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CNN Saturday Morning News
Search for an Arsonist Who Started California Fires; Genarlow Wilson Out of Jail; NFL Going Global
Aired October 27, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning on this Saturday, from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen. T.J. Holmes is off. He's actually being honored today at his alma mater, the University of Arkansas. Tell you a little bit about that later.
But our friend Reynolds Wolf is covering for him in Southern California. Good morning, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Betty, we still have burned-out land all over the area, marked out by the yellow crime scene tape. There's a new lead in the arson investigation. It has to do with a white truck.
NGUYEN: And we are also going to talk about history repeating itself. Could you imagine if the Democrats lose the next presidential election because of Florida? Yes, Florida, home of the chad. Remember that? It might happen. Wait until you see what Florida is doing now.
Plus, the talker of the day, a blind man shoots an intruder in his house. Yes, he was blind. We are going to tell about you that. The rundown is packed on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
First up, arsonist alert, be on the lookout for a pickup truck looking just like this. It could be the key to finding an arsonist before he strikes again in Southern California. The pick up is a white 1998 Ford F-150 with chrome tube running boards. Investigators say it was seen near the spot where the Santiago fire started last Sunday in Orange County and a hefty reward is on the line, $250,000. The Santiago fire, which is still raging, has destroyed more than a dozen homes and scorched some 27,000 acres.
Let's take you back now to Reynolds Wolf who is in Rancho Bernardo. Reynolds, what's the buzz on the ground? Is it focused on that arson investigation?
WOLF: The buzz on the ground right now is indeed, the arson investigation but it's just people just trying to take that next step forward in their lives, trying to put everything back together.
I want to get things started, Betty, this morning by just telling the people that are tuning in that if you happen to be at the praying type, find time today and pray for the people here in Southern California. If you're not the praying type, take a moment or two and think good thoughts for the folks here because there is a lot of suffering going on. It has been the most surreal experience being here in Southern California because you will see neighborhoods that have been completely leveled. There's absolutely nothing left. Then you are going to see other neighborhoods where things are just fine. It could be any other day in Southern California. You don't have any problems at all. The air is a little dusty but that's about it.
Then, in a few other places, you will go through communities where you're going to have homes that are just -- they look picture perfect and on either side it's flattened completely. It is just a bizarre thing to see. And you've got a lot of people that are going to be coming back over the next couple of days, still some people are still unaware of the condition of the home, if they have a home to come back to. So it is mind numbing to say the very least.
The question is, why would someone deliberately touch off an inferno? That is a huge question and criminal profilers have a pretty excellent idea.
Here's Justice correspondent Kelli Arena with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What could ever possess someone to add to this destruction?
RON TUNKEL, ATF PROFILER: In their day to day lives, these are not the most powerful individuals and their fire setting becomes a means for them to regain power, express power, maintain their power.
ARENA: Ron Tunkel has interviewed about 100 serial arsonists during his career as an ATF profiler. He says the fire-starters that he's met are mostly men who are angry thrill-seekers. Seeing fire trucks and police responding, people running screaming from their homes excites them, sometimes sexually and it relieves stress.
TUNKEL: Family life, relationships, financial, job, health, some concerns, something is stressing them and causing them to act out. Their fire-setting is a means to relieve their stress.
ARENA: Tunkel says that sometimes it's firefighters themselves who set fires. While very small in number, they get a rush out of being first at the scene and grabbing attention as a hero. But research shows that most serial arsonists are underperformers who don't do well in school or at work and have trouble with relationships. In many cases, they set fires seeking revenge.
TUNKEL: Seeing the new family's starter home, burned to ground because I never had a good family life. I didn't have the warm, fuzzy home atmosphere growing up.
ARENA: By the time a guy like Tunkel is involved, the arsonist has been setting fires for a long time.
TUNKEL: They might start out with a leaf pile when they're a kid in their -- in the yard or in the street, a trash fire and many times these fires go unreported. A lot of times when we get involved and we're looking at a serial offender, he's well into his career.
ARENA: Tunkel stresses that arson a is a violent crime and the men who set fires are violent criminals, motivated by the same things as serial killers or rapists. It's just that fire is their preferred weapon of choice.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Coming up, we're going to have much more on how to catch a fire bug. We're going to have an arson investigator joining us right at the bottom of the hour to give us just step by step detail on how they go through that process.
Betty, again, just a -- it's hard to describe the scene here. Actually, we just got word moments ago that right around the corner from us there's been another fire up. That's the story. That's what's happening. Just when you think this thing is over, this fire keeps growing and by the time we get to the end of the weekend, we are talking late Sunday and into Monday, there is that chance those winds may fire up, although not as strong, but we may have those winds to contend with. So this battle is far from over.
NGUYEN: Definitely a problem because just 14 of the 23 fires at this hour are contained. So, of course, we are going to be watching all of it. Thank you, Reynolds. We will be talking with you shortly.
Here's some of the other information that you do need to know about these California wild fires. Tens of thousands of people are now returning home for the first time. But the problem is most don't know if they even have anything to go back to. Many of the homes still standing don't have power or water. And there's another danger facing people there. That's the air. Smoke, soot and ash are all over the place. It can seriously aggravate a person's lungs and it is especially dangerous for people who already have breathing problems.
Now for a different view of these fires, these now from the U.S. Air Force. Take a look at this. CNN is the first to get a hold of these images taken from spy planes and drones high above the fire lines. This picture that you see is even more dramatic. Look at that. All you can see in the different areas are the hot spots, all those areas lit up there indicate an area where there were flames, so white in many of these areas. What a remarkable new look to how damaging these fires have been. But on the ground, of course, the scene is very much different and much more intense for firefighters.
Reynolds Wolf is on the ground and he has been covering the story. Of course, we're going to be checking with him throughout the morning. In fact, we have him up right now. When we talk about these people fighting these fires, a lot of them, Reynolds, are volunteers. That's so very important.
WOLF: There's no question about it. This has been a community effort, in the recovery efforts and of course people out there on the front lines battling the blaze. This morning, we're with Dawn Pettijohn. She is a volunteer firefighter.
Dawn, thank you so much for taking time out of this battle that you're with, out in Southern California and battling these fires. How do you get into this? How do you become a volunteer?
DAWN PETTIJOHN, VOLUNTEER FIREWOMAN: Well, my dad and my grandfather were both firefighters and 16 years ago I decided I wanted to do it. So I became a volunteer.
WOLF: This is the biggest event that you've taken part in in terms of fighting fires?
PETTIJOHN: Probably.
WOLF: How do you mentally prepare yourself for something like this?
PETTIJOHN: It's not easy. We train, absolutely train. We train just like the big guys, train every day and prepare ourselves for it.
