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California Burns
Aired May 08, 2009 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: He said his report, his government has concluded it was definitely a U.S. airstrike that killed scores of -- of Afghan civilians. He says he has absolutely no doubt about that.
He -- he said he discussed this with the U.S. And, in fact, he even discussed it with President Obama. He says President Obama expressed his regrets about all of this.
He didn't say that he has a commitment from the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. military, the U.S. Army, whatever, to stop these airstrikes. But he did say he's -- he's appealing to the U.S., no more airstrikes in Afghanistan.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: As usual, Wolf Blitzer, great job. Wolf, thanks so much.
And you can see President Karzai's full interview, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, 3:00 Pacific in THE SITUATION ROOM , only on CNN.
Rick Sanchez takes it from here.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, here's what we're going to be doing for you throughout this hour.
The situation in California seems to be intensifying, and the reason for that is, the winds are picking up. We have been checking with experts all throughout the day. This is participatory journalism. So, what we are going to do is turn much of this newscast over to you in California, who have been talking to us all day long.
It is the Jesusita wildfire just next to Santa Barbara. I supposed, if we Anglicize it, it would be the Jesusita wildfire. It is expected to gain in strength beginning now, since it's now the noon hour in California. This is when the winds normally start to pick up.
Some 30,000 people have already been evacuated. The number of acres is like 3,500 acres, give or take a couple hundred acres -- 75 homes have been destroyed. We have been in contact with the officials there, obviously Chief Tom Franklin.
They're saying that so far only 10 percent of this thing has been controlled, only 10 percent. We have watched mansions burnt to the ground. And we have been in contact with you on Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook, and many of you have reached back out to us.
In fact, we have a Twitterer on the line with us now. Susanne Chess is an evacuee. She's one of thousands who have been asked to leave their homes and in many cases not knowing what the situation is after they leave.
Susanne, are you there?
SUSANNE CHESS, EVACUEE: Yes, I'm here.
SANCHEZ: What's the situation for you right now?
CHESS: Well, right now, I'm at work, because most of us, I think, are trying to do business as usual during the day. The community itself is still safe.
The firefighters have done a miraculous job at keeping this massive fire -- it's like a wall over our entire city -- up in the canyon and mountain areas.
SANCHEZ: What I'm hearing here is that at least 75 homes have been damaged or destroyed. Yesterday at this very same time when I started this newscast, there were only 20 homes. So, obviously something happened overnight. What was that?
CHESS: Well, that, I did watch on the TV last night, that somehow it broke out towards the west.
And I don't think anyone was expecting it to -- the winds to kick up, heading it back where the Gap Fire had burned I think last year or the year before. The fire appears to be trying to just make this wall across the entire city, and who knows where it -- yes. I will stop there.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: That's fine. You're doing a great job, by the way. And we thank you so much for joining us, Susanne, and take us through this.
For those just joining us, as well, we are going to be staying on this California fire situation, because it does seem to be intensifying.
Susanne, let me ask you. The fact that there's only 10 percent of this thing contained, does you worry you as someone who has left their home?
CHESS: You know, I'm confident that the firefighters are going to do the very best job that they can to keep it up in the mountain areas. The fire has burned a wall -- I mean, there is the risk it will come down, and if it comes down, it will be devastating.
But we're all trying to make the best of it. Friends are reaching out to friends. People are calling me from outlying communities and offering their homes.
SANCHEZ: That's a good question. Where are you right -- speaking of offering homes, where are you right now? What do you do when you leave your home like that? Where do you go? CHESS: Well, we have a business in town or two businesses in town that own a property closer to the beach, which is not in the evacuation warning area.
So, we came down . Tuesday night we were ordered to evacuate, and we came, threw as much as we could as fast as we could into the car. It was -- it's really difficult to try and make the decision what you take and what you don't take in those situations. You think about it, but when it comes time to make the choices, it's -- it's very difficult.
But we gathered everything up we could, filled the car to the brim, and brought it down to our offices at Force Fin here in Santa Barbara. And we slept up -- I have a store here, Fine Fabrics, and we slept up in the loft. We had planned to use the city showers during the day and just stay down here.
But, because of the water constraints and, you know, the water requirements for fighting the fire limiting the use of water in the city, the city has closed the city pool. So, we have moved to a friend's house.
SANCHEZ: Susanne Chess, one of my fellow Twitterers, she and I and thousands of others have been sharing thoughts and well-wishes throughout the day, getting information on what's going on out there.
We thank you, Susanne, for taking time to join us. And we're going to be joining many of you.
But before we do that and continue on with other folks who are there and can give us the real inside story, let's go to our own expert now.
Reynolds Wolf has been following this situation all day.
Can you give us a sense, Reynolds, for -- for people who are watching this story develop from different parts of the country, of just what this land mass looks like, how big an area it is, and what you think this -- the wind conditions will now create? In other words, what other areas could be threatened as a result?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, let's -- let's go in reverse order.
