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Your World Today

California Fires; Iraq Update; Iran Sanctions

Aired October 25, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Nature's wrath. Or the work of man? An investigation begins to find out if one or more of the California fires were deliberately set.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: And an unprecedented move. The U.S. sweeping new sanctions against Iran, the harshest in nearly three decades.

HOLMES: Border tensions, Iraqi leaders extending a hand of diplomacy as Turkey says it's running out of patience with those Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

9:00 a.m. right now in southern California. It is 7:30 p.m. In Tehran. Welcome to our report seen around the globe, I'm Michael Holmes.

MCEDWARDS: And I'm Colleen McEdwards. From San Diego to Beijing, wherever you are watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

Some deadly new developments to tell you about in the southern California firestorm.

HOLMES: Yes, authorities saying that fire crews found two burned bodies in a gutted home in north San Diego County. That raises the death toll so far from this disaster to three.

MCEDWARDS: That's right. Meanwhile, a massive aerial assault is giving firefighters a bit of an edge. Nearly half of the California blazes are now contained.

HOLMES: Yes, also helping, the weather. Weaker winds letting crews push back the flames, giving some hope to evacuees, as well, who are desperate to go home.

MCEDWARDS: And across the region, at least 1,400 homes have been incinerated. More than 462,000 acres blackened. And that's almost 190,000 hectares.

HOLMES: A huge amount of land. Two of the fires also have been linked to arson. In Orange County, there's a $70,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the Santiago fire starters.

MCEDWARDS: Well, the U.S. president is expected to land in southern California, that's expected to happen this year. He will view the devastation by air. He is also going to meet with some of the people who have been chased from their homes, and a lot of them don't know when they'll be able to go back. HOLMES: In San Bernardino County, that's just east of Los Angeles, fires wiped out about 500 homes. In the mountain community of Lake Arrowhead.

MCEDWARDS: Downed power lines, smoldering rubble mean residents cannot get back yet, even to see what's left. But as Ted Rowlands reports, not all was lost.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The dramatic images of the aftermath shows the devastation, but watch and you will see these homes were not lost without a fight. We were along with a group of three firefighters when they came across an empty house in the path of approaching flames. The firefighters don't have a fire truck. They pull hose from an SUV, hooking it up to a nearby fire hydrant as the flames approach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christian, get some more hose.

ROWLANDS: With help from a water dropping helicopter, the firefighters push back the wall of wind-whipped flames coming up toward the home. Eventually, they save the house. Unfortunately, they couldn't save them all. Henry and Adele Robinson's house was destroyed.

ADELE ROBINSON, FIRE VICTIM: We got in the car and we left with nothing because it -- you know, everything -- I don't know. I didn't think it would come down that far.

ROWLANDS: The Robinsons are waiting with 2,700 others in an evacuation center. Henry is a carpenter. They left with clothes on their back and their new puppy.

ROBINSON: He just had gotten a new chain saw and a few new -- disk sanders, just those few little precious things, you know. And now, again, they're gone, you know.

ROWLANDS: Although they haven't seen it yet, this is what's left of their home. They have been told their home is gone.

ROBINSON: He has a truck up there, but --

ROWLANDS: Over 500 homes have been level in the Lake Arrowhead area. 10,000 people are still evacuated. Firefighters are still battling to get control. The Robinsons, like hundreds of others up here, say they don't know what they're going to do next.

ROBINSONS: We don't have -- we got a new dog. We got each other.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands near CNN, Lake Arrowhead, California.

HOLMES: Amazing. A lot of people aren't insured. Others are underinsured. If you would like to help those who have been affected by these fires, or even pets who have been lost or left behind, you can do so. There is a lot you can do, in fact. Let's go to the website, CNN.com/impact, and you can have an impact. MCEDWARDS: Let's check some of the other stories that are making news around the world this hour now.

HOLMES: There's a lot going on.

Let's begin with new measures from Israel to try to stop rocket attacks from northern Gaza, the Israelis are planning to cut electrical power. The Israeli government last month declared Gaza a "hostile territory" and that allows the prime minister to have the power to impose sanctions like that.

MCEDWARDS: The U.S. space shuttle is now safely docked with the International Space Station. "Discovery" is on one of the most challenging missions it's ever flown. The craft carried into orbit a new module for the space station. It was built internationally. The crew will attempt a record five space walks on this trip.

