we begin with a blistering and dangerous heat wave and a stranglehold across the western united states. millions of people are sweltering this weekend. more than 40 million are under heat alerts as temperatures soar 15 to 20 degrees above normal. for the fifth day in a wroe, electric companies in california are asking customers to turn off unnecessary lights and appliances in order to save electricity during the late afternoon and evening hours. cnn s chris winn reports from los angeles. reporter: across the west, the scorching heat is showing no signs of cooling off this holiday weekend. our ac at home can only do so much when we re in these triple digits. reporter: in glendale, california, residents are seeking refuge at the galleria shopping mall, taking advantage of the free air conditioning. getting out to the mall and just getting out of the house to get some sort of cool release is nice. reporter: california is in the midst of its longest heat wave of the yea
cnn speaks with asylum seekers in and out of the country. live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom, with kim brunhuber. we begin with scenes of utter devastation in northern california, where wildfires have burned through more than 9,000 acres. the mill fire has left hundreds of houses ablaze in the small town of weed. firefighters say they re making progress, but the fire is still only 25% contained and the nearby mountain fire is 5% contained. streets are littered with charred remains of cars and cinder blocks where houses once stood. officials say help is on the way, with fire strike teams ready across the state to respond when necessary. now, those wildfires are being fueled by a blistering and dangerous heat wave that continues its stranglehold across the western united states this weekend. more than 40 million people are under heat alerts as temperatures soar 15 to 20 degrees above normal for the fifth day in a row electric companies in california are telling cu
what will it take for a successful mission to the moon? and blistering temperatures and dangerous wildfires. 40 million people under heat alerts, the latest on the scorching temps and when we can expect some relief. and an urgent warning from the dea over rainbow-colored fentanyl being used to target young americans by drug cartels. it is sunday, september 4th, thank you so much for waking up with us. good morning to you, boris. happy holiday weekend. hopefully you have some plans after the show today. great to be with you, amara. we got to tell you about this strange story. it was weird and we cover a lot of weird stuff. an airport contractor in mississippi is in custody today, charged with stealing a plane and threatening to crash it into a walmart. this bizarre incident played out as the suspect was circling the skies over tupelo, mississippi, and people on the ground watched the whole thing in disbelief. he right on top of our house. he literally flew over every
incredible. just gives you goosebumps, all the feels, what a loss, and what a way to honor his dad. a special moment from the foo fighters. good morning to you, everyone. welcome to your new day. i m amara walker. i m boris sanchez. there was a bizarre scare in the sky, a man stealing a plane threatening to crash it over a small town in mississippi, even posting a good-bye on facebook. what we re learning about the pilot and how the situation was ultimately resolved. and for a second time, nasa is forced to call off the launch of the artemis i rocket. this time because of an hydrogen leak. how long will it take to fix the issue and when will they try to launch again? plus, over 40 million people under heat alerts today amid dangerous temperatures. we re going to tell you which cities could potentially break records and what it means for the rest of your labor day weekend. and troubling news in the classroom. testing scores plummeting across the country after t
return to the campaign trail. cnn s joe johns joins us from the white house. joe, what does biden have on his agenda for this week? battleground states. he s about to go to wisconsin, pennsylvania, also ohio to a groundbreaking for a semiconductor plant there. a huge $20 billion semiconductor plant. so this time of year the labor day weekend is traditionally the time when campaigns start bearing down. the voters start focusing on the candidates. joe biden s name, of course, nowhere on the ballot. but the fact that he s going to these three battleground states tells you a little bit about what the biden people are thinking. it wasn t very long ago that there were real concerns about the challenges faced here at the white house by the biden administration challenges including inflation, the president s approval numbers, the price of gasoline. now some of those challenges have started to ease up and democrats are thinking things might not be as bad as they first thought they c