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Hot dog eating champs all set for July Fourth contest – Alison Kosik previews the annual Nathan's contest
New York (CNN) - The two reigning champs of a hot dog eating contest joined their challengers for a weigh-in as they hope to devour their way into the record books Wednesday in New York City.
Joey "Jaws" Chestnut and Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, the male and female champions respectively, will defend their titles at the annual event in Brooklyn.
Chestnut and Thomas attended the weigh-in Tuesday, a day before the competition. Chestnut weighed in at 210 pounds while his female counterpart was 100 pounds.
And both competitors are ready to eat their way into first place, again.
This morning on "Early Start," Alison Kosik previews what to expect at this year's hot dog eating contest.
Food, water in short supply in W.Va. as utility crews race to restore power – Brian Todd reports
(CNN) –– Though it is Independence Day, a national holiday, utility workers will continue working feverishly to help the more than a million people stuck in an unrelenting heatwave without power.
Excessive heat warnings were in place Wednesday for portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri Illinois and Kentucky with the National Weather Service saying that those areas would be scorched with temperatures near or above triple digits. Heat advisory warnings were in place for a handful of states, including parts of South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and West Virginia.
As of early Wednesday morning, about 1.1 million customers scattered across 11 states. And as crews tried to restore power many were left overheated and frustrated. In the West Virginia city of Parkersburg on Tuesday some residents said they were without power for four days.
This morning on "Early Start," Brian Todd describes the dire situation in West Virginia, where the states is now facing a food and water crisis.
Missiles to be mounted on London rooftops in advance of Olympic Games – Nic Robertson explains
When the Summer Olympics get underway in London later this month, Britain's Defense Department confirms there will be missile launchers positioned at six locations around the city to protect the games from terrorists.
Two of those surface-to-air missile sites will be located on top of apartment buildings, despite protests from residents.
Nic Robertson explains this plan this morning on "Early Start," and if there are any credible threats against the games .
Gymnast Kerri Strug reflects on her successes, talks Olympic gymnastics
Two-time gold medalist Kerri Strug tells CNN who she thinks has the best chance to win gymnastics gold in London.
Official: Maryland utility companies racing to restore power
Maryland Emergency Management's Ken Mallette on the latest in efforts to restore power to thousands in the state.
Military grounds C-130 firefighting planes after fatal South Dakota crash – Jim Spellman reports
(CNN) - The U.S. Air Force is grounding all firefighting-equipped C-130 planes after the fatal crash of one in southwestern South Dakota, the military said Monday.
Air Force spokesman Todd Spitler announced that C-130s with the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System, or MAFFS, won't fly until further notice. The South Dakota crash follows another crash of a non-military firefighing air tanker, along the Nevada-Utah border, several weeks earlier.
On "Early Start" this morning, CNN's Jim Spellman explains why the military decided to ground the plane, and how Colorado wildfire officials may have to change their strategy to account for the loss of the planes.
What's trending for July 3rd, 2012
Giant killer croc sets record, man trashes T-Mobile store and buy a castle for $30 million in Versailles...Kentucky.
New CNN poll shows health care SCOTUS ruling has not impacted presidential race – Paul Steinhauser explains
Washington (CNN) – Thursday's landmark Supreme Court decision upholding the country's health care law appears to have had exactly zero impact on the presidential election so far, and has produced virtually no change in opinions on President Barack Obama or Republican challenger Mitt Romney, according to a new national poll.
And while the CNN/ORC International survey released Monday indicates the president with a very slight three point edge over Romney among registered voters nationwide, the presumptive GOP nominee appears to hold an eight point advantage among voters who live in the 15 states considered in play in the race for the White House.
But according to the poll, which was conducted in the four days following the high court's health care ruling, there's been a surge in enthusiasm by Democrats nationwide, and registered voters say that Obama would handle health care better than Romney.
Today on "Early Start," CNN's Paul Steinhauser explains what this poll means for the presidential race.
MYB: GSK paying historic $3 billion fraud settlement
Alison Kosik on GlaxoSmithKline's $3 billion fraud settlement, the biggest health care fraud settlement in US history.
Historic, unrelenting heat wave continues as millions lack power – Sandra Endo on why restoration is taking so long
(CNN) - Blistering temperatures will continue in many states Tuesday, as hundreds of thousands were still sweating and stuck without power from deadly heat-driven storms.
Extreme heat warnings were issued for parts of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan Tuesday with the National Weather Service saying that those areas would be scorched with near and above triple-digit temperatures for days.
Heat advisory warnings were also in place Tuesday for different parts of Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio, as well as parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa.
Cities and towns in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast have already endured temperatures in the high 90s and above 100 degrees since, in some cases, the middle of last week. It's all part of a system tied to the breaking or tying of more than 2,238 hot weather records nationwide between June 25 and July 1, according to the National Climatic Data Center.
All this comes as about 1.8 million people scattered from the District of Columbia through 11 states, from Indiana to Delaware, had no electricity Monday night.
This morning on "Early Start," Sandra Endo has the latest on the race to restore power for millions of Americans.
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