a major explosion, a fire and explosion at a chemical plant in geismar, louisiana. its rproximity to nw orleans. our affiliate in baton rouge says this is the williams oliphants plant. we're getting reports of multiple injuries. they are evacuating the area around the plant. one of the witnesses on a local station says they took all precautions to evacuate all the personnel, but a major explosion that we're working this geismar, louisiana. we'll upgate you when we have more. >>> washington, you better hunker down because you're in for rough weather. possibly even tornadoes. it was that same storm that ripped across the midwest yesterday. take a look at the funnel. you cannot get enough of these pictures. great to see where there is mud as opposed to this kind of thing when it hits power lines and structures but a lot of damage. local officials are fearing a nearby levee could fail because the rains were just so darn heavy. we'll take you to chicago, willis structure was on the receiving end of a massive lightning bolt. unbelievable. look at that. chad mars is yers i

this after a deadly explosion at the facility in the town of geismar.by on a delivery, we saw big flames in the air shooting up we looked over the whole unit this was the scene at the williams geismar plant, about 20 miles southeast of baton rouge. it exploded, erupting into flames-- sparking widespread fear and panic from workers and many nearby. it looked bad, so we just pray that everybody's ok." more than 70 people are being treated at local hospitals. several are suffering from burns. along with the injuries, the other serous concern is about the chemicals that are being released into the air. the chemical that we think was involved in this is a highly volatile chemical but it's not one that would lead the lines like one would think. so, we think we are ok in this regard." police officials say they believe the chemical burned up in the fire which is now out. still. officials initially enacted a "shelter-in-place" for anyone within two miles of the explosion -- urging residents not go outside. that order was lifted for all but a few nearby i'm shann

we understand geismar is a little closer to baton rouge.ties as a result of the explosion. there are injuries. we're still working to get more information for you. >>> in other top stories this morning, two major wildfires churning across central colorado. and there are staggering numbers to report. nearly 100 homes destroyed. 10,000 people in shelters and some 55 square miles under evacuation orders. remarkably, not a single confirmed injury so far. >>> new data from the census bureau shows for the first time ever, asians are the fastest rising ethnic group in the united states. the population rising by nearly 3% last year. the majority of that growth came from international immigration. >>> nfl commissioner roger goodell is under fire after defending the red skins nickname for washington's team. he backed away from calls to condemn the name and instead said it represented courage, pride and respect. some native american groups called the nickname insulting and racially insensitive. >>> 10-year-old sarah murnaghan is recovering after getti

town of geismar which is about one hundred kilometers from new orleans louisiana the blast followed by a massive fire in a mass evacuation so far we know that seven people have reportedly been injured but authorities fear there could be further casualties locals have been advised to keep the windows in their homes shut we'll bring you more news on this story as we get it in. u.s. secret global surveillance program revealed by cia whistleblower edward snowden's left many european states rattled after they became aware that they were being spied on as well among the most watched nations germany a fact chancellor angela merkel could bring up when president obama visits berlin next week a german member of the european parliament said the surveillance reminded him of the stasi secret police in east germany his colleague from neighboring austria says he was appalled accusing washington of doing whatever it wants italy's privacy chief also expressed concern which he said would be illegal in his country and an egyptian freedom activist was shocked at how much his country was targeted the europ

the feel good greek. ♪ dannon >>> breaking news out of geismar, louisiana.ccording to the louisiana state police captain doug cane there he's saying the reported explosions touched off a fire at the williams company plant. they are saying there are injuries. apparently there are injuries there. cane also saying that he does not know how many people were hurt but he does see ambulances taking a couple of folks from the plant. some injuries. they produce about 1.3 billion pounds of ethylene and propylene. >>> president obama will deliver an address at the white house today as part of the administration's celebration of june as lgbt pride month. this comes at a critical time for gay rights with the supreme court poised to rule on two same sex marriage cases before the end of the month. joining me now is political strategist and gay rights advocate david mixer. so you've gone to these events at the white house in the east room, several before, right? >> yes, i have. >> what will the president need say today to those who are in the community and what do they want

