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Economic Summit; California Fires
Aired November 15, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CENTER: Next in the NEWSROOM, fighting flames and Mother Nature in southern California. We'll tell you how a wind-fueled wildfire is threatening to leave Los Angeles without power.
And we are live for the latest in Washington as the world's leading economic power is trying to find an answer to the global economic crises.
And the protests intensify across the nation over California's proposition 8, outlawing gay marriage. It's all on the rundown and in the NEWSROOM.
A fast moving wildfire in north of downtown Los Angeles has destroyed dozens of homes and it is threatening hundreds more. There are mandatory evacuations for an estimated 10,000 people. CNN's Kara Finnstrom is live from a devastated Oak Bridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar, where many homes were just simply wiped off the map. Right?
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. I want to start though by sharing some developing news with you. We were just approached by Los Angeles city police. After we finish this live shot, they have asked us to leave. They're going to seal off this mobile home park. They consider it a crime scene. They say they have an arson investigation that will be getting under way here. They will not share any other details than that.
They are sealing off this park once we leave and it's considered a crime scene for an arson investigation. Now this, gives you really a stark picture of the destruction that has, you know, been caused by this fire. I want to let our camera person just pan all the way around here. What you see is home after home after home, these were all mobile homes, burned completely to the ground. Yesterday there were some 600 mobile homes here; we're told about 1500 people lived in this park. The vast majority of those now completely gone.
We did speak with one of the homeowners who came back a short while ago. He said he's having trouble comprehending the lengths of the devastation here. He has an 82-year-old neighbor who lived on one side of him a couple that lived across the street and his own family all now staying at their in-laws and he says Fredricka they're just taking this hour by hour trying to figure out what they're going to do next because they simply lost everything they owned.
Hour by hour is also how fire officials, city employees here, are taking this. Trying to sort through everything that's happened. Fredricka, a couple other major developments, the power grid here, major concerns about that. They had to shut down a transmission line into Los Angeles, so they're asking everyone in the L.A. County area to conserve because they're worried that we could see brownouts because of all the use of that power.
Another big concern here are the winds. They've tossed up at 70 miles per hour, and those are picking up the hot embers and continuing to blow them into other areas. Governor Schwarzenegger has now declared a state of emergency here as fire crews continue to try to get a handle on this blaze and to try and figure out what comes next.
Now, again, as far as the investigation, we just learned that this mobile home park will be sealed off as a crime scene in an arson investigation. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Kara, Sylmar is predominantly a residential area?
FINNSTROM: Yeah. A lot of homes here. There are a lot of neighborhoods. You can see these winds whipping up here. These are the type of winds that we've been seeing intermittently throughout the day, but, yeah, it is a residential area. I understand that we were just able to get ready for you some sound. We spoke with one homeowner earlier today. He said as hard as it is for him to comprehend all this, he's really worried about sharing what happened here with his son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUGUSTINE REYES, FIRE VICTIM: He's 7 years old, and he's autistic, and he doesn't do well with change, so this is going to be very hard to explain to him and bring him. It's going to be very hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINNSTROM: Very difficult time for a lot of people here, Fredricka, as you can imagine. We focus so much on the number of homes lost and what's happening with the fire, but for each one of these homes, just a human toll is enormous, and just the raw emotion there just kind of reminds you of what these families are going to have to deal with.
WHITFIELD: So hard. All right. Thanks so much Kara Finnstrom, appreciate it.
I-reporters in the southern California area have been sending us some pretty amazing video and photographs of the fires in Sylmar and Santa Barbara County. Take a look right now. Professional photographer Mike Raabe shot these photos about a quarter mile from his house. He says he took them from a hill that overlooks the city. Santa Barbara's mayor says as many as 200 homes have been destroyed or damaged by the fire.
Joining me now from a shelter for evacuees is Paul Schultz, CEO of the Los Angeles Red Cross. We saw just from that one resident just how difficult this is to come to grips with the fact that you've lost everything. You're coming into contact with a number of evacuees. What are some of the things that they are saying to you? PAUL SCHULZ, LOS ANGELES CHAPTER CEO, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Well, we've got four shelters open right now, all in basically a similar part of Los Angeles, around the Sylmar/Chatsworth area. We have upwards of 1,000 registrations, folks who have come in and they're in various states. We've gotten updates from -- in those shelters, and it's a tough scene right now because a lot of them are hearing that their homes don't exist anymore. So it's a little rough right now.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, and what are they expressing their immediate needs are? As they try to come to grips with the fact that either, a, they don't know what's happened to their home or, b, they know it's been wiped out or damaged, what kind of comfort are you able to offer to them.
