infects in cambodia. and it's a special day for us and for ringo starr. the beatles legend joins us this hour on his birthday to celebrate, of course, with us, and to talk about his new album and the motivation behind his continued success. slow and steady is proving to be a losing combination for hundreds of thousands of people across the mid-atlantic and northeast who have been without power now for a full week. and it will be getting even hotter in many cities today. the record-breaking temperatures are blamed for several deaths and catastrophes for many businesses. emily schmidt joins us from springfield, virginia, with much more on that. emily, tell us what the situation is there. >> reporter: hi, randi. the power back on in this neighborhood, but you can see the storm very still much top of mind here with the mess that remains. and in the washington area, there are thousands of people who are waking up after just enduring their eighth straight night with no power. to make it worse, they're waking up knowing that they're going to endure a day that could have record-breaking heat. and even as people and businesses begin to get their power back, they're also realizing that there's a lot they've lost along the way. it only takes an instant for the lights to go out in a storm, but things can get darker for days. a chevy chase supermarket just outside washington, disaster hit three days after losing power. a refrigerated trailer compressor blew up, and with it, the family-owned supermarket's backup plan. >> lost everything in the trailer, then we lost everything in the frozen food case here. so basically, we've lost everything in the entire store. >> reporter: it meant no customers, no paychecks for 60 employees and no buying new food. >> i've got vendors who are smaller than me that count on even my purchases for their own business, and i'm not purchasing from them. so it kind of stream-rolls all the way around. >> we're busting at the seams here with nowhere to go. >> reporter: when markets weren't buying for days, it stuck vendor gus pappis with a warehouse full of food. some can be donated. most, including 2,000 boxes of strawberries, must be tossed. >> most of what's in this cooler is probably going to be thrown out if we can't move it. >> reporter: he estimates he's out hundreds of thousands of dollars. the irony, his business never lost power, so insurance won't help. >> this is going to be an event that is remembered. >> reporter: scott bernhart's company says it will take at least a month to know how much the 600-mile storm path cost the economy. >> it ranks in the realms of hurricanes, snowmageddon type events. these are significant events affecting a very large population. therefore, it has a significant economic impact. >> reporter: tell me the minute that power came on. what time was it? >> it was, i think it was about 11:30? >> reporter: ten delivery-packed hours later on thursday morning, the store reopened. the power restored along with something just as critical. >> more importantly, everybody is back. that's the most important part. >> reporter: the company says one of the problems with this storm, one of the reasons we are still talking about it more than a week later is because it was only the first half of a one-two punch. of course, first you had the winds, but now you have this incredible record-breaking heat. the washington area is set to experience its tenth straight day that the thermometer has reached at least 95 degrees. randi, even as temperature and their thermometer continues to go up, you see you still have to deal with all those things that came down. back to you. >> yeah, certainly true. emily schmidt, thank you very much for that reporting. and with more warnings of triple-digit temperatures today, let's check in with meteorologist alexandria steele to see where the biggest dangers are. good morning. >> good morning to you. unfortunately, for places like washington and virginia, they're going to see another round of storms, so they are far from out of the woods. hi, everyone. good morning to you as you kind of get up and find your day, another steamy one, but here's the areas impacted today. a little bit different than what we've seen. this is a two-week heat wave we're talking about. and to give you a little perspective on the heat, this is the same heat that started out in the west two weeks ago, exacerbated the fires -- remember the waldo canyon fire -- then moved to the midwest, remember that derecho last friday night, of course, what happened there. and now it's in the northeast. so, this has gotten a lot of legs. here's where we're going toe see really the most heaviest and intense heat indices, 115, perhaps. today's highs, we'll see 104 in washington. hey, we had a forecast yesterday for 106, which would have tied their all-time high. 104 today, 104 in columbus, 105 in kc. but here comes the relief. it's in the form of this cold front, behind it, cooler air. chicago on sunday drops more than 25 degrees from the 100 degrees of yesterday. still, washington on sunday 101, still new york 91, but almost that feels comfortable, right? 90 in kc, then to monday and then tuesday, even more relief, as temperatures cool down. so, that is good news. but unfortunately, to the west there's another heat wave kind of beginning to move in. and so, then that, too, will trek eastward. but with this cooler air comes something, and it's a one-two punch in the form of storms potentially today. and new york, all these cities, new york, philadelphia, down toward washington and baltimore even, what we could see potentially throughout this afternoon, bow-shaped lines of thunderstorms and paths of wind damage. so, that is the potential. so, unfortunately, with the cooldown comes, we're going to see the frontal lifting mechanism that will fire off some severe storms, potentially, today. and also when we come back, we'll talk a little bit more also about the floods we're seeing in the west and we'll do that coming up with more on the heat and how long we'll see it and where the new heat wave comes, randi. >> all right. a lot to keep an eye on. >> yes. >> thank you. overseas, too much rain is the problem in southern russia. flash flooding has killed now almost 100 people. you can see entire city streets were completely submerged. cars are stranded. floodwaters rose more than 20 feet while people were asleep. some people were rescued by police after seeking refuge on roofs and in trees. relations between the u.s. and afghanistan have begun a new chapter. the u.s. has named