HOLMES: Pro-democracy Activist Aung San Suu Kyi met with an official from Myanmar's ruling military junta. Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for years now, met with a little more than an hour with the country's newly appointed so called liason. That meeting comes weeks ahead of a second visit to Myanmar planned by U.N. envoy Ibraham Gambatti (ph).

U.N. envoy Ibraham Gambatti Now to the gathering crisis in Turkey. The government says it is running out of patience with Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. It has already gone ahead and authorized military action against them. That is a move that Iraq and the U.S. are trying to forestall. They are urging a lot of caution when it comes to this.

A group of high-ranking Iraqi government officials has just arrived in Ankara, trying to ease the tension a little bit, but Turkey is demanding that the Iraqis round up the rebels in the north and hand them over to Turkish authorities.

This is a very complicated situation, not all the Kurds in northern Iraq are rebels, of course. Only a very small part actually belong to the rebel group the PKK. In fact, Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq say most PKK fighters are actually based across the border in Turkey itself.

Nic Robertson is there, and he spoke with a former PKK insider about this crisis, and what might happen next.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a moment Osman Ocalan man never thought he'd have. Time to raise his own family. The former PKK leader, brother of imprisoned PKK founder, Abdullah Ocalan, was, like all members of this Kurdish separatist group, banned from having a personal life.

OSMAN OCALAN, BROTHER OF JAILED PKK LEADER (through translator): My ideology was different. The PKK was left wing, and I wasn't. There was no personal life in the PKK.

ROBERTSON: Today, Ocalan leads an almost normal life in a tiny Kurdish town in northern Iraq, but until a few months ago, he was in hiding. One of the best known PKK leaders, he feared assassination after he was ousted from the guerrilla group, the Turkey and the U.S. calls a terrorist organization. He wanted a cease-fire with Turkey. The other leaders didn't and forced him out.

OCALAN (through translator): I wanted to establish friendly relationship with the outside world, with the Americans and the Europeans. And convert the PKK from a socialist to a democratic party.

ROBERTSON: PKK's leadership is still riddled with infighting, he says, and warns in the current crisis hard liners could easily win the day, rapidly escalating the tensions to a wider war.

OCALAN (through translator): The finger is on the trigger. This is how the PKK will be announcing their cease-fire, because they know the Turks will not take them seriously.

ROBERTSON: When he was leader of the PKK, he fought the Iraqi Kurds he now lives with. The PKK was undefeated and he warns of restarting that fight would trigger a massive internal Kurdish conflict from Iran all the way to Syria.

OCALAN (through translator): The main plan of Turkey always has been to put pressure on the Iraqi Kurds, to attack the PKK and destabilize the region.

ROBERTSON: From his experiences, he says Turkish troop buildup won't stop at the border. Their real motivation, he claims, is not just to weaken the Kurds but to undermine the U.S.

OCALAN (through translator): This current war is not the war between Turkey and the Kurds. I think it is a war between Turkey and the Americans. Because the Turks would like to destabilize the whole of Iraq.

ROBERTSON: He fears the imprisonment of his more famous brother, serving life in a curve Turkish jail for a decade and a half of PKK terror attacks, has the potential to bring more PKK violence. Not surprisingly, he wants his brother freed, saying only he can deliver a lasting cease-fire. As for himself, he says, he'd love to help bring peace but is happy with his new civilian life.

MCEDWARDS: And Nic Robertson joins us live from northern Iraq with more on this story.

Nic, is there a sense there that war is somehow inevitable here?

ROBERTSON: Well, there definitely is a very real fear on this side of the border, inside Iraq, the Turkish troops could come across or there could be strikes deeper inside Iraq.

Already some of the many investors in this area are international businessmen in this area, involved in oil businesses, building airports and other economic developments that are happening here, are already considering evacuation plans so there's a fear there. But there's a fear from the people as well that they think that the expectations of popular expectation in Turkey has been built to such a level that it would be very, very difficult for the government there to back away from some had kind of action, and it is becoming a very deep concern, although the Kurds here say they want to resolve this just by talking.

MCEDWARDS: Sure, so what are they telling you? How do Kurds feel about the possibility of an incursion?

