but at south medford high school in southern oregon, there isn't just one valedictorian. there are 21. part of a trend that's been spreading nationwide. 34 in one alabama high school. nine in a small ohio school with only 84 seniors. the principal says his 21 medford south stars all deserve the distinction. >> our system is if everybody is a 4.0, everybody is a valedictorian. >> reporter: it is controversial though. one expert in college admissions saying those big numbers dilute the valedictorian brand, raise questions, if not suspicions. >> it does make us wonder at a certain point is there a lot of rigor to the way that school gives out aids? >> reporter: medford's distinguished 21 are being attacked saying all they've done is all they've been asked to numerical perfection. like brea who inhaled college prep courses. >> we all have the value of our own personal education and we know the challenges that we've taken on. >> luis with no english when he arrived here. >> to make this a accomplishment of being a 4.0 student now is a great accomplishment for myself and my fam

medford of howard university. [applause] >> thank you and good morning.nk you so much all of you for being here on this important occasion. today, we honor a man whose life taxable fights a deep commitment to human and civil rights both at home and abroad. that he lived at a time when many americans accepted without hesitation one person's ownership of another. when inequality was for white men only makes his legacy all the more extraordinary. despite having been born into slavery, he spent most of his 77 years rejecting any limitations on his own ambitions. as system that all people enjoy dignity and fair treatment. his motto, "where there is no struggle, there is no progress," signaled his commitment to fight for fellow african-americans and slavery and freedom. women who have been done my -- who have been denied equal standing in society. and the many others who faced oppression. douglass began his own personal struggle on maryland's eastern shore and continued in baltimore where he was able to expand his narrowly defined world through literacy. a priv

be slightly cooler in the northwest, significantly cooler. 71 degrees in seattle. 82, though, in medford. las vegas extended outlook, record high temperature of all-time is 117 degrees. by friday, rather, we should hit about 115, very, very close to that all-time record and prescott, 93 with blazing sun shine. >>> the heat is on in the southwest, eventually it will start to warm up in the northwest once we lose some of the rain showers, which doesn't seem to happen any time soon. >> thank you, dylan. >>> next we'll take you live to south africa for the latest on nelson mandela's condition. >>> plus, an airport heist of $1.2 million in $100 bills. that's next. >>> welcome back, everyone. nelson mandela remains in critical condition in a south african hospital. joining us now from pretoria. good morning, what do you know? >> reporter: good morning. we are waiting for tribal elders from nelson mandela's ancestral village to get to the hospital. yesterday, family members went there to the village to have a discussion, and we also hear the south african government is holding its cabinet and t

>> it was in medford oregon. oh, it was in medford. it was his retirement community. oh, okay. it's a beautiful area. >> were you able to get anything from the german side of it like archives after the war from the german army and how they were fueling this? >> that's a great question. i was really hoping i would find this incredible you know story of one officer going after the group and to really flush that out. i did hire a researcher in germany. i don't speak german, to go through the archives there and he spent many days doing it. we found a few things. the germans did find the burned plane which is interesting. they were not able to use anything from it. it was exactly what the americans hoped would happen if they found it. we also know from the archives that in berat the land where they all fled when there was a german attack there was a german soldier who was a prisoner of the partisan and berat and he actually reported back to his officer when he escaped from the partisans that he had seen americans in berat and saw them fleeing the attack. that was interesting to me,

>> in is from medford, oregon. >> you guys tried to jump me. you want me to call the ambulance? >> the guy behind the camera is brandon shawnego, and the guys try tried to rob him when he was on the way to church on father's day. this is what is left with these two guys. he hit them with one punch each. you can see that brandon is missing a shoe, and these guys approached brandon and asked for a cigarette, and brandon said he did not wahave one, d then the poic said at b efending himself, he stopped fighting, and in all, he didn't press charges against the guys, and they have been identified as 22-year-old cameron manning and 20-year-old joseph meozaki, and they were recently released from jail. we have brandon joining us to tell us how he defended himself. >> i told them that i just wanted to go the church. they came up on me, and i asked them if they were going to try to fight me two-on-one, and they said, we are going to beat you up and rob you, and i said take your best shot. >> you messed with the wrong [ bleep ] -- >> have you had any martial arts training? >> i figured if

