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High Winds Fuel Dangerous Blazes in California; Same-Sex Marriage Demonstrations; World Financial Summit

Aired November 15, 2008 - 17:01   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. It is the top of the hour and we start with breaking news.
We learned just moments ago the wildfires in California have rapidly spread from two to three. A third blaze in Orange County, it has burned at least a dozen buildings near Yorba Linda. Yorba Linda is home to the Richard Nixon Library and Memorial.

That Sayre Fire that we've been reporting on all afternoon here is only 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles. The other big blaze, the Tea Fire, is about 90 miles from L.A., near Montecito.

More than 15,000 people -- this is the sad part of this -- 15,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders all across that region. More than 150 homes have been destroyed, and thousands more are at risk.

You know what/ Adding to the concerns here, just moments ago in a press conference, L.A.'s mayor warned people to be ready for possible rolling blackouts because of power lines threatened by flames, and they could be waterless as well if the city's water system continues to get stressed.

We have it all covered for you. CNN's Kara Finnstrom is on the front lines. She's in Sylmar, California. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN severe weather center. And we're also covering two others stories we have our eye on for you.

Breaking news this evening. President Bush hosting a global economic summit in Washington. There you see our Elaine Quijano. She's at the White House. Also in Washington for us, Richard Quest. We'll get to them as well.

Proposition 8 protests happening now across the country. Our Ted Rowlands is watching that for us in Los Angeles. Susan Candiotti on the other coast, in New York. We will get to them, all of them, this hour.

But we start first with those fires raging out of control out West.

CNN's Kara Finnstrom has been tracking the courageous efforts there. And she's outside a Sylmar mobile home park that was destroyed by the blaze.

Kara, we understand officials are asking people there to conserve both electricity and water at this hour. KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, really a tremendous strain on resources all across southern California at this hour. And Don, what has to be really frustrating for these firefighters is these winds just have not let up all day. And until they get a break from the weather, it's going to be very difficult for them to gain some control over this blaze.

If you take a look behind me here, you can see this mobile home park. Just completely decimated by this fire.

Here are the latest numbers that we're getting. In the last 15 hours, 6,500 acres have been burned. At least 500 homes have been destroyed. And these numbers just may change.

We have been told by residents who lived in this mobile home park that there were at least 600 mobile homes here. And as you can see, the vast majority of them have burned. So numbers that have continued to change.

Authorities here are saying, as they get in and they really see the damage, it's much greater than they anticipated. At this point, more than 10,000 people evacuated with this Sylmar fire.

Now, also, just below me, Don, you can see some police activity. This is actually a crime scene, because a little earlier today they sealed this off. Police only telling us at this point, only confirming, that they have an arson investigation under way. They will not give us any other details.

We have been told up to this point that this fire actually started to the north of this area, just up in those hills, and then spread down into the mobile home park. So as to how all of this will piece together, we're still waiting to learn. But a lot of activity there with police involvement -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Stand by.

CNN's Kara Finnstrom on the front line. She's been on the front lines for us fighting with these firefighters' efforts the entire time they've been out there.

So Kara, we appreciate that. Stand by.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Meantime, we told you about the Los Angeles mayor saying -- telling people to conserve water and electricity there because of possible rolling blackouts as well. They may be without some power. He also said in the press conference just moments ago that he will ask for state and federal assistance. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: I'm going to be asking for assistance from the state for these families. The federal government just gave the city and the state money for foreclosures, and if that money can be used for people who have lost their home as well, we want to look into that, and clearly want the assistance and the support from the state to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So some of the foreclosure, the bailout funds you mean, that were used for that?

VILLARAIGOSA: I'm not sure that you can use those funds, but given that people have lost their homes in, you know, a dramatic fashion, I mean, overnight, if there are emergency funds available to provide them assistance, we certainly are going to aggressively seek that assistance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa telling that to reporters just a short time ago.

We're going to check in with our Chris Lawrence. Our coverage isn't done here. He is on his way to the fires out in Yorba Linda, California, that we told you about. A third fire has started there. He's going to tell us about the potential dangers of L.A.'s power supply and check in on the latest fire there. Our Chris Lawrence in just moments.

Meantime, same-sex marriage is highly visible. It's an issue today in many places across the country.

