Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

How Operation To Take Out Al-Baghdadi Unfolded; U.S. Officials: ISIS Leader's Remains Buried At Sea; U.S. House To Vote On Affirming Investigation Of Trump; British P.M. To Try Again For December 12 Election; Intense Winds Fueling Wildfires Across California; From Big Boos to Thrown Shoes. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 29, 2019 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Studio Seven at CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta. Ahead this hour, al-Baghdadi is dead but ISIS lives on. What's next for the global terror network he built?

Boris Johnson's last-ditch plan to force an early election, as that promise to get Brexit done, promise is out Brexit delay.

And wildfires in California sweeping across a residential neighborhoods in Los Angeles, the homes of the rich and famous facing the same threat as everyone else.

We begin this hour with new details about the raid that led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The operation began just after 11:00 p.m. local time Saturday. A little over two hours later, U.S. Special Forces declared jackpot, code for Baghdadi is dead. CNN's Barbara Starr has more on how it all unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: U.S. aircraft using bombs, missiles, and rockets to destroy Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi compound. After Special Forces use the cover of darkness, eight helicopters carrying as many as 100 U.S. Special Operations Forces landed at a compound in northern Syria.

They entered after blowing holes on the side of the building, believing the front door might be booby-trapped. The President said the special ops teams were met by local gunfire on the ground that was quickly squashed. At least two ISIS fighters were captured.

According to the President, Baghdadi was chased into a tunnel by military dogs while bringing three children with him. The tunnel came to a dead end, where he eventually detonated a suicide vest that killed him and the children.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's dead. He's dead is a doornail.

STARR: Baghdadi's remains were disposed of at sea by a U.S. military aircraft according to two defense officials. But the world may be about to see even more of what happened during the two hours U.S. commandos were on the ground.

GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We do have video, photos, were not prepared at this time to release those. They're going through a declassification process.

STARR: Iraqi officials say two months ago, they captured one of Baghdadi's closest collaborators. He has said to have provided information about one of the couriers that Baghdadi use. That courier was killed, but documents led to his wife, who then led them to more paperwork with Baghdadi's location.

Baghdadi who'd been on the run for more than five years, was eventually tracked down with the help of intelligence from the Kurds. The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria had a major impact on the operation according to one us official. U.S. troops now are moving back into Syria's oil fields to keep ISIS from coming back and selling oil to finance its operations.

But for the first time a specific nod from the Defense Secretary that U.S. troops could find themselves defending against other military forces.

Does that include denying access, preventing Russian or Syrian forces which now change the battlespace?

MARK ESPER, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, UNITED STATES: The short answer is yes. It presently does.

STARR: The President tweeting a photograph of the dog that went on the raid. The dog suffering some electrocution injuries but is recovering. They are still not offering the public the name of the dog. Barbara Starr, CNN the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Samantha Vinograd is a CNN National Security Analyst. She was a member of the National Security Council for the Obama administration. And she is with us out from New York. Sam, it's been a while. So thanks for being with us.

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: My pleasure.

VAUSE: OK, does ISIS without Baghdadi follow the same path as al- Qaeda without Bin Laden, still there, still a threat but kind of a shadow of its former self?

VINOGRAD: I don't think that we know the answer to that question. I think that Baghdadi was still playing a role in galvanizing support for ISIS followers and recruits around the world. That said, from what we understand, the ISIS leadership structure has already started to decentralize somewhat. Smaller cells have started springing up particularly as a territorial caliphate has been dismantled by the global coalition to defeat ISIS.

So I think it is -- it would be dangerous to assume that ISIS has seen its demise because Baghdadi has died. But at this point what's likely happening is a reorganization obviously with no leadership structure, and also figuring out in light of U.S. withdrawal in Syria if there will be an opportunity for ISIS itself as it stands right now to regain territory that is lost in the past.

[01:05:07]

VAUSE: Could there be a possibility that ISIS which sort of form the breakaway from al-Qaeda, and you know, these two terror groups went on to be the rivals, but now that ISIS is a leader, at least for the time being, Baghdadi was found in you know, al-Qaeda territory. Could these two groups reform in some way? Could they get back together in some kind of reconciliation in the least?

