really? and maybe a bunch of billionaires as well. what many people are asking is to buy or not to buy? that is the question today. ali velshi and christine romans have very, very different opinions on whether you should buy in or not. i'm curious. do you buy? i'm on facebook. love facebook. is this going to be apple or not? >> remember, apple went sideways for a long time and almost went out of business first, right? it's more like google maybe. google went up. >> both were game changers. >> that's right. >> this is going to be history one way or the other. the way i see it, this is the second transformation of the internet. the reason i say that, remember, brooke -- you're probably too young to remember. when we used to get all those disks for aol, they would mail them to you. you get them at the supermarket and you get this portal? the internet was about portals where you got weather, traffic, business, sports, all these things you didn't know where to get anywhere else. google, yahoo! but then google changed that into search. the internet became all about search. the paradigm has shifted. the future of the internet is going to be about you choosing your friends and the people you like and subscribe to and they are going to inform you about the world around you. that is going to be more important than search. i put my name next to the reason that you should get into this is because it is transformation. >> i agree it's transformational, you guys. also, ipos are risky. the only reason anybody can't go to a lottery ticket counter and say i want to buy a ticket of facebook it's because this is an investment that is risky. we don't know what the track record, really, of this company. we'll learn a lot more about it. not just anybody can buy an ipo for that reason. you have to be a qualified successful investor to do that. there are a lot of big concerns about what this company will do. mobile, for example. a lot of people are alcohol'sing facebook via mobile. how are they going to make sales on ads? gm this week said they're not going to pay $10 billion a year anymore for -- there he goes. >> put you next to that one. >> people click on the ads all the time? we're not really buying things. gm said people weren't clicking on the ads and buying cars. >> forget about facebook, general motors, dupont. only one reason to buy a stock. that is that for one day you will sell it for more than you paid for t the bottom line is that you have some guess, educated guess as to where facebook is going to go. many people say it will double or triple in the next few years, all you concern yourself is with is that stock going to be worth more than you paid for it? >> hang on. do we know how much it will cost to get in? >> $38 for an ipo. that's not going to us. insiders get it at that. if you jump in at $100 a share, other people are getting out who got it at 38. >> when can we jump in? >> 9:00 am tomorrow morning. >> you won't get 38 a share. >> i thiching it's totally a fad this internet thing. >> apparently i was born after the internet started, so -- >> i'm going to have to, in my expert opinion, give round one to christine. ali, don't you have to -- >> ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. >> while you say this is transformati transformational, in the same way there were kids in dorm room that put myspace out of business, there's kids somewhere in a garage that -- >> you know what, will? it's possible. it's also possible i might grow hair some day. >> you're saying it's highly improbable? >> anybody who says this is -- will, you're a smart guy. this is not myspace. myspace was for angry, frustrated musicians to list their stuff. this is about contacting the rest of the world and storing your photographs. facebook is not myspace. >> i get how the format itself will not go out of style but why do we not think that there is something bigger and better -- >> 900 million people are wrong. >> they're basically making money on our privacy. the company becomes public. you take a look at this as an investment in a month, three months or six months. you have to see what are shareholders going to demand from mark zuckerberg? he's still in charge of the game here. >> 900 million kids who like to post pictures. on christine's side, warren buffett is priced exactly right today. >> he has nothing to do with the rest of us at all. he has the luxury of saying i'm not getting involved in this stuff because he was born with more money than i'll ever v the rest of us have to find creative ways to make money. >> if i could get the stock at the ipo price -- >> but you can't. >> -- go for t but i can't. if you work for jp morgan or goldman sachs -- >> it's going to be valued at over $100 billion. what we know about the value of facebook is yet to be seen. we don't know exactly, are they going to be an ad company, personal data company? we don't know how it's going to materialize. one quick tid bit, mark zuckerberg could be worth $18 billion once this ipo goes -- >> he just turned 28 on monday. >> 50 times more than bill gates was worth when microsoft went public. >> the story in the wall street journal was gm found facebook ads -- >> they're not selling cars on facebook. they pulled out. facebook says that's pocket change. >> you can be cool and a business. >> does it lose the luster? do you think facebook loses luster? >> putting out new technology, that was cool. >> speaking of apple, can i just out you? this is marc lamont hill's iphone, totally shattered. >> oh, my god. this is iphone number three for the year. i've decided -- >> you need cases. >> we're going to talk cases. >> i may need an iphone case. i'm convinced now, after the third iphone. >> who am i to talk? anyhoo, christine romans, i know you've got some news for us. >> i do. i'm following a bunch of headlines for you, brooke. autopsy in mary kennedy is about to begin in three hours. she was found dead in her home in bedford, new york, yesterday. westchester county medical examiner is expected to announce a cause of death later today. she struggled very publicly after her husband announced he was filing for divorce in 2010. she was arrested twice for dui that year, once for alcohol, once for prescription drugs. she leaves behind four children. she was 52 years old. a second reported case of a woman being infected with a rare flesh-eating bacteria, lana kirkendale was diagnosed days after giving birth