afghanistan a major ally. secretary of state hillary clinton made the announcement during a surprise visit to kabul. the designation clears the way for the two countries to maintain a defense and economic friendship after u.s. troops have withdrawn. >> our strategic partnership agreement is not aimed at any other country. our goal is to work with the region and the international community to strengthen afghanistan's institutions so that the transition is successful and the afghan people themselves can take responsibility and the future of afghanistan will be safer and more secure. >> nearly all u.s. troops are set to leave afghanistan by 2014. japan, pakistan and australia also have the ally status. now to syria, where violence is spreading beyond its border. two rocket-propelled grenades fired from syria, slammed into a lebanese border town. two syrian refugees were killed, two others wounded. and violence continues across the country. at a meeting in paris, secretary of state hillary clinton blasted russia and china for blocking efforts to topple syrian president bashar al assad. a historic day in libya. libyans lined up to vote in the country's first free election after 40 years of rule by moammar gadhafi. voters are choosing a national assembly that will be responsible for appointing a transitional government. the new government will face the tough job of reining in revolutionary militias and establishing a judiciary. back in the u.s. and to a series of killings in ohio. police are investigating four deaths in newton falls around 60 miles from cleveland. they're trying to determine if three bodies found in a home and one found nearby are connected to another man who apparently committed suicide in a cemetery. police say one child was able to escape the shootings in that home. an unknown illness has killed dozens of children, and now doctors in cambodia are trying to solve this medical mystery and do it fast. we'll bring you the details. tyll show you everything. check out our new mobile app. now you can use your phone to scan your car's vin or take a picture of your license. it's an easy way to start a quote. watch this -- flo, can i see your license? no. well, all right. thanks. okay, here we go. whoa! no one said "cheese." progressive mobile -- insurance has never been easier. get a free quote today. wouldn't it be nice if there was an easier, less-expensive option than using a traditional lawyer? well, legalzoom came up with a better way. we took the best of the old and combined it with modern technology. together you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support. legalzoom documents have been accepted in all 50 states, and they're backed by a 100% satisfaction guarantee. so go to legalzoom.com today and see for yourself. it's law that just makes sense. today is the deadline for wikileaks founder julian assange to be extradited to sweden. police there want to talk to him about sexual assault allegations. right now, assange is in the ecuadorian embassy in london and says he won't leave until a decision on his asylum request is made. if he travels to sweden, he could be extradited to the u.s. for publishing thousands of confidential documents. a mystery illness in cambodia has claimed at least 56 lives, all of them children, many of them under 3 years old. the symptoms include respiratory problems and a swelling of the brain. sarah sidner is in phnom penh with details about the outbreak. >> reporter: randy, as you might imagine, any parent that has a child under the age of 3 is concerned, even in some cases scared for their children because of this mysterious illness. the world health organization is calling it a mysterious syndrome. they really do not know exactly what they're dealing with. what they do know is there have been 76 reported cases that the ministry of health here has reported. of those, 57 of those all have very similar symptoms, and of those, 56 have died, and that is why there is an urgent need to find out what exactly this illness is, this syndrome, as they're calling it, is. there are some symptoms that they're telling parents to look out for. it's especially in children under the age of 3. that is, fever, any kind of difficulty breathing, some neurological problems, such as drowsiness or not being able to respond. these are some of the things they're telling parents, if your child has any of these symptoms, bring that child to the hospital as soon as possible. now, let me tell you what we saw at the hospital here in phnom penh today. and this is the main hospital, children's hospital, where most people come if there is a serious issue or an illness in their children. there were lines of people, and that's a normal thing, waiting to get treatment for their children. what we found was that many of the people just had never heard that there was a new problem out there, that there was a mysterious syndrome out there. there was only one or two who had heard on the radio that this existed, and they have brought their child because that child had fever, for example. so, the word has not spread completely around the country that this mysterious syndrome is out there. however, right now, the world health organization and the administrative health is trying to get to the bottom of what this is, trying to determine what this is. they have decided it is not sars and it is not bird flu. >> it is very difficult to assess how dangerous and how rapidly spreading it will be if we don't know what we are dealing with. and this is the focus of our investigation at the moment. get to know what we are dealing with and then we will be able to take the appropriate measures. >> reporter: the first cases of this they saw in april, and the last case just a couple of days ago. and the thing that concerns health providers is that it has very rapid deterioration in children of the 57, again, children that ended up in the hospital, 56 died. so we're talking about a very high mortality rate. there's a lot of concern that parents won't be able to get their children to the hospital in time. many of the children who made it to the hospital died within a day or two. randi? >> sarah sidner, thank you very much. the secrets of scientology. we're breaking through the myths and the misconceptions. what is it all about and why are so many celebrities taking part? and if you're leaving the house right now, well, just a reminder, you can continue watching cnn from your mobile phone. you can also watch cnn live from your laptop. you never have to leave us behind. just go to cnn.com/tv. just $14.99. start with soup, salad and cheddar bay biscuits then choose one of 7 entrees plus dessert! four perfect courses, just $14.