this morning -- hot and powerless. >> new dangerous summer storms overnight as millions begin a new week without electricity. three days now and counting. families in colorado's fire zone allowed to see what's left of their homes. many left with nothing. the divorce drama discussed by many of us over the weekend. new reports that katie holmes believes she's being followed. and star power. whitney houston's mother in a touching tribute overnight. ♪ like a bridge over troubled waters ♪ good monday morning, i'm sunny hosten in for paula faris.

>> good morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. we begin with the destructive summer storms. hurricane-force winds with no warning. >> during the month of june, more than 3,000 record highs. all those yellow dots were shattered or tied. >> more will be broken today. as the death toll from the weekend storms climbs to 17. a new round of severe storms hammered a dozen states in the last 24 hours. this on the edge of a brutal heat wave with advisories and warnings posted in at least 16 sates today. >> it's like an oven. just brutal. >> reporter: in north carolina, three people were killed. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: sunday's storms a little more than a day after fierce winds tangled power lines. thousands of customers without seven states have no pow person they're suffering without air

conditioning. >> for a few days, it's okay. though obviously, with the triple-digit temperatures it's very uncomfortable. >> we've been running a generator, sharing are our neighbors. >> reporter: those without generators are improvising. buying dry ice to keep food from spoiling. >> we have a pool. we're able to cool off a little bit. it's been a struggle. >> trying to go in the movies. our how is no power. so -- we try to come here. stay cool. >> reporter: and travel nightmare for passengers on amtrak train number 51. stuck in west virginia for nearly 24 hours when trees fell, brocking the tracks. >> it was horrible. >> like isolation. total isolation. >> those poor folks. more than 200 passengers stranded on the train.

they were picked up by buses on saturday night. now to the wildfires burning in the west. a c-130 plane fighting the fire has crashed. a helicopter landed nearby and took three people to the hospital. in colorado, some residents are being allowed to return to their neighborhoods. >> reporter: colorado's most destructive wildfire ever is slowly being contained. >> we're at 45% containment. >> reporter: a week of fires destroyed nearly 350 homes. for the first time, residents -- >> this is my street. >> reporter: -- saw the aftermath up close. the home where she raised her two kids, now gone. >> the washer and dryer was on the top floor, it was in the hole. it was in the hole of the

basement. we saw a bunny in the rubble. it gave me hope. >> reporter: abc news made an exclusionive trek to the front line. >> they put us on the steepest, most inaccessible, hottest parts of the fire. >> reporter: they work 16-hour shifts. smothering hot spots in 100-degree heat. this area probably hasn't burned in well over 100 years. there's twice as much fuel here there should be. douglas fir and pond rosa fine. as july 4th approaches, officials are banning fireworks, and canceling shows from indiana to utah. the fear of monster orange flames now snuffing out the rockets' red glare. clayton sandell, abc news,

colorado springs. >> we'll get a live update from clayton on "good morning america." it's "your voice, your vote." a new poll has good news for president obama. he's now five points ahead of governor romney, the president's biggest lead since late april when he was up by seven points. and in mexico's presidential election, out with the new and in with the old. looks like the party that dominated politics there is on the way to dominance. the second place finisher refuses to concede the race. former president george bush is in africa to spotlight women's cancer. he worked to refurbish a clinic that screens people for cervical cancer. there's a vast shortage of

doctors and hospitals in africa. let's look at the weather. this monday of the holiday week. more blistering heat from the day tote thats to the east coast. stormy from the dakotas. in the rockies. late day showers in the pacific northwest. >> 90s from colorado sfroings baltimore. triple digits again in atlanta and phoenix. upper 80s in the northeast. still to come on "america this morning," an american student mauld by chimps. we'll have an update. and the colorful detergent pacts still making kids sick months after a warning. and a new study overnight. coffee, a cancer fighter? details on that and more when we come right back. ñcñkús1@ú?

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welcome back, everybody. well, just in time for july 4th travel, drivers are enjoying another big drop in gas price. the national average the $3.33 gallon, down nine cents for a week and 22 kreents lower than a year ago. more than 35 million americans are hitting the road over the fourth of july holiday week. you know the saying the buck stops here. this morning, the chairman of major global bank is stepping down after a major

investigation. the head of barclas is resigning less than a week after the bank agreed to pay to settle charges. checking the overseas trading, tokyo's nikkei average slipped three points today. hong kong's hang seng is closed for the holiday. in london, the ftse opened higher. on wall street, the dow gained 239 points last week. the nasdaq index was up 42 points for the week. an update on the popular new laundry detergent pods that look like candy. they've poisoned 1200 children in the last five months. proctor & gamble says they will be a double-latch lid and warnings on the canisters. other make rrs looking at the safety of their own pod packaging. over the weekend, the foul-mouth teddy bear won out over bare-chested men.

