Nicole Frye sobbed as she drove through the smoke-filled streets of her Colorado Springs neighborhood. Breathing heavily from a combination of ash and emotional distress, Frye cries "We gotta get out of here." The Waldo Canyon fire was engulfing hills in the near distance.
During her evacuation, she hit record on her video camera to document the devastating situation. Frye thought she was leaving her house for the last time, and ultimately the wildfire did destroy her home and her grandmother's house.
Today President Obama toured a neighborhood consumed by the wildfires. He praised the continuing efforts of firefighters and local, state and federal agencies who are battling to contain the flames. The President signed a federal disaster order to provide more funding to local and state governments and organizaitons.
So far hundreds of homes have been ruined, more than 16,700 acres of land scorched, and more than 30,000 forced to evacuate. Tragically, the first fatality was discovered inside a home.
Hear from Frye about her escape, and the latest in Colorado at 8 and 10 p.m. ET.
We asked viewers what they wanted to teach Anderson, and the response was overwhelming! From dancing to cooking, fans are eager to teach Anderson their craft.
Here are the top 20 responses. Which one do you think Anderson should learn? Vote!
1. Paint & Decorate
“I love to paint & decorate on a budget. I would like to teach Anderson to create & paint decorative wall art using only painters tape & a can of paint.”
—Scottie
[Scottie, you have no imagination. I already voted 3 times for Swimming! In a Speedo, of course!]
In Conversation: Anti-Cheating Ring Writes 'I'm Married' on Finger
Thursday, June 28, 2012 -- 9:15 AM
Continue the conversation all summer long…
In Conversation: Anti-Cheating Ring Writes 'I'm Married' on Finger -- SF Gate
A new wedding band engraves "I'm Married" on the finger of the wearer when the ring is taken off. Would you consider getting this for your husband or wife?
Hope for Quitters? Scientists Devise a New Nicotine Vaccine -- Healthland
Researchers are getting closer to developing a vaccine that could help protect people from the addictiveness of nicotine. The vaccine, which has so far been only tested in mice, prompts the body to manufacture an antibody that is attracted to nicotine. Would you consider this vaccine to quit?
Casey Anthony's Great Escape Detailed in Lawyer's Book -- Classic Hits and Oldies
Casey Anthony's defense attorney Jose Baez wrote a book detailing what went on in jail before Anthony was acquitted of murdering her two-year-old daughter, Caylee, in "Presumed Guilty, Casey Anthony: The Inside Story." Would you buy this book?
Three Steps to Save Your Marriage (Or Any Relationship) -- Huffington Post
It's hard to sustain love through the day-to-day grind of full-time jobs and the needs of children, pets, or aging parents. At times, tending to your closest relationship can seem like just another duty in a long list of weekly chores. See the three-step plan devised by clinical counselor Harville Hendrix, Ph.D, for saving relationships. What are you doing to ensure a healthy relationship with your mate?
Are wildfires blazing near you? Share photos and videos with iReport, but please stay safe.
(CNN) -- Rebekah and Bryan Largent clung to one another as their worst fears were confirmed: Their home was among the 346 destroyed in a wildfire ravaging the outskirts of Colorado Springs, Colorado.
"We're not sure what we are going to do next," Rebekah Largent told CNN affiliate KKTV late Thursday just minutes after the couple learned their rented home was among those burned to a pile of smoldering ash and rubble.
The Waldo Canyon Fire, raging since last weekend on the western outskirts of Colorado Springs, forced more than 36,000 people to flee their homes as it hop-scotched through subdivisions and threatened the Air Force Academy.
By early Friday, the fire had turned deadly.
At least one person was killed and another person was missing in a charred house, police said.
The fire has scorched more than 16,700 acres and is still threatening 20,000 homes and 160 businesses.
However, calmer winds and lower temperatures helped firefighters make progress Thursday, bringing the blaze to 15% containment.
President Barack Obama plans to visit Colorado Springs on Friday to survey the damage.
He declared Colorado a disaster area, which will allow federal aid for areas affected by the Waldo Canyon Fire as well as the High Park Fire, which has burned more than 87,000 acres in northern Colorado since it began on June 9. The High Park Fire is 85% contained.
A partially burned home smolders among those destroyed in the Waldo Canyon fire
in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Thursday, June 28.
Colorado Springs Mayor Steve Bach said he welcomed the president's visit.
"I really appreciate the president coming here ... if nothing more than just to reassure us that this a focus at a national level, that there are people all over this country who are concerned for our citizens and those who have lost their homes," he said.
