jacob's sister is a colorado springs firefighter working on the front line. he says he would understand if her job trumps his big day. >> if she can't be here but she's got to go save other communities? then that's what she has to do. >> she had to pack up her kitchen and go to her sister's house and hope she can still do the cakes. >> reporter: despite the raging fires threatening their plans, the couple didn't want to call off their wedding. brianna is in the air force and is soon being deployed overseas. they want their wedding so symbolize much more than their union but a spirit of strength. >> our hearts go out to those communities that are lost but you got to keep plugging along or you can't just lie down and give up. >> reporter: they certainly didn't. so on a picture-perfect day with the mountains as their backdrop, they tied the knot. >> i now pronounce you husband and wife. jacob, kiss your bride. >> reporter: and family will always be family. jacob's firefighter sister traded her fire boots for some heels. she clocked 138 hours fighting the blaze i

martin savage, cnn, colorado springs. >>> and on the grounds, to the sky. licopter, air tankers, and military planes dropping water, retardant, in hopes of containing the colorado wildfires. i spoke with a major from the national guard. he's part of a crew assisting with the wildfires. >> the point of attack is come up with by the forest service. we're just another tool they use on how it fight this fire. they give us the call and we're ready at a moment's notice. we're standing by ready to launch within minutes. it's almost like a nascar pit stop. we come in. we get slurry loaded. we get fuel, take off. we rejoin with the lead formation pilot from the forest service. he takes us in. he has the plan. he puts us on target where we can drop our loads. >> i think that's interesting you're saying like a nascar pit stop. get them in, get them out, and you do it very quickly. as we look at this video, especially the aerial ones, we're seeing a lot of smoke coming out of the area from the sky in colorado. does that impact your efforts at all? >> if it impacts the v

>> miguel almaguer in colorado springs. thanks so much, miguel. >>> overseas tonight, supply lines in pakistan that are vital to american interests are now once again open after a serious dispute and an acknowledgement by the u.s. that mistakes were made. nbc's jim miklaszewski joins us tonight from the pentagon with more. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, natalie. that bitter dispute exploded last november, when american air strikes mistakenly killed 24 pakistani troops. when the u.s. refused to apologize, pakistan closed down two critical supply lines into afghanistan. and vital shipments were backed up at the border. today those routes were reopen, when secretary of state hillary clinton told pakistan, we are sorry for the loss of pakistani forces. u.s. officials insist this was not an apology, but it was good enough for pakistan. those routes supply american troops with just about everything they need to survive, and will be just as critical to ending the war. they're the same routes american forces will tak

look at what remains of their homes after a deadly wildfire tore through the neighborhoods of colorado springs. on cnn's state of the union, the colorado governor described what he saw as he flew over the pike national forest. take a listen. >> it was like your worst nig nightmare of a movie set, trying to show what the apocalypse would look like. we flew a helicopter in. this was as the fire was going on. there was a fire storm going on. i thought it was trees burning. as we got closer, it was homes. >>> to mississippi now, where that state's only remaining abortion clinic will stay open at least for the time being. the clinic owner told us tonight that a mississippi federal court judge has issued a temporary restraining order, which will keep the clinic open until at least july 11th. a hearing is set for that date. the clinic was facing closure under a new state law. in a few minutes, we'll go live to jackson, mississippi, for the late else. >>> exit polls in mexico project that 45-year-old enrique nieto will win the presidency. some 79 million people were registered to vote. many cast ballo

rob marciano is in colorado springs.ob, tell us a little about what those evacuated families are dealing with and going through right now. >> reporter: well, they've been dealing with waiting for one thing. they've been dealing with having to see pictures of their homes and neighborhoods and guess whether or not their homes are okay. most of them have -- don't know whether or not their homes have been destroyed. you mentioned they'll be going on bus tours later. they won't be able to get out because it's still an active fire zone. a huge church is giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stuch -- of stuff. one evacuated family volunteering here while they're staying at somebody else's house. that's kind of how the community's coming together. this five-daytime l lapse has b winning. a mother spoke with that and what it's being like being an evacuated victim. >> saw the time lapse video last night of what's been going on since saturday. and i've been a mess because those are people's lives. and we're watching

