thank you so much. happening right now in the newsroom, powerless, peeved and parched. 1.8 million people waking up without their ac running. patience this morning is running short. >> it's been very, very hot. and we're not getting no relief in the liquid form. >> a lot of these people don't have nothing. it makes you want to sit down and cry. >> it sure does. we are in four days of the summer swelter this hour asking top power officials from virginia, maryland, and d.c., when's the power coming back on? take a look at that. buckling in the heat. the extreme heat causing this road to buckle creating a ramp in the middle of the street and sending an suv flying through the air. marijuana, cocaine, and cartels all in laser focus in president obama's new campaign. so what's the battle plan? and was it a scientology

boot camp for suri? overnight reports that katie holmes didn't want her 6-year-old daughter in an intense religious training program. so was scientology to blame for her split with tom cruise? "newsroom" begins right now. and good morning to you. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for being with us today. we begin this hour with the western wildfires, growing in size and claiming more lives. so far, 1.9 million acres have burned. that's equivalent to an incredible 3,000 square miles. to give you an idea of just how huge that is, it's roughly the size of delaware and rhode island combined. and then there's the human toll. two crew members are confirmed dead in the weekend crash of an air tanker in south dakota. cnn affiliates say two other firefighters aboard that c-130 were also killed. one family member spoke to wbtv just before the doomed flight.

>> it's very exciting. i mean, you know, adrenalin is flowing. we're ready to go. hopefully when we get there, we'll be ready to go right when we get there. if they need us to start dropping today, we can start helping out. watching the news and seeing everything that's going on out there, and so we have just been waiting for the call. as soon as we got it, we're ready to go. we're all experienced so we have been through it before. but the biggest thing is we are thinking if we can do our job and do it right, we'll be able to stop it, and you know, hopefully wherever we put the retardant down is where the flames will stop and they won't go any further. if it works out right, it will burn itself out. >> that was paul miceal, sadly dead this morning. he was aboard that c-130 that crashed that. crash does underscore concerns about the ageing fleet of those c-130s. today the air force has grounded all of them. pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is joining us now to tell us more. good morning, chris. >> carol, this is taking a major

weapon out of the inventory, so to speak, when it comes to fighting these wildfires. these c-130s were patrolling over four states. wildfires raging over four states. they can drop about, you know, 3,000 gallons of water in about five seconds. or i should say the fire retardant. so this is an amazing capability that some of the forest officials have to call on when they are attacking these big wildfires over large areas. now whereon has crashed. seven more have been grounded. now you have to put that in some perspective. that only leaves about 14 federally contracted planes out there, because the number has dwindled so much in the last 10 years or so. there is a privately owned c-130 that crashed about 10 years ago. that led to really an overhaul, a review, of how old some of these systems were, how safe

they were. and the inventory dwindled from about 44, you know, down to what we see now. so now that these eight are out of commission, and are under investigation, you've only got 14 federally contracted planes, and you've got wildfires raging over a good part of the western u.s. >> chris lawrence reporting live for us. and keep in mind we don't know what caused that crash, but there is a news conference an hour and a half from now. of course we'll monitor that and get you any information coming out of that about why that plane crashed. the six states battling wildfires, some of the most harrowing storying from the ashes in colorado. the waldo canyon fire is now considered the most destructive in state history. nearly 350 homes are destroyed. and countless lives derailed. >> it looks like a bomb dropped on our neighborhood. >> do you get the sense of the power of that fire, of just how fast it came down, and how

devastating it was. >> each lot has an individual pile or hole filled with nothing. but ash and debris, metal. it was like armageddon. it was the most horrible thing we'd ever seen in our life. >> martin savidge is live in colorado springs this morning. good morning, martin. >> reporter: good morning, carol. some good news this morning. this fire is 70% contained. of course, that means it's still a long way from being out. we are outside of the headquarters from where the fire has been fought ever since it's begun. but let me show you something that is nice. it's a crowd of people that have gathered. this is a daily ritual now in colorado springs, and is the people of colorado springs that are showing up and as every fire crew either returns from the line or heads out, in this case in the morning, they wave, they cheer, they salute. but most of all, they say thank you very much. you can just see there's some crews that are starting to head

out. this is shift change actually. you have the night crews that were coming in. yes, they were out there fighting the fire all night long. and then there is the day crew that is starting to head out. 1,500 firefighters at the peak were out on the line. let me introduce you to somebody. this is laura lance. and you are the woman who got this going, right? >> yes, yeah. i just gathered some friends. used facebook. and i work at core power yoga. and we have a lot of people that are really grateful, you know, that their homes are safe. and we want to say thank you. >> reporter: this sort of started as a family thing, right? >> yes. my brother-in-law is a firefighter for the forest service. he was in fort collins fighting the hyde park fire. and i asked, you know, what matters? what can we do? and he said people cheering, you know, just being there to say thank you. >> reporter: is it hard to get people to come out? >> no. well, some people don't want to get up this early. and then i remind them of who we're cheering for. and it's -- guilt works nicely. >> reporter: it does.

thank you very much, laura. we should point out they are here not only when the crews depart, but another group gathers when the crews come in. and it's either very early or very late that they work. but it is the community saying thank you. they do feel that these firefighters have literally saved their town. and they just come out to say thanks. carol? >> that is so awesome. martin, thank you. kudos to them. that's awesome. for millions of other americans, there will be another miserable day of blistering temperatures. heat warnings in place from south dakota to kentucky. over the past week or so, the record books have been rewritten across the country. to give you an idea of just how historic this heat wave is, new record highs have been set more than 2,200 times. 2,200 times. if you want a different measure of just how blistering the heat wave is, keep your eye on the screen. an suv on a wisconsin highway goes airborne.

see it there? that's because part of the road buckled because of the heat. the driver and the passenger have possible neck and back injuries. the westbound section of highway 29 was fixed, and it was later reopened. for nearly 2 million people, the heat is downright dangerous, though. they have no electricity. few ways to keep cool. the outages are scattered across 11 states and washington, d.c. for some, this begins day five of sweltering misery and relief could still be days away. >> we have a pool. and we have a generator. but a lot of these people don't have nothing. it makes you want to sit down and cry. >> it's been very, very hot. and we're not getting no relief in the liquid form. and people are in dire straits really. >> cnn's sandra endo is in arlington, virginia, where people are equally as miserable this morning. >> reporter: pretty miserable, carol, because they are without power here, joining the 1.4

million people without power across 11 states. but that's a little bit of progress than we heard in the past. it was 1.8 before. so clearly, they are making some headway in terms of getting power back on. but take a look at the scene here. the devastation is still very real in a lot of these communities. you can see the downed power lines right here in front of this house. tree limbs just tossed about because of this violent storm. you can see that massive tree trunk right there, smashing a car right here in front of their house. it's just in their driveway. so clearly, a lot of work yet to be done. and with the soaring temperatures, that is going to add to the troubles for a lot of these power companies and utility workers who have to come and try to restore power in a lot of these communities. as well as residents here who are without power. they are saying that the toughest part for them is really just dealing with the heat. no air conditioning. and obviously, their food has spoiled. so they are trying to get into cooling centers. some areas have cooling buses that are just parked in the street for people to get some ac

for a little bit. also we're hearing from a local report that a lot of people are going to community pools and libraries and malls just to stay cool for the time being. but it's getting hard as the days go on. all of these people still without power, and not knowing when the lights will come on. carol? >> sandra endo reporting live from arlington, virginia. power companies are facing heat of their own from customers who say their response has been woefully inadequate. customers say they are in crisis and power companies are not recognizing the urgency. we have with us an executive from battle gas and electric. baltimore's mayor is taking you to task saying it's putting the elderly and poor at risk because it's restoring power more slowly in baltimore city than elsewhere. the mayor said in the baltimore sun, quote, we might be annoyed and hot as heck. we can get over that. but if we lose a vulnerable citizen, we can't get over that.

