♪ ♪ everybody loves the underdogs that's my dog ♪ what a festive night on the show. appreciate all ten of you watching. well an adorable dog is at the center of an ugly custody battle. >> it is a multimillion dollar tug-of-war over a tiny pomeranian. our paula faris has the story. >> reporter: meet sammy, the picture perfect pooch now at the center of a $500,000 breakup battle royale. he is the star of sammyandthecity.com, a wildly popular web site showcasing the photogenic pomeranian's adventures in new york. in april, scott smith and his then girlfriend, anna, launched the site hoping for internet glory. but when mommy and daddy went their separate ways last year, sammy and the potential fido fortune generated by his website got caught in the crossfire. >> sometimes it is not even about the animal. it's just they want to get one over on the other side. >> reporter: smith tells "the new york post" he is filing a $500,000 lawsuit for his share of the rights telling the paper this is one of the biggest atrocities that ever happened to a family. in a statement, kimara says she hasn't seen any lawsuit and there is no money to fight over. writing, "truth is i never made a dime. no offers were ever made." but the fight over this little looker is more about cash than custody. and it is turning ugly. smith says his ex allegedly stole his ipad, deleted all of sammy's pictures and yanked his access to their online accounts. something she denies. and then in april, he landed in jail after allegedly grabbing her iphone at a meeting. he pleaded not guilty. paula faris, abc news, new york. >> it is true, people do love their dogs. they love their pets. >> i get that. somebody tried to take my dog. they would have a custody battle. >> we love dogs here on "world news now." >> you know me. >> we love our dogs here. on "world news now" as well. and over there by jack. a lobster going to the boiling pot. be careful of that, man. be careful with that. be careful. >> i love this show. >> ah-ha! >> this is what we do. the finest entertainment in the middle of the night on july 4th. a dancing wiener. look, i am hungry. i requested one. all i want, thank you, captain jack, relish, and ketchup. you are different. >> spicy mustard. maybe. maybe onions. maybe. >> what do you like on yourself jayce? or is that personal? >> mustard. >> mustard. >> see, he has it right. >> he does. he does. >> food on the set. relish. you don't like relish? >> anyway. >> communists. [ laughter ] >> communists on this 4th of july. >> we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ everybody knows that, no matter what age. he was one of the most recognizable faces in hollywood, and a symbol of a simpler time. both in television and really for the country as well. andy griffith, of course, died tuesday morning. >> he was best known for his role as sheriff andy taylor on "the andy griffith show." abc's brandi hitt has a look back at his life. ♪ >> reporter: to this day, that whistle calls tv viewers back to mayberry where, for eight years beginning in 1960, andy griffith starred as sheriff andy taylor, opie's pa. >> you know you have been taught the golden rule. do unto others as you would have them do unto you. >> yes, pa. >> you think you have been following that rule? >> sure, tommy does unto me, and now i am doing unto jerry. >> reporter: after learning of griffith's passing, ron howard, the actor, starred as opie, tweeted his pursuit of excellence and the joy he took in creating served generations and shaped my life. i am forever grateful. rest in peace, andy. griffith with his wise words and laconic southern drawl was the straight man in the comedy about small-town america. >> why are we stopping at ms. kelsey's? >> she had to go to -- >> going to check the locks, huh? >> no, we are going to take in her laundry. >> reporter: the real mayberry many believe was griffith's hometown of mt. airy in north carolina. the movie theater is a monument to his career. griffith started out as a high school music teacher and got his first break with the funny radio monologue about football. >> it was that both bunches full of them men wanted this funny looking little pumpkin to play with. >> reporter: soon griffith was appearing on broadway and in movies like "in no time for sergeants." >> sergeant, i am plo. >> what? >> permanent latrine orderly. >> reporter: he had a good boy brand and was funny. hollywood took note and gave him "the andy griffith show." when it went off the air it was the number-one-rated program. 20 years later, griffith made a come back as yet another southerner, this time a guitar playing lawyer, named ben matlock. >> you have no idea. he didn't think for a minute that you would kill him first. >> reporter: fans and friends are now leaving flowers at griffith's star on the hollywood walk of fame. elements of griffith's personal life would have distressed aunt bea, he was married three times. he once said he wished he could have been a little more like sheriff andy taylor. brandi hitt, abc news, new york. >> an iconic era for this country and tv. he has already been buried. he requested he be buried after his death, buried 11:30 yesterday, family farm on roanoke island. that has taken place. >> an accomplished musician. i didn't know. he recorded successful albums of christian hymns and in a music in 2008 for w brad paisley. >> looking at the world today, mayberry doesn't seem like a bad place to be these days. rest in peace, mr. griffith. ♪ it may be the detergent. add finish power up to boost your detergent and you'll see a huge difference. watch what it can do. look at that sparkle! now that's clean! cloudiness! spots! tough stains! even dishwasher build-up! gone! just like that! so don't give up. add finish power up. wow! see the difference! it's a must have! do you ever wish you could make some things just disappear? ♪ ♪ [ ping! ] [ ping! ping! ] that's why i use new tampax radiant. it helps keep my period invisible, combing tampax's best-ever leak protection with a revolutionary resealable wrapper so all they'll see is me. [ ping! ] ♪ ♪ hi. totally new, awesomely-invisible tampax radiant. check out the whole radiant collection. ♪ ♪ ♪ can you tell what holiday it is, folks? take a wild stab. 4th of july fireworks