VINOGRAD: Misery loves company. So I don't think we can preclude extremist elements or terrorist groups from forming coalitions particularly when they have the same enemy which in this case is us and the Kurds in this in this case.

I think it's somewhat unlikely that they would merge. I think that ISIS right now based upon my experience, my understanding is focused again on an internal leadership evolution, and how it will regain assets in light of the loss of the territorial caliphate, and the security vacuum is opening because of the U.S. withdrawal.

VAUSE: We heard from the U.S. Defense Secretary who said Baghdadi's death would be a clear message heard around the world. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ESPER: Baghdadi's death will not read the world of terrorism or and the ongoing conflict in Syria but it will certainly send a message to those who question America's resolved and provide a warning to terrorists who think they can hide.

The United States, more than any other nation in the world, possesses the power and the will to hunt to the ends of the earth those who wish to bring harm upon the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So with that in mind, we're learning that it was, in fact, a Kurdish informant who provided the key intelligence here, even smuggling Baghdadi's underwear to the U.S. forces for DNA testing. These are the same Kurds that the U.S. abandoned, left for the mercy of the Turkish military offensive. So what really is the message that the world will be hearing from U.S. action in Syria?

VINOGRAD: Well, the remarkable thing, John, is that the factors that led to this raid being successful, the time in terms of intelligence gathering work, the management of human intelligence networks, and the boots on the ground that helped coordinate with Iraq and Syrian Kurds, those are no longer reality. So this was a major success over several months, several years even in terms of intelligence collection exploitation. But the fact of the matter is that now that we've withdrawn, our ability to gather that intelligence is markedly diminished. The Kurds are not as focused on countering ISIS, they're to focus on countering Turkey.

So their focus has shifted, and we have less troops working with the Kurds side by side who again can help manage these human intelligence networks. And reporting indicates -- and I don't want to get too much into this, but public reporting indicates that there is surveillance and reconnaissance elements have had to withdraw along with withdraw of U.S. troops, ISR or as we call it reconnaissance asset.

So based upon that, overall, our intelligence collection capabilities are diminished. And you could see a scenario where we have to rely on Turkey or Russia, for example, for intelligence on ISIS, which is a very uncomfortable place to be based upon the fact frankly, that they have ulterior motives, but they will have boots on the ground, troops on the ground, and intelligence that they may or may not provide us inaccurate and timely fashion.

VAUSE: You know, unlike the measured solemn tone of President Obama when he announced that Bin Laden had been killed, President Trump opted for more colorful language going into a lot of detail, including a claim that Baghdadi was whimpering, crying and screaming.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs are among those who really don't know where that information came from. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILLEY: I don't know what the source of that was there, but I assume it was talking directly to unit and unit members.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't have -- you haven't talked to any unit member who have described that to you?

MILLEY: I have not talked to unit members, no. That's correct. I've talked to the Commander of CENTCOM and others but not down to the unit members, not to their level --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, there's a big chance that you know, Trump just made it up. But even if it's true, is that sort of statement coming from the President of the United States at the moment like this, is this something fodder for ISIS and other terror groups for recruiting?

VINOGRAD: When -- in these kinds of scenarios, and I've been in them, there are two primary objectives. The first is you want to diminish the capability that anything that the U.S. government says particularly the President can be used to inspire retaliatory attacks. And part of that is to ensure that the target of the operation whether it's (INAUDIBLE), or in this case, al-Baghdadi is not viewed as a martyr, is not viewed as a hero. So describing him as a coward, sharing that he killed three of his

children, using language like whimpering like a dog -- describing him like a dog, I guess, for the president was an attempt to try to paint him as a coward and not as a martyr.

That said, his choice of words was curious at best. And based on my experience, working with the Intelligence Community does not sound like the kind of language that they would have cleared off on or suggested because it is confusing, and it does certainly feel, John, at least like he was embellishing.

[01:10:12]

VAUSE: It also seems inflammatory in an unnecessary and needless way, but I guess the President had his reasons for why he said what he said. Sam, we're out of time. We'll leave it there. Thank you.

