under water worries. seepage is detected near the cap well in the gulf. massacre in mexico. drug gangs take the border war to a new horrifying level. and summer swelter. the blistering heat wave that just won't go away. this is the "cbs morning news" just won't go away. this is the "cbs morning news" for monday, july 19, 2010. captioning funded by cbs good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us on this monday. i'm betty nguyen. this morning there may be problems with the cap that stopped the oil leak in the gulf of mexico. the government says there is seepage near the well. also, pressure readings aren't what they should be. the government and bp are at odds over how to proceed. tara mergener is in washington, she joins us now with the latest on this. seems like a lot to deal with

today, tara. >> reporter: that's right. good morning, betty. testing of this containment cap was supposed to be over by now but the fate of this temporary fix is now up in the air. possible seepage detected near the ruptured well could mean trouble for bp's containment cap. in a letter to the company sunday, admiral thad allen, the government's point man for the disaster, ordered the company to quickly investigate and report findings to the government and provide a written procedure for opening the choke valve as quickly as possible. since the well was capped last thursday, officials have been worried the pressure buildup would cause oil or methane gas to begin pouring out. earlier sunday, bp's chief operating officer had expressed hope the cap could stay put until a relief well can permanently seal the leak next month. >> we're hopeful if encouraging signs continue we would be able to continue the integrity tests all the way to where we get the well killed. >> reporter: federal officials

will decide what to do next. the original plan was to pipe more oil to surface ships to relieve some of the pressure, but that would mean additional oil flowing into the gulf for up to three days. >> no one wants to see oil flowing back into the sea and to reinitiate containment would require that to occur. >> reporter: it's unclear how much longer testing of the cap will continue, but gulf coast residents are holding their breath every step of the way. >> we're very optimistic. we see light at the end of the tunnel. it's a very long tunnel but we're making progress. >> reporter: progress they hope isn't stalled by the potential new trouble on the ocean floor. and the admiral has ordered bp to provide a written update by the end of today about its plan to move forward. betty, back to you. >> tara mergener joining us live in washington this morning. tara, thank you. at least three homes have been destroyed by a wildfire in central washington. the fire started sunday afternoon near yakima. at least 10,000 acres have

burned and dozens of homes are threatened. so far, no serious injuries have been reported. in eastern kentucky a state of emergency has been declared after torrential weekend rains. some 200 homes were damaged, two killed and thousands of homes are without tap water. now to the heat. excessive heat warnings have been in effect in parts of the u.s. for two weeks now and no relief in sight. today much of the country will feel like or have actual temperatures exceeding 90 degrees. michelle miller reports. >> reporter: dozens of competitors were treated for heat exhaustion at the new york city triathlon. swimming, biking and running. it is the middle of july. what were you thinking? >> it's hot. it's hot. it felt like 120 degrees. >> it was tough. this is the hardest one i have ever done. >> reporter: it's uncomfortable from coast to coast. in the west the heat is sparking dangerous fires.

warm water in the pacific called an el nino is blamed for getting 2010 off to the hottest start ever around the world. june was a record-breaker in new jersey, delaware and north carolina. and in all 31 states were above average in june, and some scientists believe that could be a trend. >> some temperatures of 105 degrees in the northeast, those type of events are expected to occur much more frequently in the future. >> we've been getting august weather in june. >> reporter: hot weather this spring put tomatoes and corn on the market several weeks early in new jersey and put stress on the produce. >> this is a sun spot. that's created from no water and too much heat. the other thing it does is cause dry tips. if it continues like this, it will continue to cause problems. >> reporter: business is booming at the lighthouse on the jersey shore. when it gets too hot, people just stay inside. >> too hot is to good. last week 103 degrees. it was like a ghost town out here, actually. it's cold, right? >> reporter: oh, thank you.

can i have some? and business here is certainly hot, as feverish beachgoers cool off from the inside-out. a fitting end to national ice cream day. michelle miller, cbs news, long branch, new jersey. in other news, secretary of state hillary clinton travels to afghanistan later today after wrapping up a two-day visit to pakistan. clinton visited and announced that a $7.5 billion aid package will be available for pakistan. the deal not only includes money for the war against the taliban but aid for health and energy projects that she hopes will lead to greater cooperation. >> i tried to create a framework and the strategic dialogue that is not personality driven. it's government to government. it's dealing with problems that the pakistanis have told us they want us to address -- water, energy, electricity and the like. so, we are seeing much closer cooperation, but we will continue to seek more. >> clinton says the new strategy

