news and of course "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new from the broadcast center in new york city i'm paula reid. captioning funded by cbs it's thursday, july 5th, 2018. this is the "cbs morning news." a protester climbs onto the statue of liberty on independence day. what prompted the high drama standoff. extreme weather, massive wildfires out west, flash flooding in the south, and the sweltering heat wave across the country. and how america celebrated independence day coast to coast. good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs news

headquarters in new york. i'm don dahler in for anne-marie green. americans celebrated this country's 242nd birthday with the usual parades, barbecues, fireworks extravaganzas, and this year, political protests at the statue of liberty, aing withing symbol for immigrants and refugees. a woman opposed to the administration's immigration policies climbed the statue's base. she was arrested after a nearly four-hour standoff with police and she's due in court today. laura podesta is here in new york with the details. laura, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, don. theresa patricia okoumou faces several charges including trespassing and disorderly conduct. her friends say they don't know if her decision to climb was spur of moment or a decision she made in advance. for about four hours on independence day, the statue of liberty became the site of an immigration protest.

>> i was like is that a person hanging from the statue, and i took my camera and zoomed in and thought, oh, my god, there's someone there. >> reporter: theresa patricia okoumou was protesting trump's immigration policies with a group rise and resist. they wore banners and called for the abolishment of customs immigration enforcement. then she separated from the group and scaled the base of lady liberty. >> they got two helicopters and then three helicopters. the whole island was shut down itself. >> reporter: okoumou is an immigrant herself. she came from the republic of co >> it's about families being separated and children being detained. >> reporter: 4,500 people were evacuated from liberty island while police negotiated with the

climber to come down. >> at first she wasn't friendly with us. then we took our time to get a dialogue with her and get a rapport so she would trust us. >> reporter: police were able to eventually get to okoumou. they attached a harness to her and helped her down. she faces charges of trespassing, interference with park regulations, and disorderly conduct. a spokesperson for the national parks service said he felt really sorry for people who wanted to go to liberty island but couldn't yesterday or had to leave early on the fourth of july holiday. don? >> laura podesta here in new york city. thank you. this morning a gradual break is forecast for the heat wave that's engulfed much of the country. by the weekend folks in the midwest and northeast should see some relief, but not quite yet. heat advisories remain in effect for those regions. and dangerous heat is developing across the midwest where extreme heat is predicted.

the national weather service predicts triple-digit heat in los angeles by friday. out west, the hot dry weather is helping to fuel a rash of large wildfires that kept thousands from their homes for the fourth of july holiday. more than 60 wildfires are burning from texas to california. evacuations have been ordered in utah, colorado, and in northern california. while some progress is reported on one fast moving fire, hundreds of buildings are threatened. john blackstone is there. >> reporter: fire-fighting helicopters flew into thick smoke from a wildfire burning acres in sacramento. nearly 3,000 firefighters have been working around the clock building backwalls in an effort to keep the flames at bay. the wildfire is threatening more than a thousand homes and buildings. hundreds of residents were told to evacuate. >> it's a little nerve-racking because grass fires move so

fast. >> reporter: the fear now is that the fire could take over a mountain highway used by travelers to get to lake berryessa, a holiday destination. >> we have had zero launches, zero rentals, zero commerce. >> reporter: wildfires also continue to rage in colorado where the spring fire alone has devoured an area larger than the city of detroit as well as destroying more than 100 homes, and in utah they're urging more residents to leave. back here in california's yolo county, chris turkovich worries about his family's vineyard. >> the grapes will absorb some of that smoke, and that's a big problem. >> reporter: persistent heavy smoke is blanketing the mountains here, creating yet another challenge for firefighters who are already facing many challenges this fire

season. 2.5 million acres have already burned across the country. that's above the national average for this time of year. john blackstone, cbs news, yolo county, california. in houston, texas, the trouble is too much water. the fourth of july was a washout. there was widespread flooding as some areas got 8 inches of rain. letters that spelled out houston at one park floated away. roadways were washed out and cars were swamped. scattered thunderstorms are forecast for today, but more heavy rain is predicted for the weekend. a british couple remains in critical condition after being poisoned by the same nerve agent that almost killed a former russian spy and his daughter. it's not clear if the two cases are related or whether the poison came from the same batch used against the former russian agent. charlie d'agata has more. >> reporter: british media have identified the victims as dawn sturgess and charlie rowley fighting for their lives. scotland yard confirmed what many had feared. >> following a detailed analysis of those samples, we can confirm

that the man and woman have been exposed to the nerve agent novichok. >> reporter: the same nerve agent used to poison skripal and his daughter yulia in march. it eventually led to the expulsion of u.s., british, and russian diplomats from both sides of the fight. paramedics rushed to this home on saturday morning after receiving a call from a man saying his partner had collapsed. they returned later that afternoon after he started suffering from the same symptoms. one theory the couple may have come across the nerve agent used in the attack. they cordoned off the entire park where the couple visited. this is less than a mile from where the skripals were poisoned a few months ago. charlie d'agata, cbs news.

