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U.S. Raises Tensions with Iran; SoCal Fires Due to Arson?

Aired October 25, 2007 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Thursday morning, it is October 25th. Here is what is on the rundown. The Southern California wildfires. Hopes lift up as winds die down. We're on the front lines to update you on the firefighters' advance.

HARRIS: Also, evacuees homecoming. Some have prayers answered, others return to rubble. You will hear their stories.

COLLINS: And suspicious fire start, authorities believe at least one of the fires was intentionally set. The investigation in the NEWSROOM.

Breaking news this hour now. The focus, Iran. We are told the Bush administration plans to pose new sanctions against the country, the toughest in more than 20 years. That word coming in just a short time ago from State Department and administration officials. The official announcement, though, is happening right now. Here is what we know and want to get there directly to the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, who is at the podium.

Let's listen in for a moment.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: ... as a terrorist financier. We are also designating several additional Iranian individuals and organizations. What this means is that no U.S. citizen or private organization will be allowed to engage in financial transactions with these persons and entities.

In addition, any assets that these designees have under U.S. jurisdiction will be immediately frozen. These actions will help to protect the international financial system from the elicit activities of the Iranian government. And they will provide a powerful deterrent to every individual and company that thinks of doing business with the Iranian government.

I want to repeat, the United States and our partners are fully committed to a diplomatic solution with Iran. If the Iranian government fulfills its international obligation to suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, I will join my British, French, Russian, Chinese, and German colleagues. And I will meet with my Iranian counterpart any time, anywhere.

We will be open to the discussion of any issue. But if Iran rulers choose to continue down a path of confrontation, the United States will act with the international community to resist these threats of the Iranian regime.

Let me finish by saying a few words directly to the Iranian people. We, in the United States, have no conflict with you. We want you to have every opportunity to develop and prosper in dignity, including the peaceful use of nuclear power.

So we hope that your government will embrace the path of cooperation that we and the international community continue to offer. And now I would like to invite Hank Paulson -- Secretary Paulson, to speak.

HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Condi, thank you. And good morning.

Iran exploits its global financial ties to pursue nuclear capabilities, to develop ballistic missiles, and fund terrorism. Today, we are taking additional steps to combat Iran's dangerous conduct and to engage financial institutions worldwide to make the most informed decisions about those with whom they choose to do business.

The Iranian regime's ability to pursue nuclear and ballistic nuclear programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions depends on its access to international commercial and financial systems. Iran also funnels hundreds of millions of dollars each year through the international financial system to terrorists.

Iran's banks aid this conduct using a range of deceptive financial practices intended to evade even the most stringent risk management controls. In dealing with Iran, it is nearly impossible to know one's customer and be assured that one is not unwittingly facilitating the regime's reckless behavior and conduct.

The recent warning by the Financial Action Task Force, the world's premiere standard-setting body for countering terrorism finance and money-laundering confirms the extraordinary risk that accompany those who do business with Iran.

We have been working closely and intensely with our international partners to prevent one of the world's most dangerous regimes from developing the world's most dangerous weapons. Part of that strategy involves denying supporters of Iran's elicit conduct access to the international financial system.

These actors should find no safe haven in the reputable world of finance and commerce. The U.N. Security Council has required member states to freeze the assets of and prohibit persons from doing business with a number of entities and individuals supporting Iran's nuclear or ballistic missile activities, including Iran's state-owned bank, Sepah.

Today, as Condi said, we are designating Iran's Bank Melli, Bank Mellat, and Bank Saderat. These are three of Iran's largest banks and they all have facilitated Iran's proliferation activities or support of terrorism.

We are also designating the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps for proliferation activities and its Quds Force for providing military support to the Taliban and other terrorist organizations. The IRGC is so deeply entrenched in Iran's economy and commercial enterprises, it is increasingly likely that if you're doing business with Iran, you're doing business with the IRGC.

We call on responsible banks and companies around the world to terminate any business with Bank Melli, Bank Mellat, Bank Saderat and all companies and entities of the IRGC.

