at the same tie, massive flooding of the missouri river has turned fort calhoun nuclear power plant in nebraska into an island. >> we have stranger, bizarre weather patterns that are unpredictable. we may have to re-evaluate the risk that we engaged in. >> reporter: in this year of unexpected, devastating weather, many are asking are our plants completely safe from mother nature. >> at fort calhoun, if water levels surge just a few feet higher, at that point, we're talking about short circuiting all the pumps leading to a loss of coolant. water levels could drop exposing the core. then we could have a three mile island. we could have a fukushima all over again. >> reporter: fort calhoun station issued this statement saying, fort calhoun remains safe and secure, despite the elevated river levels and flooding conditions in the area. river levels are not expected to exceed 1,008. as he surveyed fort calhoun today, the chairman of the nuclear regulatory commission told us that both fort calhoun and los alamos are safe. >> so there's absolutely no reason now to do any type of emergency evac

and this in the broad scope near fort calhoun parts of this they are seen the worst flooding they have seen in 15 years. the governor must declared a disaster area this was an aerial tour during >> schmidt said keys from up and is in active to be a challenge facebook.

the fort calhoun plant is shut down since april.ors are being used to keep the nuclear fuel cool.

back to the fort calhoun plant, because i wab nt to talk about that a little bit. we are talking about the swollen missouri river and also the swollen river in minot, and we will get to that in a second, but that flood is near minot where the nuclear power plant is. and the water-filled berm that was punctured and that was the problem and the water continues to come. to give you a little perspective of how high the missouri river is there, the river right now 1,006.3 feet, and that plant can withstand that river getting to 1,014 feet and another eight feet is all of the wiggle room that there is. certainly, concern because more rain is coming. let's go back the minot, because we are talking so much about minot and what we are seeing. we will expect now that it has crested. it did early, early this morning and as quickly as it got there, it will be exponentially slow to recede. it is expected to fall two feet by wednesday, that is it. and even by next sunday a week from now, still a foot above record stage, and that record secenturie centuries' old record, and it st

now this is the fort calhoun nuclear plant just outside of risk just outside. and in the press and no it's not supposed to be completely surrounded by water. but i suppose that's what happens when you build a nuclear plant right in the middle of the floodplain of the missouri river floodwaters from the rising missouri river have settled at a foot and a half above where the plant sits and the only thing stopping fort calhoun from flooding just like focus shima flooded is a six foot high rubber wall surrounding the plant that's not the only nuclear power plant danger just down the river in southeastern brassica but cooper nuclear plant is also on the verge of flooding out that plant sits at nine hundred three feet above sea level but on sunday floodwaters from the missouri river peaked at nine hundred and a half feet meaning just two and a half feet stood between nebraska and a fukushima like disaster so yeah we almost lost the brask over the weekend and yet no one seems to know about it back on june seventh when the floodwaters first started threatening the fort

coming up tonight on the big picture the swollen missouri river continues to spill water in the fort calhoun nuclear plant workers be able to avoid a fukushima like disaster before it's too late it's a battle of spending cuts versus tax increases on capitol hill will there be applied partisan agreement on the debt ceiling this time around and the u.s. economy may be shaky but americans have been here for you hearing for years that you and is in a depression but even fingleton begs to differ and has the numbers to prove it later this hour. you need to know this impending nuclear disaster nebraska just got worse over the weekend a floodwall protecting nuclear plant from the overflowing missouri river gave way inundating the facility and flood water plant is less than twenty miles away from on the rascal's largest city and is now cooling its reactors and spent fuel pools with backup diesel power generators if those generators go and only batteries with a few hours a life will stand between omaha and nuclear catastrophe it was a tsunami triggered the world's world's worst nuclear meltdown at jap

director of the public systems and program and says let's talk about this what we're seeing in fort calhoun the flooding around the nuclear plant how much of a danger does this pose would clearly pose a risk because the nuclear regulatory commission which is the agency that regulates or hundred forty. states raised the level of concern level for this plant to almost to a critical level so it's clear that regulators in washington d.c. are concerned enough to raise the level of concern but the bottom line here is that the lack of public information about our nuclear power plants particularly after september eleventh two thousand and one it was designed to keep critical information about vulnerable energy infrastructure like nuclear power plants away from terrorism but what it's done is keep this critical information away from us so that we the public law makers and journalists don't have quick easy independent access to important information about the operations and concerns about these plants and so part of the. problem with this situation has been the lack of clarity in some of the public s