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently. four perfect courses, just $14.99. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback signup for 5% cashback at gas stations through september. it pays to discover. as her family pulled out of the driveway, this isn't just a teddy bear. it's a step towards normal. it's why allstate catastrophe teams didn't just arrive at these fires with cold water and checks to help the grown-ups start the rebuilding... they also brought thousands of these teddy bears for kids. people come first. everything else is second. [ female announcer ] allstate customers affected by the recent wildfires call 1-800-547-8676. visit a mobile claims office, your agent or allstate.com focus lolo, focust sanya let's do this i am from baltimore south carolina... bloomington, california... austin, texas... we are all here to represent the country we love this is for everyone back home it's go time. across america, we're all committed to team usa. welcome back. it is the celebrity breakup heard around the world, and people are still talking about tom cruise and katie holmes' split. holmes filed for divorce and wants custody of their daughter, but she hasn't really said what led to the decision to walk away from cruise. some say it may have had to do with his religion, scientology. that has also brought more attention to the church and its practices. we're focusing on scientology a bit this morning. the beliefs, the celebrities and the money. but first, there are many misconceptions about scientology, so we thought that we would try and clear some of those up for you. their religion was started by author l. ron hubbard in the 1950s and has grown from there. earlier, i spoke with dan gilgoff, co-editor of cnn.com's belief blog, and i asked when scientology finally got final approval from the government. >> scientology is a relatively new religion. first church opened up in los angeles in 1954. sort of helps explain the church's long affiliation with hollywood and celebrities. now, for a long time, the church fought to get government recognition in this country so it could get tax-exempt status like other buddhist organizations, other churches in this country enjoy. it took them a long time to do so, and they filed a lot of lawsuits against the irs to make it happen. the irs finally granted that status in 1993. >> when you talk about the belief, i mean, what is at the core of scientology? >> scientology is really meant as a kind of new approach to mental health. so, a lot of it revolves around thinking about how the mind operates. scientologists believe there is this reactive mind that we have that sort of experiences all this trauma and distress that on, not only in our present life, but also what scientologists believe is our past lives. so a lot of the religion is about working through those traumas and regaining this sense of what scientologists call clear, and it's this access to this analytic mind, the thinking goes, that lets us experience reality sort of more truly or more clearly. >> danny masterson, the actor from "that '70s show," he's a second-generation scientologist and opened a museum called psychiatry industry of death. does the church have a problem with psychiatry? >> it really does. you know, if you go on to the church website, it compares psychiatric drugs to elicit street drugs. and tom cruise has generated controversy by talking about this as well. now, because scientology treats itself as kind of a new approach to mental health, it's meant as a replacement for modern psychiatry and psychiatric drugs. so, there's this whole process of what scientologists call auditing, where scientologists sit with someone else from the church, and there is something called an e-meter that sends electrical waves through their body. this is meant to pick up on those sources of distress we were talking about. and all of that is really meant to replace psychiatry. so, it really does dispute and reject modern-day psychiatry, and that's one of the big kind of areas of controversy surrounding the church. >> and what about all this talk about an alien or outer space somehow linked with scientology? what is that all about? >> scientologists, if you talk to them-reject this talk of aliens. at the same time -- and this is something that the scientologists only reveal to members who are seen to be very advanced -- there is this whole founding story of humanity that revolves around an ancient intergalactic civilization that comprised dozens of planets. now, the story goes that a lot of this population was sent to earth and extinguished and that kind of the souls of these bodies are now free floating and attach themselves to human bodies and that some of the trauma that we are experiencing today is borne of those bodies as well. it's another way that scientology says it takes aim at kind of our minds and on providing clarity in the face of all these bodies that have attached themselves to humankind. >> all right. dan, thank you so much. fascinating conversation. >> randi, good to see you. for more on this story, be sure to check out our "belief" blog at cnn.com/belief, and you can also add your own comments there as well. all right, here's a question for you. who was the first beatle to get seven consecutive top ten hits as a solo artist? john lennon? paul mccartney, perhaps? no it was ringo starr. there he is. it's his birthday today, and we're going to talk to him next. ♪ you say it's your birthday ♪ it's my birthday, too, yeah you've got to love that song. from his first days with the beatles in 1962, ringo starr has never slowed down. the hysteria of the 1960s gave way to a solo musical career which began in 1970, and he's just released his 17th solo studio album called "ringo 2012." he's also been a working actor for decades and is still touring now with his all-star band. and today happens to be his 72nd birthday. ringo starr joins us now from nashville. ringo, good morning to you and happy birthday! >> thank you, randi. good morning to you, too. 72. >> 72. we wish you many, many more. but this has become -- >> yeah, me, too! >> this is really more, though, than just simple happy birthday. i know that this is a big day for you because you want your fans to send out peace and love wishes to the world every year on your birthday. >> yeah, well, we started this several years ago. now, at noon, on my birthday, today, of course, the 7