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California Fires; Financial Summit; Obama Choosing His Team; Marriage Battle
Aired November 15, 2008 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CENTER: Sorry about that, we lost the audio and the picture is there, but we're going to continue to pick it up on the dramatic images that are coming out of Los Angeles there just north of the Los Angeles border in Sylmar, a terrible destruction taking place as a result of these fires that are really picking up momentum because of wind gusts up to 50 miles-per-hour. Our Kara Finnstrom is there in the Los Angeles area. When she is able to re- establish communication with us, we'll be able to go with her.
All right, meantime, residents are capturing some pretty dramatic images of these flames taking place, racing throughout their neighborhood. Listen to iReporter Sean Checketts as he describes what's happening near Santa Barbara.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN CHECKETTS, IREPORTER: This is Shaun, I don't know what time of it, because my cell phone died, but if you can see the shadow on the right of the screen, that's some condos (INAUDIBLE) and down here to the left, that fire that's burning the flames are probably 20-30 feet high and it's probably about 100 yards away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, that fire has already destroyed as many as 150 homes and injured at least 13 people.
And if you perhaps have compelling video or pictures in some fashion of these fires, we want you to share them with us. Log on to CNN.com/ireport. Remember of course don't ever put yourself in danger in order to get these images to us. And when officials tell you to evacuate, we hope that you heed the warning and do so.
All right, let's check in with Karen Maginnis in the Weather Center to find out how these flames continue to be fueled by these pretty serious winds we're seeing, wind gusts up to 50 mile-per-hour at last check, here?
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well we are actually expecting winds to gust up near 70 miles-an-hour. And Fred, I'll show you some wind gusts that we have seen in the last 12 hours or so coming up in just one minute. Here's Los Angeles, we're going to travel up the interstate to the San Fernando Valley.
Here you see the San Gabriel Mountains, and Sylmar is located just about here, but it is extending all across this region, extending over to the I-5 corridor, and we're looking at road closures. Yes, that does include 210, they say it's closed in both directions. Not only is it just dangerous and the fire equipment needs to get in, but also you're looking at dangerous health problems and reduced visibility.
Now, here's approximately where the fire is, wind comes over the mountains as it speeds along through the canyons and the passes, it compresses, it heats up and it speeds up, as well. That's why we're looking at, these wind speeds between 60 and 70 miles-an-hour.
Where you see the red shaded areas, that's where we have red flag warnings in effect from Ventura County, Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Bernardino and San Diego County, all expecting these gusty winds at least until 4:00 Local Time.
Low relative humidities between 10 percent and 15 percent. That's really low humidity, doesn't help firefighters. Those temperatures are going to be in the 80s and 90s. We had one unofficial report it could be right around 100 degrees.
And on top of that, we're looking at these erratic winds. Take a look at this. This is Camp Nine, had 76 mile-per-hour wind gust earlier this morning. And this is the sensor that is closest to the big fire that we've been watching.
And I just want to point out one other thing and that is that we saw one trailer on fire as these embers or pieces of the fire were breaking off and scattering out -- one fire and in at least two hours the entire mobile home park was on fire. It was spectacular to see, devastating to see, but these fires have been devastating for the last several days.
Somebody asked me where's the rain? You're not going to see any rain. But, it does look like these winds will be tapering off just a little bit, as we go into the next 12 hours and by Sunday, Fred, it looks like they'll be even a little bit weaker, but this is a moderate Santa Ana event.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness, it's just moderate?
MAGINNIS: Moderate.
WHITFIELD: Wow, it looks so severe.
MAGINNIS: It is terrible.
WHITFIELD: Karen, we'll check back with you. Thanks so much.
Our Kara Finnstrom is really in the middle of it all. We now have re- established communication with her.
And these are the conditions that Karen is talking about, those winds just kind of carrying a lot of the embers, causing a lot of the destruction and now we're seeing the smoldering behind you, Kara. Describe where you are, exactly.
FINNSTROM: Yeah, Fredricka, those winds have just been picking up here, it's been causing some interference for us because they have been so strong at times.
Behind me here, what you're seeing, this is what remains of a daycare center that's on the campus of a hospital, here, that they had to evacuate the most critical (AUDIO GAP).
WHITFIELD: All right, well that's how volatile the situation is out there. We have lost our communication with Kara, when we re-establish that, they'll be able to hopefully bring that to you. But she's talking about this hospital that was evacuated, thank goodness because you saw in the backdrop of Kara, what these winds and smoke will do, it completely destroyed that daycare center in that hospital where she was.
And now take a look at these latest images that we were able to get in. I think Kara can hear me. So Kara, let's try this one more time. Do another description of where you are and exactly what could be happening next.
FINNSTROM: OK Fredricka, as I started to mention, this is a daycare center that's on the grounds of a hospital, here in the Sylmar area. They had to evacuate the most critically ill patients from here, last night, because it lost power.