"And I do plan to ask for cash."
Among the hardest hit areas was the Mountain Shadows subdivision of Colorado Springs, where authorities late Thursday discovered a charred body inside one of the homes destroyed by the fire.
The body was found during a search for two people who were reported missing in the area, Police Chief Pete Carey said.
Authorities made the discovery after a family had "inquired about the status of their loved ones," said police spokeswoman Barbara Miller.
Miller said it's possible another body is at the destroyed home. Authorities were forced to suspend the search because it was too dark to continue, she said.
Carey declined to release further details or identify the missing, saying the case was under investigation.
The Waldo Canyon fire spreads through a neighborhood in the hills above Colorado Springs on June 26.
Earlier in the day, Carey said fewer than 10 people had been reported missing and authorities were checking with evacuation centers and relatives to try to locate them.
A secondary search of the destroyed homes was scheduled to be carried out Friday, authorities said, to make sure no one else remained inside.
Citing preliminary numbers, Bach said the fire destroyed 346 residences on 34 streets.
Hundreds gathered late Thursday at a meeting for residents of specific streets, many in Mountain Shadows.
"This is going to be a tough evening, but we're going to get through it," Bach said. "This community is going to mount an unprecedented response to this. ... This community is going to surround them with love and encouragement, and we are going to move forward as a city."
The Largents suspected their home was among those destroyed when they saw an aerial photo of their neighborhood.
A piece of paper distributed by authorities during the meeting -- with their addressed listed -- confirmed it.
Gone are the wedding dress, the family photos and their grandmother's china.
Evacuees drive under a shroud of smoke from the Waldo Canyon Fire on Tuesday.
In the smoldering ash are the remains of a rocking chair where the couple took turns over the past year rocking their baby girl, Emma, to sleep.
The Largents should have been celebrating their daughter's first birthday on Tuesday. Instead, they say, they fled their home.
They took only what they could carry: A few toys, a few changes of clothes, the couple said.
"We thought we were coming back in a couple of days," Rebekah Largent said.
Firefighters hoped to make progress on the fire on Friday when high temperatures are forecast to be in the lower 90s with winds of no more than 10 mph -- a far cry from the 65 mph gusts Tuesday that whipped the flames through mountain canyons and past containment lines.
The U.S. Forest Service estimates it could be mid-July before the fire is fully under control.
The Denver office of the FBI, meanwhile, has joined ATF agents and local authorities in investigating reports that an arsonist may be responsible for igniting the fire.
Authorities also announced the arrest of two people accused of burglarizing a home left vacant by the evacuation order.
Residents of Colorado Springs watch as the Waldo Canyon Fire burns a home in the Mountain Shadows neighborhood on Tuesday.
Belinda Yates, 38, and Shane Garrett, 36, were being held on suspicion of second-degree burglary, theft, possession of a controlled substance and other related charges, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said.
New app tracks Colorado wildfires
CNN's Moni Basu, Greg Morrison, Phil Gast and Ashley Hayes contributed to this report.
Trees burn on a ridge above Cedar Heights in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Sunday, June 24.
Greg and Karen Bodine help her father, Duane Schormann, left, load his animals into a trailer
near Colorado Springs as they evacuate the area Sunday.
The High Park Fire, which was 45% contained as of Saturday, has destroyed 191 homes west of Fort Collins.
The Supreme Court upheld health care mandate as a tax. Was Mitt Romney's mandate in Massachusetts similar? CNN's John King talks with Romney surrogate Barbara Comstock.
Tonight [Last Night] on AC360: Gonzalez: Roberts still conservative
In a major victory for President Obama, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the controversial health care law known as Obamacare. The justices voted 5-4 that, among other measures, the individual mandate requiring people to have health insurance is valid as a tax, which is within Congress's power.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who was nominated by President George W. Bush, sided with his liberal colleagues.
CNN Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin had anticipated a different ruling. "I was wrong. I thought that argument went very badly. I was very critical of Donald Verrilli," said Toobin. Solicitor General Verrilli made his argument before the Supreme Court in March. Back then, Toobin called his presentation “a train wreck."
"I thought that the argument on the commerce clause was really the core of this case, and all of the conservative justices, including Chief Justice Roberts, and especially Justice Kennedy, were very skeptical about whether the commerce clause was a justification for this law. They voted against the commerce clause, but this taxing power issue really snuck up on us and it certainly snuck up on me," explained Toobin.