WOLF: What sets this fire apart from the others that you fought in the past?
PETTIJOHN: Well, the wind. Probably the worst winds I've ever experienced. I was born and raised in Florida and it's pretty much like a hurricane, with fire, though. But this time one of my firefighters lost his home and 200 feet from my fire station. That made it very different for me.
WOLF: How do you cope with that?
PETTIJOHN: It's -- it's hard. It's affecting the firefighters and certainly to know that -- that his home was that close. He was up fighting the fire on the other side of Ramona in the inter (ph) mountains area when it went into our valley and he lost his home trying to help somebody else. He wasn't there and we weren't able to save it. It's hard. It's hard on the firefighters and it's certainly hard for them, that they lost everything.
WOLF: Can you take us through how it has been just this past week? You get up in the morning, you immediately go out or is it a 24- hour deal? How does this work?
PETTIJOHN: Typically for us, because the fire burned in our valley, typically we go out on a strike team. We started Sunday when the fire started, went out on a task force with all volunteers from San Diego County, from zone eight. The first initial attack, sometimes you will work 24 hours, 36 hours. Typically, you go into a situation where you have operational periods.
But since it went into our valley, we pulled out, we've gone back to our valley, kind of circled the wagons. The guys are pretty much working around the clock. And we just want to make sure that all the structures that are there don't rekindle. We have had one rekindle where we lost the structure that did not burn in the fire and it just breaks my heart. Our district is not large but we have lost some 70 structures, which is almost half of our residences.
So, the guys are pretty much working around the clock and there just haven't been a lot of time off. So we're just making sure that we don't lose any more from a rekindle in our valley that we've already lost.
WOLF: Dawn, what's next for you today?
PETTIJOHN: I'm going to go back and we're going to -- we got fuel just before I got here and put out a tree fire and we are going to go back and just start watching for rekindles.
WOLF: Dawn, thank you so much for your time. Please be careful and be safe.
PETTIJOHN: Thank you.
WOLF: Again, another hero, so many of them that have taken part in this big -- this huge fire, again, with the largest evacuation since Katrina. It is an amazing thing to see. There's a lot of sadness here, but there's also so many tales of courage and we're going to be sharing some of the stories with you throughout much of the morning.
Betty, let's send it back to you.
NGUYEN: It's an important story and those volunteer firefighters mean so much to the people who are trying to save their homes. Thank you so much for that, Reynolds. We will be checking in with you.
He is finally out of jail and he is talking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENARLOW WILSON: For the most part, I've matured as a young man. I know that this is no place that I want to ever come again and I wouldn't advise anybody to come here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: We're going to tell you what else Genarlow Wilson had to say as he walked out of jail a free man.
Also ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are people who say, oh, the NFL, they're sissies, they wear padding, not like rugby players who are happy to go out and break their collar bones and not even talk about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Didn't he just call pro football players a bunch of sissies? Maybe seeing is believing and he will become a believer this weekend when the NFL takes over the game and they are taking it over there, in fact. Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I called him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After you shot him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A shot in the dark saves a blind man's life. I will explain a little bit later on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: More news in less time. Well, we call them quick hits. Here's what we have for you.
Have you seen this truck? The info is worth $250,000 if it helps nail a suspected arsonist. California police say the white 1998 Ford F-150 pickup was spotted on Santiago Canyon Road at about the same time the Santiago fire started. We're going to talk to an investigator about this in just a few minutes.
Also, the state motto is live free or die, not live tax free or die, but for months a New Hampshire couple holed up and held out on Federal income taxes. Ed and Elaine Brown are serving time in Federal prison now. Newly released documents, though, show police found a huge arsenal, pipe bombs, tear gas grenades, fire arms in that couple's home. That occurred in an earlier search this month.
And who's watching the kids? A Houston couple is jailed after four of their kids tested positive for cocaine. Yeah, it gets worse. All of the four children were under the age of two. They're now in foster care, along with four other siblings.
This morning, Genarlow Wilson is waking up in his own bed for the first time in almost three years. Can you imagine being put in prison for having oral sex? Now he's free and Reverend Jesse Jackson is raising money for his college education.
CNN's Rusty Dornin looks back on this controversial case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-one-year-old Genarlow Wilson walked out of prison, into the arms of his mother and nine-year-old sister. He was almost three years into a 10-year prison sentence that the Georgia supreme court decided was cruel and unusual punishment for his crime. That crime was having oral sex with a 15- year-old when he was 17. The ruling came on a 4-3 vote. Wilson's case made headlines around the world and after his short reunion, he walked straight to the microphones.
GENARLOW WILSON, FREED PRISONER: I want to say thank you very much. You know, it means a lot to me and my family that so many people came to our defense, stood up and fought for us.
DORNIN: A year after Wilson was convicted, his case spurred Georgia legislators to change the law, making consensual sex between minors a misdemeanor. State officials had opposed releasing Wilson, fearing it would trigger appeals from sex offenders in prison.
Dave McDade, the district attorney who prosecuted Wilson said in a statement that he is disappointed. "While I respectfully may disagree with the court's decision, I also must respect their authority as the final arbiter in this case."
Wilson says he's been studying for college exams and hopes to study sociology. He also hopes people will learn from his experience.
WILSON: I wouldn't want nobody to go through some of the pain I suffered, and you know, etcetera, but you should be more cautious about what you do because a few minutes of, you know, fun can be a lifetime and a very hard time getting out of.
DORNIN: His mother says she also believed that justice would be done.
JUANESSA BENNETT, GENARLOW WILSON'S MOTHER: I never gave up hope. You know, in the judicial system and I never gave up hope in all the prayers that went out for us.
DORNIN: Not bitter, Wilson says he's matured since he walked through the prison gates here two and a half years ago. A young man who says he's ready for a whole new life.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Forsyth, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: In other news, rapper T.I. is also out of jail this morning. A judge released him on a $3 million bond while his lawyers get ready to go to trial. The rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, was arrested a couple of weeks ago on Federal weapons charges. By law, Harris can't own a gun because he's a convicted felon. Today, Harris is on house arrest and has to wear an electronic ankle bracelet.
The NFL is going global, but is the UK ready for it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you know what this is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a rugby ball?
BLACK: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No? It's a melon?
BLACK: Have you ever seen one of these before?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not one in -- physically, like that, but on the television perhaps, yeah.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Are you kidding me? OK. Let me pose this to you. Are you ready for some football with a British accent? That story is straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Time now for a little sense of normalcy, that's what people in San Diego can expect with their football team coming back to town. The San Diego Chargers will play tomorrow's game as scheduled at Qualcomm stadium. That stadium had been the largest shelter for people displaced by the fires, but they have all been sent home or to other shelters. Forty six of the Chargers' players and coaches were in that same boat under mandatory evacuation orders. That includes the starting quarterback and the league's reigning most valuable player, star running back Ladane (ph) Tomlinson.
