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Hello there, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Reggie Aqui. We're gonna start with the death of former North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms.

Helms served five terms in the Senate before illness forced him to retire in 2003. The conservative Republican frequently used his position to speak out against gay rights and federal funding for the arts. He was also known for his opposition¹ to the Voting Rights Act and to the creation of the Martin Luther King Holiday. Helms later worked with the Clinton White House to fight AIDS in Africa. His family has not released the cause of death. He was 86 years old.

Families in Big Sur, California can only watch, hope and wait as firefighters attempt to hold off a rapidly advancing fire. Hundreds of people were forced to flee the area as the fire moved closer to populated areas. The fire has spread over more than 100 square miles and destroyed at least 20 homes.

Senator Barack Obama spent his Fourth of July in Montana. He intended to parade in Butte and spoke² at a family picnic for supporters. The Obama campaign thinks he has a chance in Montana which has voted for Democratic presidential candidates three times in the past 60 years. Meanwhile Senator John McCain celebrated³ the holiday at home in Arizona. McCain did not have any campaign events scheduled for today and same case for the next few days.

Protesters made things a little tougher for President Bush at his appearance Friday at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello estate. The president's speech was interrupted several times by people shouting. Some calling him a war criminal. At least six demonstrators were escorted out of the citizenship⁴ ceremony. More than 70 men and women from 30 countries became Americans there today.

Now every Fourth of July, the great American pastime of eating hotdogs is serious business at New York's Coney Island. Just look at that. Competitive eaters from around the world gathered for the hotdog eating championship. Now there was some drama there today because the contest ended in a tie. So of course they couldn't leave it there, they staged an eat-off. And there you see the winner, to the right of your screen, defending champion Joey Chestnut⁵. He beat the six-time title-holder Takeru, I knew I wasn’t natural with his name, Takeru Kobayashi, there we go. Chestnut took home a 20,000-dollar prize. Almost 60 hotdogs.

Woo, alright. Those are the headlines this hour. Please stick with CNN for more on these stories and the other news of the day.