in colorado springs, colorado, exhausted fire crews have finally gained the upper hand.he waldo canyon fire now 55% contained but only after a terrible toll. two people killed, 350 homes lost, dozens and dozens more homes damaged. >>> enrique pena nieto is the projected winner of the presidential election. it would return the center left eri party to power after losing the presidential vote in 2000. the second place finisher in yesterday's election has not conceded. an individual vote count xwins on wednesday. >>> once we get past the july fourth holiday the candidates for president here in the united states will be on the move again. mr. obama's campaign will break out the bus. it will take the president and his camp to northern ohio and pennsylvania. and you can betem mitt romney wl be traveling just as much. most times cities hand over the bill to the campaigns. sometimes cities pay the security bills themselves. it just depend. but at times when we can see the candidates on tv, on our computers, our iphones, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, how important is it that t

this is where returning residents found some 350 homes destroyed in a colorado springs subdivision.t's also the same place where desperate firefighters held the line, saved many more homes, and stopped the inferno from spreading. you're about to see what they saw as the flames roared around them. cnn's jim spellman has the story from colorado springs. >> reporter: wolf, we're getting our first up-close look at what firefighters were dealing with when this blaze tore through a colorado springs neighborhood. this is the scene in the devastated mountain shadows neighborhood of colorado springs now, but this is what it looked like last week, as high winds drove the fire down from the hills. behind the camera, colorado springs fire department videographer, steve shopper. >> you're starting to smell the smoke, and we had weather conditions that were really squirrely, 65-mile-per-hour winds, sparks raining down all over me. >> reporter: firefighters converged on the scene. they had to quickly determine which homes to defend and this ones were beyond saving, while stopping the fire from adv

miguel in colorado springs. thanks so much. >>> last night's death toll, two people killed, seven wounded. we're not talking about a war overseas. we're talking about shootings overnight in chicago. chicago's homicide rate is soaring, even as rates are dropping across the country. chicagoans are understandably outraged, and now police there are changing tactics in an effort to stop the killings. ron mott has our report. >> reporter: another shooting, another vigil in chicago. protesting the death of a 7-year-old girl named heaven struck in the back wednesday night by a stray bullet while selling candy, prompting outrage from the city's mayor. >> take your gang conflict away from a 7-year-old. who raised you? >> reporter: the murder count this year? 254, a 37% increase over last year, leaving a steady stream of crime scene tape and families in mourning. >> we have a method to reduce crime that's not going to happen overnight. >> reporter: the surge in homicides here is all the more alarming because in the nation'

in colorado springs, colorado, alicia a kahn a fox news. >>> and the news tonight is far from over. >ws edge at 11 starts now. >>> the newsedge is all over the severe storm aftermath. states of emergencies declared in maryland, virginia, and d.c. the storms leaving several dead in our region. right now, massive power outages left hundreds of thousands in the dark cursing this extreme hot and more storms are possible. the extreme heat continues to blanket the region. >> and fox 5s tucker barnes is monitoring the situation for us with the latest. >> reporter: looking fairly quiet and thanks for asking and that is on to our radar and switch to vipir, if we could and most of the activity is to the south and east and that is a nice job showing it to you in southeast, virginia, where they had storms there south of fredericksburg and to richmond, reports of several possible tornados on the ground east and north of richmond and that is the match we missed and warm is come -- the batch we missed and now it's warm and muggy. temperature at reagan national, 86 degrees and that is not comfortable

