making news in america this morning. >> new this morning, damaging tornadoes and a rampage across the plains, a system that ripped across homes in the midwest and dumped summer snow on the rocky mountains. an airline goes down in heavy fog. there are survivors including a young boy. a grandmother's purse stolen right out of her shopping cart. the store owner finds the crook on facebook. good morning. we begin with breaking news, damaging tornadoes as a big chunk of the country braces for even more wicked weather. all of it a day after a big batch of tornadoes ripped through the plains. >> take a look at this twister as it touched down in aurora, nebraska, just one more of the more than 40 reported from texas

to north dakota. take a listen. just terrifying sound there. can you imagine? well, the storms unleashed heavy rain, 80-mile-an-hour winds, hail as big as baseballs. sparsely populated farms were the hardest hit so there were no reports of serious injuries. >> all on the first day of summer. high winds left a number of homes in ruins. trees and power lines came crashing down and thousands of people lost electricity and thanks to the weather, play will have to resume this morning in the college world series between florida and vanderbilt. the teams were playing in omaha last night when severe storms forced officials to call a rain delay. that same storm system has parts of the rockies discovered in white on this first day of summer. up to 5 inches of snow came down yesterday in the colorado's high country. they were forced to cope with icy mountain passes and some roads had to be shut down. a live update later on "good

morning america." president obama marks a major milestone in the afghanistan war tomorrow. he announces how many troops will come home next month. mr. obama is expected to outline a blueprint for the afghans to take over their own security. a long awaited announcement full of political risk. with more than half of americans now saying the afghanistan war is not worth the cost, president obama is said to announce tomorrow how many of our troops will be coming home. >> the president is still in the process of finalizing his decision on the pace and scope of the drawdown that will begin in july of 2011. >> the decision facing the president whether he should follow the military's advice? >> if we accelerate withdrawal we'll lose the war. >> reporter: or does he make his decision based on polls showing a war weary public? >> i think that when you look at the situation on the ground in afghanistan, it's bleak. >> reporter: the size of the drawdown has to be large enough to keep the president's promise

to withdraw troops but small enough to satisfy military commanders worried that afghanistan remains too fragile. and diplomatic relations with the country also remain tense. after president hamid karzai said u.s. forces run the risk of becoming occupiers of his country. >> when i hear some of your leaders call us occupiers and liken to the brutal enemies of the afghan people, my people grow weary of our effort there. >> reporter: with more than 100,000 troops in afghanistan, a modest drawdown in the military's opinion would be no more than 5,000 troops. but with americans wanting less involvement and osama bin laden now dead some are calling for a much larger number. suggesting the president can decide on a number as high as 15,000 troops. now, polls show that most americans don't think the war in afghanistan is worth fighting. support for the war to get a slight bump up after the killing of osama bin laden but it does remain well below 50%. in northwestern russia this morning an investigation is geth

under way into the deadly crash of a passenger jet. it went down in heavy fog overnight killing at least 44 people. remarkably 8 people survived the crash. among them a 10-year-old boy. it happened about a mile from an airport where lights used in dense fog reportedly failed. in kentucky three mine workers are fine after being trapped for 14 hours. the mine's roof collapsed and then the mine flooded. rescuers pumped 3,000 gallons of water per minute out of the mine which allowed rescuers to bring the men to safety. the mine is now temporarily closed. thousands of evacuees spent another night away from home because of the fires in the southwest. also arizona senator john mccain is now take some heat over his claims that illegal immigrants started some of those fires. diana alvear reports. it is an all-out battle for fire crews.