so, wish we do in of the incident in west, texas, and geismar, louisiana? i believe that before we start looking at new regulations, revising regulations, we owe it to ourselves to determine if existing regulations in the books are being animated and enforce in a comprehensive and universal manner. as i've elaborate in my written report, i don't think we are currently doing that. that is, enforcing existing regulations to our comprehensive plan of inspections and audits. i had made a total of nine recommendations in my written the port, but i will address a few of those. i sincerely believe that the establishment of the national chemical incidents surveillance system is essential. there is presently no, we level means for evaluating her formative industry and limiting the number of severity of accidental chemical releases. i strongly urge congress to mandate a risk-based data to determine the hazards and risks and develop a regulatory map of hazardous materials oversight. is there should take into consideration types of facilities, their locations, chemical

nacional de san antonio abad del cusco, en peru, volvieron a enfrentarse a la policia.las autoridades de geismareiro, la copa confederaciones, uno de los torneos de futbol mas esperados de los ultimos dos aqos.mas en noticiero univision fin de semana >>> el domingo celebramso el día de los padres, y estos son algunos papás de impacto que nos enviaron sus fotografías, en primerimpacto.com podrán ver las fotos que recibimos. >>p>precisamente por esas fotos tan importantes, le pedimos a verónica del castillo que entrevistara a eric del castillo. >>> gracias, la verdad, muy buenas tardes, mi papá me sorprendió con unos de sus secretos mejor guardados, ni yo me lo creía. >>> este domingo es el día del padre, qué significa para ti la paternidad y qué has aprendido. >>> el amor a los hijos es algo muy tierno, yo, por lo menos, siempre me sentí mamá gallina, proteger a mi gallina, mis pollitos. >>> la vida cambia, pero yo daría la vida por cualquiera de ustedes. >>> de niña siempre nos has dicho a kate y a mí, que no somos tus hijas,que somos prestadas. >>> sí, por eso hay que respetarlas, sé de muchos

the plant is located in the town of geismar.t roughly ten ambulances are still on the scene there performing triage work. company's website is giving -- says there's 1.3 billion pounds of ethylene a year produced at this plant. but again, early reports were about 25 people were injured there. we'll continue to follow that story. >>> the medicaid expansion provision of the affordable health care act has become a political football in many states run by republicans. arizona governor jan brewer has come under fire from people in her own party for embracing the expansion, while governor bobby jindal of louisiana has come under fire for rejecting it, putting hundreds of thousands without health insurance at risk. that's the backdrop against which nbc has announced we'll sponsor a one-day free health clinic in new orleans on july 3rd. it is the eighth clinic we've sponsored. executive director of the national associations of free clinics is the group organizing this health clinic. nico nicole, tell me how the lack of medicaid expansio

the first one happened thursday at a chemical plant in geismar. this is video of that explosion, where two people died. school site happened friday at c-f industries in donaldsonville, louisiana. officials say employees attempted to pump too much nitrogen into a vessel. it ruptured and caused the explosion. at least seven people were taken to the hospital. authorities say the fire is out. and that the scene is stable. your tim >> back after the break. google is now launching internet-beaming balloons into the stratosphere. the gigantic, jellyfish- shaped balloons are sending signals from about 12 miles above earth. about 50 homes in parts of new zealand are already able to get online as a result. google eventually wants to get the whole world on the web. in some more remote locations, the balloons are less expensive than installing fiber-optic cables. microsoft office is now available for the i-phone. i-phone users can now edit in microsoft excel or work on a powerpoint on the go. but they cannot start any new documents. just a few days ago apple

happened this morning in geismar, which they tell me is 20 miles south and east of baton rouge.a governor bobby jindal says helicopters took eight people to hospitals and some workers are inside shutting down the plant. >> as of now we believe that eave worker has been accounted for. there are ten workers still in a safe room in the plant. this is part of the emergency protocol to help with the shutting down of the plant, so there are ten people, in a safe room, helping to maintain the flare operations you can see. >> officials warned people to stay indoors, keep the windows closed, even though they say early tests do not indicate dangerous levels of chemicals in the air. we also have video from somebody who says he was inside the planted at the -- plant at the d rocked the whole police. police and hazmat crews are searching the plant which produces more than one billion pounds of highly flammable chemicals each year. we have a sergeant with the louisiana state police. getting the whole story? >> i believe we are. we hope we have the situation contained right now. the fire has b