issue that now many news organizations are talking about at all and this time it involves the fort calhoun nuclear plant in nebraska two weeks ago there was a fire inside the plants that at the time knocked out the cooling system and certain parts of visuals there say it was restored within about ninety minutes but now there is cause for new concern take a look this is the rising missouri river it has flooded the area and experts including the power company says that high volumes of water could pose a threat to the electric system has been an ongoing no fly zone here as well but officials say it has nothing to do with potential radiation that could be released from the plant in fact they say everything at the plants is just fine now this situation may not be the same at what we've been seeing unfolding at the fukushima nuclear plant in japan but your number there as well several attempts by the government and officials to downplay the threat to say everything was going to be fine which we now know just wasn't true so the point is we should talk about it there is reason enough to be suspici

a flood wall protecting the fort calhoun plant collapsed yesterday. now officials say there is no danger to the public. >>> in minot, north dakota, the worst of the flooding finally over now that the souris river has started to recede but the battle for many has begun. >> just about everywhere you look in minot, streets and homes 4r78 completely submerged. the flooding has driven some 12,000 people from their homes so far. jim spellman is live in minot, north dakota. what's the status there this morning? >> yeah. the sun is just coming up here in minot. this what is people are waking up to, in neighborhoods across the city. flooding, you know, like this just goes on and on from neighborhood after neighborhood. it's the scope of it that's struck me here. like you mentioned, the battle is still begun here. they still have a lot of work to do until this water goes down. the river has gotten as high as it will get, but the battle to save minot goes on. >> putting ring banks where we think bad spots are. >> reporter: the water came too fast and too high to

talk about a plant being shut down as the fort calhoun plant has been shut down. it's done for safety reasons. but people are scared by, you know, that very unusual event. so officials again are trying to get the word out that these plants are safe and that even if flooding does reach into some of these plants they've got so many fail safe measures to keep any type of radiation event from taking place. >> patrick, last question, the cooper nuclear station about 100 miles south of there, you were given unprecedented access to it yesterday. what did you actually see? >> you know, it was really amazing. we were in this state-of-the-art facility, and yet all across the first floor of the facility you had to go up by ladders over these five sandbags, sort of a bunker mentality within this plant, because they are afraid of the flooding into the plant. they want to keep it out of certain areas. so as we were being toured, as the chairman of the nuclear regulatory commission was being brought around, he had to climb over some of these very, very high sandbags, so there is

we were seeing this right now with this fort calhoun plant nebraska what is the real risk in america could we have a fukushima style disaster what we you know there are two reactors in earthquake zones in california. on the cole you know that there are some combination of earthquake and tsunami is possible there now whether they are high enough and won't be flooded that's another question they say they are and i haven't studied it in and i won't give you an independent estimate about that and what the main thing the main problem in japan was what's called a station blackout so they lost their emergency cooling their emergency generators they lost the main power coming out now during these tornadoes recently in the south where you had station blackouts so the transmission lines get knocked out generators should work and what happened in japan the diesel generators got knocked out was not be able to log and of tornado for example knock out your main power. and you need a generator gets knocked out then you have a very similar situation because you got batteries for four hours and japan

the fort calhoun reactor which is near omaha has been idle since april. the cooper nuclear power station remains several feet above the rising missouri river. >>> a wildfire burning within miles of the los alamos national lab in new mexico, the nation's nuclear weapons research facility shut down for a second day. officials at the lab say that all radioactive and hazardous materials are protected. more than 10,000 residents have been told to get out. >>> much of greece paralyzed this morning by a 48-hour strike. greece's transportation systems, banks, schools and hospitals all shut down. protesters who are right now gathering in athens are upset over budget and benefit cuts needed to ensure a second international bailout. >>> and testimony resumes this morning in the casey anthony murder trial. the judge revealing in court that anthony underwent a psychological evaluation over the weekend at the request of her attorneys. she was found competent to stand trial. >>> former illinois governor rod blagojevich convicted of 17 corruption charges, including tryin