only 51% contained it is the largest fire in the state's history. while not as massive the monument fire forced thousands to to evacuate vac wait and fire crews to retreat. flames helped along by wind gusts of more than 50 miles per hour. senator john mccain speculated some may have started by illegal immigrants. >> everything was closed and circumstan circumstantially it was. >> reporter: federal fire officials said there was no evidence to support his claim. in all, the 4.3 million acres that burned this year are already 2 1/2 types the national average for the last 10 years. so why so many fires in so many states? >> well, we're seeing this prolonged drought. we're seeing more fire -- more weather extremes. >> reporter: dry conditions are turning brush into tinder. it's so bad in florida, crews are having to hose down shrubs and grass. and it's not just flames causing

chaos. on sunday thick smoke forced texas officials to close interstate 45 for 5 hours. diana alvear, abc news, los angeles. senator mccain will discuss the fires and also his comments when he joins us live on "good morning america." the storm hugging the pacific coast strengthened to winds topping 50 miles an hour. but it's not expected to make landfall. forecasters say b beatriz will gain more strength before turning back out to sea. >> this is the first day of summer so a lot of people looking at the temps. storms though from the midwest to deep south and mid-atlantic. gusty winds, tornadoes and flash flooding around minneapolis, chicago, st. louis and little rock. showers from houston to shreveport and across florida. afternoon showers in new england and update new york. showers and thunderstorms in florida. >> 90 in miami, 96 in atlanta.

and 81 here in new york. very comfortable, chicago gets up to 86. minneapolis, 75 and fargo, 66. a sizzling 105 in phoenix and 100 in sacramento. coming up after this, an mtv star killed in a car crash. then in america's money, a legal victory for walmart in its fight against female employees. a giant case said to impact even more also, here we also, here we go again. an airline's newest fee. you won't believe this one.

large-scale sex discrimination cases are facing a tougher challenge today. in a setback to workers, the u.s. supreme court sided with walmart yesterday in the biggest sex discrimination case in u.s. history. the court voted 5-4 and it said that the company did not have a policy that promoted discrimination against all women. several other large companies including costco, toshiba and cigna are also facing similar suits. the asian markets are posting gains today. tokyo's nikkei average rose 105 points today. hong kong's hang seng is up in late trading. in london, the ftse opened higher. meanwhile, on wall street the dow gained 76 points yesterday. the nasdaq index gained 13 points. well, big city mayors are urging president obama to spend more on infrastructure. the mayors met with the president on monday and said this would be a good way to create jobs. the president himself has said infrastructure projects shouldn't be cut due to the budget deficit. well, interest rates aren't

expected to go anywhere when the federal reserve begins a two-day meeting today. the fed is likely to focus on how to protect u.s. banks from the financial crisis that's happening in europe. the average price of gas has dropped 6 cents a gallon in the past week. the average gallon now costs about $3.65. that is down 25 cents from early may. analysts disagree about whether the trend will continue through the summer. airplanemakers are doing big business at the paris air show. boeing has so far made deals to sell $12 billion worth of planes. airbus made $15 billion in deals with some new fuel efficient models being very hot sellers. and brace yourselves. spirit airlines has thought of a new fee for passengers. how would you like your boarding pass printed out? that will be $5. seriously. spirit began charging up to $45 for carry-on bags last august. if you want to avoid the fee print out the pass at check or use a check-in kiosk at the airport. i don't want to give the

airlines any ideas, but i feel like the tray table fee will be next. deposit your money. >> or the seat fee. >> seat belt. >> or if you need to use the lavatory, that's extra. coming up next, a grandmother's wallet is stolen right out of her shopping cart but a savvy storekeeper tracks down the crook on facebook. and age is just a number, isn't it? well, meet baseball's 80-year-old manager. good morning! ♪ [ female announcer ] nutri-grain -- one good decision... ♪ ...can lead to another. ♪ ♪ with real fruit, more of the whole grains your body needs, and a good source of fiber. nutri-grain can help you eat better all day. -why? -why? -why?

