newt gingrich insists he'll continue his run for the republican presidential nomination but he will need a new campaign staff. joel brown joins us from washington. joel, what happened and how does this affect the gop race? >> well, betty, it certainly clouds the future of the gingrich 2012 campaign and there's already talk of these former gingrich staffers saddling up with new gop contenders. newt gingrich is scrambling to get his presidential bid back on track. thursday, his entire team of senior staffers abruptly quit, citing differences over the campaign. in a statement to cbs news, gingrich's former spokesman rick tyler said there was a path to victory. newt had a different path. when that happens they have to leave. his national chair has moved over to tim pawlenty's camp. they could join texas governor, rick perry who is reportedly considering a run for the white house. despite the major blow, the former house speaker is pushing forward giving a speech in california sunday night. on his facebook page he wrote -- i'm committed to running a substantive solutions-oriented campaign i set out to run earlier this spring. the gop frontrunner, mitt romney, is breaking with campaign trail tradition. on thursday he announced he would not be participating in any of the so-called "straw polls." the popularity contests are considered key in early voting states. the former massachusetts governor spent more than a million dollars to win the gop straw poll in iowa four years ago. in a statement, his campaign manager says this time we'll focus our energy and resources on winning primaries and caucuses. his advisers pledged a more disciplined campaign. >> the obama economy is not doing well. >> focused on winning the nomination with a economic message in touch with the republican fateful. the team gingrich resignations came as the candidate was returns from a two-week long cruise from the greek ielz. they had reported with him to skip the vacation and focus on the campaign. to the best-known republican noncandidate, sarah palin. we should get some incite into her governor today as alaska releases more than 24,000 emails from her first two years in office and we're seeing clips from an upcoming film on palin titled "the undefeated." >> she was one of the most powerful and she wasn't afraid to use her powers. >> the film will debut in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina, with nationwide release later this summer. congressman anthony weiner remains adamant he will not quit despite growing calls for his resignation. yesterday he told the "new york post" he's returning to his legislative duties. >> i'll go back to my community office and try to get some work done. >> that's where you are headed now? >> i don't know whether to tell you or not. >> but you're not planning on reshining? >> i'm not. >> he admitted sending sexually explicit pictures and i mails to several women. his wife is pregnant with their first child. juror overnight,. overnight, a cold front pushed against blister heat. heatwave on the east coast. knocking out tens of thousands of power. but the heat and humidity continues in the south. the heatwave is blamed for at least seven deaths. in downtown detroit, the hot weather is blamed for equipment failure that knocked out power to several government buildings and traffic lights. the city intentionally cut power to city hall and a convention center to prevent further blackouts. in eastern arizona, that huge wildfire is now 5% contained but still growing. the fire has consumed 602 square miles near the new mexico state line. 22 homes were destroyed in the town of greer overnight and power lines that supply electricity to texas and new mexico remain in jeopardy. karen brown reports from springerville, arizona. >> reporter: flames are pushing at the edges of several towns in eastern arizona that have been almost emptied of their 7,000 plus residents. >> when the police came, they said, you know, i asked them how long i had to leave and they said, as quick as you can get out of here. >> i've seen tornados and this is the scariest thing i've ever seen. it's like it's a living, breathing thing. >> feeding on hundreds of thousands of acres of forest land and 22 homes. for two weeks this fire has never stop growing despite the efforts of more than 3,000 firefighters. as they work 12 hours on and 12 hours off, they've made some pretty important saves. >> we were really dealing house to house, getting engines and we had spot fires all around and people putting in a lot of hard work trying to keep the spot fires from getting into the houses. >> reporter: crews are fighting the fire from the air with helicopters, heir tankers and off dc 10 plane. >> equivalent to about eight air tankers, can drop a mile long and about a football field wide. >> the forecast is rain but there's nothing better. karen brown, springerville, arizona. overseas the 11 week foup rising against syrian president is turning more brutal and chaotic. at the army is moving in on protesters in a town near the turkish border. the syrian government says 120 soldiers and police killed there by armed gangs but witnesses say soldiers fired on other soldier who is with refused to shoot the demonstrators. robert gates wraps up his final trip. he will deliver a speech on global security issues in brussels. yesterday he said no rush to the exits when u.s. forces begin leaving afghanistan next month. the man in line to replace gates, leon panetta, currently running the cia, testified yesterday at a senate confirmation hearing. as defense secretary panetta will inherit two wars he made it very clear he'll resist pressure to end them too quickly. here's david martin. >> reporter: with americans still coming home in flag-draped caskets from iraq, cia director panetta revealed a surprising and to many, no doubt, confusing fact. now there are a thousand al qaeda still in haerk. iraq. it, too, continues to be fragile. >> that's right. 