Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Bush Views California Wildfires; One Fire is Confirmed Arson; Helicopter Crash in California; Iran Sanctions Tightened

Aired October 25, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, Kyra Phillips is on assignment, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what we know right now. President Bush is getting a close up look at the fire devastation in southern California right there, that view, touring hard-hit neighborhoods by helicopter and on the ground. Mr. Bush calls the situation in southern California, sad. The death toll directly related to the fires has climbed to at least three. Two bodies have been found in this burned out rubble of a home in Poway in San Diego County, and at least two of the fires are believed to have been started by arsonists. Investigations are now under way and a $120,000 reward is in place now for information leading to the arrest of those alleged arsonists. And the flames have scorched nearly half a million acres, that's roughly half the size of Rhode Island. Today a break in the Santa Ana winds is offering firefighters their first hope in days and they're reporting some progress.

LEMON: The Santiago fire in Orange County has scorched 23,000 acres and investigators say an arsonist set the blaze. Just moments ago we learned that that fire reward has been increased. Our Keith Oppenheim joins us now from the city of orange. What do you know about that, Keith?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Don. They really want to get those who are responsible. Local authorities are now working with the FBI and ATF agents and what people have been telling me and confirmed that they are looking at two to three outdoor locations and believe in at least two, maybe three, is where the fire was started around 6:00 p.m. local time on Sunday. That means whoever started this fire, they tell me, they did it at a time when there were other fires well burning in southern California. So as one official put it to me, it's unthinkable that somebody would have done this. Keep in mind this fire is very big as you described it, 23,000 acres burning. There are 22 buildings that have gone down, 14 of which are homes and a good 1,000 or more firefighters on the line right now trying to protect 3,000 homes. The reward money went up because 50,000 bucks was donated from the governor's office along with a $70,000 reward from police and fire. So it's just an indication that they're hoping that someone will come forward who knows something about who these arsonists might be. Don, back to you.

LEMON: All right, thank you very much for that, Keith.

Those two additional fire victims found just today. WHITFIELD: Some new information we're just getting in, Don, about a chopper going down right there in the southern California area while all these efforts are under way as the fires continue to burn, but we understand this chopper is not a firefighter chopper. Instead, it may be the chopper of the San Diego Gas and Electric Company, and we understand that two injuries have been reported. There were three people on board. Two people have been injured and were taken to nearby hospitals. The chopper went down in Poway which is that very area we told you about, the two reported deaths in the house there in Poway in the San Diego County area. When we get more information about this chopper, the circumstances as to why it went down, we'll be able to bring that to you. That's the latest for now. Don?

LEMON: Absolutely and those two additional fire victims found just today that Fred mentioned were in a burned out home in San Diego County. CNN's John King reports from Poway, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDNET: A remarkable story of these wildfires is that only three people so far confirmed dead directly caused by the heat of these flames. We sadly are at the site of two of those deaths, and we are told from the San Diego police report, we're in Poway, it's an unincorporated area just outside of San Diego. The neighbors warned two people living on this property to flee the house. It was under mandatory evacuation. The witch fire was approaching, and these two people apparently decided they were going to stay here and wait it out. We're at the base of the hill of the property. The residence is actually up here to my left, but according from the police tape here and the police report, the bodies were found down here. This is a garage structure you see behind me, tool chests, a safe back there. The property is scattered, some vintage mgs and other used cars, some sort of a repair work or restoration work going on, on this property. Police say they initially came here after the witch hill fire, a cursory view of the rubble, they found nothing but they came back again last night after a missing person's report was filed. One of the bodies was found late last evening. The search continued, an additional body found just after midnight. The two bodies Don we were told were taken away by the medical examiner's office. The names have not been released by the San Diego Police Department as yet pending notification of the next of kin and the investigation the police report says is continuing. If you walk around this site, you can see the intense heat, this truck here completely burned out, the inside completely gutted. Everything back there except for the hard steel items like the safe, like the tool chest completely burned. More vehicles up on the road, molten melted into the lava, some of the cars melted, the property completely destroyed so when the fire came rolling down these hills it did so with intense heat and the two people who were on this property who had decided to ride the fire out, their families are now being notified their bodies were discovered in the past 24 hours. We're in a very remote area in the hills down through and as we drove in you could just -- it almost looks like a moonscape. The vegetation has been devastated on one side of the road, strikingly on the other side untouched. You see green, there's a Christmas tree farm down there, you see the green trees, some of them put on their side obviously by the owners before they evacuated. But you see the random nature of this fire, some properties unscathed, others destroyed and you can also tell by looking at the ground, at the buildings, at the trees, it's what is left of the shells of these vehicles, how intense the heat was when the fire roared through. And again we are told from the police report that the two people living on this property were warned by neighbors to get out. They did not take that advice and they stayed here and they are two of the three people now Don confirmed dead because of the intensity of these wildfires.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

