the first family did visit yosemite and the grand canyon this weekend.c horng reports on one of the few african american rangers at yosemite. >> reporter: they have a quiet power and arresting beauty. but to shelton johnson, america's national parks also speak the truth. >> they tell us story of us as americans and tell the story of ourselves as human beings in this world. on this planet. >> reporter: johnson is one of this country's few african-american park rangers, his is a rare face of color at yosemite of its visitors, less than 1% of black. >> the perception among african-americans the national parks, well, that's where white people vacation. >> i'm certain there's a perception like that, yeah. >> reporter: johnson wants to change that and believes the connection between blacks and nature has deep roots. slavey, he says, forever altered how they see the soil. >> if you think you might die because of this, there's a gradual loss of connection. with the natural world. >> reporter: the stirring canvas of yosemite is in stark contrast to the inner city

loss of connection with the natural world. >> reporter: johnson is more than just a guardian of yosemitehe is a keeper of its history. to parkgoers he tells of the buffalo soldiers, black calvary men who in the late 1800s were the first park rangers. >> i cannot imagine being in any other place. >> reporter: featured in a documentary and travels to classrooms to talk about its message. >> i'm the only african-american park ranger in yosemite. >> reporter: but his is just one voice and he hopes other african-americans will take up the cause. >> if oprah winfrey is rec creating in a national park, if it's snoop dogg, if it's a rapper, then it's actually sending a message that this is an environment that is also for us. >> reporte eric horng, abc news, yosemite national park. >>> and stay with us for "good morning america" and a moment we have all been waiting for, which celeities will be

so now one park rangers in yosemite is attempting to change that. eric horng reports. >> reporter: they have a quiet power and an arresting beauty, but to shelton johnson, america's national parks also speak the truth. >> etell the story of us as americans, they stel the story of ourselves as human beings in >> reporter: johnson is one of this country's few african-american park rangers. of his visitors, less than 1% are black. is there a perception among african-americans that the national parks, that's where white people vacation? >> i'm certain, yeah. >> reporter: johnson wants to change that but he believes the disconnect between blacks and nature has deep roots. slavery, he says, forever altered how they view the soil. >> if you're working and it's causing discomfort and pain and of this, it's a gradual loss of connection. >> reporter: it's in stark contrast to detroit's inner city where johnson grew up. he never dreamed he'd be a park ranger until he visited yellowstone as a young man. >> it was so beautiful it didn't feel it could be real. >>

while the first family visited yosemite and the grand canyon this weekend, in fact, it is very rare forns to visit national parks. tonight the story of one of the few black park rangers, who has an idea about why this is happening, and how to change it. here's eric horng. >> reporter: they have a quiet power, and an arresting beauty. but to shelton johnson, america's national parks also speak the truth. >> they tell the story of us as americans but they tell the story of ourselves as human becomes in this world, on this planet. >> reporter: johnson is one of this country's true african-american park rangers, and his is a rare face of color at oyosemite. of its visitors, less than 1% are black. is there a perception that the national park, well, that's where white people vacation? >> oh, i'm shern of it. >> reporter: johnson wants to change it. but he believes the disconnect between blacks and nature has deep roots. slave slavery altered how they view the soil. >> if you are working, it causes you pain, and you might die because of this, there's been this gradual loss of connection with

. >>> we will tell you about a rock slide in yosemite national park. >> bob has oedup. >>> is our weekend going to be washout? >> no. surf and danny boy will be off the coast a little bit. but not right around our neck of the woods. outside today we e dsomf o thubclou bbling up, trying to make a few scattered showers. and then we are going to be seeing some more scattered showers as we go through the evening. here is our sky watcher in time lapse. little more heat from the city and some of those clouds out to the east bubbling up a bit. our temperature, high temperature today. we made it to 09 again. as a matter of fact, made it to 91 degrees last august. and we only had search 90-degree days this is our 12th for august. temperature 79 degrees last year. hazy out there with the dew points still at 70. so it feels like it is above 85 degrees. look at the temperatures around the east. dropped down to 84. weather front to o north into the 60s and 70s. not only that but there's drier air. but we are going to be right near that boundary which is trying to come through and with humid air to the