end quote. so why not restore power to, let's say, nursing homes first? >> well, it's always a challenge. we have our public safety priorities, and we always go after those first. those are 911s centers and water treatment plants and pumping stations. we spent the better part of the first day to two days doing those tasks. but when you get into aspects of life like nursing homes, beyond that type of public safety, you then start to get into a position of so which is more important? what are the priorities? and if you begin to do individual customers or individual segments of the population, then you really do elongate potentially the overall restoration. i think with respect to the mayor, we have been working very closely with her as well as the other local leaders in the counties and cities that we serve. and at the end of the day, all of us are working together to try and get the power restored. >> the aarp is also criticizing you saying you're providing information so vague that customers can't make contingency

plans. look, if you tell someone, hey, your power might be restored by wednesday or maybe friday, that's really not helpful. in a practical sense for those people without power. >> well, what we're doing is we are reacting to what was historic and epic storm. very unique and unusual storm. typically when we have a hurricane or a tropical storm approaching our region, we usually have about 800 to 1,000 out of state linemen and other folks ready to respond and restore power. and that gives us better visibility on the problems that we have. here we had just a horrific storm of 70 to 80 mile an hour winds that came through. and behind it were typically in a hurricane you would have weather that clears now we still are left with the high heat. and we're also left with the potential and the very real threat of thunderstorms. in fact, we had some more storms come through a couple of days ago that lost us 12,000 customers. and what the point there is, is that we don't want to give our customers false expectations. it does no good to say we're

going to restore x percent or individually restore your power by x only to find out that because of the circumstances we can't control, we dash your hopes, we can't meet that deliverable. and that only creates more frustration and more anger with the utility companies and everybody else involved. >> i understand your way of thinking. but if i'm a customer without power, and i'm not going to have power for a week over a holiday weekend, nothing you will say to me will make me feel any better. the only thing you could say to me is, hey, your power is going to be back on in 10 minutes. >> you're right. and we know that. we're certainly not tone deaf to the customers' concerns. many of our own employees and their families are without power as well. the fact is, in this case, we have restored power to more than half a million people within three days. and so not to say that that's any solace because in our case for the 164,000 remaining customers without power, you don't care about that number. you only care about when am i getting my lights back on.

>> you've got that right. >> but we have to be very careful not to create situations where false hopes and false deadlines are simply put out there and then we don't meet them. it's really a matter of trying to be as transparent and honest. this is a massive, massive effort. and frankly it's going to take some time. >> last question. will you give customers any sort of refund for their week without power? >> no. this is something that was definitely an act of god. in any of these situations, we work very closely with our regulatory agencies and we are very prudent with the costs. we are sparing no expense. we are sparing no effort. but at the end of the day, this is an act of god, and we all have to work together to get the power back on as safely and quickly as we can. >> so bottom line, no refund? >> bottom line, no refund on this. this is an act of god. and this is the way that all utilities around the country work. this is not something that's unique to any part of the country. >> mr. gould, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you.

maryland, of course, not the only state dealing with power problems. in washington, one in every four residents in the district are without power. traffic lights are out making driving a nightmare. public transit is available, however, the metro is up and running. in west virginia, more than 400,000 homes and businesses are still without power. power companies say their crews are working around the clock to restore electricity. but some areas could stay in the dark until sunday. even more are without power in ohio. 428,000 in all. franklin county, where columbus is and the central part of the state, is the hardest hit area. ohio's governor has now declared a state of emergency. our last stop, virginia. 340,000 residents are without power but most should have their lights back on by tonight. power should be fully restored by saturday. an american graduate student attacked by two chimpanzees in

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15 minutes past the hour. checking our top stories now, the u.s. air force grounds its firefighting c-130 planes after two crew members died in a crash in south dakota. but there's encouraging news out of colorado. wet weather is helping crews get more control over the deadly waldo canyon fire. that fire described as the most destructive in state history. the fire is now 70% contained. in weather, get ready for another scorcher. extreme heat warnings are up for parts of illinois, indiana, missouri, kentucky, ohio, and michigan. the national weather service is

warning of temperatures near or above 100 degrees. the ceo barclays, one of the world's largest banks, is out. bob diamond's resignation is effective immediately. american and british regulators fined barclays $450 million last week for rate fixing during the height of the global financial crisis. barclays is one of several banks facing lawsuits over the scandal. a wild police chase ends with a woman being drug out of the vehicle by police by her hair. our affiliate reports that the chase started when police responded to a call about a bizarre acting woman. she hit two power poles and a fence before she was cornered and arrested. in south africa, u.s. graduate student andrew oberle is recovering in a hospital after being mauled by two chimpanzees. what we know is that oberle was leading a tour at a sanctuary

for abused animals when he ended up in a restricted area. for whatever reason he ended up there, it almost cost him his life. we asked his friend if the chimpanzees were provoked. >> i don't really know the full story about what happened in that aspect. but andy had been working with chimps and studying them for a very long time, and he knew what he was doing out there. so without knowing all the details, it's really hard to say. >> our reporter is outside of chimpanzee eden in south africa and she has the latest on andrew's condition. good morning. >> reporter: hello, carol. behind me the sanctuary has been closed since that tragic incident happened last week, thursday, when two male chimpanzees attacked andrew oberle causing very extensive damage. today we were hearing from the hospital about his -- the latest regarding his condition.

he is still in the intensive care unit, heavily sedated, and with bandages all over his body. we understand he sustained injuries to his head and almost to his entire body. the chimpanzees attacked him for what the management here say was about 15 minutes. and the manager of the sanctuary saying they were in a war-like state, defending their territory. it is believed at the moment that they felt that andrew, the chimpanzees, that is, saw him as an intruder. we understand that he may have wanted to try and remove a stone that was underneath a fence that he thought one of the chimpanzees would pick up and throw at a visitor. of course, we haven't spoken to andrew. he is still in icu and we'll only really get a full picture once he's out. of course his parents flew out from the united states. they are here by his side. they have not yet spoken to the media. but this is what the spokesperson of the hospital said about how they are doing. >> his parents are well.

they are quite traumatized at this point in time. and we shall be consulting with them a little bit later as to the way forward with regards to speaking to media and to journalists. and they have yet again asked and requested the privacy. and really we respect that. and that of the patient as well. and his confidentiality to this point will not be divulged. >> the park has found that the sanctuary so far has no negligence that they can blame on the sanctuary. they are concluding their preliminary investigation saying this was as a result of human error. but of course they still have not spoken to all of the people that witnessed this incident, including andrew oberle, who is

lying in hospital right now, carol. >> thank you. we are asking you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day, and that would be the blistering heat in much of the country. at least much of the east coast. 2 million people in several people remain without power. they have been without power for days. so what, if anything, can be done about it? should the power companies be held accountable? that's today's talk back question.

now is your chance to talk back on one of big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, should utility companies be penalized for

prolonged power outages? we have all been there. trees down, power out. our friends in 11 states from indiana to washington, d.c., experienced that over the weekend. and still 1. million are without power this morning. and they are angry. no, they are furious. >> it's ridiculous. it's really ridiculous. >> i don't know. it's not very much longer, i tell you, i cannot go without water. >> me and my husband with not and rented a motel room to get a bath last night. >> the d.c. area power company says that half of those who lost power already have it back and 90% will have restored by this friday. what's that, you said? i said by this friday. >> this is not the first time. this has happened repeatedly. we've had power outage after power outage in the district of columbia. and frankly, the people are just fed of it. >> we need electricity. we have zero tolerance. we want that power back on yesterday. >> in ohio, where some 400,000

are still without power, officials say things could have been worse if utilities hadn't buried their power lines after the destruction of hurricane ike. but that's the consolation when you're living life in the dark blistering heat with no air conditioning. how long is too long to be without power? should you have to pay for electricity you're not getting? or are we coming down too hard on utility companies? after all, who can control mother nature's wrath and all those trees? so the talk back question for you today, should utility companies be penalized for prolonged power outages? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments later this hour. marketing depression drugs to minors and withholding important safety information from the government. hear more of the violations that led to a record fine against a big pharmaceutical company. accolade overdrive.