WHITIFLED: And this update now, President Bush in southern California to see some of the devastation firsthand. You're seeing earlier pictures of him arriving on Air Force One, and then later he takes off into Marine One to get an aerial tour with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and visits a San Diego neighborhood as well. White House correspondent Ed Henry joins us from the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station in San Diego County where we know the Marine One took off from there. Has it since returned, or are they still flying?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, they're still out and about, Fred. You can see Air Force One behind me where the president first walked off, and let me give you an idea of what he can see and smell here in San Diego in those neighborhoods that he's walking through. As soon as you land here, you get this stench all through your body. You can just feel it. You taste it. You smell it. The president clearly can see that. He can also see the utter devastation in those neighborhoods, and to give you an idea of the scope of how far this smoke, these plumes of smoke are going, when we were flying in the press corps early, early this morning, we were flying over Phoenix, Arizona, miles and miles away from San Diego. We saw some smock outside the windows of the plane. Someone asked the pilot whether that was his cloud cover. He said, no, it's not just cloud cover. He does this every day. That's smoke from San Diego all the way to Phoenix, Arizona. That's the whole point of the president's trip, trying to get an up-close, personal look at the devastation, feel that smoke, and he's also trying to prove that he's learned lessons from hurricane Katrina, a point he made at the White House even before he left for California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I want to assure the people of California that the federal government will be deploying resources, assets and manpower necessary to help fight these fires. As well, I will assure them that there's -- because of the declaration I signed yesterday, there will be help for the people of California.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now the president will be making more comments here in the San Diego area later this hour. The whole point, again, the president trying to show that he's in command. We've been getting reports from local congressmen here on the ground telling us that they feel that the federal/state coordination has worked pretty well certainly in contrast to hurricane Katrina, in part because California has been through so many natural disasters before, whether it be earthquakes, other fires that they have battled. They do so much training, so many exercises that they have been through this before. That training, those drills really paying off now. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And Ed while you say the federal and state coordination is going well, that's the comment from the White House, there are others who are saying it really is the state and other localities who have been springing into action with their great plans in place and they're the ones who really should be getting all the credit.

HENRY: Well, certainly, that's a point that I was just trying to emphasize is the fact that the state of California, in talking to various, I spoke for example to Joe Alba, the former FEMA director earlier in the Bush administration before Michael Brown was FEMA director. He told me yesterday that California has one of the best state-run emergency management systems in the country. It's really a model for other states to follow so certainly the lions share of the credit can be in the state and local government but certainly also as well you have to point out that compared to hurricane Katrina President Bush seems to be much more in command this time in terms of his contact with the state and local officials. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Henry, thanks so much.

HENRY: Thank you.

LEMON: Want to update you now on a helicopter crash in southern California. Our Allan Chernoff is in Spring Valley with the very latest on that. Allan, what do you have?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, we've learned that 40 minutes ago a helicopter did crash near Ramona, California. This was not a firefighting helicopter, rather one that was rented by the local utility, San Diego Gas and Electric. There were four people on board, fortunately no fatalities at all. In fact, the utility confirms that two people are just fine. Two others have been brought to local hospitals. This was a surveying expedition, they were overlooking some homes, deciding whether or not they could actually restore power. The helicopter went down about 10:30 pacific time, and, again, no fatalities. Now we don't have many other further details, but we do confirm, again, that this was not a firefighting helicopter. It did belong to the local utility. I heard about this as I was riding with a firefighter, a battalion chief. We heard it on the radio on what they call the incident radio that the firefighters do have in their vehicles. We heard that and then we called Cal Fire, confirmed with them and confirmed with the utility. So that's all we have thus far on this helicopter crash but, again, no fatalities.