As awareness of Iran's deceptive behavior has grown, many banks around the world have decided as a matter of prudence and integrity that Iran's business is simply not worth the risk.

It is plain and simple, reputable institutions do not want to be bankers to this dangerous regime. We will continue to work with our international partners to prevent Iran from abusing the international financial system and to advance its elicit conduct. Thank you.

RICE: Thank you very much.

COLLINS: All right. So there you have Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson talking about these new sanctions that are going to be put into place. As we mentioned earlier, this is basically the toughest sanctions that we could be seeing here in 20 years against the country of Iran. He also mentioned three Iranian banks being designated as terror financiers. We are going to be following that story and try and get a little bit more information for you.

Meanwhile, though, we just want to let you know a little bit more off the top here. Iran's Quds Force is also facing these sanctions that we've been telling you about. The force is a secretive branch of Iran's military. It is accused of supporting Shiite militias in Iraq. And these sanctions will help Washington block money and assets that the Revolutionary Guard has in the U.S. So it is the latest in a series of financial steps now to tighten the noose on Iran's government.

As I said, we will be updating you throughout the morning on this late-breaking story right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And also unfolding this hour in Southern California, the winds die down. A story we've been following since Sunday. And a renewed sense of hope stirs among the ashes. Fire crews are gaining ground on this, the fifth day of raging wildfires. The hot, dry Santa Ana winds are expected to all but disappear today. Boy, what good news is that, allowing firefighting planes to bombard the fires from the air.

Almost 100 planes could take part in a massive aerial assault across the region. Thousands of homes remain in danger, 1,600 have already been destroyed. Losses are estimated at more a billion dollars and counting. The number is staggering here. President Bush will tour the region later today. He will view the devastation by air and meet with some of those chased from their homes.

Meanwhile, federal investigators are focusing on whether arsonists are to blame for any of the fires. Rolling hills once dotted with multimillion dollar homes, today it is a landscaped of charred, smoldering ruins. CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Rancho Bernardo.

Chris, good to see you. Hey, how about your day yesterday? You had an opportunity to ride along with those fighting the fires from the air. Talk to us about some of the challenges they're facing.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you talked about the winds early on. And the other thing, Tony, is just the shear size of these fires. That is why the introduction of the DC-10 was so important. But that plane is part of a larger controversy. You see, some officials in Orange County say fires there could have been controlled early on if they had more air support, like the DC-10.

Governor Schwarzenegger says winds were gusting up to 100 miles per hour the first two days of the fire. And those planes would have been grounded anyway. Well, we wanted to see this massive air tanker for ourselves from the air.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): There it goes, 12,000 gallons of fire retardant dropped from a DC-10, blanketing part of the Harris fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine-10 and 9-0, that looked really good, right where we needed it.

LAWRENCE: The plane was deployed to that part of San Diego County after shifting winds moved the fire north and east and prompted new evacuation warnings. An average air tanker can cover a few hundred yards of the Harris fire, but the DC-10 can lay down a fire line three-quarters of a mile long.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see a northwest wind today.

LAWRENCE: It's 7:30 in the morning when the pilots get their first briefing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That fire is 196,000 acres, 10 percent containment.

LAWRENCE: The fire retardant is loaded at 8:00 a.m., and 15 minutes later the flight crew is suiting up inside the DC-10. At 8:45, we board what's called the lead plane. It flies the actual route ahead of the DC-10 and tells that pilot where to make his drop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, let me make a run through there. Just watch me.

LAWRENCE (on camera): It's 9:45 in the morning when we come in for our first drop, flying right into the heart of the Harris fire at the same altitude as the DC-10. (voice-over): It would take a typical tanker all day to do what the DC-10 does in minutes.

(on camera): When we fly into the fire, the turbulence is a little jarring, at least to me. The pilots don't seem fazed by it at all.

(voice-over): They hit their target this time but sometimes they miss. It could be a miscommunication between the two planes on where to start the drop.

LYNN FLOCK, LEAD PLANE PILOT: And sometimes you just misjudge the winds. And it just goes where you didn't expect it to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Yes, so nothing is perfect, especially under these conditions. And when you consider these planes aren't flying by computer navigation, this is all seat of the pants, visual flying -- Tony.