SCHULZ: It's literally love and support --
WHITFIELD: Paul, if I can ask you to angle yourself a little different because the wind is hitting your phone and it's difficult to hear you. Let's try that one more time.
SCHULZ: I'm sorry. [Inaudible].
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, that really is indicative of the situation there. Wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour in some parts. You could hear that on the phone with Paul Schultz there with the Los Angeles Red Cross. They need all the help they can get to try to continue to offer some assistance to so many people who either lost their homes, their homes have been damaged, or they simply don't know what's next. We're going to keep on top of the situation there in Los Angeles.
Meantime, on the east coast, devastating news weather wise in North Carolina a woman and child are dead and another child is missing after thunderstorms and tornadoes swept through the central part of that state overnight. The storms ripped apart homes and knocked down trees and power lines in about a half dozen counties. Our Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center. Boy Jacqui extremes on ends, tornadoes and wet weather and extreme fires there on the west coast.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we have a lot going on today. What we did here on our Google earth as we put our heat signatures from satellite to give you a better idea and a better perspective of what's happening. This is the Sylmar area. You can see, here is Los Angeles. So this is up to the north and west of there, and here is the hill area, San Fernando and into the valley, and just check out this terrain and how steep things are. Look at how widespread this fire is becoming as well. Those hot winds blow down those mountains, and they accelerate as they do so.
In the last couple of hours we have still been seeing wind gusts reports around 60, 65 miles per hour. We think the winds are going to wane a little bit in three or four hours and become more moderate. The red flag warnings stay in effect until tomorrow afternoon. You can see this covers much of the mountainous areas across southern California. Here you can see high pressure is in place. We have a real tight gradient between that high and an upper level low which is off to the east, so until we get one of these systems to kind of break down a little bit, we'll continue to see those strong winds.
Really bringing in some hot temperatures with this as well. Highs today in the lower 90s, and the relative humidity really critical here, which has been down below 15 percent. Want to give you an idea of one of the big issues that we're dealing with because of this wind. You know as fire advances and spreads outward, the wind can catch some of these embers and send it flying out ahead of that main fire line, and then you start getting all these little spot fires all over the place or altogether you could get a new front line beginning, so that's one of the big battles that these folks are dealing with today because of those strong winds.
We think the wind should come down a little bit, maybe around the 40 to 50-mile-per-hour range as we head into the evening hours. Severe weather continues to be a threat. The same system that spawned those tornadoes early this morning in North Carolina still causing problems here across the Mid-Atlantic States. Looking at severe thunderstorms and some tornado watches from about Philadelphia extending down into North Carolina. This will be ongoing into the evening, so if you have plans heading out for dinner tonight, make sure you know what you're going to do if and when those tornado sirens go off. Some pretty nasty thunderstorms moving through the D.C. and Baltimore areas pushing off to the east. Not a lot of lightning Fredricka with these, but a lot of heavy downpours and some damaging winds.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui. We'll keep tabs on that.
Back now to talk of what's happening on the west coast north of Los Angeles with these enormous fires that are sweeping through the area devastating homes. Live pictures right now thanks to our affiliate KABC. One home simply engulfed there. You're seeing that many times over there north of Los Angeles, and it has meant for mandatory evacuations. In fact, we have one of the thousands of evacuees actually displaced by this fire on the phone with us now. Vi Montes joining us from Sylmar, where this fire is simply causing terrible, terrible havoc there. So Vi, give us an idea of what you know about your home, how were you forced to evacuate?
VI MONTES, WILDFIRE EVACUEE: OK. We had the police, the whole police units coming up and down the street beeping and honking with their megaphones saying mandatory evacuation. That was at 1:00 in the morning. We didn't evacuate at that time because we didn't feel the fire was that close. An hour again they came by and said mandatory evacuation, and I looked outside and I could see the fire on the hills there, and then I looked to the right. I can see the fires in Sylmar --
WHITFIELD: Approximately how far was that from you? What would be your estimation?
MONTES: Well, the fires on the hills by our home were probably a mile.
WHITFIELD: So pretty close knowing how quickly these fires are moving. MONTES: And the smoke was so heavy inside and outside that I started coughing and my husband didn't want to evacuate. He said we'll be fine, and I said, no, we've got to get out of here. Let's throw some things in the car. We threw some things in the car and we still waited. And finally the majority of the neighborhood I think did evacuate finally by 3:30 we were out of there. We came to Kennedy High School where we have been since that time.