LEMON: CNN's Allan Chernoff. Allan, thank you.

WHITIFELD: In Rancho Bernardo in San Diego County, that happened to be the heart of the inferno, at least one inferno. Evacuees from that area are starting to trickle back in, but in some neighborhoods there is nothing left but rubble. CNN's Reggie Aqui is there. It is a heartbreaking image no matter what vantage point there is there, right, Reggie?

REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely, and right now, I decided to just come on in here to what was the house because I can say with some certainty that President Bush saw this house about an hour ago because he flew right above our heads and actually made a couple of passes. This is one of the worst hit cul-de-sacs in this area. In some places you saw one house that was ok and then the neighbor's were destroyed, but here really no matter which house you go to, it's gone, and when you walk through this, Fred, you're not going to see much. I mean, it's just -- it's nothing. You don't see any really semblance of what was here before. If it's not brick or if it's not pottery or something that can survive a fire, then it doesn't exist anymore. This is the family car right here, completely burned out, and if I take you next door, it's kind of strange because you'll see that there is some greenery left. Some of the bushes and some of the trees weren't as affected as you might think given the fact that this entire house is completely gone. Talking about 200,000 acres, and to put that into perspective it's about 460,000 acres that burned from all the fires, 24 fires, and 200,000 of them happened in these neighborhoods that surround me. Around the valleys you'll see the same thing with these houses burnt out. Some neighbors are all right and some neighbors weren't. Anderson Cooper actually talked to the family that lives here last night, and they told him that they only had moments to leave their house before it was fully engulfed in flames. So they weren't really able to grab anything. At this point what you see is what they have got left and we're talking about a beautiful vista that they have here, pools just beyond the horizon where they probably had a great view just last week, and this week, Fred, well, there's really not much left.

WHITFIELD: Wow, how sad, and do we know from this family whether they had the kind of fire protection in their home insurance plan where maybe they can conceivably rebuild right there?

AQUI: I don't really know, and that will be a good question. I'm still kind of waiting for these families to come back.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

AQUI: We've been here since very early this morning, and we haven't seen many people come back. I don't think actually right now they are allowed to because this is the area that the president is going to tour on the ground, so they're kind of being held back for a little while. I imagine later today we'll see them and we'll ask that question for you.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, paramount security for now, that's for sure. All right, Reggie Aqui, thanks so much.

LEMON: While some fight the flames, others are fighting to save lives. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta goes to the front lines of one California hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really hated my floor and I wanted wood floors so bad, the thick, planked, distressed wood floors and I knew I was never going to get them. But I think I can get them now.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow, she is very hopeful. Well, coming home, one family's heartbreaking return and the bright spot they managed to find among the ruins.

LEMON: And a plane almost as big as a football field, how it made history today. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, the firefighting efforts are ongoing there from Los Angeles County and then further south into San Diego County. To the left of your screen, you can see the haze right there from all of the fires still raging there in L.A. county area. This is Running Springs you're looking at right now. Pretty difficult to see, but this is exactly what the firefighters are up against. If you look really closely there in the center of your screen, you can see a chopper there which we understand to be a water-dropping chopper, kind of scooping up water from the pacific ocean and dropping it on to some of those hot spots, but it is difficult to see, but at least you can kind of see the movement of that chopper. And then if you head much further south in San Diego County, still a number of fires that are burning there. We're going to get an update from San Diego fire chief Tracy Jarman right now who I believe is right there at a kind of command post there at the Qualcomm Stadium. Good to see you, chief

CHIEF TRACY JARMAN, SAN DIEGO FIRE-RESCUE DEPT.: Hi, how are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm doing pretty good. The question is how are you and, you know, how are the efforts going with your teams of firefighters there on the ground and in the air?