more rain is predicted this weekend in northern thailand, complicating efforts to rescue a young soccer team trapped in a flooded cave. the fear is the cave where the boys were found will flood. one passage leading to the chamber is flooded all the way to the roof. efforts to try to pump water out of the cave continue, and the boys have been practicing using diving masks. trying to swim the boys out is risky but may be the only option. it appears president trump's former personal attorney has moved to distance himself from the president. michael cohen has dropped his online a affiliation he deleted his job as personal attorney and changed his background photo to the american flag. cohen is under criminal investigation and told his associates he expects to be charged. his loyalty is to country.

>> coming up on the "morning news," challenging mr. trump. the lawyer for stormy daniels says he's ready to take on the president in the next election. plus, rescuing a species. a nearly extinct rhino gets a lifeline. this is the "cbs morning news." gets a lifeline. this is the "cbs morning news." ] ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea... girl, pepto ultra coating will treat your stomach right. nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea.♪ try new pepto with ultra coating. i'm a tin can tied to your bumper, cause.... i don't think enough people heard about your big day. but nothing says "we got married" like a 12 ounce piece of scrap metal. yo! we got married! honk if you like joint assets. now you're so busy soaking up all this attention,

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and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. xeljanz xr can reduce the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. don't let another morning go by without talking to your rheumatologist about xeljanz xr. ♪ patriotic music helped welcome 67 new american citizens during a naturalization ceremony at thomas jefferson's historic monticello plantation in virginia. citizens from more than 30 countries took the oath of citizen ship on independence day yesterday. several speakers reminded the new citizens of the crucial role immigrants have played in american history. stormy daniels' lawyer want a deadly car crash in sochi. those are some of the headlines on the morning newsstand. britain's "express" says one person was killed when a speeding car plowed into

peds in one of the russian cities hosting world cup matches. a warning that the video is disturbing. vary lance camera footage shows a car crossing lanes in sochi. authorities say one man was kill and several injured. investigators say there's no indication it was intentional. it appears the driver fell asleep at the wheel. the "oregonian" report as black state legislator says someone called 911 to report her as she campaigned in her own district. democrat janelle bynum said she s knocking ing toents in a portland neighborhood. she said the responding officer acting professionally and took a selfie with her. the 911 caller apologized. "usa today" says stormy daniels' lawyer michael avenatti

tweeted he might run for president. avenatti said he'll run against trump if there's no real candidate that has a chance of beading a president trump. he reportedly represented his law firm and owes more than $4 ho,0 $40,000 in unpaid taxes. and "science news" reports researchers for the first time created hybrid embryos of endangered northern white rhinos. the last northern white rhino died in march. there are only two females alive in kenya, but they're unable to produce naturally. scientists used frozen sperm from a native white rhino and eggs from closely related white rhinos. they say the hybrids could eventually prevent the extinction of the northern white rhino. still ahead, the top dog. the reigning champ downs a recoy island. franks at coney island. i landed.

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nathan's chot dog easting con test on coney island. joey chestnut won for the 11th time as he gobbled down a record 74 hot dogs in ten minutes. mick mickey sudo beat her record and downed 27 hot dogs. amazon takes a page from toys "r" us. hena doba is at the new york stock exchange with that and more. good morning. >> good morning, don. tomorrow, tariffs on more than $34 billion of chinese imports is scheduled to take effect. beijing says it will retaliate immediately of imposing tariffs on an equivalent value of u.s. goods including soybeans and crude oil. investors will be watching the potential trade war closely. u.s. stockmarkets were closed yesterday for the independence day holiday, but at the end of tuesday's shortened trading day, the dow jones lost 132 points, the s&p 500 fell by 13 points, and the nasdaq lost 65 points.

the world trade organization says trade barriers being imposed by major economies are already starting to affect the world economy. the wto looked at trade restrictions among the g20 nations. g20 countries imposed 39 new tariffs between may of last year and may of this year affecting trade of steel, iron, plastics, and vehicles. netflix is testing a new high-end streaming plan. ultra costs $16.99 a month. it offers four ultra hd streams with more vibrant color reproduction and higher contrast. customer response will determine if netflix decides to make ultra widely available. it's reported that boeing and brazilian plane maker em brayer are in final talks to join foiss. the two plane makers have been discussing the traction for months.

that's according to a brazilian newspaper. the new company would be controlled by boeinging and embraer would keep its business and possibly its jet unit. and amazon is getting into the toy catalog business. the online retail giant plans to send out millions of holiday toy catalogs. that's according to bloomberg. amazon hopes to fill the void left by the closings of toys "r" us. they plan to mail catalogs to people's homes and hand them out at whole foods stores. back to you. >> still to come. pyrotechnics and parades. we're going to take you to the colorful fourth of july celebrations around the country. the colorful fourth of july celebrations around the country. 't only belong to you. child: bye, grandpa! and if you have heart failure, entrusting your heart to entresto may help. entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body.