in city that really does need something to celebrate. >> thousands showed up in denver for a free concert and fireworks. this wasn't just a night to mark the nation's independence and dedicated to helping support victims of the wildfires ravaging colorado. >> the was like, is it okay in colorado to do fireworks. under the control of professionals. they don't want private folks doing it. >> exactly. >> way too drive. prevent any more fires. of course everyone at the fourth of july celebrates, independence, of course. >> here are some facts about the date you may have not known. july, 1776, 2.5 million people lived in the united states, now the nation's population is nearly 314 million. >> fireworks, of course, are a booming business with annual sales at nearly $232 million. that's a lot -- almost as much as the costume the independence day -- not always a celebration. three u.s. presidents have died on july 4th. i didn't know that either. of course, as you can tell by our serious set, we are doing nothing but celebrating right now. get that wiener, amanda, show initiative. this is our facebook question of the day, what are your plans for the 4th of july. go to wnnfans.com and let us know. uh-huh. and you can tell us or you could show us if you want to. >> yeah, tweet your pictures to us at abcwnn, hash tag wnn fans. you never know your photos could wind up here on "world news now." love to see that. >> oh. she found that cart. we got our friend captain jack back over here. wienermeister for us tonight. >> easy with the titles. >> sorry. take it easy. >> hot dog chief, how about that. top dog. commissioner. >> the commish. >> served up two, to yourself and to our old friend, jamie mccarty. >> i'll take one. i will take one. >> all right. >> i will take one. >> you tell -- what you like on yours, you are picky. >> mustard. >> mustard. >> we don't have onions. >> i prefer dijon. i will do the classic. >> she is so -- >> did you wash your hands, too? >> yeah, absolutely. >> wash your hands. >> oh. >> we have food. we'll be back. >> we have food. we'll be back. i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans it could save you thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and you never need a referral. see why millions of people have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. don't wait. call now. this morning on "world news this morning on "world news now" -- holiday hell. more than a million people will spend president 4th sweltering with no air conditioning. >> the agony days after terrible storms of course knocked out power on top of one of the hot -- hottest independence days ever. it is wednesday, july 4th. good morning, everyone. happy 4th. >> is that what date it is? i thought it was casual wednesday. >> happy fourth, i'm sunny hostin, paula faris is on assignment. >> good morning, everybody, i'm rob nelson. we are celebrating an american tradition, hot dogs served up throughout the morning here. a little hot dog stand in the back here. you have yours over there. you have started. just mustard, mustard? >> just mustard. >> very good. also on this busy travel holiday, cutting edge car technology to keep you safe out there on the road. we will show how it could protect you. this to me makes a lot of sense and is becoming more and more standard in a lot of vehicles out there by some of the country's automakers, could save lives and money. >> i like it. >> amen. and then maybe not so safe. the parents who put their kid in the water to swim with sharks. 5-year-old little girl. and put the whole thing online. now there is a feeding frenzy of angry reaction. >> i guess so. are you kidding me? you're a mom, would you do something like that? >> no. >> with sharks, people losing limbs, the little girl, they videotaped it. you can imagine the reaction. also this half-hour with katie holmes seeking her independence from tom cruise some new revelations about how he tried to control her career. a very interesting event that she wanted to do he did not want her to do. maybe one of the other factors that led to the divorce we are seeing now. >> i suspect we will be learning more and more about what is really going on. >> it could open a window to his life, up to the church of scientology, next couple months very interesting what we learn about the world of tom cruise. let's say that. >> absolutely. but first, record high temperatures could turn independence day celebrations into meltdowns in several cities. there are heat advisories in effect for 16 states from the dakotas to the east coast and nearly a million customers are suffering through another day of no electricity. abc's karen travers is covering it all, good morning, karen. >> reporter: good morning, rob, good morning, sunny. utility companies say they're doing all they can as quickly as they can to get the power back up. but for the people who haven't had power since last friday their patience is running thin. utility crews are working round the clock, but with nearly a million and a half people still without power, they're facing an uphill battle. >> there are just not enough people. there are just too many problems. there are too many situations. >> reporter: but that is not going to ease the frustrations of so many customers without electricity who feel powerless. >> basically, the response is, that they must all have the same scripted spiel. we are going to get to you when we get to you. >> reporter: maryland governor martin o'malley has pleaded for patience. >> 75% of those who suffered power outages as a result of this hurricane punch without the hurricane warning have now been restored. >> reporter: it will be a different kind of 4th of july this year. 20 states have some ban on fireworks because of the heat. temperatures are in the 90s across much of the nation, and no power means no air conditioning. >> it is -- got to be above 90 in here. and it's hot. and there is not much air moving around. >> reporter: and no refrigerators. >> we can't afford to go out every single meal. we have been bringing stuff home, using the grill. used up everything we could up in the first 48 hours. >> reporter: thousands are without power in west virginia. mary young has a well but no electricity to run it. that means no