"ted" took in over $51 million. our rob nelson seemed to really like it. >> loved it. >> next up, the debut of "magic mike." and "brave" came in at $34 million. >> i'm surprised you didn't see the "magic mike" movie. >> i really wanted to. i will. studying primates was his passion. but a young man went too close. and the moment at wimbledon that had sports fans scratching their heads. i've discovered gold. [ female announcer ] the gold standard in anti-aging. roc® retinol. found in roc® retinol correxion deep wrinkle night cream. it's clinically proven to give 10 years back to the look of skin. now for maximum results... the power of roc® retinol is intensified with a serum to create retinol correxion® max.

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and this is how hundreds of thousands of americans are cooling off from the sizzling heat. look at coney island in new york. one of the many beaches packed

with sunbathers over the weekend. wall-to-wall people and barely an empty spot on the sand. time for a look at the morning road conditions on this monday. wet in the south from west virginia into the carolinas. thunderstorms make for a slick ride from the dakotas to wisconsin and the central and northern rockies. >> thunderstorms could cause airport delays in minneapolis and charlotte. the american graduate student who was attacked by chim pan zees last week in south africa is now listed in stable condition. 26-year-old andrew oberle underwent six hours of surgery yesterday. >> witnesses say he walked away from his tour group and crossed a small fence meant to chemopeople at a safe distance. he got close enough for a chimp to reach under a second fence and grab him. >> an average chimpanzee has the strength of seven men.

andrew was struggling not to be pulled into the enclouz your. he was partially lodged underneath the fence, as far as we can tell. >> he was on his second visit to the sanctuary. we'll have a live report later on "gma." vacationers on cape cod were treated to quite a sight over the weekend. several great white sharks made an appearance in the waters off the popular vacation spot. they were drawn to the area by an abundance of seals, that sharks eat. they don't plan to close beaches because the creatures don't pose a risk to swimmers. and staying in the water, penny palfrey. she started an attempt to swim from cuba to the florida cease. she made it within 26 miles of her goal before calling it quits. the currents were too much for

her to overcome. and 8-year-old boy from california has been very successful in his high-profile challenge. tyler armstrong reached the summit of mount kilimanjaro yesterday afternoon. once confirmed, he'll become the second youngest person ever to conquer the 19,000 foot peak. all in an effort to raise money to find a cure for muscular dystrop dystrophy. a new study finds that caffeinated coffee could dee crease your chances of developing the most common form of skin cancer. the more you drink, the less your risk of basal cell carcinoma. more research is needed. there's one spot left on the u.s. women's track team. and it will be filled today.

you might remember the dead heat we told you about in the women's 100 meerts. training partners tied for third. today is their head-to-head runoff. the winner will compete in the race at the london games. well, one soccer fan if spain probably got it just about right, predicting that half of that country ain't going to work today. we get the reason why now from our friends over at espn. good morning, i'm hakem dermish with your "sports center" update. spain and italy. spain becoming the first team to win three straight major tournament. 14th minute, fabregas to his teammate. xavi pushes the attack forward. a perfect pass. alba scores. pain up, 2-0, at halftime.

84th minute, italy down man due to injury. torres, off the bench, buries it. he ernest the golden boot as the top scorer of the tournament. spain goes on the defeat italy, 4-0. the third major title, adding to the 2008 european championship game and the world cup. baseball, all-stars on the field. new york, robinson cano is an all-star. floyd is not. the yankees lead the bigs with 124 home runs, they win, 4-2. tigers taking on the race. prince fielder, 2 for 4 with an rbi. five players drove in runs for the tigers. the tigers have won 12 of the last 15 dwams versus the rays. the race have lost 6 of the last 7 overall. monday night baseball,

yankees and race. garcia facing a team batting .210 in its last seven games. yankees, race, 7:00 eastern on espn. and more sports news now. tiger woods is back at the top of the the pga tour money list this morning for the first time since september 2009. that, thanks to his win yesterday in a tournament played near washington. it was his third win of the season and the 74th of his career. that afs enough to move him boo second place on the all-time pga wins list. he now has one more than jack nicklaus. maybe now the most infamous fan ever to attend a tennis match at wimbledon. >> there she is knitting away. not that there wasn't anything to watch. an exciting match featuring one of britain's own, andy murray. maybe she'll be back today when

