zi r zoraida sambolin is off today. we begin with breaking news. hazmat crews at the scene of this spectacular fire. it's raging in ohio right now after a train that was pulling several tankers derailed just before 2:00 this morning eastern time. this was an accident that happened in the north end of columbus. flames can be seen apparently for miles. witnesses reporting in that they could see this a long way off. christine romans has been monitoring the fire and ensuing issues that will come with it. she joins us now live with the story. >> residents were also saying they could feel it and they could hear it for miles away. 100 cars on this train, four or five of them, looks like they derailed. four or five of those were hauling tankers of chemicals. police say possibly sulfur. a local media report saying four or five of these are burning, raging here. in fact, it is so intense the flames, they're trying to get a look aboveground, trying to bring in air support to see exactly what's happening before they send in the hazmat crews. they have been sent to the scene. these are live pictures you can see from wbns. live right now you can see the scene. evacuations have been ordered for anyone within one mile. this is the wineland park area. again, this is columbus, ohio. no word what caused the derailment. we know it was 100 cars on this train. roughly four or five of them derailed. no injuries reported. you can see from our shot here it looks as though there are homes there. this is a populated area. a little bit industrial around there. explosion could be felt and, again, seen for miles. folks have said there is a one-mile radius evacuation of this zone. this happened right around, i think, just before 2:00 a.m. you've got a couple hours, three hours here of these raging flames as they try to get this chemical, looks like chemical fire, under control outside of columbus. >> wow. obviously, good thing that we've at least got a few hours before any kind of rush hour commute if they're shutting down that much of a radius. they're certain they know what those kem cchemicals are yet? >> they know there are kchemicas on some of these cars. could be sulfur. there are exhaustive records. >> first reports came in gasoline. that might have been a guess based on what was on fire. >> they're bringing in air support. they've got such a jumbled scene there and such high flames. hundreds of feet into the air. they're trying to get a real sense of which cars are off. what those cars look like. what could be burning. what kind of reaction could be happening. and then they're sending in the hazmat teams to make sure they can try to contain it. >> if it's fluid, where is it going, what do they need to do in terms of protecting water supply. >> we have these heat waves going through the midwest as well. who knows what the fire conditions are like in the surrounding area at this point. looks like they've got it really localized into that one spot. >> we've had a break in the heat the last couple of days, too. that's actually good for fire crews who will be in here. >> we'll keep on top of that, christine. thanks very much. another dog and pony show about to unfold on capitol hill. the republican controlled house preparing to vote this afternoon to repeal president obama's health care overhaul. this is mostly symbolic and meaningless. purely politics. because in an election year it's about the talking points. >> it's time for washington to see its job as encouraging small business, not crushing it. and so i look at obamacare, for instance, i'd get rid of it. turn back to a setting where the states are able to care for their own people in the way they think best. >> athena jones is live from washington. good morning, athena. what on earth are republicans hoping to accomplish with this vote that has no chance of passing? >> good morning, ali. of course, as you mentioned, it is all about talking points. republicans want to fire up their base. there are a lot of republican voters who don't like this health care law. despite what the supreme court has said. you might remember that right after the ruling, within hours of the ruling, they already had scheduled today as a day to take this vote. it's going to be the 33rd vote to try to take some sort of action to defund or dismantle all or part of this health care law. this is really a way to keep -- keep the democrats having to publicly support this and to drive up public opposition to a law that isn't really polling well. it's likely to pass the house, but it's not going to get anywhere in the senate, ali. >> what happens after this vote fails? >> well, it's likely to pass the house. i mean, republicans control the house. they may even get a few democrats to support it. people who are under pressure in their districts to come over to the republican side. but, you know, the senate as you know is controlled by democrats. it's not going to go anywhere there. even if by some miracle it were to somehow pass the senate, the president certainly will not sign it. he would veto it. so this is really an attempt to get everyone revved up to keep this as a hot topic. it's been a hot topic, as you know, since the whole debate over the law and since the law was signed. you know, the tea party and the death panels and all those events of that summer. they're keeping it on the front burner for their republican base. >> i hope voters get smart to this nonsense of keeping things on the front burner by holding votes that are supposed to fail versus engaging in partisan discussion to actually solve problems. i hope that people take note of the people who hold these votes and hold them to account during the election. you