ROBERTSON: Well, they don't want to see it happen. They're concerned the biggest concern for the Kurds right now, and I talked a little earlier today with the president of the Kurdish regional government, Massud Barzani, he said the one thing that they are most concerned about is these negotiations get ready to get under way in Turkey between the Iraqi representatives, Kurdish representatives is they don't want Iraqi Kurds to get involved in fighting the PKK. They say they cannot achieve a military victory over them, but what they really seem to fear here is, is that if they start this fight then it will spread amongst Kurds, it will be destructive for Kurds and it's only the Kurds who will lose.

They really do feel that this is essentially almost a proxy fight between Turkey and the United States. Again, they remind us when we talked to them that Turkey is feeling very aggrieved about a U.S. potential vote to, to declare a -- the Turkish killing of many ten -- hundreds of thousands of Armenians as a genocide and they feel that perhaps Turkey is trying to put pressure on the United States here by creating instability in the north of Iraq.

Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Nic Robertson, thanks very much.

HOLMES: All right. We're going to go to break. Before we do, want to show you some live pictures -- no, we just lost those live pictures. That's live television for you.

MCEDWARDS: That's right. We did think we were going to get some live looks at those California fires, but we'll do that when we come back. We will see things from a fresh perspective here right here.

I'm sure you haven't seen these shots before.

HOLMES: What we are looking at, there, these are the live pictures we were looking for before, coming from the helicopter, KTLA providing the pictures for us, one of our affiliates. Just look at the smoke there.

MCEDWARDS: Yes. That is an incredible amount of smoke. The winds have died down, and maybe that's why you're seeing sort of more smoke in the canyons there.

HOLMES: Good point. When the Santa Ana winds were blowing, they were 40 miles offshore.

Let's have a look at the I-reports now, taken by you, our viewers.

MCEDWARDS: A bit of a different perspective here. Really a nice look here at some of the images that viewers have been sending in.

HOLMES: All right. Stay with us.

Let's see what else we have. Look at the orange color of the sky.

It looks almost apocalyptic. We will have much more of this just ahead on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone, to CNN INTERNATIONAL and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

MCEDWARDS: We are seen live around the globe, including in the United States this hour. Now we want to give you a quick check back on those California fires.

There's been a bit of a break in those harsh winds, and that is really helping firefighters get the upper hand in some cases.

About half of the active fires have now been contained. They're not out, but they're under control, at least.

Meanwhile, authorities say two bodies were recovered from the wreckage of a home in northern San Diego County. The confirmed death toll, we understand now, is at three.

HOLMES: All right. Our I-reporters, as we have been saying, have been doing a terrific job of sending us pictures of the wildfires. We always want to say, though, be careful when you do this. Don't get too close. This is a picture that comes from San Bernardino, California.

MCEDWARDS: This is from Lori Gates and her family. They say they watched while firefighters bravely defended their home. If you look closely here, you can see their jackets. You see the reflection there in the light.

HOLMES: On the right there.

MCEDWARDS: Exactly. Lori says all of the homes and the properties were saved. Amazing really.

HOLMES: I-reporter Allen Ling sent this in from Irvine, California. He says he was taking pictures of the sky when a fire broke out on the road right next to him. Allen tells us he stayed on to take the pictures that you see there, but left when it became difficult to breathe. Don't stay there. Move on.

MCEDWARDS: Exactly. If you see news, you can be an I-reporter right here on CNN. But, as we're saying here, please, please be careful. HOLMES: Yes, tell us what you've seen, send in your photos, video. Some of the videos from mobile phones have been terrific. CNN.com, click on the I-report logo for instructions.

MCEDWARDS: Well, the U.S. is using a new tactic to increase pressure on Iran patient try to drop its nuclear activities. In an unprecedented move, Washington has hit a key branch of the Iranian military with sanctions.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Today, Secretary Paulson and I are announcing several new steps to increase the cost to Iran of its irresponsible behavior. Many of the Iranian regime's most destabilizing policies are carried out by two of its agencies, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Core, or the IRGC, and the Quds force, an arm of the IRGC.

Because of the revolutionary guard's support for proliferation and because of the Quds force support for terrorism, acting under U.S. law and consistent with our international obligations, the United States today is designating both of these groups.