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i'm with scottrade. good morning to you. i'm carol costello. it's now 30 minutes past the hour. here is the view of the opening bell of new york stock exchange. that is sean connelly of hillshire brands ringing the bell this morning. not everyone is happy to hear the bell this morning, especially drug maker glaxosmithkline. we'll hear how investors are reacting to the company's $3 billion settlement. but first it is another hot day out there. nearly a dozen states under extreme heat warnings and advisories and no one feeling it more than the 1 million people who are still without power after severe storms hit over the weekend.

and navy officials say it's highly unusual to have both engines on an f-18 fighter jet go out at the same time, but that's what happened moments before an f-18 crashed into an apartment complex back in april. no one was killed in that accident. so let's talk about that pharmaceutical giant hit with a $3 billion fine for fraudulent marketing of drugs. we're talking about targeting an adult anxiety drug to children and adolescents and promoting an anti-depressant drug as a weight loss aid. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange to fill us in on this story. this is incredible. >> here's what the government says that glaxosmithkline did, carol. the government saying that the company marketed a bunch of drugs off label. and when they talk about off label, that's when a pharmaceutical company markets the drug as a treatment for conditions that are different from what the fda has approved. what the government says glaxo did was market paxil to

children, and wellbutrin as a weight loss drug. this comes out to be the biggest drug settlement in u.s. history. and there are a bunch of other popular drugs involved there too. these drugs that you see there weren't just marketed off label, carol, but also had kickbacks to doctors to prescribe a lot of these drugs. carol? >> have other companies been caught doing this type of thing before? >> surprise, surprise, it's more common than you'd think. merck, pfizer, all companies that have taken part in this kind of fraudulent markets. they also have to pay up pretty big as well. they had big fines. we talked to some people, though, who were surprised to hear about this. >> i didn't realize drugs were being marketed that way. but the question is, who's going to enforce the laws? and until some system comes to that, and i never -- if there's teeth behind the regulations. otherwise, it just has no power. of course, it shouldn't happen.

>> and glaxosmithkline's ceo came out and said although it happened during a different era for the company, he says i want to express our regret and reiterate that we have learned from the mistakes that were made. in fact, glaxo sales agents aren't allowed to be paid on their sales targets anymore. and some of the glaxo executives may have to forfeit bonuses. but a consumer group says until the penalties are more meaningful and the heads of the companies responsible for this go to jail, they question whether this will continue. and we see that in the history of all of these big drug companies that have done this in the past. carol? >> you hear about a $3 billion fine. and initially you say, wow, there's a huge fine. but when compared to the profits these companies make, maybe it's not such a big fine. >> and that's why that consumer group says, you know, when these penalties really have to be more meaningful. that maybe you have to give more than just a slap on the wrist. maybe some of the heads of the companies need to go to jail for some of these activities. and they say until that happens, you're going to see this

repeated over and over. i mean, besides glaxo having the biggest penalty there, $3 billion, pfizer had the second biggest at $2.3 billion, which is pretty close. but still, even after pfizer had to pay that $2.3 billion, here is glaxo doing the same thing. so when will they learn? >> alison kosik live for us today. did the role of scientology play a role in the tom kat divorce? there are reports that their daughter, suri, was being recruited for a hard core scientology camp. the latest reports on the tom cruise-katie holmes split. what's more beautiful than a covergirl? two covergirls.

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more drama in the tom cruise/katie holmes divorce. the church of scientology denies it's tracking holmes' every move. and this could get really ugly. >> it could. but carol, first of all, we have to say happy birthday to tom cruise, because he turns 50 years old today. and i'm sure he's not in much of a mood to celebrate, right, because of the new reports that issues over raising 6-year-old suri in strict scientology is what drove katie holmes, who was raised catholic, to file for divorce. now these divorce documents are not public, but website tmz is quoting unnamed sources saying that now that suri is of school age, katie feared tom would send

her away to a controversial training program for young people, described as a boot camp for scientology. and tmz is also saying that scientology officials are denying that the little girl would ever be a candidate for the program, saying she would have to be 16 years old to participate in that. meantime, though, for katie, the show is going on in new york city. she is reportedly enrolled suri in a catholic school in manhattan. now monday, she was spotted for the first time since announcing she wants to end the marriage, and there were pictures that showed she wasn't wearing her wedding ring. photographers chased her around as she kept a commitment to appear on "project runway all-stars" in the city. and it's not just reporters that is also tailing her. tmz is reporting that holmes has claimed that scientology has people following her. this is something that the site says that scientology vehemently deni denies. a t-mobile customer clearly

was not mahappy with the servic he was getting so he took out his anger by trashing a store. >> oh, my god. look at that guy. >> oh, my gosh. >> yeah. passers-by pulled out their cell phone cameras and caught 42-year-old jason cogner yanking displays off the walls and setting off fire extinguishers. workers in the store in manchester, england, said he didn't get a refund and he just went ballistic. he was expected. he is due in court on july 31. with election day getting nearer, republican presidential candidate mitt romney is hoping to win over a key group of the gop base. what his campaign is doing behind the scenes. that's just ahead. ers are commid to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies,

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nearly 2 million people have no electricity and few ways to keep cool. the power outages caused by heat driven storms are scattered across 11 states and washington, d.c. in virginia, tens of thousands are still without power. most sohould have lights back o tonight, and full power restored by friday. we have a guest now on the phone from herndon, virginia. welcome. >> carol, thank you for having me this morning. >> thanks for being here. you guys are getting hammered by

customers and politicians. you know you're making headway. but still, some customers won't have power for days. in your mind, how long should someone be without power and not blame their utility company? >> well, i think what we're trying to do is work with customers and explain what we're up against. again, we have restored about 85% of our customers through the day. but yesterday, i was out with customers walking some neighborhoods. and when i took the customers to where some of our rebuilding our facilities are, i think they started to get a better appreciation of the force of these winds and the trees coming down on our facilities and literally having to rebuild the facilities in these neighborhoods. so i definitely get that the customers are frustrated and understand the heat. what we are trying to do is give customers information and explain our process of getting the power back on. >> but in your mind, is there a reasonable time we should expect to have our power back on? is it three days? is it a week?