Now, we have heard that in our neighborhood maybe one or two families may have stayed behind, and there was a couple of -- two or three small little fires, one in the front yard, two in the backyard, but not damage to the homes.
WHITFIELD: Now, did you say you and your son --
MONTES: My husband.
WHITFIELD: You and your husband. So how concerned are you and your husband about those neighbors that did decide to stay behind?
MONTES: Well, we both -- my son has talked to them. I have a son that knows them. He called us and he told us that there were two or three little fires in our street, on our street in front and in back. Two houses from our home. But the firefighters had contained them. They were great. They caught them right away and got them out. Still not letting us back in. They say may be another 24 hours.
WHITFIELD: Oh, yeah. Sounds like it will be a while. Close call for you and your family. So glad you made it out. You're in a safe place there at the high school, which has become a real shelter for a lot of people.
MONTES: The Red Cross has been amazing.
WHITFIELD: Good.
MONTES: I would donate to them in a heartbeat.
WHITFIELD: Excellent.
MONTES: And our insurance companies, two or three insurance companies are here. They want to help you find a place to stay, which is wonderful. Everybody has been wonderful.
WHITFIELD: I'm sure that adds for some immediate comfort, but I'm sure --
MONTES: We're still worried.
WHITFIELD: Right.
MONTES: They did give us a number to call to find out when we can go back home and right now we know our home is safe.
WHITFIELD: OK.
MONTES: And that there has not been any homes burned down in our area.
WHITFIELD: Glad to hear that. Meantime, thanks so much for your time and sharing your personal experiences and stay safe where you are, and we're looking at live pictures right now. Vi Montes thanks so much. Live pictures right now kind of depicting exactly what Vi was talking about. These smoldering embers that were flying being accelerated from these up to 70-mile-per-hour winds at one point, and the fire is very much aggressively burning there, and you saw earlier images of how it is simply engulfing and wiping out homes left and right.
Still not an accurate count of how many homes are being destroyed. Live pictures of aircraft in the air to presumably dump some of that water. There was a moment earlier today; winds were so serious, so hard, that they had grounded such aircraft. So it's good to see now they're back up in the air, perhaps to do some of the business of helping to put out and control some of these fires that are still burning out of control.
We heard from our Kara Finnstrom, also an arson investigation is under way. Obviously some suspicion that these were started in some unscrupulous way. We'll continue to keep you abreast of what's taking place there north of Los Angeles. You see the firefighter efforts under way aggressively.
On to issue number one now, on a global scale, the emergency meeting of world leaders called by President Bush has produced a blueprint of sorts to keep the financial mistakes that have been made from hopefully being repeated. CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano joining us live now from the White House, inside now since the weather was so bad earlier. Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Fred. That's exactly right. Three weeks or so ago when the summit was announced the White House really down played any expectations of major policy agreements coming out of this summit, and instead saying there would be an agreement on broad brush strokes of principles really, and that's exactly what we got. President Bush emerging from the summit, wrapping it up in his closing remarks earlier today declaring it productive and successful.
A summit put together in just about three weeks that brought together leaders from 20 of the world's developed and developing nations. Now, the president said that the leaders agreed on common principles for reforming financial markets. Those include more international cooperation when it comes to laws and regulations and strengthening transparency and accountability when it comes to complicated loans and financial products.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: We must make the markets, the financial markets, more transparent and accountable. Transparency is very important so that investors and regulators are able to know the truth. We considered improving accounting rules so that investors can understand the true value of the assets they purchase. We agree that we need to improve our regulations and to ensure that markets, firms, and financial products are subject to proper regulation and oversight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: President Bush also talked about agreement on the need to modernize global financial institutions, including the international monetary fund and the World Bank. The bottom line on all of this, the president saying this is merely a first step, the meeting today the first in a series of meetings set to take place, we learned Fredricka April is when the next meeting is set to take place. Interesting to note as well the president saying that his successor, president-elect Barack Obama has been fully briefed. He, of course, will be commander in chief when that next meeting takes place.
WHITFIELD: All right. Elaine Quijano at the White House thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Another issue that got people thinking on Election Day, supporting same-sex marriage in California. It's now becoming a national movement. We'll take you to a protest going on right now.
And there's a new player on the Obama team, the latest on the transition to the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. Take a look at this. This is what it's come to, this scene being multiplied much time over in southern California. In Sylmar, California, just north of Los Angeles by about 20 miles, this is Craig Smith. He's using a hose to try to save his home as best he can, but you can see in a very near distance there right behind him, flames, which are still actively engulfing that area there in Sylmar north of Los Angeles destroying many homes. We still are not clear what's transpired with his home since this image was taken by the associated press. All the best to Craig Smith there. We continue to watch the situation there in California. As it pertains to the fires.