to twins earlier this month. it appears to be less severe than annie coplin, who continues to fight for her life. she had her leg amputated and is expected to lose fingers due to her infection. former north carolina senator john edwards, the jury is expected to begin deliberations tomorrow. the defense rested yesterday, calling only seven of the 65 people on their witness list. edwards and his daughter, kate, were not called. neither was rielle hunter, edwards' former mistress. former presidential candidate could get 30 years behind bars for allegedly using millions of dollars to cover up an extra marital affair with hunter. a new study finds coffee drinkers are less likely to die from heart disease, stroke and diabetes than noncoffee drinkers are. the 14-year study found men who drank at least six cups a day had a 10% lower risk of death. for women, it was 15% lower. researchers say it may not be the caffeine. people who drank decaf had similar health results, suggesting there's some other component in coffee, not the caffeine, that plays a role in protecting one's health. and the six cups of coffee a day got my attention, brooke. it makes me jitry thinking about it. >> cheers, friend. cheers. bring out the age-related material here. friar's club, perhaps she's drinking a lot of coffee, roasted betty white last night. she is used to slinging the insults. now her turn to be on the receiving end. cnn was there of course, on the red carpet. >> oh, my lord. we'll find out if betty has thick skin under all those wrinkles. she has a new movie coming out "weekend at betty's." she's our woman of the hour, which is also her life expectancy. her is written in sanscript. that's how old she is. >> first show i did with betty white was, i think "hollywood squares" and i only got that because i had sex with her. >> is there one thing you haven't done that you want to do? >> i usually answer that question with robert redford. >> i mean, he is a handsome man. you know what i'm saying? 90 years young. >> so awesome. first of all, betty white jokes are always funny. they just are. there's something special about watching betty white becoming this reenergized figure. she was great in "golden girls." i was a fan. >> me, too. >> it was all like saturday night live coming back, so many people got behind her. it's crazy. >> it's edgy, funny. >> she can take the jokes, handle being on the receiving end and tossing them as well. >> one of the few things, marc lamont hill either lied about being a "golden girls" fan in the '80s or -- >> perhaps the greatest show ever made. >> you're a sensitive guy. >> handsome man, i've got a question for you. robert redford in his prime or brad pitt in his prime? >> robert redford all the way. >> brad pitt. >> generational. >> easy one? >> me all the way. >> will cain, you're out. >> no, she's the brad pitt. >> i am the brad pitt. the man who shot and killed john lennon on the move. no one will say why. it pushed the country to the edge of default led to its first-ever downgrade. are we headed for another debt ceiling showdown? we ask this question again. ranking member of the budget committee will join us, live. and from my playlist, '83, midnight city. you're watching "starting point." hey, it's sandra -- from accounting. peter. i can see that you're busy... but you were gonna help us crunch the numbers for accounts receivable today. i mean i know that this is important. well, both are important. let's be clear. they are but this is important too. 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[ male announcer ] they were born to climb... born to leap, born to stalk, and born to pounce. to understand why, we journeyed to africa, where their wild ancestor was born. there we discovered that cats, no matter where they are... are born to be cats. and shouldn't your cat be who he was born to be? discover your cat's true nature. purina one. i saw the national opening fa couple of years ago. they're awesome. our entire commercial break, we have been talking about "golden girls." little preview for mr. marc later on. >> i feel like i'm being judged. >> you are. >> not at all. >> you are being respected. >> by you. not anyone else. >> hang tight. we're talking "golden girls" later. this is debt ceiling, debt debacle, whatever you want to call it. this is really deja vu. who could forget last year's showdown that led to the first-ever downgraded rating of standard and poors. it was the main issue at a meeting by the president of top leaders. he wanted to discuss his to-do list. tax breaks for companies who ship jobs overseas, making it easier for homeowners to refinance and investing in clean energy and helping veterans find employment. but all of that was overshadowed by paying down the deficit. democratic congressman, chris van hollen, ranking member of the budget committee, good morning. >> good morning, brooke. >> dare i say it? i keep thinking, here we go again, pointing fingers back and forth. both parties guilty. are we really in for this fight again? >> i don't know why the speaker of the house wants to replay this movie. it did not have a good ending the last time around and probably won't have a good ending this time if he insists on drawing the lines in the sand. the president invited the speaker and others down to the white house to talk about ways we could help the economy, boost job growth. the speaker put this idea on the table again that will drag down the economy. he should not be threatening the credit worthiness of the united states. that is not a good thing for the leader of the house of representatives to be doing. >> i know you say you don't want a repeat of the same movie here. someone, very prominent someone within your own party is saying something has to get done. that being president bill clinton. here is what he just said. >> interest rates will go up so fast, you won't be able to catch your breath and everybody will say, why didn't we do this earlier? we should have a considered plan now. >> what's the plan now? >> there's no doubt that we need a plan. in fact, the president's put a plan on the table, which takes the framework of bipartisan groups, which president clinton praised during that speech. simpson bowles said let's reduce our deficit with two tracks. one, make some tough cuts. we already made a trillion dollars in cuts last year. we need to do more of that. we need to cut some of these special