is it two weeks? what is it in your mind? >> well, i think that's really a tough thing to put an equation around a power outage. i think with the force of this storm, this storm was the biggest restoration we've had in our 100-year history, not counting hurricanes. so i think when customers start to understand and actually see the force that our facilities saw, they understand that it's going to take more days to get the power back on. >> big part of the problem, trees came down on the power lines. why do we have overhead power lines anymore? why not bury the lines? >> well, about 1/3 of our lines are buried. if you look at the way the circuitry is, you always have to have some overhead facilities. all of our transmission facilities basically are overhead. so i think you'll see more and more distribution underground. but prks, again, you'll always

see some lines having to be overhead. >> any refund for customers without power for a week? >> you know, the last thing on our mind is money right now. we're putting all of our energy into restoring power. we know that everybody customer wants to be the special customer and get their power back on. so, you know, money right now is, it's all about getting resources in here to get the power back on. >> you know customers will be asking you after this is over. >> well, we'll tackle that after we get through this. but what customers want is for us to focus on restoration, and that's what we're doing right now. >> ken barker, thank you so much for joining us this morning. checking top stories now at 45 minutes past the hour, a wildfire leaves a colorado springs neighborhood in piles of rubble. the fire destroyed nearly 350 homes and damaged dozens more in the city. 3,000 people are still under a mandatory evacuation order. forestry officials say it could be the middle of the month before the waldo canyon fire is fully contained.

in libya, demonstrators vow to stay on the streets until this weekend's national elections. many say they are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect polling centers. on sunday, dozens of people will pack the electoral commission of the city. it's libya's first nationwide election in more than four decades. look closely because there's a bear in that tree. the black bear cub was spotted on the university of south florida campus early this morning. the bear then moved on to an area outside of the busch gardens theme park. wildlife officers got close enough to tranquilize the bear, and they are taking him to a national forest. mitt romney is staying on the trail but his group is busy reaching out to a key part of the gop base. this is he and his family where the family is spending all week with 30 family members spending time on their property up in new hampshire.

then they are having a little bit of fun, respite, from the busyness of the trail. but campaign workers behind the scene are reaching out to evangelicals. joining me now . >> good morning. >> i thought mitt romney had won over evangelicals. >> no. it's still a work in progress, carol. there's a lot behind the scenes outreach going on. look, mitt romney has been on the phone the last few weeks with rick warren. he is not a political player as much as a guy who is a respected pastor in this country. they are trying to schedule a meeting with dr. james dobson, formerly with focus on the family. he is a big respected member of the evangelical community as well. and there's been a lot of outreach with phone calls, weekly meetings with many evangelical leaders. so really, carol, what you have going on here is you have a behind the scenes outreach campaign, if you will.

and then in front of the camera, how many events will romney do a faith-based events. that is still under consideration. there are a couple being talked about. no details at this point. >> you mentioned rick warren. he has a close relationship with president obama. has he switched over? >> no. i don't think there's any sense he switched over or he would even term it switched over. obviously, he never came out for president obama in 2008. and he was kind of a straight shooter then. and there's no sense that rick warren is going to play any sort of active role in this campaign like he did in 2008 when he had that big faith forum out in california. >> the other question i had, the health care law. as you know, it was upheld by the supreme court. and there's this big controversy going on about whether the mandate is a tax or not. mitt romney's guy came out and said, mr. romney doesn't think it's a tax. many conservatives think it's a tax. evangelicals, do they have a strong feeling about that? >> i think they are in the tea party camp.

as you know, and you have had me on talking about the new book i have out, that talks about the idea that evangelicals and the tea party is very simpatico on the tax issue. of course the tea party thinks it's a tax, and most conservative evangelicals definitely believe it's a tax too. look, i have decided, carol, i have cowbined a new term. it's not the five-hour energy drink it's the five-month energy drink because it's five months between now and november. and this group is on steroids big time. the injections are happening left and right. the president with that health care ruling and john roberts and everything that went down it could be potentially the worst day of his presidency. it's something i have written about. >> well, if you put it this way -- >> it's counterintuitive. >> well, you can look at it another way, right? so conservative evangelical voters, they are not so happy with the president's health care plan. but mitt romney has a similar health care plan in

massachusetts. and his guy comes out and says, hey, we don't think the mandate is a tax. it's not a tax. it's a penalty. i agree with president obama. how does romney get around that and energize conservative voters to go to the polls and vote for him against president obama when the romney camp is giving conflicting messages? >> no, it's a good point, and it's something where he has obviously may make an appearance on "dancing with the stars" this november for sure because he's going to have to dance around this a little bit. look, i think the best course of action for romney if you listen to the teavangelical argument, use the state argument, what's good for massachusetts might not be good for arkansas or maine and he'll make the case like he did in the gop primary that this is a states' right issue and that will play well with the teavangelicals. the danger for romney is he wants to be careful he doesn't have a don't tread on me flag in a photo op because many

independents might not see that as a positive. the fine line, carol, if he could actually have a don't tread on me flag in the background, he could mobilize this teavangelical base big time. >> thanks so much for your insight. appreciate it. >> thanks, carol. sometimes you have to be a little creative if you can't take the oath of office in person. one mayor did just that. e. great! tyler here will show you everything. check out our new mobile app. now you can use your phone to scan your car's vin or take a picture of your license. it's an easy way to start a quote. watch this -- flo, can i see your license? no. well, all right. thanks. okay, here we go. whoa! no one said "cheese." progressive mobile -- insurance has never been easier. get a free quote today. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees.

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okay. we have a bit of news to share with you right now, and it

concerns barclay's bank. as you know their ceo resigned yesterday because the big bank was accused of rate-fixing during the height of the financial crisis. well, the bank's coo has now resigned. what this means for the bank, we're going to get alison kosik on that right away, but so far two very big people have resigned from barclay's, the ceo yesterday and the coo today. we'll get you more information. alison kosik is already working on it. we asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. questions for you this morning. should utility companies be penalized for prolonged power outages? this from todd. >> aren't they already penalized by our not using their electricity. the people who should be penalized are the ones who keep preventing us from improving and updating our infrastructure. this from corey. this is a wild world. nothing is promised. self-reliance is as close as it gets. this from mike. so they should be punished when they have all of their crews and outside crews trying to restore power? shaking my head. this from randy.

penalized, absolutely. their customers are penalized for being late on payments, aren't they? why should only one side be expected to uphold their end of the bargain? keep the conversation flowing. facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read more of your comments in the next hour of "newsroom." >> if you're on a family vacation in hawaii and need to be sworn in as mayor in anchorage, what do you do? well, you take the oath of office through a live broadcast, of course. a live link from city hall in anchorage was connected to a law office in honolulu. donyell sullivan's long distance inauguration was a small ceremony but not his first. he says he's honored to serve a second term, even though he wasn't at home to kind of do that. does having more money make people act less humane or put another way does it dehumanize people? in about 45 minutes i'll ask james burnett, editor of "new york" magazine. bepublished a story on that very topic. it's interesting.