MCEDWARDS: In addition to sanctions against Iran's defense ministry and the Quds force, the U.S. is also honing in on banks supporting revolutionary guard activity. Sanctions ban international banks from doing business with Bank Melli, Bank Mellat and Bank Saderat. That third bank, the state owned bank, that's the one Saderat, is also being classified as a terrorist financer. Washington also slapping sanctions on more than 20 Iranian companies and individuals as well.

HOLMES: Well, the sanctions against Iran are the harshest since the takeover of the American embassy way back in 1979.

For more, let's turn to Robin Wright of "The Washington Post." She broke the story, and our own Jim Clancy who's standing by in Baghdad.

Robin, let's start with you and the first question has got to be, what do you see in the timing of this? Why now?

ROBIN WRIGHT, THE WASHINGTON POST: I think the United States is very frustrated with the fact that the united nations has not been able to agree on a third punitive resolution against Iran to impose a new round of sanctions, so it's decided that it's time to take its own independent actions against this large portion of Iran's conventional military force. It's unprecedented, as you pointed out, it's very unusual. But it's imaginative in that it is using economic power to sanction them to cut off their access to internet -- the international financial system.

HOLMES: It's interesting that the Condoleezza Rice and others have said that the united states is committed, quote, "committed to a diplomatic soluti" but when you listen to some of the rhetoric coming out of the white house, it seems an odd sort of diplomacy.

WRIGHT: I think there will be some who suspect this is paving the way to conflict or military action. The administration does, I think, at this point is trying to give the diplomatic effort more muscle, to say we have to take action to make Iran understand it has not complied so far with two previous U.N. resolutions to send Iran yawn enrichment which can be used both for peaceful energy and to develop a nuclear weapon so it wants to give diplomacy greater muscle.

HOLMES: All right. I will come back to you in just a second, Robin.

Let's go to Jim in Baghdad. Why Baghdad? Tell us, Jim, why Iraqis are nervous about the growing tensions between Iran and the U.S.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Michael and Robin, too. The it's a proxy war. Yes, the U.S. says it's committed to diplomacy. At the same time, the U.S. is looking at what it says is evidence of Iran backing militias, a lot of Iraqi officials will tell you the same thing, Iran is arming, funding, helping to train select militias.

Only today you can see in the pictures it was announced they discovered a massive cache in their words of the explosively formed projectiles, EFPs that can pierce U.S. armored vehicles, have been blamed in the deaths of American troops. This one had like 150 of the cone-shaped copper devices, they say, are made in Iran. There have been undercover stings where they bought these things from Iran. And then been told by the guy that they bought it from that if they need some expert help on how to use that, well, they can bring somebody over from Iran to show them. There were 600 pounds of C-4 high explosives discovered here along with mortars, rockets, you name it. All of this piling up as evidence. The Iraqi look on and say, how are the Iranians going to respond? Is that going to be used as an excuse by the United States? The tensions keep ratcheting up.

HOLMES: Robin, let's go back to you now. When the U.S. says it wants other nations to join in, to help enforce these sorts of sanctions, particularly when it comes to al Quds and their involvement as Jim was pointing out in the manufacture of EFPs, let alone the political influences taking place in the south, what do you think the neighborhood thinks of all this?

WRIGHT: Well, the United States allies are very reluctant to move against the Quds force. They see the emergency is merging two problems with the actions it took today, the issue of Iran's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the separate problem of Iran's intervention in Iraq. And the U.S. is punishing Iran for both, and the international community is prepared to deal with Iran only on its suspected nuclear program.

There's likely to be a stiff divide. Any new U.N. resolution will be much weaker, will focus only on the nuclear program, and I think you'll probably find allies, even those willing to take their own unilateral sanctions, not willing to take this kind of sweeping action.

HOLMES: Yeah, Jim Clancy, literally got 30 seconds, Jim, before we have to hit the brake. Tell me your final thoughts. What are Iraqis on the street telling them? They must be feeling like they're in a vice at the moment.

CLANCY: The Iraqis are afraid that George W. Bush is going to have a military strike on Iran to destroy its nuclear capabilities, its fledgling program before he leaves office. They know if that happens, they will be dragged into the fight, and there's no telling what the results will be or the consequences.

HOLMES: Jim Clancy in Baghdad, Robin Wright at "The Washington Post," thanks to both of you for your analysis. We have to take a short break, be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. More of "YOUR WORLD TODAY" in just a few minutes.