VINOGRAD: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: The news of Baghdadi's death has given President Trump a brief respite from the Ukraine scandal. But if the White House thought it would be a long distraction from the impeachment inquiry, well, listen to the crowd Sunday night as President Trump appears on the jumbo screen at the World Series baseball game in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMERICAN CROWD: Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Lock him up! They chanted just after booing the President. And Monday didn't get much better. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote to lawmakers and scheduled a vote this coming Thursday to formalize the impeachment inquiry ending what has been a major complaint from the Republicans and the White House who argued the inquiry is not official until it was formalized with a vote.

That argument was part of a stonewalling tactic to frustrate the inquiry, and the White House continues to try and prevent witnesses from testifying all part of the same strategy. The latest is Charles Kupperman, the former Deputy National Security Advisor was a no show on Monday despite a subpoena.

But another key witness seems likely to testify in the coming hours. Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council's Director of European Affairs, and a top Ukraine expert. According his opening statement obtained by CNN, he will say he twice reported concerns about Trump's Ukraine call and felt it undermined national security. We had details from CNN's Manu Raju.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: House Democrats taking a significant step making it very clear that they're prepared to move in a more public posture in this Impeachment Inquiry, setting a vote for later this week that was set the ground rules for what that next phase of this inquiry would look like, public hearings, the release of transcripts, to release all reports and also how evidence will be shared with the House Judiciary Committee.

And that is significant because the House Judiciary Committee is the panel that will first take a crack at voting on articles of impeachment against the President of the United States. And that is expected to happen potentially in the matter of weeks as Democrats press forward on this investigation plan to move forward on public hearings.

Now, Republicans have been demanding for some time of vote to fully authorize an impeachment inquiry. Now they say that this resolution simply falls short of what they have been demanding, but Democrats say that is not actually authorizing any impeachment inquiry. They say they don't even need to do that. They cite a federal judge from Friday in a separate case that essentially said their impeachment inquiry is valid.

But nevertheless, they are in some ways, calling the President's bluff in his refusal, the White House's refusal to provide information, turn over documents, and try to prevent witnesses from coming forward like we saw you yesterday with a top National Security Council official, a former official who is not -- do not come and testify despite facing the subpoena from House Democrats.

But nevertheless, Adam Schiff, the chairman of House Intelligence Committee told me they still plan to conduct more closed-door depositions. Several more scheduled for this week, including one today with the National Security Council official also expected with another National Security Council official for later next -- later on the week. Some have been subpoenaed for next week. And then we can see that more public phase before Democrats push to potentially impeach this president this fall or even this winter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Our thanks to our man in Washington Manu Raju there with that report. Still to come, maybe they don't really want to leave. Britain's long goodbye from the E.U. might get even longer. And if it's even possible, more complicated. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:15:15]

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN INTERNATIONAL METEOROLOGIST: Well, the prominent frontal battery across portions of the United States really going to change the weather pattern. I'm meteorologist Pedram Javaheri tracking what's happening. Across portions of the Intermountain West as a significant snowmaker in the works across that region, well, across the eastern portion of the U.S., we're going to really set the stage here for quite a bit of rainfall inside the next couple of days.

In fact, the models do a fantastic job highlighting portions of the southern U.S. potentially exceeding 100 plus millimeters of rainfall while back to the west of this region notice Denver taps into some snow showers, potentially areas around Chicago even some wintry weather to be had, so, yes autumn and wintry weather back in store across these areas. Especially with the higher elevations where which are weather advisories are in place.

Now the big story around the western U.S. has to do with not only the dry weather that has been in place, but the city wind event that has led to some remarkable fire weather activity from Northern California into portions of Southern California and unfortunately it'll get worse before it improves across this region. We expect a warming trend. Powerful winds into Southern California including Los Angeles inside the next 24 or so hours.

So watch that carefully. Notice this, Denver eight below the afternoon high with snow showers, Chicago, six degrees there also with some chilly air in place, while into Havana Cuba as warm as they come around 32 degrees, Mexico City flips those numbers around and gets a high around 23 and we leave you with the lien highs around 31.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: The driver of a truck which was found abandoned with the bodies of 39 migrants inside has appeared in court. 25-year-old Maurice Robinson has been facing charges of manslaughter as well as conspiracy to traffic people. He remains in custody. Prosecutors claimed he's part of a global trafficking network. Three other people have been arrested and released on bail.