I mean, take a look at this devastation. You can see what has been burning all around this hospital. But they had to shelter about 200 patients in the hospital overnight here because it was so fierce and the wind was fueling this fire, it was moving so fast, that they deemed that was the safest thing to do.
Now, within the last three hours, we have watched this wall completely burn to the ground while we have been here. And it just gives you an idea of what firefighters are dealing with out there.
They do feel, this was a success for them here in the hospital. They have been able to secure the hospital and keep those patients in place safely. But there are major concerns about other areas. We're about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. There are lots of neighborhoods around here and these winds are picking up these embers and just blowing them.
And so, the concern is, while they're trying to make progress on the front of this fire, they really don't know what it's going to do. So, they've got air tankers up, dozens of air tankers, they've got lots of firefighters on the ground. They knew this weather was coming, Fredricka, so they were able to get some people in place before this fire broke out. And they're just doing their best at this point to react and to contain it or try to contain it as bests as they can.
WHITFIELD: But, while you know and they knew this weather was coming and these kinds of winds, you can't know that this kind of fire is going to happen. Do we know the source of this fire?
FINNSTROM: No, we haven't heard that yet, they have been so busy, just responding to this fire and trying to, you know, do what they can to make sure people are safe, that we haven't heard anything about a cause at this point. At this hospital, we lost power overnight and so the most critically ill patients, they had to actually use hand ventilators to keep them ventilated and to keep them alive and so that's how stressful the situation was for firefighters overnight.
There's still a major threat to the power grid, here. That's a big concern for firefighters. Also, this fire has jumped the 5- Interstate, which is a major corridor here connecting northern and southern California. And it's closed down a number in freeways in spots, so it's caused quite a traffic nightmare, so emergency officials willing dealing with that and people who are trying to get out of their homes, having to navigate around on city streets. So quite a bit that emergency officials are dealing with this at hour.
WHITFIELD: Wow, incredible situation, there. Kara Finnstrom, thanks so much. I know you're wearing the eye gear, protective eye gear because of the smoke and I imaging it's kind of hard for you to breathe for you, as well.
FINNSTROM: You know, there really is a lot of this debris in the air, the soot. We keep -- between live shots we just kind of wipe off our face and our eyes and our mouth because it's so thick in the air. And if we pan over to the side, you can see just how thick and dark the smoke is beyond those trees. I don't know if that shows up well on camera, but it's just very thick, dark smoke.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, dangerous on so many levels. Kara Finnstrom, thanks so much. Continue to be safe there, out of Sylmar. And of course, we're going to continue to update you on these fires, really out of control there, on the west coast.
Meantime, let's take you to the east coast where the stakes are very high. But, President Bush says that he is very hopeful, nearly two dozen world leaders are meeting behind closed doors in Washington at this hour, discussing the world's financial crisis. It's the biggest gathering of its kind in more than a decade, now. And President Bush greeted the participants as they arrived at the National Building Museum, the site of today's session, as you can see right there. He also spoke to reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W BUSH (R), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I am pleased with the progress we're making on the one, to address the current crisis. I am pleased that we're discussing a way forward to make sure that such a crisis is unlikely to occur again. And I am pleased that the leaders reaffirm the principles behind open markets and free trade, one of the dangers during a crisis such as this is that people will start implementing protectionist policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: This emergency summit on the global financial crisis taking place there in Washington. So, what went wrong and how can we make sure it doesn't happen again? Leaders from around the world are meeting to discuss that very issue and they're looking for those solutions. Our Elaine Quijano is at the White House with more on what's taking place just a few blocks away from where you are.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka, and what we heard a moment ago there, from resident Bush essentially giving a bit of a preview of the communique that we're expecting to get later today, talking about the leaders agreeing on the need for open markets and free trade. So, likely we'll be hearing that before day's end.
But, President Bush is meeting, this is actually day two of the financial summit. President Bush welcoming these world leaders to the White House last night for a working dinner and then the discussions continuing, in earnest, today.
It's interesting to note, Fredricka, the White House from the very outset had really downplayed any expectations of a detailed agreement, any kind of specifics necessarily, on how to move forward with any kind of reforms coming out of the financial crisis. This particular meeting today was really billed more as a first step in a series of meetings. The next one we expect to happen when President-elect Barack Obama will be in office.
Now, it's the kind of situation that we're all just sort of waiting to find out what the diplomats will be able to hammer out, of course a lot of the work has been done prior to and just the days before the summit taking place. But, one thing we know is that the president, as we have heard, has been very concerned about protectionist ideas, protectionist policies creeping into any of the discussions, and he's also tried to push back against the idea of two stringent a global regulation, constraining free markets, so it's very likely that we will hear President Bush, this afternoon, at the end of this summit, talk about all of that, as well.
And again, Fredricka, the big question is how much in the way of details are we really going to see at the end of the day when this communique is released?
WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano at the White House, thanks so much.