While the Chargers get to return home, two NFL teams are far from it. They are playing the league's first regular season game across the pond, as they say it, but does anyone really care about American football?
CNN's Phil Black reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLACK (voice-over): Something a little alien to British life is invading London. The National Football League is coming, and with it all the hype surrounding America's biggest sport, like giant robots and cheerleaders. They're here to promote the NFL's first regular season match outside of North America. The Miami Dolphins meet the New York Giants at Wembley Stadium Sunday. It's a 90,000-seat sellout.
MAYOR KEN LIVINGSTONE, LONDON: We had requests for a million tickets. We could fill Wembley 11 times over this game and that's what the American football league wants. They want to build a fan base here.
BLACK: A fan base in London and beyond. The NFL is going global, playing one or two games overseas every year and it's not just to keep American ex-pats happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Growth in the future clearly means expanding our presence in the global sports marketplace. We have dedicated considerable resources already to the global development of football.
BLACK: Marketing experts say that's because the game is so dominant in the United States, its business opportunities there are now saturated. To build on its $6 billion plus annual revenue, the NFL must look abroad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unless you expand the global fan base, then clearly television rights, sales go up, you're going to more markets, merchandise goes up and it is the only way, I think, that the NFL can do it.
BLACK: The NFL says its mission is to make America's obsession the world's passion. But in this part of the world, people are already very passionate about other ball sports like rugby union and rugby league and of course, soccer. Can there possibly be enough room left in their hearts for American football as well? Sports writer Nick Sapanak thinks so, but admits it could be hard to win over some sports fans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are people who say the NFL, they are all sissies. They wear padding, not like rugby players who are happy to go out and break their collar bones and not even talk about it.
BLACK: And a quick poll shows the British market might need an education campaign. Do you know what this is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a rugby ball?
BLACK: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No? It's a melon?
BLACK: Have you ever seen one of these before?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not one in -- physically, like that, but the television perhaps, yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Football league, some sort of ball game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like American football.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this a ball? National Football League. OK. No, I didn't know what it was.
BLACK: American football.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Very similar to rugby.
BLACK: Maybe fewer people will think so after Sunday's game.
Phil Black, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: One thing's for sure, Phil knew a lot about those cheerleaders that he kept standing in front of.
We're going to have more on the story tomorrow. We will take you to London for a live report. Should be pretty interesting, the NFL is gambling that British fans will actually attend a sporting event that they don't care a lot about.
Karen Maginnis is with us today. You care about football, don't you?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I love football. I love college football, especially.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
MAGINNIS: But in the UK, it looks like they're going to have to put up with quite a bit of rain. That's kind of typical. But also the wind is going to be fairly gusty.
Betty, I want to show you a spectacular picture that occurred, kind of a sequence of pictures from Wednesday. Now, this is near San Mateo. This is at Lion's Peak. Take a look at this incredible video from Weather Bonk. What you are looking at is tower structure here, but the fire just raced across the mountain. You can see the visibility is greatly reduced here. You can imagine that particulate levels were pretty high as well.
In Southern California, we did see that wind shift and now we're continuing to see a fairly steady flow of moisture coming up from the south and the southwest. That is good, because the moisture levels go up, helping firefighters. And because the wind is going to be onshore, that's going to keep the temperature a bit suppressed. We don't see any change in that coming up, at least for the next several days.
So, this onshore flow is going to help firefighters across the region. Take a look at the winds, mostly quiet right now. They typically pick up during the evening hours. But we will keep you updated and give you more information regarding what's happening in Southern California coming up in just about 20 minutes or so -- Betty?
NGUYEN: We will be right here, Karen, thank you.
If you are just waking up this morning, take a look at this. This truck right here could be a key to solving one of California's arson investigations. Straight ahead, we will ask an expert what sort of other clues crime scene investigators are searching for.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, everybody, Josh Levs here. A top Democrat is saying that the Bush administration isn't giving enough to fire prevention. Is that true and would it have made any difference at all in California? We are going to take a look at that, coming up.
But first, we've got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Whether or not you live in an area that is affected by wildfires, you should have a home inventory guide listing all of your possessions in the event of a disaster or burglary can be difficult. Guarantee that your family returns to life as usual quickly by keeping an up to date list of the contents of your house. Update your guide regularly, including serial numbers for new electronics. Be sure to make copies of your inventory and store these in safe, easily accessible places. For more information creating your own home inventory guide, head to insurance.ca.gov. That's your tip of the day. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. If you live in Southern California and see a pickup truck like this one right here, call police. The pickup is a 1998 white ford f-150 with chrome tube running boards, California arson investigators say it was seen near the spot where the Santiago fire started last Sunday in Orange County. And a hefty reward is on the line, $250,000 for the tip that helps solve this crime. The Santiago fire, which is still raging at this hour, has already destroyed more than a dozen homes and scorched some 27,000 acres.
Let's go back now to CNN's Reynolds Wolf in Rancho Bernardo. Reynolds you have some new information for us.
WOLF: Well, you are absolutely right. Less than a half mile from our present location, we have a new fire that has popped up, a building, a new home, it is now smoldering as we speak. We have crews that have just come out there. Fire crews are now working to battle that blaze. What makes this interesting is this is a neighborhood that had been given the all-clear. It is now repopulated and yet you're having more flames are beginning to build up so this is by no means over right now.
NGUYEN: What's causing it, Reynolds? Do you know? Are the winds picking up, are embers just flying from here to there? What do you think is sparking it?
WOLF: It has to be the embers because the wind right now is really insignificant, not that strong. You will remember earlier last week we had the raging Santa Ana winds, some gusts were well beyond hurricane force, getting up to over 100 miles per hour. This morning at our location, again, less than a half mile from where the current fire is forming, it's very still, not much wind at all.
But as we get to the mid-day hours, especially in the afternoon, you have that unequal heating of above land and water, that's really when you will see the winds pick up. Of course, this forecast shows winds getting much stronger as we get into Sunday and Monday. Not equaling the power of the winds we had earlier in the week but still much stronger at a time where we may be battling those blazes. That is not an element the firefighters want to be dealing with this current situation.
NGUYEN: We were just looking at this video while you were talking there, to see those flames still so bright and so hot and burning in so many areas, a week after this started. So, we will be on top of that and checking with you very shortly. Thank you, Reynolds.