First and foremost, we're going to talk about the wind conditions. Wind conditions, Rick, we're looking at some gusts anywhere from 30 to 40 miles an hour. The problem is , the forecast calls that, for later in the afternoon, certainly into tomorrow, we could see some wind gusts topping 60, maybe even 65 miles per hour.
Another thing you mentioned was, how big of an area are we talking about? When you take a look at this map, you have got the central coast of California. You see this area that is shaded in red right about here, that's the area that is really going to be on the gun -- on the gun -- under the gun in terms of the fire. Now, let's see, Santa Barbara would be right about here. You would have Ventura right in this area. Highway 101 runs right along the coast and then makes its way back to Santa Barbara. However, you have an area right here called San Marcos Pass that actually cuts back through the mountains.
I don't think anyone is going to be taking that road today. And, of course, the reason why is because of what you're seeing in these incredible images. I mean, take a look at that, Rick. We're talking about flames that are, in some cases, hundreds of feet high. We're talking 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit, smoke billowing all and down -- up and down this mountain rage, the Sierra Madre Mountains.
And you have got 246 engines, over 2,300 firefighters that are out there battling this blaze, at the same time, 13 bulldozers, 15 helicopters , and you have three water-tenders. Just a short while ago, we showed you some video of some of the -- the aircraft going through.
While some are observation craft, the other dropping that flame retardant. It's going to be a huge battle for them, and it's not just going to be because of the dry conditions, the chaparral, the California oak, all the dry foliage you have up there.
But if you look at the atmosphere, itself, take a look at it. You get high pressure that's setting up right off the coast and with that you have a compressing effect on the atmosphere. Rain is not going to be in the forecast, Rick, not today, not through much of next week, not for this time of year.
At the same time, anyone who happens to go to the California coast this time of the year will often see something we refer to as the marine layer, which is this thick layer of clouds, sometimes as much as 4,000 feet thick, that hovers right off the coast, keeps everything dark, keeps everything kind of moist, kind of damp. That's not going to be in the cards either.
And then if you look at these sheer numbers, we're talking relative humidity of 15 percent, at the same time winds around 35 for today, increasing this weekend, and, of course, the Golden State is mired in an awful drought. All these are coming together to give us just a nightmare scenario.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Well, you know what? I'm glad -- I'm glad we have got you to help take us through this, because you have got your finger on the pulse of the conditions, so we're going to be you -- we're going to -- you know what, you can hang with us throughout the hour, right?
REYNOLDS: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: All right. I will keep going back. I'm just told now that Clayton Boyer is at the command center there. He's one of the volunteers. He's going to be joining us as well to let us know what conditions are there on the ground and what people are saying as well. And we're also going to be checking in on some of the smoke jumpers, some of the hotshots. Those are the guys who try and create these back lines, so they're essentially lines of fire to stop the fire from jumping over and reaching into another area.
These are live pictures you're looking at right now. This is from KCAL. It's actually a shared pool feed from KCBS and KCAL, two of our affiliates there. Take that stuff at the bottom off to see if we see that -- oh, did we lose it? We lost it.
Let's do this. Let's take a quick break. When we come back, we will fill you in on some of the details as they come in, the situation changing as we speak right now in California.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Well, according to the information that we're getting out of California and some of the tweets that we have been following from many of you, we're getting information that there are still even more evacuations that are taking place right now.
Read a tweet just moments ago that says that Kathy Ireland, the actress Kathy Ireland has been asked to evacuate the home. In fact, she wrote it herself. We went to her page, and it said, "I'm leaving now." She mentioned that she thanked everyone for their well-wishes and was talking with another community of people there on MySpace and Twitter.
So, Kathy Ireland, the actress evacuated from her home there in the area around Santa Barbara.
These are the pictures that we have been monitoring for you. For those of you joining us around the country, we're following what is developing, and breaking news still in California. The numbers are quite startling, 30,000 people now evacuated, 3,500 acres burned -- 75 homes have either been damaged or destroyed.
And we have been monitoring some of those fires where you see huge homes literally burned to the ground. And it's a process, and you don't see a lot of firefighters dealing with it because they're too busy trying to stop the fire from getting to other homes.
As the camera shifts there, you see it going into one of the other areas, because they are sporadic fires, and you see some of the -- what we will be seeing shortly here -- that looks like one of the vehicles -- one of the planes that is going to be used to throw the flame retardant.
And we will also probably start seeing some helicopters being called in with the buckets that pick up the water and send them in. You will also be watching smoke jumpers and hotshots. Those are those firefighters that are flown in to create those fire lines to try and stop the fire. I also want to talk to you about something else that's going on out there. We were talking to Susanne moments ago. She's one of our fellow Twitterers, and she said that she had to leave her home. And we asked her where she went. And she was fortunate enough to be able to have a place away from the evacuation zone where she could live, but a lot people don't have places to go, so they're now creating shelters in the Southern California area, so that people can go to them.