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just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck. a wild police chase lasted for more than an hour in the streets not far from houston, texas. you can see three suspects inside a chevy camaro swerved wildly through traffic before ending up in the parking lot of a walmart. that's when a police cruiser, you can see, bumped one of the fleeing suspects and pinned him against the fence to arrest him. another suspect was found hiding in the restroom. all right. taking a look now at your morning road conditions, flooding on i-90 from sioux falls to chicago. also on 80 from des moines to

cleveland, and 70 from st. louis to pittsburgh. wet on i-35 from minneapolis to kansas city. also on i-40 from oklahoma city to nashville and along the gulf coast, wet on i-95 in florida. >> if you're flying and paying those fees, airport delays are possible in minneapolis, chicago, detroit, dallas and the nation's capital. >> no way to get around them these days. no way. well, now to florida where the judge in the casey anthony trial is tell the attorneys enough is enough. >> yeah, continuous courtroom bickering prompted the judge to promptly cancel proceedings yesterday after unleashing stern words for both sides. more now from t.j. winick. >> reporter: casey anthony trial judge belvin perry warned the prosecution and defense their behavior could cause a mistrial even threatening to exclude key witnesses. >> to exclude even at the price of having to do it all over again. exclusion may be the proper remedy if it continues. >> reporter: perry threatened to hold defense attorney jose baez in contempt of court.hen

it all began on saturday when prosecutors complained baez planned to question witnesses on topics not included in pretrial reports. after a long sidebar, court was adjourned until this morning. >> and i would go through the reports of all my experts and make sure that their opinions were contained in the reports. >> reporter: and while the trial of this young mother accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter caylee may be garnering more attention by the day, the judge seems intent on keeping it from becoming a spectacle. >> all of this, folks, is going to stop, or you will be working some very fierce days. >> reporter: perry also threatened to extend the trial hours by starting early each day and shortening the lunch break and told both sides to

expect a full workday on saturday. t.j. winick, abc news, new york. stars from "jackass" are remembering ryan dunn who gained fame on that show. he was killed early yesterday in a fiery one-car accident outside philadelphia. a passenger in dunn's 2007 porsche also died. hours before the crash, dunn tweeted a picture of himself drinking with some friends. no word on if that played a role in the crash. well, beginning today cigarette packs sold here in the u.s. will include labels depicting the negative health effects of smoking. the nine new labels are considered the most significant change to cigarette packaging in a quarter of a century. the images are graphic showing diseased teeth and gums, even a man with a breathing tube smoking. cigarettemakers have until the fall of next year to comply. a 79-year-old new mexico grandma has got her wallet back now after her son tracked it down and tracked down the thief actually on facebook. now, many carmen nuranjo was shopping at the store that her family owns in espanola when she

stepped away for a quick moment, the purse snatcher grabbed the goods. he posted this on facebook and somebody recognized the thief and he was able to retrieve the wallet. carmen reacted like a typical grandma. >> i don't think it was very nice of her. >> all right, well, the wallet was especially valuable. it contained carmen's birth certificate, her social security card as well as her medicaid card. turning to sports now and the boys of summer have begun interleague play. baseball and tennis now from espn news. hi, i'm don bell. we start with a battle in the windy city. the chicago cubs visiting the white sox. south side of chicago we go. top of the sixth tied at 3, carlos pena facing brian bruney. get up and get gone. his third home run in five games. cubs take a 6-3 lead. bottom of the sixth, alexei ramirez called out when he swings and tips it on home plate. ruled a foul ball and tagged out.

manager ozzie guillen comes out and flips out. gets tossed by home plate umpire james hoy. that's right. ejected. and ozzie not done yet. kicks catcher geovany soto's mask. cubs win, 6-3. to the all england club across the pond, we're talking about wimbledon, first round now, rafael nadal versus american michael russell. nadal, he won the first set getting it done in the second. nadal breaks to go up 4-1. later nadal up 4-2, break point, hits a nice crosscourt forehand winner and nadal wins the second set, 6-2. in the third he's up 4-1. he's in the far court now. hits a great shot down the line. how good is he? balance? you don't need balance when you're this good. nadal up 5-1. match point now. hits a slice down the line and russell unable to return. so nadal wins in straight sets