but the man in charge at fort calhoun on the left side of the screen there, now an island unto itself, is promising his neighbors quote, this is not another fukushima. the calhoun and cooper plants sit on either side of omaha on the banks of the missouri river, a river engorged by almost a year's worth of rain and a rapid snow melt. the cooper plant is online and for the moment, on dry ground. fort calhoun has been shut down for maintenance since april but is surrounded by water and protected by berms. the fear, of course, as we all learned from japan, is knocked-out cooling systems. but operators in nebraska insist there is no possibility of a meltdown. my colleague brian todd is there. why are folks so confident that these plants are protected? >> reporter: well, they make a distinction between fukushima and this and one key distinction is that fukushima was a sudden event and catastrophic flood that came just all of a sudden on march 11th and then swept away everything in its path. this was a predicted event, it came very slowly. they had time to get ready for it. they constructed

. >>> the fort calhoun nuclear plant is surrounded by water this evening.nd officials say the water had not damaged the plant. the commission chairman surveyed the scene, saying the river is not expected to rise to cause major problems at the plant two. years ago, finding problem was the flood preparations. >> a south carolina woman faces murder charges on the death of her 6 week old daughter after traces of morphine were found in the infant's system and the mother's breast milk, saying stephanie green had been abusing painkillers saying she acquired drugs from several doctors, taking them in high doses and they killed her daughter along with the murder charges green faces 38 kountsz of violating south carolina drug distribution law autos two falcons living on an east bay bridge have been shot. officers want to know who did it. they're recovering from pellet wounds tonight. and they were shot at different times this month. veterinarians say they're eating on their own but have fractured wings. and abercrombie & fitch being sued for religious discrimination

fort calhoun has been the biggest concern.t's surrounded by at least two feet of floodwater, forcing workers to use catwalks to get to the facility. some has seeped into the building, but the plant manager says all radioactive material is dry. flooding is a problem all along the missouri due to releases of water from upstream reservoirs. >>> with news president obama has entered high level budget talks, white house officials say they are confident a significant deal can be reached to prevent the nation from defaulting on its debt for the first time in history. however, it remains unclear how the deal will get done with republicans continuing to reject the administration's insist ens that higher taxes are a necessary reality to raise the debt ceiling. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with all the details. good morning. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. in fact they insisted again on the no tax hikes right before walking into a meeting last night with president obama. keep in mind, this happened after republicans walke

night, were being threatened by rising water, floodwaters that broke through a barrier at the fort calhoun plant near omaha and we're also jeopardizing the cooper station plant about 80 miles down river. tonight, water levels are down slightly from high water marks reached over the weekend and officials say all safety systems are working properly as of now at both plants. >>> we head overseas now. troubling news from kabul, the 6 capital of afghanistan, where a group of suicide bombers tried to attack a major hotel. that triggered a gunfight as security forces moved in. our veteran nbc news producer schwel uddin is on the scene and joins us by phone tonight and so schel, those that travelled there this is a familiar land mark. many of us have stayed there. what can you tell us about the situation right now? >> yes, brian. two black hawk helicopters, apparently, fired on three of the suicide bombers. as you know, three have already detonated their vests. the hotel is on fire and we can see that it's on fire. three other suicide bombers exploded their vests earlier causing carnage and mayhem

this is the fort calhoun in nebraska completely surrounded by water.from the missouri river. the main areas are not and danger of--flooding- and it helps wi april the month april, they have both been shut down. federal law regulators and reporters are battling this online rumor mill that people are speculating on how things really are. however, there is no chance of a meltdown. >> i am 100 percent confident that there will be no issue. if we follow our procedures, shutting down the plant to what ever is required to make safety the top priority. sobering news in the north dakota. demolition could be the only solution. a fema report showing 4100 homes have been damaged by flooding. with 805 is inundated with 10 ft. of water. this reverses slowly receding souris but it could be one week before it gets back from record levels. >> not far away, this is in a nearby town people driving food, water because this river is cresting in that area. the worst of the flooding could be ahead. >> in mexico while fire has los alamos shut down. that is where the first ato