We have got some video coming in now. This is a report filed moments ago from one of our affiliates. The reporter is Mark Cugan (ph). Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER (voice-over): With the evacuation area expanding, the initial fire evacuation center, a high school, hit capacity, over 300 people, so the University of California at Santa Barbara and the Red Cross opened this bigger shelter last night.
The campus multi-activity court usually hosts intramural sports, like indoor soccer and roller hockey. Now it is housing people who had to get away from the Jesusita Fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have been tracking the fire pretty closely, but we didn't think it was coming as fast as it did.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Liz O'Scanlon (ph)'s son had been warning her to get ready to go,. She got to the shelter at 3:00 a.m.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He kept calling me about every 20 minutes. Finally, he said, mom, I'm coming over. We're getting out. So, we took all of grandma's art off the walls and the family treasures and packed it up in very, very, very quick time.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Saying with O'Scanlon are three community college students from China -- 18-year-old Shan-Shan Ding (ph) was staying with another family here last November when they were evacuated for the Tea Fire. Now this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At that time, I was playing my computer game, and -- and they had just come in to and said, we need to evacuate. And I was shocked, because it was my second time. I -- I never imagined that
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Among the essentials, the girls and Liz O'Scanlon grabbed last night, a gallon of milk, apples, and a laptop. They are hoping to stay with friends tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the fire happened, there's no fire -- no firefighters, no government to help us, that would be a very big problem. And I think Santa Barbara did good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Well, that's the situation right now. As a matter of fact, I want to show you something. This is that -- remember I mentioned to you moments ago that there was one of these huge homes that we had been watching in our own staff room back there as this thing burned to the ground? I will show you several different angles on this thing as you watch it. The enormity of it is amazing. I'm talking about the size of this house as it burns to the ground. You will see that when we come back.
Stay with us as we continue our continuing coverage on the Santa Barbara fires.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the world headquarters of CNN. I'm Rick Sanchez.
As you can see, we're following some dangerous wildfires that are spreading in the area around Santa Barbara, California. We're going to be bringing you the very latest on this story as it happens with live pictures from the scene. From time to time, we will likely be dipping in to some of the local -- our affiliates there, who are covering this story as well.
And we're going to be talking to many of you, who have been sharing your insight with us since I came in this morning and got on my computer and started Twittering.
In fact, I'm going to share some of those with you now. Rog, if we could split the screen somehow, maybe we can show folks, keep our eye on the fire in the canyon that we're looking at there, the Jesusita Fire, while at the same time we will listen to what the folks are saying, like Steve, who says, "Local news here says up to 40 to 50-mile-an-hour" -- he's talking about the winds there -- "later today" -- 40 to 50 miles an hour, that's a lot.
We're going to -- we're going to take that through Reynolds in just a moment, our own meteorologist, by the way, to see if we can get a confirmation.
Also, AngelJackie says: "Rick, a lot of people were evacuated. The fires got the freeways." That's an interesting perspective we're going to try and confirm as well.
And then this one, which kind of tells the story of what happened last night, when this thing really got much worse than even officials and firefighters expected. "Hell broke loose last night," Yacht09 writes to me. "Still raging -- 235 law enforcement officials on the scene. Evacuation is expanding."
I want to bring somebody else in now, speaking of people I have been Twittering with throughout the day or people that I have reached through Twitter.
Clayton Boyer, he's at the command center. He's a volunteer.
Clayton, where are you, and what's the situation right now? CLAYTON BOYER, COMMAND CENTER VOLUNTEER: Well, good morning, or good afternoon, Rick, and to your listeners.
You know, Twitter played an important role in making sure that people got information. It's just another tool in the toolbox for everyone to get updated information. Currently, I am returning to the command center via the closed-down Highway 154.
I am going through the Cold Springs Bridge at this time. I have large plumes of smoke rising in the horizon. It appears the fire has made a very large run, creating its own weather this morning. I got about three-and-half-hours of sleep. They called me back.
I can see from my vantage point as I am approaching of San Marcos Pass, Highway 154 at East Camino Cielo, the fire is about to crest at East Camino Cielo, thus crossing over a mountain range into the Santa Ynez Valley. There's a mass air assault going on with helicopter and multiple fixed-wing airplanes at this time trying to fend off this fire from actually reaching the (INAUDIBLE) community.
If you will recall, a couple of decades ago, the (INAUDIBLE) fire which devastated Santa Barbarans back approximately 20-some years ago. And they are living a nightmare once again.
I am up on the line. I do apologize. I can't stay with you very much longer. I'm going to have to get off. Smoke is starting to get very heavy. And I will check in with you, especially on Twitter. Please look me up at (INAUDIBLE). And I will be (INAUDIBLE) when I return home tonight or tomorrow morning from the command post.
SANCHEZ: Clayton Boyer, my thanks to you. Go ahead and get yourself in a situation where you can concentrate on the situation around you and you have to be busy talking to us.
