leaving much of the northwestern region with unhealthy smoky air. according to fire officials, firefighters are having a hard time breathing when fighting the blazes. 200 u.s. army soldiers are already helping fight fires in washington state. crews from canada also coming in to help battle some of the greatest wildfires in that state s history. possible signs of progress along the colombia/venezuela border after the foreign ministers of both countries promised increased conversations. but hundreds continue crossing the border carrying all their belongings literally on their backs. look at this. thousands of others have already left after the closing of a major border crossing and a crackdown on smuggling forced migrants from their homes. diplomats haven t announced a solution yet but did say the two countries will form a joint plan for border security in the next couple of days. and meanwhile, the crisis continues at the border. two new developments from
part of a larger network. the blast at the popular shrine on monday killed 20 people and injured more than 100 others. tie land s prime minister calls the bombing, quote, the worst incident in the country s history. hundreds of troops enlisted help to fight wildfires in western u.s. with more than 95 fires burning. there is a shortage of firefighters. before deployment the troops will be trained as firefighters for one day in a classroom and two days in the field. it is the first time the department of defense has mobilized the military to help fight fires in a decade. one construction worker hurt in a next scaffold collapse has died. seven others are hospitalized after falling from the 6th story scaffolding as it buck el cked from the top down. three are in critical condition. the workers were part of a team remodeling the presbyterian medical center in rio rancho. it is not clear what caused the scaffolding to collapse. a fire explosion rocking a motel in bremerton,
question, miguel. they are going to be able to bring in additional firefighters from around the state and i would imagine from other states as well. do they believe they have enough on the ground even with the additional forces that obviously will reinforce the numbers they have? federal officials are now being involved. that means federal assistance will come in from washington, d.c., as well as crews who fight fires across the country. they always send in more resources that are needed at the beginning. at this point fire officials are probably welcoming all the help they can get. there s only so much they can do gaining containment around this fire. they certainly have hundreds of crews on the ground now. more are on the way. fire officials are bringing in more help to attack this blaze from all aspects and sides. more assistance is arriving here by the hour, guys? wow. miguel almaguer, thanks very much. boy, that s a terrible story. imagine that tiny town, we saw the pictur
it s an honor. brian: the reason why we talk to you from dollywood is we ve never been invited to dollywood. that s not true! gretchen: dolly in a minute. first your headlines. new video out of syria showing rebels shooting down a military helicopter. [ cheering ] unfortunately, that s a familiar chant when you see something like this. yep. they re chanting ala akbar, or alla is great. it s reportedly the first time they shot down a helicopter with a surface to air missile. steve: remember who new york city firefighters head to new orleans to help after hurricane katrina? firefighters from the big easy now returning the favor. 40 new orleans firefighters are headed to areas destroyed by sandy that will spend two weeks helping the fire department of new york clean houses and if need be, fight fires.
bloomberg unplugged at the nathan s hot dog wagon. seems he couldn t stomach the puns, like let me be frank. it s going to be a dog fight. and i ll relish it. it s bloomberg like we ve never seen him. also you can see the sparks flying all over the place. it was raining fire down on us. on the frontlines, colorado firefighters taking cnn with them as they fight the fires home by home. the fire chief telling the denver post this morning he knew the fire would happen, that it was a monster ready to awaken and kill. and on this independence day, what s your definition of a hero? our men and women in the military? your mom, your dad? think about it. it s our talk back question of the day. newsroom begins right now. i m carol costello. happy, happy fourth of july. good morning to you. right now, crowds are gathering and parades are gearing up in small towns and big cities across the country. but millions of americans will be missing one holiday tradition this year, fir