f difference. washington wildfire. hundreds of evacuees play a huge fire that's already destroyed dozens of homes. >> everybody's house is gone. all my friends, my neighbors, you know, people i care about. biden bombshell. the vice president causes a stir on the campaign trail with his words to an audience made up of a large number of black voters. >> unchain wall street. >> they're going to put you all back in chains. and ducking disaster. two men survive a plane crash and ducking disaster. two men survive a plane crash and it's all caught on camera. captioning funded by cbs >> this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, august 15,

2012. good morning everybody. good to to be with you. i'm terrell brown. this may go down as year of the wildfire. more than 60 are burning nationally. so far they've burned 6 million acres across the country. this morning, one of the largest is burning in central washington. about 75 miles east of seattle. it started monday and has destroyed 70 homes, more than 44 square miles have been destroyed. about half the size of seattle. the fire believed to have started at a construction site and forced many to evacuate their homes. >> homeowners and rachb owners who live along this rural road thaim on have a good reason to worry right now. we've been keeping a sharp eye on the wildfire tearing down that hillside bearing down on homes and ranches here from two different directions. now, all the evacuees can do is watch from our vantage point and

pray that stops. we were kept miles away from the wind-driven wildfires leveling more than 28,000 acres at least 60 homes and countless horse ranches. but almost everywhere you look, the fire continues to grow explosively. while air tankers drop massive crimson curtains of flame retarda retardant, aggressive fires seem to bear down on more mountain neighborhoods where hundreds are evacuated, including this man. >> you don't know where the fire is. when i was up there yesterday evening before the troopers cape, you can't even see through the trees. >> that's why state troopers have sealed off roads preventing evacuated homeowners from going back in. while he prays the fire might be slowed down from the air, tom can clearly see the fires are coming. he's facing his worst case scenario for the coming hours. >> everybody's house is gone. all my friends, my neighbors, you know, people i care about and you have to move, rebuild.

hug, shed tears and start over. >> you can't get in front of a fire driven by 30 mile an hour winds. >> state land commissioner peter gold mark tells us this fire can only be fought from the sides. it's too dangerous to fight in its path. air crews are hoping to steer the flames away from homes. >> it's an explosive, dangerous situation. we're doing our best to bring it under control. >> while neighbors are cheering for the air assault to tame the flames and the dry winds to slow down, most around here are being realistic about their odds. >> we can rebuild. i can buy another couch, another tv. >> you're looking on the bright side. >> you have to. >> we're told firefighters will be joining the massive cadre of firefighters here from around washington state and even from surrounding states. th will be digging fire lines in the coming days hoping to somehow stop the momentum of this massive fire. but fire bosses tell us, frankly, they need a lot of help from mother nature.

reporting near washington, i'm gary horker for cbs news. >> firefighters battle two of east los angeles burned nearly 2,000 acres and is moving towards the san bernardino forest. at least one home and three other buildings have been destroyed. in northern california, another fire burned more than 7,000 acres and destroyed two homes. the campaign 2012. now the rhetoric is ratcheting up and getting you go ugly fast. the obama and romney campaigns are at odds over comments comments vice president joe biden made in virginia. he was speaking to an audience that included hundreds much black voters. drew levinson has details. good morning to you. >> good morning terrell. it didn't take long for this to get ugly, did it? vice president joe biden used words that led to the romney campaign. calling president obama's campaign division, anger and hate. >> vice president joe biden

sparked controversy from the campaign trail when he told supporters, including hundreds of african-americans that mitt romney wanted to cut back on wall street regulations. >> unchain wall street. they're going to put you all back in chains. >> that sparked a war of words between the two campaigns. romney says biden disgraced the office of the president. >> another outrageous charge just came a few hours ago in virginia. and the white house sinks a little bit lower. i got a message for him. if you want to know what's outrageous, it's their policies. >> biden says he was talking about how the republican policies wrecked the economy and put the middle class in shackles. >> this is what an angry and desperate presidency looks like. >> the sharpest words in this campaign have come from tv and web ads. both sides accuse the other of running only meg tiff commercials. >> you notice their ads generally don't tell you what it