a small fire broke out in the basement of a house on yosemite avenue just before 1:00 a.m. a firefighter suffered a minor ankle injury during that rescue. >>> and let the countdown begin. michael phelps has officially accepted a challenge from basketball superstar shaquille o'neal. later today at loy ole ta university -- at loy ole ta university, shaq and phelps will square off. if he loses, he'll have to wear a pink ruffled bathing suit. stay tuned. >>> some mixed news when it comes to housing. our media partner, "the baltimore sun" is reporting home sales in the area could be starting to turn around smment area sales are actually higher in the first half of this year than they were four years ago. that's primarily true for highly sought after neighborhoods like the ones near the inner harbor. but home prices are still down across the area. pick up today's "baltimore sun" for more. >>> and the clunker countdown has officially begun. if you're looking to trade in your old gas guzzler, you only have one day left. the program will be terminated tomorrow and today, car dealers

a rockslide at yosemite national park forced the evacuation of a popular hotel. this video shows of falling rock, some as big as microwaves, tumbling down from the base of the cliff. many of the rocks landed in the parking lot of the hotel, forcing management to close it down. while a few cars were damaged, no guests were injured and they hope that in a hotel opened by tomorrow. coming up, many patients are now turning to their ob/gyn for general medical care and advice. we will find out the reasons why. >> tropical storm danny continues to churn in the atlantic. find out how it affects our weekend forecast. 80 right now at bwi marshall. >> and the doctor from fallswood and a hospital will answer pratte questions. m in this afternoon's consumer alert, if you are big on travel without a big budget, you are a lot. according to travel ossining it is one the cheapest time to get out of town. plane tickets to a hotel rooms are on sale. brian curtis said details. >> labor day is one of the cheapest travel weekends, and so far this year. >> how cheap? travelogues and cr

it started in the basement of the home in the 3700 block of yosemite avenue. two people from the house were taken to the shock trauma. the firefighter went to mercy hospital. they are expected to be ok. >>> here's a traffic warning in you're driving downtown baltimore this morning. public works crews are at it again. trying to fix this 40-inch main that broke last night. in the 600 block of west saratoga. the university of maryland lexington and saratoga buildings will be closed, only essential employees should report to work. >>> a man from linthicum is expected to be charged in the deadly hit-and-run crash. investigators say 26-year-old matthew norwood hit 59-year-old mary collins of glen burnie. she was standing on the sidewalk at the intersection of baltimore-washington boulevard and oak lane when she was struck by a mini van. she was on her way to church. norwood, we're told didn't stop after the crash but was caught later by police in a parking lot of a convenience store later on that day. >>> the three men charged with the murder of former baltimore cit

. >> less than 1% of people who visit yosemite are black. trying to get young african-americans interested in visiting national parks. >>> your traffic and weather together every 10 minutes. a national park sounds like a fine idea. >> was checked in to see how hot it is going to be. >> we were talking about the tropics. claudette made landfall near fort walton beach. this is the storm working its way inland. on its heels is a depression called ana and is running into some dry air. it could bring some rain to south florida. bill is the first named a hurricane of the season. epb category three. we will keep an eye on allhree storms. -- it will be a category three. gaithersburg, 67. it looks like a fairly hot day today. no storms. we were pretty dry it last weekend. there is a storm system on the weather graphics system. it will be heading down the pipe. we have some thunderstorm activity by midweek. we could see some of the moisture by claudette by the end of the week. some patchy fog early this morning. temperatures in the low to middle mid 9

. >> tourists at yosemite national park had to be evacuated from their hotel after a rock slide.ome video of the slide. some of the rocks were as big as microwaves tumbling down from the base of the cliff. it damaged vehicles and forced exp tted o tbeolcle. it i expected to be reopened by rrow. >> wild video. >>> abandoned pet survid surgery to ee m aen arrow from his head. veritenarians in new mexico treated theerin hmarepeneld which was foundnder a trailer. the injury seems to have made no feef on the dog which is now up for adoption.fe >>> new warning today about kitchen stoves t ctould be a fire hazard your house. reen are e and k reg callinabout 200,000 stoves now that can turn on by ll themselves. not turn off when switched off or heat to higher temperatures than selected. frigidaire hasotten more than 100 complaints so far. renv illolves i frigidaire, frigidaire gallery, frigidaire profesonalnd kenmoreli ete smooth top electri ranges with rotary knobs and digital displays. >>> house officials are going online to get the word out about the swine flu virus. today officials w