The issue took off when voters in three states approved ballot initiatives banning same-sex marriage. Thousands of supporters, thousands of them, both gay and straight, turned out for peaceful rallies in hundreds of cities. Among the places holding large gatherings today, Washington, D.C., Orlando and San Francisco.

We can say the epicenter of the protests have been California, where the approval of Proposition 8 on Election Day fired up the gay and lesbian community. And CNN's Ted Rowlands is covering today's rally. He joins us now from Los Angeles.

Ted, and it seems you have a pretty big crowd behind you.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, a lot of people behind us here. The march ended a little while ago. And quite frankly, now we're the attraction because they knew that we were going to be broadcasting live.

But a huge crowd did show up here in Los Angeles. A little less than they were hoping for. But most people think it's because of the fires, of course, that is consuming southern California. But they still had about 20,000 people come out for a rally, and then for a march through downtown Los Angeles.

They are saying that, yes, they lost Proposition 8, but the silver lining, they are hoping, is that the galvanization of this community is seemingly taking hold not only here in California, but across the country. And they are hoping that they'll get their message across that this is more about equality than it is about marriage. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE DANIELS, SAME-SEX MARRIAGE SUPPORTER: Love is love. Love is love, bottom line. And you fall in love with the person, with the soul, not their physicality. So why can't we just honor love?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: And for the most part, it's been very peaceful. Oh, listen to how quiet they are all of a sudden.

The police say that this has been a very orderly crowd, and this has been pretty much case at all of these rallies, Don, that we've seen started, of course, right after Proposition 8 was passed in California. Organizers are vowing to discuss more gatherings like this in the days, months and years to come. They say they're in this for the long haul -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Our Ted Rowlands standing by in California.

Ted, we appreciate that. Thank you very much.

We'll get back to Ted later on tonight, 11:00 p.m. Eastern, here on CNN. We'll follow that as well.

Meantime, we want to take you to New York now, where there is also a major rally. Our Susan Candiotti standing by covering that one.

Susan, I don't see the number of protesters behind you as I did for Ted.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it wrapped up here, Don, a couple of hours ago, but police estimate there were 4,000 people here this day. And a few days ago earlier this week, another 5,000 attended another protest here in Manhattan.

The theme has been the same, and that is that they support same-sex marriage and equalize that to the Civil Rights Movement, that they are one in the same. That is the same thing as the freedom of speech that is guaranteed U.S. Constitution. And they say the right to marry is just the very same thing.

Now, among the people who attended the rally this day, a gay couple from New York who traveled to California in October and got married there. And they are now worried about the validity of their marriage certificate given what happened in California with Proposition 8. Yet, they say they are not demoralized about what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a setback. It just means that we have to do a better job convincing people that gay marriage is not threatening. You know, it's really just a civil right. It's about equality.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CANDIOTTI: Now, same-sex marriages are only legal in the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts. But a U.S. congressman from New York that we spoke with said perhaps it is time to federalize the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: This is a place the federal government has to get involved. We have to say this notion of letting every state decide basic rights probably has to give way to the federal government saying, you know what? There are certain basic rights that people are entitled to, and that's what people at this protest and more people in Congress are saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Like in California, this rally was peaceful. No arrests, and more are to come.

Back to you.

LEMON: All right. Susan Candiotti.

Thank you very much for that, Susan.

We want to hear from our viewers. Tell us what's on your mind and what you think about Prop 8 as well. Reach out to us on any one of those platforms.

David, get in here.

I want to show you this. This is some people that are responding already. They said, "I will be happy when churches go back to praying for healing and helping others, and get out of other people's beds as well."

One other person down there says, "As someone who has been legally fired for being gay, I hope the Prop 8 protesters will rally behind discrimination laws also."

That's from Twitter.

You can reach out to us -- Facebook, MySpace, iReport.com. We'll get your responses on the air.

Another big story developing for you today, the World Economic Summit. Is it a photo-op or real solutions? Let's face it, it's your money at stake.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's talk about the economy now, shall we?

As world leaders from the group of 20 nations meet to discuss a growing financial crisis, these protesters that you're looking at, they marched through Manila, to the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines. They rallied against what they called the jamboree of wealthy capitalist leaders meeting in Washington.

Capitalism, one thing President Bush says he's determined to protect and preserve amid this crisis despite the U.S. government's strong intervention to stem the growing crisis. Now, Mr. Bush has reportedly urged his fellow leaders to turn away from protectionism. He's also calling for pro-growth policies like interest rate cuts by central banks around the globe.