play resumes. >> she's work on a nice turtleneck. it's summertime. i don't get it. >> maybe prepping for fall. >> those aren't cheap seats. i don't understand. coming up next, "the pulse." new developments in the epic divorce drama surrounding tom cruise. and a touching tribute to whitney houston. ♪ like a bridge over troubled waters ♪ when it comes to toilet paper, there's no such thing as too soft. as long as it still gets the job done. i know what i like. i like feeling both clean and pampered. why should i compromise? not only is quilted northern ultra plush® the only bath tissue with plushquilts®, it has the innerlux layer. three levels of softness and the gentle clean you want. clean comes first. and really soft is really important. quilted northern ultra plush®. for a comfortable, confident clean, or your money back. to your kids' wet skin.

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time to check "the pulse" this morning. starting with a story surely discussed at a lot of backyard barbecues over the weekend. is katie holmes being a little paranoid? the soon to be former mrs. tom cruise claims she's being followed by church of scientology officials in the last few weeks. last week, she filed for divorce from tom after about five years of marriage. >> and as we all know, tom is deeply into the religion. a lawyer tells tmz the church is not following her. >> for the sake of that little girl, i hope the divorce doesn't get messy. >> i think it will. >> sounds like it. things are much more romantic for alec baldwin and his new bride. the couple was wed this weekend right here in new york. a short time later, baldwin tweeted this picture of his new ring. the ceremony apparently went off

without any outbursts from the notoriously cranky groom. >> he tells this month's "vanity fair" he would like to kill his divorce lawyer with a baseball bat and he would like to gut tmz producer harry levin like a pig. >> alec's a good guy. he's mellow. a big night for some of the hottest music acts around. the b.e.t. awards were handed out last night. >> chris brown was named best male r & b artist. in his acceptance speech, he hinted that he may be retiring, saying his last album is coming out in two days. and an emotional high point of the night. a tribute to whitney houston featuring none other than her mother, cissy houston. ♪ when you needed that friend when you need a friend the lord will say it ain't right behind ♪ ♪ oh behind ♪

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i don't have to use gas. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. drive around town all the time doing errands and never ever have to fill up gas in the city. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. . the last time i went to the gas station must have been about three months ago. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. ♪ [ female announcer ] weak, damaged hair needs new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. active naturals wheat formulas restore strength for up to 90% less breakage in three washes. for strong, healthy hair with life, new aveeno nourish+ strengthen. starts with arthritis pain and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.

next, bay area commuters go back to work. >> battle begins late artist thomas kincade's widow and girlfriend. >> mike has our forecast. >> cloudy start. sunshine and warmer weather for the first half of the holiday week. >> and your back to work commute coming up.undations. thunderstorms in the rockies and the dakotas to northern wisconsin. and finally from us this morning, the bad haircut that has gone viral. a little connecticut girl tried to give her sister a trim with some terrible results.

>> dad managed to capture the interaction afterward. their conversation has everyone else talking. here's abc's david muir. >> reporter: like so many american families, dad was trying to figure out what happened between his two little girls. what led to this, half of little eva's hair gone. he sat down 5-year-old sadie and 3-year-old eva, recording the whole thing. how did all this start? what did sadie say to eva? >> eva, you want to take your hair out of your brains? then i got the idea of trimming her hair. >> reporter: the 5-year-old thinking, how about a little trim for the 3-year-old? and the 3-year-old remembers it the same way. >> you want me to cut your hair? and i said yes. >> reporter: so sadie went to work. >> i climbed up to get the scissors. the hair scissors. i just kept cutting and cutting. >> scissors? >> it was like, so, so hard to cut.

>> reporter: apparently not hard enough. the result, a bob on one side but not the other. little sister eva knew when her big sister realized she had done something wrong. >> she was looking. she noticed some of it was short and some of it was long. >> reporter: and her dad, a reporter for the radio. this time, he was doing the reporting at home. >> did you mean to cut off that much hair? >> no. >> when did you realize that something had gone wrong? >> when i was finished. i put the scissors back. i looked at her. i was like, uh-oh, this the bad, bad, bad, bad. >> reporter: then mom saw eva. both girls remember that. >> eva, what were you thinking? >> i was crying and i said, sadie cut my hair. >> and i told you not to. >> what did you do with the hair? >> i hid it under the radiator. >> we learned not to do it again. ever again. >> everyone does that kind of stuff sometimes. it happens like once. or twice. or three times in every life. >> reporter: david muir, abc news, new york. >>