thousands in the path of a fast moving blaze are told to evacua evacuate. possible student loan deal, a deal that would save money for millions of students headed toward college. and nelson mandela turns 95. celebrations outside the hospital where mandela marks a milestone birthday. captioning funded by cbs this is the "cbs morning news" for july 18th, 2013. good morning. good to be with you. i'm anne-marie green. well, a fast moving wildfire threatens to cause a disaster in the california desert. fire officials have told 6,000 people in 2,200 homes to get out now.

they say hot and dry winds have shifted pushing the wildfire south and east of los angeles. >> reporter: the raging fire is prompting new evacuations. the blaze has already burned at least 22 square miles and destroyed several homes. officials called for the evacuation of hundreds more along with a camp serving children with cancer. >> my daughter's home burned down. it burned down flat with e'ering she had in it. residents say they feel helpless. >> this is hard because it's so big. there's not anything people can do about it. you just have to sit and look at it. >> we have active burning in the north and northeast. right in the center is sort of like a detour around the center from an old burn about seven or eight years ago where the fuels

are a lot farcer. >> reporter: more than 2,200 firefighters are battling the blaze on the ground. >> we're trying to take out any heat in the black area, the already burned area so that doesn't cross our line and get back into the green. >> reporter: fire officials are optimist optimistic, but for now the fire still very active. in los angeles, melanie wood rowe, cbs news. the east is waking up to more heat and intensity. the worst day of the summer is entering its fifth day. david bernard says a heat dome over the east simply will not go away. >> the heat wave certainly is not over yet. in fact, our heat warnings have even expanded today. they expand all the way from minneapolis, to chicago, cincinnati, detroit, pittsburgh, and, of course, the i-95 door from new york to boston. excessive heat warnings are in effect and for good reason. we look at high temperatures

expected today. as high as it's been all day. 95 in washington. and there you can see the heat to the west. minneapolis expected 95 today. same with kansas city and omaha. st. louis, 96. and chicago, 92 degrees. so the heat dome continues over the east, but i still think that jetstream dip is going to be moving south as we go into the weekend, and that is going to cool stuff off, and that means the heat will shift out to the pacific northwest. i'm david bernard, cbs news, miami. on capitol hill senate negotiators say they have broken a deadlock over student loan interest rates. tara mergener is in washington. tara, this seems like good news. >> it could be. good morning, anne-marie. the breakthrough comes day after lawmakers met with president obama at the white house. the deal would offer students better rates on loans this fall, but they could still jump if the economy improves. democrats and republicans have reached a tentative deal to

lower the interest rates on new student loans. the rates jumped july 1st from 3.4% to 6.8%. >> we cannot allow a situation where students who depend on these loans see their rates double. >> senate aides tell cbs news the new deals would tie federally subsidized student loans to the rate of the treasury note. undergraduate students will be paying an additional 2.05%. graduate students can tack on 3.6% maxing out at 9.5% and parents will pay an additional 4.6% but no more than 10.5%. sources tell cbs news president obama has signed off on the compromise. >> we'll wait to see what is produce before we judge it. but obviously the president is very concerned about this issue. >> the house passed its version

of the student loan fix back in may and the republicans have been using the issue to hammer senate democrats ever since. >> they've prioritized politics over helping students. >> the senate deal is close enough to the house bill that there is optimism the two chambers can agree on a final version. >> i've ben here a little over ten years. i don't know that there's ever been a better opportunity to work toward a real bipartisan solution. >> the new bill could be introduced as early as today. and the same group of negotiators had previously announced a possible deal, but it fell apart after the congressional budget office said the cost was high. anne-marie? >> tara mergener in washington. thank you, tara. well, house republicans told president obama yesterday it's not enough to delay one section of the new health care law. the house voted to hold up two crucial provisions until 2015. the requirement that everyone must have insurance and the mandate for employers to offer coverage to all full-time

workers. the white house has already put that on hold. >> here we are once again wasting our constituents' time by voting on the exact same action the administration has already taken. >> they were petitioned by businesses across this great nation of ours to do that, and why do they petition the white house to waive the employer mandate? because they recognize, madam chair, that this was a burdensome law on their business. >> the bill is expected to die in the senate. president obama holds a white house event today to show how the health care law already is saving people money. and at a house committee hearing yesterday, obama administration officials were blasted over the secret surveillance programs that were revealed by nsa leaker edward snowden. as nancy cordes reports several congressmen say this level of monitoring is illegal. >> i believe it's totally

unprecedented and is way beyond the statue. >> democrat jerrold nadler spoke for many on the house committee from the left and the right. they argued the national security agency had gone too far with its blanket collection of americans' phone records and foreign. >> i think that very clearly this program has gone off the tracks legally and needs to be reigned in. >> the deputy direct over the nsa argue thad the controversy programs are consistent with section 215 of the patriot act, which allows the government to order anyone to hand over, quote, any tangible things so long as the order is related to an authorized investigation. many lawmakers, including committee's chairman, robert goodlatte expressed frustration that they were left in the dark about these programs. robert at the general office said that was intentional.