. >> reporter: in the scorched hills above colorado springs, firefighters finally turn the corner. crews mop up the blaze that killed two, devoured 28 square miles and destroyed 346 homes. today six of the air force c-130s are back in the firefight, grounded after sunday's fatal crash that killed four aboard air tanker number 7. >> we obviously are very troubled by the crash that took place several days ago, and the loss of life associated with that. it just underscores the dangers associated with these fires. >> these blazes are being called super fires, with 2.2 million acres charred nationwide so far this season. >> long term projections are that we'll see more fires. >> conditions are ripe for out of control infernos that grow at speeds we've never seen before. >> warm weather, lower humidities, fuel moistures are at historic lows, all over the western united states. and combine that with a little bit of lightning, you have a recipe for a big fire. >> tonight, 41 wildfires are raging across the west. >> fires here, let's get them out. >> reporter: in montana alone, ten blazes s

i want to bring in live our jim spellman in colorado springs.n exclusive video in to us of the devastation, the first time the families are seeing what has happened. >> reporter: absolutely, poppy. what we did was we gave a camera to a couple named ted and kate and asked them to film this for us. they gave us a tour of what their neighborhood looked like. some homes all you can see are a few bricks from a chimney. weird artifacts, a hull hull of a washing machine. this is a family who first discovered their home was destroyed when they saw a photograph of it. to see it up close was really stunning for them. they really felt like this gave them some sort of a sense of closure and set them up to be able to maybe start looking to the next phase to rebuilding and being ready to start a new life. they are going to rebuild right back in their neighborhood on that same plot. >> on that same plot. people on their screen are looking at images of the home of ted and kate stufaunae who you sent a camera in with. so they willingly shot this video of their o

one of the most effected communities was colorado springs.udly conservative. they have been for a long time. in fact, they needed to raise taxes for $28 million budget hole in 2010 and they refused to do it. diane sawyer had a report about it back then. [ audio difficulties ] >> if they want the lawns trimmed in the park. but there may not be much to trim. water is being cut off to the parks. >> cenk: i tell you what they're conservative, bring your own lawnmower. 20 years ago they started the taxpayer bill of rights. we were not going to raise taxes on under any circumstance! all right, fantastic. what has been the result? because of the 2010 cuts we have public safety being shrunk by 8%. that may become relevant later. shut off 10,000 street lights. auctioned police helicopters cut state funding for museums closed parks, pools, etc. what have we happened? we have 50 fewer police officers and more importantly, 39 fewer firefighters. the results? when the fire began well, they didn't have enough people to put out the fire. hence, 18,000 acres

almost $2 billion, that's including the massive wildfire that happened here in colorado springs. that estimate comes from the insurance giant aon. and tonight we also have a warning from noaa, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration that once unusual weather is going to become more and more common. heat, fire and drought are familiar elements of most summers, but events this summer in each case are record breakers, amplified government scientists say by climate change. >> the additional increase, intensity and frequency is caused -- not in every case, but in many cases -- by human activity increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. >> reporter: gases like carbon dioxide created when we burn fossil fuel. gases that trap heat and warm the earth. in its state of the climate report released today, noaa noted significant changes at the ends of the earth in 2011. the south pole hitting an all time high of 9.9 degrees on christmas day. while the arctic continued to warm at almost twice the rate of lower latitudes, further shrinking the sea ice. >> why that's

hundreds and thousands of their customers still have no power. >> rob marciano is live for us in colorado springs, covering the deadly wildfires, which is part and parcel of the heat wave that the east is facing because it hit the where you are, rob, just several days ago. you reported it was moving and it did. it's really what was at the heart of the problems that you're reporting on out of colorado, the deadly wildfires. >> reporter: yeah, the same heat that heat the eastern third of the country over the weekend was the heat that accelerate the the fires here across colorado springs one week ago. we actually still had record breaking heat but it pales in compare ton to folks in mississippi, 107, 106 degree temperatures, this is all time record highs. a handful of what was set yesterday for record high temperatures. in the past week we've seen 1800 records set, 150 all time record high temperatures. a little bit of relief today for the i-95 corridor from d.c. to boston. still heat advisories and heat warnings for 20 states, dangerous heat for places like memphis and nashville and back through at

the latest on the wildfires burning in colorado springs. >>> and challenging and trying, the latest on massive efforts to restore power to hundreds of thousands across the country. eyewitness news at 4:00 continues with denise and vic right after this. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