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oh, so disappointing. >> and so close. >> so, so close. >> perhaps one of the greatest women's if not the greatest women's of all time just missed out on going to a sixth olympic games, carol. one of the greatest simmers of all time. dara torrez 12 olympic medals. she has been fantastic. for 28 years, and last night she tried to make a sixth olympic

games at the age of 45. the olympic trials, the 50-meter freestyle. she came up just short, less than a tenth of a second away from making the olympic team. her family watching on, you know, she was very gracious. she was very happy for the swimmers who did make it. she's done. she said afterwards her career is over, no regrets. an incredible career that started in the 1984 olympic games, a great career for dara torrez. wimbledon and revenge sweet as maria sharapova was northbound out by the woman who beat her last year. she had support from another great german athlete. sharapova said flat out, quote, she did many things better than i did. there you go. longtime national league patsies, the pittsburgh pirates. they are fighting for the n.l. central lead. watch that deep and off the foul

pole. why isn't it called the fair pole, i'll never know. the very next batter is neil walker. in the only does he hit a home run, he also hits it off the foul pole. >> wow. i don't think i've ever seen that. the last time there were back-to-back home runs were off a foul pole was in 2000. wouldn't believe it ever happened before. the pirates, look like they could be in contention for the playoffs. have been so bad. not a winning season in 20 years. >> looks like a beautiful stadium. >> it is, pnc park, fantastic. >> thank you, jeff. the next hour of cnn "newsroom" begins right now. and good morning to you. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for joining us. just ahead in the "newsroom," when is the power coming back on? nearly 1 million people who have been without power since this weekend are asking that question. we're putting that question to a power company official. mauled by chimps. an american graduate student clinging to life after a couple of chimpanzees tore him up. what doctors are doing to save

this young man's life. and take a look at this. this is a 16-foot shark. this pair of great whites have been swimming along the cape cod shores. could they ruin fourth of july beach celebrations? but we begin with this. our top story. for much of the country this will be another day of blistering temperatures. it will be stifling and oppressive, but for some 2 million americans it will be downright dangerous. they still have no electricity and few ways to keep cool. the outages are still massive scattered across 11 states and washington, d.c. for some this begins day five of sweltering misery and relief could still be days away. >> been very, very hot. not getting relief in the liquid form, and people are in dire straits really. >> all these people don't have nothing. it makes you want to sit down and cry. >> you have to just rough it the best way you can. you have to -- to go buy water,

if you can find it. everyone was out of everything. >> i hate it. it's horrible. we can't -- all our phones are dead right now. in case of an emergency, we can't make a call or anything. >> power companies are facing some heat, as you might expect from customers who say their response has been woefully slow. another common complaint is that the companies don't provide updates so people can't make informed decisions like should i go to a cooling shelter? should i stay home? will the power be back on tomorrow or days from now? last hour i spoke with one power company official. >> we don't want to give our customers false expectations. it does no good to say we're going to restore "x" percent or individually we'll restore your power by "x" only to find out that because of the circumstances we can't control we -- we dash your hopes. we can't meet that deliverable, and that only creates more frustration and more anger with -- with the utility companies and everybody else involved. >> that was robert gould, by the

way, the vice president at baltimore gas and electric company. baltimore's mayor is taking bge to take saying it's putting the elderly and poor at risk because it's restoring power more slowly in the city than elsewhere. dwuld says they have worked with the city to prioritize public safety returns restoring power first to 911 and emergency operations along with water treatment plans. lizzie o'leary is our regulation correspondent. she is looking into the many, many complaints this morning that people have with the power companies. good morning, lizzie. >> good morning, carol. >> so the pour companies, they don't want to be held accountable for this. some say they should not be held accountable, but are they doing enough? >> enough is really the key question here. look, if your power is out and you're going on day five, i think no one would say that things could be done soon enough and maybe that enough could be done to get the power back on. you have to think about this in a couple of different ways.

multiple different companies here and multiple different kinds of companies. the industry was more or less deregulated back in the '90s so you have some public companies that answer to their investors. you have some more traditional integrated utility companies, and some local governments do have the power to impose fines. i know that's something that you were talking about with electric company executives, so back in 2010 the power went out around here in d.c. pepco, the company responsible for d.c.'s power, most of it, was fined about $1 million. some local governments can do that, and they also have to abide by codes of conduct set by federal regulators, but those are more guidelines in terms of how the companies operate. but certainly on the bottom line basis, on a local and state basis. yes, actually your government can step in and say this wasn't soon enough by our standards. you've got to cough up spot cash for it. >> governments always threaten it and when it comes right down

to it they don't really intight any sort of law to find these companies. another question for you though, the big problem is trees coming down on top of power lines. why don't they bury the power lines and like leap into modern times? >> and this is one of the big questions particularly when you have say a big area where some people live in a more leafy suburban area, trees, much more likely to fall on lines, and then you have folks in a downtown area, denser buildings, more population there and the lines are buried, so i want to kind of tick through some of the points here. when you look at these, underground lines are protected. they are much more likely to stay fine during a storm. you see this in a lot of european cities. they are underground, but the flip side there is that they are more expensive and more costly to install. the figure that power companies give you is that it's about ten times more expensive. a little hard to know whether they are being entirely up front about the costs there, and they say that if there is damage to the underground lines it's much

harder to locate and fix so that in their mind some of those costs outweigh the benefits, carol. >> interesting, lizzie o'leary, thanks so much. >> here's a look at some of the areas dealing with power problems in washington. one in every four residents in the district still without power. many traffic lights still out and that's made driving difficult. public transit is available, the metro system up and running, just a reminder. in west virginia more than 400,000 homes and businesses still without power. power company say their crews are working around the clock to restore electricity, but some areas could be in the dark until sunday. even more are without power in ohio. 428,000 in all. franklin county in the central part of the state where columbus is. ohio's governor has deflared a state of emergency. state of emergency also in place in baltimore. the city's mayor made that declaration across maryland. six people are confirmed dead. power has been restored they to

two-thirds of the state. last stop, virginia. 340,000 customers there without power but most should have their power on by tonight. power should fully restored by saturday. okay. back to the bit of breaking news i told you about earlier. we're learning another top executive at barclay's bank is stepping down. alison kosik is in new york with more on this. this is the third official to step down now? >> right, the third in a week actually. this is the chief operating officer. this follows the ceo-of-barclay's stepping down following, of course, another high-level executive. this is all happening as this scandal grows regarding interest rate manipulation with barclay's. i'm talking about the libor rate, and what that is the rate set every day as a world wide benchmark for prices on financial products, that include everything from auto loans, to mortgages, and what this bank is accused of doing, carol, is manipulating these rates,

submitting lower than actual figures on its intrabank borrowing during the financial crisis. regulators here in the u.s. and in the uk, barclay's is a uk bank, had fined barclay's last week. millions of dollars for this, and this isn't the only bank. regulators are also looking at more than a dozen other banks including citigroup, ubs and rbs. barclay's is the first bank to settle, but this investigation is going to be continuing, and, of course, this is going to raise more calls as to whether or not these retail operations at these big banks should be separate from the riskier investment banking, this kind of echos what happened with jpmorgan, you'll remember, carol, who can forget, where the trading losses for making risky bets could amount to as much as $9 billion for jpmorgan, so you see the calls for whether or not you should have separate banking for each. just so you know, barclay shares have fallen 11.5% since this investigation began. >> alison kosik reporting live for us from new york.

now the latest on those wildfires that have popped up across much of the western united states. so far 1.9 million acres have burned. that's equivalent to an incredible 3,000 square miles. to give you an idea of just how huge that is, it's roughly the size of delaware and rhode island combined. in colorado springs, colorado, many evacuees have returned home to find their neighborhoods gone. >> looks like a bomb, dropped on other neighborhood. >> do you get the sense of the power of that fire, of just how fast it came down and how devastating it was? >> each lot has an individual pile or hole filled with nothing, but ash and debris and metal. it was like armageddon. the most horrible thing we'd ever seen in our life. >> more on the human toll.