OK, so, finding the person who started the Santiago fire is a top priority this morning. Jerry Naylis is former head of the International Association of Arson Investigators. And Jerry I guess the first thing I want to ask you is we want to get into how do you go about catching an arsonist because when you look at all the charred areas where do you know to begin? Where do you even start? JERRY NAYLIS, INTL. ASSN. OF ARSON INVESTIGATORS: Well, the first thing you want to do is look at where the fire started by asking eyewitnesses and getting interviews and getting an area of origin down to as small an area as possible while the wild fire may have consumed hundreds of acres, we always know that a fire is started at some small point and spread from there. So we're going to get some eyewitness accounts and some interviews.
As we work back, we are going to look at a number of factors, burn patterns, climatic conditions, such as winds and the direction that the winds came from. We're going to look at moisture content of the ground and the materials that burned. And we're also going to look at humidity and other factors that can kind of pinpoint us back down to a specific region. Once we get at that region, we're going to start looking for cues and indicators of how that fire might have started.
NGUYEN: Right now, we've been told from investigators on this case that they're looking for this 1998 ford f-150, a white pickup truck with running boards. When you get a clue like that, how credible is it? How much do you know when it comes to that being possibly the person who started this?
NAYLIS: Well, you're never really quite sure, Betty, but the important thing is that the public gives us these clues. And then we piece that together with other fires that may have occurred, and we look at similar patterns. If we are able to tie those together, we can then have a pretty good idea as to whether or not this is, in fact, a credible clue or not.
Remember, doing a fire investigation or doing any crime scene investigation it is just like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. You never really quite sure what little piece is going to completely enhance the picture, so you get a clear indication of what you're looking at.
NGUYEN: Well, here's where it has to be difficult, too, because it's one thing to say, OK, this fire was started by arson. But I think what may be difficult and you tell me, is trying to really pinpoint someone to actually starting that fire. How do you make that connection? Is that the difficult part?
NAYLIS: That is the most difficult part in any fire investigation, is matching up an individual who has set the fire with the fire itself. Oftentimes, again, it comes back to looking at other fires, getting tips and clues from the public in general. Sometimes people can't help themselves and they talk about these things in idle conversation. People hear it; they call us and tell us what's going on. We can follow up with that.
We also look for other indicators that may put a person at the particular scene of the fire. We may find tire tracks. We may find footprints; we may find discarded smoking materials or other items that might contain some DNA or a footprint or anything else that ties us to a specific individual. Fire investigators going to try to carefully find all those pieces of evidence and link them back to a specific individual. NGUYEN: Well, you are right. It's like putting a piece of a puzzle back together. Jerry Naylis a fire investigator joining us today with the latest on this. One word again when it comes to looking for the person who may have done this, a $250,000 reward is being offered. Right now, they're centering on this white f-150 1998 pickup truck with running boards. There's another picture of it, if you live in Southern California, and that jars your memory on who may have started this fire, do give them a phone call.
All right. Thank you Jerry.
Well, Washington feels the heat from the California wildfires as well. Josh Levs is here to keep them honest when it comes to the politics of fighting wildfires.
LEVS: And you know Betty, people are really struggling out in California. There was the whole political battle going on in Washington that some people missed this week.
What we want to do right now is show you it went both ways. There was a top Democrat complaining that the White House isn't giving enough money to wildfire prevention and at the same time the White House went after Democrats saying they have failed to support important wildfire legislation. We will show you if there's any truth to that or if it's all hot air.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice over): The fires were raging, the fears flying; people were looking for answers, all the combustible ingredients for a fresh political battle.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: We shouldn't have to fight with the president every time we have an appropriation bill to get money we know we're going to need. We've had these wildfires in the west now to for a number of years and we need more money.
LEVS: Senator Harry Reid said Democrats had to fight to put hundreds of millions of dollars into wildfire suppression, which includes efforts to clear out brush that fuels fires. The White House shot back. Spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters on Air Force One that efforts have been well funded. She cited the Healthy Forest Initiative that passed in 2003 after what she called years of Democratic opposition.
That initiative was designed to help increase logging, which the White House said, could clear out fuel for fires. The main opposition was from environmental groups that wanted controlled burning instead. The Sierra Club says the initiative is based on the false assumption that landscape wide logging will decrease forest fires.
While that battle rages on, the White House says hundreds of millions of dollars are available for fire prevention, and that it takes time to carry out prevention work. Those overseeing efforts to combat the California fires are not pointing fingers at Democrats or the federal government, quite the opposite. GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, (R) CALIFORNIA: The president jumped into action right away so we want to say thank you to the president for everything that he has done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: So, unlike with Hurricane Katrina, you're not seeing government agencies generally blamed here for having been unprepared. You are hearing a lot about the weather and you're hearing the fact that people are moving into these fire-prone areas, but there's a downside to that. It's well and good but there's a downside and that is that the government is not saying there's any kind of fix over the next year or two, Betty, to do something differently so we could see this happening again.
NGUYEN: We don't want to let the government off the hook because there have been some complaints about the government.
LEVS: Exactly yes. I'm glad you said that because there are some things we should touch on. Obviously don't want to gloss over all of them. There have been some questions about whether certain aircraft were used on time, whether certain plans were followed, whether the federal government in general has had a broad enough process for dealing with these kinds of fires.
But what really strikes me here is we are just not hearing people tackling these fires saying that there's some kind of sign of government failure, that something big needs to be done to change that. So my big question now is, are we really going to see this exact same thing again?
For that, we are going to turn to our Reynolds Wolf here. Reynolds, you and I have talked about this a little bit. Can we expect next week, next month, and next year to see this all over again?
WOLF: Absolutely, there's always going to be that possibility, Josh. In terms of back to what you were talking about with the government and fighting these fires, there are people in Washington who are going to politicize everything. The American people are sick of it. Why else would their approval ratings be in the toilet right now? But in terms of could this happen again, I'll tell you why it can happen again.
I mean if you happen to live in the central Plains you are going to have a chance of dealing with tornadoes. If you live along the Gulf Coast or parts of the eastern seaboard, believe it or not you will be dealing with hurricanes. If you live in Southern California, wildfires, unfortunately, are a part of life; it is part of the climate. It happens here. Obviously, some of these fires may have been caused by arson, but it is a natural occurrence here and it certainly could happen again. We have winds that -- I'm sorry, go ahead.
LEVS: If we could, talk to me about the broader picture here. Can we look years ahead and say that there's going to be some kind of change? This is America, we innovate. Are they creating planes that will be able to tackle the gale force winds? Are they creating chemicals that will fight the fires betters? Can we look ahead, even a matter of years and see that there's something that will change that will make it safer to live there?
WOLF: Josh, my friend, what's the famous expression, necessity is the mother of invention? I think there are some brilliant people that will make something better but the problem we had in this situation, even with the best fire retardant, when you have wind gusts that are 70 miles per hour, it doesn't matter how good those chemicals might be that are being dropped from the aircraft.