it was hot all the way through boise and medford and much of interior sections of nevada and sbeer washington and oregon state. how do we look this morning? we've cooled off a little bit. a weak low went through. there's a warm front trying to push onshore with showers in northern washington state. besides that, more of the same. we're talking about 112 today in phoenix. 110 in vegas. notice how much cooler you are spots. doesn't take long this time of year. we have so much -- the sunrises so early. by 10:00 it's hot. >> it's already boiling and sizzling there. tale of two coasts. >> just ahead, what would it take for you to trade in your old apple iphone for an upgrade? a deal in the making. >>> and a tight one in south beach goes down to the wire. details just ahead. >>> in the news this morning, new jersey will have a republican senator for the first time in over three decades. governor chris christie picked state attorney general jeff chiesa to hold the vacant seat until a special election later this year. chiesa accepted the nomination saying quote, i'm in. >>> britain's prince phillip w

even medford, oregon, getting in on the heat. highs tomorrow should top out around 96 degrees. so even seattle's going to get into the mid 80s tomorrow. >> they're loving those 80-degree temps. >>> wedding dresses. liz taylor's first wedding gown went for auction wednesday, fetched $187,000. if you missed on the bidding, don't worry, she was married seven more times. that's a lot of money to be talked about. michael jackson's son prince telling -- taking the stand wednesday in the family's wrongful death lawsuit against aeg live. prince said he would see his father cry after phone conversations with aeg, sometimes saying "they're going to kill me." >>> long-time engaged actors christian bell and zach shepherd were holding off on their wedding until the straight couple felt there was marriage equality for all. after wednesday's decision bell tweeted, will you marry me? >>> justin bieber's quarantined monkey will have a home spending the rest of hit days at a zoo in northern germany. >>> "forbes" releaeasing its li of the most powerful celebrities. oprah winfrey reclaiming her cr

even warm in medford. 94. it was 84 in portland. you can hear the crickets in the weather world on the west coast besides clouds and a little moisture in the northwest. not much. as far as tropical trouble goes, there is a storm possibly forming in the gulf of mexico. that would be the first "a" named storm in the atlantic basin. that will drench the east coast. florida looks wet. of course, we've been talking about oklahoma and oklahoma city with all the storms. they got hit by more thunderstorms last night. this time just your more typical ones with downpours and lightning. not too many tornadoes. maybe just a few in lubbock. those are some of the highlights today. on the west coast, what you saw yesterday is what you'll get once again today. pretty nice day. that's your nationa with some oe low clouds near coastal areas, keeping you cooler than you'd like in monterey and san diego. >>> the west this time of year, it's weird because it's the wet season, we're used to talking about a lot of activity. now it's just -- >> hey, no com

beautiful in medford today. as mentioned, once we get to this time of year, we kind of get locked into these warm weather patterns in the desert southwest and pretty much across the board is going to be the same there in vegas. temperatures easily 100 to 105. i want to show you these new pictures we've just gotten in from oklahoma. this is friday night. this was a storm chaser that was way too close. the tornado went right over the top of them, flipped this semi right in front of him almost right on top of his hood. thankfully everyone was okay. that's what it's like to be caught there on i-40 when the tornado went right over top of him. >> the semi came right over him and tilted over. >> that simple. lucky to get picked up. >> you are absolutely right about that. >>> in entertainment, universal "fast and furious 6" held onto the first place spot at the box office this weekend with 34.5 million in ticket sales. "now you can see me" settled into second place with 28 million and "after earth" took a close but disa

