good morning and welcome to early start. i m ali velshi. zoraida is off today. i like these hours. i m eating a hot dog this morning. i love that about you, ali velshi. i m ashleigh banfield. it is 5:01. it s the holiday but this fourth of july is less about celebration and more about patience for many americans. and in some cases, even survival. because for six days now there have been many of your fellow countrymen with no power in this extraordinary heat wave. at least 20 people have now died since thursday when deadly storms slammed the east, slammed the midwest. and about 1.2 million people are still waiting to get their power back, to get a fan on, to get the ac back. this is right across the country. here are the states without power today. power companies are repairing damaged transmitters as fast as they can, but customers still could be waiting until the weekend. still until the weekend until they can get that electricity back. and all of this, while those u
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