But we nonetheless appreciate you taking time to talk to us.
Reynolds, he said a lot of things there. I think, somehow, you would probably have a better handle on this than I would.
WOLF: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Take us through, amplify on what he just reported to us visually, what he was saying and seeing.
WOLF: Let's be honest. It looks like hell from where these guys have been seeing it. They have been watching their homes, been watching their neighborhoods go up. Over three -- let's see -- 30,000 people evacuated, as you mentioned earlier, Rick.
And what we're seeing there is just a huge struggle between man and these elements. If you take a look at this Google Earth animation, give you an idea of you at home, and of course, Rick, you can see Santa Barbara kind of in like a bowl, if you will, right along the coast.
But then when you get back into the coastal range, then back over towards lake -- let's see -- that would be Cachuma, rather -- you look downward, you can see just the fires burning up right along parts of the slope.
And one thing to mention, too, Rick, is when you have these strong winds that go through these mountain passes, as they drop, the air tends to compress, and that compressed air actually generates heat. So you have a lot of grasses, a lot of trees that will dry out, further dry out, as these warm winds continue to pass through these canyons.
And, of course, it's like a bellows with a fire. It just causes the flames just to erupt. And it is going to be just a terrible thing for them to see.
Now, as terms -- as far as the atmosphere is concerned, that's the other double whammy we have got, area of low pressure pushing towards the Four Corners, high pressure building right over the coast.
With that, the door is shut in terms of any rainfall. We're not expecting any precipitation for that part of the Golden State from now through most of next week. Those wind gusts, you know, I think you -- I think he mentioned, the last person you were communicating with, what did he say, 40-, 50-mile-an-hour gusts?
SANCHEZ: That's right. We got that as a, matter of fact, on Twitter. That's Yacht -- I think -- 09 who was telling us that?
WOLF: I think so.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes. He mentioned -- he mentioned to us that it was -- that they expected those conditions throughout the middle of the day, but then it would -- it would somehow lessen throughout the evening.
All right. I told you a little while ago about smoke jumpers and hotshots. These are some of the most courageous people in the country. They go into these fires with equipment to knock down trees and make fire lines -- more on them when we come back.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Look at this picture we're going to show you right now.
You know, this is by far the shot that really represents the courage of some of the people who are called in to these fires. These guys, by the way, let's see if that shot goes in. You will see them coming in. These guys who are dressed in orange, and as the -- they're on the left of that screen. I know the helicopter pilot's probably repositioning and he's going to be showing that in a little bit. I have flown enough with these guys to know what he's probably doing. Also had a chance with my producer Michael Heard many times to go into these situations with these hotshots or these smoke jumpers, as they're often called. These -- they there are. They there are. You see them right there?
These are the guys who come in from all over the country. A lot of times, they are from different parts of the west, Oregon and parts of Washington and parts of Northern California, and they are literally flown in or choppered in. That's why they are called smoke jumpers. In some cases, they are actually even parachuted in, not in this situation, and the hotshots.
And they come into this area in groups of about 20, 30 or 40, and they're usually equipped with chain saws and hatchets. And their job is to destroy the fire by taking away the thing that fuels the fire. They create lines. So, they take away the vegetation literally all the way to the ground, so that the fire can't continue, and thereby save property and save people's lives. It's pretty amazing.
We are going to -- we're going to try and re-cue that, so you can see exactly where they are now. Some of these shots are going to changing from time to time, but we're going to be following it as best we can.
If we hear from the governor, Governor Schwarzenegger, we're obviously going to be giving you a chance to hear what the governor's saying as well.
And then go to MySpace shot over here, if you can. Let's go to MySpace, the MySpace board. This is interesting, because we hear this all the time. If you want to split the screen, go ahead there, Rog.
"This happens all the time in California. Can't they ban building homes in these areas that are prone to these fires? This is so very sad," someone asks us watching our coverage of this situation once again.
I got somebody who could probably shed some light on this. It's Paul Quinn, assistant vice president of claims, Farmers Insurance, Santa Barbara, California. He's there.
You know, a lot of people wonder why people are able to buy insurance if they live in these areas. What's the answer to that question, Paul?
PAUL QUINN, ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF CLAIMS, FARMERS INSURANCE: Well, there's many avenues of insurance available for people who live in areas that are touched by wildfires.
Certainly, we recommend that anyone who lives in those areas establish a safe perimeter around their home. But it is also important for everyone to know that people, you know, live where they choose to live, and that there has to be an insurance product available to them.
(CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: How much more do you charge them for -- to live in a place that's prone to fires like this?
QUINN: You know, I think the safest thing to say is that every territory has its own rate structure. But if it's an area that we, Farmers Insurance, is not willing to take a risk on, and there are those areas...
SANCHEZ: Really?
QUINN: ... that the California Fair Plan does have that mechanism available to insure the people that are taking the higher risk living in the brush areas.