You know, this historic two-day summit wrapped up just a few hours ago, when an urgent call for more stimulus measures and more market oversight.

Our Elaine Quijano joins us now from the White House with the very latest.

Elaine, I want to know, any surprises out of this summit?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, not really, Don. They billed this as a first step, really, in a series of meetings that's going to be taking place on the financial crisis, and that's exactly what it amounted to. And in the end, the president and his aides declared this summit productive and successful.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): It was partly a show of unity, part policy discussion as well, with agreement on broad principles to guide future reform of global markets.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Our nations agree that we must make the markets -- the financial markets more transparent and accountable.

QUIJANO: But also, part politics for world leaders under pressure to pull their countries out of the global downturn.

President Bush defended his administration's controversial $700 billion bailout plan.

BUSH: Our credit markets are beginning to thaw having been severely frozen. Businesses are beginning to get access to short-term credit.

QUIJANO: But the outgoing president also said there would be no quick fixes to the world's economic problems. And experts say this meeting, billed by the White House as a first step, was just that, a chance for leaders to get a handle on the problems that led to this point.

ESWAR PRASAD, BROOKING INSTITUTION: A time of crisis is usually a very good time to think about how to reorder certain priorities and how to put in place certain reforms. But a crisis is not a good time to think about how to reform the entire regulatory structure.

QUIJANO: President Bush said finance ministers will now be tasked with bringing back recommendations before the next summit schedule for April. But even as he looked ahead, Mr. Bush acknowledged he is in the waning days of his presidency. BUSH: President-elect Obama's transition team has been fully briefed on what we intended to do here at this meeting. I told them that we will work tirelessly to make sure the transition between my administration and his administration is seamless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Now, President-elect Barack Obama, of course, did not attend this summit himself. Instead, his representatives, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former Republican congressman Jim Leach, did sit down for a meeting on the sidelines of the summit -- Don.

LEMON: Elaine Quijano at the White House.

We appreciate it, Elaine. Thank you very much.

We are not done talking with the economy yet. Billions of dollars, partial government takeovers, your money at stake. Will any of this work? Some thoughts from our Richard Quest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Those of you who have followed my career know that I'm a free market person, until you are told that if you don't take decisive measures, then it's conceivable that our country could go into depression greater than the Great Depression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That is President Bush at the G-20 economic summit, speaking on the reality of the economic crisis.

And for a reality check on what the president and other world leaders are getting accomplished, if anything, I defer now to my colleague in Washington, Richard Quest. He's our CNN international correspondent.

Richard, you may be getting some new information. I know you and your producers are working on it. But what can you tell us now?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know, of course, is that this is a long document, quite one of the longest declarations that I've ever seen. It's extremely detailed. It has an action plan of short-term measures between now and next April and medium-term measures.

It talks about greater accountancy regulation, financial regulation, a so-called college of supervisors. So it's a lot more detailed than any of us had really thought was going to be announced.

The word and the rule is clear to Wall Street and to the financial world. It's no longer business as usual.

What we are also understanding, although we're just sort of dotting I's and crossing Ts, is the extent to which the Obama transition team was kept informed of the discussions and the, if you like, declaration process, whether or not they have signed up to it.

LEMON: Yes.

QUEST: Because that, of course, is the key question. It's fine for the U.S. administration under Bush to sign up to it, but what happens after January when they start dotting the I's and crossing the Ts?

LEMON: Yes. And you're still working on getting some information as it concerns that. Is that correct, Richard?

QUEST: Yes, because it appears that some leaders might have been told that at least -- or given an indication as to what the Obama team's view on the declaration was.

LEMON: OK.

QUEST: You see, you've got to bear in mind, the nature of what they agreed is so fundamental regards to new regulation, that would an incoming Democratic administration be, if you like, more in favor of actually going ahead with it, predisposed to going ahead with it than, say, an outgoing Republican administration?

LEMON: Right. OK.

Richard, if you get any more information, we're on for the next 35 minutes or so. Can you please get it to us?

Thank you very much for that.

Richard Quest.

You've seen the incredible flames. We have been showing you these fires, and the threat is not just to the homes in this region. The area's power supply could also be in jeopardy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Time now for "Transition to Power." Three more people are headed to Washington with President-elect Barack Obama to the White House.