JARMAN: It's been a long four days. I still have about 160 firefighters out on the line. We have no active fire in the city of San Diego but throughout helping the surrounding communities the fires continue to grow. The witch fire is about 200,000 acres, and my hats off to the men and women, the local fire agencies.

WHITFIELD: So sorry we lost you. Oh, glad we have you back because for a second we lost that signal. Let's continue now because you're also dealing in your area with a number of things. You've got two reported fatalities taking place there in your county in Poway where these residents apparently didn't want to heed the warning of their neighbors by leaving their home. They perished along with their belongings, and then we understand a chopper has gone down, it being a service, the gas company with San Diego, a service chopper, two injuries there. This only compounds the problem you're dealing with, so how do you kind of make sense of all of this?

JARMAN: Well, it's challenging. Any time you have a fire of this magnitude, obviously we did the best we could to evacuate everybody and get the word out. It's frustrating when residents don't leave their homes, that my firefighters risk their lives to go back in and there's a number of heroic stories of our firefighters and law enforcement officers going in through the flames to rescue people and get them out. I just recently heard the helicopter went down as well.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, and we're hoping the best for the two people who have been reported injured and taken to local hospitals. Meantime, what is the biggest obstacle for your team of firefighters there, whether it be on the ground or in the air? What's the biggest obstacle right now?

JARMAN: The biggest obstacle is getting a perimeter around the fire. We've worked so hard at trying to contain the edge of the fire. We haven't had a chance to go back and mop up like we typically would in a smaller fire and yet the residents are anxious to get back into their homes and we're anxious to get them back into their homes, but we have to make sure it's safe.

WHITFIELD: In fact, how are you going to manage that, because once folks are able to go back, and they are being allowed to go back in little pockets but that, too is pretty dangerous. Because, you know, folks are going out there with really just the clothes that they were wearing so they may have flip-flops on and you go to these kinds of scenes, it's dangerous and even the roads are not always passable so that opens up a whole other, you know, potential of problems for you, doesn't it?

JARMAN: We actually are putting our first aid station out there because there's hot ash, there are trees, there are the issues with all the utilities, so you're right. It's going to be challenging, plus, you know, we're saddened by the loss of the homes and dealing with the loss that our citizens have had. We're as upset as they are.

WHITFIELD: What about your home and what about some of the homes of some of your firefighting teams? I mean here they are fighting the fires to protect other people's properties but some of their own homes are in danger too, right?

JARMAN: That's true. I actually was evacuated myself during the fire. I had gone home to get some sleep and then got evacuated, so I left as well.

WHITFIELD: Have you seen your home?

JARMAN: I don't know how many of our -- I have, my home is fine.

WHITFIELD: Great.

JARMAN: But I don't know how many of my firefighters or law enforcement officers lost their homes.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well it is a tremendous effort. Go ahead, I'm sorry.

JARMAN: If I could touch on the coordination that happened here, the unified command, the relationship between the local agencies, Escondido, Poway, Rancho Santa Fe, great coordination is what helped us to minimize the damage. Those fire chiefs are to be commended as well.

WHITFIELD: Well, that indeed is being done, great coordination on all parts and really just seeing so many folks putting their lives in jeopardy to help others, other lives and other properties is also very commendable. Chief Tracy Jarman with the San Diego Fire Department. Thanks so much, and we wish you all the best.

JARMAN: You're welcome. Thanks for having me on the air.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Meantime, we have some new video in from the Department of Defense that shows that National Guard fighting these fires by air and also by land. Here's what you need to know about this Army National Guard helicopters were attacking these ferocious wildfires and guard soldiers were on the ground manning traffic control points and preparing to provide people who had lost their homes. This video, this is about the closest we've gotten, great video of that firefighting effort, and you can see that big red --

WHITFIELD: The bucket.

LEMON: The bucket, yeah, the big red bucket there, I knew that word.

WHITFIELD: I was just helping you out.

LEMON: Been dipping into the Pacific Ocean and also lakes and rivers there bringing that water back but this is up-close video from the Department of Defense showing the National Guard there.

WHITFIELD: That is a great view.