two crew members are now confirmed dead in the weekend crash of an air tankner south dakota. cnn affiliates say two other fighters aboard that c-130 were also killed. one family member identified by family members spoke to the affiliate wbtv just before he boarded that doomed flight. the lieutenant colonel said he was anxious to help in the fire fighting efforts. he was from north carolina and this afternoon the air national guard will hold a news conference. of course, we'll keep you posted. the crash has underscored concerns about the aging fleet of c-130s. today the air force has grounded all of them. jeff berino is a wildfire investigator and joins us via skype from california. welcome. >> good morning, carol. >> good morning. i want to talk to you a little bit about the c-130s. the whole fleet has been grounded now. you know about the crash in

south carolina that killed at least two fire fighters. when you hear things like that, what goes through your mind as someone who is out there on the front lines? >> fighting these wildfires is a huge battle and it's a tremendous assistance to fire fighters. it is an aging fleet and they need to come to a solution quickly. >> we don't know why that c-130 crashed in south dakota, but you've looked at those planes close up. should they be in the air? >> they are many, many years old with a lot of miles on them. they take a lot of stress as they come in to drop a security load. the pilots are highly skilled. but i do hope we modernize our system quickly. >> i'm sorry, jeff, we're jacksonville jaguar trouble with your skype transmission. very difficult to understand what you're saying. we'll try to get that fixed, and if we do, we'll get you back on

the air. jeff, thank you so much for your time. an american student recovers in a hospital after a brutal attack at a chimpanzee sanctuary in south africa. jim twitchel is? yes it's true. how is this possible? proper tire inflation, by using proper grades of oil, your car runs more efficiently, saves gas. you could be doing this right now? yes i could, mike. i'm slowing you down? yes you are. my bad. the works fuel saver package. just $29.95 or less after rebate. only at your ford dealer. so, to sum up, you take care of that, you take care of these, you save a bunch of this. that works.

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redeem the points you've earned to travel with no restrictions. rewarding you, every step of the way. just about 15 minutes past the hour. checking our top stories now. the u.s. air force grounds its fire fighting c-130 planes after two crew members died at a crash in south dakota. we're expecting an afternoon news conference to provide more details. encouraging news out of colorado. wet weather is helping more crews get more control over the deadly waldo canyon fire. that fire is described as the most destructive in the state's history. fire now 70% contained. in weather news.

get ready for another scorcher. extreme heat warnings are up for illinois, missouri, kentucky and michigan. the national weather service warning temperatures near or above 100 degrees and a wild police chase ends with police grabbing a wok out of her truck by her hair. for some reason this woman tried to get back into her vehicle after trying to surrender to police. the chase started when police responded to a call about a bizarre acting woman. she hit at least two hours, a power pole and a fence before she was finally cornered by police and arrested. in south africa u.s. graduate student andrew oberle is recovering in a hospital after being mauled by two chimpanzees. what we know is oberle was leading a tour at a sanctuary for abused animals when he ended up in a restricted area. for whatever reason he ended up there, it almost cost him his life. cnn asked oberle's friends if

the chimpanzees were provoked. >> i don't really know the full story about what happened in that aspects, but he had been working with chimps and studying them for a very long time, and he knew what he was doing out there, so without knowing all the details, it's really hard to say. >> more now from chimpanzee eden in south africa. what's the latest on andrew's condition, do you know? >> reporter: you know, carol, while we've been out here, we've heard chimpanzees playing and making noises and a lot of experts say that's how people fall in love with chimpanzees, but they are so human-like. they are laugh sometimes and, of course, when you get too close you realize, like andrew oberle did, that they are wild animals and they can attack human beings. we understand from experts that one male chimpanzee could have the power, equivalent to seven

men, two male chimpanzees attacking oberle last week thursday. that's the equivalent of 14 men attacking him. today we heard from the hospital that he's still in intensive care, that doctors are quite optimistic about the progress that he's making, but he's still very, very heavily sedated, as you can imagine, after undergoing or experiencing such a serious injury. he's still in a lot of pain. carol? >> can you be more specific about some of his injuries? >> reporter: well, you know, we must be honest. we've heard most of the information that we're getting is from the sanctuary themselves and, of course, and investigation that's being conducted by the local tourism and park agency.

they haven't seen andrew. they haven't interviewed him. of course, he's sedated in icu, so this is the account from the sanctuary themselves that he sustained injuries to his head. we understand from some sources that parts of his body were ripped off, that the hospital not confirming any of this, actually telling us today that andrew's parents do not want the extent of his injuries told to the media, or they want that information to remain confidential. carol? >> thank you so much for -- for reporting from south africa for us this morning. we don't know for sure what, if any, role scientology played in tom cruise and katie holmes divorce or pending divorce, i should say, but we do know cruise's commitment to his faith. his devotion to scientology in his own words.

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now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, should utility companies be penalized for prolonged power outages? hey. we've all been there, a monster storm, trees down, power out. our friends in 11 states from indiana to washington, d.c. experienced that over the weekend and still 1.8 million are without power this morning, and they are angry, no, they are furious. >> it's ridiculous. it's really ridiculous. >> i don't know. it's not very much longer that i cannot go without water. >> me and my husband rented a motel room just to get a path last night. >> the d.c.-area power company

pepco say half that lost power in friday's storms have it back and 90% will be restored by this friday. what's that, i say, by this friday. >> this is not the first time. this has happened repeatedly. we've about power outage after power outage in the district of columbia and frankly the people are just fed of that. >> we need that electricity. we have zero tolerance. well, we want that power back on yesterday. >> in ohio where some 400,000 are still without power, officials say things could have been worse if utilities hadn't buried their power lines after the destruction of hurricane ike, but that's little consolation when you're living life in the dark blistering heat with no air conditioning. i mean, how long is too long to be without power? should you have to pay for electricity you're not getting? or are we coming down too hard on utility companies? after all, who can control mother nature's wrath on all those trees. "talk back" question should.

should utility companies be penalized for prolonged power outages? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your responses later this hour. so, what does the man in charge of the power company serving d.c. have to say about all this criticism? i will ask him when he joins me live. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network.

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evacuation orders. we just learned that barclay's newly appointed coo is quitting. barclay's is one of the world's largest banks. the move comes shortly after the company's ceo resigned. both resignations are affected immediately. barclay's was fined $450 million for right dark fixing during the height of the financial crisis. barclay's is one of several banks facing lawsuits over that scandal. navy officials say it's highly unusual to have both engines on an f-18 fighter jet go out at the same time. that's what happened before the jet crashed into an apartment complex in april. amazingly, no one was killed in this accident. frustration is building for the 1.4 million people still without power in 11 states in washington, d.c. it's been several days now since their power has been out. after powerful storms rolled through, actually those storms killed at least 19 people. the extreme heat isn't helping

matters with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees. patience is wearing thin for those left to sweat it out. >> we have a pool, and we have a generator, but a lot of these people don't have nothing. it makes you want to sit down and cry. >> been very, very hot, and we're not getting no relief in the liquid form, and people are in dire straits really. >> much of the blame for the continued outages in the d.c. metro area in particular is on pepco. 117,000 customers are still in the dark. actually still without air conditioning because it's not dark right now. joining me now is pepco region president thomas graham. welcome, mr. graham. >> good morning. >> so the d.c. mayor vincent gray came out and said your response was agonizingly slow and unacceptable. how do you respond to the mayor? >> let's talk about where we started from. we started with 443,000

customers out of service. we've been able to restore service to three out of every four customers. we're making great progress. we've been able to secure mutual assistance crews from all over the country, florida, oklahoma and as far away as canada. we're working 24/7, as hard as we can and a catastrophic event and our system was literally devastated by that storm. >> this was a freak storm but the mayor says, you know, there have been past storms and you haven't been prepared for those either, even though you got a warning those storms were coming. >> you know, storms aren't -- mother nature isn't something i can control. you can't control the storm, can't control the damage that takes place to our system. can't control the mature trees that crash down on the infrastructure on homes and cars, but what we can control is our response. to the extent we could be prepared we were prepared. to the extent we can get resources from other utilities, we have. we have over 2,700 personnel working on the restoration for