several hundred people were inside the plant in geismar this morning when it happened.ast of baton rouge. a witness describes the initial confusion. this is the sot and script: at first, i did not take it as seriously because i did not know what was going on. however, as we got more information it started to get scary. it was so close to home. >> dozens were injured in the blast and taken to the hospital. the facility as the williams olefins plant. according to the company web site, it produces the propylene. >> today marks six months since the shooting at sandy hook elementary school init was on december 14th of killed 20 children and six adults at the school in newtown. the tragedy will be marked with a moment of silence, reading of names and calls to pass tougher gun control so far, measures to expand background checks for gun purchases have failed in congress. >> new this morning. the british government has issued an alert to airlines around the world, urging them *not to allow former u.s. intelligence contractor edward snowden to board flights to the united kingdom

we go to nick valencia from geismar, louisiana. >> reporter: officials here in this area say this is, next we looked over the whole unit was engulfed in flames. >> reporter: the flame are out, the plant is secure but the cause of the blast remains unclear. >> the chemical we think is involved is a highly volatile chemical but not one that would leave the fence line one would think clearly. so we think we're ak in that regard. >> reporter: the blast killed at least one person and sent dozens more to the hospital with injuries. even those who escaped unharmed left dazed. >> boom! like that. everybody started taking off running, chaos, jumped the fence, jumped the tables, went through the grass, buses running over people. >> reporter: at a nearby baton rouge hospital doctors and nurses treating the injured. >> just the look on people's faces, the patients were just shell shocked. you know you talk to people as you take them out of the helicopter and one man said, we didn't even know what happened, we heard a loud boom and the next one was so loud i felt like my chest was going to cave i

nick valencia in geismar, louisiana, for us. >>> we'll tell you why younger americans are saying they running out of steam? ♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle. >>> checking top stories, colorado's massive wildfires have destroyed 379 homes, damaged nine others as the black forest fire continues to rage. right now the forecast holds little hope for firefighters as high temperatures and winds are expected to return. >>> and inspectors are trying to determine how the deck of a miami sports bar collapsed and sent more than 100 people into the water below. more than 20 people were hurt, some of them seriously. a waitress told cnn affiliate wfor that the deck gave way just as everyone stood to cheer on the hometown miami heat as they played in last night's nba finals. >>> it is day five of juries selection in the trial of george zimmerman. the judge in the case says the men and women of the jury will be isolated during the trial which co

the fire started this morning at a plant in the town of geismar -that's about 20 mi.d dangerous levels of chemicals and air so far but residents are being told to remain indoors with doors and windows closed. we also have an update on the fertilizer plant explosion in the town of west texas. two months after the blast, the federal emergency management agency this morning has denied a state request for additional aid. the mess that after its assessment, the state and local governments are capable of handling the remaining costs related to damage from the explosion. a fema spokesman says a the this agency has provided more than $7 million in direct federal aid to the president obama declared an the area. the explosion killed 14 people and damaged toms and a five block area. >> berkeley's famous chez panisse restaurant is getting ready to reopen later this month. a fire back in march shut down the restaurant. the fire's cause up to $200,000 in damages and a popular eatery has been taking reservations online and over the phone since the end of may. chez panisse is set to

. >>> there's a major fire and explosion this morning at a chemical plant in geismar, louisiana.any. ambulances and crews are at the scene right now. >>> attorneys head into a fourth day of jury selection today of the george zimmerman murder trial. the neighborhood watch member has pleaded not guilty to second degree murder in the shooting of unarmed teenager trayvon martin. he says it was self-defense. so far, all of the potential jurors have said they do have only knowledge of the case. >>> a lawyer for cleveland kidnapping suspect ariel castro is hinting that a trial might be avoided if prosecutors do not seek the death penalty. he is charged with keeping three young women captive for many years. he pleaded not guilty to rape and murder. castro returns to court next week. >>> a ballpark security guard has his helmet to thank for preventing what could have been a painful injury. take a look at this foul ball at the yankee/o's game. it ricochetted off the wall, caught him on the side of the head. he signalled to the crowd that he was fine. thanks to that helmet again. >>> and an