to battle the taliban, quote, has great chances for success. an early morning train collision killed dozens in eastern india. an express train slammed into a passenger train at a station 125 miles north of calcutta. at least 56 people were killed, 125 others injured. two passenger cars were destroyed. railway officials say sabotage may have been involved. now to the mexican drug wars. a brutal and deadly weekend attack even by drug cartel standards. drug hitmen stormed a birthday party in northern mexico on sunday and in the words of a local prosecutor, shot everything that moved. bill whitaker has details. >> reporter: even in a country grown almost numb to drug violence, this was shocking. a massacre at a party in the northern mexico city of torreon. witnesses say gunmen broke down the door and open fire, killing 17 partygoers, including young

children and women, and wounding at least 18 others. this on the heels of a massive car bomb explosion thursday that killed three people, including a police officer and a medical technician, on the streets of juarez, just across the border from el pass sew, texas. investigators believe it was remotely detonated with a cell phone. the first time in mexico's bloody drug war that drug cartel gangsters have used a car bomb, usually associated with baghdad. more than 25,000 people have been slain in drug violence across mexico since president felipe calderon declared war on the rich, powerful, ruthless drug cartels upon taking office in 2006. if juarez earlier this year, 15 people were killed, many of them high school students, when gunmen open fire on a party. police think it was a case of mistaken identity. in march, three people with ties to the u.s. consulate in juarez were murdered by drug gangsters.

north of acapulco school children learned to duck and cover to survive the increasing violence. it's unclear who is responsible for the torreon massacre. what is clear, mexico's drug war continues unabated. bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. just ahead, facebook prepares to pass a new milestone. we'll tell about you that. plus, we'll toast to this. ancient bottles of bubbly found at the bottom of the sea. first, katie couric with a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news." >> he's delivered over 15,000 babies. and get this, he's 100 years old. what keeps him going? find out in "assignment america" tonight only on the "cbs evening new news". 80 calories? light & fit has 80 calories versus 100 in the other leading brand. i love light & fit. now save money with our new super saver four packs. copd doesn't just make it hard to breathe...

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how was school today? hi, mom. [ girls ] good. ♪ ♪ thank you! ♪ phew! [ ernie ] we make our cookies the way only keebler elves can: with a little something extra. so every bite can be uncommonly good. look at that. one of germany's famous autobah autobahns, the no speed limit highways where it's common for cars to race past at 100 miles

an hour. not on sunday. a 37-mile stretch of normally busy autobahn was shut down for a huge party that drew an estimated 3 million people. that's one way to party. in oakland, california, fbi agents have joined the investigation of a wild freeway shootout. highway patrol officers pulled over a speeding pickup truck sunday. the driver open fire. the officers fired back, hitting the driver several times. he survived because he was wearing a bullet proof vest. the truck contained more weapons and ammunition and the bomb was called in to dispose of suspicious materials. on the "cbs moneywatch," stocks in asia fell back this morning. ashley morrison is here in new york with the latest on that. good morning, ashley. >> good morning to you, betty. asian markets went in reverse. following wall street's lead. hong kong's hang seng was mostly lower. japan's nikkei was closed for a holiday. also this morning, moody's downgraded ireland's government bonds, adding new worry to europe's debt crisis.

today wall street will get the very latest on the housing market. friday the market tanked after disappointing corporate profit reports. the dow lost 261 points. that's a 2.5% drop. while the nasdaq gave back 70. consumers are having second thoughts about the economic recovery. a report released friday shows confidence is at its lowest point in nearly a year, raising fears the recovery is still on the verge of stalling. consumer spending accounts for about 70% of economic growth. more than 2 million americans could soon have their unemployment benefits restored. congress has been fighting over a bill to give americans who are out of work benefits for six months or longer. it's believed senate democrats now have enough votes to break a republican filibuster and could do so as early as tomorrow. facebook is about to reach a major milestone. according to online reports, the six-year-old social networking site is poised to pass the 500 million member mark later on this week.

that would mean it's doubled in just the past year. the company plans to celebrate with what it calls facebook stories, a collection of user stories about how the site has changed their lives. and "inception" got the reception from movie goers. leonardo dicaprio thriller opened big at the box office, taking in $60.5 million. "despicable me" slipped to second place while nicolas cage's "the scorcerer's apprentice" opened in third. betty, i had my date this weekend with my 5-year-old. we went to see "despicable me" and it was so funny. very cute movie. >> i hear "inception" is fabulous. everyone says, have you to go see it. with this kind of heat, hey, it's a good time to go to the theater. >> it was a great day to be inside with the air conditioning, yes. thank you, ashley, joining us live here in new york. vintage champagne is just the thing for a celebration, but you'll have to go to sweden for

the rarest vintage of all. some swedish divers exploring a shipwreck found a load of champagne thought to be more than 200 years old. and the best part? it's still good. the divers opened one bottle and gave it a taste. they say it's sweet and delicious. the oldest known drinkable champagne. we'll toast to that. straight ahead, your monday morning weather. and in sports, look out. an outfield malfunction, cleveland. we'll show you what happened next. [ male announcer ] how about we open up a whole can of getting it done? and get this year's colors up on the wall...this year. let's get better prices... and better paint. let's break out the drop cloths, rollers, brushes, and tape. let's start small. then go big. no matter what the budget. and when we're done, let's take a bow. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. try behr premium plus ultra, it's paint and primer all in one, and rated number one.