But first, a check of the stories making headlines right here in the United States.

In southern California, a grim discovery in the ashes. Last hour we learned that firefighters have found two burned bodies in a gutted home near Poway. That's in San Diego County.

Meantime, fire crews are gaining ground on this fifth day of raging wildfires. The hot, dry Santa Ana winds are expected to all but disappear today. That's allowing firefighting flames to bombard the fires from the air. Almost 100 planes could take part in a massive aerial assault. Across the region, 1,600 homes have been destroyed. Losses are estimated at more than $1 billion and counting.

Live pictures now from a marine base station in San Diego where President Bush is expected to arrive. There he is, right there. Aboard Air Force One in just a few minutes. He should be wheels down on the ground. You are looking at live pictures as the president comes in. He will board Marine One, and then take a tour of the devastation, and we'll bring that to you live, whether it's in CNN INTERNATIONAL or in the "CNN NEWSROOM" at the top of the hour, but that's president of the United States there, landing on Air Force One. He's going to board Marine One in just a bit. And take a tour of that devastation. Those are live pictures.

Now let's take a close look at the wildfire's toll. At least eight people have died, 78 others are hurt. The flames have scorched more than 462,000 acres or 723 square miles. That's roughly half the size of Rhode Island. At least 1,600 homes have been destroyed. Crews are still fighting 14 major fires. Residents in 13 San Diego County communities can now return home.

Let's check in on the weather situation, see if it will be any help for the firefighting efforts there and Reynolds Wolf in the severe weather center.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What's up, D.L.? How you doing? We are looking at a better day in parts of southern California. What we are going to be seeing is the Santa Ana winds will finally begin to die down. Then what we will see is more of a fetch from the ocean, more of a breeze going from west to east which will bring in more moisture. Also it's also going to help the firefighters a little bit. They need all the help they can get.

To give you an idea of how strong the Santa Ana winds were, take a look at this smoke plume. Some 800 miles out in the Pacific Ocean, mind boggling how strong the winds were.

Now with the frontal boundary that will be drifting from north to south, this will bring in the within, anywhere from 5 to 15 miles per hour from the pacific inland, bring in more humidity, increase the dew points and give the firefighters a little bit of a break. A little bit of help, which certainly is something they can use over the last several days.

Let's send it back to you.

LEMON: Thank you very much. We will see new the NEWSROOM at the top of the hour.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Welcome back to our viewers joining us from around the globe, including the United States. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Colleen McEdwards.

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. Here are some of the top stories, to the minute.

About half of those 24 original blazes in Southern California are now under control after the Santa Ana winds weakened. Fire crews, however, did find some bad news. They discovered the bodies of two people in a gutted home, bringing the death toll to three now.

The U.S. president, George W. Bush, has just landed in Southern California. There's Air Force One. He's going to have a firsthand look at the devastation. Mr. Bush signed a federal disaster declaration to free up money to help residents.

Well, the U.S. has hit Iran with sanctions that may be hard to ignore. Washington's move targets Iran's revolutionary guard corps, its Quds Force, as it's known. And also 20 companies and individuals with ties to the revolutionary guards. Now, the U.S. accuses the Quds Force of supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq. The sanctions also ban international banks from doing business with three major Iranian banks.

HOLMES: Turkey says it is running out of patience with those Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. The government has already authorized, officially, military action against them. A move that Iraq and the United States are trying to forestall. A group of high-ranking Iraqi government officials has just arrived in Ankara to try to ease some of the tension.

MCEDWARDS: Well, the wildfires in Southern California have been unpredictable, to say the least. In many neighborhoods, a home that has been spared could be standing right next to one that has been completely wiped out. But that is not the case in one neighborhood, in Rancho Bernardo, where it seems no structure was spared at all. Reggie Aqui joins us now live with more.

Reggie, what's the latest?

REGGIE AQUI, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Colleen, you are so right about that because as I take you through this neighborhood you will see that each one of them looks exactly like the one behind me. In fact, there's still some smoke coming up from this one.

Basically all that's left, the chimneys -- or anything made out of brick. When you hear that 200,000 acres have burned as a result of the Witch Fire, here in the this part of San Diego County, it's kind of hard to imagine what that looks like. Well, this is it. When we take you house to house, there's very little left. As I mentioned, some of the things in the front yards are left, like these statues that they have right here. But other than that, when these neighbors come home, and they get these brief glimpses of what's here, there's not much to go through.