Here's CNN's White House Correspondent Ed Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Democratic sources say that after meeting with the president-elect earlier this week, Senator Hillary Clinton left with the impression that she could be secretary of state if she wants it, though there was no formal offer. The president-elect also had met with Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, someone else who had run against him in the Democratic primaries for president.

The point being that Mr. Obama is thinking about organizing a so- called team of rivals, like Abraham Lincoln. People in the cabinet who maybe had opposed him early, have a healthy, robust debate within that cabinet.

The upside with picking someone like Clinton is that Mr. Obama would get someone with a real international profile, someone well known around the world as his chief diplomat. The downside, though, could be that someone like Clinton opposed him so sharply on foreign policy, particularly the war in Iraq back in those primaries.

In terms of timing for all of this, the transition team will not say when they are going to start rolling out key cabinet appointments, though they have said that while in the modern era most incoming presidents have done most of their cabinet appointments in December, they expect Mr. Obama will start roll some out in late November.

Ed Henry, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Ed Henry, seen with the CNN Election Express there in the background.

And President-elect Barack Obama's campaign was largely driven by his online presence -- Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, where the president- elect posted his Democratic radio address.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Next week, Congress will meet to address the spreading impact of the economic crisis. I urge them to pass at least a down payment on a rescue plan that will create jobs, relieve the squeeze on families, and help get the economy growing again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the campaign stumps are over for Mr. Obama. And so are a lot of his photo-ops.

Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was a presence in our living rooms nearly every day for two years. But since winning the White House, we've had only two public sightings of Barack Obama. And at one of them, he gave a hint at why he's keeping himself under wraps.

OBAMA: We only have one president at a time.

TODD: Mr. Obama hadn't planned on returning to the Senate to vote on a possible economic stimulus package, and his team now says he'll resign from the Senate effective Sunday. But an aide says he's made it clear that he'll act quickly on that program as president if Congress doesn't. He's also refused to meet with several world leaders converging on Washington for Friday's economic summit, despite the fact that many of them have clamored for meetings with him. Mr. Obama won't show up at that summit either.

We'll see former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Republican Congressman Jim Leech there as his surrogates.

KAREN TUMULTY, TIME MAGAZINE: I think that he is also establishing relationships one on one with world leaders. Barack Obama has had a number of phone conversations, one on one with world leaders.

TODD: An Obama says vetting people for his cabinet from his Chicago transition headquarters is hard work. He's hunkered down there and has no public events scheduled for the moment.

We asked a historian, is this unusual?

JAMES THURBER, AMERICAN UNIVESITY: This is not uncommon in this time period. For example, FDR said very few things between his election in November in 1932 and when he was inaugurated in March of '33 during a major economic crisis.

TODD: But with the current economic crisis and two wars still raging, shouldn't the president-elect maintain a slightly higher profile to show he's ready to take charge?

TUMULTY: At this point, coordination is also important, and if Barack Obama is out there publicly, what is more likely to happen is conflict and confusion.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Concerning the campaign or at least politics, anything you want to talk to us about, we want to know what's on your mind. You can log on to any one of those sites right now.

The biggest responses I'm getting in right now is coming from about Prop 8.

"Our community has realized we cannot go back into the closet and let others decide that we are second-class citizens."

Another person says -- this is about the fires right here. He says, "I live in Hollywood, about 40-something miles from the fires, and you can smell and see the smoke in the air. It is pretty scary." And it goes on to talk about other issues that we're talking about as well, including the economy.

Speaking of that last response we got about the fires, I want to update you on what's happening now at this hour. Firefighters in California had their hands full with three separate blazes. The Sayer fire in Sylmar has burned more than 6,000 acres and it's only 10 percent contained. Another big blaze, it's called the Tea fire. It's destroyed more than 100 homes northwest of L.A. And a third fire has destroyed at least a dozen buildings that is near Yorba Linda. You might know Yorba Linda as the home to the Richard Nixon Library and Memorial.

Those fires are threatening major power lines near Los Angeles. and one utility has already orchestrated rolling power outages in the area.

Our Chris Lawrence joins us now from the site of that latest fire, a very smoky Yorba Linda, California.

Chris, they are asking to conserve electricity. They are doing that by rolling blackouts, also asking for a conservation of water there.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you are right on all those counts, Don.