>> the decision was made that this was the sort of sensitive source and method that we don't want to disclose. >> do you think that this program of this magnitude of gathering information of a large group of people involved with telephone records and so on could definitely be kept secret from the american people. >> well, we tried. >> nancy cordes, cbs news, capitol hill. a new report shows how police officers are tracking drives. police officers say those photos play a vital role in solving crimes. today is nelson mandela's 95th birthday. the anti-apartheid leader who became south africa's first black president is reported to

be improving. debora patta is outside the pretoria hospital. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, anne-marie. this birthday is a little sadder than usual. it mark 4/1 days in this pretoria hospital, and because of that they're grasping for good news. the south after from can government says he is steadily improving but all this takes place against the backdrop. nelson mandela is still critical, albeit stable in this pretoria hospital. it's also significant that nelson's foundation has urged america to mark his 66 years of public service with 67 minutes of charity work. president obama and michelle obama have added their voice to the saying that nelson mandela day offers people the opportunity to honor nelson

mandela through those very acts of service and they say they'll ever draw strength and inspiration from his humility, his kindness, and his moral courage. the hospital is very business. every race, every creed, every e" magazine defends its decision to tutt the boston marathon bomber on its cover. this is the "cbs morning news." bomber on its cover. this is the "cbs morning news." . asthma doesn't affect my job... you missed the meeting again last week! it doesn't affect my family. your coughing woke me up again. i wish you'd take me to the park. i don't use my rescue inhaler a lot... depends on what you mean by a lot. coping with asthma isn't controlling it. test your level of control at asthma.com, then talk to your doctor. there may be more you could do for your asthma.

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radical islam. on the "cbs moneywatch," and kfc cooks up a new menu. ashley morison is here in new york with more. good morning to you, ashley. >> good morning, anne-marie. asian stocks were mostly higher despite concerns about china's howing market. tokyo's nikkei rose more than 1% while hong kong's hang seng lost a fraction. positive earnings reports and reassurance from the fed on its stimulus program gave investors confidence. the dow gained 18 points yesterday while the nasdaq rose 11 points. fed chairman ben bernanke stressed the central bank is not locked into a timetable to end its stimulus program. ben bernanke on wednesday was clear that the central bank has not decided to faze out the program just yet and say it could even boost it if the economy begins to sag. the fed's $85 billion a year

buying program has kept interest rates at historic lows. mixed news on the housing front. bidders started work on fewer homes in june. a 10% drop from the month before. a plunge in new apartment construction is mostly to blame according to the commerce department. permit applications for single-family homes, however, rose to the highest level in five years. jpmorgan chase could be out a half billion dollars to settle accusations. the financial administration manipulated financial obligations. "the new york times" reports the nation's largest bank is trying to settle with the government of charms it made in illegal trades in the electric markets. the potential $500 million settlement will not sting that much though. just last week jpmorgan reported a $6.5 billion quarterly profit. and kfc is trying to rebrand itself with an upscale image in mind. the fried chicken fast food chain is opening a test restaurant near its headquarters in louisville, kentucky, called kfc 11 that dropped colonel sanders from the decor.

the test kfc will serve flat breads with toppings, rice bowls, salads, and only boneless chicken pieces. so someone's getting fancy over there. >> i'm not eating my chicken with a fork. right? >> well, you know. >> it's fried chicken, ashley. ashley morrison here in new york. thanks a lot. straight ahead, your morning weather, and ernie els looks to go back to back in the british open. to go back to back in the british open. -yeah! go, angie! -whoo-hoo!

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. new york, mississippi, 95 degrees. miami, expect thunderstorms. partly sunny in chicago. dallas, partly sunny. los angeles morning clouds, the high of 86. time now for a check of the national forecast. heat advisories stretch from the northern plains through new england as the heat wave baking the eastern half of the country enters its fifth day. expect severe thunderstorms stretching from north dakota to the northeast as well. heavy showers pass through southern texas and south florida. the pacific northwest sees scattered showers, while western inland areas stay dry and hot. in sports now we begin with golf and the first round of the open championship known here as the british open. this year it's held in muirfield, scotland. the defending champion is ernie els, and u.s. open champion justin rose is looking to become

the seventh golfer to win the british open and the u.s. open in the same year. tiger woods signed a new deal with nike. woods is at muirfield trying for his 15th major title, his first in five years. woods' seven-year contract with nike worth $45 million ends this year. and in baseball alex rodriguez says he could return to the yankees as early as monday. rodriguez has been rehabilitating from a hip surgery and hasn't played in the major leagues since october. he began a rehab assignment in the minors this month. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories, and the man accused of holding thee women hostage for a decade enters a plea in court. >> announcer: sports >> announcer: sports sponsored by autostop. new autostop is foolproof. gray is over. autostop is foolproof. gray is over. [ male announcer ] monopoly's back at mcdonald's this summer

