making news in america this morning -- >> fire and water. nature's extremes on display. the nation's top nuclear weapons lab, threatened by fire. while historic flooding circles a nuclear plant in the plains. another nerve-racking day ahead. and all eyes are on iowa, as the gop's rising star, michele bachmann, launches hehe white house run. while her tea party rival, sarah palin, visits today. and trouble at the track. injuries when a racehorse rears up at the starting gate. good morning. two of the nation's nuclear facilities are being closely watched this morning. floodwaters have swamped a new plant in nebraska. >> and in new mexico, the los alamos national lob is now

closed for a second day, as an out-of-control wildfire sweeps dangerously close. ryan owens has the very latest, now, froro los alamos. >> reporter: behind me in the distance, you see nothing but smoke. this is the main road in and out of town. and right now, it is largely deserted. this town of roughly 12,000 people, for the most part, has been evacuated. it is all under a mandatory evacuation order. and its best-known landmark, the country's largest nuclear weapons lab is closed. firefighters are scrambling to keep this huge fire, which overnight scorched 44,000 acres, away from nuclear material, radioactive material, that is stored on-site. this afternoon, there was a spot fire on the property. and the main fire, part of that got within about 50 feet of the perimeter of the lab. now, lab officials, a well as new mexico's governor, they assure us that this material is secure and the public is not at

risk. however, they have made the decision, as we said, to evacuate this town. and the lab will be closed again today. ryan owens, abc news, los alamos, new mexico. 900 miles away, nuclear facilities in eastern nebraska are also under scrutiny. as rising floodwaters have surrounded the ft. calhoun plant. the nation's top nuclear safety regulator was among those getting a firsthand look at the situation. gregory jaczko said there was no threat to the people living nearby. the high-stakes jockeying as we head toward the 2012 presidential race. michele bachmann is definitely in. >> meanwhile, sarah palin is still a wild card, while e she has a stop in the state of iowa. and president obama is in the hawk eye state, as well. john hendren is in washington with the latest handicapping.

>> reporter: good morning. sarah palin isn't in the presidential race. but she keeps showing up where the action is. a day after michele bachmann went to iowa to announce her campaign, sarah palin is there. for michele bachmann, the path to the white house cuts throroh iowa. >> i stand here amidst many friends and many family members to announce formally my candidacy for president of the united states. >> reporter: but bachman's day was yesterday. today belongs to her tea party the debut of the undefeated. a documentary of h h career, that some people call a feature-length campaign ad. >> tea party americans, you're winning. >> reporter: it is bachman being taken seriously. and in iowa, she has a home eld advantage. she was raised in this house in waterloo. >> we cannot afford four more years of barack obama. >> reporter: the latest iowa poll shows 65% of iowans have a favorable view of bachman. just 12% negative, making her

considerably more popular here than sarah palin, still not in the race. >> she is a fiscal conservative, a social conservative and a tea party. the three, main elements that primary voters and caucus-goers are looking for. >> reporter: she's had to live down some of her fiery rhetoric from the past. >> i'm concerned he has anti-american views. >> reporter: that kind of talk prompted chris wallace to ask this -- >> are you a flake? >> i think that would be insulting. >> reporter: wallace later apologized. another sign that bachman is being taken more seriously than ever. with the campaign heating up, iowa is getting down right crowded. president obama makes a stop at an alcoa plant to talk manufacturing jobs. >> this isn't the first time that palin stepped on another candidate's announcement, is it? >> reporter: no, it's not. she was in new hampshire. stole the top headline the d d mitt romney announced. the day jon huntsman announced, she shows up at a motorcyclether

rally in a leather jacket. now, she's casting a tall shadow over michele bachmann. while other candidates try to avoid stepping on their fellow partisans' announcements, she doesn't seem to worry about that. >> john hendren live this morning in washington. thank you. is there a palin/bachman rivalry? michele bachmann talks live with george stephanopoulos later this morning on "gma." as we head into the busy summer travel season, the government is issuing its annual report on security awareness. the fbi and the department of homeland security say while there's no specific or credible terror threats, travelers and people attending large-scale celebrations are still warned to be diligent about the possibility. high-level white house meetings did little to move debt talks forward. republican leaders are flatly refusing to consider raising taxes.s. but the administration remains hopeful that a significant deal can be reached. and disturbing, new details are emerging about tucson shooting suspect, jared laufer

in and his behavior behind bars. and the woman that laugher in is accused of shooting made her first appearance in a crowd since the attack. congresswomama gabby giffords, accompanied her husband, mark kelly, to an awards ceremony last night. giffords arrived in a wheelchair. and stood up and hugged kelly when he received his award. big night for both of them. not such a warm and fuzzy feeling for part of the nation's weather. showers and thunderstorms in the east coast. the heaviest downpours in the carolinas and georgia. drenching rain spreads into mississippi. scorching heat across texas and arizona. showers along the pacific coast, from seattle to san francisco. >> 74 degrees in sacramento. 90s from boise to albuquerque. and phoenix heats up to 116 degrees. 79 in chicago.