colorado springs, first time a colorado mark was number one.y more. let's fast forward to this week. colorado springs, second week in a row they are number one. look at the florida markets now. again, look at what's missing. no north carolina. a lot of times you see the campaign. most saturation of television ads looks like what everybody has been telling you. this state is going to come down to two states. you cannot see how romney gets to 270 without winning both of these states. the obama campaign knows it. they just think they need to do more. remember when the obama campaign launched it? columbus, ohio and richmond, virginia. >> we're heading out wets for an out of the ordinary congressional race. it could tell us a lot more. find out more about the candidate hoping to become the first black republican woman in congress. have our fridges cater our parties. and tell our ranges to whip up dinner. let's plug in to summer savings before they're gone... ...without wasting an ounce of energy with smart machines that turn housework into house pla

at the mountain zoo in colorado springs is a building off limits to the public. here doctors are ferret match makers. we met them just as they were

colorado springs. >>> an air force firefighting plane went down in southwestern south dakota. the plane crashed near edgemont last night. sheriff's office says three people were taken to the hospital for treatment. >>> republican congressional leaders will press ahead. the supreme court ruled to uphold the law last week. democrats argue most people are for keeping or changing the law. but house speaker john boehner says lawmakers have to start from scratch. >> this has to be ripped out by its roots. this is government taking over the entire health insurance industry. the american people do not want to go down this path, they do not want the government telling them what kind of insurance policy they have to buy and how much they're going to pay for it and if you don't like it, we're going to tax you. >> there are lots of things people like in the bill, the obvious ones like your kids can stay on your health care until they're 26th. the doughnut hole prescription drug payments for seniors. >> a gallup poll found 46% of those asked agreed with the decision. 46% were opposed. >>>

firefighters in colorado springs say they're making progress on 350 homes.hat's destroyed nearly most the estimated 30,000 people forced to evacuate have been allowed to briefly return home. what they found depended in large part on luck. in neighborhoods mostly burned to the ground, there were some homes untouched by the flames. drew levinson reports. >> reporter: thousands of people living in some of the hardest hit areas of the waldo canyon fire lined up early sunday at checkpoints. these residents of mountain shadows got a chance to see their property for the first time since the raging wildfires drove them out a week ago. for some, their homes are still standing. but for others, they returned to see the charred remains of where they once lived. >> red cross mental health counselors were with them. >> what we do is listen. give them reassurances. but some of the things that they tell you are things that they need to repeat over and over again. that's part of the healing process that they can talk to someone. >> by sunday night, most of the 30,000 evacuees, many of whom spent time

the colorado springs fire is now 70% contained. >>> wind may have played a role in toppling large treen francisco. take a look at this the tree was just a few inches away from smashing a scooter and landing on a truck. drivers were able to steer clear of the road hazard that blocked all northbound lanes of divide near page street this happened at 7:00 o'clock tonight. good news as big as the tree was, nobody was hurt. easily could have been a different story. >> we were overhead soon after the lights went out at 5:30 this afternoon when high voltage power line fell on 159 avenue. pg&e says gusting winds may have been a factor here. power to about 500 people was restored late this evening. now pg&e trying to restoreicity to 3500 customers in south san jose in an area between highway 101 and foot hills. craw not figured out what has cause that had outage which started about 9:30 tonight. about an hour and a half ago. sky 7 hd overhead while firefighters battle the smokey grass fire along the railroad track in richmond. union pacific shut down train service soon after the fire broke out a

>> anne thompson, colorado springs tonight, thanks for that. another example of extreme weather just this morning, just outside austin texas, ten inches of rain fell in a matter of just a few hours, touching off some nasty flash floods, leaving more than a dozen homes totally sur rounded by water. it was a good sides mess to clean up later in the day, luckily nobody was hurt. >>> we have an update tonight on a story we aired just a few days back at the heat of those awful colorado wildfires. as we with reported that night, the firefighters in the fight are classified as seasonal workers by the federal government. so they have no health insurance. well, we have learned tonight from the white house president obama is ready to issue an executive order that will allow those fire fighters to buy into a federal health insurance plan. a bill has also been introduced in the house and washington that would cover them as u.s. forest service employees. >>> now, we turn to health news tonight. our chief medical editor dr. nancy snyderman has been reporting

