen in 2012. new jersey governor chris christie will be back at work after a health scare. he was taken to a hospital emergency room yesterday. he suffered apparently an asthma attack while on his way to a bill signing ceremony. >> i took the rescue inhaler that i have, didn't have the effect it normally has and i started to feel lightheaded and spoke to the troopers and said i wasn't feeling well, apparently didn't look all that well and they -- we both decided that we should get me some place quickly. >> the governor was discharged after a battery of tests all came back normal. christi has been losing hard to lose weight, the lighter i am, the healthier i will be, exercising trying to eat right. clearly a scare on the asthma front for him yesterday. he's back to work today. it is a marriage of two of america's favorite foods. or is it a collision? either way, homer simpson is smiling. >> forbidden doughnut. >> homer, stop picking at it. >> but i'm so sweet and tasty. >> here's what we're talking about. the big kahuna doughnut burger unveiled at the state fair in syracuse. a quarter pounder burger in between two slices of glazed doughnuts. >> are you kidding me? >> you're from iowa. you know state food. >> this is shocking. >> with burger in between, add cheese, lettuce, tomato and onions and it's 1500 calories of sweet salty meaty doughy happiness. >> you know that looks good, ali. >> it looks disgusting. >> as you know i don't have a particular or refined palate but that worries me. >> same thing as a bun but happens to be sweet. >> sweet and deep fat fried. >> i don't know that it has the structural integrity that a bun needs when eating a hamburger. >> i need sesame seeds on my bun. >> our question of the day. it's friday, so don't give us any grief about this question. >> otherwise we're going to ask you a question about the debt ceiling. >> which, of course, i wanted to do but we had a fight about it. what is your craziest food combination. send us an e-mail, tweet, tell us on facebook. we will be reading some of your comments later in the program. >> i will try all of these. keep them coming. >> you too can because of your fabulous metabolisms. >> you can try them too. >> me i gained half a pound looking at that. >> reading the story you gained. tropical storm don, making its way towards the texas coast. for many farmers and ranchers in the lone star state it can't get there fast enough. they've been dealing with a bad, bad brought drought. >> tiger woods announcing his return to the pro golf tour after three months away. when and where tiger will be teeing up. >> you might want to think twice before taking the soft fluffy hotel towels home with you. i'll tell you why. they're watching you and you're watching us. it's "american morning." we're back in just a couple mind. -- minutes. as much as i can about a company before i invest in it. that's why i like fidelity. they give me tools and research i can't get anywhere else. their stock screener lets me search for stocks with more than 140 criteria. i can see what their experts are thinking and even call them to bounce an idea off of one of their investment professionals. a good strategy relies on good insight. if you wanted to learn more about a company, i think you'd actually have to be there. of these abandoned racetracks in america today. automotive performance is gone. s looks like american performance is doing just fine. ♪ carry on. ♪ carry on. and, just like toddlers, puppies need food made for them. that's why there's purina puppy chow... with all the essential nutrients your growing puppy needs. purina puppy chow. welcome back to "american morning." happening right now here at home, tropical storm don gaining strength as it moves across the gulf of mexico with an eye on the south texas coast, folks. preparations under way along the shore for don, which could make landfall in texas tonight, bringing with it some pretty heavy rain. >> the last part is welcome news in the drought-stricken lone star state. rob marciano is live in padre island in texas. this is kind of a delicate thing. they need the rain clearly. they don't want a hurricane. what is it looking like, rob? >> oh, at this point yeah, there's a lot of cheerleading going on in texas. we're wanting don to get here. it's a double-edge sword. we want it to come as strong enough storm where it brings us beneficial rain but not so strong to where it does damage along the coastal communities and certainly the ones that are very dependent on tourism and these beach communities are certainly packed. the surf behind me has picked up in the last 12 hours, but no rain, no wind, and we don't really expect that for a good six, maybe ten hours from now. here's the latest on don. it is still a tropical storm. take a look at the satellite picture. we have a couple issues working against us. one, some dry air between here and don will limit its intensification and the at moss fear not set up as well as we would like it to blow up. a lot of warm water, temperatures in the gulf, 86, 87, some cases 88 degrees water temperature. that's fuel for the fire. we'll see what don does in the next 12 hours. it should be here making landfall somewhere around midnight tonight. here's the forecast track for the national hurricane center. the track itself has shifted somewhat to the south, expected to make landfall between here and brownsville, later on tonight through the early part of saturday morning. most likely, as a moderate to strong tropical storm. so there's the good news there. we don't expect it to become a monster hurricane at this point. but we do need the rain. here's the drought situation. across the entire lone star state, some staggering numbers and many of those cases, they are 60 to 70% down from where they should be. san antonio is a foot below normal as far as the rainfall is concerned. houston, over 16 inches the rainfall deficit this year. and austin, seeing almost a foot below average. let's see what the computer models are saying as far as how much rainfall we'll get from this system. not as much as we would like, unfortunately, at this point. two to three, maybe four inches, anywhere from houston to brownsville as this thing comes onshore. we need more than that. at this point, guys, a lot of cheer leading going on, prep, local communities have evacuated, some businesses have closed and doing things like clearing drain pipes because drain pipes in this area haven't been used in so long because it hasn't rained in so long. they're actually preparing in a good way for this rain to get here which is expected to arrive later on this afternoon and tonight. guys? >> thanks rob. rob marciano in padres island in texas. big news from the sporting world. >> is it big news? sorry? >> deja vu big news from the sporting world what i meant to say. tiger woods announcing his return to the pga tour. it does feel like we reported this news before, doesn't it? feeling fit and ready to tee it up at firestone country club in akron, ohio where he had his worst tournament as a pro finishing 18 over par. he hasn't played competitive golf since may when he withdrew because of injuries. >> good luck to him. my friends in akron call it akron. >> do they? >> still to come, officials are trying to scramble to come up with plan b. there is a plan b about the debt ceiling debate. one of the ideas involves trillion dollar coins. want to stick around and hear about that. 22 minutes past the hour. minding your business this morning. right now stock futures are trading lower ahead of the opening bell. a big day on wall street today. investors are sorting through a whole lot of economic data. earnings reports are waiting for news on the debt ceiling debate in washington. stocks have been down for five days now on concerns that the deal won't get done. treasury department officials telling cnn that executives from 20 major banks are meeting with treasury officials today at the federal reserve building in manhattan. topping the agenda, the debt ceiling and potential fallout if a deal is not reached in time. and