is that they're going to do. >> this is an election in which we should be talking about the path ahead. but you don't hear any answers coming from president obama's reelection campaign. >> the latest romney ad slams president obama for cuts to medicare. >> obama has cut $716 billion from medicare. why? to pay for obama care. >> the obama camp says the cuts are part of a cap on medicare spending and that new vice presidential candidate paul ryan advocated those same caps in his budget proposal. >> today is the final day of the president's three-day bus tour in iowa. and romney is in alabama today, terrell for a fundraiser. >> drew levinson in washington for us this morning. thank you so much. this morning, mitt romney will talk about the campaign when he joins "cbs this morning" from columbus, ohio. today, young illegal immigrants in this country can begin applying for a new program that allows them to avoid being deported. the deferred action for childhood arrivals allowed applicants to obtain a work

permit, but it does not leet to citizenship or give them the right to travel internationally. they must be under the age of 30 and prove they've been in the u.s. at least five years. cbs "moneywatch" time. shoppers give the economy a boost and powerball lottery fever heats up. ashley morrison with that and more. good morning. >> i'm sure they will. good morning, terrell. weak economic reports from china and europe sent overseas markets lower this morning. tokyo ace nikkei shed a fraction. americans decided to shop more last month. retail spending increased in july by .8% over june. that broke a streak of three straight monthly declines. increases in every major category, including cars, electronics and clothing. home depot delivered positive economic news. the home improvement retailer reported a 12% increase in net income for the second quarter. home depot's success could also be an indicator that the housing

market is improving. but the reaction on wall street was lukewarm. the dow added 2 points, while the nasdaq dipped 5 points. the british bank standard chartered has a agreed to pay a $340 million settlement. they were investigated for helping the iranian government launder money for six years. in addition to the payment, standard chartered agreed to monitor money laundering. >> cigarettes promotion have been upheld in the country's high court. the decision means tobacco companies will no longer be able to display their logos or brand designs on packs of cigarettes. instead the packaging will include warnings and graphic images of diseases related to smoking. and grab your tickets while you can. tonight's powerball jackpot is now up to $320 million. that's the second largest payout in six years and if no one hits

the winning numbers tonight, we could see a record jackpot in the next drawing. terrell, that won't be happening. because we're going to win. >> that's right. they're going to ask where's terrell and ashley and we're going to go -- >> we should get our tickets i think first. >> right. >> get that done. >> ashley morrison here in new york. good to see you. thank you so much. coming up on the morning news, playing pileup. we'll find out how these two small jets did some big damage in nashville even though nobody was on board either of them. this is the morning news.

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somehow landed in the church tower igniting that fire. here's something you don't see very often. one plane on top of another. this happened yesterday at nashville international airport. the gulf stream jet was being toad and collided with the twin-engine aircraft. both are privately owned and no one was on board. this is the second planes have hit each other in less than a week there. a lot of cities and states are waking up to a harsh reality. may have to cut back services because they depend on sales taxes to pay the bills. as jim axelrod reports, it's hard to cut back. >> the voters of colorado springs had a choice three years ago, raise taxes or live with fewer services. they chose dark highways, overgrown parks and municipal layoffs. the lights are back on now. the parks look better. but new mayor steve bach is still worried. >> i don't think we're in a crisis but we're headed toward a crisis.