know what else, athena? i hope i grow hair. i think the likelihood of both of those things happening is extremely small. good to see you. athena jones in washington. such a waste of time. such a waste of time. it's the very stuff that angers people about politics. >> yeah. frustration, energy. >> put your energies towards getting something done. >> i hear yo > sing it, ali. >> i'm late to the game voicing what americans have been voicing. they'll take it to the polls with them. >> why are they at 79% disapproval rating in congress these days? this may be one of the reasons. dog and pony show. at 6:30 we're going to continue this. >> another conversation about health care with republican congresswoman nan hayworth of new york. she is, by the way, the only female physician in congress. i think she's going to have some particular insight into health care. for continuing coverage of the health care debate keep it on cnn. monitor cnn.com throughout the day. >> i'll get ali off the ledge and switch gears. banned for life. this does not bode well for lance armstrong. three of lance armstrong's closest cycling advisers, two doctors and a trainer have received what's really considered to be the death penalty in sports from the u.s. anti-doping agency. they were all associated with lance armstrong's former u.s. postal service cycling team. the agency says they were trafficking in performance enhancing drugs during all or part of lance armstrong's seven tour de france victories. armstrong himself is not part of that. but he is fighting charges as well that he used banned drugs. he filed a lawsuit. it was dismissed. he went ahead and refiled that lawsuit in a flash, really. all within a matter of days. a lawsuit against the anti-doping agency to try to help keep their case from going forward. stay tuned to this space. it may be dismissed again. it may go forward. >> there's been anti-doping agency news almost every day. one might start to wonder whether they are on a performance enhancing drug. >> good point. listen, the controversy is raging. this guy has gone through hundreds of tests. he's cleared hundreds of tests. he wants people to know, this could also just be really bad press. >> yeah. he's refiled it. we'll follow it closely. trucks aren't meant to fly. doesn't mean they can't. after leading police on a high-speed chase check this out. kip arnold, an l.a. unified schoolteacher launched his truck in a suspected suicide attempt. he was accused of unlawful sexually activity with a minor. he's been under surveillance by authorities. around was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for evaluation. the district attorney will review the case to determine what charges, if any, are going to be filed. >> let me guess. a defense attorney is looking into the competency issue at this very moment. the world health organization may now actually have the answer. they say they know what caused that mysterious illness that killed more than 60 children in cambodia. their conclusion is this. it's a combination of pathogens, including that much discussed enterovirus 71. there's this part of the equation. steroids. doctors who used steroids which can suppress the immune system, that apparently worsened the illness in the majority of these patients, hastening their deaths. those deaths triggered a lot of fears among travelers and just people worldwide concerned about this collection of deaths. in the next hour of "early start" our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta, who has gone to cambodia to investigate this, is going to join us live with some of his findings. >> he's there, right? >> live for a couple days. he's been in what he's called 24 hours of hell where these kids have died within 24 hour of contracting the disease. >> really something. developing this morning, a mystery odor is sickening a flight crew. it forced an emergency landing. us airways flight from charlotte, north carolina, to rome was diverted to philadelphia last night after the flight attendants told the captain they were feeling sick and smelled something strange. an airline spokesperson says five crew members were hospitalized and released. passengers were evacuated and put on another flight. no passengers fell ill. just the flight attendants. very, very interesting. we still don't have any word on what caused the odor or what it smelled like. we'll stay on top of that. >> the champagne hot air balloon trip you keep promising to take me on? >> yes, indeed. >> we're not going. >> why? >> look at this video. >> oh! >> yeah, yeah. >> it feels a lot less worse with a lot of champagne in you. >> that's a dry heat. you can see. this video is of the hard landing in arizona that these passengers in a hot air balloon took. it was a news chopper on its way home just spotted this. like lucky breaking news for them. they watched this as it fell in an indian reservation field not too far from scottsdale, arizona. the reporter says the high winds were dragging this basket through a field about 900 feet. so obviously the reporter thinking, gosh, this could be a tragedy we're covering. found out, no, not so. five people who were in that balloon basket walked away. no injuries. >> dusty as hell. >> very dirty. and having to do some splaining to the guy who owns the balloon, i suppose. don't know what caused it. apparently they're okay. apparently the corn got seriously messed up. >> glad everybody's safe in that one. hot in some places in the country. excessive heat warnings in effect all day today in southern california after the mercury hit, are you sitting down? 119 degrees. 