floodwaters surrounded the fort calhoun plant some 20 miles north of omaha. but all areas containing nuclear material remain dry. the cooper plant south of there is more elevated and continued to operate at full capacity. >>> president obama travels to iowa today to talk about the economy. sarah palin will be there, too. their visit comes just one day after congresswoman michele bachmann launched her presidential campaign there. joel brown is in washington with more. good morning, joel. >> betty, good morning to you. no one knows the political importance of iowa more than president obama. the state helped propel him to the white house. he's going back today, defending his record against a growing list of adversaries who all want his job. president obama heads to iowa today, continuing his push for job creation. he'll tour the alcoa aluminum plant in davenport, during a trip the white house says is aimed at the economy, not politics. still, the visit comes as republican presidential candidates step up their campaigns, and attacks. >> we cannot afford four more

in fort calhoun people are using boats to ferry items from their home, residents are trying to salvageverything they can. the red cross appearis opening up ss for displaced residents. >> here is a three-dimensional image of the tornado in joplin, missouri. you can see the vertical composite as the tornado swept through. three more people have died from injuries sustained during this mass of tornado. the death toll stands at 141. >> a southwest jet made an emergency landing. it landed safely in el paso. no fire or smoke. none of the 131 passengers were injured. we will be right back as the kron 4 morning news continues. a place with natural beauty >> a quick look at top stories that we are following right now, police are looking for a gunman who shot and killed an instant and wounded his parents as they were driving away from a baby shower in east palo alto. two men in hooded sweatshirts fired shots at the car leaving a three month baby boy dead. parents are in the hospital was not life- threatening injuries. no motive has been established. this family was targeted by these two suspects

public power district spokesman geoff hansen said that quote everything is secure and safe at the fort calhoun nuclear station and nuclear regulatory commission spokesman victor driggs used the word stable for the scribes if you ation so according to the people that our government put in charge of keeping us safe from nuclear meltdowns an eight foot berm collapsing leading to a flood of a building at a nuclear facility that they say doesn't have any nuclear material anyways is secure safe and stable and we didn't need a little berm thing anyway no nothing to see here move along citizen and now our own lucrative house the reports from london where seven hundred seventy six is just another number. this is a look at our ski in london england trying to see if the brits know what's going on below. zero. i tell you. can you name two famous people i got married about two months ago. everybody was talking about. one of them would be. prince. oh i think that might have to be william and kate the she can speak of such as cambridge prince william and. kate are willing to eat. william and. kate and when y

are now as collating after rising waters have breached the protective a temporary berm for the fort calhoun nuclear facility. as far as the. tourist. we can we. show you the story. we're told. now all officials say that there is no potential threat to the public the floodwaters have forced the facility to shut down and stop producing electricity meanwhile wildfires are to blame for a shutdown at the los alamos facility in new mexico all of the fire there is currently a mile away fishbowls there say the plan has been closed to the public and all radioactive material is accounted for on the labs web site says l.a. and els emergency operations center remains operational observation aircraft are currently conducting aerial surveys to gauge the fires growth and current size overnight as a precaution the last natural gas and technical areas in l.a. and remote southwest area all hazardous and radioactive materials remain accounted for and are appropriately protected as are key lab facilities such as proton accelerator and supercomputing centers although both of these facility facilities emphasize

here it is, the fort calhoun nuclear plant in nebraska. like an island sitting in a lake. the nation's top nuclear safety official inspected the plant today, insisting no water is leaking into the reactor core. and though the plant has not been active for two months, the generators and electric power are still keeping it cool. so two nuclear facilities being watched tonight. as we bring you the results of an ap investigation into america's 104 nuclear power plants. first question, since 120 million americans live within 50 miles of a nuclear plant, if the siren should suddenly sound near you, what should you do? and second, how many of the country's aging plants have been leaking a radioactive chemical? abc's jim sciutto has the story on our washington watchdog beat tonight. >> reporter: for so many americans, nuclear plants aren't just nearby, they're neighbors. tom and judy zimmer had just moved into their home near the braidwood nuclear plant outside chicago in 2005 when plant owners showed up on their doorstep to tell them the plant had leaked radioactive tritium onto