. >> this is from medford, oregon. >> you guys try to jump me? you want me to call an ambulance? >> the guy behind the camera is brandon. the two guys you see down on the ground tried to rob and jump brandon as he was on his way to church on father's day. this is what was left of these two guys. >> what's up? >> brandon apparently hit these guys with one punch each. you see how bloody the one guy is. you can see brandon's missing a shoe. obviously a struggle. these guys approached brandon. asked for a cigarette. brandon said he didn't have one. these guys got aggressive. >> that guy is messed up. he can barely even stand. >> plea this department says that brandon's actions were justified because he was defending himself. he stopped fighting when these guys stopped. after all this, he didn't even press charges against these guys. they got a misdemeanor disorderly conduct. they are no strangers to the law. 22-year-old cameron manning and 43-year-old joseph miyazaki. recently just released from jail. one way to take care of business. we got brandon joining us right this minute to ta

we're talking 92 in medford. even a little warmer now, northern california and southern portions of oregon. that's a look at your n 87. you're getting warmer but still not bad. >>> and unfortunately, richard, the dry season's arrived. we didn't have a lot of moisture over the winter. i think we'll have a lot more fires to talk about in the days ahead. >> i hope not. and after that we have to worry about flooding. that's how the cycle works. >>> new numbers on crime in those infamous southern california car chases. >>> a major recall involving ford and lincoln to tell you about. you're watching "early today." >>> stories in the news this morning for you. new jersey governor chris christie is facing tough choices on replacing late senator frank lautenberg. the republican could appoint an interim replacement or call a special election to fill that seat. funeral services for the 89-year-old will be held tomorrow. >>> opening statements took place monday in one of the biggest cases of government leaks in u.s. history.

the officer drove anymore to medford and dropped him off at hotel to wait for family. >> i wrote down all the information for him because in his situation, he may not remember everything. >> the officer says the men was mentally sharp despite his confusion. family drove to oregon to pick him up today. >> in alameda county two bodies were found in a home. they why discovered after reported not having seen them in several days. deaths are not considered suspicious at this time. >>> napa police say a transient on probation murdered a man in this house, stole his car and then tried to get away in it. 24-year-old was stopped by chp friday afternoon for driving without license plates. a check of the owner of the car lived in napa. police entered the home and found the body. he is facing charges of suspicion of murder and burglary. >> a group fighting to keep a san francisco bookstore being forced to move say it's for po are to black history. the market bookstore has led the african-american community through decades of what they call urban renewal. this bookstore is just the latest african-

the officer drove anymore to medford and dropped him off at hotel to wait for family. >> i wrote down all the information for him because in his situation he may not remember everything. >> the officer says the men was mentally sharp despite his confusion. family drove to oregon to pick him up today. >> in alameda county two bodies were found in a home. they why discovered after reported not having seen them in several days. deaths are not considered suspicious at this time. >>> napa police say a transient on probation murdered a man in this house stole his car and then tried to get away in it. 24-year-old was stopped by chp friday afternoon for driving without license plates. a check of the owner of the car lived in napa. police entered the home and found the body. he is facing charges of suspicion of murder and burglary. >> a group fighting to keep a san francisco bookstore being forced to move say it's for po are to black history. the market bookstore has led the african-american community through decades of what they call urban renewal. this bookstore is just the latest african-am

not one but 21 valedictorians will graduate at the top of their class at south medford high school inregon. the grading system allows all seniors who earned a 4.0 gpa to claim that title. >> other schools are doing the same as well at enterprise high school there are 34 valedictorians there. smart kids. we want to know should there be more than one valedictorian? send those xhoefrnts to us. you can tweet them to us at foxfriendsfirst or shoot us an e-mail to foxfriendsfirst@foxnews.com. next on the rundown, do you get headaches when you don't have the morning cup of coffee? is there something really wrong with you or is it all in your head. dr. seigel explains next. >> congress wants to bend the law to keep more flights at washington, d.c.'s airport. it may not be what the taxpayers want. >> welcome back. it's 21 minutes after the top of the hour. don't mess with our convenient flight tone from reagan national airport. they are urging regulators to keep all of their airports blocked if the american airlines and u.s. airways planned merger is done. >> it is a spelling bee controversy.