Meantime, supporters of same-sex marriage are holding rallies across the nation today. They're protesting the passage of proposition 8 outlawing same-sex marriage in that state, Ted Rowlands is live for us in Los Angeles. So earlier, Ted, we talked about whether there would be the kind of expected turnout because of those fires taking place just north of where you are. It looks like the crowd is pretty good. I hope you can hear me.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, thousands of protesters or demonstrators or advocates of gay marriage, whatever you want to call them, have come here in support of gay marriage and against proposition 8 which passed in California, of course, on Election Day. They were hoping to get in excess of 40,000 people here today. It's most likely they're not going to hit that mark, but there are thousands and thousands of people here. There's a short demonstration at a stage here.
Mayor Antonio Veragosa (ph) a number of college issues and several celebrities got up here and spoke. This group is marching through downtown Los Angeles, and one of the themes here is equal rights, they are armed with adrenaline and as you can see a lot of signs. The message here is that, yes, this battle in the overall war for gay marriage and as they call it civil rights is still going on. Despite the fact that this battle has been lost in California with proposition 8.
They say that this is a very long war, and they're now treating it like a civil rights issue, and they say because of this lawsuit in California, it has actually galvanized the entire nation. We are seeing that today with demonstrations similar to this across the country. The silver lining, as disappointed as these people were, the silver ling that it has galvanized the community.
The question is whether or not it will do anything because they've lost this significant battle and whether or not they can keep it up. Organizers are hoping they will. They'll go around through the downtown Los Angeles area. They have vowed to be peaceful. Police say they haven't had any problems as of yet.
WHITFIELD: Ted Rowlands in Los Angeles. Protests like that taking place in other parts of the country including New York, but as Ted said, it's unclear whether this will actually have an impact on the vote that's already taken place there in California. Thanks so much.
All right. The short list for the next secretary of state. Sources close to president-elect Barack Obama tell us that he's considering two former campaign rivals. CNN's Ed Henry is live in Chicago with a look at exactly what is going on.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Fred. That's right. Barack Obama pretty quiet day today. Spent most of his time at his residence here in Chicago, but he's been busy the last few days with meetings. Two days ago he met behind closed doors here in this city with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. That obviously sparked a lot of speculation about his intentions, whether he'd bring her into the cabinet. Democratic sources telling CNN that in fact Senator Clinton left that meeting believing that the job of secretary of state is hers if she wants it.
So she's sort of mulling it over, thinking about it, but did not get a formal offer. We should point out that yesterday as you noted a second former rival, Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, was here in Chicago also meeting with president-elect Obama. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, his name has also come up. The reason why Barack Obama is casting a wide net even among Republicans, even among former rivals is that aides say he really enjoyed that book "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, about Abraham Lincoln's cabinet having a team of rivals. And that's what he hopes to have in his administration.
The thinking is that somebody like Hillary Clinton would be somebody with a real international profile, who could help him deliver his message around the world, be his chief diplomat. But obviously some potential down sides. For example the fact that they spent so much time disagreeing on foreign policy, specifically the war in Iraq.
WHITFIELD: That's how it goes with one of the top jobs in the White House. There are other key White House jobs where president-elect Obama has already made some key appointments, right?
HENRY: That's right. This morning some news out of the transition team. Valerie Jarrett, a long-time Obama ally and a key campaign adviser now going to be head of White House intergovernmental affairs. Sort of powerful behind-the-scenes job. Also Ron Klain selected to be chief of staff to the vice president elect Joe Biden. And finally Phil Shalearo (ph) along time congressional aide is going to be the incoming president liaison to Capitol Hill.
We're also picking up from three officials close to the transition that Greg Craig, a very prominent Washington attorney, is getting a long look and is on the short list to be the president's chief counsel, the top White House lawyer. That one not official yet, but the other three announced today by the campaign, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Ed Henry in Chicago thanks so much. Appreciate it.
We are still watching the developments there in Los Angeles. Wildfires out of control. We understand that the L.A. mayor will be speaking to reporters momentarily. Here are live pictures right now. Much more in the NEWSROOM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: More live pictures right now of what they're dealing with there just north of Los Angeles in Sylmar. Right now some helicopter views of just these nasty plumes of smoke and underneath all that smoke is a lot of fire destroying many homes. We understand thousands of people have been evacuated. Mandatory evacuations still under way and they're also investigating the source of this fire which now may lead to arson. More as we get it.