81 in kansas city. 99 in dallas. mostly 80s in the northeast. baltimore climbs to 90. miami, 88. and new orleans, 93. all right. coming up, the new nationwide ban on dangerous cribs. also, new details about a boston mobster's 16 years in hiding. he's admitting he returned to the city during that time, fully armed. and one major city's plans to ban all pet sales.

well, good news from europe is helping the financial markets. french banks are giving greece more time to pay off its debt. so, it appears that a widespread european debt crisis can be averted. that's boosting markets both overseas and in the u.s. but a general strike is under way in greece, protesting the government's budget cuts. takingg look at the markets this morning, tokyo's nikkei average gained 71 points today. hong kong's hang seng is slightly down. in london, the ftse opened higher. and on wall street, the dow jumped 109 points yesterday. the nasdaq index was up 35. there's good news for drivers heading into the july 4th weekend. for the seventh week in a row, gasoline prices are down.ast 8 cents in the last week. the average is $3.57 a gallon. you can thank falling oil prices, which are expected to continue downward. starting today, it is illegal to sell drop-side cribs, even at a yard sale.. the cribs have a side rail that can be raised and lowers that make it easier to put a baby in

a crib or take it out. but they've been blamed in the deaths of several infants. there are many cribs still in use. and it is a major victory for video game manufacturers. the supreme court has overturned a california law that bans sales of violent video games to minors. by a 7-2 vote, that did not follow ideological lines. the justices said it was a free speech issue. video games have the same rights, now, as books and movies. into the legal news, the sale of pets in a major california be , could soon be outlawed. a bill is on its way to san francisco's board of supervisors to ban all pet sales. all of them. we're even talking about goldfish. it started as a move to stop puppy mills and kitten factories. like those cute, baby pets, it kept on growing. >> the little guys there. next on this tuesday, from the governor's office to jail. what's next for rod blagojevich? all about color. who is brainier? people with blue eyes? or maybe folks with brown? and those tense moments at

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video here. a large florida motel is now in ruins after this inferno burned for hours yesterday. the fire broke out sunday night at a lodge near disney's animal kingdom, forcing 150 people from their rooms. eight of them, actually, had to be hospitalized. the smoke led officials to briefly close a nearby highway. investigators are still trying to determine how that fire started. > speaking of highways, for look at morning road conditions. flooding on i-95, from maine to miami. wet on i-10, from florida into mississippi. also on i-20, and 40 across the south. rain makes for a slick ride on i-5, in northern california and the pacific northwest. >> and taking a look at possible

airport delays today. they could happen in atlanta, orlando, miami, washington, d.c., and also san francisco. well, notorious ganger the, whitey bulger's arrest, has not dampened his flare for fra >> talk. >> he waived his right to silence and freely admitted to returning to returning to boston for several times while on the run. he said he was, quote, armed to the teeth, because he had to take care of unfinished business. now, bulger wants taxpayers to foot the bill for his defense, though prosecutors say bulger can easily afford to pay. a hearing is set for today. another flamboyant defendant known for his way with words, was unable to sweet-talk a chicago jury into an acquittal. diana alvear has the latest on rod blagojevich. >> frankly, stunned. not much left to say other than, we want to get home to our little girls and talk to them and explain things to them. and then, try to sort things

out. >> reporter: the former illinois governor has a lot to explain. in his second corruption trial, jurors found him 17uilty on 17 counts. deadlocked on two others. not guilty on just a single count. prosecutors said blagojevich used the power of his office to shakedown associates for political favors and cash. even offering president obama's open senate seat to the highest bidder. he consistently denied any charges of corruption. it did not convince the jury. >> we felt it was clear that he was trying to make a trade for the senate seatat >> reporter: earlier that morning, when asked how he felt, blagojevich quoted his hero, elvis presley's song, "all shook up." >> my hands are shaking. r rorter: blagojevich may soon be singing a different tune, now that he's facing a lengthy prison sentence. >> and rod blagojevich is expected to ask for a mistrial, then appeal the verdict. in medical news, new evidence this morning about the importrtce of mammography

screening. a study on swedish women between the ages of 40 and 74, credits mammography for cutting breast cancer deaths by 40%. research relief from last year, for only the youngest portion of that same group. and a new generation of bug repellents may be closer to hitting the market. researchers at vanderbilt university have discovered the most powerful repellent ever. the study is based on mosquitos. it dries off bugs by turning on all the receptors in their nose at once. it started when josh hamilton said that blue eyes were the reason he heard poorly during the daytime. some scientists say those with baby blues do better in school and achieve more. they say brown-eyed people are better athletes. others s s that maybe josh hamilton should wear some shades. >> i just happen to have blue eyes. >> showoff. time, now, for sports.