Sometimes with these fires you'll see families come back and they'll be able to find family photos, scrapbooks, anything that reminds them of their previous life. I'm not so sure that's going to be the case here, because as we've been looking through this rubble, there's really nothing there.

I'll take you down here and show you what is left of the wheel of this family's car. This is it. The metal, just turned to liquid for a moment and now just sitting kind of frozen in time here on the driveway. As you mentioned, in this particular cul-de-sac, every one of the houses here looks exactly the same.

These neighbors came here very late last night. They were talking to one of our colleagues here at CNN, and they said they had not really minutes but moments to get out of here. They were driving out, evacuating, and they say their house was on fire when that happened. You can see their car right here. These wooden structures back there are basically the only parts that are still standing from the fire.

I guess the only good news to report now is that this Witch Fire is now 20 percent contained. I know that doesn't sound like a whole lot, but it's a lot better than where we were yesterday. There is no wind today. That's going to help the firefighters. And the air quality is much better in these neighborhoods.

You mentioned President Bush is going to be touring these areas. He should be flying above us any minute now. We expect he'll be in one of these neighborhoods right around me later this afternoon -- Colleen.

MCEDWARDS: Wow, Reggie, you know, when you see those burned-out shells of those cars, that really brings it home, doesn't it? Just the intensity of the heat in there.

AQUI: It's amazing. It's so strange what's left behind. I mean, you see these posts for the mailboxes here, and then you see the American Cross has left a note here, letting them know where they can call for help.

MCEDWARDS: Wow.

ACQUI: I should mention to you, this is gorgeous. It's the kind of place where people dream of living. At least for now, that dream has been ruined.

Yeah. Are people able to come back there yet, Reggie, or not?

AQUI: Well, I think a few people have come back, and what we've seen is they've just been able to be here for a few minutes, with a police escort. We're also seeing some of their neighbors come in from other parts of the neighborhood, and they're beyond the police line. So to be able to walk up here. They are bringing up their digital cameras, taking photos for their friends, so they can show them what happened to their neighborhood.

MCEDWARDS: All right, Reggie Aqui, thanks very much for talking to us. Reggie, appreciate it.

As he's reporting there, we are seeing the live pictures of the U.S. president coming down off of Air Force One, which has just landed in California. As Reggie mentioned, right there, one of the things the president's going to do is get in the helicopter with the State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, take a bit of a tour of the area, a bird's-eye view, but he's also going to be in that same area that same neighborhood to see the damage.

HOLMES: Arnold Schwarzenegger, there, in the picture actually, there, and also Dianne Feinstein. George W. Bush there meeting with various dignitaries, I guess, and also National Guard troops, it looks like, there.

He signed that federal disaster declaration. What that does is allows the bureaucracy to release some of the federal funds that California is going to need. Boy, $1 billion of damage at the least.

MCEDWARDS: Part of this is an exercise in looking quick off the mark as well. That declaration signed quite quickly. President Bush in the air quite quickly, now touching down in California. A stark contrast, really, to the response after another huge disaster in the United States, Hurricane Katrina, when this government was harshly criticized for not responding quickly enough, not doing enough quickly enough.

HOLMES: This time, too, you see the president on the ground. One of the criticisms of Katrina was he basically flew over.

MCEDWARDS: Didn't go there. As I said just a few minutes ago, so you know the itinerary, he's going to take this helicopter flight with the governor, going to get a bird's-eye view of the area where he'll see the destruction firsthand for the first time. And then he's going to be in that area where we just talked to Reggie Aqui. And he's going to meet with some residents, as well, some people who have been displaced and will no doubt want to reassure them in person, as he has been reassuring them from Washington earlier in week.

HOLMES: Let's just add one odd point, on the side, this air base was where the movie "Top Gun" was filmed.

MCEDWARDS: Nice bit of trivia there.

HOLMES: If you wanted to know that.

MCEDWARDS: Thank you, Michael Holmes. We are going to have a lot more coverage of the California fires. That is coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

HOLMES: Yeah, we are going to take a look also at the leadership style of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. A relative political newcomer, who could, nevertheless, teach the veterans a few lessons in crises management.