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here's a look at the national forecast for you. new york, thunderstorms, 95 degrees. miami, thunderstorms, 89. chicago, sunny, 83. 96 in denver where it's sunny there. l.a., sunny as well, 84. here's another check of the weather for you this morning. the latest satellite picture shows storms moving through the great lakes while it's clear over the pacific coast. later today the northeast, central plains and southwest will see the worst of the heat wave with temperatures near 100 degrees. the northwest will be cool with plenty of sunshine and the southwest will see scattered thunderstorms. in sports, one of the most dominating victories in the long history of the british open. south african louis oosthuizen never gave the rest of the field a chance. he knocked in a 50-foot eagle

putt on the ninth hole of the final round finishing with a 16 under par at st. andrews in scotland. he actually kissed the claret jug trophy and took the opportunity to wish nelson mandela a 92nd happy birthday. to baseball and a wild play in cleveland. the indians' jhonny peralta sends one deep. rayburn leaps for the catch. you see it right here. and smashes through a center field gate. look at it again. remarkable that he wasn't hurt. peralta charges around the bases and scores a three-run inside-the-park home run. the indians won it 7-2. in new york, the yankees and andy pettitte gave up a three-run homer in the first and his day went downhill from there. pitching in the third, pettitte pulled a groin muscle and left the game but the yanks unleashed the big bats and won it 9-5. in the national league, the cubs battered philadelphia ace roy halladay including two-run homers in the second inning and sixth.

chicago won it for the home crowd 11-6. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories. and it may be coming to a backyard near you, so-called granny pods. you, so-called granny pods. [ male announcer ] how about we open up a whole can of getting it done? and get this year's colors up on the wall...this year. let's get better prices... and better paint. let's break out the drop cloths, rollers, brushes, and tape. let's start small. then go big. no matter what the budget. and when we're done, let's take a bow. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. try behr premium plus ultra, it's paint and primer all in one, and rated number one. try behr premium plus ultra, mmmmmm. mmmmmm.

wow! you have got to be kidding me. 80 calories? light & fit has 80 calories versus 100 in the other leading brand. i love light & fit. now save money with our new super saver four packs. oakland are open again... after being shut down for nearly a day. good morning. i'm john kessler. and i'm sydnie kohara. it started with a traffic stop that erupted into a gun battle. 580 near grand avenue was closed for 20 hours. the suspect, who was wearing body armor is hospitalized. coming up at five: what the mother of the suspect says may have been the motive for the shootout. and what was in the truck the bomb squad blew up. shots fired at oakland police officers during another traffic stop in oakland. this one happened overnight. what officers found when they stormed a high- rise apartment building.

the people of walnut creek are hoping for calm. the rally today for former bart police officer, johannes mehserle. and the discovery of what's believed to be the world's oldest drinkable champagne. join us for cbs 5 eyewitness news early edition ... beginning on the "cbs morning news," here's a look at today's weather. more heat and humidity will impact the country, especially in the northeast, central plains and southwest. by the second half of the day, severe weather may break out over the ohio river valley and portions of the northeast. here's another look at this morning's top stories. there may be trouble with the cap covering the leaking oil well in the gulf of mexico. the government says there is seepage near the well. and there is no relief in sight from the heat wave that blankets much of the country. today, 90 degree plus temperatures are expected to continue in most areas. caring for an elderly

relative is a growing concern for many american, but a new high-tech dwelling being unveiled today offers families an alternative to a nursing home. whit johnson has more. >> reporter: when you think of a room in a nursing home, this may not be what comes to mind. but that's what this cottage is designed to be, right in your backyard. >> it feels like this could be your home. and that is very intentional. >> reporter: the idea came from reverend ken, a pastor in salem, virginia, on mission trips overseas he saw caring for the aged was a family affair. >> families should participate in caregiving. they should be an intricate part of that entire process. >> reporter: so, he created the med cottage, 288 square feet. it's designed to help families monitor aging relatives. >> place the blood pressure cuff on your arm. >> reporter: the cottages have a floor-mounted camera called a feet sweep that lets a caregiver