california's yosemite national park. visitors had to evacuate a park hotel where rocks landed close enough to damage three cars. >>> it is now three minutes past the hour. you're up to date. let's go back outside once again to matt, al an the great crowd outside. >> thanks, natalie. somewhere in this great crowd we have a weather man. >> not just a weather man. a weather person. nice folks here, what's your name? >> jo. >> having a nice day on vacation? >> yes, i am. >> did you bring everybody down with you? >> my family from canada. >> o canada, we love. love that round bacon. we're going to be in vancouver, nbc. you got it. let's check your weather. that got a free plug in there. i like it. latest on danny, 575 miles south-southeast of cape hatteras, moving northwest at 10. the path just about the same as bill. looks like some time friday into saturday it becomes a hurricane. could brush the outer banks of the carolinas. then the cone of uncertainty, anywhere about 100 miles either side of that line we could be looking

to the grand canyon and then he ends up in the redwoods of northern california and then goes to yosemite, and here is the president of the united states with john mere and they camped out. they spend three days in the mild. the camp under the redwood trees which roosevelt thought, the red words were great cathedrals. they slept in a snowstorm without a tent and roosevelt, with his enthusiasm, the greatest day i have never spent my life freezing in a snowstorm with john mayer. they would try to out naturalist to each other. nobody new birds like tr but tamir was one of the botnets so he would talk about the plants and roosevelt was out playing in with the birds but they had a friendly competition. roosevelt thought mere was one of our great figures. they had some differences. tr was a hunter conservationist and mere thought only in extreme cases should they hunters shoot an animal. roosevelt believe that was nonsense that you had to constantly hunt, that hunters were the great conservation is. at one moment by a campfire mere says to roosevelt when are you going to give up that bullish pu

it started in to the basements of a home in the 3700 block of yosemite avenue. two people from the house were treated at shock trauma. and the firefighter went to mercy hospital. they are expected to be fine. >>> another watermain break has damaged saratoga street in downtown baltimore. let's show you the damage. public works crews are out there trying to fix this 40-inch watermain break. the university of maryland baltimore initially planned to close its lexington and saratoga buildings but water pressure has been restored so university officials say the building will be open today. >>> the three men charged in the murder of former baltimore city city councilman ken harris expected to stand trial today. harris was killed september of last year during a robbery at the new haven lounge in northeast baltimore. gary collins, charles mcgainey and jerome williams all indicted on first degree murder charges. investigators say dna evidence connects them to the crime. if convicted the three suspects could face the death penalty. >>> the ravens finished up training camp

. >> president obama and his family got a chance to check out yosemite and they are going on a tour of grand canyon right now. there are some deals to be had. we will get the scoop on where to go, up next. ♪ vacation and as a progressive customer, you get to use any of our concierge claim centers. so i can just drop off my car and you'll take care of everything? yep, even the rental. what if i'm stuck at the office? if you can't come to us, we'll come to you in one of our immediate response vehicles! what if mother won't let me drive? then you probably wouldn't have had an accident in the first place. and we're walkin'! >> shannon: if you warrant to get away, not too -- if you want to get away, not too late to get away on a budget. chris is here to fill us in on last minute deals. tell us about the great last minute ideas. >> we are at the tail end of a summer that doesn't been as good as the travel industry wanted and kids are going back to school earlier. we still have good deals for labor day. at expedia we were looking at some of the most popular destination in the country and hote

largest and most dangerous of several that are burning in southern and central california and in yosemite national park. autopsies are scheduled today for seven people found dead in a mobile home in southeastern georgia. a family member of one of the victims called 911 yesterday morning when he found the bodies and two critically injured survivors. now we learned that the 22-year-old man who called 911 has been arrested. but not charged in the killings. the man is charged with drug possession and making false statements to police. we're learning more today about the shocking kidnapping of jaycee dugard, taken from a bus stop 18 years ago and found days ago living in her captor's backyard. that crime scene has now expanded. casey stegall is live in an antioch california with the latest on the disturbing case. >> brand new information coming in. just within the last few minutes or so we saw a number of police that were carryi inin shovels and other digging equipment up the driveway to the backyard of the home that they have been processing for days now. national center for missing and explo

morning another president to walk in the park as part of the president's trip to the grand canyon and yosemite national park, a conversation with the brinkley that took place on june 30. he joined doris kerns goodwin and other historians. the brinkley, the author of a two-part conversation, and the story of how it unfolded in parts. you can read part of it inside "the washinton post." a headline yesterday in "the washinton post, a report from barton gellman. we want to check in with the author of the angler, the cheney vice presidency. "the two men made in respect of ties, speaking on the telephone now and then, though aides to both said they were never quite friends. joining us from new york is barton gellman. thank you for being with us. how did this story come about? guest: i was wondering about dick cheney, and i guess it is kind of a obsession for me now that i have written a book on him. my question for him is that what is he putting in his memoir because he is sort of the anti- memoir guy, and he has spoken out for years about the inside cover sessions and then -- host: let me read an e