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join us for kpix 5 news this morning... beginning at 4:30. good morning. here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country.

from big cities to small towns, america celebrated the country's birthday with the time honored traditions of fireworks and parades. weijia jiang takes a look at some of yesterday's celebrations. ♪ >> reporter: 3,000 pyrotechnics a minute lit up new york city wednesday night. the macy's fourth of july fireworks show is the largest in the nation. kelly clarkson, ricky martin, and blake shelton headlined this year. the stars were also out in washington, d.c., for pbs's "a capitol fourth." the temptations and renee fleming performed. but this was also a day for

ordinary americans to wave the flag and celebrate their cities. from arlington, texas, to bristol, rhode island, to orange county, california, and for new americans to become citizens. >> one nation under god. >> these are our finest. thank you very much. >> reporter: president trump welcomed military families to the white house. ♪ for the land of the sea >> reporter: another tradition, the boston pops fireworks spectacular. fireworks shows across the country ended this fourth with a bang. weijia jiang, cbs news, washington. coming up on "cbs this morning," many americans on vacation can't take a break from their phone. we'll look at the best ways to unplug and share the benefits of disconnecting. i'm don dahler. this is the "cbs morning news." disconnecting. i'm don dahler.

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our top story this morning. the woman who climbed the statue of liberty's base is due in court this morning. she started the climb after taking a view on a protest. the statue was evacuated and she held police at bay for nearly four hours before she was brought down. the number of air travelers worldwide has been rising steadily. it was up more than 7% last year. at the same time, there is a shortage of pilots. kris van cleave has more. >> reporter: when a major airlines needs somebody to fly planes like this airbus, they often look to the regional comm challenginto find lethsmalplane.

since 2013, yuma, arizona, a largely agricultural region of about 200,000, has seen airline departures drop more than 50%. today the only flights out go to phoenix. >> yeah. the airport is definitely critical to our community. it means connectivity, it means convenience, it means economy. >> reporter: that yuma to phoenix route is operated by a regional carrier, just like 42% of the nation's air services. those smaller airlines are being hurt by retirements and expansions of recent carriers. its predicts a shortage of more than 14,000 pilots by 2026. >> on a scale of one to ten, where is the pilot shortage today? >> i think it's at a six. >> lyle hogg is with piedmont, which needs to train and replace over 440 every year. >> the pilot industry is drying

up and it should be a national concern. >> reporter: that because without enough pilots, planes can't fly and flights would have to be canceled or service to some cities stopped. the cost of learning to fly is almost three times more expensive than it was in the '90s, and after this deadly crash in 2009, new pilots were required to fly for 1,500 hours before being eligible for hire. new hire corey cave spent tens of thousands of dollars to log enough hours. >> the cost, it just delayed me a little bit. >> reporter: many of our young pilots have $250,000, $300,000 of debt when they come work for our carrier. >> reporter: piedmont said they can cut down on costs by using flight simulators like these. >> we can simulate all sorts of weather situations, all different malfunctions, much better than we could do naturally. >> reporter: there's resistance to that. regional carriers have been aggressively increasing starting pay to about $60,000 a year. a couple of years ago, it was closer to $40,000.

kris van cleave, cbs news, reagan national airport, virginia. coming up on the "cbs this morning," the race to bring self-driving cars to the road. why the wait may be much longer than we think. plus many americans on vacation cannot take break from their phone. we'll look at the best ways to unplug and share in the benefits of disconnecting. >> and on our series "a more perfect union," we'll take you to a new jersey town working to change its image and meet the two women who are making it happen. that's the "cbs morning news" for this thursday. thanks for watching. i'm don dahler. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

good morning, everyone. it is thursday, july 5th. have you recovered from the 4th of july? we hope so.

maybe not. you're looking out at the transamerica pyramid. last night in san francisco the clouds parted and the fireworks were gorgeous. >> good morning. >> i'm anne makovec. >> and i'm michelle griego. we are still working on recovering. >> july 5th is the day of the least amount of sleep because of last night. but we're here. fireworks were going off all overnight through the early- morning hours. the good news, the clouds decided to allow the fireworks to steal the show. here's a live look right now looking north. you can see coit tower right there in the red and blue. so yes, very patriotic coit tower this morning. last night was quite a show. hopefully everyone enjoyed that and thanks for joining us early this morning. 10 degrees warmer than yesterday so the warming trend begins now. surf's up at the beaches. so if you are in