MCEDWARDS: Well, it was a very big day today for, I guess you could call it a very big plane.

HOLMES: That's an understatement. You can't tell from that picture. This is enormous, it's the A380 Airbus, super bus jumbo passenger jet. When it was serviced (ph), it had its maiden passenger flight from Singapore to Sydney, Australia.

MCEDWARDS: We should add the word "finally" to that phrase. Because this plane's delivery was two years behind schedule. There were all kinds of manufacturing problems, causing most of the delay.

HOLMES: Indeed. But now it is flying, and Richard Quest, who always likes to get a free meal, went along for the first flight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN TRAVEL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When we arrived at the airport, it was still dark. Daylight showed us what we were about to experience. The plane may have been delivered two years late, but we took off bang on time from Singapore. And once in the air --

(CROWD CHEERING)

QUEST: -- everyone was determined to enter into the spirit. All the way up to the chief executive who led the way.

CHEW CHOON SENG, CEO, SINGAPORE AIRLINES: The outfitting of this aircraft was focused on three elements, space, comfort, and fun.

QUEST: Some had spent thousands of dollars buying their tickets through a charity auction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We paid 15,000 U.S., for the two seats. QUEST (on camera): The question then becomes, was it worth it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you kidding?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an atmosphere that -- I don't think you will ever feel again on an aircraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll tell ya, the guy in front of me paid $2,700 and I paid $2,650. So, I thought -- I went happier than hell (ph) about (ph) it (ph).

(LAUGHTER)

QUEST (voice over): The most expensive seat cost $100,000. But that wasn't the seat. It was one of the first class suites. Julian Hayward spent that much money to be on board.

JULIAN HAYWARD, BID $100,000 FOR TICKET: It's a chance to be in a small piece of aviation history, a chance to get -- to give to three excellent charities, and a chance to experience this. The atmosphere is turbo charged. It's fun.

QUEST: The A380 is first and foremost a large plane, designed to carry several hundred more people than the existing jumbo jets. But it also gives airlines a chance to offer new facilities and comfort to passengers. Everyone seemed to appreciate what was on board.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's big, it's quiet, it's fast. Light, roomy, everything you want.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think it's superb. Absolutely superb. It's so exciting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This plane is phenomenal. I think it's kind of redefining aviation a little bit.

QUEST: Bad weather in Sydney meant we never saw the famous opera house and harbor bridge as we came in to land, but that didn't matter really. We had just flown into the history books.

(On camera): Today we got a glimpse of what the future of air travel is all about. Lots of comfort for those who can afford it, and lots of seats for the rest. Richard Quest, CNN, Sydney, Australia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCEDWARDS: Lots of comfort for Richard Quest.

HOLMES: Well, I talked to his producer, actually, a little earlier. He was in the pointy end.

MCEDWARDS: But, of course.

HOLMES: He was. But what a great plane. MCEDWARDS: It is. I hope that guy who bid $100,000 got some good wine, at least.

HOLMES: You see that, it's like a double bed there?

MCEDWARDS: Yeah.

HOLMES: Won't say any more about that.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: All right. More on the wildfires --

(LAUGHTER)

-- in Southern California, a little later in the program.

MCEDWARDS: Good thing we didn't send you on that assignment.

Up next, Beijing's headache. It is trying to clean up, but will its foul air put a damper on Olympic spirits?

HOLMES: Stay with us. You're watching YOUR WORLD TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCEDWARDS: Welcome back. With less than a year before the Olympic Games, Beijing's polluted air could be the toughest foe that these athletes face.

HOLMES: Journalists, too. Our Beijing correspondent tells us it's hard to breathe sometimes. The head of the International Olympic Committee today issued a bit of a veiled warning.

MCEDWARDS: Hugh Riminton reports now, from Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Beijing, a U.N. sponsored conference on sport and the environment opened with a grim warning on climate change.

JACQUES ROGGE, INTL. OLYMPIC CMTE.: We are all too aware that the fragile condition of the environment could, therefore, pose a daily threat to the future of sports. Global warming will jeopardize sports in the long term and, for example, very existence of winter sports in many areas of the world.