HARRIS: Boy. And, Chris, once again, an all-out assault today? The winds, we understand, dying down, essentially gone. So it sounds like it gives the air teams an opportunity to really get at this today?

LAWRENCE: Yes. Any plane that can fly probably will fly today, minimal winds, nothing that is going to really affect these planes much at all today.

HARRIS: Very good, all right. Chris Lawrence for us in Rancho Bernardo, California. Chris, thank you.

COLLINS: And now a close look at the wildfires' toll. At least six people have died, 78 others are hurt. The flames have scorched more than 462,000 acres. That's up to 723 square miles now. At least 1,600 homes have been destroyed. And there are 12 active wildfires, 12 others are 100 percent contained. So a bit of good news there. Any time we can say that word contained in all of this, obviously some good news.

HARRIS: Absolutely. Let's check in with Reynolds Wolf and talk a little bit more about the fact that these winds, Reynolds, dying down, giving the firefighters on the ground and in the air an opportunity to go to work here.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, one of the things (INAUDIBLE), not only are the winds going to die down, but the direction of the wind is going to shift. It is going to become more of a flow from the ocean, which is going bring in, well, a little bit more moisture to the atmosphere, at least in that part of the world, bringing in higher dew points, higher humidity, and that is going to help.

Let's go back in time and talk about some of these wind gusts, some of these just tremendous, well, beyond hurricane-force winds, from Laguna Beach -- Laguna Peak, rather, Whitaker Peak, Warm Springs, Wiley Ridge, Camp Nine in excess of 100 miles an hour in a couple of locations.

And we're expecting things, as you mentioned, Tony, to ease up today. The reason why is because we're going to see a lot of things change in the atmosphere. Now for Monday and Tuesday this was your setup. You had high pressure that is setting over the Rockies and parts of the Great Basin.

You had a lot of that wind moving through those mountain passes which compressed the wind, caused that air to really warm up, which gave us many record highs throughout parts of the -- Southern California.

Now as we make our way from yesterday and into today, we're going to see this frontal boundary drift its way down through the Golden State and as it gets a little bit closer, that's going to bring in that onshore flow, onshore flow that is going to provide more moisture to the atmosphere and the winds should be a little bit weaker.

Now as we get to the mid-day hours local time, that's when it really should develop, that onshore flow anywhere from five to 15 miles an hour. Now if you happen to be on the beach, that will feel fairly strong but a much better situation than what we had with those winds of 80, 90, even 100 miles an hour.

Let's send it back to you.

HARRIS: We love that map, onshore breeze. We love it.

WOLF: Makes a little difference.

HARRIS: All right. Reynolds, thank you. Yes, absolutely.

COLLINS: Yes, it does. Reynolds, thanks.

Firefighters gaining ground, as we've been telling you this morning. Fire investigators, though, looking for clues. Are arsonists to blame? CNN's Keith Oppenheim has the very latest on the investigation now.

Keith, what are firefighters telling you about all of this?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm talking about the Santiago Canyon fire, Heidi, and here in Orange County, we have authorities working now with the FBI and the ATF and they are confirming that they believe that this big fire was set by arsonists on Sunday evening around 6:00 p.m.

They're looking at three different locations. And investigators now tell me that at two of them, they've confirmed that they believe fire was set at those outdoor locations. They're gathering evidence there. This morning, I spoke to a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority, Kris Concepcion. And he gave me some sense of what they're looking for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRIS CONCEPCION, ORANGE CO. FIRE AUTHORITY: They want to rule out that, for example, it wasn't a car's catalytic converter that was dropping hot embers that caused the fire. They don't want to rule out that it wasn't some other sort of accident. Before they declare it's an arson, they want to make sure that -- absolutely sure that it actually is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: Just keep in mind, this is a very big fire now. The Santiago Canyon fire has burned 22,000 acres, taken down 22 buildings, including 14 homes. And there is a whole lot of manpower out there. More than 1,000 firefighters are trying to protect 3,000 homes from going up in flames still.