115 on that thermometer there. it got up to 119 yesterday in palm springs. highs today could hit 121. the low in the 90s. rob marciano is back. what's going on? >> morning, guys. it's simple. the heat that was across the eastern third of the country the last two weeks has shifted to the west. enjoy the reprieve for those who live east of the mississippi. you've got it. the folks in the at the scene ert southwest and quite frankly the northwest as well enduring some heat. in some cases record breaking. believe it or not the 119 in palm spring z was not a record. we don't have it on the list. thermal, california, appropriately named, 117. vegas to 114. yeah. it's a dry heat sort of, kind of. we actually get a little bit of humidity in july and august. for the most part it's nothing like what we see out east. still, you're talking actual temperatures of 110, 115, 120. that's what it feels like when we have the humidity and temperatures around 95, 100, which is what we had the eastern third of the country last week. 112 expected in vegas. pacific northwest toasty in medford. meanwhile a cool 87 degrees, my goodness, three piece suit or down jacket in new york city. 83 degrees today. enjoy that. >> a down jacket? dude, you've been gone a long time. >> a shock to the system after the 100s. >> i do think there was a little bit of dig involved in that three piece suit thing. whatever. >> no, no. >> nice to have you back, too, rob. >> good to see you, ali. >> nice tie. >> excellent tie. invisible kind. by the way, we started this program with breaking news. we're continuing to follow the breaking news. it's in ohio. these are live pictures this morning. that is not a good sight when you're talking about a train, tracks and also a commute that's only a few hours away. we are watching this because there are chemicals onboard that train. the latest from the authorities in ohio, just how dangerous this could be, and whether they got a handle on it, coming up. 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were hauling chemicals. about 100 cars on that train. a few of them have derailed. one of the -- some of the speculation is that there may be sulfur on that train. residents reported seeing and feeling an explosion from miles away. we'll keep an eye on that very closely. the fight to keep mississippi's only abortion clinic open could come to a real head today. because a judge is expected to rule on a challenge to a new state law that requires the clinic's doctors who perform there be board certified as ob/gyns but then also have hospital admitting privileges. that's a key. hospital admitting privileges. a lot of the doctors travel in to actually work at that clinic so they don't have those privileges. the sponsors of the law say this is just a safety issue, plain and simple. need to make sure anybody going in there is going to be okay and the doctor can go with them to the hospital if need be. but the opponents say not about safety at all. it's about making sure that through technicalities they can shut down that clinic. cnn's david mattingly is live outside the federal courthouse in jackson, mississippi. david, the arguments could be heard as well today. possibly a decision. but what's critical here is that this affects a massive area. because it is the only clinic in that state. >> reporter: that's right. the stakes couldn't be higher right now for what is the last remaining abortion clinic in the state of mississippi. if it closes, then the thousands of patients it sees every year could have to go out of state, over a couple of hundred miles to other clinics outside the state lines. indeed, there is a lot of people watching today even here and around the country to see how this federal court steps into this issue. but right now, there are three doctors performing abortions at that clinic. two of them it sha-- two of the not have admitting privileges at local hospitals. the clinic says if this law is allowed to stand, they will have to close down. others are saying that this is about patient health. they're looking after the health and safety of the women who go there for abortions. but at the same time, there's a very clear political agenda. the politicians here have made the court -- given the court reason to believe that might be going on. the governor himself, governor phil bryant has campaigned saying his goal is an abortion-free mississippi. when he signed this law into effect earlier this year, he said it was the first step toward that goal of an abortion-free mississippi. so a clear political agenda here. you know the court's going to be looking at all of that. but regardless of what happens today, you don't have to be a legal scholar to know that this is just the first step in the federal court system. there will be obviously inevitable appeals to whatever happens today. opponents to abortion are looking at this as another opportunity, perhaps, to ov overturn roev. wade. 20 minutes after the hour. let's get you up to date on what's going on in the news. christine romans is here with this morning's top stories. >> good morning. house republicans planning a mostly symbolic and meaningless vote this afternoon to repeal the president's health care reforms. this measure has virtually no chance of getting through the senate or past the president. the white house criticizing republican leaders for refighting old political battles. penn state university's former president says he was never informed of any ins tent involving jerry sandusky that described sexual abuse or criminal behavior. that's according to graham spanier's lawyers. spanier met last friday with investigators for former fbi director louis free. free was hired by the university and is expected to release the findings of his investi