brian todd reporting live in west virginia. and also this morning we are asking leaders from right across the region, how are you going to fix this thing? when is the power coming back for people? first, the mayor of lewisburg, john manchester, is going to join us at 6:30 eastern time. >>> more on the heat wave and when we expect relief. alexandra is in for rob marciano, what a horrible situation. folks are without power and a couple of hot days forecasted for these states. >>> places like minneapolis, the heat index or what it will feel like, 112 degrees there. one thing you'll notice waking up on the east coast to go out to get your paper, there's more moisture in the area. the dew point is higher than it's been, so temperatures for some along the eastern seaboard may not be as hot, but the uncomfortable value will be higher than it's been. i want to show you we are seeing a few rain showers moving through boston and new york. later this afternoon for washington, d.c. today is the fourth of july, so will the fireworks will a

brian todd is in fairfax county, virginia. what a hot mess. how are things there? >> reporter: oppressively hot and pretty miserable all around. the governor of virginia calls this a very dangerous situation for his state and calls it a multi day challenge for his state. some of the people are not going to get their power back for close to a week after the storms will have hit on friday. the violent storms friday night. in the general region the mid-atlantic to the midwest close to a million customers without power and the double whammy of spiking temperatures all over this region. for that reason they have created cooling centers. this is one of them. i'm here with the director of the fairfax county public library system. you had to set this up as a temporary heat shelter in addition to being a library. what is your biggest logistical challenge? >> staffing and the internet and wifi on. >> reporter: what are people's moods? >> basically it is one of relief. you have air conditioning and cool. we haven't had power for a couple of days this feels great. >> reporter:

double whammy of power outages and oppressive weather. >> used to it, but still, it is not fun. >> brian todd now live in a very hot and steamy fairfax, virginia. so, brian, the dangers in the coming hours in your area and in the general region. >> reporter: there are still dangers, don. not out of the the woods yet. there is the added possibility of storms, they could complicate efforts to restore power and get people into safe places. also, after people slug through this evening and try to get through another night without power, we've got millions of people returning to work tomorrow morning. this is one of the worst areas for traffic in the country under normal circumstances. they have staged national guard troops to try to help with some of these intersections where the lights are out, but it will probably be a nightmarish commute. >> there are problems with the the emergency response system, brian? >> reporter: that's right. some of the 911 call systems were down in the immediate hours after friday night's storm and apparently, some of these somes are still down in some portions of virg

brian todd is along the d.c. beltway in montgomery county, maryland. and better you than me, brian. >> reporter: a lot of frayed nerves on the road as we knew there would be. last night we could see this coming, a nightmarish commute. here in montgomery county 250 traffic lights out. we're at the corner of a very busy intersection. my photojournalist brian and i will show you up randolph road about 250 yards. there is a light out over there where the buses are coming through. some of these intersections they have police waving people. you have to treat it like a fourway start. down here about a quarter mile that way another light out. they did get this one up a couple hours ago but you can get a sense here that the commute is a real nightmare. 250 lights out here in montgomery county. some 70 out in the district. here comes an ambulance down the street. just kind of a sense that this is just one of those days that people are going to have to slug lou the commute. temperatures, as you mentioned breaking all sorts of records. here in the d.c. area, suppos

brian todd on a hot assignment.hitting the roads and doing it in the highest number in years. this is a probably good reason for it. take a look at the national average. $3.33. that is up a bit from yesterday. this price is way down from a year ago and some of the cheapest prices are in the southeast. that's where we send david. he's live in atlanta. is it really the gas prices? the relative low gas prices that are sending people to the roads instead of the skies? >> reporter: there's a couple of things going on. first of all, the 4th of july is right in the middle of the week. instead of a three-day weekend, people are looking at it is a three, four, five-day holiday. we had 78 straight days of falling gas prices. that's something that's unusual. we haven't seen that in a long time. people took that looking at the opportunity ahead of them, and a lot of them began thinking road trip. more americans in more cars are traveling more miles this 4th of july holiday. lower gas prices is one of the big reasons why. aaa es

here's cnn's brian todd. >> reporter: these are the lifesavers. power company teams, scrambling to bring transformers back online. but for millions in the midwest and mid-atlantic, these crews can't work fast enough. >> i hate it. it's horrible. all our phones are there right now. in case of an emergency, we can't make a call or anything. >> reporter: in the wake of storms, temperatures are scorching much of the southeastern u.s. more than 1 million customers still have no power. that means huge numbers are at risk. >> heat stroke is when you finally have neurologic problems. people come in confused, altered mental status. >> reporter: businesses and state officials are working furiously to make sure people don't get to that point. by passing out free ice at supermarkets, to offering cooling stations. >> you're usually not open on sundays. >> the challenge for us is getting the word out. working with the counties. and then, to get staff. >> reporter: virginia's governor calls it a dangerous situation for his state. some people in the hardest-hit a