And there's reward money out there. At least $70,000 reward from the Orange County sheriff's office for anyone who has information that would lead to an arrest in this case.

And, Heidi, they may increase that reward money later this morning. We should get some sense it may go up to $100,000 or more. Back to you.

COLLINS: Yes, Keith, we've actually been hearing a little bit about that, so it will be interesting to see how that goes. And certainly hope that that will bring in some of the clues that they may need from people in the area. CNN's Keith Oppenheim out in Orange County for us.

Keith, thank you.

HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM, shifting winds, massive flames, firefighters on the offensive today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: For a fire like this, there's nothing they can do at this point to save the house, but they're watching it burn to make sure that no spot fires occur, that the wind doesn't carry embers. That is what has happened to this tree over here. So they would rush to put that out quickly because they don't want that to spread to somewhere else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: CNN's Anderson Cooper is on the frontlines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Forced to flee and hospitalized for days because of lung problems. Now, living in a stadium. That is the story of Katherine Burnett of Ramona. She is joining us now this morning to tell us a little bit more about her story.

Good morning to you, Katherine. First, our condolences for the situation that you and so many people are finding themselves in, in Southern California. Tell us a little bit about what happened for you. How did you end up at Qualcomm this morning?

KATHERINE BURNETT, EVACUEE FROM RAMONA, CALIF.: Well, we got evacuated Sunday. Had no means of transportation to get out of there. So we took our manager's truck to Oceanside and then we took a Greyhound to downtown trying to find a hotel, but there was none available because of the medical convention.

Then I ended up getting sick and was transported to (INAUDIBLE) Hospital. And then we got over here to Qualcomm yesterday.

COLLINS: Well, when you say you started getting sick, you know, we have been talking quite a bit about the air quality and what it can do to your lungs. Tell me a little bit about what you were feeling.

BURNETT: I have lung nodules. And I have -- they're not sure what they are from at this point. And I have COPD, so I couldn't breathe in the air. And I started coughing up a lot and then ended up vomiting and stuff all over the place because the air was so thick in Ramona.

COLLINS: What is that like? I mean, do you feel like you can't breathe? I mean, are you wearing a mask? I mean, what are you doing at that point when you have that pain?

BURNETT: There's nothing you can do.

COLLINS: Yes.

BURNETT: Your throat gets tight and you just can't breathe and it's like at the point it's so dry where you end up coughing up everything in sight.

COLLINS: What were they able to do for you in the hospital?

BURNETT: They put me on different breathing machines and they basically cleared up my lungs pretty good at this point. But I take a Bayer (ph) and albuterol and some steroids to help my lungs right now.

COLLINS: And how are you feeling this morning?

BURNETT: Tired. I just want to go home or somewhere. I mean, it's funny, because a year from today, if today is the 26th or tomorrow, I had a severe car accident on 78, I went off a 50-foot cliff.

COLLINS: Goodness sakes. This has obviously been a really tough year for you, Katherine.

BURNETT: Exactly.

COLLINS: Tell me a little bit about your house. Do you know the fate of your house in Ramona?

BURNETT: We don't know at this time. They gave us a number to call and all I know is all of the power and water and gas is off in Ramona. They haven't said where the homes are or what has been burnt, but I lived a couple of blocks from the airport on Montecito (ph) Road.

COLLINS: OK. I wish I had some information for you, but, unfortunately, I don't have it either. We're going to stay in touch with you, Katherine. Katherine Burnett has been in the hospital a couple of days trying to get her lungs cleared up in all of this. We certainly appreciate your time, Katherine, and the very best of luck to you, OK?

BURNETT: No problem. Thank you.

COLLINS: Thanks.

HARRIS: Katherine has been through some things.

COLLINS: Yes, very much so.

HARRIS: Imagine this for a moment. Surrounded, that is how you find yourself, just surrounded and trapped by wildfires.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You couldn't see a lot of times more than 10 feet in front of you. The embers are flying through like crazy. You can't breathe real well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Surviving the fires on a patch of dirt.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE) cost of California's wildfires to the state's insurers could surpass I believe it's $1 billion. So how does that compare to other recent natural disasters? Ali Velshi in New York City "Minding Your Business."