SANCHEZ: Listen, let me ask you a question. There's a bunch of folks who are watching our newscast right now, because we're hearing from them on the social networks, that probably need information from you.
What do they do? They have left their homes, or are thinking about evacuating. What should they take with them? How do they contact your organization? Give them some advice on our air, will you?
QUINN: Well, sure, I would love to.
For the people who are forced to evacuate, they can phone Farmers Insurance at our HelpPoint number, 1-800-HELP-POINT, 1-800-435-7764, or phone their carrier.
But Farmers has also positioned two emergency claims vehicles at the Red Cross evacuation sites, one at the U.C. Santa Barbara rec center and the other at Dos Pueblos High School on Alameda up in Goleta.
Now, as far as what to take when you get the evacuation order, this is the advice I always give. Please, make sure you take care of yourselves first. Insurance is there to take care of your possessions, to take care of your home, but we can't take care of your loved ones.
Another bit of advice I would give -- and we do this at our home -- is that there are years of memories every family has built up. And you can't replace the pictures of your family, your grandparents. Have those in one wall or one area, so that, when the time comes, if you have to, you can put that in a haversack or what have you and walk out the door with your pictures of your loved ones and your most prized possessions.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Paul, are you doing OK? Your -- your family all right? You're from that area, aren't you?
QUINN: Well, I'm from that area. I'm, fortunately, about 45 miles away. And we keep a very close eye, because we live on a hillside as well.
And, trust me, we make sure we have a safe perimeter around our home.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: I know sometimes we forget to ask the people who are helping other people how they're doing. I've been in that situation. My thanks to you and to all the folks out there who are helping these folks out, it's certainly a difficult situation for them, and we're going to continue to try to hook as many people up as we can so that they can help each other in this very difficult and trying time. Paul, my thanks to you once again, my friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our thoughts and prayers are with all the people of Santa Barbara county, and the firefighters that are here to serve them. Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: We're going to be taking -- no, thank you, Paul.
We're going to be taking some shots of some of those firefighters and some of those hotshots and smoke jumpers that we told you about a little while ago. Throughout the course of this newscast, we're going to keep the shot up of the fire, the live signal, so you can see it yourself even when we talk about some of the other items in the news.
Speaking of other items in the news, listen to this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If that's what it takes to keep my children with me and not separate them from us, take the money.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is an unbelievable news story. You may have seen it, but we wanted you to be able to focus on it. It's more than a speed trap. It's a tiny Texas town accused of six systematically targeting minority drivers for cash. Some call it a shakedown. We have done a special investigation. This one will make you angry, I guarantee.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ] (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If it's a fit body you're after, don't worry, money matters don't have to derail your plan.
JENNIFER COHEN, AUTHOR, "NO GYM REQUIRED!": I really don't believe that the everyday, average person needs to rely on a personal trainer to kind of motivate them and get them in shape. So, I think the reality is most people can't afford it.
GUPTA: Jennifer Cohen, a fitness trainer by trade, says, you don't even need her or even a gym membership. You just need a few basics to get started.
COHEN: Using your own body weight is a great way to tone your body. GUPTA: And if you have just a little bit of money to spare, she says, invest in some exercise tools.
COHEN: A few hand weights. A couple resistance bands, a medicine ball and a platform and you can get the same workout, if not better, doing it at home or in your office.
GUPTA: So, you want to get started today, just remember, start small.
COHEN: A squat using a ball on a wall. To doing a push-up and then doing a tricep dip and doing that circuit three or four times. You don't have to work out for 30 minutes at a time or 45 minutes at a time. You can do increments of 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at night.
GUPTA: Try to integrate some cardio drills like running in place. Make sure to stretch. Talk to your doctor before starting any workout. Last, but certainly not least, get your nutrition in check as well.
COHEN: You can work out all day, all night, and if you're not eating properly, it makes no difference anyway.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Reporting.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Well, we thank you for noting that, and we will stay on top of this story for you, because we certainly think it's important and affecting a whole lot of people. In fact, I want to bring you to another part of the country now. But even as we do that, I'm asking Roger, our director, who you always hear me say Roger this and Roger that, let's go ahead, even while we run this next report and but a pox up, where they can actually see the fire while it's going on. Perfect, there it is. Thanks, Rog.
Let me tell you about something that a lot of you are going to find absolutely despicable. Despicable, because these are the people who are supposed to protect us. A police department in a little town in Texas, on a roadway, that some are saying they're using that roadway as a scam, as a way of taking advantage of Hispanics and African-Americans, or anyone who is poor that they think they can fool into stealing their money. By threatening that their children are going to be taken away or some other reason. It's an amazing story to watch. We're going to watch it together. It's in two parts. The reporter is CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We've heard the same story over and over. Drivers telling us this small stretch of Texas highways was a trap, a systematic ambush, Amanee Busby of Maryland was forced off the road here. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They took everything out of the car. They took all of us out of the car.
