States Baking in Heat Wave
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good luck.</s>BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: You might need it. Good morning, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. Straight ahead this hour, weekend scorcher. Is there any relief from the record heat? Triple digit details, that's coming up. Also...</s>HOLMES: Eleven cities, seven continents, dozens of bands, thousands of fans. But can a giant rock concert really save the world?</s>NGUYEN: Plus thousands of couples, as we mentioned, getting lucky. Oh, yes, they're tying the knot. It is 7/7/07.</s>HOLMES: But we are going to start this hour with the west. Out west bracing for another summer sizzling day. Seven states baking in a heat wave. Temperatures expected to ease a bit today but don't know if it's enough for you to even to notice. One Montana cattle rancher says if there's no relief soon, the hay will turn to dust.</s>NGUYEN: Well, that heat wave claimed at least two young lives. Listen to this, a 15-month-old Idaho boy died after being locked for hours in a parked car with its window up. The child's step- grandmother told police she just forgot about him and after going inside a friend's house and falling asleep. The boy's father says he is in disbelief.</s>PATRICK GRABER, FATHER: He was just so cute and so full of life. I don't know how you could possibly forget him. There's just -- he was a kid you never forgot.</s>NGUYEN: I want to tell you about a similar situation in Storm Lake, Iowa. Police there say a 2-year-old boy died after being left in a hot car for hours by his 18-year-old uncle. Charges have been filed in both of those cases.</s>HOLMES: We go from the heat to the floods now. Hard hit Marble Falls, Texas hoping to dry out as rain tapers off across the state. However, forecasters warn that rivers could keep rising in some places. This comes as search teams find the bodies of two people, a 6-year-old boy swept away by a raging river and a man whose vehicle was pulled out of a creek in Ft. Hood. Rivers also receding across Oklahoma revealing flood damage to thousands of homes and businesses. Damage there estimated in the millions of dollars.</s>NGUYEN: Well, let's get the latest on this weather outside. It's supposed to be a lucky day, Reynolds, you know, 7/7/07. How is it turning out for folks who really need a break from the heat?</s>REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not much of a break in the desert Southwest. I mean let's first of all be honest with ourselves. I mean normally it is warm in the desert Southwest. Hot is a better way to describe it. It's going to be a little bit above normal in Las Vegas. Not a record-setting day but still very warm in temperatures beyond the century mark from Saturday through next Wednesday. So certainly you want to be careful. You don't want to go outside and exert yourself between the peak heating hours today between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00. Phoenix, same story, also very warm all the way through Wednesday. So keep that in mind. But the problem is this hot weather is not just going to just stay in place. It's going to roll off towards the east. In fact, we're going to see warmer conditions in parts of the central and northern plains, Kansas City, Minneapolis, even Dallas getting in on the action with temperatures mainly in the 90s. But when you pile on the humidity, it's going to feel like it's into the century mark. I got a live tower cam for you. This out of Tulsa, Oklahoma where -- or rather Tucson. Tucson easy for me to say. No rain in the picture there at all today but certainly there's temperatures that will be into the 100s. As we go back to the weather computer, take a look at this. You know how I mentioned that the warm weather was going to spread eastward? Check out Washington, D.C. Not necessarily today or tomorrow but by Monday and Tuesday we're going to see that mercury really rise up near the century point for the beginning half of the work week. So it's certainly something you want to be advised of. Now, not all the weather news is bad. We are getting a little bit of break in North Texas and in parts of the central plains, which is great in terms of the rainfall. Still heavy rain possible in parts of South Texas, but for the Gulf Coast moving into Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, today we could get quite a bit of rainfall, anywhere from one to three inches of rain. That's wonderful news for this part of the country and the southeast because we've been desperate for rain. It could not come at a better time. It looks like it's going to be just some showers. Not expecting any severe thunderstorms but certainly some beneficial rainfall. So at least there's a good side to our forecast today. I guess this is where the 7/7/07 comes into play.</s>NGUYEN: See!</s>WOLF: Back to you guys.</s>NGUYEN: It's already working.</s>HOLMES: You got to be positive.</s>NGUYEN: Thank you, Reynolds.</s>HOLMES: All right, thanks, Reynolds.</s>NGUYEN: Well, the first charge has been filed in connection with last weekend's failed terror plots in London and Glasgow. A 27-year- old doctor appeared in a London courtroom. And CNN's Karl Penhaul joins us now live. What's the latest on today's legal proceedings, Karl?