Well, President-elect Obama was invited to attend that meeting, but said no, one president at a time. So instead, the president-elect is spending the weekend at home in Chicago, mulling over some choices to serve in his administration. And he may be getting closer, we hear, to actually choosing a secretary of state. Our Ed Henry is there in Chicago.
And so what do you make of these rumors -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Fred. A lot of buzz because Democratic sources are saying that Senator Hillary Clinton left her meeting, here in Chicago with Barack Obama, two days ago, feeling like she could be secretary of state if she wants the job. But also, we should point out that yesterday, Bill Richardson, the governor of New Hampshire and a former Clinton administration official, also came in to chat with Barack Obama about the secretary of state job. And what's interesting is, there's a very strong Clinton influence as the Obama folks put together their team.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Whether or not he nominates Hillary Clinton for secretary of state, President-elect Barack Obama is stocking his team with lots of Clinton veterans starting with incoming chief of staff Rahm Emanuel who cut his teeth with Bill Clinton and is now eyeing other former Clinton insiders for key posts.
Three officials close to the transition say Greg Craig is getting strong consideration to be White House council, the powerful post of the president's chief lawyer.
Craig represented Bill Clinton in his Senate impeachment trial, but picked Obama over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries. He played a key role in the vice presidential vetting process.
GREG CRAIG, PARTNER, WILLIAMS, & CONNOLLY LLP: This is the first major decision that Barack Obama has to make in front of the whole nation. And he has done it systematically, he's done it carefully, he's included a lot of people in the process, in terms of candidates.
HENRY: Meanwhile, two people familiar with deliberations say retired General Jim Jones is getting a close look for energy secretary or national security advisor. Candidate Obama touted Jones during the third presidential debate.
BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT-ELECT: ...committee or General Jim Jones, the former supreme allied commander of NATO. Those are the people, Democrats and Republicans who have shaped my ideas and who will be surrounding me in the white house.
HENRY: Jones is a by partisan figure who also advised john McCain who's coming to Chicago Monday for his first post election meeting with the president-elect.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And some new information, this morning, the transition team announcing that Valerie Jarrett, a long-time Obama ally, will be the head of White House intergovernmental affairs, a sort of powerful, behind the scenes post. Also, Ron Klain, a long-time Democratic insider, will be chief of staff to Vice President-elect Joe Biden. And finally, Phil Schiliro, a long-time Democratic congressional aide, will be the incoming president's liaison to Capitol Hill -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All pretty powerful names, all very close to President- elect Obama for a long time. But as it pertains to Jarrett, there was some talk that he would possibly appoint her to take over his U.S. Senate seat. Any rumblings about who he is leaning towards now to take his seat?
HENRY: Well, interesting you mention that, because tomorrow officially is when Barack Obama will be resigning his Senate seat. The decision is going to be up to the Democratic governor, here, Rod Blagojevich. There's been a lot of speculation about who he will appoint. One of the names circulation, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr., a member of the House of Representatives, obviously a very well known name. But also Tammie Duckworth, a veteran's official, here in this state, who ran for Congress a few years ago and lost, very close to Rahm Emanuel, the incoming White House chief of staff, as well as Barack Obama. So, a lot of names circulating, but it's all up to the government now -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Ed, thanks so much for keeping us posted on all those fronts. Appreciate it.
And then there's the heated debate over the issue of marriage, it's being played out, right now, in several states, including rallies in two states, in particular. We'll have live reports from New York and California.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...six, five, four, three, two, one. Booster ignition, and liftoff of space shuttle "Endeavour," preparing our home in space for a larger international family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The space shuttle "Endeavour" now making its way to the International Space Station. It's mission, an extreme home makeover. The crew will hook up extra cooking and sleeping equipment, they'll also work on a new water recycling system. The crew of seven returns to earth just after Thanksgiving.
Well, if it's a move that has triggered heated protests across the country. On Election Day, California voters approved a Constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. Protests today could be the biggest so far in California and in other cities. Same-sex marriage supporters have planned simultaneous rallies, in fact, in all 50 states, today. CNN's Ted Rowlands is in Los Angeles, right there, Susan Candiotti in New York.
Let's begin with you, Ted. While, a lot of folks north of the city are worried about the fires, there's yet another fiery topic that people are addressing there and it involves that Prop-8?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know, actually that's a good question about the numbers, they're expecting between 40,000 and 100,000 people here, whether the fires will impact those numbers remains to be seen. If it gets anywhere close to those numbers, even on the low one, this will be the largest gathering, by far, since the voters in California said yes to Prop-8. We've seen a number of these rallies in cities across the state and a few across the nation. This, today, by far, the largest coordinated event.
You can see some people have already gathered, here. The event isn't expected to get going for about another hour or so and then we'll see how many people actually do show up, here.
One of the organizers is Jonathan Weber, he's here as well, with us, now.
Jonathan, the voters basically already weighed in on this. You're having protests week after week. Some people regardless of their view on the issue of gay marriage are saying, hey, guys, you lost, what are you really trying to accomplish, here? What is the goal?