When that stuff falls to lower levels of the atmosphere, it gets pushed out and sprayed everywhere and loses its effectiveness as it closer to the ground. If you have those kinds of wind gusts, you have the dry conditions and you have a fire being set, there's not much really that can stop it.
LEVS: Right. So even with all the political gamesmanship going on we just have to say that you can see this any time. Reynolds, thank you so much for that. Betty thanks to you. That's what struck me here. So different from Katrina because people are largely happy with the government. On the flip side that means no one is saying let's fix this thing right now. Yeah, we can see it all over again.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Josh.
Well, talk about caught in the middle right now. Presidential hopefuls steer clear of the sunshine state because of the infighting in the Democratic Party, but will it cost them next November? We will explore that.
And Senator Larry Craig back on our political radar this morning and you won't believe what he's accused of doing now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, have you heard this one? A dig at Democrat Hillary Clinton turned into a full blown campaign tactic for Senator John McCain. He made this initial swipe at the recent Republican debate, and now he's talking about Hillary Clinton's plan to spend a million dollars on a Woodstock concert museum. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: Now, my friends, I wasn't there. I'm sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. I was -- I was tied up at the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now, McCain's posted a 12-minute video on his Web site reminding potential voters about his ordeal being shot down in Vietnam 40 years ago. He mentioned being tied up at the time. He was held as a prisoner of war for five and a half years.
So, what is it about Florida and presidential elections? After the great Chad at the bacall of 2000, the stage is being set for another potential snarl and it has everything to do with timing of Florida's presidential primary.
We will let Jessica Yellin lay it all out for us. She's in Orlando this morning. All right, Jessica explain this one.
JESSICA YELLIN, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: OK, Betty. The state Florida Democratic Convention is happening today in the building behind me. In this were a normal year you would expect to see all the major Democratic presidential candidates here from Clinton and Obama to Edwards, all of them, but the only one scheduled to be here is Mike Gravel.
And here's why, it's a bizarre reason. All those candidates, the leading candidates have agreed not to campaign in Florida. That's because Florida moved up the date of its primary earlier than the national Democratic Party wanted, and to punish Florida and discourage other states from doing it they asked these candidates not to campaign in this battle ground state.
You don't have to know a lot about politics to know that Florida is kind of crucial to deciding who gets the White House and Republicans have been in and out of this state non-stop all, all the major Republican leaders' candidates were here in Orlando last week. There is some concern among Democrats that the absence of the Democratic leading presidential candidates right now is going to hurt them come November.
But some political analysts say not so fast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'm talking about Social Security and Medicare and schools and energy. They are not going to be able to win Florida just by saying; you remember last year the Democrats didn't hold a primary here. It's not going to be enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Now, the Democrats are expect to be here in strength after primary season is over, they hope Democratic voters forget about their absence in the primary season and they are raising lots of money here. Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. We'll see how it plays out. Jessica Yellin joining us live this morning. Thank you, Jessica.
Well, Idaho Senator Larry Craig is ruffling political feathers yet again. Should he or shouldn't he, here's the question use campaign donations to fund his defense in a Senate ethics investigation? Well, a new campaign finance report shows Craig spent about $23,000 on lawyers in his ethics investigation. The Idaho hall-of-famer is battling criminal charges as well. That relate to that bathroom sex sting last June. Lawmakers and candidates are usually not allowed to use campaign funds on things that don't directly relate to their official duties.
It is a sobering scene on the ground on Rancho Bernardo and our Reynolds Wolf is there this morning, joining us live. I know you have seen little flare-ups as well this morning.
WOLF: That's right, Betty. Less than half mile from where we stand there is a house that is currently on fire, one of many fires. There's still fighting here in Southern California. Coming up, we are going to talk about not only some of the professionals that have been out there battling the blazes but also we're going to give you the chance to meet firsthand some of the people who have been putting matters in their own hands and battling the blazes.
NGUYEN: Plus this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: If you are just getting up on this Saturday morning, I want you to take a good look at this truck, especially for those of you who live in California. Police there say the person that started one of the fires may be driving something like this. They need your help. So keep your eyes peeled. It's a 1998 Ford f-150 and helping police could get you a $250,000 reward.
This next story is really strange. Police in Iowa say they caught this man, Craig McCullough getting friendly with a blow-up doll in a bathroom stall. We will explain that one.
And the FBI is looking for the person who shined a green laser at a plane during takeoff. It happened in Manchester, New Hampshire. Thankfully, didn't cause an accident.
So many lives have been changed by the terrible wildfires that have just plagued Southern California this week. My co-host this morning is Reynolds Wolf. He joins me live from Rancho Bernardo. Good morning.
WOLF: That's right, Betty, I have been walking around, talking to some of the people in this community who are just returning to their homes, and I got to tell you I am amazed, the damage is absolutely everywhere, but their spirit is far from broken.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice over): You can see why people live here. It's beautiful. You've got the sun out, the trees moving a little bit in the breeze. There's some haze, but, I mean, if you just flew into San Diego, you wouldn't automatically think smoke. No sign of any kind of panic. No sign that things are wrong at all. Just seems like a normal Friday in San Diego. That's all.
Here in the median, you see pallets, concrete, we are talking about construction, not destruction. Everything is vibrant here at least from what you can see from the freeway. If you had not been watching television or listening to the radio over the past week, you would have had no idea that there are fires in this part of the world.
And now for so many in this area, a world has changed. We just got into San Bernardo just moments ago, and I will tell you, I am blown away by what we've seen so far. This -- this was somebody's house. This is where people got up in the morning and started their day and they came here to sleep, and they spent some of the best times of their life. It's now just -- it's just charred ruins. I mean, if you look down, this is part of a garage door that has just been melted, just folded together. You look at what once was strong steel and brick and it's all -- everything's been shattered.
I mean, look at this. This was a kid's toy. A baby used to play with this, this wagon. Now it has been reduced to just charred metal and it's -- it's an awful thing to see. The only thing that's really standing that shows any strength at all left is the fireplace, for heaven's sakes, where a family probably sat and warmed themselves during the cool months of the year.
But right now, it doesn't shelter anything. You'll have one house that has just been charred, a smoldering pile of ashes and then just a few hundred feet away, you've got trees, houses, everything perfect. How does this happen? Your house is just fine, and then farther down the block, on one side of your home you've got homes that aren't even there anymore, just completely up in ash. How did you get lucky in this situation?
TROY DEWEY, HOME SAVED FROM FIRE: Right. I don't know if I call it luck. It's as if the lord took a blanket and covered it. It was just -- my fences and everything are intact. It's just -- there's no explanation. Other than it's a blessing.
WOLF: Congratulations to you. I wish you and your family the very best. The thing that's scary about it is we're not done yet. We may see the winds kick up again as we get toward the end of the week and maybe even early next week. We still have the dry conditions. So, we might see a few more scenes like this play out again.