LEMON: Kyra is embedded right, is she with the National Guard guys? She is supposed to be with the National Guard and she is going to go out with them. Let's get that video back up because you see them dipping it into the water there, how they do it. We're going to rerack it and start it over for you.

WHITFIELD: But it is extraordinary because when you look at them from afar it doesn't look like a big bucket and then suddenly you look at it from afar and you see them release the bucket and you see how much of a pretty great area that they're able to cover. It's a sizable bucket. We'll have to find out the contents in terms of gallons.

LEMON: We're going to let this play out and while it plays out, just to give you some information about the response, you know, learning the lesson from hurricane Katrina. Let's see, the first battalion there, 140th aviation, was part of a crew that was diverted from operation jump start mission along the California/Mexican border. They went to support there in California, four UH60 Blackhawk helicopters were dispatched, a CH-47 Chinook, two of them, the guard from S-70 firehawk, they also went in. So a number of military agencies going in to help, and there is that going into the ocean. That's exactly what they do there to help out in all of this, and it is a direct opposite initially of the response from hurricane Katrina in this natural disaster this time.

WHITFIELD: Yeah and as you heard from Ed Henry's report, the localities, the governor's office, they all admit they have a pretty sophisticated plan in place and are used to a lot of different kinds of natural disasters in that state and that's in part why this has been such a successful, if you want to put it that way, even though you see the damage and the destruction, a pretty successful effort in response effort.

LEMON: Yeah and as we always say, it could have been much worse and absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Meantime, speaking of response, well, it's measured in so many different ways, how about in the way of saving lives and staying alert in the path of such swirling wildfires. We'll go inside a hospital in the line of fire straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. CNN has learned that a helicopter has crashed near Ramona in California. We want to point out it is not part of the fire fighting efforts there. Now here's what sources on the ground tell us. They say it was a San Diego Gas & Electric company chopper, which crashed near Ramona.

Four people on board that helicopter, and we're told two of them went to the hospital. Our Allan Chernoff is working his sources there on the ground. And if he has an update, he'll update us in this broadcast.

Let's talk about the emergency medical teams and hospitals. They are operating despite the smoke and the haze there. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Doctor Sanjay Gupta visits one hospital that was threatened by the wildfires.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Over the past few days, firemen and paramedics working overtime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 110 for medical aid.

GUPTA (on camera): So, as soon as we basically got to the fire station here, they immediately got a call for medical aid, and this was happening all the time here. Lots of vehicles basically going out on a medical aid call. We'll see what we find.

I'm just looking at the computer screen here. It's a 56-year-old woman with a life-threatening emergency. That's all we know right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead and start that way.

GUPTA (voice over): Shauna (ph) looks OK, she has a normal heart rate, normal breathing but something catches the EMT's attention.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I inhaled too much smoke in the fire.

GUPTA: That's a red flag. The paramedics whisk her off to Scripps Memorial in Encinitas. It's lucky for her the hospital is even still there, because when a town catches fire, sometimes its hospital gets caught in the path.

(On camera): So, this hospital was potentially in the path of a fire?

DR. GEORGE RODRIGUEZ, SCRIPPS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: Yes, that's correct.

GUPTA (voice over): George Rodriguez is the head of the emergency room at Scripps Memorial.

(On camera): At some point you had to decide, we either evacuate or we don't evacuate?

RODRIGUEZ: They had us on standby so we were ready to go if anything should happen.

GUPTA (voice over): At the last moment, the winds changed and Scripps Memorial remained opened. That's obviously a good thank for Shauna (ph) and also for Annette McCulley. Get this. This is her second time here because of wildfires.

ANNETTE MCCULLEY, HOSPITAL PATIENT: I was actually working and caught in the fires in 2003.

GUPTA (on camera): Is the air quality in Southern California always going to be sort of not great because of these wildfires?

RODRIGUEZ: During this period of time there's always that problem with fires.

GUPTA: A lot of people are pretty curious about just how toxic this air is. You can sort of see the haze out there. I was curious about it as well. You can actually measure with this. It's a particle counter. And actually looking at the number here, outside they have about 16 million particles per cubic foot. To give you a scale reference, it should normally be about a million. So, it's about 16 times higher than normal outside right now.