JONATHAN WEBER, EVENT ORGANIZER: You know, if someone grew up gay, feeling isolated and alone and different in a community where people who don't always understand the issues, it's incredibly inspiring to see people from every walk of life, background, race, religion, creed, gathering here today to really come out and send a powerful and purposeful and peaceful statement to the world that we all believe in equality and we all support the idea that we should be treated equally across the board.
ROWLANDS: It's it more just a statement, the frustration, I mean, you have legal challenges, obviously working in the courts, but nothing can be accomplished now, really, in terms of swaying voters, because they've already weighed in until there's another election.
WEBER: That's true, we do have three cases pechbding with the Supreme Court. But, I think it's important to understand that we have a very powerful message that's supported by a variety of people. And the truth is, we are making a big difference in this issue, right now. We're making progress in winning over the hearts and minds of people across the country and gaining support from all walks of life.
ROWLANDS: All right, Jonathan Weber. We'll see how people many show up here, Fredricka, and around the country, but organizers say this is expected to be the largest of these rallies since they started after the election.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, and I realize that was kind of the promise before these fires took place and you have to wonder whether the fires that are taking place just north of you, in Sylmar, will have impact what takes place in Los Angeles, as it pertains to this issue.
Ted, thanks so much, appreciate it.
Meantime in New York, there are planned protests as well about this very same issue, Susan Candiotti joins us now from there -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi Fred, It's also a question whether the weather will impact things here in New York, because it is a nasty, rainy day here in New York City. We're in City Hall Park, where here, also they're expecting upwards of 8,000 people to show up for the rally, which again, they're being held simultaneously, starts in about an hour from now. Not much activity here, although they are setting up a sound stage, sound system, police barricades are up as they wait for these crowds to arrive.
But, this is not the only rally to take place in New York. On Wednesday night, a huge crowd, about 4,000 people, showed up outside the Mormon Church, here in Manhattan. Why the Mormon Church? Because they raised upwards of $40 million to pass Proposition 8 in California against gay marriage and that is why so many people showed up on Wednesday night.
So, organizers of this rally, on Saturday, also believe that they will have a huge number of people to show that they are energized by what happened in California, they say, in support of gay marriage and they want to make it legal. Back to you -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Susan Candiotti in New York, appreciate it. Thanks so much.
Well, he had it all, but drugs cost him everything.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN SAVAGE, FMR ANCHORMAN: Warren Savage sitting in, you know, suits and ties, dwindled down to an orange jump suit in the Forsyth County Jail asking myself, how did it get here?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The personal story of recovery for a TV news anchor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Warren Savage, some of you may know his name. He was a top Atlanta TV newsman, then he lost everything due to drugs, in part. I talked with the former TV anchorman recently about success, failure and surviving both.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): For 10 years, his was the face and voice waking up Atlanta.
SAVAGE: Good morning, I'm Warren Savage, Warren Savage, Warren Savage...
WHITFIELD: Then one morning, Warren Savage was the lead story. His mug shot plastered everywhere. Savage in his early 40s, busted for drug possession, watching his fall from grace from a jail cell.
SAVAGE: It was humiliating and I mean, total embarrassment.
WHITFIELD: A dream job.
SAVAGE: Ten years had risen to this level, I mean, I'm very proud of.
WHITFIELD: A bachelor, six figure salary, cars, two houses.
SAVAGE: We were the No. 1 local morning show in the country and I was very proud of that.
WHITFIELD: A dream life.
SAVAGE: You just got to the point where, you know, things just didn't matter to me.
WHITFIELD: All of it concealing a nightmare.
SAVAGE: They didn't know that Warren was depressed. That Warren was unhappy. They didn't know that Warren was very dissatisfied.
WHITFIELD: Depression had taken over.
SAVAGE: I mean, I went from depression to denial to detention.
WHITFIELD: But not all at once. First...
SAVAGE: Dissatisfied with the news business, dissatisfied with office politics.
WHITFIELD: So, he abruptly quit his job minutes before he was to go on the air.
SAVAGE: I regret the way I left. I don't know that I regret leaving, but I regret the way I left.
WHITFIELD: Moved to Vegas.
SAVAGE: I thought that I'd be happier playing music. Las Vegas is a land of excesses.
WHITFIELD: Excesses that in is case, translated into a lot of drugs and an overdose of bad judgment. He thought returning to the less glittery and slower paced Atlanta might be a quick fix.
SAVAGE: I had the presence of mind that, you know, the environment that I was in was not healthy, but you know, addiction is merely a symptom of all the stuff that's screwed up in us. I mean - and that's what I had to realize that my addiction was a symptom of everything that was wrong with me and the things that I needed to fix with me, the character defects that I had to identify to address. And things that I was struggling with for years, I mean, things that I didn't even know why I was unhappy.
WHITFIELD (on camera): Like?
SAVAGE: Striving to be perfect. I was always a perfectionist. I was always hard on myself, I put a lot of pressure on myself, undue pressure on myself and I think I put a lot of undue pressure on other people.