A scary prospect, no doubt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Now, I want to clarify, I said San Bernardo, but what I really meant to say was Rancho Bernardo and as you can see, Betty, it's very tough out here for everyone, obviously for those who have lost everything and those who have something to come home to, there are many that have no home at all.
Coming up, we are going to talk to some people who were able to save their home on their own and it's amazing how different so many of these stories are. We could be here for weeks and not say the same thing twice.
NGUYEN: It is, just like you pointed out, that one guy's house was perfectly fine, yet the one next to it was burned to the ground.
WOLF: Hit or miss.
NGUYEN: Yes, why was his saved? Thank you. We will talk with you shortly.
We want to get to this talker of the day. A blind man shoots an intruder inside his house. Yeah, he was blind and we are going to give you that story straight ahead.
Also, the next hour we will be talking about this, the growing controversy over private firefighters who fight to save the homes of the rich.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So you want to hear about this one. Kind of a shot in the dark, a 75-year-old man, a blind man at that, shot an intruder who broke into his house and he actually hit him, possibly saving his own life. Arthur Williams, you see him here, lives in Florida, has been blind for most of his life. Still, though, he is pretty independent and a pretty good shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARTHUR WILLIAMS, SHOT INTRUDER: I bought that began back 25, 30 years ago for my protection.
LT. KEITH KAMEG, GAINESVILLE POLICE: This is the classic example. If you commit crime, you can get hurt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Oh, yeah. The intruder was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the neck. He's being charged with battery and burglary.
The next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING starts right now.
Good morning, everybody, from CNN Center right here in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen. We want to thank you for starting your day with us. T.J. Holmes is off today. But we are in good hands because our friend Reynolds Wolf is covering for him actually in Southern California for us.
Good morning, Reynolds.
WOLF: Hey, Betty. The before and after pictures that we have for you just, they say it all. In fact, take a look at these photos. The stories behind these pictures are even more amazing. In fact the homeowners of this very street banded together to form a makeshift fire department. It's neighbor helping neighbor in the most pure form. They are going to join us coming up in just a few moments.
NGUYEN: Looking forward to that. Also we have got an outrage story to tell you about today. Four infants all under the age of two testing positive for cocaine. Wait until you hear how police found out.
Plus, the war over water is getting uglier. We are not talking about a third world country. The battle is right here in the U.S. The showdown, that's ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
First up, though, stories that we want to tell you about, the Pentagon says a ballistic missile target was successfully intercepted in a test just a few hours ago over the Pacific. Check it out. The test is part of the thermal high altitude area defense, also known as THAD. Thirty nine such tests have been conducted since 2001. This was the 31st time it was successful.
All right, back to those California fires. A pickup truck like the one you see right here could be the key to finding an arsonist in southern California. The pickup is a white 1998 Ford F-150 with chrome tube running boards. Investigators say it was seen near the spot where the Santiago fire started last Sunday in Orange County. A large reward is on the line, $250,000 to be exact.
Reynolds Wolf is in Rancho Bernardo where it is hard to just wrap your mind Reynolds around just how big this catastrophe really is and besides the arson investigation, you said a little bit earlier that another fire has broken out nearby where you're standing.
WOLF: You are correct, less than a half mile from this very location, we've had another fire that did break out. They have crews, fire crews over there working to battle that particular blaze. This on a morning where there is not much wind for the time being. This also occurs, is occurring in a neighborhood that had been evacuated, people allowed to move back in and now we have another blaze. That's pretty much the template of what we have been dealing with here over the last several days and may deal with still for the next few days.
Now, here's what's going on right now. Take a look at this video. We've got tens of thousands of people that are now coming back home. Many of them are doing it for the very first time. But still, many homes have been standing that are standing have no power, they have no water to speak of. The fires brought down many of the power lines all over the place and most of the water that we're talking about has been used up for fighting those fires.
In fact, there's another danger that's facing many people there. And we're talking about the air. I can tell you firsthand, from experience, that it is kind of hard to breathe here. It's -- there have been a lot of people on the crew here have been coughing, clearing their throats. I'll tell you, we still have the smoke, the soot and the ash to deal with. It's especially dangerous for people who already have respiratory problems. And that is certainly one thing we have to watch out for.
Now, I can tell you it's very easy for me to look around and tell you how bad things are in this particular area, but it's also -- I got to tell you how devastating it must be for so many people, but it will mean much more coming from the mouths of those actual victims who have been dealing with these fires.
Now, we're lucky this morning to have Chris Hanson and Al Glendy (ph) with us. They have very different stories to tell and one of many incredible heroic stories we have been dealing with in parts of this area. Guys, you have very interesting situation here. You live in a neighborhood and one of you lost a home and together you saved another. Correct?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct. WOLF: Can you take me through what happened? What day did all this get under way? When did the flames start moving into your neighborhood?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sunday evening it started moving.
WOLF: OK and your home went down. Your home is gone right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, it's completely burned down to the ground.
WOLF: Now, were you inside the house when it started firing up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, we evacuated by midnight, 1:00 in the morning so we decided to leave. When you leave, you don't expect the next day that the house will be burned down to like two feet of ashes.
WOLF: That's your home. We are looking at some before and after pictures. Obviously, you see the before, a beautiful home on a beautiful day, the picture. Then on the other side we see what's left. Do you have insurance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WOLF: And everyone in your family got out safely?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we all got out, everybody safely. That's a long story also, what happened afterwards. In this neighborhood we are standing in here.
WOLF: Amazing. Actually -- right down the block, though, even though your home was lost, you helped Chris save his house? Or you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He stayed alone. He's a real hero there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a different story. He got my wife up to me when nobody else could with a Dutch film crew and a Marine (INAUDIBLE). They could not get back to me once the fire had burned through and I was extremely angry at my government and all the law enforcement and with the United States Marines, semper fi (ph), and the Dutch film crew, they were -- my daughter and my wife were able to sneak through.
WOLF: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he saved my morale, not my house.
WOLF: I can understand. My goodness, so what's next for both of you? How do you pick up from here? I mean your home is still standing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My home is still standing, yes.
WOLF: Do you have any kind of smoke damage, cinders?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have damage all the way around it. Only the house is standing. Equipment and tools and outhouses and buildings are all gone.
WOLF: My goodness, an amazing story. I am so happy that things are working well for you and I mourn for your loss. Better days are coming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, clinging together. We all -- we've been working already, starting to put out hot spots in the neighborhood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We formed a fire brigade and that's how we saved the homes. Twelve out of 24 homes we were able to save. We (INAUDIBLE) fire trucks on the spot and we are still running out, mopping up hot spots.