1,000 left in iraq where the u.s. has 50,000 troops left. in afghanistan, there are twice as many american troops intelligence estimates put al qaeda at no more than 100. those lop-sided numbers plus the killing of bin laden are behind the political pressure on president obama to accelerate the pullout from afghanistan starting next month. a cinch to be the next secretary of defense, panetta will have to live with whatever decision the president makes but refused to say how many troops he thinks should come home. the president says a big chunk of the u.s. mission in afghanistan has been accomplished. but gates, who just finished his final visit to afghanistan, argues now is not the time to let up. in an interview with "620 minutes" he said the first withdrawal should no produce fire power. general petraeus is due back in the u.s. at the end of the week. and he is carrying his recommendations with him. david martin, cbs news, pentagon. >> the duke and duchess of cambridge made their first public appearance at a fundraiser for kids. prince william and wife kate, attended a lavish dinner near kensington palace last night. it raised money for the charity that helps some of the world's poorest children. just ahead, ford announces plans to go green. plus a pivotal day in the murder trial of kasey anthony. this is the cbs "morning news." i'm chef michael, and my dog bailey and i love to hang out in the kitchen. you love the aroma of beef tenderloin, don't you? 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[ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. lets go... haha. if you have high cholesterol, you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor. in houston, police are looking for two violent robbery suspects who held up a convenience store on thursday, a bystander kept the robbers inside the store by blocking the glass door. one started shooting, wounding the good samaritan. >> to get their attention i walked out. they confront med and i didn't say anything. i just walked out and stood there and i -- that really irritated them and i wouldn't let them out. >> the bullet went right through the victim's shoulder but we're told he'll be okay. the casey anthony trial resumes in florida on thursday after a recess on thursday. anthony fell ill during the court session and the judge decided to end it early. she avoided looking at gruesome photographs of the crime scene as they questioned the law enforcement about with where the remains were found. on the "money watch" asian stock markets were mostly off today with one exception. we're in new york with the latest. good morning. good morning to you. a down day for most asian market. the hang seng lost almost 1% and tokyo's nikkei bucked the trend adding half a percent. toyota says their profit will plunge 30%. on wall street thursday, stocks finished higher for the first day in more than a week and the dow gained 75 points and the nasdaq added nine. home equity is at its lowest point since world war ii. the federal reserve says the average home equity, the part of the home americans actually owns has plunge from the 61% ten years ago to just 38% this year. the same report also shows americans overall net worth grew just 1.6% last quarter, mostly due to the sputtering stock market. ford has unveiled plans to build its first u.s. vehicle old only as a hybrid. the minivan will get more than 41 miles her gallon. a plug-in version will also be sold and it will be able to drive an all-electric mode and have a gas engine for backup. it goes on sale next year. yielding the pressure from washington, amle apple says it will start rejecting iphone applications that tip drivers off about police dui check points. at least four u.s. senators have asked. apple to pull the apps. and betty, we end with a story about a room with a view, of your backside? a clothing store in hollywood has installed cameras in their dressing room those show customers how they look from behind so no more turning around to look in mirrors and the store assures customers there's no way anyone else can see what's going on. i don't know about that. you either really like it or not. >> i don't think we want to see our backsides, sometimes. you know? let's just skip that part. ashley, thank you. straight ahead, the weather. and in sports, the dallas sharpshooters put a chill on the heat in the nba finals. so i took my heartburn pill and some antacids. we're having mexican tonight, so another pill then? unless we eat later, then pill later? if i get a snack now, pill now? skip the snack, pill later... late dinner, pill now? aghh i've got heartburn in my head. 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[ male announcer ] use as directed for 14 days. so, i get claritin clear. non-drowsy claritin relieves my worst symptoms. and only claritin is proven to keep you as alert and focused as someone without allergies. no other brand can say that not even allegra. live claritin clear. new york, afternoon thunderstorms and 85. miami, thunderstorms and 88. chicago, thunderstorms as well, 74. dallas, it's going to be sunny and 95. l.a., partly cloudy and 71. time for a check of your national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows mostly clear skies over the southern plains and west coast. storms are moving into the great lakes and ohio valley but later today, milder temperatures will return to the northeast, along with scattered thunderstorms. intense heat will continue in the south and severe thunderstorms will range from the ohio valley to the central plains. in sports, the dallas mavericks are one game away from their first nba championship. dirk nowitski scored 29 points and drove for a baseline dunk in the closing minutes to put the mavs ahead of miami. dallas had a 112-103 victory vnd have a 3-2 lead. game six is sunday in miami. in baseball, the cubs got an extra innings' win on an error. in philadelphia in the 11th inning, chicago's darwin barney hit a bouncer to third and that scored the winning run from second. the final, cubs 4. phils 3. and david ortiz and the red sox scored seven runs in the seventh inning. boston went on to an 8-3 victory. a three-game sweep of the yankees and a two-game lead in the american league east. when we return, another look at this mornings top stories. and weird, wild and deadly weather, what's going on? we'll tell you. [ male announcer ] this...is the network -- a living, breathing intelligence that's helping people rethink how they live. in here, the planned combination of at&t and t-mobile would deliver our next generation mobile broadband experience to 55 million more americans, many in small towns and rural communities, giving them a new choice. ♪ we'll deliver better service, with thousands of new cell sites... for greater access to all the things you want, whenever you want them. it's a network of connections and ideas... open and collaborative... extending far beyond the mobile phone. connecting you to a world of intelligent new devices and technologies. from today's best innovators... and tomorrow's. ♪ it's the at&t network... a network of possibilities... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. ♪ san francisco firefighters killed in the line of duty. the touching tribute, planned for the fallen firemen. plus..the road closures you need to know about. more violence near the san jose state campus. three people stabbed.. the search this morning for the suspects. pg&e blasted.. over the san bruno explosion and more. the highlights of a report that found incompetence at every level. and.. a presidential campaign, falls apart. join us for cbs 5 early edition ... beginning at 4:30. ,,,, on the "cbs morning news." the northeast will see cooler weather with scattered thunderstorms. heavy rain and gusty winds are likely in the ohio river valley. hot in the south with many areas in the upper 90s and 100s. newt gingrich says he's staying in the race for the gop presidential nomination even though most of his senior staff resigned. and later today, the state of alaska releases thousands of sarah palin's e-mails from her years as governor. and that massive arizona wildfire, now it is only 5% contained but it is still growing. more than 600,000 square miles have burned and 22 homes destroyed. the drought and wildfires in the southwest are part of a spring that has produced more than its share of natural disasters. john blackstone looks at what could be behind the unusual weather patterns. >> reporter: in hawaii, in june, there's snow! with people on sleds instead of surfboards. islands tallest volcanic peak does see snow in winter but its been at least 30 years since there's been anything like this. >> i don't know what it has to do with the world climate change or what but it's sort of cool. >> reporter: almost every part of the country has had extreme weather lately. some blame la nina, cyclical cooling of the pacific near the equator. in la nina years, rain patterns in the u.s. change, less in the south and more in the pacific northwest. but this la nina has been declared over and may be only a small part of a complicated mix. >> a lot of this comes down to chaos in the atmosphere. there are so many things going on and we just don't have the tools to measure every single one of them. >> one of the big things going on is a particularly strong jet stream. for much of the year, these high-level winds have been stuck in a pattern that brought lots of rain and snow to the west and north and kept the plains and south exceptionally dry. >> we've been locked in with this low pressure in the west and high pressure in the east. >> reporter: the result? terrell floods in the mississippi basin and drought in thes southwest. part of the reason, arizona is now burning. but, perhaps, the biggest weather troublemaker has been in the gulf of mexico where sea surface temperatures have been almost two degrees above average. that warm, moist, gulf air meeting the powerful jet stream created the string of tornados that killed 525 people. while weather record ares are set almost every year, this year has seen floods, wildfires, droughts and tornadoes, of historic proportions and having all those in little more than a month is unprecedented. cbs news, san francisco. >> so there may be snow on that high peak in hawaii but things are very different down below. scientists are watching molten rock pour into this lake. temperatures in the rapidly-filling lava pool can reach 1100 degrees. that's some serious heat. that's some serious heat. a little more down with [ male announcer ] know the feeling? try acuvue® oasys brand contact lenses with hydraclear® plus for exceptional comfort. it feels like it disappeared on my eye! [ male announcer ] discover why it's the brand eye doctors trust most for comfort. acuvue® oasys brand. if you think you're qualified to run the international monetary fund today is the deadline for declaring your candidacy to replace dominique strauss khan. dsk as he's known resigned after being charged with sexual assault on a hotel maid. he's keeping a low profile under house arrest in new york but he's still front-page news in his native france as we have this report from paris. >> reporter: in france, his face stares out from every newsstand. at one headline put it, this has changed everything. >> i think this is like very noisy wake-up call. >> a business owner and head of france's biggest coalition, is one of the most powerful women in the country. >> until now, this kind of situation, we didn't dare to denounce it. i think now, with this dominique strauss khan affair, we'll dare to denounce that. >> reporter: at first, the french were angry at america for embarrassing a man many thought would be their next president. but as some french men rushed to defend strauss khan's behavior, a backlash began to build. french women got angry. the dsk affair has provoked a national soul searching about sexism in french society. >> we're in a society with the men are there and the women are there. we know that. we see that every day. >> reporter: franz is editor and chief of the magazine. >> do you think something will change because of this? >> i think there will be a before and an after. that's what we see. >> reporter: already, more women are coming forward. >> come on, come in, please. >> reporter: linda, a city council woman from paris, said she once visited her a powerful politician that offed her a position this way. >> do you want to come on my knee? >> he asked you to sit on his lap? >> of course, i didn't. >> she said it's part of an insidious bargain in french life. >> if you're a woman and you come to ask for something from a politician, you have to give him something back and most of the time it's your body. >> was there a code of silence about this kind of thing? >> no. >> reporter: he says strauss khan was a well-known womanizer and never charged with anything in france. but suddenly tongues are untied. >> do you think france is ready to change? >> i think french women are ready to ask for a change. >> dominique strauss can will not run in next year's presidential election now but he's influencing the debate in ways he never imagined. anthony mason, cbs news, paris. coming up a little bit later on the "early show" the latest on the arizona firefighter as firefighters gain ground. and then politicians in trouble. newt gingrich loses his campaign staff and anthony weiner fights to stay in congress despite the scandal. that's it for this friday. thanks for watching. have a great day! -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ,,,,,,