Will Boris Johnson suffer another parliamentary defeat in the coming hours after failing to win a two-thirds majority in favor of an early election, the British Prime Minister will go at it again on Tuesday only this time with a different kind of bill that would be just a simple majority. CNN's Nic Robertson has more now reporting from London.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it was really no surprise that the Prime Minister didn't get the two-thirds majority to have the election on December the 12th. It was very clear in the debate leading up to that vote that the prime minister was calling the leader of the opposition essentially scared of the electorate saying he didn't trust the electorate to go to the polls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN: There is one party tonight. One party tonight that is actually against a general election. There is one party, there is one party that does not trust the people of this country. This is being done. And that is principal party of opposition. Mr. Speaker, I hope -- I hope he accepts tonight that he is no good that this charade has gone on for long enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And the leader of the Opposition responding that he doesn't trust the Prime Minister, that the Prime Minister must remove very clearly and very completely the possibility of a no deal Brexit. He said that the Prime Minister had promised that the country would be leaving deal or no deal on the 31st of October. That was a broken promise, he said by the Prime Minister.

Indeed, he said the Prime Minister had spent 100 million pounds in an advertising campaign to let people know and educate people about the possibility of a no deal Brexit later this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY CORBYN, LEADER, BRITISH LABOUR PARTY: He spent 100 million pounds, Mr. Speaker. 100 million pounds on an advertising campaign to leave on the 31st of October but failed to deliver. And this is serious, Mr. Speaker.

[01:20:05]

CORBYN: The National Audit Office says it failed to resonate. I asked the Prime Minister, I asked his house with that 100 million pounds, how many nurses could have been hired? How many parcels could have been funded it food banks? How many social care packages could have been funded for our elderly? He has failed because he has chosen to fail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And after the vote, the Prime Minister indicating that he will try again to get a December the election, this time using a method that will allow him to only require a simple majority 50 percent support in the House of Parliament, one of the senior members in Parliament saying that he could very clearly see another day coming just like Monday with no progress and a lot of arguments. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

VAUSE: CNN's European Affairs Commentator Dominic Thomas joins us now live from Los Angeles. Hey, Dom.

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Hey, Don.

VAUSE: You know (INAUDIBLE) like the Hotel California, chicken, but there's just no checking out. We had a tweet from a member of the European Parliament. He tweeted this, relieved that finally no one died in a ditch, a reference to Boris Johnson, where the U.K. Democratic choice is to revoke or an orderly withdraw, confirmed or not a second referendum. The uncertainty of Brexit has gone on for far too long (INAUDIBLE)

This extra time must deliver away forward. Yes. So that would be great. But what are the chances that lawmakers uses extra time this extension just to bicker and moan and complain?

THOMAS: Well, last time they got an extension they were told not to waste time when Angela Merkel met with Boris Johnson. Remember she told me he had he had 30 days you know, ultimately then the European Union, it's really -- they don't want to be responsible of pushing the U.K. out and they would ideally like the problem to be solved on the other side of the channel. Now I do think we see some an evolution here in Parliament and we've got to the point now where something needs to break and then needs to be most likely a general election and the European Union has given them their extension at Boris Johnson is essentially said he will not represent his withdrawal agreement or the bill and if he can get that general election even operation yellow hammer the preparation, no deal and has been halted.

So, you know, at this particular stage, it really is down to the Labour Party and supporting this and the longer that this goes on I think in this game, the worst they look in this situation.

VAUSE: Yes. Well, Boris Johnson, with that in mind seems determined to push on and, you know, defined that way forward. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: This house cannot any longer keep this country hostage. Millions of families and businesses cannot plan for the future. And I do believe that this paralysis in this stagnation should be allowed to continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK. And instead of the prime minister will introduce what they call a one line bill on Tuesday, this is for an election December 12th. It will need just a simple majority. And it's a little bit different a way you try it on Monday. Oddly enough, it has to support a two anti-Brexit parties. But this is the move, which is not without risk for Johnson. So what is he playing at here?

THOMAS: Yes. I mean, look, it is risky. I think ultimately now the bigger risk for him would be, say a second referendum, right? Where we sort of a Brexit vote straight up and down. I think the longer this goes on, the greater the risk is for Boris Johnson, the more inept he looks, he's unable to legislate. And he keeps making these promises that he absolutely cannot fulfill. So I think that in this particular circumstance, let's look at, you know, take one of the opposition parties that is willing to support it.

