Dale Hurd

The U.S. national debt is hitting a staggering $40 trillion milestone this week. The Treasury Department says the debt is already around $39.9 trillion and climbing by the second – you can watch it spiraling here. And there's another concern: the cost of paying that debt is climbing. Annual interest payments are now expected to top $1 trillion, which is approximately what the country spends on national defense.

Dangerous weather systems have hammered states from the Midwest to Hawaii, dumping record amounts of rain and destroying roads and bridges. Days of relentless rain have led to historic flooding, taking the lives of at least seven people in Indiana, including a four-year old boy. Across the Hoosier State, raging floodwaters washed out roads, submerging cars and even reaching the roofs of homes.

Wildfires continue to burn out of control in the West, where firefighters are working to contain nearly 100 large fires. Hundreds of thousands of acres have been scorched in Utah, where two pilots were killed fighting a 174-square-mile wildfire that's still burning. Their helicopter, flying in an area of steep terrain, crashed, igniting another fire.