We are standing just off the 91 freeway, a major freeway that runs through Los Angeles and to the east of Los Angeles. And you can see the fire is burning just on the side of the freeway here. And as we go along, I mean, this is literally just a few feet off the freeway. Some time ago, the fire did jump this freeway so it's burning on both sides. And you can find of take a look and see somewhat of that smoke. It is very, very hard to see out here. You know, I think all of our eyes are burning pretty badly at this point and the smoke is just everywhere. It is, right now, about 2:30 in the afternoon. You would not know it out here. You can barely even see the sky and you can't see much in front of you right now.

They have, at times, blocked off parts of the freeway, then reopened them blocking off some of the exits. We do know that some of the homes have been burning in this area. From what we have been able to determine from authorities here, things are still a little bit chaotic, but anywhere from 10 to 20 homes may have already been burned, already in this area. And there is an active fire going on right now -- Don?

LEMON: Chris, I got to ask you. I notice that you are rubbing your eyes and you haven't been out as long as these firefighters have been in this mess. Tell us about the conditions and what you are feeling there and what the firefighters may be under.

LAWRENCE: Yeah, it's definitely a very tough situation because the winds really start to gust up at times. You know, one minute, you will feel them, very flat winds, almost nothing at all, and then just like that, you get a gust and you can really tell when you are out here how quickly it can push that fire along.

LEMON; CNN's Chris Lawrence joining us from the scene of the latest fire -- this is a third fire, Yorba Linda, California -- showing us what the firefighters are up against.

We appreciate that, Chris. We'll also check in just a little bit.

You heard Chris mention those winds. We'll check in with CNN's meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. She'll give us an update on what firefighters can expect there and people living in that area when it comes to the winds, either helping out or hurting in this situation.

It's the sight you never get tired of seeing. It's the "Endeavour" and the crew lights up the night's skies. Their mission? One expensive remodeling assignment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This just in. You see that. This is Yorba Linda, California, the site of the latest fire, wildfire that is raging out of control there. This is the third fire. The other two -- one is called the Tea fire and there's another called the Sayer fire. All of these fires threatening thousands of acres as well as thousands of homes.

Just a couple minutes ago, our Chris Lawrence was standing down in this smoky mess that you see here. You see all of this smoke very near some homes there. People standing in the middle of their cul-de- sac. There have been evacuation orders placed on thousands of people in the area. Yorba Linda could be the next to have mandatory evacuations.

Also, officials in the area, including the mayor of Los Angeles, calling for people to conserve electricity and also to conserve water. There are rolling blackouts in the area, scheduled rolling blackouts. Utility companies are doing it so they can save electricity. It's a mess, a complete mess out west. And these firefighting efforts will go on into the night and probably for the next couple of days. You'll get all the information you need right here on CNN. If it warrants it, we'll break into programming for you. The latest on the California fires.

Also, this we want to tell you. Police are looking for a man they say shot and killed three of his former co-workers. It happened in Santa Clara, California, near San Francisco. This is the office park where police say the shooting took happened. They are looking for Jen Wu. We're told Wu was upset about being laid off from his Silicon Valley company.

Seven astronauts, 15 days in space and one very important mission.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Liftoff of space shuttle "Endeavour" preparing our home in space for a larger international family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Yes, that very important mission is much-needed home improvements to the international space station. Astronauts will increase the station's living space to accommodate six people instead of three. That means more places to sleep, another bathroom, a better water system, more exercise equipment and a bigger refrigerator.

You've heard this question before. What can brown do for you? It can keep you healthy. UPS is now thinking if innovative ways to keep their drivers in shape.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has tonight's "Fit Nation."

(FIT NATION)

LEMON: Some rough weather pounds North Carolina. And Jacqui Jeras keeping an eye on the weather out west -- Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. We've got some fresh information, the latest on the wind conditions in California. There's been a little bit of a change, which is good news. And the severe weather threat, though, continues, just a little further on up to the north. We'll tell you who is at risk before you head out for dinner tonight, you'll need this information. So don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We want to tell you what's happening right now in case you're just joining us. I was just getting some information off the wires -- that's why I was bent over there -- on the fires out in California. We'll tell you more about that in just a second.

There are major rallies across the U.S. today across the U.S. to show support for same-sex marriage. Demonstrations, including this one in Los Angeles, will be aimed to mobilize public opinion on this issue. One week ago, voters in California, Arizona and Florida passed all-out initiatives banning -- banning marriages other than between a man and a woman.