the padres and royals battled last night in chicago. but some of the best performance became before the game. a cirque du soleil show, ka, put his talents on display with a flip maneuver, even sending it over the plate for a strike. more baseball, now. the college world series is currently under way. and we have details from espn news. >> cole wright here with your espn news updatete and we're headed straight to t.d. ameritrade park in omaha, nebraska for the college world series. florida and south carolina. game eight. up the gut, right past hudson randall. mooney would score. south carolina ties it at 1-1. bottom nine. bases stuffed with florida. no outs. john taylor, against tyler thompson. gets the out at home. can't beat that.y with the berry with the nice tag. one out.

bases still loaded. wingo, again. look at that. defense goes to him. gets the out at first base. taylor, all fired up. it was very close. anything can happen in omaha. game tied at 1-1. runners on first and second. the s.e.c. player of the year, at the dish. jake williams comes up throwing. and how about that? cody dent, it's dugout time. get familiar with it. 1-1, after ten. move to the top of the 11th. still tied. runner at first for souou carolina. the throw, a little off the mark. then, the throw to third, also not so good. christian walker jogs home. gamecocks out in front, 2-1, on two throwing errorsy the gators. same score. mite price, on two days' rest. gets picket to roll it to short. south carolina wins 2-1, in 11 innings.

>that will do it for us. don't forget, for the latest on the sports scene, tune into "the highlight express." staking with sports now. two people are recovering after back-to-back freak accidents at a racetrack in seattle. >> look at this video. unbelievable. a horse threw its jockey, slammed the handler into a fence at emerald downs over the weekend. earlier, the horse owner suffered a collapsed lung and more than a dozen broken bones when two horses got spooked, threw their jockeys and trampled them. one of the horses broke its hip and had to be put down. >> very tragic. >> it is. speaking of tragic folks, charlie sheen. taking his troubles all the way to the bank. a new tv deal and maybe his biggest paycheck ever. is this winning? >> here we go again. we'll also update our top story. an out-of-control wildfire, closing in on the country's tops weapons lab. stay with us for those stories, weapons lab. stay with us for those stories, coming up. nshine ♪

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frosted strawberry pop-tarts baked with real fruit, they'll rise and you'll shine. pop-tarts. made for fun. and now, a look ahead at the stories we'll be watching on this tuesday. thousands of residents have left their homes behind in los alamos, new mexico, because of a threatening wildfire. that fire is burning on the outskirts of a nuclear lab. but experts say there's no immediate danger. michele bachmann, the newest entrant in the presidential race, shakes hands in new hampshire and south carolina. sarah palin, still on the sidelines, visits iowa for the showing of a documentary about her. the president also visits the

hawkeye state today. and senate lawmakers will take up president obama's decision to involve u.s. forces in the operation against libya. the foreign relations committee is expected to accept a bipartisan resolution that would give the president limited authority for a one-year mission with no u.s. ground troops. the los angeles dodgers head to bankruptcy court today in the latest legal wrangling over the team. frank mccourt may not be able to meet payroll thursday without a judge's okay. > as of this morning, it is o longer legal to make or sell drop-side cribs. not even alt a garage sale. it takes effect after the suffocation deaths of several dozen babies, caught between the mattresses and side of the cribs. and charlie sheen may be back to winning ways with a new sitcom. sheen has signed a deal with lion's gate television. and a bidding war has broke out. we have to stay tuned for this one. speaking of stay tuned, for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everybody else, from omg

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coming up next on abc7 news at 4:30 -- walnut creek police are looking for the suspects who stabbed two people outside a car wash. governor brown announces democrats will vote on a budget plan that does not need republican support. who would be hit? the return of rain many june. mike nicco has our forecast. >> the possibility of record rain and cool temperatures today. i'll show you where the rain is right now with live doppler7 h.d. and when it gets to your neighborhood. are you busy texting again? >> i am. best way to communicate these days. 101.inally this morning, texting another generation is poised to work their thumbs to the bone.

>> we're talking about a set of sav savvy seniors, not afraid to master the technology mastered by the grandchildren. >> reporter: sometimes years ago, people way smarter than the rest of us, decided thumb-type messages were better than phone calls. thus, texting was born. but these days, texters who can't see where they're walking, make way for texters that can't see where they're texting. welcome to the texting class for seniors. >> i can't see the letters. >> reporter: but they could see the white board. and they could hear the instructor, which means these seniors are well on their way to the 21st century. >> it's a new toy for us. >> there is nothing to be afraid of. it's not going to bite you. >> reporter: instructor, cheryl mcintyre, says most folks own cell phones and are aware of texting. but haven't found out how to navigate through the menu.

omg, there's a whole, new language you have to learn. >> i looked online. and i saw there were about 20 pages of abbreviations. who's going to know all that? republic mcintyre does provide a cheat sheet of texting short hand. phrases like i don't know. which is one plenty of folks in this class were ready to use today. >> what is this? >> which is gr with the number 8. >> reporter: which btw, will save you two key strokes. an important speed tip, that has these seniors taking aim on the quick-typing whipper snanaers out there. >> we're going to do something, too. >> reporter: that's right. age is no barrier to being hip and cool. though, maybe hip isn't a word these folks like to hear. in downey, rob hayes, abc 7, eyewitness use. your abc station will be brb. >> that's getting dorky. stay with us for "good morning america."