. >>> near colorado spring, firefighters continue to battle a massive wildfire that is responsible forwo deaths and the destruction of nearly 350 homes. president obama visited the region friday, declared colorado a disaster area, and freed up federal money to help fight the largest fires. joining us now, the governor of colorado, john hickenlooper. thank you, governor, busy, busy times for you, i know. but there is this feeling, particularly as you get this one colorado springs fire under control that the worst is over s. that how you're feeling? >> we're certainly feeling that way. now we're beginning to look at how do we rebuild and begin the recovery. but we also know that mother nature will be fickle out here. we're keeping ourselves very alert. >> governor, i know you have -- you have probably flown over a lot of fires. i imagine you've visited scenes of the destruction if you can get close to it. personally can you give us through your eyes what you saw? >> well, it's been difficult, devastating that the waldo fire in colorado springs, when we flew up there tuesday night, it was

appreciate it once again, steve schopper with the colorado springs fire department. thank all your colleagues for everyone in colorado and all over the nation who are watching, people all over the world have been moved by what they heard and saw today. thanks very much for joining us. >> you're quite welcome, wolf. thank you. >>> almost four full days without power in the middle of a brutal heat wave. we're going to take you to a town where people are trapped by fallen trees forced to boil drinking water. >>> and mitt romney likes to tout his business background, but now a pair of legendary business heavyweights are slamming his campaign operation as "an amateur operation." plus, could kitty litter, yes, kitty litter, increase the risk of attempted suicide? there's new research that cat owners need to know about. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you've been years in the making. and there are many years ahead. join the millions of members who've chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. go long. insured by unitedhealthcare

for nearly 350 families near colorado springs, the answer is " no ". ll fires began more than a week ago and has been blamed for two deaths. the cause of the fire still under investigation. >> the governor of colorado has canceled a lot of the fourth of july celebrations, a lot of the fireworks on off. they're trying to battle dry conditions out there. for a look at the weather here. lawrence is on the rooftop, checking out all of the fog. >> the air-conditioner kicking in and it looks like it will stay around. no major changes over the next five to seven days. i think that today we will be on the upside of things as clouds will start to break up a little bit outside and it looks like we're in for warmer weather. already seen some sunshine from around the bay area. looking good in the valleys. as we headed to the afternoon it is seasonal for the some of the year and then it looks like some minor fluctuations over the next few days. high-pressure lifting the trough a little bit. that will be enough to warm temperatures up around average. low clouds and f

restored for another week. >>> heat is also an issue for firefighters battling the fire near colorado springsidents have been getting a chance to go back and see their homes. the fire is now 45% contained. >>> for one colorado family their hard times started long before the fires began. susan soleage is a grandmother of four young boys. she is holding her grand son, connor. she is not just their grandmother. she is also playing the role as mom and dad after both the boys' parents died tragically over the last two years. now this brave family has lost their home to the wildfires. our jim spellman met them and asked the boys how they are feeling right now. >> it kind of feels like sadness. >> i miss them so much. >> most of the time i think why me but that's pretty much normal because like people who go through that think why me. why does this happen to me? >> do you ever get an answer to that question? >> no, not really. >> reporter: they manage as best they could. >> it has been a struggle. been to some counseling. we have gone up and down. but everyone is doing much better. >> reporter: and

is part of the healing process. >>> 3000 eat that kiwi's remain in makeshift shelters around colorado springsthe east contra costa fire district closed half its' fire stations because of budget problems the district closed as three of its six stations including the only station on bethel island. 16 of the district's 43 firefighters laid off and response times could more than doubled. >>> when engines not available to respond, time is your enemy, and put you in a position of loss, be it life or property. to close stations is detrimental to the community >>> the fire district board made the cuts when the voters turned down a partial tax to fund the agency >>> the vallejo fire department rail lines this station tomorrow thanks to a fema grant. the department has had several rounds of layoffs but station 25 reopens with 10 new recruits. state legislators vote on the future of high-speed rail this week, gov. brown asked lawmakers to approve funds to build for stretch of a bullet train system in central valley. the governor says the state has to act fast to get federal funds. some lawmakers are hes