And in southern California, major wildfires as we've been telling you here, are now burning on three fronts. This is a live picture from Yorba Linda, California. As a matter of fact, that's what I was getting off the wire to get the latest from Yorba Linda, California. Jacqui Jeras will help me update that in just a couple of seconds.

But the Sayer fire we've been telling you about in Sylmar has burned more than 6,000 acres and is only 10 percent contained. Another big blaze, the Tea fire. It's destroyed more than 100 homes northwest of Los Angeles and a third fire has destroyed at least a dozen buildings near Yorba Linda, California. Again, that's live pictures from Yorba Linda. You might recognize that name because Yorba Linda is home to the Nixon Library and Memorial.

The safety -- air safety, we want to tell you about -- hang on. Before we go to this story, can we go back to this Yorba Linda picture?

Sorry about that. We're seeing gusty winds drove as many as 30 homes -- people from 30 homes in the area with flying embers that took a crazy path of destruction. I'm just getting this live information off the wires. This is some really good stuff you need to know here because this is our breaking news and it's developing right now.

The flames erupted in a stretch of Santa Ana river bottom near the 91 freeway and quickly grew to at least 800 homes. Again, look at all this smoke. This fire and the smoke here is building since we first brought you this shot, since Chris Lawrence first reported on this maybe ten minutes ago. It appears the smoke is getting worse. and if there is smoke, obviously, there is fire. And this is an indication that things could be getting much, much worse in this area.

Jacqui Jeras, our meteorologist, joins us.

Jacqui, talk about the winds. You had severe weather in North Carolina to get to as well. But these -- when you look at all the smoke and the haze here, is this an indication to you of anything that's getting worse or that it's just not under control? And look at the homes there, Jacqui, burning at least three of them you see in the picture. Four, as a matter of fact.

JERAS: It's hard to tell when you are zoomed in so closely, but it looks to me like there's a bit little more vertical extent to some of those plumes. When you see them go more straight up as opposed to moving more horizontally, that's a good sign the winds, at least at the time, may be calmer.

But the big issue here has been that the winds have been gusty. So you have a calmer, kind of a steady maybe 10, 15, 20-mile-per-hour wind and then you'll get these big gusts coming through as the winds push down the mountains and they accelerate and move through the area. That's when we see some of those 60, 70-plus-mile-per-hour winds that we've been experiencing for a good part of the morning.

Now the best thing I can tell you, and this is just brand new information in from the National Weather Service, that they've decided to put down the high wind warnings and they are replaced with wind advisories. So the timing is kind of where we expected where the winds would start to moderate a little bit more. So I think hopefully we'll be done with some of those hurricane-force wind gusts and we'll be seeing winds more indicative of 35, 40-mile-per-hour for those gusts. They'll gradually subside, we think, through tonight, through tomorrow morning, and come Tuesday, we'll see some real significant relieve.

LEMON: Jacqui, let me ask you this. We saw those other fires, the Tea fire and the other fire that is in Sylmar, the Sayer fire. But this one started late this evening and it appears to have gobbled up homes in its path pretty quickly here. Chris Lawrence was talking to us just awhile ago. He said ten homes may have been in danger. I believe that's what he said, or 10 homes may have been -- caught fire already. But this is showing you, this is spreading. And I don't remember seeing these pictures from the beginning when we first started showing you this. It appears this fire is jumping from house to house to house in Yorba Linda at the moment.

JERAS: That's one of the things the winds do and why strong winds are such a problem. Obviously, they'll advance the fire a little more quickly. What happens, oftentimes, is that those strong winds will pick up the embers or maybe a piece of tree perhaps that was burning, and it will push it out much farther ahead from the main line that's tree. And it will push it ahead and create new spot fires. So you might be seeing a neighborhood that seems fine. And maybe the winds come on and push a big ember much farther up a head and, boom, just like that, with these tender, dry conditions and strong wind, you can see a brand new area and see a number of homes destroyed in just a matter of minutes.

LEMON: You have severe weather in other parts of the country as we watch these fires here as well?

JERAS: Yeah, I think we have the video of North Carolina, where we had a couple of tornadoes move through pre-dawn this morning. At least two people were killed there. The severe weather threat diminishing now into western parts of North Carolina. But you can see, we've got the watches extend towards New York City. People in New York, down towards Baltimore, D.C. and to Virginia Beach, if you're heading out to dinner tonight, you need to have the news radio on tonight instead of the music, because we could get some warnings through this area through the evening hours. On top of that, travel is really difficult. The airports are a mess, especially JFK. Delays are like three hours right now as this system continues to push eastward.