Inside, they tell me inside the hospital, it got up to almost a million where normal is 100,000 so 10 times higher in the hospital as well. That's what's happening with the air both inside and outside hospitals in San Diego.

(Voice over): For now it appears this hospital is going to stay open, and that air is going to make sure they stay busy. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Encinitas, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Now many of us are watching these horrible -- I mean, just simply devastating pictures coming out of California, and wondering how can we help. CNN's Rusty Dornin will show us how straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Even with all the smoke and haze over Southern California, it is still a beautiful scene, beautiful mountain scenes. This is KABC, our affiliate there. Running Springs, California, it is fairly hazy there, but just before, when we were in the break you can see those mountains there. And you can you see why people want to live there despite the dangers of wildfires, and earthquakes, and mudslides, and what have you because -- there's no other way to put it -- sort of breathtaking views and beautiful mountains. But today sadly in all of this week those mountains have been, I guess, defaced of the view I should say.

WHITFIELD: And tough to breathe there now, as well.

LEMON: Tough to breath there, because of all of the fire and smoke.

Just to update us on the situation there. The president of the United States is visiting. He is taking an aerial tour now, and he's also going to have some lunch with the first responders in Escondido. And then he's going to update us on what he saw in his aerial tour in Southern California.

President Bush touring the damage today, a lot of damage to tour. Man, so we'll update you on that as soon as the president comes from the microphone.

WHITFIELD: I'm sure he's going to get an earful. You know, when he hears from folks, just of their personal experiences, whether it's the fire fighting efforts, what worked, what didn't work. And, you know, their friends, neighbors, themselves, their losses.

LEMON: He, and both the vice president, same thing happened, go an earful. And Michael Chertoff, as well, and Mike Brown back during Hurricane Katrina.

WHITFIELD: Right.

LEMON: So I'm totally he's going to get an earful.

WHITFIELD: Totally different tone, in this case.

LEMON: Totally different tone, in this case.

And also when he tours the damage from hurricanes and tornadoes and what have you, people want to voice their opinion about what's happening and the response. But this time, though, I think it will be as you said a completely different response and a lot more positive than before.

WHITFIELD: Get that feeling.

LEMON: Absolutely. So we have some startling photos to show you. And we'll be seeing more and more of these as the smoke clears, and we can start to see what's going on. They show houses, during the fire, and then the result of the sheer destructive power of these blazes, able to wipe a house clean off its foundations. These are -- or rather -- were homes in Poway, California, just south of Rancho Bernardo.

In some cases just door jambs and mailboxes are left standing and remarkably, notice the palm trees here, that are such a definable part of the Southern California landscape. The fire spread through with such speed that the houses are gone.

WHITFIELD: What a contrast.

LEMON: But look at, those the trees are still remaining.

WHITFIELD: Unbelievable.

Well, CNN.com is providing the link for a lot of the families who were touched directly just like that. And we're also able to exchange video and pictures for a lot of folks to connect with people. And we're also able to tell you how you can get involved in the California fire relief efforts. Rusty Dornin is gathering all that information for you and condensed it had all and made it consumer friendly and easy to follow -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, when you have a huge disaster like this, a quarter of a million people displaced, you'll have a lot of pets of course, people are always curious about that. So, we are getting a lot of information about this.

Shelley Van Vabrandt (ph) submitted this incredible photo of all these horses in El Cahone (ph), who had been left by their owners. That they had numbers painted on them so that the owners would be able to find them once they're able to go back to their houses.

Now, right along this line we thought the Animal Planet's Petfinder.com, where people can go. They are actually helping displaced families find temporary foster homes for their pets. In other words, you can't go back to your house, perhaps your house burned down, you have no place to really keep your pets. These are places where you can at least find people who will take care of your pets, while you've been displaced.

Also learning about some pretty incredible -- through e-mails from people, from folks like you -- about the international help that's going on. Tijuana, of course, which is very close to San Diego and is getting a lot of smoke and ash from the fire, they have sent 60 fire fighters across the border to help San Diego fire fighters.