WOLF: Taking matters in your own hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
WOLF: Thank you guys, Americans helping Americans. That's what it's all about here this morning, just An amazing thing. Thank you so much for your time, gentlemen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
WOLF: Hundreds of distraught homeowners have really been left with one big anxious question, Betty. And the question is, am I covered? Everything you need to know about fire insurance, CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis joins us in our next hour. We're going to be talking about that to answer some questions that so many people this morning are asking themselves in terms of how they might recover.
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds, thank you. And Reynolds, I do have some very revealing pictures to show you of the fires as they happened. Check this out. CNN is the first to get a hold of these images. They were taken from spy planes and drones high above the fire lines. This picture right here is even more dramatic. Look at it right here, all those different hot spots to be seen. See the areas lit up there? That indicates where there were flames. It's truly a remarkable new look at how devastating this fire truly is.
Well, this morning, Genarlow Wilson is waking up in his own bed for the first time in almost three years. Georgia's supreme court ruled yesterday that Wilson's 10-year sentence for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. But now he is free and he is vowing not to let his supporters down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENARLOW WILSON, FREED PRISONER: For the most part, I matured, you know, as a young man. You know, I know that this is no place that I want to ever come again. You know, I wouldn't advise anybody to come here. I would definitely like people to learn from my situation. Because I wouldn't want anybody to go through some of the pain I suffered, you know, et cetera. But you should be a little more cautious about what you do because a few minutes of, you know, fun can be a lifetime and a very hard time getting out of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Reverend Jesse Jackson is helping Wilson make good on his promises. He is raising money for Wilson's college education.
Rapper T.I. is back home this morning. He is out of jail on weapons charges after posting a hefty bond, but he's basically under house arrest. Want to get more now from Richard Elliott of our affiliate station WSB here in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ELLIOTT, WSB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rapper T.I., also known as Clifford Harris, Jr., greets his fans after he's released from jail on one of the highest bonds and most complicated sets of conditions in recent memory. He's just happy to get out.
T.I., RAPPER: I don't have much to say. I just want to thank all the fans for their continued prayers and support and due to the severity of the situation, I must decline comment, have you refer to my counsel.
ELLIOTT: And that counsel, led by the powerful team of Ed Garland and Steve Sadow (ph) arranged a complicated but effective plan to get him bond. In court, TI listened as the judge agreed to a $3 million cash and property bond and said TI's Henry County home is now essentially a jail with 24-hour monitoring, unannounced searches by the ATF and limited visitors. T.I.'s mom is also excited her son is free.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God is good (INAUDIBLE).
ELLIOTT: T.I., meanwhile, says he's ready to move on.
T.I.: Great, great. I look forward to getting this behind me and moving forward.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, T.I. was arrested on a Federal sting operation in Atlanta a little bit earlier this month. He's accused of buying machine guns and because he is convicted felon, he's not allowed to own weapons.
There are new fears that's the so-called super bug could be spreading. A 12-year-old Brooklyn seventh grader has died from the drug resistant staph infection. That staph infection is also known as MRSA. Some parents are afraid to actually send their kids back to the school. Health and school officials are trying to calm those fears. They are meeting with parents today.
So, do you think only military troops are deployed to Iraq? You better think again, thanks to a lack of volunteers. The State Department is planning to order some of its diplomats to serve at the U.S. embassy in Iraq for a year. A Foreign Service official says beginning Monday, diplomats will be notified that they have been identified as prime candidates to fill 40 to 50 vacancies. Those who refuse without a compelling reason, well, they could be dismissed.
Listen to this. A Kansas church known for picketing funerals of military members is being sued. They hold signs that said things like quote, thank God for dead soldiers. They also cheer during funerals. Well, now the father of a fallen Marine hero is suing. Church members protested at the funeral for Albert Snider's (ph) son. Snider is suing on grounds of invasion of privacy and the purposeful infliction of emotional distress. His case is being heard in a Baltimore courtroom right now and a verdict could come sometime next week.
WOLF: Thanks to some private firefighters, saving your home from fire is quickly becoming a rich man's game. As in some Californians learned, some people in California have learned, with enough cash you can live wherever you want and always be safe from fire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Catching up on news across the country right now, with some quick hits for you.
A Houston couple is jailed on cocaine charges but it's not just because they tested positive. So did four of their infant children, all aged two or younger. The babies are now in state custody, along with four siblings.
A jury recommends a death sentence for a Kentucky woman. Lisa Montgomery was convicted of strangling a pregnant woman and then using a kitchen knife to cut the baby from her womb. Prosecutors said the crime was not only horrific but premeditated. Montgomery's computer showed searches about performing caesareans.
In New Hampshire, it's a good thing police were able to trick tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown (ph) into letting them into their home to arrest them because it could have been much uglier. Police released a two-page list of arms, ammo and supplies that the Browns had stockpiled during their eight-month standoff.
WOLF: And there is something that we've been hearing about out here that many of you may not have known even existed. We are talking about private firefighters, firefighters for hire, working for insurance companies. Now, it is an expensive extra, but for some it's well worth it.
CNN's Brian Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fred and Janet Judge have an idyllic view. Their back yard sweeps out to a canyon in Rancho Santa Fe. The canyon is now charred. The witch (ph) fire burned right up to their property.
FRED JUDGE, RANCHO SANTA FE RESIDENT: You can see that the fire burned right up to this point and it stopped right here. TODD: It's no twist of fate that the Judges' yard and house were spared.
JUDGE: There's no question in my mind that the foam was the difference between us being able to come back to a home that's intact compared to having it burned to the ground.
TODD: The foam he's talking about is a chemical retardant sprayed by private firefighters. The Judges arranged it through their insurance company. Fred Judge says his fireman for hire got to his house just in time before the fire department. Many of these contractors are trained firefighters, like Bryce Carrier, but he says they try to be more of a complement than competition.
BRYCE CARRIER, AIG FIREFIGHTING CONTRACTOR: In the best scenario is that we can get here before the fire department actually is here. We don't want to step on any toes or get in any issues where we're, you know, kind of like a cluster.
TODD: These private contractors were very effective during the southern California wildfires, but critics say this kind of service is really too exclusive, only available in wealthy neighborhoods like this one. They have a point. Those who get the service pay premiums of at least $10,000 a year. Most own homes worth at least $1 million, in places like Malibu and Aspen, Colorado. Fred Judge believes that equation will change.
JUDGE: My sense is that competition will drive the price of this stuff to -- to be affordable by everybody. I think we're going to see a revolution now.
TODD: Fred's insurance company says it wants to help spur that revolution. An official with American International Group told us they want to work with public fire departments to help them offer this kind of service to those who aren't in the most affluent zip codes.