Meantime, with thousands let go by troubled Wall Street firms, the hottest ticket in Manhattan these days is the layoff party. Richard Roth explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Normally a long line outside a New York bar means a hot party happening inside.
ROTH: It was called the Wall Street pink slip party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tonight's event is about putting Wall Streeters who are laid off or looking together with recruiters and HR people who have jobs while we raise money for the Ronald McDonald house of New York.
ROTH: Good for the charity but some of the unemployed may have to start eating more at McDonald's. Business recruiters who attended say it's tough out there.
PETER HUMPHREY, RECRUITER: Anybody involved in the bond market knows this is a 100-year storm.
ROTH: As recruiters mingled with job seek eers "what's your sign" was replaced by you "how's my resume."
JANINE KELLY, RECRUITER: There's a lot more people out of work and I think that people have to reinvent themselves.
ROTH: Striking out in a bar can be doubly tough in this economy.
WENDELL BERRY, LAID-OFF WORKER: I don't expect to find a real job here, you know, but just to put my name out, get my face in front of people because that's the hardest thing.
ROTH: The only person getting good job tips, the bartender.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've gotten a tip on I think every drink so far, so I can't really complain.
ROTH: Some people get desperate at parties. These guests were desperate before they arrived. Mike Najarian has a wife and two children.
MIKE NAJARIAN, LAID-OFF WORKER: If I don't find something by the end of '08, there's a good chance I'm going to have to pack up my family, sell the homestead, and move on. That is the economic downfall, and I'm at that -- I'm close to that point.
ROTH: For one evening, at least, those hit by the financial crisis felt they weren't in it alone.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And we're still watching California burning, an update on the raging fire consuming homes and threatening the power supply now, out West.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Here in the NEWSROOM, we continue to watch what's taking place north of Los Angeles, huge fires burning out of control there. Thousands have evacuated and hundreds of homes, as we understand, have already been destroyed or damaged. We'll continue to watch the developments, there. We understand the Los Angeles mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, will be having a press conference, momentarily and when that happens we'll take that live, or at least try to get some information to pass on to you. Fixing a broken economy is one of the top priorities of the incoming Obama administration. Might President Bush be helping his successor by talking to world leaders this weekend? CNN international correspondent, Richard Quest has a global perspective on this weekend's economic summit.
Good to see you, Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Fredricka. We have the declaration. It runs to some 10 pages in length. It is extremely detailed, and anyone who thought that the G-20 were going to be meeting in Washington and not really talking or coming up with anything, they are wrong.
They are talking, for instance, about the need for greater cuts in interest rates, more government spending, and they said whatever action needs to be taken, needs to be done so it has rapid effect.
President Bush reporting to the world after the meeting was over, also talked about longer-term goals, for instance, improved regulation and greater transparency for Wall Street. In other words, Fredricka, it was clear the game was up, it could no longer be business as normal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W BUSH (R), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: One of the key achievements was to establish certain principles and to take certain actions. We're adapting our financial systems to the realities of the 21st century. The regulatory structures that are in place were 20th century regulatory structures, and obviously, you know, the financial industry went way beyond them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Fredricka, the one thing in this statement that I have never seen before is an action plan. It talks about things that need to be done by March of next year and longer term.
Finally, though nobody who was involved in government or regulation should be sitting comfortably tonight, because they are quite clear, policymakers, regulators, and supervisors did not adequately address risks, they were inconsistent and insufficient, and they had inadequate structural reform. Blame to go around.
WHITFIELD: Wow, it almost sounds like this document is also kind of like a contract and maybe all the world leaders had to sign the dotted line that they will all adhere to the promise of changing policy. Interesting thing to come.
All right, Richard quest from Washington, appreciate it. Thanks so much.
All right, the other big story we continue to follow taking place on the west coast, southern California, two destructive wildfires raging out of control. The Sylmar Fire, about 20 miles north of downtown Los Angeles has forced some 10,000 people to evacuate their homes, and then there's the Santa Barbara Tea Fire, that's still burning along the coast.
CNN's Kara Finnstrom is live from the Oak Ridge Mobile Home Park in Sylmar.
I know that's where we saw you last. Are you still at that location or did you have to move?
FINNSTROM: We did have to move, Fredricka. If you take a look just below me here, what you see is a sealed crime scene. Authorities telling us that there is an arson investigation underway. You can see the police cars, some of the fire trucks that have pulled up. Numerous vehicles have actually gone inside.
All they will tell us at this point is there is an arson investigation underway. No details to that, but this is the first that we've heard of any potential investigation into arson in relation to this fire.