WHITFIELD (voice-over): The fast pace and Vegas now behind him, but a blurry $100,000 a year cocaine addiction was still driving Savage. A traffic stop in rural Forsyth County, outside of Atlanta, put the brakes on everything.
SAVAGE: From Warren Savage sitting in, you know, suits and ties, dwindled down to and orange jumpsuit in the Forsyth County Jail asking myself, how did I get here?"
WHITFIELD: And how to get back on track? (END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Warren Savage hopes to inspire others on a similar tough road. But, what was his lowest point? The rest of that interview in the 4:00 p.m. hour of the NEWSROOM.
Meantime, another glimpse of our top story taking place in the West Coast in Sylmar, California, just north of Los Angeles. Two images right here, one from our affiliate KCAL, the other from our affiliate KABC of this fire raging out of control, many homes that have been destroyed, others that have been damaged and people in large numbers have been evacuated.
Let's listen in right now to KCAL and the reporting there.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
GREG MILLS, KCAL CORRESPONDENT: They all got out, that's OK. They've got a story to tell and the story is not finished, maybe there's some hope still, we don't know, but a lot of tears and some people awfully happy still here at Sylmar High School.
Reporting live, Greg Mills, KCAL 9 News. Pat and Glenn, back to you.
UNIDENTIFIED KCAL ANCHOR: Thank you for that.
UNIDENTIFIED KCAL ANCHOR: Yes, Pat, we got some more bad news to report, wind conditions right now over the fire are so bad that all the tanker planes at this point have been grounded. As one of the pilots said, this is what they call -- a situation they call a sinker, where you know, because of the wind conditions, one of these tankers could drop 1,000 feet in a second.
UNIDENTIFIED KCAL ANCHOR: And that's certainly dangerous conditions, as we're -- have this shot here live of that mobile home park in the Knollwood (ph) area, the Oakridge Mobile Home Park. We see firefighters putting some water on this fire where the roof is burning, but it's been very difficult for them to get through because of the wind conditions, that fire is just -- was blowing a lot and really back on themselves, so they really weren't able to do the kind of work that they wanted to do. And as you just mentioned, Glenn, because of these wind conditions, some of those tanker planes have been grounded right now.
Our Alex Calder (ph) is still flying in Sky 9 and Alex, I'm sure you're aware of those latest reports. You're up there in the air -- you've been feeling those wind gusts and now, we learned that firefighting efforts have been hampered a bit because these tanker planes are no longer able to fly.
ALEX CALDER, KCAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and you know, I'll tell you, what a difference ...
WHITFIELD: All right, you're listening to a live reporting there taking place from our affiliate KCAL there in Los Angeles, just north of L.A. Look, and live pictures right now there in Sylmar, and this area just being inundated with fire and very heavy smoke as you see right there. And not helping matters, wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour that are just kind of kicking those embers and keeping them flying and that means more homes and businesses and structures are being destroyed there.
Last report, we understand that there were two schools that had been opened for evacuees and they are full and we understand now from that reporting from KCAL, that the tanker planes that had been up in the air dumping water, well now, they've all been grounded because of winds that I just described a moment ago.
We're going to continue to watch the developemnts there out of Los Angeles area there in Sylmar throughout the day here in the NEWSROOM, and we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Perhaps you're looking for a road trip, well, Richelle Carey is "On the Go."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHELLE CAREY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With increasing airfares and those canceled flights, flying these days can be a hassle.
CHRIS MCGINNIS, EXPEDIA.COM: A lot of Americans are opting to drive instead of fly to their destination, so we're seeing increases to drive-to destinations.
CAREY: McGinnis suggests hitting the road to places like New Orleans.
MCGINNIS: Most of the tourist areas in New Orleans are now fully recovered. That means almost every hotel has had renovations and hotel prices in New Orleans are still very reasonable. Additionally, this is the best time of year to be there because it's cooler.
CAREY: And if you live in the West, you may want to ease on down the road to check out the Alamo.
MCGINNIS: San Antonio is a great family destination because it's inexpensive, it's the home of the historic Alamo, there are a lot of amusement parks.
CAREY: But McGinnis says if the drive is more than five hours long, you may want to chance booking a flight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Happening right now, this breaking story on the West Coast, more people are being ordered from their homes in the L.A. area in advance of this extremely fast moving wildfire in the area of Sylmar, just north of downtown L.A. by about 20 miles. Fire officials say people in Sylmar and Porter Ranch, as well now -- as well as Granada Hills, they must all get out now.
And then, to the west of Santa Barbara, another wildfire there has burned more than 100 homes. These fires are being flamed by these incredible winds, wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour.
And some of the most powerful images of the wildfires are coming from people like you who actually live in the area who have sent us i- Reports. Here with those very compelling shots, CNN's Josh Levs. We're getting a lot, aren't we?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are, and you know, people are really helping us do our jobs today. These i-Reporters do a great deal. Obviously, you're not the ones taking those aerial shots. Look, the helicopters get out there, we like those, too.