our customers on a 24-hour basis. >> is there a point in your mind when a customer has the right to say, okay, my power has been out for too long and now it's really -- you're to blame, mr. utility company person? i mean, is there a limit in your mind how long a person should be without power? >> well, i think we have to start with the premise that a customer never wants to be out of service, and -- >> but there's a difference between being out of service for one or two days and five or six days. >> well, i can appreciate, that and i can appreciate the frustration of our customers but we're doing absolutely everything we can on a 24-hour basis to make sure those customers, the service is restored as quickly and safely as possible. >> i think one of the frustrations is there's no definite date you can give people that their power will be restored which leaves people like what do i do? do i stay in my house in the intense heat? do i go to a hotel, what do you do because i have no idea when my power is going to be turned

back on? >> you know, we're still going through various neighborhoods. the first thing we had to do was secure some of our substations. the supply lines were damaged by trees dropping on them. now we're starting to work in the neighborhoods, so you're seeing a stronger presence. we're able to make great progress, but there's a considerable amount of damage, so, again, i can understand the frustration of our customers, but they can also see that we're out there, and we're out there around the clock for them. >> for those customers who are going to have to do without power for oh, let's say a full week, will there be any, i don't know, a break in their bill perhaps. >> you know, right now we're focused on the restoration of service. there isn't a provision for that. right now they're not receiving electricity, unfortunately, but we're just working as hard as we can to restore service for them. that's the only thing on our mind right now. >> mr. graham, thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> sure, thank you.

appreciate the opportunity. >> sure. now to the tomkat divorce problem. the question, how much did scientology play in their split? >> reporter: when it comes to scientology, tom cruise may well be the faith's most combative celebrity defender, famously tearing into nbc's mate lauer over the church's repudiation of psychiatry. do you know what ritalin, what adderol is, do you know now that ritalin is a street drug? do you understand that? >> the difference is -- >> matt, i'm asking you -- >> but this -- >> matt, i'm asking a question. >> i understand there's abuse of all of these things. >> here's the problem. you don't know the history of psychiatry, i do. >> although cruise joined scientology in the 1980s, over the past decade his public identification with the group has been much more pronounced. he's explained his beliefs on talk shows, in the press, and scientology meetings featuring cruise with his "mission impossible" theme playing in the background and the star giving a

military salute to a scientology leader have appeared in videos like this one posted by radar online. >> i think it's a privilege to call yourself a scientologist, and it's something that you have to earn, and -- because a scientologist does. he or she has the ability to create new and better realities in improved conditions. >> reporter: many of cruise's statements underscore a central lesson of the faith, that its followers can accomplish great things, again, radar online. >> when you drive past an accident, it's not like anyone else. as you drive past, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one that can really help, and i won't hesitate to put ethics on someone else because i put it routelessly on myself. >> reporter: such talks lays out teachings taught out in the 1950s by the founder, science fiction writer elron hubbard.

followers are supposed to be led towards positive thinking and achieving their goals, no matter how ambitious. listen again to that radar online video as cruise talks to fellow devotees about world leaders. >> they want then, and they are depending on people who know and can be effective and do it, and that's us. >> that was 2004. by 2005 cruise was expressing even more questions about actress katie holmes, most notably about jumping on oprah's sofa. so what happened? holmes, who was raised catholic, is believed to have converted to scientology at her relationship with cruise grew, but in the wake of their split there are reports that she is concerned over their daughter suri being raised in the faith. for now neither is addressing those reports. holmes attorneys called the divorce a private matter and said her primary concern is her

daughter's best interests. cruise's attorneys did not respond to cnn inquiries but told the "los angeles times" said his client hoped the divorce would not be contentious. cruise has dismissed what scientologists called sps, suppressive persons, a term used for people who tried to impede the mission of scientology, again, radar online. >> they said, like, have you met an sp? and i looked at him and, you know, i thought oh, what a beautiful thing because maybe one day it will be like that, you know what i'm saying? maybe one day it will be that -- wow, sps, like they will just read about those in the history books. >> tom foreman reporting. the auto bailout did not help the auto industry in janesville, wisconsin. now president obama might have a price to pay with their votes.

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aiming for the gold. here's a quick look at run-up to the summer games. remember this photo finish from last month? u.s. sprinters jeneba tarmoh and allyson felix were supposed to have a runoff yesterday to break this third place tie. the winner would compete in the 100-meter dash in london, but at the last minute tarmoh bowed out of the runoff. she did not give a reason. she will be an alternate at the

event in london. tarmoh had initially been given third place in last month's event before the judge's changed the ruling to a tie. 45-year-old dara torrez swam in the olympic trials trying to make the olympic team for the first time. her first olympics, back in 1984. competing in the 50-meter freestyle she missed out by less than a tenth of a second. torres later officially announced her retirement with absolutely no regret. troes is di torres is tied for the most olympic medals with 12. the olympic torch relay was nearly disrupted when two kids ran up to the security bubble that surrounds the flame as it makes its 8,000-mile journey to the london olympcis. no one was arrested. tune in tomorrow night to see who is aiming for the gold in london, and piers morgan has a special independence tribute to america, 2012's rising athletes the, a special july 4th "piers

morgan tonight" show at 9:00 p.m. eastern. i'm a marathon runner, in absolute perfect physical condition and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue... i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. he's my success story. [ laughs ]

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because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. 41 minutes past the hour. the american auto industry isn't sitting this election out. autoworkers could play a crucial role in this race, especially in the rustbelt. our poppy harlow hit the road driving from wisconsin, to indiana, to michigan and ohio to take the pulse of voters in key auto towns. all four states elected obama in 2008. now indiana is leaning towards

romney. and ohio is a tossup. 55 electoral votes up for grabs in these states. here's poppy harlow. >> i mean, this town and gm went hand in hand. >> reporter: how many years as an auto worker? >> 30.7 when the plant closed in janesville. >> reporter: this gm plant is more than 4 million square feet. it was filled with thousands of workers until it closed just a few years ago. some of them took buyouts. others moved to gm plants in other states and others stayed here in janesville trying to figure out their place, their job in this once auto town. i first visited janesville in 2009 right after gm shut its doors here. three years later we found janesville trying to build back. >> it's a town without an

identity. the town with more unemployment and more foreclosed homes and more people that want to work that just don't have that option anymore. >> they want jobs, and they want good jobs. >> reporter: is it still a union town? >> that's changed. this is not a union-center town anymore. >> reporter: like it was in '08. it's a heavily democratic town. you might think it would be a shoo-in for president obama again but that's not what we found. >> we believe the country needs to change direction. >> reporter: we met john and sharon decker at a romney rally here. john worked at the gm plant for 36 years, a materials supervisor. >> conservative democrats will not vote for obama. they will vote for somebody who can get this town and country back on the right track. >> reporter: what candidates provides you more of an economic opportunity to make it? >> it's -- it's mitt romney no question. what he said today is i'm going to get you guys to work. i care about it. >> reporter: we hear the same thing from president obama?