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who served during the Bush administration, told CNN's John King that Roberts' "legacy has yet to be written." He said he still believes Roberts is a conservative justice and "will decide most cases in that fashion."
Watch a preview of the interview and tune in at 8 and 10 p.m. ET to see the entire conversation.
June 29th, 2012
12:12 AM ET
.. John King reports.
Health care ruling energizes voters
Both major campaigns think the Supreme Court's ruling to uphold President Obama's health care law will rally their base.
Tonight [Last night] on AC360: What the health care ruling means for you
(CNN) -- The Supreme Court's decision Thursday to uphold the Affordable Care Act means that the predictions about how it will affect Americans remain in place.
The court did rule that a part of the law involving Medicaid must change. The law calls for an expansion of eligibility for Medicaid, which involves spending by the federal government and the states. The law threatens to remove existing Medicaid funding from states that don't participate in the expansion. The high court said the government must remove that threat.
Several groups that follow the health care law closely said they were concerned about the high court's ruling on the Medicaid portion of the law.
The decision leaves in place the so-called individual mandate -- the requirement on Americans to have or buy health insurance beginning in 2014 or face a penalty -- although many are exempt from that provision.
In 2014, the penalty will be $285 per family or 1% of income, whichever is greater. By 2016, it goes up to $2,085 per family or 2.5% of income.
Health care exchanges, which are designed to offer cheaper health care plans, remain in place as well.
American Cancer Society CEO John Seffrin said his organization was looking at the ruling on Medicaid, and is "concerned that the decision may limit the expansion of quality coverage to some of our nation's most vulnerable citizens."
The group Health Care for America Now, which spent tens of millions of dollars on ads supporting the health care plan, said it was "disappointed" and will work to make sure no states "choose to exclude the lowest-income uninsured adults from their Medicaid programs."
Medicaid Health Plans of America, the trade group representing Medicaid health plans, praised the court "for keeping in place key elements of this historic legislation" and said it remains "committed to a strong partnership with the states and CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) to find a way to cover this population in need."
Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Georgia, a physician who staunchly opposed the health care law, told CNN he believes many who would have received Medicaid will now enter the health care exchanges, which offer subsidized plans. That, he argued, could cost taxpayers billions of dollars across the country.
Because the requirement remains for people to have or buy insurance, the revenue stream designed to help pay for the law remains in place. So insured Americans may be avoiding a spike in premiums that could have resulted if the high court had tossed out the individual mandate but left other requirements on insurers in place.
Young adults
Millions of young adults up to age 26 who have gained health insurance due to the law will be able to keep it. The law requires insurers to cover the children of those they insure up to age 26. About 2.5 million young adults from age 19 to 25 obtained health coverage as a result of the Affordable Care Act, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Two of the nation's largest insurers, United Healthcare and Humana, recently announced they would voluntarily maintain some aspects of health care reform, including coverage of adult dependents up to age 26, even if the law was scrapped.
People with pre-existing conditions
Since the law remains in place, the requirement that insurers cover people with pre-existing medical conditions remains active.
The law also established that children under the age of 19 could no longer have limited benefits or be denied benefits because they had a pre-existing condition.
Starting in 2014, the law makes it illegal for any health insurance plan to use pre-existing conditions to exclude, limit or set unrealistic rates on coverage.
It also established national high-risk pools that people with such conditions could join sooner to get health insurance. As of April, a total of only about 67,000 people were enrolled in federally-funded pools established by the health care law, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
More than 13 million American non-elderly adults have been denied insurance specifically because of their medical conditions, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The Kaiser Family Foundation says 21% of people who apply for health insurance on their own get turned down, are charged a higher price, or offered a plan that excludes coverage for their pre-existing condition.
No matter what the Supreme Court had decided, it would have been a mixed bag for all Americans when it comes to federal spending. There is heated dispute over what impact the health care law will have on the country over the long term.
The federal government is set to spend more than $1 trillion over the next decade to subsidize coverage and expand eligibility for Medicaid.
It is not immediately clear how the high court's ruling on the part of the law dealing with the expansion of Medicaid eligibility could affect spending.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the law could reduce deficits modestly in the first 10 years and then much more significantly in the second decade.
The CBO said a repeal of the mandate could reduce deficits by $282 billion over 10 years, because the government would be subsidizing insurance for fewer people. But the nation faces costs in various ways for having people who are uninsured. The Urban Institute's Health Policy Center estimated that without a mandate, 40 million Americans would remain uninsured.