brian todd, cnn, massachusetts. >>> it is the oldest tennis tournament in the world.ena williams will try to win another wimbledon championship. we go to london for a live report. it's the little things in life that make me smile. spending the day with my niece. i don't use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. there it is ! there it is ! where ? where ? it's getting away ! where is it ? it's gone. we'll find it. any day can be an adventure. that's why we got a subaru. love wherever the road takes you. wow, there it is. actually it can. neutrogena® ultra sheer provides unbeatable uva uvb protection and while other sunscreens

>> thank you very much, brian todd. appreciate it. >>> next, a political debate gets hostile. first, a shoe gets thrown, punches and then a gun comes out. and later, a millionaire adventurer headed to prison for burning down his own home. why not make lunch more than just lunch? with two times the points on dining in restaurants, you may find yourself asking why not, a lot. chase sapphire preferred. there's more to enjoy. focus lolo, focust sanya let's do this i am from baltimore south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love this is for everyone back home it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thene

here's cnn's brian todd. >> reporter: these are the lifesavers, power company teams scrambling to bring transformers back online. but for millions in the midwest and mid-atlantic, these crews can't work fast enough. >> i hate it. it's horrible. we can't -- all our phones are dead right now in case of an emergency. we can't make a call or anything. >> reporter: in the wake of devastating storms, 20 states are dealing with excessive heat warnings or advisories. temperatures over 100 degrees are scorching much of the southeastern u.s. more than 1 million customers still have no power, and that means huge numbers are at risk. >> heatstrokes defined when you have neurological problems. people come in confused, agitated, altered mental status. once you get to that point, it can be very severe. >> reporter: businesses and state officials are working furiously to make sure people don't get to that point, from passing out free ice at supermarkets to offering cooling centers like the brooks center library in northern virginia. >> what's the biggest challenge for you right now running this library

brian todd explains. >> reporter: it's a strange looking cartoon on a facebook page.son's face superimposed over what's believed to be an image of a cherished nint century and flanked by a camel wearing sunglasses and the donkey from "shrek." this has become popular among iranians. a 25-year-old college student in holland joined that page about a year ago. started posting jokes and ir reverent video clips. >> almost everybody involved believes everything would be subject of a joke and nothing and nobody is too holy. >> reporter: but in may he got frantic calls from his family in iran. his father had been targeted for the alleged sins of his son, arrested, taken to a prison notorious in iran for torturing prisoners. >> a few days after arresting my father i received a call from my mother. she was very crying and said if you don't close that facebook page, they will execute your father. >> reporter: he messaged the manager of the facebook page asking for the page to be taken down. the manager refused. he says iranian officials have accused his father of supporting anti-

brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> panic and chaos.ple are running for their lives, trying to escape the cruise ship after it struck rocks and turned on its sides. that's what some of the survivors are sharing with us about the night the disaster hit and almost took their lives. our correspondent dan rivers has been digging into why the ship capsized, killing 32 people. >> reporter: when the order to abandon ship was given, hector perez and sahin kahn war ere at lifeboat. they told passengers to talk down. >> as soon as you open the door, everybody ran towards that emergency boat and pushed him out of the way. everybody was panicking, everybody was running for their own lives. a lot of them didn't realize they were going to let people jump into the boat without an actual seat. those that realized it, they jumped into the boat and they just stayed standing on the boat. it was way over 150 people limit. >> reporter: the boat carrying kahn and perez made it to the sea. but even then they were not safe. >> i look up and i see the emergency

brian todd finds out more. >> reporter: gorgeous weather and it's the height of summer.ecause the water's cold. >> i grew up watching "jaws" back in the '70s and vivid memories and i don't want to relive that. >> reporter: this is what they're worried about on cape cod. >> everybody out. >> reporter: not far from where "jaws" was filmed great white sharks are back. >> tuesday were most recent sightings by one of our spotter pilots. two white sharks. >> reporter: each measuring at least 14 feet. authorities have identified 20 of these predators right off the cape over the past three years. and believe there are many more lurking. a group called cape cod shark hunters works with the massachusetts division of marine fisheries to track, photograph and tag the great whites. we're out off the cape looking for the sharks with john of the marine fisheries division. we spot abundant marine life here including hump back wlals. >> all right. >> it looks like a harpoon, but it's a listening nation. these buoys carry receivers that track the migration and behavior of great whites tha