Now, interestingly enough, up until now the reports that we've gotten about where this fire started is to the north of this area, that it actually came down the hillside behind this mobile park. So, it will be interesting to get more details as to how all of this may possibly piece together.
But, I also want step out here and let him to pan across the park because this gives you a look at the utter devastation caused by this wildfire. As you look across here, yesterday there were about 600 homes, mobile homes, in this park. That's according to a homeowner, here. About 1,500 people lived here, and if you look across here, almost all of them are completely gone.
Now, across the Sylmar area, up to 10,000 homes have been evacuated with, you know, this wildfire still burning, still a major concern. The other concern out here is power. You know, a major transmission line into the Los Angeles area had to be turned off because it was just considered unsafe for firefighters, so emergency officials are asking everyone to conserve. They don't want to see a series of brownouts that may add to everything they've already got on their plate, right now.
So Fredricka, again, below me you see an arson investigation underway. This wildfire continuing to burn, and big concerns about what you see here, this wind that is continuing to whip up. As far as what we've seen, we haven't got any relief from it yet.
WHITFIELD: Wow, tough situation out there. Kara Finnstrom, thanks so much.
With all this bad news, one woman will simply touch your heart. Parents Behind Bars reaching out to the children growing up without them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy misses you.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: The CNN Hero who is helping to reconnect families. How she was inspired by her own jail time experience.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: They continue to battle these blazes there in southern California. You're looking at live pictures out of Yorba Linda, California. And you saw how close that fire is to that interstate, that highway. This is what has been taking place there in southern California. In some cases earlier today they had to close Interstate- 5 because so much smoke was obstructing the view of a lot of motorists, at least temporarily. You can see that kind of smoke is billowing again causing other problems and likely, you see the fire on the left-hand side of the screen. That could have started from embers that have simply been blown, thanks to the Santa Ana winds that are kicking up somewhere around 70 mile-per-hour wind gusts.
We'll continue to stay on top of the situation just north of Los Angeles, for the most part. Many homes destroyed and thousands more evacuated as a result of these fires now being investigated possibly as arson.
Well, here is to making the best of a bad situation. Carolyn LeCroy did time for pot possession. Now she's helping other parents keep in touch with their kids while in prison.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "Heroes."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, Cameron, this is your father.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Jay Jay, it's mommy. I love you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy misses you.
CAROLYN LECROY, THE MESSAGES PROJECT ORGANIZER: The children of an incarcerated parent are the silent victims of the parent's crime. These children get forgotten sometimes.
My name is Carolyn LeCroy and I started The Messages Project so that incarcerated parents can keep in touch with their kids.
Door, please. Thank you.
In 1994, I was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana. I was very fortunate; my children came to see me all the time.
(BEGIN GRAPHIC)
An estimated 1.5 million children have an incarcerated parent.
(END GRAPHIC)
LECROY: When I got out, I took a bad situation and I made something good of it. Just talk from your heart, that's what this is about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey Caleb, this daddy, buddy, I love you and I hope you enjoy this.
LECROY: They know they've made mistake, but they're still human beings and they have children and they all love them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have two books, here. I hope you enjoy it. One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. Black fish, blue fish, old fish, new fish.
(BEGIN GRAPHIC)
Since 1999, Carolyn LeCroy's "The Messages Project" has recorded approximately 3,000 video messages for the children and families of inmates.
(END GRAPHIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one has a little star, this one has a little car. Say, what a lot of fish they are.
LECROY: For many, it's reestablishing a bond that got broken. It's hard when a parent is in prison, so I think that makes all those children heroes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And there are so many CNN Heroes that we have profiled throughout the year, but Carolyn is now one of the top 10 finalists in this contest of heroes that CNN has been bringing to you. Carolyn Leroy joining us live now.
Good to see you.
LECROY: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
WHITFIELD: Well, at what point did you have this epiphany where you said, you know what? What's needed is some sort of form of communication between the children and the inmate? Was it while you were in prison or did something happen once you left?
LECROY: No, actually, it was part both. I would get visits from my children, and I would go back to the floor, and there are women there who never got visits and they were always depressed and unhappy, and I thought, you know, if they're feeling this, what about the children, what are they feeling?
So when I got out, I did some research and found the effects of incarceration on children, and so it was kind of both. I thought I'd take my career, my previous careers a fi sas a film and video producer and use it. I had friends in the business, talked with them, got with the Virginia Department of Corrections, talked with them, and it was a go. WHITFIELD: And surprisingly, Virginia department of corrections said, oOK, let's make this happen when often times there are a lot of barriers that may go up, especially when dealing with the prison system.