medford and nettie, congratulations to you and your family.pproached in 1863, frederick douglass gathered with fellow abolitionists in tremont temple in boston with great anticipation as they waited the official news of emancipation. knowing that freedom of people and the character of a nation hung in the balance. describing the spirit in that room, frederick douglass would later write, "we were awaiting for a bolt from the sky. watching by the light of the stars for the dawn of the new day. we will long for the answer to the prayers or centuries." since escaping slavery, he had agitated to usher the dawn of a new day. as the clock struck midnight, an agonizing prayer was answered. resident lincoln -- president lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation. it would take until june 19 to reach texas. this year on new year's eve, a group of members went to the national archives to reach and that 150th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation and to recognize all who helped make a reality. totainly, more than central that cause was frederick

as we continue our special broadcast today with the acclaimed chilean economist, medford [indiscerniblee award two after the public -- publication of his book, outside looking in , experiences in barefoot economics. i had a chance to sit down with him. heis a remarkable figure as talks about looking at economics in a very different way. i had not even heard of him before. the whole team was there. he was sitting in the corner in germany. it was snowing outside, but he found a place where there were rays of sun coming in. he said no one could interview, he was reading. then he said for sure he would not do this. and then we pleaded. finally, just to cast off these pests he agreed to a few minutes. he stood up and was a mountain of a man. he came down into our makeshift studio and we sat down. we thought we might have a few minutes and he would share a sound bite. no, once he got

seattle may be dry but showers from portland to medford today.nks, sam. >>> coming up -- miley cyrus fires back, the superstar responds after amanda bynes takes aim at her online. want to give your family more vitamins, omega 3s, and less saturated fat? it's eb. eggland's best eggs. better taste. better nutrition. better eggs. it's eb. ♪ ula ula ula ula al revés, ♪ hago que lo imposible sea posible, ♪ ♪ que todo lo increíble se vuelva visible, ♪ ♪ tres, dos, hola, ula... ♪ aplaudan en la luna. ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, ♪ ula ula ula ula al revés, ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, ♪ ula ula ula ula al revés, ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, ♪ ula ula, hagamos ula ula, don't blame him. instead, rely on frontline plus. it kills adult fleas and ticks, plus flea eggs and larvae, destroying future generations. ask your vet about frontline plus. >>> we're back now at 7:42. the twitter battle between amanda bynes and miley cyrus, miley mostly stayed mum but something is churning. paula is here with more. >> when we talk about amanda by

let's look at a statement from the medford police, i want you to react to it. in this story. he has a question for you, too. >> nothing that the suspect was doing that was aggressive enough to justify the shooting. >> what do you say to that, mr. thompson? >> i think that's false because everything that the suspect did was aggressive. he tried to bang on my door, smashed up my patio furniture. he threatened me several times. if that's not aggressive, then i don't know what aggressive is nen. >> looks like, corey, you were well within your rights to defend yourself and you property. i think you need to call joe biden to your defense because he was the one who securitiesuggess own wife she step onto the balcony and fire a couple of shots to scare off somebody. if that's the advice the vice president of the united states has given, i hope you will call him as a material witness. >> i can only hope for a defense attorney that will represent me like that. >> you were a specialist in the army. you know how to hire firearms, mr. thompson, right? >> yes, i do, sir. >>

cooler there but as we check out northwest and into the southwest, look at these, spokane 81, 92 in medford of the country we have risk of strong storms from arizona into much of arkansas, rain ming its way into the ohio and mississippi river valleys, beautiful weather out west, though, sunshine in seattle and 78 degrees. that's what's going on in the country. th >> good morning. it will be a beautiful day today. a mixture of sun and clouds. high temperatures into the low 80's >> and that's your latest weather. savannah? >> al, thank you. >>> we have a rossen report's crime alert, a new wave of auto thefts that police frankly can't figure out. jeff rossen is here with more. jeff, good morning to you. >> hey, savannah, good morning. this is a real mystery. look, when you lock your car and set the alarm on it, you think your car is pretty safe but as we're about to see, criminals have designed a new high-tech gadget giving them full access to your car. police are so baffled they actually want you to watch this video to see if you can help crack the case. long beach, california. watch as this

and gary from medford, minnesota, writes, "our dog is a classic black and white female border collie. we had time for treating her properly. she is living proof of the breed's intelligence." chorus: ♪ dog tales mail alex: you can contact us at mail@dogtalestv.com. and that's all for today. thanks for watching. here's what's coming up. [barks] >> on the next "dog tales," learn about american pit bulls. plus, you'll meet an outstanding team who decided to improve the lives of rescued siberian huskies. and everybody in the pool--dogs learning the benefits of swimming. these stories and all the latest news from the dog world next time on "dog tales!" [barking] >> ♪ dog tales [barking] [ female announcer ] itches are no fun. try new allegra anti-itch cream. maximum strength medicine for fast relief that lasts. new allegra anti-itch cream. the relief you've been itching for. cracked. it's embarrassing. [ male announcer ] relief starts now. gold bond foot cream moisturizes and soothes, for soft, sandal-ready feet. gold bond foot cream. man: ♪ who is a dog's best friend? ♪ children: ♪ kids ar