And, Ali, I'll tell you what, for most of us, the comparisons begin and frankly end with 2005 and Hurricane Katrina.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Correct. That is the baseline. Now in fairness to everybody who has lost a house, it doesn't really matter what the big numbers are, your house is gone, you need to replace it. But a billion dollars, as you said, we talked about this yesterday. That is the projection of how much insured damage there is.

The insurance companies have told us it is -- the last update was about $560 million or $600 million. But it will probably get up to a billion dollars. That is the amount that was insured that hopefully is going to replaced.

Hurricane Katrina was more than $40 billion. So a substantial difference. And because it sort of took out Louisiana -- took out New Orleans, it took out the economic center of the state. In this case, the major economic centers have sort of been spared.

So as you and I discussed, Tony, what tends to happen after a disaster is it tends to generate economic activity because people have to buy all of those new things for their home and start rebuilding again. So the issue here is, will people who make claims get paid, you know?

The problem with Katrina is there are still people who haven't been paid because there have been disputes as to what actually destroyed their house. You own the house, you're not really all that concerned with what destroyed it, it's gone.

HARRIS: And what is your best thinking on this, that settling the claims with insurers in California is going to be a pretty straightforward process?

VELSHI: Boy, do I hope so. And we'll be on it if it isn't. But one would argue that the causes are clearer here, although as far as I'm concerned, they were clearer in Katrina, too, it's a hurricane.

The issue, I think, that most homeowners are going to face is not necessarily on the claims front. It's going to be actually getting the work done, because...

HARRIS: On the rebuilding contractors and supplies and...

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Yes, I mean, where are going to find the contractors, the wood, all that kind of stuff? So that is going to be a bit of an issue. And by the way, as those services and products are in demand, those prices are going to go up. So you might get your check from insurance, but you're going to have to pay a premium to get the contractors out there or to get the tiles or the wood or the roofing material that you need.

I'm going to be speaking to a number of the companies who supply this kind of material to get some sense of what they're doing to get it into the right place.

HARRIS: OK. There he is, "Minding Your Business," Ali Velshi. Ali, great to see you, thanks, man.

VELSHI: You, too.

HARRIS: Coming up on the bottom of the hour, welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins. A quick glance now to catch you up on the five-day firestorm in California. That is right, today is day five. And look, the Santa Ana winds are now a little bit calmer. So of course, that is helping firefighters and allowing some residents to go back to their homes. But for about 1,600 families, homes are now smoldering rubble.

There are still about a dozen active wildfires and 12 others are 100 percent contained. I didn't think we would quite be there at this point, so that is some good news. But President Bush is now on his way to California. He is set to take a helicopter tour of the disaster zone in just about three hours from now. So, of course, we will be watching for that.

HARRIS: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) check of weather now? Let's find out where things stand. Reynolds Wolf in the severe weather center.

Reynolds, good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You know, given the enormity of this disaster for Southern California, 1,600 homes destroyed, more threatened. We want to know is the government spending enough to get the job done. We're keeping them honest.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I wish we could keep the market honest or at least on our way.

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: We want to go ahead and look at it now. DOW Jones Industrial averages the opening bell for you this Thursday morning. There you have it. Down about four points well. Wow, that was weird. OK, now it's down less than one. But anyway, obviously, things are changing all over the place. The NASDAQ is also actually just up one point so now we're now to the positive on the DOW too. So, that's a little bit better than just a moment ago. We're going to be watching these numbers for you as we always do. Some more talk today about the central bank and what they may be doing in order to calm the market. Just a tad. We'll take that, if we can. We're back in a moment here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: In our continuing coverage of the Southern California wildfires, we have tried to put you as close to the action on the ground as possible. It doesn't get much closer than this on the frontlines with the firefighters. CNN's Anderson Cooper spent the day with the men and women who are fighting and saving homes and lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sound of burning wood and brush echoes in the canyons. Firefighters were having a hard time getting ahead of the flames.

With resources stretched so thin, it's important for firefighters to prioritize which blazes they're going to address.