LECROY: Oh, there were a lot of barriers. This wasn't an easy process. It took a couple years to get it done, but we did it.
WHITFIELD: Sorry, go ahead.
LECROY: I was just going to say, and that's the important thing is that we did it. You know, they realize and they know that the bond is so important, not only for the child, but for the inmate. It really does help reduce recidivism when there's family support.
WHITFIELD: So, I'm anxious to hear of your impression. The first time it happened, you had that communication going between inmate and child and you saw the effects that it was having on the child and that inmate, what did you witness and what were you feeling at that time?
LECROY: Well, when you do these -- I can't stay in the room any longer -- well, not too long. It really gets emotional for me, but I have to tell you we've had letters and calls from caregivers that have the children, and there's a couple that really stick with me.
One of them is that she said the child turned the volume down on the TV and sits there and has a conversation with her mom. And another young one would go up and just hug the TV. So, you know, we get feedback from them. I get feedback from the men and the women who do the videos and how much they appreciate it, how much it means to them.
You know, for many it's going to be the first time that they've admitted that they did something wrong, that they've taken the responsibility, that they even apologize to their families.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Very powerful, and I understand it is resonated so much not with just the inmates and their children and the families, but other prison systems say, wait a minute, we want to do this, too. So, I understand that you're getting a lot of requests...
LECROY: Oh, yeah.
WHITFIELD: To share the wealth so to speak to take it outside of Virginia to other states and even countries I understand, right?
LECROY: Oh, yeah. I have had -- let's see, I've gotten e-mai e-mails from Canada, I got some from Australia, and from England interested in the program. So, you know, there's nothing but good that can come out of it.
WHITFIELD: Carolyn LeCroy, it's called The Messages Project. Congratulations and so glad that you were able to share this with so many who have now -- have a totally different view, you know, of what this does to the entire family when someone is imprisoned and that you've been able to help bridge that for so many families. Thanks so much. Of course, you are among 10 finalists of the CNN Heroes, and come thanksgiving night, you can watch it right here on CNN to see this project all coming to fruition now after many, many months of collecting stories of the many CNN Heroes.
Of course, you can go to CNN.com to learn a little bit more. Perhaps you want to nominate somebody else for the next set of processes.
All right, meantime, let's talk about the Los Angeles fires taking place. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, right now. Let's listen in.
MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: ...working to evacuate animals where necessary.
As you know, I declared a local state of emergency in the city of Los Angeles and governor Schwarzenegger has also declared a state of emergency for Los Angeles County. We, of course, are working with the state as we do so often and so well. And I want to thank them and the U.S. Forestry Service. All of the folks who were with us, who have stepped in to pitch in the way we do better than anyone.
As I understand it, we have asked some -- close to 10,000 residents to evacuate. We'll get more on that from some of our first responders. At 10:00 a.m., we stop the rotating power outages and restored the power supply to most of the city of Los Angeles. I had said to you and again I ask the public to please not use your appliances, right now. We want to -- it's very hot, we want to minimize the use of power use at this point, so don't use your appliances and also if you can conserve water right now, please do.
And the -- we want folks to really understand we can all pitch in here and the best way to pitch in is to conserve and is for every one of us to do our part.
We still have four shelters that are operating at this point. As I mentioned to you earlier, those shelters are at Sylmar High School. There are approximately 300 evacuees, there. At San Fernando High School, where there are approximately 70 evacuees. At Chatsworth High School, where there are 18 people there who have been evacuated and about 105 people who have been evacuated at Kennedy High School.
The public has any questions, they should please call 1-800-439-2909. As you can see and hear, for those of you who aren't here and watching on TV, the winds are still very strong, so when the police ask you to evacuate and, so far, we've evacuated a good portion of Sylmar and this -- we've asked people in Grenada Hills as well to be either -- some have been evacuated and we've asked others to be on alert that they may be evacuated. We'll get more into that in just a moment.
Again, I want to ask the cooperation of the public when the police come and ask you to leave, they are doing that for your good. They are doing that to make sure that we minimize the loss of life or injured. And so with that, let me bring up Chief Royta (ph) here representing the Los Angeles Fire Department. And again, I say this a lot, but I say it because it's true, I'm in awe and we should all be thankful for the work of our firefighters, whether they're city firefighters, county firefighters or wherever they come. They've done a tremendous job here given the adverse wind conditions that they're working under.