</s>KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, the man was named as Bilal Abdulla, a 27-year-old Iraqi doctor. The charges against him: conspiring to cause explosions likely to endanger life. That of course in connection with the botched bomb plots both here in London and also in Glasgow a week ago. Now, the court heard that the bombs were made up of gasoline, of propane and nails. Of course, the two bombs in London failed to go off. From what we saw from those very dramatic pictures in Glasgow was that a Jeep Cherokee rammed into a Glasgow airport terminal and that caused a huge fire. Police allege that Bilal Abdulla, the man in court today, was one of two men who rammed that Jeep into the airport terminal. But as for Mr. Abdulla himself, he was only called on to speak to confirm his name and age. What the court ordered was that he should be kept in custody for a further 20 days. And then he'll be brought before another court and the proceedings will continue at that stage, Betty.</s>NGUYEN: Karl, let me ask you this. Today is the two-year anniversary of another terror attack in London. How is that event being observed?</s>PENHAUL: There was a ceremony at Kings Cross Train Station, an underground subway station, early this morning. That was attended by some of the relatives of the victims and also by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. It was a very simple, low-key commemoration, that in line with the wishes of the relatives of the victims. Gordon Brown himself laid a wreath, which we understand just carried a simple message, "with deepest respect and sympathy" -- Betty.</s>NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Karl Penhaul joining us live from London today. Karl, we thank you.</s>HOLMES: And when British police announced that last weekend's attacks were linked to the medical community, many people were shocked. There are many foreign born doctors working in Britain. And as CNN's Jill Dougherty reports, there's a large number of foreign born doctors working in the United States as well.</s>JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to the FBI, two suspects in the British car bombings looked into the possibility of working as doctors in the United States, contacting the Philadelphia-based Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. Apparently, however, they did not take the test for med school graduates and never came to the U.S. Muslim physicians in the United States, meanwhile, are condemning the U.K. attacks.</s>DR. ASMA MOBIN-UDDIN, COUNCIL OF AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS: I actually was shocked to hear about the plot. I was angry. I really felt a sick feeling inside that physicians, people from my own profession, could be guilty -- suspected of being guilty of such heinous acts. I really couldn't believe it.</s>DOUGHERTY: The number of foreign-born doctors in the U.S. is growing because the country needs them. (on camera): The United States has a shortage of medical personnel. And about a quarter of all physicians working in the United States are international medical graduates, according to the American Medical Association. (voice-over): In order to work in the U.S., foreign medical professionals must have an H-1B visa, which is meant for highly skilled professionals. The Department of Homeland Security says doctors get the same kind of screening that a computer specialist or a lawyer would, including fingerprinting and a face-to-face interview at the U.S. embassy in their home country. Their names are run through what's called the Interagency Border Inspection System, cross checking a number of law enforcement and security databases. If they get a visa, they're checked by Customs and Border Protection and fingerprinted again as they enter the U.S. Homeland security says it is not planning any changes to H-1B visa regulations at this time. Dr. Khalique Zahir of the Islamic Medical Association of North America agrees the checks are thorough.</s>DR. KHALIQUE ZAHIR, ISLAMIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA: It's very difficult already for many foreign doctors to immigrate to this country and to get the training that they need. It's become significantly different since 9/11. Other than the basic backgrounds that they do, I don't know what more needs to be done.</s>DOUGHERTY: Dr. Zahir says the U.K. attack should not reflect on Muslim physicians in the U.S. Terrorism is contrary to Islam, he says, and contrary to Islamic medical ethics. Jill Dougherty, CNN, Washington.</s>NGUYEN: Six U.S. troops have died in Iraq. Five soldiers killed in the Baghdad area yesterday by roadside bombs. The sixth death was non-combat related. Also in Baghdad, an attack at an Iraqi Army checkpoint. That killed five soldiers and one other person. Elsewhere in Iraq, two British soldiers have died in Basra. And 11 deaths reported in fighting between the Shiite militia and security forces in two southern Iraqi cities.</s>NGUYEN: Well, it is taking place, 11 different locations on seven continents.</s>HOLMES: Yes, Live Earth concerts all for Mother Earth.</s>NGUYEN: Our Josh Levs has a reality check on all of this.</s>JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, guys, and hey, everybody. Do you all remember this?</s>LEVS: Oh, yes, back in the days when music stars actually saved the world, right? Anyway, with Live Earth taking off, we're looking back at Live Aid and we're asking this question: Can these kinds of musical events actually make a long-term difference? That's coming up in the "CNN Reality Check" --</s>T.J. HOLMES: All right, Josh. Let me tell you, folks, I just got back literally last night from the Essence Festival in New Orleans. Later in the NEWSROOM, I'll show you what role politics is playing in this year's event.