Crews dug up underbrush, creating fire lines hoping to cut off the quick-moving flames. But small spot fires kept igniting and exhausted crews struggled to catch up.

They're trying to put our spot fires. That is really the big concern today. They can't address the fire directly because the winds are shifting simply too fast even though the winds have died down today. So, they're just trying to address, put out the small little fires and make sure the embers don't keep spreading. The winds have died down and that's allowed more aircraft to fly, dropping (INAUDIBLE), a chemical flame retardant. Wind gusts, however, are still a problem and because of them, firefighters are unable to fight the fire the way they'd like.

If the winds weren't so fast and so high, you could be more aggressive in terms of hitting the actual fire but right now, you basically just have to play defense.

RON ELDRIDGE, CAPTAIN CALIFORNIA FIRE: Absolutely. If we didn't have the wind conditions and the humidity that we have, we could put hose on the ground and fight the fire right on the brink of the fire and put it out as we go.

COOPER: More than 450 buildings have been destroyed or damaged so far and that number is growing. This house was too far gone by the time firefighters arrived.

EDDIE GUIDI, FIREFIGHTER: When we came upon this, this was halfway involved already. Tried to make a save on it. We determined that it was unsafe.

COOPER: So, in a fire like this, there is nothing they can do, at this point, to save the house but they're watching it to burn to make sure no spot fires occur, that the windows and carry ambers. That's what's happened to this tree over here, so they rush to put it out quickly because they don't want that to spread to somewhere else.

All they are able to save from this house is a television and a computer. The Harris Fire has killed one person so far and injured more than two dozen others. With better weather predicted, fire officials hope the worst may be over, but everything depends on the unpredictable winds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Lighting up Southern California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The general rule of thumb is, if you can smell it, it's going to fire up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: What's feeding these flames? We've got the anatomy of a wildfire. It might surprise you, too. Stick around for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: We want to update you on a story that broke within the past 30 minutes. Let's call it targeting Iran. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, just announce saying new sanctions against Iran Revolutionary Guard and the Qods Force. The toughest sanctions in more than 20 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Iran exploits its global financial ties to pursue nuclear capabilities, to develop ballistic missiles and fund terrorism. Today, we are taking additional steps to combat Iran's dangerous conduct and to engage financial institutions worldwide to make the most informed decisions about those with whom they choose to do business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Now, Iran's revolutionary guard is an elite military branch about 125,000 strong. Its Qods Force is a secretive branch of Iranian military and said to conduct operations beyond Iran's borders. Tehran (ph) denies its forces are involved in terrorism or involve in any kind of meddling in Iraq.

COLLINS: Now, a close look at the wildfire tolls. I want to get back to that story for you quickly. At least six people have died. 78 others are hurt. The flames have scorched more than 462,000 acres now or 723 square miles. At least 1,600 homes have been destroyed and there are 12 active wildfires. But a bit of good news now, 12 other fires are now 100% contained.

HARRIS: Look, fighting these wildfires is certainly not easy. Nor is it inexpensive. What does it cost to stop the fires? CNN's Joe Johns is keeping them honest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Federal Government has spent $3.2 billion of your money fighting and preventing fires. It sounds like a lot. We took a closer look and it may be too little.

JEFF BINGAMAN, SENATOR (D) ENERGY, NATURAL RESOURCES CHAIRMAN: We have seen a steady trend of more and more forest fires and more and more fires, in general, on our public land. The government probably has not reacted quickly enough to the fact that this may be a long- term problem.

JOHNS: The Government Agencies we're talking about control 700 million acres of public land so with that much real estate, 3.2 billion doesn't go far. Even worse, those agencies spend so much money fighting, that they have to dip into the money they're suppose to use for preventing fires. According to the Government Accountability Office, the federal government has overspent. Overspent on fighting fires every year for the last 17 years since 1990. And when that happens, they make up the difference largely from the account they're supposed to use for prevention.

BINGAMAN: When the fires turn out to be more severe than they anticipated and the costs greater than they anticipated, they beg, borrow and steal from other accounts in order to cover those costs and then they come to Congress and say, we need to replenish those funds. JOHNS: Still, to their credit, the Feds have cleared out combustible materials from about 18 million acres. But the problem we keep hearing about is more and more people like living close to the wild lands.