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forecast in some cities around the country. washington, d.c., mostly sunny with a high of 96. atlanta, thunderstorms. st. louis, partly sunny. denver, mostly sunny as well. and seattle, partly sunny, a high of 80. here's another look at our top stories. a raging wildfire threatens thousands of homes in the mountains southeast of los angeles. 6,000 people in the town of idylwild have been told to leave. 100-degree temperatures and strong winds are making conditions tough for firefighters. and senate negotiators have worked out a deal to keep student loan rates from doubling this fall. borrowing costs will go up for new loans, but the plan calls for strict limits on rates. >> the cleveland man accused of imprisoning three women for a decade heard thousands hundreds to hear nearly a thousand charges against him. he pleaded not guilty to charges

yesterday. the three women he's accused of abducting escaped from castro's home in may. castro's trial starts next month. and a pakistani taliban commander has written a letter to a teenage girl shot in the phad by the group. in the letter the taliban leader tells malala yousafzai he wishes the attack hadn't happened. he didn't say it was wrong but regrets not having warned her to stop her criticism of the militant group. and a 96-year-old wisconsin grandmother proved she's no pushover. mar greta wolf said a would-be robber held a knife on her and demanded money from her cash register. she offered him all the tootsie rolls he wanted. he noticed the surveillance cameras and that's when he left. you go, grandma. an update on the heat wave

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now a look at a civil war battle that began 150 years ago today. it was not of major strategic importance, but as david martin tells us, it was a turning point in american history. >> reporter: the battle of ft. wagner, south carolina, was a defeat for the union army but a galvanizing victory for freedom. the flag bearer for the 54th massachusetts regiment was an escaped slave named william carney. carl cruz was his great, great, great grand nephew. >> when i think what carney did was so important even when the country did not feel he was a man, that was really pretty

powerful. >> reporter: carney and hundreds of other african-americans enlisted in the 54th after lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation. the 54th regiment went south to fight, knowing if they were captured they could go back into slavery. >> they saw it as an opportunity to show they were the same kind of patriot as everyone else. >> reporter: in the movie "glory" nearly half of the 6,400 men were casualties. >> even though they lost the battle, the 54th won everyone's respect because they proved that african-americans could be exemplary soldiers. >> reporter: sara grinot is curator at the national gallery of art, which is spearing an exhibition about the regiment,

including first medal of honor ever awarded to an african-american. >> and here's carney with his medal of honor. >> reporter: although shot three times he never let the colors touch the fall. >> he said, boys, never let the flag touch the ground. the medal was a long time coming. >> he received it in the mail. >> the battle was in 1963. the medal arrives in the mail in 1900. >> you can see it placed in the long arc toward justice. >> where would you put the 54th regiment in the history of the civil rights movement? >> i'd put it right up front like the march on washington. >> reporter: sergeant william carney lies buried in his plot in new bedford, massachusetts. his tombstone has been chipped away by souvenir hunters, but he is still right up front. david martin, cbs new, new bedford, massachusetts. coming up on "cbs this morning," the parents of trayvon martin speak out for the first time since the george zimmerman

trial. they will be in our studio. and the controversy other license plate cameras. john miller will tell us how the information can be kept in government databases. that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. thanks for watching. i'm anne-marie green. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

and i'm michelle griego. tis 4:-- >> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald. good morning, everyone. it's thursday, it's july 18. i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm michelle griego. let's check the weather. >> we're going to start with breaking news out of oakland. an 8-year-old girl was shot and

killed in the 3400 block of wilson avenue at an apartment complex around 11:15 last night. two other children and grandmother were hurt. opd says shots were fired outside the apartment unit. we have a crew in oakland and we'll have the latest information as soon as it comes into the newsroom. now let's check the weather. a bit of a heat wave? >> yes, temperatures heating up today. we have fog to begin with again. can't get away from that. high pressure building in overhead. some of these temperatures moving back into the 90s today. still staying cool at the coastline but much hotter weather is on the way. we'll talk about that coming up. >> and taking a look outside, here's a live look over at the bay bridge toll plaza. so far no delay coming into san francisco. this morning, we have roadwork and it's on both decks. we'll have more coming up. >> thank you. some developing news now out of southern california where