that's how many valedictorians will graduate at the top of their class at south medford high school inors with a 4.0 gpa to claim the title, so all 21 will. all right. brian, out to you. >> brian: welcome back to the beautiful veranda. you call this home. >> yes. >> brian: this is your area. now it's time to bring in kerri walsh generalling, a new mom again. congratulations. >> thank you. born the day before her birthday, april 6, a month old. >> you will be returning back to the olympics coming up in 016? >> absolutely. there is a lot of improving to do ask winning to do between now and then, but real gold is what i want. i want to show my daughter and my boys how to do it. >> you will have a new partner? >> i will have a new partner. i'm so excited. it won't be with misty may-treanor, but i'll figure it out. >> brian: misty has been on before and is fantastic. i know you're here not only to meet maria in person and say hello to me, but also she does have a height advantage. you're pro temperpedic beds? >> yes. may is better sleep month. i want to be the best me i can be. if i don't s

spokane, 81. 92 in medford, oregon. phoenix, arizona, 105 degrees.ms from arizona to ark. rain making its way into the ohio and mississippi river valleys. beautiful weather out west. sunshine in seattle and 78 degrees. here's what's going on around the country. here's what's happening in your neck of the woods. >> good morning. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein. there is a view of our sky over washington now. sunshine, low humidity, chilly temperatures, still only in the 50s, low 60s. later today, though, should make it up to 80 by mid afternoon, few clouds coming and going. then tomorrow, increasing humidity highs in the 70s. lot of cloudiness. maybe showers on thursday night. off and on showers likely on friday. maybe afternoon thundershowers. highs around 80. perhaps lingering showers friday might lou midday saturday. might get afternoon thundershowers on sunday and monday. >> and that's your latest weather. savannah? >> al, thank you. >>> we have a rossen report's crime alert, a new wave of auto thefts that police frankly can't figure ou

cooler there but as we check out northwest and into the southwest, look at these, spokane 81, 92 in medford of the country we have risk of strong storms from arizona into much of arkansas, rain making its way into the ohio and mississippi river valleys, beautiful weather out west, though, sunshine in seattle and 78 degrees. that's what's going on in the co >>> we,e too, will see a beautiful day. low clouds hanging out over the golden gate bridge. still dealing with flight delays. low cloud cover will keep temperatures in the low 70s around the bay today. 72 degrees for fremont. 71 in oakland and 81 in livermore. meanwhile, 62 on the way to san francisco. it's going to be a chilly day at the immediate coast. and then we heat you up, especially friday into saturday. >> and that's your latest weather. savannah? >> al, thank you. >>> we have a rossen report's crime alert, a new wave of auto thefts that police frankly can't figure out. jeff rossen is here with more. jeff, good morning to you. >> hey, savannah, good morning. this is a real mystery. look, when you lock your car and set the alarm

south medford high school in oregon has 21 -- count them, 21 valedictori valedictorians. when they're applying to colleges i think the fact there are more and more schools to be allowing valedictorians i think admissions officers have said, well, in looking at the title a little differently now. >> sure. >> back when we went to school, there was one valedictorian, that's it. >> you and i didn't have to worry about it. >> i was close. but i had moved to different schools. but it is interesting. 4.0 mean you're the valedictorian altogether? a lot of people had 4.0 when i went to school, but only one valedictorian. >> if you're stacking them up for the college applications -- >> i guess in the case of oregon, there's somebody who's first in class who will give the graduation speech. that's i guess where -- you know, you get all the glory of being the valedictorian. >> takes nothing away from the kids who had incredible academic careers. >> thrat's what the school saying. >>> finally, our take three. a 41-year-old mother has beaten the odds of 500,000 to 1 by giving birth to