brian todd, cnn, chatham, massachusetts. >>> there's a lot of hype and hysteria over there. george, thanks for being with us. a great white spotting off cape cod, how unusual is that? >> actually, not uncommon these days. recent years, this has been fairly predictable in july and august. >> there's obviously a huge amount of fear and hysteria about great whites. i used to be incredibly scared of them. i've gone diving with them, scuba diving off the coast of cape town and i've seen them up close underwater. it's important to point out humans are not on their food chain, right? >> no, of course we're not a normal part of the marine environment. we're not evolutionary made to be out there. we're not a part of their food chain. >> the number of shark attacks and shark fatalities of humans is actually pretty low. >> in recent years, we've been averaging about five deaths per year worldwide. and as was indicated in the earlier part of the piece, we're killing between 40 and 70 million or so shark, a year. so it's pretty obvious which one's the aggressor in the relationship. >> my

brian todd is there on the scene for us. he had a chance to go out on a boat with some experts trying to find them. brian, what did you see? >> reporter: well, wolf, we got a very good firsthand look at some of the natural wildlife here. it's just incredible to look at. take a look at this beach behind me. our photo journalist is going to zoom in and show you some of this. this is just a gorgeous beach. it's one of the most popular best-known spots on the east coast in the summertime. but you'll notice there's no one in the water. and that's for good reason. gorgeous weather. and it's the height of summer. but they're only going in waist deep. it's not because the water's cold. >> i grew up watching "jaws" back in the '70s, vivid memories. i don't want to relive that. >> reporter: this is what they're worried about on cape cod. not far from where kwtd jaws" was filmed, great white sharks are back each measuring 14 feet. authorities have identified 20 of these predators right off the cape over the past three years and believe

brian todd is in one of those states.tal of west virginia, charleston, where the temperature i'm hearing is 95 degrees. and more than 300,000 customers without power. good morning. >> that's right, brooke. good morning. yeah, the temperature is heating up. that's one big obstacle. but here is another big obstacle. you talk about the wait people are enduring before they get their power back, and this is really the reason why. this tree came down on this road in charleston. again, part of the problem, these roads are closed because these trees are down. here is the double yellow line. so this thing is completely shut off. when they come upon a scene like this, power crews have to clear the debris, the small stuff, and chop up the big stuff. and then over here, here is a sense of what they have to go through as far as just the dangers they face. this tree came down, snapped in half. took down this power line. and what we just were told by a power company official was if this line -- they are supposed to automatically trip of

brian todd is in west virginia. she's joining us now. what's the very latest, brian? >> reporter: wolf, this state has just faced a cascade of disasters. the storm on friday, the unyielding heat wave that is still hanging over this place, the widespread power outages, and now a severe food crisis. john roberts is in a hurry. he's got to get a truckload full of food and water to a shelter soon. roberts runs a faith-based charity called mountain mission. we follow his team as they pull into the city community center. a temporary center in charleston. dozens who have been without power and food for days, many of them low-income are visibly relieved at his arrival. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: people like yolanda wilcox, legally blind and on food stamps. she says her family of eight struggled to find food since a tree fell on her house and knocked out the power. >> we went to churches and stuff like that to get some food. you know. but it's been very hard. very hard indeed because had to go from place to place. and then it's hot. >> rep

brian todd. >>reporter: the height of summer but it is only way to deep and it is not because the water is cold. and i watched the 1970's movie " jaws'.. >>reporter: this is what they are worried about in cape cod. not far from where it was felt these great white sharks are back. >> tuesday it was the most recent with two of them cited. >> each for 14 ft.. 20 of these have been sighted off the tape in just the last couple of years. cape cod shark hunters works with the massachusetts boston fisheries to tack. we are looking with the marine division. we -- we see abundant of abundance of water of life and humpback whales. it looked like a harpoon. these buoys. acoustic receivers that have been tracking tag great whites. what is keeping them here? >> we know there documented habitat is here. >>reporter: the population of gray seals has made a huge comeback. every expert says that it is a magnet for great white sharks. >> there is a pot of gray seals they are like stealth fighters. there will come up