>>catherine: this is the fort calhoun in nebraska completely surrounded by water. of funding from the missouri river. the main areas are not and danger of--flooding- and it helps wi april the month april, they have both been shut down. federal law regulators and reporters are battling this online rumor mill that people are speculating on how things really are. however, there is no chance of a meltdown. >> i am 100 percent confident that there will be no issue. if we follow our procedures, shutting down the plant to what ever is required to make safety the top priority. demolition could be the only solution for these homes and minot, with 4100 homes damaged. 805 inundated with over 10 ft. of water. this souris river is slowly receding but it could be one week before it drops to normal levels, from current record levels. catherine heenan, kron 4 news. >>jacqueline has and complete updates. >>pam: take a look at this! this rainfall has been unbelievable! we have team coverage with aubria ceno. >> in san francisco women could be the blame for this tree on lombard stree

the fort calhoun nuclear power plant in nebraska has been surrounded by water for more than one week.t has been shut down since april for refueling, it will remain shut down until the waters recede. for the government says that there is no danger of a meltdown. there is another danger in this one outside of minot, the air force has brought in sandbags, but they say that the silows are designed to handle water. wildfires in oklahoma by hot wind and low humidity, several homes have been destroyed, families have fled this area no deaths or injuries have been reported a state of emergency in 33 oklahoma counties. wildfires in south georgia and north florida can now be seen from space. this is a satellite photograph taken from nasa, you can see the smoke covering over the atlantic. there are now 14 active fired in the area, thousands of acres have been burned. south florida is getting some much-needed rain today, these six funnel clouds were spotted off of miami beach, a welcome sight. southland has been struggling with the drought conditions for some time, the clouds and cannot pose much

investigation like this especially when there's flooding going on right now in a brass but right near the fort calhoun of brownsville nuclear power plants calhoun has been shut down ground rules operating at only thirty percent and both of describe the situation as merely an unusual event. personally i'd like a little more detail into what's going on wouldn't you after the ab's investigation i definitely don't trust the government to do it but apparently you can't trust the media either could be their laziness could be the fact they don't want to actually have to do any investigating or it could be something else like maybe the money that comes from advertisements that play on their news channels today nuclear energy provides one fifth of america's electricity tomorrow could supply even more and nuclear power plants to make greenhouse gases so they preserve our environment . we need to reduce our dependence on foreign energy and we also need clean air with nuclear energy we can do but. yeah i'm not terribly sure which one it is could be both laziness and serving the corporate overlords but in the mean

and this in the broad scope near fort calhoun parts of this they are seen the worst flooding they have 15 years. the governor must declared a disaster area this was an aerial tour during >> schmidt said keys from up and is in active to be a challenge facebook. kron4 is giving away tickets to see you to all you have to do is let us and you will be able to register to get free tickets. another way is souls for seoul's. this happens monday at up separatism go hard rock cafe just bring in a slightly used shoes and you can enter the drawing for free tickets. >> more information on all done up supplier the crash that happened are run mainly closing bell and a no. 8 any. these are scenes of the impact of the area. >> the detour is still in effect at 90 through the block are three lanes. this is the level of the operations in the area of the sweepers are standing by. our reporter is like on not been seen. you mention that after caltrans crews swept up the scent the california highway patrol was going to be a test in the area have you seen it? >> no not yet they will be out of here in less than

the fort calhoun plant shut down since april for refueling is already dealing with two feet of water.uclear station, sits on higher ground and continues to operate. our patrick ottman is live at the calhoun facility. any immediate danger there? >> reporter: no, randi. as you noted, this plant has been shut down. but even though it's been shut down, they were refuelling the plant and saw the floodwaters coming in and decided to take the plant offline. they still need to have power to this plant to keep the spent reactor fuel cooled down to make sure it doesn't get overheated and cause an event like we saw in japan after the tsunami there. yesterday the floodwaters rising got near transformers and plant officials became concerned enough that they actually went to plan "b," which was go to one of those larger diesel generators they have. they have three. they only need one to keep the plant online. and they did that for several hours and then once they determined the flooding wasn't going to be a problem for this plant, they went back on the grid late yesterday. but, again, it just illus