So yes, as you said earlier, you know, they're bickering and moaning and complaining, but it's all about a general election. Now, when more the date be and so on. At least that talking about a general election. That for the Liberal Democrats is absolutely no point waiting but let's say some kind of Brexit deal to be delivered. They have unequivocally been the party advocating for remain.

And they have everything to gain from a general election going ahead here. And I think the Boris Johnson understands this, it makes the Labour Party look bad. And he ideally would like to instrumentalize this and get a general election going. And I think that when he says that the Parliament no longer reflects the position of the British people I think he's absolutely right. The configuration needs to change in a general election could provide us with some good indication here and potentially move things forward. VAUSE: Well OK. So let's assume he gets his election sometime in December. You know, the conservatives, there's no lock on the fact that they could end up with a majority, could fall short again. If they get a majority. There's a guarantee that the party will do everything that Johnson wants them to do, we've seen rebellions before. There's also the remote chance, very remote chance of, you know, labor having a big win.

[01:25:02]

VAUSE: So, you know, all (INAUDIBLE) certainly and probably, you know, at the end day, this would not be the last Brexit extension.

THOMAS: It might not be the last extension, it might not be. But this is going to be a mechanism, something that is going to break the deadlock. And I think that the Parliament after general election will look quite different. You're going to have Brexit party M.P.s, the Lib Dems will be much more powerful. And I think that ultimately, even though you won't have the majority, you'll end up with a hung parliament.

But I think the Labour Party will suffer in this. Let's not forget the Jeremy Corbyn already lost the general election to Theresa May, things have not been getting better for him. He's losing the narrative against Boris Johnson here in terms of holding things back. And I think that we may very well end up then with an internal election within the Labour Party when Jeremy Corbyn is ousted, and this is going to force the Labour Party to have a really serious discussion about what his position on Brexit is going to be.

And this could alter the discussion and the day in Parliament and for potentially have an opposition here that is much stronger in articulating a common shared view on this. And at the very least supporting his view or not, or at least willing to support some kind of agreement with a kind of second referendum. So I think that there is a possibility here that this mechanism can move things in a new direction because this current parliamentary configuration is completely paralyzed on this issue and it's not going to move anywhere until something breaks the deadlock.

VAUSE: I just very quickly, is there a problem for Johnson who campaign to get the leadership of the Tory Party, promise to get Brexit done, or Dinah Ditch trying that he hasn't got Brexit done. And the reason why they need the election is because he's failed.

THOMAS: Yes. You're right, John. I mean, it's definitely, you know, weakened his position but I think that the narrative all along, he's been blaming Parliament and blaming the E.U. blaming the law courts and so on. I don't think he's lost that particular argument. Certainly the real hardcore Brexiteers, the Farage supporters and so on will be disgruntled and forehand but I think that there's a realization that, you know, he's broken the law. He's done everything he can to try and deliver this.

Now I'm not sure he's right that the overwhelming position of the British people is to deliver Brexit. We'll have to see on that. But I do believe his party will come out ahead. He won his internal election and if anybody's going to deliver Brexit for them at this current stage, it's Boris Johnson.

VAUSE: We shall see as we often say, at the end of the Brexit segment. Dominic, good to see you. Thank you.

THOMAS: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: Cheers. Wildfires are playing by the day in California fueled by incredibly strong winds and now, some of the wealthiest areas of Los Angeles under threat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:01]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

New details on the raid led to the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi. It began just after 11 p.m. local time on Saturday and a little more than two hours later Baghdadi detonated an explosive vest killing himself and was declared dead by U.S. Special Forces. U.S. Defense officials confirmed on Monday that Baghdadi's remains had been buried at sea.

Boris Johnson will try again in the coming hours for a December election. The British prime minister failed on Monday to get a two- thirds majority in the House. Now, he says they will have a new plan that only needs a simple majority to succeed. Johnson hopes a new parliament will approve his Brexit deal which would break the long deadlock over the U.K. leaving the European Union.

Anti-government protesters have been refusing to leave the streets of Chile's capital. They came out in the thousands on Sunday -- Monday rather, despite the president trying to appease them by reshuffling his cabinet and promising economic reform. According to officials 20 people have been killed so far in the ongoing unrest.