adam housley is live in colorado springs. >> reporter: on the western edge of colorado springs, winds have kicked up but the threat has gone down significantly thanks to good weather over the last couple days, even a couple of small rain showers. i'll give you a look. this is the mountain shadows community that was facing a wall of flames. we started where you can see the fire came down from the hillside, from the pine trees and you see the trees right up to the edge some pretty significant number of homes. unfortunately they lost, the number isn't specifically to neighborhood but they lost of tens of homes. more than 300 all told but this neighborhood faced those flames and lot of homes have been lost here. we can give you up close video from a short time ago that shows some of the residents being allowed back in to sift through the ashes. only a few parts of the areas are allowed to do that because they have gas meters and gas mains that need to be shut off. there are 32,000 people evacuated. as of this afternoon, two-thirds have been allowed back home. firefighters say while they a

and one more thing they have to deal with here in colorado springs. >> certainly a lot to worry aboutthe ground there. thank you so much, rob. there are so many amazing pictures of the fire of colorado and a lot of them are coming right from you, our ireporters. thank you for those. we have them up at ireport@cnn.com, and incredible pictures and along with personal pictures of what these people are going through inside of the fire zone. go to cnn.com and check it out. >>> starting to i toing today, illegal to buy foie gras in some california restaurants, and so what is going to happen? well, some restaurants are going to give it away free. 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 thenewny.com. but they can be really well thexpensive.ted a puppy, so to save money i just found them a possum. dad, i think he's dead. probably just playin' possum. sfx: possum hisses there he is. there's an easier way to save.

want to take you toward colorado springs. we're looking at the waldo canyon fire. the temperatures are still expected to remain in the low to mid 90s. however, for today, there is a red flag warning that is in effect because we could see wind gusts up to about 30 miles per hour. that could hamper what happens with firefighters there. they kind of got a little better grip on the fire yesterday. it's about 45% contained. high park fire, 100% contained. you may remember just about seven, eight days ago, this was really the one that we were looking at. now we have started looking at the waldo fire. looks like firefighters are kind of managing that situation right now. down here across extreme southeastern colorado, the red flag warning meaning we're going to see low humidity, high temperatures, gusty winds. that could fuel the fires once again. yesterday, record high temperatures. up and down the eastern seaboard, across the southeast, into the central u.s. with columbia, south carolina, reaching 109 degrees. a lot of these have tied or exceeded records for the date. n

fire crews open some colorado springs neighborhoods for several hours to let families get a look back at their homes. for some, it was a very emotional experience and jim spellman spoke to one family displaced from their homes. >> it's devastating. very sad. we've seen the tphotographs, bu seeing it in person was very sad, very hard. just to see our house was imploded. >> it looked like a war zone. it was just completely caved in. didn't even look like a house. it was bad. and it just the smell. it smelled like smoke and it was just, you got down in it and it smelled like ash. it was awful. >> she is not exaggerating there, folks. it did look like a war zone. to find out more on how to help, go to cnn.com/impact. they can use your help. you can find all the organizations and ways that you can help those in need. again, cnn.com/impact. can't say that enough. >>> more now on the heat wave and those power ounls. crews are working around the clock in states from virginia and ohio, maryland, new jersey, trying to get the power back on so tens of thousands of people can cool off. brian todd

some evacuated residents in the devastated area near colorado springs were allowed back to see theirantime authorities are assessing the damage there. they say 350 homes have now burned and 26,000 people have been forced to evacuate. today two salvation army officials from san francisco flew to colorado to relieve aid workers there. christien kafton talked with the volunteers about their mission. >> reporter: for weeks, fire fighters have been fighting the waldo fire, today the salvation army called for reinforcements from the bay area. aid workers have been assisting evacuees. >> there could very well be the opportunity that i'm serving on a canteen, providing food and water to those firefighters on the front lines. we try to remain as flexible as possible so we can ensure all the needs are met. >> reporter: dunmore expects to help relieve the operations. both aids workers say any kind of donation from -- both aid workers say any kind of donations from the bay area are helpful but the biggest help is cash. if you want to help out you can go to ktvu.com. we posted ways for you to hel