6-4, 6-2, 6-2. and that'll do it for your espn news update, i'm don bell. >> nadal is really on fire. >> yeah. >> incredible. >> chasing federer for most major championships. >> the two of them sort of neck and neck, yeah. the baseball story of the moment is the return of jack mckeon as the manager of the florida marlins. he watched last night as his team lost its 11th straight game. whoa. >> yeah, but we're telling you about it because mckeon is 80 years young, but he doesn't think that's a big deal. >> well, i look at it this way, why should experience get penalized? i mean, you know, 80 doesn't mean a thing. i'm not 80. my birth certificate says that but i'm not 80. but, you know, heck, if you enjoy what you're doing it, love it, good health, capable of going out and doing the job, i'm all for it. >> you just know he'll be one of

those managers out there battling the umpires. mckeon's family gave the okay for his return to the dugout. in fact, he said his wife is probably happy to get him out of the house. >> i love that fiery spirit. good for him. >> yeah. >> can you tell he's going to get in there and do well. hopefully it'll be the last loss for awhile. we'll see. >> exactly. coming up next another republican launches his presidential campaign today. and we're just getting new video in from that outbreak of plains tornadoes. we'll have new details coming up. you use the healing power of touch every day. ♪ now the healing power of touch just got more powerful. introducing precise from the makers of tylenol. precise pain relieving heat patch activates sensory receptors. it helps block pain signals for deep penetrating relief you can feel precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. and a twist of cracked pepper.

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and now a look ahead at the stories that we'll be watching this tuesday, a day after 40 twisters touched down. a wide section of the country is now bracing for a new line of severe storms. take a look at this video that we just received from storm chasers in nebraska. this tornado slams into a freight train in hamilton in york county in nebraska. now today high winds, large hail, also flash flooding there battering parts of the midwest, deep south and mid-atlantic states. incredible weather continues. president obama works behind closed doors ahead of his major announcement tomorrow on how many troops will soon be coming home from afghanistan. jon huntsman formally announces his presidential candidacy today. he is the former governor of utah and was president obama's ambassador to china. he's making his announcement at liberty state park, the same spot where ronald reagan declared his 1980 presidential run. today anthony weiner's resignation will be made official after 13 years in office. he turned in his official letter of resignation. just two sentences long saying it's been an honor to serve the people of queens and brooklyn.

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next on abc7 news, an oakland neighborhood told to shelter in place as a swat team waits on an armed man in his home. and in san jose, firefighters are battling a blaze at a fraternity on the campus of san jose state. mike has the scorching forecast. >> yeah, not only will today be the hottest day this year, we also have poor air quality. i'll show you where that will develop. >> frances checks traffic next at 4:30. and finally this morning, the first lady breaking the mold again and again. >> the first lady michelle obama is on a visit to south africa where she is focusing on youth leadership.

>> and that means another country will likely get a chance to see her shaking things up in a way like none other. more from diana sawyer. >> reporter; wherever she travels, she travels with a signature message, hope, health and laughter for the young. maybe it's hopscotching with kids in india or a greeting in spanish. [ speaking spanish ] >> reporter: pouring a pint of guinness in ireland or just showing up at those state dinners and in every hemisphere reminding students that dreams are not so different. >> back when we were young, no one could have predicted that one day we would become the president and first lady of the united states of america. our stories are not unique. >> reporter: she's already proven she's the one person who can modernize any ancient protocol. a hand on the back of the queen. in indonesia, a conservative muslim country, wearing pants

and a head scarf as a sign of respect. but even a conservative minister, who doesn't believe in shaking hands with a woman, eagerly reached for hers. later had to say he was just being polite. and wherever she goes, there is a subtext. her follow-up trip to haiti, in effect, saying her husband cares too. and seeming to bring him to south africa and botswana, even though he has yet to visit the south of the continent. seven days, three generations of american women signaling they're ready to dance to any song. >> all right. well, we want to go back now and show you some video we've just been getting in of these frightening tornadoes in the midwest. and we will have much more of that throughout the morning. that's right. make sure to stay tuned. sam champion will have the very latest as we continue to watch this werth in the midwest that is coming up on "good morning america." >> yeah,