check remotely if the elderly has fallen, while still having privacy. a computer monitors vital signs. >> all of that could be pulled up on your blackberry as the caregiver and that you can interact with them so that you're participating in their life. >> reporter: other companies also make backyard dwellings, but the med cottage is the first primarily designed for medical care. virginia recently passed a bill allowing these structures on residential property. patients need a doctor's authorization and the cottages are supposed to be removed when no longer in use. >> it will become an opportunity for people to use their property illegally. >> reporter: but the aarp believes the idea is a good alternative to a nursing home. >> with the population increasing dramatically, like it is, we really need to look at innovative ideas. this is one of those. >> reporter: so, get ready, the nursing home may be coming to a backyard near you. whit johnson, cbs news, washington. this morning on "the early

show," an update on the oil flow in the gulf. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." s the "cbs morning news." my job is to hunt it down. i'm fred lemond, and i'm in charge of bp's efforts to remove oil from these waters. bp has taken full responsibility for the cleanup and that includes keeping you informed. every morning, over 50 spotter planes and helicopters take off and search for the oil. we use satellite images, infrared and thermal photography to map and target the oil. then, the boats go to work. almost 6,000 vessels. these are thousands of local shrimp and fishing boats organized into task forces and strike teams. plus, specialized skimmers from around the world. we've skimmed over 27 million gallons of oil/water mixture and removed millions more with other methods. we've set out more than 8 million feet of boom to protect the shoreline. i grew up on the gulf coast and i love these waters. we can't keep all the oil from coming ashore, but i'm gonna do everything i can to stop it, and we'll be here as long as it takes

to clean up the gulf.

not even wealthy americans are immune to the recession. some have trouble paying the bills, which makes it necessary for a special kind of repo man whose job it is to collect some big-ticket items. russ mitchell reports. >> reporter: if you own a plane like this ler jet, you don't want to see this guy, cone cage, walking on your runway. people see you as the bad guy. >> we know things are tough for people. >> reporter: the tough economy of the past two years has caused a spike, even among the wealthy, defaulting on loans for planes, boats, luxury rvs and occasionally, race horses. >> we've probably seen, gosh, six, seven times more. not only are the number of cases up since the beginning of '09, but the value. >> reporter: the rich are not necessarily getting richer? >> no, the rich are getting hit hard.

>> reporter: the legal process of taking possession of the plane begins with a call to police. >> yeah, hi, i would like to call in a repossession of an airplane, please. it's a 2008 leer 60. >> reporter: cage says the owner was a high-flying florida real estate investor. now experiencing hard times. >> randy, look at these fires. >> reporter: randy craft, a one-time professional wrestler is the muscle. this has seven seats and a first-rate cockpit. >> now we're looking at everything, the headliner, wood, seats. >> reporter: the inspection complete. the jet is towed to a nearby hangar for safekeeping. >> this plane we picked up in northern florida. >> reporter: cage stores his repos at his orlando headquarters, until he has a chance to resell them for the banks. >> we're living off commissions of the sales. >> reporter: his next job brings to us a marina in central florida. ken, what are you looking for here? >> a 45-foot newer sport fish boat.

>> reporter: a boat, cage says, worth $300,000. >> the debtor is 78 days past due. >> reporter: detective work and a tip lead to the find. >> it's kind of like putting the puzzle together and you get the bits and pieces until you get enough to where you find what you're looking for. that's it. that's it. >> reporter: the owner happens to be on board. >> can i help you? >> yeah. can i talk to you for a second? >> what's up, buddy? >> reporter: and he's not happy to see ken and randy. >> boat's been repossessed. >> this is my life. get off my boat now. >> reporter: but a chat persuades him to abandon ship. and within minutes, against the owner's wishes, the boat is driven off. >> i always get nervous because you never know what to expect. you don't know if the guy going to pull a knife or a gun or beat with you a stick. you never know. >> reporter: do you feel bad when you have to come to somebody's boat, house, hangar,

pick up something that belonged to them ten minutes ago? >> yes. if we're not aware of how people are feeling, we're just thugs. there's no good in that. >> reporter: since cage bought his company back in 2005, he says he has completed more than 1,000 repo jobs. russ mitchell, cbs news, new york. that's the "cbs morning news" for this monday morning. thanks for watching. hope you'll see us later on "the early show." i'm betty nguyen. early show." i'm betty nguyen. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. comments@captioncolorado.com hey, good morning to you. it's monday, the 19th of july. >> still getting dressed there? >> just getting here. >> everybody all set? >> yup. >> okay. >>