water. >> we came and got some water here. but it is 104 degrees up in the shade at our house now. >> reporter: for those that don't have power, the heat is unfortunately expected to last several more days. it is going to be a scorcher of a 4th of july today. rob, sunny, back to you. >> hot holiday indeed. thanks, karen. and it got so hot in the state of wisconsin that the highway literally buckled. check this out. a suv ended up going, whoop, airborne, when it hit that part of the pavement. passengers were not seriously hurt. crews went out to fix the problem. we are told the highway buckled again and the road had to be closed. look at that. that is some heat. watch the roadways, folks. and all this extreme heat takes its toll on animals as well. this cattle barn in missouri has some high-tech ways of keeping all the cows way cool. there is a mist that actually sprays on their backs and the barn's structure allows for air to flow through the shaded area. if the cows get stressed from all that heat, they simply don't produce as much milk. we need to keep bessie cool. that was awful. >> good. i enjoyed it. >> that was bad. well, here's a look at the rest of the nation's weather on this holiday. pop-up showers across the south with oppressive humidity. showers in the northwest this morning. but it will clear by afternoon. >> phoenix is a few degrees cooler than normal with a high of 97. oh, springtime. minneapolis could break a record at 102. and if you are looking for relief, you will find it in anchorage. all the way out there, their high, lovely sounding 59 degrees. a big load of fireworks has blown up at the wrong place and wrong time hurting at least nine people inside a house in pelham, new hampshire. the explosion late tuesday set the house on fire and filled it with smoke. one neighbor said it sounded like a million gunshots. two children who suffered the worst burns were medivaced to a hospital in boston. >> we see stories every year. of course, the holiday means people across the country are hitting the road. triple a says 35 million americans are traveling via car for this 4th of july, gas prices $3.33 a gallon. actually down 22 cents from a year ago. but it is a different story for people taking a flight. >> gas prices are going down at the same time that airfare is going up. so this may be the summer that people actually get back to taking road trips. >> road trip. and travelers are watching their wallets when they get where they're going and planning to spend 7% less on their trips than a year ago. a new look at crash statistics confirms july 4 is the deadliest day on american roads. for everyone behind the wheel, some welcome news about road safety and the latest high-tech equipment being built into cars. abc's jim avila went for a test run. >> reporter: new technology designed to eliminate scary car crashes and keep drivers alert so they don't run off the road like this unbelted driver who survived his rollover. today's automakers are moving toward not just protecting you from an accident, but avoiding one altogether. and it's working. >> this technology is the first steps towards a car that can drive itself. >> reporter: 18 car manufacturers, chevrolet, toyota, ford, chrysler, offer optional forward collision avoidance using radar and lasers embedded in the grill to warn the driver he/she is approaching a slower or stopped car. reducing accidents by 14%, according to the highway loss data institute. we went to the insurance institute track to test it ourselves. >> it is assuming i am distracted or asleep? >> exactly. >> reporter: just in time i got the warning. >> there's 20. >> reporter: allowing me to brake or swerve out of harm's way. supposedly i am kind of dozing off. if i ignore the warning, the car brakes itself, but not quite aggressively enough. here we go. it's going to beep. i am not going to do a thing. it does hit it. run over it and kill it. an optional $1,200 update on most cars. the average accident costs $2,000. these new devices are available already as optional equipment and safety experts say eventually they'll become standard. but even before that, they're still worth the money because they can avoid an accident that is costly. jim avila, abc news, chesapeake bay, maryland. >> that's -- go ahead. >> i had no idea july 4 was the deadliest holiday, i thought cinco de mayo. or new year's eve. >> makes sense. the average crash will cost you $2,000. the radar will cost you $1,200. a smart investment. we have the kind of technology where cars can talk to you these days through the bluetooth, that technology makes sense, all about safety. i like it. it will come standard which is good news over the years and become commonplace, which is great to hear. speaking of cars, new cars are selling fast these days. in fact automakers just had their best month in five years. dealerships exceeded sales expectations last month. analysts predict this year could be the best since 2007. car sales up 22% from a year ago with generous incentives. showrooms are expecting a busy 4th of july today because of all the summer sales. >> i didn't know that either. >> the day to go shopping for your back to school supplies and your car. >> and your car. >> look at all that! well a big crowd was there to watch the final rehearsal ahead of tonight's big concert at the u.s. capitol, but they couldn't control just one part of the show. ♪ >> famous conductor john williams there with the national symphony orchestra and a musical tribute to the nation's olympians. pbs and capital fourth concert hosted by tom bergeron from abc's "dancing with the stars." and the dress rehearsal was called to an abrupt end when severe weather warnings were issued. everyone was told just to go home. >> mother nature is not messing around this week. hopefully it will stay dry enough for all the fireworks around the country. >> i hope so. i love fireworks. >> everybody does. the cool part of the day. all right. coming up next, new beginnings for tipper gore after an end to her political marriage. first, would you let your kid swim with sharks? would you? some serious questions for a mom and dad who thought it was just a great idea. you are watching "world news now." 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