Now to California where firefighters are getting a brief reprieve from the intense winds which have been fueling massive wildfires across the state. But it won't last. The winds are expected to pick up again in the coming hours. The fires are still threatening homes, forcing schools to close, and causing power outages.

We get the latest details now from CNN's Stephanie Elam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thick smoke and fierce flames cover canyons in southern California as a new fire, the Getty fire, burns furiously consuming more than 500 acres of hill side across the west side of Los Angeles. The fire forcing highway patrol to close parts of a major freeway -- the 405. More than 10,000 structures are under mandatory evacuation including the campus of Mount St. Mary's University just north of the Getty Museum.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.

ELAM: Students at that college running out of their dorm rooms in the middle of the night --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look how close the fire is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Literally right there.

ELAM: Officials warning of extreme shifts in weather that can happen in seconds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't think that you know just because of past experience how quickly a fire can move.

ELAM: In northern California, a similar scene playing out in Sonoma County where crews are battling the Kincade fire for a sixth day. More than 66,000 acres have already burned in one country. Nearly 200,000 people forced to flee their homes.

The UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's on fire. The road is on fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting over. I'm getting over.

ELAM: Officials say the Kincade fired doubled in size Sunday as winds gusted to hurricane force.

Firefighters are taking advantage of a brief break in winds Monday but forecasters warn it's temporary.

RYAN WALBURN, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: We've got a kind of a quiet 24-hour window right now and then we're going to go into another critical period Tuesday night into Wednesday.

ELAM: Those not forced to evacuate are dealing with power outages put in place for nearly one million people in the Bay Area by local power company. All part of an effort to prevent the fire from spreading.

Out here at the Getty fire just to show you what they are dealing with -- take a look at this home which looks like it is still standing but what we understand from the firefighters, it is completely gutted from the backend, on the side of the canyon where the fire raced up the hill.

It's been picking up little fires throughout the day and firefighters have been out here still. And right now they're even telling us to backup because this may fall. In fact, you can see now it's leaning. We can tell that.

So firefighters are working to put out any hotspots, because they don't want any of those embers to catch up on the wind and perhaps make another home nearby to catch on fire as well.

So while these winds change the fire danger has not gone away and that is why they're working so hard on this home here in the middle of this congested neighborhood on this tight street.

In the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles -- Stephanie Elam, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:35:01]

VAUSE: And the wildfires caused the cancellation of the Hollywood premier of "Terminator: Dark Faith". Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the stars of the film. He tweeted, "We evacuated safely at 3:30 this morning. If you are in an evacuation zone, do not screw around, get out. Right now I'm grateful for the best firefighters in the world, the true action heroes who charge into the danger to protect their fellow Californians."

NBA star Lebron James though, he's also forced to leave his home. His tweeting, it's no joke. And he's right.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is with us.

So you know, we've had -- these fires are equalizers. It doesn't matter whether you're a star or a former governor, whoever -- just you've got to get out.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

VAUSE: There's nothing that you can really do.

JAVAHERI: You spent time across that area of southern California. You know the landscape itself is just absolutely prime for allowing these fires to take off.

VAUSE: And they had a wet winter too -- a lot of rain which gave a lot foliage I guess -- low fuel.

JAVAHERI: Correct. So people are under the impression once you get a lot of rainfall --

VAUSE: It's a good thing.

JAVAHERI: -- yes, it's a good thing but it is --

VAUSE: I KNOW.

JAVAHERI: -- the immediate aftermath of it but of course, when you give several months removed from it, all of that dries up and --

VAUSE: And it's fuel for this. And throw those winds in and you get this.

JAVAHERI: Absolutely. You know, the landscape as we talked about it and we'll show you here, when it comes to that area of California, when you're breaking down kind of the hilly landscape -- gorgeous scenery across that region. A lot of that plays a role into the fires really taking off.

And you take a look, in recent decades, we've seen a dramatic increase. You go from the 80s to the 90s, not so much -- about 140 large fires in that decade to the 1990s, about 160 large fires per year in the western United States.