But let's zoom in on the board because I want to show you what we're getting at ireport.com. We have a whole section on it, "Are wildfires affecting you?"
I'm going to start off with this video. Let me hit play over here. You can just see some of this moving. Santa Barbara Tea Fire, this comes from Steep (ph) Christian Anderson (ph) in the Santa Barbara area who's been following this and taking this video safely.
Over here, Sylmar. Now, this one comes to us from Marie Sager (ph) of Los Angeles, it's a still shot. When you see a picture like that, you can picture this is what people are actually seeing who live in the area when they step outside their homes.
One more I want to show you here, look at that. Look at this entire area filled with orange hills and homes ablaze. That's from Mike Hood who sent that in on Friday.
Now, let's jump over here for a second. I want to show you how critical your work is to us. This is one of our top stories at CNN.com, about the wildfires. As part of this, we offer photos and so many of the photos that we're showing today, Fred, are directly from our i-Reporters right there. And we're going to keep updating this throughout the day and we'll tell you again, those of you who have the ability to take these pictures in a safe way, go to i-Report.com.
Now, there's some photos we're getting from the Associated Press by professional photographers trained to go into these areas, photos you should not be taking, but they're amazing. Let's go to these. I want you to see this. Look at that -- I mean, look at that, Fred. And I'll tell you the description here from the Associated Press. A firefighter and photographer jumped back as a home explodes into flames. That was from Los Angeles.
Let's go through two more here. The next one is from L.A. County, this is a helicopter dropping some water there. You can barely make it out, but you can see the big cloud that's coming from that copter that's way up up there.
And one last one I want you to see here, just a reminder of what people are dealing with. That's a picture of Mike Downar who's putting water on his roof as the fire is just beyond him. Now, it's possible but since then, he's been among the evacuation orders.
Obviously, Fred, at ireport.com, keeping a close eye on this throughout the day. We encourage everyone, keep it with CNN.com at i- Report to get the latest all day long.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Those are some startling images and Mike, that last image, I hope he's on his way out.
LEVS: I'm guessing that after he did that, he left.
WHITFIELD: Whoah. Yes, I hope so.
LEVS: Maybe we'll give him a call.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Josh, appreciate it.
LEVS: Thank you (ph), yes.
WHITFIELD: Pretty serious problems with the law now designed to protect newborns. The legal guys discuss what Nebraska needs to do to make things right right after this.
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WHITFIELD: As of today, 34 children have been abandoned in Nebraska under a law the state is now trying to change. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports Nebraska lawmakers are in special session trying to put an age limit now on who can be dropped off.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happened again Thursday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A boy aged 14 and a girl aged 17.
LAVANDERA: A mother left her two teenaged children in this Omaha hospital. Parents taking advantage of the no age limit loophole in Nebraska's Safe Haven Law. A Georgia mother who drove her teenage son here says she was desperate to help him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You may have a great life and you may have great kids and be grateful for that. You know, and just don't knock the parents that end up dropping their child off there.
LAVANDERA: The Safe Haven Law was designed to protect infants, but almost all of the children left so far are over the age of 10. Nebraska's governor says an age limit must be established immediately.
GOV. DAVE HEINEMAN (R), NEBRASKA: Please don't bring your teenager to Nebraska. It's not appropriate. And think what you're saying. You know, we've all raised teenagers and they can be a challenge. But you don't abandon them.
LAVANDERA: So, Nebraska lawmakers are gathering for a special session to change the law. Most appear ready to establish a three-day age limit. But some are pushing for a limit closer to 30 days.
TODD LANDRY, NEBRASKA HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: The real purpose of this special session I believe is to make sure we get back to that intent of protecting newborns and infants. I think three days is the right amount of time.
LAVANDERA: There's a sense here that something must be done quickly to stop the flow of troubled teens left on the state's door step. Five children were brought from other states. In one of those cases, a father flew his son into Nebraska from Miami and then left.
TOM WHITE, NEBRASKA STATE SENATE: What you've seen is an extraordinary cry for help from people across the country. That shocked me. But we can't -- Nebraska can't afford to take care of all of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow, let's check in with our legal guys. Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor. Good to see you.
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor. Good to see you as well.
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness, what a huge, huge problem on the hands of Nebraska now on many levels. So now, we've got these lawmakers who say, we want to try and reverse this law. Avery, how easily can you do that?
FRIEDMAN: Well, I don't think it's going to be that difficult to do. You see, Nebraska hospitals sort of like Sonny Corleone in a toll booth, they're stuck, they're trapped, there's nothing they can do. And the reason is that these legislators in Lincoln, Nebraska, instead of writing newborn, Fredricka, they put child, and child means minor and minor means anybody under 19-years-old.
WHITFIELD: Anybody under 18. Oh, under 19, OK.
FRIEDMAN: Yes, under 19.
WHITFIELD: So, what they want to do now is then go back, kind of modify it, maybe not repeal it completely, but modify it so that it does mean newborns?