TUCHMAN: Jennifer Boatwright and Ronald Henderson were driving through with their two kids. They tell us they had $6,000 with them to buy a car when they were stopped.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was already going through the glove box and he had got Ron's money.
TUCHMAN: Roger Daniels was coming through from Tennessee, he says he had $8,500 in cash also to buy a car. They took all of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They make you feel sad, not more than angry, I feel like, man, there's no justice even with the law.
TUCHMAN: Over the last two years, scores of drivers, virtually all of them African-Americans and Latinos, say they couldn't report these crimes to the police, because the men who forced them to pull over, the men who took so much from them are the police.
(On camera): Roderick Daniels' journey took him here, to the tiny town of Tenaha, Texas, population about 1,000. On this portion of U.S. 59, the posted speed limit is 35 miles per hour. Daniels says police pulled him over for going 37 in a 35.
(Voice-over): Police asked Daniels if he had money, and he says he told them he had the cash to pay for that new car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said they would charge me with money laundering. I actually thought that this was a joke. I'm like, money laundering? It sounds so dramatic.
TUCHMAN: Two cops brought him to jail. He was frightened and had no idea what he'd done wrong, but was told no charges would be brought if he left behind his cash and jewelry.
RODERICK DANIELS, STOPPED BY POLICE: To be honest, I was 500 or 600 miles away from home. I was very petrified.
TUCHMAN: So he agreed to the deal.
(On camera): Roderick Daniels was released from this Texas jail without his money, without his jewelry, without the car he wanted to buy and without any hope he would see his valuables again, but now he realizes he's not alone.
(Voice-over): Jennifer and Ronald were also offered a deal, this one in writing, and the district attorney signed it herself. It's a form letter, a kind of get out of jail card, that says in exchange for forfeiting their $6,000, no criminal charges shall be filed and our children shall not be turned over to child protective services. The cops terrified their son Jonathan. So, what did he say about your parents to you?
JONATHAN BOATWRIGHT, SON: That they were going to be taken away, me and Jacob would be put in CPS or foster care.
TUCHMAN: His mom says the D.A. showed up at the police station, berated her as a bad parent and also threatened to separate the family.
JENNIFER BOATWRIGHT, STOPPED BY POLICE: I said, if it's the money you want, you can have it. If that's what it takes to keep my children with me and not separate them from us, take the money.
TUCHMAN: Amanee Busby was with her young child.
AMANEE BUSBY, STOPPED BY POLICE: The first police officer who pulled us over would say things to me like, um, your son's going to child protective services. He's going. He's going! You're not saying what we want to hear.
TUCHMAN: So, what's going on here? This attorney has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of 150 drivers who were stopped at highway 59.
DAVID GUILLORY, CLASS ACTION ATTORNEY: They're disproportionately going after racial minorities and my take on the matter is that the police in Tenaha, Texas, were picking on and preying upon people that were least likely to fight back.
TUCHMAN: The cops in the county took their money, and yet none of them was ever charged criminally.
GUILLORY: I believe it's a shakedown. I believe it's a piracy operation.
TUCHMAN: Records show this town and county have made a lot of money doing this. Under Texas law, police, in fact, are allowed to confiscate money and other property if it's believed to be used in a crime, but if the person is not charged or is found not guilty, the valuables must be returned. The lawsuit claims Tenaha and Shelby county often keep the money, no matter what.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was angry.
TUCHMAN: This Texas state senator is leading the fight to reform forfeiture laws, partly because he's shocked at what he's heard about in Tenaha.
JOHN WHITMIRE, TEXAS STATE SENATOR: To have law enforcement and a district attorney in the criminal justice system essentially be crooks in my judgment, it should infuriate and does infuriate everyone.
TUCHMAN: The town has made many forfeiture arrests of people who really have been guilty of crimes, but when you include the alleged fraudulent arrests, roughly how much money has the tiny town taken in? The attorney has done some math.
GUILLORY: The amount is close to $3 million. TUCHMAN: $3 million. So what are they doing with that money? We found a $10,000 check from the D.A. directly to this man, the cop, who pulled over most of these drivers. We had questions for him -- we're doing a story about this guy, Roderick Daniels. He was pulled over here by you a year and a half ago and you took his money and his jewelry. Do you recognize him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cannot comment.
TUCHMAN: And we had questions for the D.A., after avoiding us, we finally located her -- surprised to find her on center stage.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: There's the singing D.A. and many of you have caught up on this already and you have a very legitimate question, so do we. Let me show you this question that just came in to us on Myspace moments ago, with regard to this Texas town, why is the D.A. who signs off on this not being fired? Also since when did Texas become worse than East Germany as far as its citizens are concerned? Interesting question about the D.A. part of that answer's coming up.
As a matter of fact, roll this for them, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN (voice-over): And we found her, onstage, belting out country tunes at a fire department fundraiser. We couldn't get near her until the event was over. Miss Russell?