Un the 2000s that number has gone up by about 100 or so per year. So again, noticeable difference -- of course, it's a model that could be tied in to a very dry pattern. It's the climate change aspect of it all kind of plays into what's happening across portions of California. And we know we have some ten active large fires across portions of California not just the main ones, the main players, to the north in the south.

So those are the areas of interest, high population and, of course, extreme to critical weather pattern here in place over the next couple of days.

Still pushing those winds close to hurricane-force the next couple of days -- the Simi Valley into the portions around say, Pasadena, off towards, Malibu. These are the areas of interest where humidity is extremely low, the winds are offshore.

And of course, you go into northern California, the pattern is the same. The Kincade fire in place that even from space, you can kind of pick out the haze of the smoke there, spanning hundreds of kilometers across the San Joaquin valley all the way to the south.

So this is an area of interest that's encompassing a large region of California. We know the Kincade fire 15 percent containment now. Officials hoping to get the upper hand on this particular fire and with some 30,000 hectares consumed, another way to look at this is you take the city of Paris that three times the size of the city of Paris being consumed in a matter of four days. This really speaks to how powerful these winds have been, how conditions have been a lot -- it's really exploded this region.

And notice this is the opportunity for these firefighters, winds a lot of five, six, and some plots calm. So this is that setup they want to see that will allow the fire fighters to get the upper hand at least over the next 24 or so hours. Because conditions are expected once again to deteriorate. You take a look. But you have a lot of fires course upstream so you get embers that are picked up as Stephanie Elam was kind of referencing there and as are the positives downstream.

You essentially create new wild fires, the firefighters have to try to get the upper hand on and John and it doesn't look good going in towards a later on Tuesday and eventually into looking Wednesday.

Once again, hurricane-force winds possible into southern California at this time, kind of the opposite of what happened, of course in northern California. With a couple of days we're going to have will get that down towards southern California the next couple of days. VAUSE: Give me the break.

There's one change in the weather -- the one-wind kind of weather -- they just need a break and then we'll get -- hopefully get a handle on this. And you know, get these fires contained. But Pedram -- thank you.

JAVAHERI: Thanks John.

VAUSE: When we come back, baseball fans in the U.S. capitol root for the home team. But not, not, not -- for President tin his capitol rooted for the horde tom team but not for President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Lock him up. Lock him up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:38:47]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: A 67-year-old woman has given birth to a little girl in China potentially making here the country's oldest new mother. The little girl was delivered by Caesarian section at the hospital where the woman once worked.

A spokesman says, Doctor Tian (ph) felt pregnant naturally but with the help of traditional Chinese fertility treatment. Mother and daughter appear to be doing well, vital signs are normal as of Monday.

Tian and her husband are already parents -- they have of two grown children and grandchildren.

They call baseball America's pastime, heckling and booing politicians is another national pastime and they became one at the World Series. Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When President Trump looked at the first lady and smiled and smiled and smiled -- was he hearing what we were hearing? Lots of booing plus an "impeach Trump" banner and Veterans for Impeachment peeping out behind home plate, not to mention --

CROWD: Lock him up. Lock him up.

MOOS: Hey -- but at least nobody through any shoes at him like they did at President George W. Bush in Baghdad. Is that a ball or a strike?

Practically all politicians get booed. For instance Mike Pence arriving at the Broadway musical "Hamilton".

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I nudged my kids and reminded them that's what freedom sounds like.

MOOS: Freedom sounded like this when Hillary Clinton said Bernie Sanders wasn't a Democrat until he ran for president.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: And I -- you know what -- Well, it's true, it's true. You know it's true.

MOOS: It's bad enough getting booed but imagine getting booed on your birthday. That's what happened to Rudy Giuliani on his 74th birthday at his beloved Yankees Stadium.

"Crappy birthday, Rudy" said the "New York Post".

President Obama even got booed by the Boy Scouts after he sent a video message rather than appearing in person at a scout jamboree. But Obama turned boos to cheers at the Democratic convention.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's Donald Trump. Don't boo -- vote.

MOOS: Candidate Trump got booed for trying to silence Jeb Bush.

TRUMP: Let me talk. Quiet.

MOOS: But don't bother trying to shush an entire stadium. Your destined to strike out big league.

Jeanne Moos, CNN -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

Please stay with us. "WORLD SPORT" starts after the break.

[01:43:44]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END