FRIEDMAN: Right.
HERMAN: It's their own fault, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Richard, reasonable?
HERMAN: It's their own fault. Every state in the country has a Safe Haven Law, Nebraska was the last one to enact it and by making it so broad as child, and Avery's right, in Nebraska, under 19 is a child. They opened the door for this. Of the 34 children, "children" that were dropped off, only six were under the age of 10. They have to go back, they have to put an age limit on it, it's a two-third vote, it'll pass and they'll remedy the recklessness.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: OK, so then -- but then here's the other problem, gentlemen, here's the other problem. You put the age limit in place, but you still have 34 kids. What do you do with them?
FRIEDMAN: Yes, actually ...
WHITFIELD: Especially the ones who are over 10, the majority of whom are?
FRIEDMAN: Yes. You nailed the issue, Fredricka. What in the world are -- will happen to these children? And you know, it's still going to take a week or two at best for Nebraska to straighten it out. Believe me, there's going to be a delinquent drop going on in Nebraska. What happens to these children? The answer I think is you cannot be charged with abandonment, but you might be charged with abuse. So, parents aren't out of the woods.
HERMAN: Well, it's not -- it's -- no.
WHITFIELD: Really? Now, what about all the parents who are coming across state lines? I mean, if it's going to take a week or two, as you put it, Avery ...
FRIEDMAN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ...maybe to make this change, then that means another week or two where parents can come across state lines, not just the ones in Nebraska and drop off their kids because as it stands that law is still in place.
HERMAN: That's why, Fred, that's why the floodgates opened.
FRIEDMAN: Yes.
HERMAN: Because the word is out, the law is going to change in Nebraska soon. But here's the point: you can't be prosecuted for this. It's a safe haven, you have immunity. It's not child neglect either.
FRIEDMAN: Immunity on abandonment, Richard, not on abuse.
HERMAN: No, you have an obligation, even though you drop the child off to support economically that child. You don't wave those rights, Fred. These kids are going to be in foster homes, they're going to be put up for adoption, it's horrible.
WHITFIELD: Will this stipulate that?
FRIEDMAN: A mess, a total mess. WHITFIELD: But the law doesn't stipulate that, does it?
HERMAN: The law says that they have absolute financial parental obligations for these children, absolutely.
FRIEDMAN: Yes, if you can find them.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right, well something tells me we'll be talking about this again, if it's going to take a week or two ...
FRIEDMAN: Yes, at least, Fred. Right.
WHITFIELD: ...then it sounds like a follow-up is in order next week at least.
All right, well, you guys are going to stick around because we've got another topic we want to talk about and it involves Guantanamo. A few things now to consider before shutting down the U.S. prison.
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WHITFIELD: All right, from campaign promise to harsh reality. Shutting down the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, it just might not be a simple task.
CNN's Kelli Arena looks at some of the problems President-Elect Barack Obama may want to consider.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mr. President, so you want to close Guantanamo Bay and end what has become a black mark in the War on Terror. The question is how?
COL. MORRIS DAVIS (RET.), FMR. CHEIF GUANTANAMO PROSECUTOR: Everybody's all for closing Guantanamo, but nobody wants them brought to their backyard.
ARENA: Of the 250 men still locked up at Gitmo, about a third have or will be charged. But most are in legal limbo. Critics charge the military commissions that will try them are flawed.
JENNIFER DASKAL, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: They need to be tried in a system that has credibility, that has years of experience dealing with terrorist cases and that's the Federal Court System.
ARENA: But some legal experts say the U.S. system isn't set up to handle defendants like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who the government admits was waterboarded and has been detained for years.
DAVIS: When the detainees were transferred to Guantanamo, it was not with a view towards prosecution, it's with a view towards collecting intelligence.
ARENA: We hear that you also may be considering setting up a new national security court for the most sensitive cases. But critics worry about creating a new legal system and argue it is not necessary.
DASKAL: The Federal Court System has devised ways to deal with national security information.
ARENA: Then, there's Guantanamo's "least wanted" list, men who shouldn't even be there to begin with, like the Weeggers (ph), that group of Muslims from southern China. The U.S. says they're no longer enemy combatants, the problem is no other country wants them. Except China that is, which might mistreat them.
And here's where it gets really tricky, the next group, about 100 men are considered dangerous. But prosecutors don't have enough evidence to try them. Well, you could let them go, but according to the Pentagon, more than three dozen detainees who were released have gone on to fight against the U.S. and coalition forces. So then, why not just move them to a prison in the U.S.?
DAVID RIVKIN, FMR. REAGAN ADMIN. LAWYER: The danger is prison escapes, but also a possibility of terrorist attacks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, let's find out from our legal guys, once again, what do you do with these detainees? Avery friedman, again a civil rights attorney and law professor, Richard Herman, New York criminal defense attorney and law professor as well.