>> but we see mitt romney's proved in t as governor. he's proved it when he was working with his company. we know plenty of people who voted for obama in '08 and will not do the same in '12. like i said there's just disappointment. >> reporter: disappointment that unemployment is still 9% here, even though improved from more than 15% when the plant closed. >> i think obama's real motive was to put union people back to work. it wasn't to save general motors. >> reporter: and it dividend save aaron keene's job on the production line. since the plant closed he's been mowing lawns at the local golf course. >> i'm never going to make what i made at gm again. >> reporter: still, he supports president obama and the auto bailout for the jobs it did save. >> i believe president obama is working for the working man. i voted for reagan twice, right, i wish i hadn't. trickle down economics where we wait for a calm of cutters to fall out of the fat guy's

pocket. this is why we're where we're at. >> reporter: and here at sunset softball. who are you supporting? >> mitt romney. >> reporter: for two reasons, she says. >> his opposition for the auto bailout and what he's done with the company she works with now. >> what he's done for the staples store and how that goes so -- >> reporter: so his record at bain capital? >> yes. i -- i don't think that was a bad thing. he's part of the reason i have a job today. >> reporter: should we think of this as a swing state now? >> absolutely. just look what happened in the recall. we've turned into a red state. >> you don't see it on the news, but i think it's going to be a swing state. >> our state is really divided, just like the country is divided. >> let's go to poppy who is live in new york city. she's back from her road trip. poppy, this was a town that really leaned democratic in the 2008 elections, so what radically changed to change

people's minds? >> absolutely it has changed dramatically. what it is is the uaw is not there anymore. this was a purely union town. they had a mass gm plant, the oldest gm plant in the country, and it's gone, and so is the union and so are those union jobs. that changes things. you know, i was talking this morning on the phone again with vic grassman head of the economic development corp. he said i don't think we know yet if this county is going to lean towards romney but it's certainly more split than it has non-a long time. this is a county that voted for ted barrett in that recall election over governor walker just about a month ago, but, again, it's a town that is trying to redefine itself. for so long it's been about auto and auto jobs so you do have the people that are very thankful for the bailout but that bailout didn't save or create any jobs in janesville, wisconsin. when you look at the numbers, 16,000 auto jobs in 2007 in wisconsin, and if you look at the latest numbers, end of 2011

for wisconsin, there are about 1600 auto manufacturing jobs so they have been cut in half, and we have seen something similar really across the rustbelt. tomorrow we're going to take you to kokomo, indiana, which is -- it epitomizes an auto town and talk to folks on both sides of the argument. >> can't wait to hear your report from there. that will air tomorrow in the 10:00 eastern hour of "newsroom." interesting stuff. poppy harlow reporting live for us this morning. checking our top stories now at 47 minutes after the hour. a colorado springs neighborhood burned thanks to those intense wildfires. the fire destroyed nearly 350 homes and damaged dozens more in the city. thousands of people still under a mandatory evacuation order. fire officials say it could be well over a month before the waldo fire is contained. in benghazi, libya, demonstrators vowed to stay on the streets until this week's national elections willing to risk their lives to protect polling places. on sunday dozens of people attacked the electoral commission headquarters.

the saturday's vote to choose a congress is libya's first nationwide election in more than four decades. look closely. that's a bear in that darn tree. the black bear cub was spotted on the university of south florida campus early this morning. the bear then moved on to an area outside of busch gardens. wildlife officers got close enough to tranquilize the bear. the bear hopefully is now running free and having fun in a national forest. the heat wave in the upper midwest is worrying dairy farmers. an extended hot spell caused the death of hundreds of cows in minnesota and wisconsin. one farmer said his production dropped 30%. if something hike that happens again this summer, you can expect to pay more for that gallon of milk. a berkeley study is a fascinating look at human nature. does more money make you meaner? male spirit present.trong it's the priceline negotiator. >>what?

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is money really the roost al evil? fascinating berkeley study tried to find out the answer to that question. researchers put two players through a game of monopoly. one of them had no chance of winning, but it was how the leading monopoly player acted as the game moron that was shocking. he was described as stone cold as he even took the loser's cash. so does money make us more inhue min? james burnett is the news editor of "money" magazine who

published an article on the subject and joins us live from new york. hi, james. >> good morning, carol. >> so a monopoly game proved this? >> well, a monopoly game that is part of a whole emerging field of research. i think it's worth stressing that they are still figuring this out and, you know, they are years away from really strong conclusions, with you the patterns are emerging. yes, more income seems to make -- can make a person less ethical, less empathetic, a little bit more selfish, less likely to be generous. in a different study they found people of a higher status are more likely to take candy from a bowl meant for children. in another study drivers of higher status are more likely to cut up other cars or even enter an intersection while a pedestrian is still there. the researcher says it's like they don't even see them, so it's very provocative stuff. >> it is provocative stuff, and can i hear many people who don't quite believe that theory thinking oh, this study was done at berkeley and the number of studies are in "new york" magazine.

this is a liberal elitist dream to say rich people are meaner than others. >> well, the berkeley researchers do say that, yes, they have a certain ideological motivation or at least, not a motivation, their beliefs are what they are, but they also say the data is the data and the patterns are there. >> but money is power, right? i mean, if you have power, let's say you're stronger than someone else and you can display power over another person, that might make you meaner, too, right? >> well, there's an interesting sort of chicken and egg question here which is to say that do you attain a higher status because you have certain attributes to begin with, or does the income change you, and there is another study, a separate piece of research that says that more -- among men, the more agreeable you are, the less money you make, so that the least agreeable people make about $10,000 more on average than the most agreeable, so that suggests that maybe some of these traits

are there before or they are the driver and they are the reason you attain a higher status, but overall it seems like the status effect is real. >> it seems though that just like playing into a stereotype, sort of like saying being poor makes you kinder or lazier or something like that. >> well, again, they want to be very careful that these are patterns, and in indivial cases, you know, people's lives and careers and how much money they make are influenced by a whole host of factors. they are not saying that's going to be true in every single case. they are looking at aggregate data and that's where the patterns emerge. >> obviously there are a lot of kind and generous wealthy people out there, bill gates, the kennedys, george h.w. bush involved in children's charities so you can't paint a broad brush and say rich people are meaner because they have these qualities that make them rich and they are carrying them out and getting meaner through time. >> oh, yeah, not at all. in fact, the sort of leading

indicator of how much money you give to charity is how much money you make in the first place so that strongly correlates as well but there's another bit of research out of the university of minnesota that takes a different approach. they -- they called -- it's called money priming, so you sit in a room and the screen saver on the computer is flashing dollar bills, or monopoly money out on the table while you fill out the questionnaire. you leave the room and you bump into somebody who is working for the researcher and the person drops all these pencils and they found out people who were in the room with the money, been money primed pick up 15% fewer of the pencils, just sort of becomes not their problem. their focus is elsewhere, so, yeah, it's interesting stuff. >> it is interesting, and the article is fascinating. in "new york" magazine. thanks so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> we asked to you talk back on one of the big stories of the day. as you know it's pretty hot in much of the country and more than 1 million people still have no power. so, the question for you this morning, should utility companies be penalized for prolonged power outages? your responses next.

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explain how genes cause changes in the body that lead to alzheimer's. they plan to gather the genetic makeup of more than 800 people. that means they will determine all 6 billion letters in each participants' down. a the plan was announced yesterday and is being called the largest most complete genetic mapping project for a single disease. we asked you to talk back on one of the big stories for the day. the question this morning, should utility companies be penalized for prolonged power outages? instead of short sighted penalties let's use this as another reason that the united states needs to upgrade all of its infrastructure. focus on new energy sources that don't add to the global warming that's causing this extreme weather. absolutely they should be penalized. every single service providers expects us to pay ontime and if we don't they slap on late fees. big business never cares about its customers so why should customers be sympathetic towards big business this. from christopher. no way should we