RIMINTON: Officially, he praised Beijing's efforts to reign in pollution ahead of next year's Olympics with some factories already closed, others being shifted, or shut down, tree-planting programs, and plans to cut vehicle use to improve air quality for the athletes.

ROGGE: We are confident that these efforts will protect the health of our athletes. RIMINTON (on camera): The deep irony is that while the Beijing authorities are winning so much of this international praise, the air outside was thick with choking smog.

(Voice over): What marathon runner would want to take this on? The air today in downtown Beijing, less than 300 days from the opening ceremony. In fact, copies of the IOC president's speech delivered to the media compared a far more strident line on China's pollution.

This is what he did not say: "Despite all Beijing's efforts time may be running out and the conditions required for the athletes competing in endurance events might not be met 100 percent on a given day. For this reason, we may have to reschedule some events so that the health of athletes is scrupulously protected."

We don't know why Mr. Rogge left that paragraph out when he read his speech, but it is a repetition of a warning he gave in August. A warning Beijing authorities have been at pains to represent as something much more benign.

SUN WEIDE, SPOKESMAN, BEIJING OLYMPIC CMT. Mr. Rogge was referring to the environment, the natural environments. For example, if there is no wind, then we cannot possibly have a sailing competition.

RIMINTON: But outside the conference, the Olympic supremo was quite clear about his meaning.

ROGGE: I confirm what I said in August. If for long distance endurance events, if the air quality is not OK, we will consider to postpone them at a better time.

RIMINTON: Beijing claims the number of low pollution/blue sky days has more than doubled in the past eight years to nearly 250 a year. This day, for the record, was officially scored as a slight pollution day. Hugh Riminton, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: I was talking to our John Vause, our Beijing correspondent one day, and he had that sort background behind him. I said it's foggy over there. He e-mailed back and said it's not fog.

MCEDWARDS: It's smog. Yeah, it's smog, pollution, human rights, a bunch of issues around this Olympics. It will be interesting.

HOLMES: It will be an interesting Olympics.

MCEDWARDS: Part muscle man, part action figure, and now totally a political hero.

HOLMES: Yeah, The Terminator, I will be back. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger putting some muscle behind efforts to contain those wildfires. We will have a look at that.

MCEDWARDS: We'll be back, too. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. He was once Hollywood's biggest action hero now, of course, the governor of California, but Arnold Schwarzenegger still a man of action.

MCEDWARDS: As Bill Schneider tells us, this relative political newcomer could give some veteran government leaders a lesson in crises management.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (voice over): In a natural disaster, people want to believe the government is in control, even if it's really not.

JOHN GARAMENDI, LT. GOVERNOR, CALIFORNIA: It's the wind that controls the destiny of the homes and the communities.

SCHNEIDER: After 9/11, Mayor Rudy Giuliani was out there, trying to reassure frightened New Yorkers. After Hurricane Katrina, no one seemed to be in control. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger went from action hero in the movies to take-charge governor, or governor-elect when wildfires broke out in 2003.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, CALIFORNIA: I, in my movies, played heroes, but these firefighters are true heroes.

SCHNEIDER: Or this year, when the San Francisco Bay Bridge collapsed and he pledged --

SCHWARZENEGGER: We can cut through all the red tapes and cut through the bureaucracy.

SCHNEIDER: Schwarzenegger has championed the unsexy cause of repairing the state's deteriorating infrastructure, including the vulnerable levee system.

SCHWARZENEGGER: It is just sandbags that are protecting us from disaster right now. I mean, it's ridiculous.

SCHNEIDER: Being there for disasters helped him recover from some first-term blunders and hobble to a triumphant re-election. Now he has to be there again, to reassure people who face devastating losses.

SCHWARZENEGGER: We are going to make sure that the people are not out there on their own.

SCHNEIDER: And to show empathy.

SCHWARZENEGGER: I'm heartbroken to see these kinds of things, because these are people who have saved their money for many, many years, and they finally got their home.

SCHNEIDER: He still faces tough tests. He has to deliver. Yes, President Bush is going to California. So what, the state's lieutenant governor, a Democrat, mused? We have the terminator out here. Bill Schneider, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: He looked younger there, didn't he?

MCEDWARDS: Quite a bit. I'm sure he likes to be reminded of that.

That's it for this hour. I'm Colleen McEdwards.

HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes. You are watching CNN. See you tomorrow.

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