OK, Richard, I'm going to begin with you. Well, that's pretty interesting, you can't just imprison people without some sort of trial, so if you dismantle this prison, what do you do with these detainees?
HERMAN: I don't think President Bush got that memo on that one, Fred, but I got to tell you, there's no simple answer to this. As if President-Elect Obama doesn't have enough on his plate with the economy, with Iraq and with Afghanistan, now there's Guantanamo, I think he's going to shut it down.
FRIEDMAN: Right.
HERMAN: I think he's going to transfer all those prisoners to courts in the United States, let the Federal Court System deal with this. And if they don't have enough evidence to prosecute, these people are going to be released.
FRIEDMAN: No.
HERMAN: That's what's going to happen here.
WHITFIELD: Really? Wait a minute, Avery, so you just close it down and you sprinkle these detainees across the country in different federal courts?
FRIEDMAN: No, no way. No. It'll never work. Here's what's going to happen. Remember, our president-elect is a former professor of constitutional law, he knows why the federal courts can't do it. He knows why the military tribunals won't work. What's going to happen -- it will require the involvement of Congress, we will see a national security court, which will be a hybrid of what we have right now. That's the only way we can solve it.
WHITFIELD: You do see a new legal system being set up?
FRIEDMAN: A new legal system, that's exactly right.
WHITFIELD: And how long does that take then? That means you can't set up this prison ...
FRIEDMAN: Yes, it's going to be complicated.
WHITFIELD: ...right away, because it takes time to develop that, right?
FRIEDMAN: Exactly right. And the problem is that there's some really bad people who want to hurt us. You just can't let these people out because of waterboarding and some of the other information gathering techniques. If you put these people in our federal court, there's going to be a problem. They're going to be released.
WHITFIELD: But then remember, isn't there the issue of insufficient evidence, for a lot of these people who some people say are very dangerous? There's no evidence, that's a huge issue.
HERMAN: That's a pretty big issue. Hey, Fred -- yes, Fred, that's a pretty big issue and we're going by the Constitution and we have rules and laws and if you don't have enough evidence to prosecute these people, hey, too bad, Avery, they're going to be released.
FRIEDMAN: I'm sorry, you cannot ...
HERMAN: That's how it goes.
FRIEDMAN: ...let these terrorists out.
HERMAN: Well, who says they're terrorists?
FRIEDMAN: Let the innocent ones out, not the terrorists.
HERMAN: Hey, who says they're terrorists? You believe everything we're reading?
FRIEDMAN: No, not at all.
HERMAN: Those people have been tortured ...
FRIEDMAN: But you can't seriously argue that roughly 100 of those people want to do harm to America and it's citizens and we need a system to take care of that. What we have right now doesn't work.
HERMAN: I don't know that.
WHITFIELD: Well, you know, interesting enough, in Kelli's piece, she said of those 100 people, prosecutors admit, they don't even have the sufficient evidence.
FRIEDMAN: Right.
WHITFIELD: But they do believe that they are dangerous and that they would be involved with organizations that would cause harm to the U.S. but thereby the legal system, you have to prove all of that.
FRIEDMAN: Exactly.
HERMAN: Hey, you know, the more this snowballs and the pressure on President-Elect Obama to really unravel all this, President Bush is going to have to issue pardons to everybody involved in Guantanamo.
WHITFIELD: Really?
FRIEDMAN: Won't happen.
HERMAN: Because if we're going to -- if we're going to waste our time investigating this, there's going to be a lot of people in trouble.
FRIEDMAN: It won't happen, it won't happen.
WHITFIELD: You're not talking about the detainees. You're not talking about the detainees getting the pardons?
FRIEDMAN: What he's going to do is he's going to leave President Obama with a mess on his hands. And it's going to require the executive -- the president, and the Congress to sort out -- I think we're looking at a hybrid, a new legal system to take care of.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And we haven't -- we didn't even have time to address the issue of some of the countries where these guys ...
FRIEDMAN: Right, where to send them.
WHITFIELD: ...and I guess most of the guys originate, they don't even want them back.
FRIEDMAN: That's exactly right.
WHITFIELD: Big problem on our hands, I'd say.
All right, Avery, Richard, thanks so much. That case is not over either.
FRIEDMAN: That's for sure.
WHITFIELD: We're going to have a lot of time to talk about that one.
HERMAN: So you want to be president, huh?
WHITFIELD: I know, I know, now he's saying forget it.
HERMAN: Careful what you wish for.
FRIEDMAN: Big headaches already. WHITFIELD: I know, all right, thanks so much, guys, appreciate it.
FRIEDMAN: See you.
HERMAN: Have a good weekend.
WHITFIELD: You too.
All right, stay with CNN for continuing live coverage of this, this live story that is still breaking right now on the side of your screen there. We're looking at California just north of Los Angeles, fires continue to rage out of control and it doesn't help that the Santa Ana winds are really fanning those flames. Lots of homes and structures already being destroyed and many people being evacuated.
"YOUR MONEY" is next and we'll continue to follow this story as well for you.
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