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: There's Gary, you'll see the confrontation with the D.A. coming up in just a little bit. I told you it would make you mad. What he finds out will amaze you.
We watched this report, we want you to see it as well, and we'll obviously continue to follow the situation in California with the fires. So, all of this, on the other side of this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I told you these reports would make you mad. That's exactly what you're telling me as I'm reading over here on the social media sites. Here now is Gary Tuchman, trying to confront this singing D.A.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Many of the drivers pulled over on highway 59 tell us they are guilty of one thing, and one thing only, driving while black or Latino. So, we didn't expect the cop, who many are complaining about, to be this man. His name is Barry Washington. It seems like you guys pull a lot of people over, though, and take their money and take their belongings more than I've seen in any town before. What's your response to that? OFC. BARRY WASHINGTON, TENAHA, TEXAS POLICE: I cannot make a comment. This is on litigation. This is a lawsuit.
TUCHMAN: I appreciate your courtesy to me.
WASHINGTON: Yes, sir.
TUCHMAN: But that's the story that we're doing, that it just seems like there's a propensity to do that.
WASHINGTON: I don't have anything to say to you right now. I've told you that twice.
TUCHMAN: If I can just ask you one final question --
WASHINGTON: You guys have a safe trip and have a good day.
TUCHMAN: The district attorney wasn't as easy to find. We made repeat visits to her office. We came here yesterday and we asked if she'd be in today and we were told she would be in today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought she was going to be but she's not. That's all I can tell you.
TUCHMAN: But you can't tell me if she's on vacation or just not wanting to talk to us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not your business what she's doing.
TUCHMAN: What is her business with taxpayers who pay her salary, so it really is the public's business so --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: True.
TUCHMAN: Ultimately they told us she would have no comment. So, we looked elsewhere for D.A. Linda Russell and we found her onstage belting out country tunes at a fire department fundraiser. We couldn't get near her until the event was over. Miss Russell?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys --
TUCHMAN: Miss Russell?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't care to speak to anybody.
TUCHMAN: Miss Russell my name is Gary Tuchman with CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't have anything --
TUCHMAN: I went ahead, I need to ask her. Miss Russell, I just want to see --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't want to talk to you.
TUCHMAN: But we kept trying because we found out even more about her that raised serious questions. Texas law states that when money and valuables are legally taken from motorists charged with crimes, it can only be used for the official purposes of the D.A.'s office and for law enforcement purposes for police. We acquired copies of hundreds of checks that the district attorney wrote over the last two years. The entire account funded only with money the cops took from drivers they stopped on the highway. Official purposes?
The document shows the D.A. has given herself wide discretion on how she spends the forfeiture money. Here's a check and receipt for a popcorn machine and popcorn costing $524. Here's another one, $195 for a poultry festival, she bought tootsie pops, dum dums and double bubble for the event. Here's one, 400 bucks for catering from Pete and Jennifer's barbecue. More records show she made donations to clubs and organizations she seems to like, including the local chamber of commerce, youth baseball. Good causes, but official business?
(On camera): According to the check registry from the district attorney's forfeiture fund, at least two checks totaling $6,000 were given to this Baptist church in Tenaha.
(Voice-over): But this check really stand out. This is the check the D.A. wrote for $10,000 and paid directly to police officer Barry Washington for what are described as investigative costs. So, we wanted to give the D.A. a chance to explain. Why would she write such a huge check directly to a cop and why it seems the cops are targeting so many minority drivers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't want to speak to you guys
TUCHMAN (on camera): Sir I'm not asking you. If she doesn't want to comment, she can tell me. She's the district attorney.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't even want to speak to you.
TUCHMAN: I need to give her the opportunity that's my job to get both sides of the story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She knows that she has the opportunity, she doesn't care to speak to you.
TUCHMAN: The D.A.'s personal attorneys did give CNN a general statement. "Miss Russell has denied and continues to deny all substantive allegations set forth. She has used and continues to use prosecutorial discretion and is in compliance with Texas law, the Texas constitution and the United States constitution. George Bowers has been mayor here for 54 years. The class action suit also names him.
MAYOR GEORGE BOWERS, TENAHA, TEXAS: We've tried to hire the very best trained, that have all the training and we keep them up to date on their training where they will follow the law.
TUCHMAN: You have faith that they've done the right thing?
BOWERS: That's right.
TUCHMAN: All the defendants in the lawsuit denied the allegations and say they followed the law. The Hendersons and Amanee Busby spent a lot of money on attorneys and eventually got their seized cash back. But Roderick Daniels like scores of others who has been charged with nothing is still out the $8,500 the cops took from him. For a husband and father of four, that's a lot to lose.
DANIELS: To this day I didn't understand why they took my belongings off me.
TUCHMAN: Maybe he'll find out someday, from the cop --
WASHINGTON: This is in litigation. We'll just have to see what happens in the courthouse.