Things will be better tomorrow, but this is a really potent system. It's kind of related with the fires. It's got an upper level system that's kind of pushing all this through east in the east. And we've got a high pressure ridge in the east. It's the differences in pressure that drive the wind. So the stronger the differences are, the stronger the winds are going to be.

LEMON: Jacqui, I want you to stay with me, because we had some other things planned here. But it appears, Jacqui -- and I want you to look at these pictures. I know you've just been reporting the weather here -- that this fire is jumping the interstate here. We see a fire in the middle of the interstate. I would imagine that would be I-5 that rolls down through Yorba Linda in California.

And look at this. This fire started later this afternoon, earlier today, there's not a fire in Yorba Linda. But late this evening, we learned that a new one, a third fire. As you can see, it's going pretty good there and is out of control.

We'll have continuing live coverage of the wildfires in southern California just a couple of seconds away. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: As we continue to follow the developing news happening in California, we want to tell you about this, get some other news in. Who says one person cannot make a difference? When CNN began asking you about your heroes, we've seen thousands of ways regular people have touched the lives of others. CNN just announced its top ten heroes of 2008. Over the next four weeks, we'll talk to each nominee here.

Tonight's hero is Phymean Noun.

(CNN HEROES) LEMON: You can go online right now and choose a hero who inspires you the most. Go online right now and choose a hero that inspires you the most. We look forward to honoring all of these amazing people during "CNN Heroes," an all-star tribute. It's hosted by Anderson Cooper and it's right here on CNN Thanksgiving night. If you go to our web site, you'll see the tab for "CNN Heroes."

Some people never want to jump 13,000 feet from a plane, never mind doing it twice. But it was a North Dakota man's dream come true. 25- year-old Robbie Rist (ph) has Down Syndrome. Rist (ph) says he was inspired by a paraplegic man who did the same jump. He enjoyed it so much, he did it twice. Congratulations to him.

Well, this next story is like the '80s movie "Foot Loose," only the woman involved is no frisky team. And the dirty dancing she's doing? We'll, just look for yourself. This fancy hip and footwork got this woman banned from a North Carolina dance hall back in 2000. They said the moves were too dirty and so she just took them to court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA WILLIS, DANCER: What I'm fighting for is my rights as a U.S. citizen. And that's what I've been fighting for.

CLARK KIMBALL, MASHALL BUSINESS OWNER: Maybe it was a moral issue. Your idea of fairness and justice, too short a skirt, too long a skirt, might not be mine or somebody elses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, apparently, it was worth $275,000, because that's what the town of Marshall paid her -- I want to see that dancing again -- Marshall paid her to stop dancing -- if someone pays you to stop dancing, it says a lot. -- and stay away from the dance hall. I know some people who dance like that. I won't mention them here on national TV though.

You want to see something cool? Check this out. There's a new world record for the number of dominos toppled in one go. It was set in the Netherlands. That is pretty cool, not as cool as that dancing though.

Now that Barack Obama is president-elect Obama, there's a job opening in the Senate, and among those interested, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. We talked about his relationship with Barack Obama, his Senate ambitions and his infamous last name. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (on camera): Do you ever think of changing your name? Honestly? I just thought of that because you've got a congressman, you've got a reverend. Do you ever think of changing your name?

REP. JESSE JACKSON JR, (D), ILLINOIS: No, no. There are times that newspaper articles are written that say Reverend Jesse Jackson said, when actually Rep. Jesse Jackson said. There are times when he says things when people say Rep. Jesse Jackson said. And maybe the only way to change my name is to change my title, Senator Jesse Jackson said. Then there's a difference between reverend.

And Rep., Rev and Rep.

JACKSON: Correct.

LEMON: And less confusion.

JACKSON: That's correct. So I'd welcome the new title.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: My very candid conversation with Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. tonight at 11:00 p.m. eastern.

We're also following the very latest on those wildfires out in California. A third fire, Yorba Linda, California, that's a live picture you see now. And it is gobbling up homes. Three fires, not under control, in California. The very latest, 11:00 p.m. eastern. We'll see you then.

I'm Don Lemon, live, at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

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