interest tax breaks. you have 98% of our republican colleagues in the house that have signed this pledge, saying that not one penny can go to deficit reduction by closing these loop holes. we should be focused on solving that problem, not laying down the threats that the speaker put out the other day. that's counterproductive. >> simpson bowles plan, we were talking about that two januarys ago. you have the house speaker, john boehner. you mentioned him. he's saying any increase in the debt ceiling has to come with spending cuts of greater value and saying no to tax increases. when the time comes, i will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase. this is the only avenue i see, continues to force the elected leadership of this country to solve our structural fiscal imbalance. how do you compromise on this one? >> you have to compromise. and what the speaker has said is that he's not going to compromise. he refuses to even look at the idea of closing some of these special interest loopholes. we've said yes, you've got to make some cuts or reforms. you also need to reduce the deficits by asking folks at the very top to pay more. i should also point out that the house republican budget, the budget that the speaker supports would require that we increase the debt ceiling by $5.2 trillion over the next two years. his own budget violates the very rule he laid out there, which is why we should put all of that nonsense aside and focus on the real issue, which is what you said, which is to find a way to reduce the deficit. there's no argument about the need to do that. the argument is over how to do that. you shouldn't be saying that the united states is not going to pay its bills and debts until we get it done the way we republicans want it. >> i think we have a but coming on here. will cain, jump in. >> i'm glad he brought up budgets. i understand you serve in the house of representatives. can you explain to me why it is that the senate democrats have gone three years without passing a budget? what is the legitimate reason for waiting three years and never fulfilling that duty? >> number one, the president submitted a budget, house democrats have a budget and what we enacted in the senate is very much a part of this it's now a law, the budget control act. it does, in fact, create these caps. one of those caps is the sequester that will take effect next year. >> are you saying you're doing that in lieu of passing a budget? >> the budget doesn't enforce of law. >> so they're not important? >> no, i didn't say they're not important. i said for right now we have in place for two years the budget control act. and, in fact, one of the problems we're having is that our republican colleagues in the house have already violated the terms in the budget control alcohol. that is the governing document signed by the president. it's more than just a resolution and does put on these budget caps. and that is something that we need to get done this year. >> i see margaret. go ahead. go ahead. >> congressman van hollen, there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency to confront the entitlements, mandatory spending that will eat way at the budget. by 2020, interest on the debts will be bigger than discretionary spending. it seems only the republicans are trying to put forget plans that are scored to actually confront the spending problems into the future. where is the urgency on behalf of democrats to confront mandatory spending problems? >> in fact, just last week in the house, the democrats put forward an alternative plan to the republicans on deficit reduction, including cuts. we eliminated a lot of direct payments to businesses. these are payments that are just unjustifiable. we have put on the table proposals to modernize incentive payments within medicare instead of continuing on a fee for service basis, which runs up the bills. we proposed to change the incentives to reward the value of care rather than the volume of care. we expect significant savings to be achieved overtime. we do not believe we should simply transfer all the costs and risks on to seniors on medicare, which is what the republican voucher plan does. they give you a voucher that declines in value over time compared to health care costs. we don't think we should offload all those costs to seniors. we think we should reduce the costs to the system. but we already started to move toward things like the accountable care and other payment methods that do it without putting seniors on the hook. >> congressman chris van hollen, we appreciate it. >> we want to remind our viewers, coming up next hour, texas congressman jeb hensarling has the counter view to this debate. everyone has been thumbing through, including a shocking new claim about john travolta's relationship with one of his co-stars in "grease." quick reminder for you, you can watch cnn on your desktop or mobile phone. go to cnn.com/tv. [ jennifer garner ] why can't strong sunscreen feel great? actually it can. neutrogena® ultra sheer provides unbeatable uva uvb protection and while other sunscreens can feel greasy ultra sheer® is clean and dry. it's the best for your skin. ultra sheer®. neutrogena®. welcome back to "starting point" on this thursday. checking out the papers. we've been talking about this throughout the break. why don't you begin? you've been all excited about this. >> i've been told i'm too heavy, brooke. i've been focusing on the collapse of the euro. >> why not turn it around the other way and talk about john travolta? >> a fourth accuser coming out against john travolta, another ma masseur, great kisser. that is not the most salacious thing i have to tell you. former co-star in "grease." >> you have trouble in greece. >> this story is about "grease." >> couldn't resist. >> jeff conway, who plays kinekki in a failed attempt to take his life, john travolta had woken him up in his bed giving him unsolicited oral sex. >> and the travolta camp is saying -- >> i have no comment from the travolta camp. >> come on. due diligence, cain. >> is this really light? >> right. >> light is skechers. if you walk around in them, they're your full workout routine. they've had to settle $40 million with the federal trade commission. >> they don't shape me up? >> not your workout regime for you. >> say it ain't so. >> i don't think they should have to pay anything. anyone dumb enough to think they can get a workout wearing