State of the Union Early Bird for July 10, 2011

(CNN)-It's early, and State of the Union is bringing you the best of the morning headlines to go with your cup of coffee.

On our radar this morning:  The reaction to Speaker Boehner's rejection of a bigger debt ceiling deal.

Check out what we're reading, and be sure to watch the show today at 9am/12pm ET.

DEBT CEILING

Boehner says no to ambitious debt-reduction deal

"Despite good-faith efforts to find common ground, the White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes," Boehner said. "I believe the best approach may be to focus on producing a smaller measure, based on the cuts identified in the Biden-led negotiations, that still meets our call for spending reforms and cuts greater than the amount of the debt limit increase."

U.S. Debt Talks Scaled Back Over Tax Rift

Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen blamed the abandonment of a bigger deficit-reduction goal on a "Republican fixation with protecting tax breaks for corporate special interests and the very wealthy."

White House says Boehner balked over taxes, not entitlements

Boehner "couldn't do revenues from wealthiest Americans," a White House official said.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) all but extinguished hopes for a big deficit reduction deal because he refused to support any tax increases for the wealthiest Americans, a senior administration official said Saturday night.

The White House official also disputed the charge that President Obama was not willing to give ground on entitlement programs, saying that is "not true."

"[Boehner] couldn't do revenues from wealthiest Americans, he walked away over that," the official said. "They are telling people we couldn't do entitlements, not true."

Senator Johnson Says U.S. Can Avoid Default If Debt Ceiling Not Raised

2012 POLITICS

Conservative “marriage pledge” group apologizes for slavery reference

SPACE EXPLORATION

Atlantis set to dock with space station for weeklong rendezvous

IN OTHER NEWS

Iraqis fail to agree on whether to ask for some U.S. troops to stay beyond deadline

U.S. Is Deferring Millions in Pakistani Military Aid

Major earthquake strikes off the northern coast of Japan

Kadafi again threatens to attack Europe with suicide bombers

Thanks for reading!