But another amazing thing, they are also helping with power, a power company down in Rosary Beach, south of Tijuana is actually giving power to San Diego, because Santa Nofray (ph) Nuclear Power Plant is shut down because of the fires. So, Mexico really hands across the border, helping out.

Also, Canadians are sending down air tankers, from the Coolson (ph) Air Tankers. They're sending those down as well. And, of course, being a good neighbor in San Diego, the Navy has sent helicopters to fight the fire, and we received an incredible photo from "The Navy Times", right here, that you can see, San Diego lit up, you can see it on fire. Those are ships, Navy ships all along that are docked right there. They, too, have gone off the grid. They are going off their own generated power so that they can take the pressure off San Diego. Because the power needs are so great right now that they just really need it. So San Diego gas and electric thanking their friends in the Navy for doing that, for taking themselves off the grid.

But we are getting e-mails from all over the world really, from people who are trying to help, trying to see if they can lend a helping hand. If you want to send in pictures, photos, we still need them. If you're going back to your neighborhoods, we want to see what it looks like. We want to hear the stories. Please send them to I- Report.

And if you want to help out, you can go to Impact Your World on CNN.com and you can find out plenty of agencies, bona fide agencies, so you know where your money is going that can help these people who are still trying to get back in their homes and many people who have lost their homes -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Rusty. Nice to hear lots of different ways in which people can help one another, especially in times like this -- Don.

LEMON: The U.S. slaps a new round of sanctions on Iran. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulison says the message is, doing business with Iran isn't worth the risk. CNN's Zain Verjee brings us details from Washington -- Zain.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Don, the U.S. plan is basically to penalize Iran's military and punish it for its nuclear program and for supporting terrorism.

Now what exactly the U.S. is doing is this: It's targeting the Iranian revolutionary guard corps. The U.S. says that this guard used front companies to get nuclear materials, now the sanctions also target the guard's elite Quds Force, that is the branch that the U.S. says supports insurgents in Iraq, that kill U.S. troops. Three major Iranian banks and several individual Iranians have also been targeted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: So, Don, the goal is really to freeze Iran out of the international financial system, and stop it from developing its nuclear program. LEMON: So, Zain, when we talk about sanctions the big question is you can always, you can do the sanctions, but will it have any effect on Iran? Will it affect anything?

VERJEE: Well, the U.S. doesn't actually have real economic links with Iran so there aren't really any assets to freeze here in the United States. But the U.S. is hoping that there will be some kind of ripple effect where banks worldwide will jump in on this and say, yes, we'll cut off business ties with Iran, too.

Now Rice says that the new sanctions are not aimed at the Iranian people themselves, but analysts that we talked to today said it could still hurt Iranians because the three banks used widely by the Iranian private sector, and it's also likely to be seen in Iran, by the government, as an escalation -- Don.

LEMON: CNN's Zain Verjee in Washington, thank you.

WHITFIELD: Back to talk about the fires. At the top of the hour the ATF, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, will be holding a press conference there in Orange, California. Their focus will be the initial -- I guess -- the initial thoughts about how the Santiago fire was started. That it was indeed arson. We'll find out for sure whether indeed they have the evidence to prove that it was started by arsonists.

Right now, we understand that the reward leading to the arrest of anyone who may be responsible for this fire and others is up to $120,000 now. We'll be holding that press conference live right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Updating you now on our developing news that we told you about just a short time ago, four people aboard a helicopter near Ramona, California, that helicopter crashed. Two of those people we're told are being taken to the hospital. We're also told that the helicopter was owned by the San Diego Gas & Electric company. It crashed around 10:40, which would be local time there. And it says in the town of Ramona northeast of San Diego.

And this helicopter, we're told, was contracted to them. The crash site is Sunrise Vista and Rancho Del Sol. We're also told the helicopter was doing power line inspections. Four people on board the helicopter got out of the wreckage on their own, but all of them, not just two of them, but all were transported to a local hospital. And the cause of the crash is unknown.