scientific education no class from could have provided him, becomes one of the first exports in yosemite and he later writes a bestselling book on the sierra nevada that is the debentures in california. in january of 1867 when clarence king is scarcely 25 years old, he goes to washington, the civil war is over and he walks into the office of secretary of state edwin stanton and he says, i have a plan to map the west. king by all accounts was whti, smart, persuasive and charming and i would guess though, because he persuaded the secretary of where to put him in charge of something called the 40th parallel expedition which was one of the great surveys that went out after the civil war with botts in this, cartographers, artists, to begin to map the little known territory of the far west and king survey becomes the model for the other surveys including the one taken by john wesley called on the colorado river. eventually king becomes the first director of the geological survey. in 1881 he leaves the job to become an independent mining consultant and then, in manhattan, in 1887 or 1888 he mee

a historic hotel in yosemite national park was evacuated because of several rock slides.arge as microwaves tumbled at least 100 feet right into the parking lot. about 300 guests were evacuated and several cars damaged. thankfully no one was reported injured. rock slides are dangerous and something park rangers are monitoring. >>> faa reportedly being investigated for what? . >>> the new york stock exchange just opening for business here. you see jim parsons from "the big bang theory" rang the opening bell. they might not start with a bang, though. we have a live report in just minutes. >>> l.a. police say former model jasmine fiore might have been killed in her car. they found her mercedes benz yesterday and they're checking it for clues right now. police say an anonymous tip led them to the car in a west hollywood parking lot. police believe ryan jenkins killed fiore before heading for canada. they are searching for a woman who they believe left fiore there after leaving. they won't say if she is the one who dropped him off. >>> there is a haze over los angeles because o

he becomes one of the first explorers in yosemite and later write a best-selling book mountaineeringin the nevada about his adventures in california. in january of 1867 when clarence king is scarcely 25-years-old, he goes to washington, the civil war is over and he walks into the office of secretary of state and when stanton and says i have a plan to map the west. and king by all accounts was witty, smart, persuasive and charming, and i would guess so because he persuaded the secretary of the war to put him in charge of something called for 40 parallel which is one of the surveys that went out west after the civil war with botanists, cartographers, artists to begin to map the little known territory of the west. and kings survey becomes the model for the others including the one taken by john wesley powell, the colorado river. enjoyably in 1879 he becomes the first director of the united states geological survey. in 1881 he leaves to become an independent mining consultant and then in manhattan and 1887 or 1888 he meets an african woman, african-american woman on the street and he tel

. >>> more visitors go there each year than go to the grabbed canyon, yellowstone and yosemite parks, combined. we're talking about the national mall in washington, d.c. it's a great learning experience and a great weekend get-away. >> washington, d.c. is a bonanza for the budget minded. >> everyone knows that washington, d.c. is full of our nation's history. in fact, the capitol is a great place for a free tour to see the intimate details of our government. >> reporter: whether it's the monument, museums, or even the national zoo, there are dozens of places to visit for free. including the smithsonian american art museum. >> what you can expect to see is the largest and most comprehensive american art collection anywhere in the world. this building displays 4,000 works of art by some of america's most prominent and most beloved artists from all periods. >> reporter: but during the busy summer season, be prepared for crowds and maybe some surprises. >> what you don't expect about washington, d.c. is that it is full of modern pleasures such as cutting-edge restaurants and really except

grand canyon, yosemite national park, yellowstone national park or sun's valley national park?ht. there you go, congratulations. >> that's a nice family. >> it is yellowstone national park. this geyser is famous because it is prompted every half hour to two hours it erupts for 1.5 to 25 minutes. do you know anybody le that who erupts -- >> no, i don't. >> well, t obamas just visited. we have footage of them being there. and what's great is three times a year they decided the park would be free. so all of the park visitorship skyrocketed this year as a result. >> great shot. i didn't realize how high it goes up. >> it actually goes up 184 feet. that's now three times the size of the president. >> you're like a human google. you're unbelievable. across the street to kathie. >> this lucky lady is visiting from alberta, canada. any americans here today? in the u.s., it is customary to tip between 15% to 20% for great restaurant service. what is the norm while tipping your server while in europe? have you ever been to europe? >> no. >> okay, let's see. a, not tipping at all, b, tip

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