Meanwhile, the Flexible Spending Accounts that millions of Americans use to save money tax-free for medical expenses will be sliced under the law. FSAs often allow people to put aside up to $5,000 pre-tax; as of 2013, they were to face an annual limit of $2,500.
The rules and benefits small business owners face as a result of the health care law remain in place.
As CNN has chronicled, the law brought a mix of both. The director of the National Federation of Independent Business is one of the plaintiffs who pushed the court to strike down the law. Meanwhile, a group called Small Business Majority fought to protect the law, saying its loss could be a nightmare.
As of 2014, under the law, small firms with more than 50 full-time employees would have to provide coverage or face expensive fines.
All Americans, in lesser known ways
The massive health care law requires doctors to report goodies they get from medical supply companies; demands more breastfeeding rooms; requires all chain restaurants to list calories under every menu item, and includes numerous other provisions, which now remain in place.
Doctors and other health care providers
Health care providers have already begun making changes based on the 2010 law, and in preparation for what will go into effect in 2014. Those plans continue.
In the short term, doctors avoid "chaos" that may have resulted from the law suddenly being dropped or changed, according to Bob Doherty, senior vice president of governmental affairs at the American College of Physicians, who wrote a blog post on the website kevinmd.com this spring.
Former FLDS Teens, Plus, Kody Brown & 'Sister Wives'
Friday, June 29, 2012
Anderson continues the conversation with four teenage former members of FLDS, who offer an introspective view of their formerly sheltered lives inside FLDS. The teens also visit sites in New York City, including H&M, Times Square and Ground Zero… and compare what they were taught versus what they have now observed firsthand.
“Sister Wives” husband Kody Brown, his four wives and some of their children also join Anderson to discuss a lawsuit they recently filed against Utah’s bigamy law, which makes it a felony to marry or cohabitate with more than one person.
Description: Anderson Cooper has some fun considering the benefits of Jim O'Connor's book "Cuss Control". Order at Amazon.com http://tinyurl.com/cuss-control-book
Lawrence Anthony, a legend in South Africa and author of 3 books including the bestseller 'The Elephant Whisperer', bravely rescued wildlife and rehabilitated elephants all over the globe from human atrocities, including the courageous rescue of Baghdad Zoo animals during US invasion in 2003. On March 7, 2012 Lawrence Anthony died. He is remembered and missed by his wife, two sons, two grandsons and numerous elephants. Two days after his passing, the wild elephants showed up at his home led by two large matriarchs.
Separate wild herds arrived in droves to say goodbye to their beloved man-friend. A total of 20 elephants had patiently walked over 12 miles to get to his South African house.
Witnessing this spectacle, humans were obviously in awe not only because of the supreme intelligence and precise timing that these elephants sensed about Lawrence's passing, but also because of the profound memory and emotion the beloved animals evoked in such an organized way: Walking slowly - for days - making their way in a solemn one-by-one queue from their habitat to his house.
Lawrence's wife, Francoise, was especially touched, knowing that the elephants had not been to his house prior to that day for well over a year! But yet they knew where they were going.
The elephants obviously wanted to pay their deep respects, honoring their friend who'd saved their lives. They stayed for two days and two nights. Then one morning, they left, making their long journey back home.
Elephants on their way to Lawrence Anthony house.
I'm sure these elephants will never forget the guy with the white hair
and the guy one of them hugged almost to death.
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A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival," a "New York Times" best seller, is his account of the people he's met, the things he's seen and the lessons he's learned in the midst of devastation.
Dispatches from the Edge
Woven into the narrative is Anderson's struggle to understand his own family's personal tragedies. The paperback version came out May 8, 2007.
Excerpt: Dispatches from the Edge
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Peter's Books
(3 short stories and 1 short play.)
The first installment of "The Gay Ghost Trilogy" is the story of Charles Lanier, a young gay guy who rents an apartment on Lake Shore Drive on the near north side of Chicago, and the unexpected adventures he encounters from the day he moves in. And that's only the beginning; follow up with "The Next Gay Ghost" and "The Two Gay Ghosts." Each story can be read independently from the other two installments. Or get all three books in one with "The Gay Ghost Trilogy."
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Anderson continues the conversation with four teenage former members of FLDS, who offer an introspective view of their formerly sheltered lives inside FLDS. The teens also visit sites in New York City, including H&M, Times Square and Ground Zero… and compare what they were taught versus what they have now observed firsthand.
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