DIRK KEMPTHORNE, INTERIOR SECRETARY: What is new is that you have so many more residences that are now building right up to these areas. We call it the Wild Land Urban Interface. And, unfortunately, that's part of the reason that we're seeing the loss of these structures.

JOHNS: The experts say people living near land that can burn have to take their own precautions.

MARK GHILARDUCCI, FIRE SAFETY EXPERT I think, you know, a lot of this starts with the homeowner or the business owner themselves. I mean, if you elect to live in an area that has a high fire risk or fire danger, it's really incumbent pop on you to build a home or retrofit your homes to make it as ignition resistant as possible.

JOHNS: And that may be the only way you save yourself from this. Because if history is a guide, the immense costs of fighting these fires could be coming out of the pot of money to prevent fires like these in the first place. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: On the frontlines, about 8,900 firefighters have been battling the separate fires we've been telling you about. So far, 36 of them have been injured on the job. Specialized teams from Northern California were brought in. They call them Hot Shot teams and National Guard troops and Marines are also available to help out.

HARRIS: A question for you, how is your evening commute? Altogether now, nightmare. And then there is the man who found himself surrounded by fire, until another driver got out to help. You've got to see the pictures to believe it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So, Heidi, we're Podcasting. Are you OK?

COLLINS: I'm already giggling.

HARRIS: We're Podcasting a little later today. So much news yesterday.

COLLINS: I know.

HARRIS: We didn't get an opportunity. I missed that. I missed Podcasting yesterday, so we get back on the horse today. A lot of news to share with you. Obviously, the very best pictures of the firefighting effort in Southern California.

COLLINS: Yes. And then, also, we try to offer up a little something special that we don't put in the show. So, I'm understanding, from our producers who are working hard on this right now, they have this great story about a little kid. He is 10 years old with one-legged and football player.

Great spirit, hard worker. I'm looking forward to doing that one.

HARRIS: What is the kid's number? Oh, I guess you wouldn't always know. Sorry about that.

So, that is coming up into the podcast a little later. Also, a quick note. The space shuttle discovery docking.

COLLINS: Yes.

HARRIS: I don't know that we'll have an opportunity to get it in the show but certainly in the Podcast. That would be cool.

COLLINS: Yes. I wish we had it in HD. That was cool the other day. HD, for the first time, the 120th launch we've covered and for the first time, it was in HD.

HARRIS: You need to have that HD TV set, though, don't you?

COLLINS: Yes, you did.

HARRIS: I'm sorry. I really didn't need to mention that. That is the podcast. Go to cnn.com and download the CNN Daily NEWSROOM podcast. 24/7 available to you. Do it today. Good stuff today.

COLLINS: Yes, very good stuff.

HARRIS: Was that OK?

COLLINS: That was very good. I'm impressed. We want to get back to the wild fires for you right now. Thousands of people are actually on the run from these California wildfires. Sometimes it's not very easy, though. In fact, an incredible story. Our Randi Kaye spoke with one man whose family was trapped by the flames.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For 2 1/2 hours, they watched and waited as a raging wildfire inched closer. So, there was a big circle of fire around you?

PAUL HOWELL, TRAPPED BY WILDFIRE: Yes. It was coming up the bank on both sides of us. And so then, we're in the back and the deck starts catching on fire because it's wood. So the embers were flying up and we're getting like shot by a hundred thousand fireballs coming at us. And it was swooping up and it was rolling up and just slamming.

KAYE: Paul Howell had been celebrating his girlfriend's birthday with her parents when the fire started sweeping through the valley, coming up and over the ridge

HOWELL: We had this barrage of bullets that were like the size of brockets that's being fired at you coming across this valley.

KAYE: Balls of fire?

HOWELL: Balls of fire about the size of brockets.

KAYE: With no warning from authorities, it was too late to evacuate. As you can see their escape route had been cut off by flames. Their homes threatened.