i mean, it's out there. >> that crisis is rooted in the way the city raises revenue. more than half the $230 million budget is funded by sales taxes an unreliable source of money in a volatile economy. >> we've lost, i think, close to $30 million a year in revenue here. >> just because people are spending less. >> that's exactly right. >> city hall has privatized grounds keeping, brought in the ymca to run the pools and trimmed nonemergency police services. now, the mayor is considering shrinking public transit. >> we're going to have to live with less services from the government. >> i think we have to raise taxes. >> businessman richard scoreman ran against bach in the last election but refused to sign a no new taxes pledge and lost. >> a wildfire on the west side, how are we going to pay for it? i can't sign this pledge. >> the june wildfires were the worst in decades here. the recovery could cost the city at least $4 million, putting

more financial strain on the budget. only the voters can approve new taxes in colorado springs. a long shot in this conservative town. but even the no new taxes mayor is now having second thoughts. >> i hope the citizens somewhere in the future will decide that we should have more stable revenue, which does mean property tax revenue. >> if they choose not to, they may have more problems than just dark streets. jim axelrod, cbs news, colorado springs, colorado. coming up, your wednesday morning weather and in sports, the lighter side of the olympics as the gold medal winning fierce five visit the late show with david letterman.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. showers in new york, 85 degrees. thunderstorms in miami, 90 degrees. mostly sunny skies in chicago, 82. 99 in dallas with thunderstorms. mostly sunny skies in los angeles, 88 degrees. let's check your national forecast. the cold front heading to the northeast bringing severe thunderstorms from virginia to new england. another cold front slips into the plains states. thunderstorms possible from minnesota to nebraska and cooler canadian air pushes into montana and wyoming dropping temperatures 16 degrees below normal. in sports, matchup between division leaders. the giants madison baumgartner strikes out six nationals for the second complete game.

buster posey just beats the tag at home. san fran takes down washington 6-1. eye. a tough battle in cincinnati. no score in the ninth between the reds an the mets. in the bottom of the ninth, one swing and one is smashed deep to left. cincinnati stung the mets, 3-zip. the orioles batter red sox josh beckett. in the third, beckett serves up a pitch that can't be refused. it's gone. matt weeder is here. bounces over beckett's head. the infield can't make the play and another run scores. orioles crush them 7-1. the fierce five, the gold medal winning women's gymnastics team were on the late show with david letterman. before that, gabby douglas, jordyn wieber, tyler ross and aly raisman visited the empire state build. they talked about pain, corn

flakes and of course the face. we're talking about the one maroney made when she got silver instead of gold in the vault. >> after i did it, the girls pointed it out like you're doing the face again. >> every time she does it, we're like there it is. >> can i see it again? >> we've all been working on it. >> we can all do it now. >> i taught them. >> everybody. >> and at the end of the interview, dave gave them each a beautiful red rose. >> coming up next, another look at this morning's top stories and caught on video, a harrowing plane crash in a cornfield. we'll tell you what happened to the pilot and passenger. [ female announcer ] how do you define your moment?

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here's a look at the weather. in d.c., thunderstorms, 8 will. some sun in atlanta, 90 degrees. mostly sunny skies in st. louis,

90 degrees. partly cloudy skies in denver, 88. mostly sunny in seattle, 84. top stories now on a wednesday morning. vice president joe biden caused campaign controversy with remarks to an audience in virginia that included hundreds of black voters. biden said mitt romney wanted to "put them back in chains by deregulating wall street." romney called the comments another outrageous charge. firefighters in washington are battling a wind-driven wildfire east of seattle. the taylor bridge wildfire started monday and has burned at least 70 homes and 44 square miles of land. a miracle in michigan. two men survive a plane crash, all of it caught on tape. this is what it looked like as the single engine plane crashed into a cornfield 40 miles southwest of detroit. they were approaching a grasslanding strip on sunday, when they clipped a power line. 84-year-old wilbert was the

pilot, his 20-year-old grandson took this amazing video. >> you're going 100 miles an hour down straight at the ground. you can see your death before you. you know, the big guy upstairs was shining down on us. >> pretty mazing. he walked away from the crash and his grandfather was treated for a broken sternum. a cheating scandal at a scrabble tournament. he was thrown out tuesday after another player saw him hiding two blank tiles to use in the next round. the player has not been identified because he's a minor. why cheat there of all places? >> ron paolillo from the sitcom welcome back kotter has died. >> what about my top hat, mr. kotter? they're real dignified. >> he will always be remembered as arnold horse shack. john travolta said he was a wonderful person. he died from an apparent heart

attack. he was 63 years oiled. coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," a live interview with governor mitt romney. i'm terrell brown. this is the "cbs morning news"menews"m." [ music playing ] it's creamy, nonfat, and it turns the next person you see into john stamos for five seconds. honey! i think i'm getting burned! heh! eat. ♪ tastes pretty good, huh? ♪ best yogurt ever. yeah! [ men grunting ]