Brian Todd, CNN, Rancho Santa Fe, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Now, coming up next hour, we've got a sad story for you. I'll show you one mobile home park decimated by the fires there, still haunting the dreams of some of the residents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those explosions were just -- I can still hear them in my ears at night. I wake up ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Reynolds, when you hear something like that and you talk about a mobile home park and you just see that story from Brian Todd that showed these people in these nice houses who can afford to hire these professional firefighters to come out and save their homes, it just shows you the difference between the haves and the have nots. WOLF: There's definitely a story that we've certainly seen here. Then you have people that are stuck in the middle, all of them affected by these fires.
NGUYEN: I bet you anything that if people could afford it, they would, but so many folks obviously can't. These fires just move so quickly and there is just not enough people to fight all of them. All right, Reynolds, we will be talking with you shortly.
The southern drought and Atlanta's dwindling water supply, the blame game, it is heating up. Three states, Georgia, Alabama and Florida intensifying their fight over sharing water from a reservoir in Georgia. Amanda Rossiter of our affiliate WSB reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANDA ROSSITER, WSB CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alabama Governor Bob Riley outlined what would happen to his state if Georgia's request for limited relief is granted by President Bush.
GOV. BOB RILEY, ALABAMA: You can't go back and say we are going to haul all the water and we don't care what it does to this nuclear plant. There's too many things that are dependent on it.
ROSSITER: Riley has been critical of Georgia and Governor Sonny Perdue, saying he could have ordered cuts and conservation sooner. He says Georgia's lack of planning shouldn't hurt his state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 10 percent reduction that you are implementing now could have been implemented 90 days ago, 120 days ago and you might not be having the problem that you have today.
ROSSITER: And Florida's governor agrees. In letter to President Bush on Wednesday, Governor Charlie Crist (ph) took aim at Georgia, saying we are unwilling to allow the unrealistic demands of one region to further compromise the downstream community. Governor Perdue argues that metro Atlanta should be allowed to keep more of the water. He says Alabama isn't even under mandatory restrictions and the burden should be shared by states downstream.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And Karen Maginnis joins us now in the CNN severe weather center. The thing about this drought is some of us especially here in Georgia, have gotten a little rain, but it is just not enough to solve the problems.
MAGINNIS: Not at all. We, in some cases, have not even seen half of our annual rainfall. Also in southern California, one of the reasons we're seeing such a dangerous and deadly fire season so far is that they have seen multiple years of severe drought. We get this undergrowth that is very dry and it just goes up just in a second, in a flash.
Now, this is what you're looking at as far as the smoke is concerned, micrograms per cubic meter and essentially in this red- shaded area, that's where you're going to see the highest pollutants. This will be as of 7:00 p.m. for this evening. You can see in some of these areas, 16 and 25 micrograms per cubic meter. Just to give you an illustration, they had severe fires several years ago in Fairbanks, Alaska, 1,000 micrometers per cubic meter.
The wind will continue to come up from the south and southwest. Gentle winds may pick up this evening but at least they are onshore, not offshore. That was the problem that we saw in the past week as far as the fires were concerned. Still plenty of moisture across this region, but coming up from the south, only about a 20 percent chance of an isolated shower -- Betty?
NGUYEN: All right, thank you, Karen.
So, here's a story that might have you talking today. A blind man hears someone in his home so he gets a gun and shoots. You got to stay with us to find out what he actually hit.
LEVS: Thousands of southern California residents became our reporters this week. A record-breaking week for CNN I-report, record- breaking as in it's not even comparable to anything, ever. I'm Josh Levs. I'm going to show you coming up what it was like to be inside the firestorm -- Betty?
NGUYEN: And now we want to give you a preview of today's "House Call" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks a lot, guys. It was quite a week for medical news at CNN. It started off with my exclusive interview with the Dalai Lama. I ended up though covering the wildfires here in California. I'm going to have some remarkable stories for you. It's coming up on "HOUSE CALL" at 8:30.
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NGUYEN: So, talk about a shot in the dark. Check this guy out, a 75-year-old blind man shot at an intruder who broke into his home and actually hit him, possibly saving his own life. Arthur Williams lives in Florida and has been blind for most of his life. Still, though, he is pretty independent and has a pretty good shot.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I bought that gun back 25, 30 years ago for my protection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the classic example. If you commit crime, you can get hurt.
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NGUYEN: Oh, yeah. The intruder was hospitalized. There's a shot of him right here. He had a gunshot wound to the neck. He is being charged with battery and burglary. Don't mess with that guy. He'll take you out. Ordinary people, though, they have sent us some really extraordinary pictures and stories about the wildfires. Josh Levs joins us now from the dotcom desk. You have been looking at these I- reports and they truly are amazing because they give you a nice perspective of how big this was.
LEVS: Anything but ordinary. This is so powerful. I have never been so amazed by the whole creation of the I-report system. I know we are CNN, we need to show off about our own stuff but I'm telling you, you have probably seen some of these pictures, this week it's astounding. These amazing photos have been taken of what it's like to be inside the firestorm. It puts you there and we are talking in the first minutes of this happening.
We've got a historic number. We had more than 2,000 by Wednesday alone. It completely eclipses everything we have ever had. Right now, one thing you can see on dotcom is this really powerful montage of some of these pictures. I want to show you some of that right now.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have good times and we have bad times. I went to the crisis center, and I got some help. I was able to talk to a nurse and then a doctor, so there's just an outpour of help.
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LEVS: I tell you, I love seeing the fire pictures, but one reason I wanted to show you that is people's experiences, I wanted you to see people lying on the stretchers, people dealing with the officials on the way. And Betty, it's so moving and so powerful. Right now there's like six and a half minutes you can just watch. And what happens is, I found this morning, you kind of get lost in it. For the rest of America, the rest of the world you can start to feel a little bit about what it was like for these people to lose their homes, their livelihoods, everything and have to struggle.
NGUYEN: Just imagine yourself, what if you lost your home today? Fires have broken out everywhere. There is no way to save your particular home. And in fact, it's not over yet folks, because only 14 of the 23 fires have been contained as of this hour. We are keeping on top of all of that for you. Thanks, josh.
LEVS: Thanks.
NGUYEN: Coming up, do you keep taking your work home with you? If you do it long enough, you might end up with a world record. Your cat has nothing on this hair ball.
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NGUYEN: So this story is not only hair-raising but you might lose your appetite. No, that's not a pile of mud there. It's actually hair, yeah. Henry Cougher in Charleston, Missouri, has been cutting hair for 50 years and actually keeping the clippings. Why we don't know, but all 167 pounds of it have been piled in the back of that truck and Henry is not even sure why he keeps it either but the Guinness folks, they, of course are interested. The massive hair ball could be a world record.
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