the fort calhoun plant has more severe flooding.ctive dam around part of that plant ruptured sunday, but officials say that other protective systems are in place. >>> now to the flooding problems in minot, north dakota, as many as 4,000 homes have flood damage now. cnn's jim spellman is there in minot. any problems with the levees? >> so far the levees they've built around critical infrastructure here are holding early into this event, a week ago they knew that the dikes throughout the rest of the city were just not going to hold up and concentrated on that vital infrastructure. the good news this morning, is that this river has crested, this is as high as the floodwaters will get and, in fact, it started to recede a little bit. this neighbor spray painted this line on here at 9:20 yesterday even and the water moved back about this far, ten feet or so. the bad news, look how much farther it has to go back. this damage goes on and on. we've seen neighbors coming up to the edge of the floodwater to get a look and see what the fate of

the fort calhoun nuclear station is safe even though a barrier collapsed yesterday. >>> and a littlenshine today perhaps? >> yes, we will bring you sunshine before we bring back the threat of rainfall. yep, that's right there is a chance of rain drops headed our way today, a nice start to the day inland mostly clear skies, mount vacca cam, but a couple patches of fog extending over the bay and along the coastline and into some of the valleys, that will break up throughout the morning hours return to the coastline where it will sit there the better part of the day, 50s and 60s. better part of the day, valleys looking warm, most spots 70s mid-80s some of the warmer spots we have a cold front coming from the gulf of alaska rather strong this late in the season we will drop into the bay area, later on tonight, chance for rain as we look at tomorrow. as the storm system moves in, chance of showers much cooler temperatures, 70s and 80s sunny skies, patchy fog out towards the coast, mid-80s antioch and brent wood, 60s berkley and richmond and north bay 70s most spots maybe 80s in towards fa

parts of the fort calhoun station are under water. a controlled situation plaws the plant has been shut since april for refueling. there is a second issue here to worry about. flood waters have come within inches of the cooper facility downriver. it is stel operational and under observation tonight. if the water rises it could knock out the power which could knock out the cooling system of the nuclear plants. authorities put up 8-foot berms to block off the water from the plant outside of om ma and there are extra people on site with sat phones and generators. officials in nebraska are not taking any chances because in that instance in japan the cool is system failed. >>> a powerful 6.7 earthquake shook northeastern japan today, the same area where the earthquake hit in march. there are no immediate reports of damage and it is not expected to trigger a tsunami. >>> back here at home, the federal reserve said today to expect slower economic growth for the rest of the year and possibly next year. the central bank now expects the u.s. ec

in flooded parts of fort calhoun, residents tried to salvage what they could. national guard members stand ready to repair a levee in the western part of the state. crews are also using a blackhawk helicopter to drop sand bags on a levee. authorities in some towns are asking volunteers to help fill sand bags. and up next here on cnn, mother nature turns a day of fun into a day of terror. winds blow inflatable bounce houses up and over with more than a dozen kids going along for a very dangerous ride. >>> and the casey anthony trial is one of the most talked about stories in the country. we're asking a panel of guests if the mother accused of murdering her own daughter may claim she is insane. >>> also music star's home catches fire with his childrened in. and if you want any information on the stories that we're airing tonight here on cnn you can reach out to us on twitter, facebook, cnn.com/don and on foursquare.com as well. there's another way to help eliminate litter box dust: purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder on dust. and

. >> this is the scene in nebraska, water inundating the fort calhoun power plant.ical reactors, outside of the reactors, critical equipment. the generators have had to be shut down because of water around them. they have to bring in an extra power source. the swollen missouri river is getting up to 2 ft. of water are on the plan although the plan is designed to withstand eight more feet of water. the plant is dry inside and has been shut down. not in immediate danger but the flooding is raising fears that other power plants in the united states will be vulnerable to extreme weather events. we are back in 2 minutes as a kron 4 morning news continues. we will have the latest on the rain around the bay area. right now here is a live look at the golden gate bridge. the rain is about to move in. on which . where it. of or it will use all >> and there were two brothers arrested in the stabbing of the car wash in walnut creek. the owner of a car wash says four out of the five men involved at one time or another were employees of this place. he knows and then coming here i