brian todd, cnn, chatham, massachusetts. >>> the case went from an accident to homicide.er police officer drew peterson soon goes on trial accused of killing his wife. his case raises several interesting legal questions will we'll talk about it all with our legal expert. >>> first a trashy idea could solve many of america's problems. gary tucker takes a look at how one man is starting small and thinking big by turning trash into gas. >> in the movie "back to the future," cars were fueled by garbage. >> i need fuel. >> at this landfill in arlington, oregon, the future is now. >> this technology is reality today. it takes what the world doesn't want and transforms that material into what the world does want. >> reporter: jeff serba and his company are turning trash into energy using something called plasma converting. >> what plasm ark is is basically a controlled bolt of lightning allowing us to break down this waste material and reform elements into hydrogen rich synthesis gas. >> heats up to 1,000 degrees fahrenheit. the process laos material that would stay in landfills

brian todd is live in charleston, west virginia. long to restore power there, brian? >> reporter: well, brian, this scene can give you that answer. power cruise throughout the state both in areas like this where there are roads and rural areas where there are no roads are coming across scenes like this. fallen trees. it's huge problem. they've taken out power lines left and right. when they come across scenes like this, they've got to take out small brush and chop up the tree. and we're going have to take you over here. see this line right here, this could still be energized. the power company official told me a short time ago when it takes out a power line and it's still sitting on it and it's not touched the ground, it could still be active. they have to clear out, make sure they navigate through them carefully and clear the tries, try to get the lines back up. if you imagine that scene repeated over and over and over again in state, you can see why so many people are without power. roughly a third to a quart ore f the customers i

brian todd is seeing a lot of folks storing water for dripging water and daily use. about 20% of the state'sulati population isn't connected to water service. they use wells. these are the problems people are facing several days into the power outages as well as the heat that you've been talking about because you think first about the lights and then people start to think about water. you can go without right, but you can't go without water. >> you can go as well, for the most part, without fan or ac but that can also be lethal. you mention the boil water advisory. that's fine and dandy but how do you boil the water if you don't have the power which leads to the piling on. you're five days and you're still saying three or four. can federal regulators get in here and make a difference? >> it's very hard on federal level. they really only control the big electrical transmission lines. everything else is governed by state. there's a slightly different relationship. we are starting to see them take over the last couple of years. folks out in west virginia say the power c

cnn's brian todd is here in "the situation room." he's following all of this for us. n, what is going on in scranton. >> reporter: it's a lot of turmoil, wolf, the mayor of scranton facing two lawsuits from the firefighters, police and other public servants. they feel caught in the middle between city lead who are have had to borrow to stay afloat and cannot agree on how to recover. john judge is a 10-year veteran of the scranton fire department. when he opened his paycheck recently, he was upset, but not surprised. >> $7.25 an hour. >> reporter: a sudden 80% pay cut for judge, his fellow firefighters, police and other public servants in scranton. >> i have members in our bargaining unit whose sons and daughters are out for the summer in high school that are working at pools as lifeguards or working at a small part-time job, they're making $8.50, $9 an hour. and their father is running into burning buildings for $7.25 an hour. it's absolutely ridiculous. >> reporter: judge places most of the blame on this man, scranton mayor chris dougherty. recently he went against a

cnn's brian todd explains now. >> reporter: john roberts is in a hurry.er soon. roberts runs a faith-based charity called mountain mission. we follow his team as they pull into the community center, a temporary center in charleston. dozens who have been without power and food for days. many of them, low income, are visibly relieved at his arrival. people like yolanda wilcox, legally blind and on food stamps. he says her family of eight struggle to find food since a tree fell on her house and knocked out power. >> we went to churches and stuff like that to get food, you know, but it's been very hard. very hard indeed because we had to go from place to place and it's hot. >> 24-year-old blue pack tells a more desperate story. how many days did you go without food and water? >> four days, four nights. >> reporter: what was that like? >> very hot. you were trembling and shaking. >> reporter: they tell us every charity is dealing with foot shortages. stores have tossed out spoiled food. >> this has really surprised us, and i've been doing this job for 12 years

brian todd is over at the national squariam in baltimore watching what's going on. point, brian? >> well, wolf, authorities on cape cod are really on their toes right now keeping a very close eye on exactly where the great whites are versus where the swimmers are. this is after a scare this past weekend when a kayaker literally had to paddle for his life. lity had to paddle for his life. this was walter's first time kayaking. take a look at the dorsal fin lurking behind him. he said he didn't hear people screaming at him from the shore but made it back to shore safely. >> i just figured, this is it or i'm going to make it. it was out of my hands. >> reporter: that close call on saturday led authorities to close the beach on cape cod. on sunday, the group cape cod shark hunters spotted three great whites in the area near nausette beach and chatham. the largest estimated to be about 18 feet. they use a fast-moving boat to try to catch up to great whites to tag them. >> we have a tagger place the tag at the base of the dorsal fin using a harpoon method. >> reporter: th