Again, a helicopter contracted to the San Diego Gas & Electric Company, crashed 10:40 local time in California in the town of Ramona, just northeast of San Diego. We'll continue to update you on this developing story in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: Now we're going to take a short break from fires. We'll talk a little business news instead, now. Kind of big business news, the world's biggest commercial plane. Well, it was 18 months late, but its landing was on time today. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with a look at, you know, a little bit more on this aircraft. So special, and so big, and actually on time.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT, And pretty sumptuous, too, if you've looked at the accounts of the inaugural flight. The Airbus A380 landed safely in Sydney, Australia today after its take off from Singapore.

Passengers on the inaugural flight purchased tickets through an online auction, proceeds going to charity. Some flyers paid as much as $100 grand for a seats, or in this case, a private suite. The double- decker jet loaded with lots of bells and whistles including the suites that come equipped with a video screen, mini bar, and seats that fold into double beds.

The 455 people on the first flight also ate off fine china and drank from crystal glasses. They drank Dom Perignon, by the way. Air traffic audio was broadcast on loudspeakers with controllers referring to the A380 as The Big Fella. Sounds so John Wayne, doesn't it, Fred?

WHITFIELD: That's cute. It does. That's my kind of flying. If only I could afford that ticket. Good lord, did you say -- how much did you say, $100,000.

LISOVICZ: Right, but that was just for the first flight, and all proceeds going to charity, but they will come down.

WHITFIELD: OK, a donation.

LISOVICZ: If you've got the first class --

WHITFIELD: I was going to say. You're not going to be in business long.

(LAUGHTER)

All right. Let's talk about some of the problems of getting this plane made, because there were problems. It wasn't smooth sailing.

LISOVICZ: That's right. The A380, Fred, was delayed to two years due to wiring glitches so the European manufacturer got hit with billions of dollars in added costs. Its financial results also took a big hit. The delays also led to the departure of more than one chief executive and thousands of employees.

By the way the A380 replaces the 747, which is made by Boeing here in the U.S., its arch rival Airbus, a European company, Boeing very much American.

As for stocks, well, they are having some trouble getting off the ground today. One big reason, oil prices are sky high. That's for sure. Well above inter-day high, well above $90 a barrel. Also in the oil sector, BP, one of the big energy companies, agreeing to pay nearly $400 million in fines. The Justice Department says $20 million will go to Alaska and the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation for pipeline leaks that polluted the tundra and an Alaskan lake. Another $15 million covers BP's violation of the Clean Air Pact. That was in connection with the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion which killed 15 people. The rest of the fines to punish the company for conspiring to manipulate propane prices.

So, just a whole lot of issues there. BP shares that traded in New York aren't doing very much. But the Dow overall is making some moves to the down side, right now off 34 points or about a quarter of a percent. The Nasdaq is down about 1 percent. And that's the latest from Wall Street.

Fred and Don, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Susan.

LEMON: Want to ride on that big plane, you going to pay $100,000?

WHITFIELD: No. Are you asking me, am I going to do that? No. But I would like to ride the plane maybe for a cheaper fare.

LEMON: Maybe for $100, that would be good. All right.

We have some news for parents. As we approach the Halloween season and also Christmas, more toy recalls and lead paint worries. Details straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm A.J. Hammer in New York. As the devastating fires continue to burn in Southern California, one Hollywood corporation is trying to help out its neighbors. I'll have that warming story coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Back to more talk about the ongoing fires in Southern California. Now we're understanding that a second arson arrest has been made, that of Catoledo Penyata (ph), 41. He is in custody of the Los Angeles Police Department, and he was arrested Wednesday because witnesses say they actually saw this man lighting a fire on a hillside in the West Hills area of the San Fernando area, just northwest of Los Angeles.

And folks actually watched him walk away and then went on to a restaurant where they then contacted police. Police came and actually made the arrest on the suspicion that he was indeed causing a fire. And now apparently this suspect now was actually already on probation for, quote, "making excessive false emergency reports to police" at the time of that arrest. So right now his bail has been set at $75,000.

And then at the top of the hour the ATF will be having a press conference there out of Orange, California, to update us on their investigations of these suspected arson cases. We'll be right back with much more on the fires in Southern California and much other news. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com