in fort calhoun people using boats to carry items from their homes to drier ground as residents are tryinge red cross has opened a shelter for people displaced by the floods. noaa is releasing a three-dimensional image of the joplin missouri tornado that wiped out one-third of the town on may 22nd. this is a vertical composite of the radar through the event. the tornado was hot f5 which had winds up to 200 mi. per hour. over the weekend of three more people have died in hospital for injuries sustained during the massive tornado. the death toll in joplin is now at 141. >> coming up in 15 minutes, i will show you some pictures of the massive wildfire burning in eastern arizona. it has forced the evacuation of several mountain communities. that is coming up in 15 minutes. >> we will have that and more, stay tuned for the kron 4 morning news. let's take a look right now at san francisco. it is a great start to the day today. we're looking at clouds hanging around, still kind of cool. it will take a few days to climb into the upper 70's where we should at least be for this time of year. let's t

the cooper plant south of omaha remains dry this morning but the fort calhoun nuclear station is nowm protecting the plant collapsed yesterday. the plant has been closed down since april for refueling. officials expect the barriers at the keeper plant to continue to hold. >>> residents in minot, north dakota, have their own high water problems. floodwaters peaked at an all time high there. our affiliate wcco is in minot this morning. >> reporter: good morning, jeff. water levels are starting to slowly go down here. the river is very wide. 10 to 20 times its normal width at this point, 6 feet higher than it should be right now. that's having just a devastating effect on some of the homes here in minot. we caught a house being knocked off of its foundation just yesterday. a number of homes look the same way right now. the city also under a boil water notice. people not able to drink the water or brush their teeth. after showering they have to use hand sanitizers. we learned that those people who evacuated, 11,000 of them, will not be able to see their homes for days if not weeks. the r

. >> reporter: in eastern nebraska, the fort calhoun power plant is surrounded by the swollen missouri public power, which owns and operates the facility, insists that all nuclear material remains high and dry. but the nation's nuclear regulatory chief came to see for himself. >> the risk is really very low at this point that anything could go wrong. >> reporter: the country is far from prepared. according to a year-long investigation by the associated press. citing their own data, the report suggests america's nuclear power facilities are outdated, and in some cases a safety risk. >> at a time when the nuclear industry is under considerable public scrutiny, this kind of information really doesn't do anything to build public trust or confidence in the nuclear industry. >> reporter: the report claims 66 power plants have been rely sensed to run 20 years beyond their original schett life, often in once rural areas that have quadrupled in population since 1980. >> i think the thing that worries me most is what happens if there's an event similar to fukushima. >> reporter: the fukushima nu

a watchdog group for the nuclear power industry visited the fort calhoun plant yesterday. officials say the facility is still safe. the plant has been off-line since april for refueling. it was not up and generating power. we will watch the story and bring you the latest developments. >>> another dramatic day in the casey anthony murder trial. casey's family members back on the stand and disturbing testimony from the meter reader who discovered little caylee's remains. >> the real bomb shell happened after the jury left the courtroom from casey's former fiance. carol costello joins us live from orlando. first of all the testimony from roy kronk was pretty surprising, the meter reader, but also perhaps most surprising was the testimony the jury never heard. >> jury never heard from casey anthony's former fiance as you say, his name is jesse grund. the judge chased the jury out of the room to determine whether the testimony was admissible in court. jesse grund testified that casey anthony told him that her brother lee used to stare at her at night while she was sleeping and

. >> let's start in nebraska talking about fort calhoun north of omaha, warren buffett land.an open floor plan throughout the house. kind of a surprise when you walk in. it has laminate floors throughout. that's the only part of the house i don't like. but the living room has a di distressed brick wood fireplace. the dining area has a door to the back deck. there is a formal dining room with brown chairs that look like they have already been packed to go. i don't get why those people put that on there. >> why don't you like laminate? >> it doesn't look real. it's maintenance free and feels fine, but you don't feel like you have a home that will love you back when you walk on it. but people keep putting it in. backyard with a deck that backs into a rolling lawn. you can't see from this shot but you have beautiful missouri river valley beyond the trees. there's a better shot. absolutely no fences. how many times do you get into a community and there are no fences? i like this town. pe now to scranton, nnsylvania, home of dunder mifflin paper company. i'm told it's not a real co