And I know no one -- no one more than them is as sorrowful as -- as sorry, rather, and -- as they are and we all are for the people who have lost their homes at this moment. Chief Royta.
CHIEF ROYTA, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPT: Good afternoon. At our last briefing, we discussed diminishing winds, and they have diminished somewhat, but these are still very dangerous winds. Our strategy is still to ensure that we don't have any loss of life and that we still continue to protect structures and protect property. What we have seen since our last briefing is the westerly progression of the fire. And as we predicted, the fire has bumped into the Sesnon burn area which is actually a very good thing for us.
We did see in those areas, though, large numbers of embers driven by the winds, which are very great hazard for us. It's one of the reasons we evacuated, so that firefighters could do their work in there and make sure we didn't have any loss of structures in there and certainly, no injuries or no loss of life.
So, our strategy is moving along as planned. We are working to button up -- what we call button up our back ends. And I know Chief Freeman is going to talk about the work in the county, and we are continuing to mop up along the 210 and make sure those fires are out and that they are completely extinguished so that we can move people back into those areas as quickly as we can.
Also, I just need to share with you as day broke and we got our damage assessment team, the damage was much greater in some areas than we had anticipated in having driven those areas last night, I can tell you the firefighters tried to put themselves in front of those flames, 200 to 300 feet and just -- I don't know that they could have done anything more. They just did a great job.
But unfortunately, we did suffer devastating losses last night. And the 70-80 mile-an-hour winds certainly were the major cause of that. I'll be available after for questions. I know Chief Freeman will.
CHIEF FREEMAN, LOS ANGELS FIRE DEPT: Thank you very much. Just on behalf of the mutual aid fire responses, personnel and equipment that have come in here, the city and the county of Los Angeles firefighters have worked courageously through the night.
Just wanted to briefly explain what the efforts this afternoon. The U.S. Forest Service personnel and crews from L.A. County Fire, dozers and aircraft are going to be working very hard to develop a secure area along the perimeter of the fire, along the 14 Freeway. It's very important to get that perimeter in place. They are going to work on that this afternoon.
Additionally, across the back side of the fire, which is over the ridge, behind us, they are working to put in a line between the fire and Pacoima Canyon. That is the plan of action for this afternoon and well into the night. The firefighters have worked valiantly. Many of them have not had sleep. We're really stressing the safety of all the personnel here, but we are taking no breaks. We're working very hard to tie in those open areas and to continue to preserve life and property here. It's a mutual aid response, it's a team effort, and the firefighters continue in that effort. Thank you.
VILLARAIGOSA: Part of the political leadership of that team effort is county supervisor Yaroslavsky, who has been at these events over the last few weeks. Supervisor Yarolsavsky.
ZEV YAROSLAVSKY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERVISOR: Thank you, mayor. First of all, on behalf of the Supervisor Atonavicz (ph) who, along with me, represents the bulk of Sylmar, I want to thank the city and county first responders and personnel for the great heroic effort they've put out last night and today.
I was born and raised in this city. This is as bad a fire as I can remember since the 1961 Bel Air Fire. The explosiveness of it and the human devastation that's involved, whether you live in a mobile home coach or whether you live in an estate, when you lose your home, it's devastating. 500 families, households, lost their home last night and this morning. And our hearts go out to them. And it's something that we just can't weigh their loss heavily enough.
I also want to thank the personnel for saving Olive View Hospital. Olive View is the county's only public hospital for the northern half of the county. It's the only public hospital. Quite a few outbuildings were destroyed last night on the property, on the campus of Olive View Hospital. I'm told it was over 100 out buildings, not 100 percent sure that's accurate, but it's close to accurate. But the building itself, the hospital itself, was saved and we're very grateful for that.
With that, once again, I say to all the folks in the fire areas and downwind of the fire areas, listen to the fire officials and listen to the police officers. Don't wait until the last minute to do what you need to do. Thank you very much.
Thank you, mayor.
VILLARAIGOSA: Thank you, supervisor. And let me just say that to all of the people who have lost their homes, we will -- the city of Los Angeles is ready, we are in the process of identifying the resources and assets to make sure that they have a place to go, not just temporary, but into the near future.
With us, as well, is the city council member representing this area who is, again, a number of us have met here more often than any of us would care. Council Member Richard Alarcon.
RICHARD ALARCON, L.A. COUNCIL MEMBER: First of all, I'd like to extend my gratitude on behalf of the community for the incredible heroism of the fire department and I can say to the fire department who takes it very personally when they lose, the number of structures that were lost that we know that they fought to the very last moment to preserve the housing that they were able to preserve.