TUCHMAN: Or from the country singer. Whose day job may be getting her in big trouble. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Tenaha, Texas.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Unbelievable. Remember, we were the first to report this story you to about a month ago and don't think for one minute we're going to let it sit right there. We're going to stay on top of the story and continue to look into it until hopefully justice is done. When we come back, my friend and famous comedian, Carlos Mencia of The Mind of Mencia, is going to be joining us, even he is mad even though he's a comedian after watching a story like that. And you know where he is, he's out in L.A. He's going to tell us what's going on with those fires out there. Hot scene. Carlos Mencia when we come back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Carlos Mencia joining us now to share his perspective on this. Robert share this twitter with Carlitos. This is scitter59, he says this Carlos, this is kind of mean but it's funny, don't be too tough on these Texas lawmen, I'm sure they're just looking for ways to finance the secession. This guy could write for you man.
CARLOS MENCIA, COMEDIAN: You know what it is, it's like so sad when this happens because this is like a movie, really. They make a movie about some small town guy and they're crooks and it's all of a sudden, it's, like, real, this is real America.
SANCHEZ: It's like Beaufort Pusser needs to be called into this situation, he would straighten things out.
MENCIA: That's what I'm saying. You would expect in the back to hear like -- like you expect her to be singing a song like I steal all the money from people that are dark and then I get my guitar and play at the park. I mean really, is this really happening in America?
SANCHEZ: In America, my friend.
MENCIA: It's the black guy taking from -- that's like black on black crime in a small town. This is crazy.
SANCHEZ: And it does, seriously, you get mad when you watch that.
MENCIA: You get mad --
SANCHEZ: Because you know what the intent is here, it's not like somebody made a mistake.
MENCIA: Yeah and here's the problem, guys like me, right? When I go to places in the south, like I was just in Biloxi, Mississippi and I have performed in places that are not too far from this place in Texas. And we go and we make jokes about, oh, these small town people, and blah, blah, blah, they get really angry, don't treat us like that, don't do this. But when stories like this come out, it makes guys like me go, see, that's what we're talking about. These are the things that we're talking about, getting pulled over. Because if I did a joke right now, yeah, I got pulled over in Texas just because I'm brown, people would be like, right, Carlos, that still happens, and I'm sure that the majority of white people in America are like, this doesn't happen. But these guys just give a bad name to small towns. And most small towns aren't like that.
SANCHEZ: Exactly, to all the good small towns and all the good people who live in them all over the country. We're down to 30 seconds, you're ok out there, what is the situation with the fire? What are people talking about? And how is it treating you famous people?
MENCIA: You know what it is with the fires man, nobody tells you, you live in a fire zone because there is no fire zone. It's not like tornado alley or hurricane alley, so when things like this happen, you just feel bad and then the next day the winds kick up, it's almost like what's up God, are you mad at me, what did I do wrong. It's like I'm Bernie Madoff or something, please stop.
SANCHEZ: Carlitos Mencia, the proud Honduran in the United States doing pretty good for himself. See you my friend.
MENCIA: Take care brother.
SANCHEZ: Nice talking to you.
We'll be right back with the very latest on what's going on with these fires. We'll close things out with that and your comments. Stay with us, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sound of the ocean haunts him as he watches the waves grow year after year. What was solid ice just a decade ago is now water. He's an ice guide, walking visitors through a spectacular landscape of arctic ice that every winter flows down to northern Japan. But it's a landscape that is progressively losing ground and there's more and more warm water underneath. Captain (INAUDIBLE) echoes those concerns. He operates this boat that takes tourists into the heart of the arctic ice strips. (On camera): What they're seeing more and more in this part of (INAUDIBLE) is water and not ice. They're having to go further out just to catch a glimpse of something they could usually see from the shore.
(Voice-over): Locals hope to turn back time by turning down the thermometer and reducing carbon emissions. This hotel owner organized nearly every single business in the area to turn down heaters, use hot water bottles for heat filled with natural hot spring water and save the cooking oil in these giant bins that will run city buses in the summer.
SHIGEYUKI KAWAJIMA, GRAND HOTEL: Small steps but scientists say we saved the equivalent of 21 tennis courts of ice last year.
LAH: But our experience the next morning was different. The temperatures warmer, the ice had drifted further away. He says like the ice, his future as an ice guide is unstable. Kyung Lah, CNN, Japan.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I want to share with you some of the thoughts that you have been sharing with us, and, man, you guys are kind of up in arms about this one. Let's go over here if you can to Facebook. Three quick ones right, bang, bang, bang. Nathan Vaichus says, the whole department seems like it's full of corrupted officials. Prosecute them all. Racquel Woods says, fire the D.A., the officer should go to jail. Hanna Macarthur says someone needs to go to jail behind this, but we all know that that's not going to happen. Well, if we have our way, we're going to certainly follow the story and try and see if justice is done. My thanks to you for being with us, I'll see you again on Monday.
In the meantime I leave you in the capable hands of Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" in Washington, D.C. Take it away.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, Rick.