HOWELL: How could you call for help? We have fire all the way around us. Who is going to help us? You know? We're on our own.

KAYE: So they quickly took shelter in the family's minivan. Paul showed me where they parked it. A dirt patch on the property between these two homes. Good advice from a fire marshal years ago.

HOWELL: He told us that if there was ever any kind of fire in this -- on this property, the safest place to be would be in this center field.

KAYE: In a car?

HOWELL: In any kind of vehicle at all.

KAYE: So here they sat, watching the trees burn and their property turn to smoke. Paul and Henry Tinker took turns fighting the flames. Their only weapon, this scorched garden hose.

HOWELL: Very difficult but you don't think about it at the time. We had flames shooting as high as 40 feet or higher in the air just like tornadoes coming up the back side of the bank.

KAYE: And you were using a garden hose?

HOWELL: And we're using a garden hose. You couldn't see a lot of times more than ten feet in front of you. Embers are flying through like crazy. You can't breathe real well.

KAYE: The winds shook the car. The heat was unbearable. The family blasted the air-conditioning to try and stay cool. This van saved your life?

HOWELL: Correct. It did.

KAYE: Did you ever think your van is going to save your life?

HOWELL: No. Didn't even enter my mind.

KAYE: In the end, not everything survived. The fire took its toll on wildlife and homes around the neighborhood. Yet, the flames were no match for this minivan and the determination of the family huddled inside it. Randi Kaye, CNN, Escondido, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: You want to talk about the air quality in Southern California and just how bad it's been because of the wildfires? We got a pretty dramatic way to demonstrate it. First of all, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How bad is the air in Southern California? This filter paper started out pristine white and now look at it.

HARRIS: Hello. And you won't believe what is in it. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports. That is coming up straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And she noticed a change in her skin about six years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My face stayed red, like I had really a red mask on all the time. And it never went away. They got -- it got uncomfortable. My face kind of developed soreness.

FORTIN: And she was diagnoses with rosacea. A skin disease that is most common in people ages 30 and older. Rosacea causes facial flushing and can be mistaken for acne in younger people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It usually starts with simply redness of the central portion of the face and then we begin to see the discrete blood vessels.

FORTIN: If left untreated, Rosacea grows worse over time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is definitely a disease of middle-aged people. We tend to see the earliest signs of it in the 30s. And we tend to have people come in for treatment most commonly in their 40s. And here is a prescription for it.

FORTIN: A 48-year-old Denton (ph) has been receiving a variety of treatments for her Rosacea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have been on ointments and some oral antibiotics and laser treatments.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Debbie had a combination but she had some of the pimples and pustules that we see with the acne portion of it.

FORTIN: The exact cause of rosacea remains a mystery, but researchers believe it's likely due to some combination of hereditary and environmental factors. Factors that can trigger Rosacea flare ups include sun exposure, emotional stress, spicy food, alcohol and extreme temperatures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the absolute, most important components of treatment of Rosacea is daily use of sunscreen and minimizing sun exposure. FORTIN: A 55-year-old Mark Calloway is receiving his first laser treatment for his rosacea. For some patients, lasers improve skin with minimal scarring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The procedure itself was not difficult at all. It was virtually painless. The initial shock of feeling it was more than the actual pain was.

FORTIN: Laser treatments may reduce the visibility of enlarged blood vessels and improved appearance. It's a high tech, high cost option but whether you use ointments or lasers having Rosacea is not life-threatening and that is important, no matter what your age. Judy Fortin, CNN, reporting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: This news just in to CNN. Now, you are looking at a school bus that has overturned. It happened in Warrenton, Virginia. That's about 45 minutes outside of Washington D.C. You see all of the crews on the scene because apparently there are injuries that have been reported. We just don't know the extent of them right now. Obviously, that gentleman there, trying to figure out what may have happened in order for that bus to overturn on its side. This happened on, in case you know the area and U.S. 17 traffic is closed now in both directions. But apparently, this bus was just on its way to the high school in the area and it overturned. We know that parents are being asked to head to the hospital now in that area where these injured kids were taken so I'm sure a very rough and frightening morning for them.

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