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. good morning. welcome to 9news now. today is wednesday, august 15. i'm andrea roane. how do you like that. sounds pretty g. you're halfway there. good morning. i'm mike hydeck. monika samtani has traffic momentarily. howard bernstein, a little unsettled again today?

>> a little bit in the afternoon. it's early, i'm dragging. it's wednesday. >> we're all dragging. >> weather wise it is quiet this morning. that is good news. we won't have the problems like yesterday with the rain in the morning commute. let's get you started with a look at the day planner. thank you so much for fixing my jacket, mike and andrea. i appreciate you guys tapping my back. a few more clouds. this afternoon a couple of thunderstorms will pop. those again could be on the strong side with highs into the mid and upper 80s around here. winds a little out of the northwest at 5 to 10. not terribly hot but a warm, muggy day. you see this one disturbance coming into kentucky. these are some of the clouds we'll see moving in the next couple of hours. for the most part a quiet morning. temperatures are running in the 60s and 70s. we have mid-60s in the shenandoah valley. 61 in oakland. mid-70s on the bay in annapolis. andrews is 74. it's 70 in la plata.

phil in newland 71 this morning. here in washington a little muggy but not too bad, 75. this afternoon mid- to upper 80s. if we get a little more sun we might motion closer to 90. tomorrow will be a hotter day and even hotter on friday. we'll tell you all about the weekend cooldown a little bit later. right now let's check in with monika samtani with timesaver traffic. >> thank you so much. good morning, everybody. if you are planning to head over to the west side of town, you see all those icons behind me. that's because there's tons of construction today, especially on the beltway. both loops i would say between annandale and tysons coarnl. you want -- corner. you want to watch your step. some here on the dulles access road inside the beltway as well. so tons of construction there. let's take you over to the northbound side of 395. no issues here at the 14th street bridge trying to get into the downtown area. you'll be just fine this morning. let's go back over to our maps. want to let you know not only do you have construction on the beltway and here at the bw

parkway, but a serious fire on south dakota avenue at bladensburg road affecting lanes in both directions on south dakota avenue. be aware of that we'll take a live look on the inbound side of new york avenue near bladensburg road. this is final. coming up in my -- is final. coming up in my next report, another look at area roads. maryland voters are one step away from having las vegas style gambling in the state and a new casino in prince george's county. >> early this morning the maryland general assembly pass add measure to expand gambling in the state. the house of delegates passed the bill last night and added an amendment that would add halls throughout the state to have up to five games machines, a move that would allow communities not benefiting from casinos to cash in. the senate voted on the measure early this morning. it now goes to governor martin o'malley for his signature. after that the measure will be on the november ballot will maryland voters will have the ultimate say. after getting an autopsy report, prince george's county police are now ruling the death

of shavon philips as a homicide. she was the young mother murdered after dropping off a child at day care. her body was found in a creek in fort washington, maryland. if you have any information on this case, please call prince george's county police. family and friends of the two men murdered last week in arlington gathered for a touching vigil last night. ♪ i am on the battlefield ♪ for my home >> dozens of people came out to receive keefe spriggs and carl moten. they condemned the senseless violence that marked arlington's third and fourth homicides of the year. they were found dead inside their apartment on north culpeper street. imagine getting a bonus in this economy. later today virginia governor bob mcdonnell is expected to announce state employees will be getting one. some virginia government