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Your World Today

Southern California Fires; Congressman Duncan Hunter Asks Federal Government for Military Support in California

Aired October 23, 2007 - 12:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

"YOUR WORLD TODAY" will not be seen this hour so that we can continue our coverage of the southern California wildfires.

Coming up now, California is burning. More people are evacuating and more homes are destroyed. Updates from our reporters in the field and fire officials.

Congressman connects with constituents. A lawmaker who lost his own home to a previous wildfire looks to comforts those who are suffering now.

And they fought in the war. Now, some may battle the flames. Marines stepping up, in the NEWSROOM.

Fires out of control. Residents out of time. More than 300,000 people have left their homes in southern California. And now they are wondering if they'll have homes to return to.

More than 1,000 homes have already burned. And earlier this morning, President Bush issued an emergency declaration for seven California counties. That clears the way for federal disaster relief. But the more immediate concerns, as close as the nearest fire line.

Thousands of firefighters on the job today. Hundreds of marines and national guardsmen also helping out in any way they can. The fires have scorched more than 400 square miles. Evacuees are scattered all around the region.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is in one shelter now, the massive Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

Thelma, what's happening there?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, I can tell you, it really is an amazing sight here at this stadium. There are thousands of people here inside the stadium, thousands of evacuees who are looking for a little bit of shelter, food, a little comfort right now. And thousands more on the outside of the stadium, out in the parking lot.

You know, this parking lot is completely jam-packed with cars and trucks and tents, people who are looking to hunker down for a while until this situation actually changes. Take a look right behind me. And this is what we're talking about.

You just see hundreds of people standing here. The numbers have grown all through the morning.

We have new information from the command center here at Qualcomm. Ten thousand people actually spent the night last night, and there are 5,000 vehicles that were in the parking lot overnight.

Now, that number is changing by the minute as more people arrive. Twenty-five thousand cots have been delivered by FEMA and the Red Cross here at Qualcomm. And people were telling me this is a stadium that's associated with happy events. This is a stadium that's associated with the Charger games. And that's what people who come here are used to dealing with. And they say it's somewhat surreal to actually come here with whatever they were able to escape with and to actually seek shelter in a place like this.

Now, there are hundreds of volunteers that are caring for their needs. There are people who are in the food lines, there are people who are handing out newspapers and bottled waters. That kind of thing -- blankets. All giving of their time to make sure that the folks who have been evacuated have just a little bit of comfort.

And joining me now is Tony Bradley.

Tony, you have been making balloons all morning long. We were watching you. How many balloons did you actually make? You said you're a magician, you've been doing magic tricks for the kids.

Why are you here?

TONY BRADLEY, VOLUNTEER ENTERTAINER: Well, just to comfort the kids. This could be very traumatizing for them. And with someone here to make them laugh, it kind of takes their mind off of the events that's going on here in the San Diego area.

GUTIERREZ: Yes. Well, when we caught up with you earlier, we noticed that you were making balloons.

BRADLEY: Yes.

GUTIERREZ: You have one right behind your back. Tell me about that. How many of these balloons do you think you have handed out?

BRADLEY: Maybe 200 balloons or so, but thousands of more smiles.

GUTIERREZ: Yes.

BRADLEY: And that's what I'm here for, just to make them happy, make them forget about what's going on.

GUTIERREZ: And Joena Ico, you also came, you gave of your time. What did you give up to be here today and why are you here?

JOENA ICO, VOLUNTEER: I'm here because I knew a lot of people need help. And it's always good to help the community. And just -- San Diego is just a great town. During this time, it's great to have people helping all the time.

GUTIERREZ: Now, what do you think when you take a look around you? There are hundreds or thousands of people here. How does it make you feel to be able to serve them?

You walked up, you have the gloves on your hands and you're actually serving them breakfast this morning.

ICO: It just felt good. Like breakfast is the best time to start the day. So I liked it.

GUTIERREZ: Your own family had to evacuate, I understand.

ICO: Yes. It wasn't until 9:00 last night. And I think they're fine right now. So...

GUTIERREZ: And how long do you plan to be here?

ICO: As long as they need us. I live right across the street. So, it's really easy to get here.

GUTIERREZ: OK. Thank you, Joena and Tony. Thank you very much for joining us.

And this is the kind of thing that we've been seeing all morning long, talking to the volunteers who are making this possible. Earlier, there was a volunteer coordinator on a loud speaker and she was telling folks to prepare for the onslaught of evacuees who will certainly be showing up here at Qualcomm as the day wears on -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, I bet they will. All right.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez at Qualcomm Stadium there with several thousand people who are trying to seek shelter.

CNN crews are fanned out all across the area. We want to get to Dan Simon now. He is standing by north of San Diego to give us an idea of what the scene is like there.

Dan, good morning once again.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, it's just a surreal experience as you walk down these streets here in this area called Rancho Bernardo. You see this home behind me completely burned out. All the folks who live in this neighborhood, they have been evacuated.

So the person who lives in this family and the family who lives here, chances are they have absolutely no idea that their home has been destroyed. And you're seeing things like this everywhere you go.

You might see four or five homes in a row that have completely been destroyed, completely leveled. Then you might see some houses right next to those homes that are completely intact.

Obviously, such a random event in terms of what catches fire with these flying embers. They just choose homes indiscriminately. The winds kicking up once again today, Heidi. We were told by one firefighter that there's really nothing they can do as long as these winds continue. This fire is going to keep pushing west, it's going to push all the way until it reaches the ocean, unless there's some sort of break with these heavy, heavy winds, Heidi.

We're looking at 5,000 more homes threatened today. And as you mentioned, 1,000 homes already burned here in San Diego County. We're looking at what could be an unprecedented wildfire for this area -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Dan Simon standing by there in San Diego County to give us a picture of how things are looking there. And they are not looking very good.

Dan, thank you for that.

Want to move up the coast even further now. Vince Gonzales is standing by to give us an idea of what the situation is in northern Los Angeles County.

We have been hearing an awful lot about several different fires in the area where you are. Most importantly perhaps, Vince, and the biggest fire to talk about is that Ranch Fire, which now I believe is about 54,000 acres. Is that correct?

VINCE GONZALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's actually gone up quite a bit since then now, Heidi. We're still waiting on some more exact figures. Fire officials are holding a briefing for their officers and they're going to get back to us, but it's grown in size quite a bit.

They've been moving several units there. We've seen engine companies going past us on this road, heading to that fire because there are homes threatened, there are evacuations called for in that area.

We're right now on the edge of the Magic Fire. And just a few minutes ago, we had fixed-wing aircraft hitting this entire ridge with water, knocking out the fire.

We were here overnight and the entire ridge line was lit up orange with high flames. It slowly moved down out of the hills. And as soon as the sun came up, those winds have abated some here. That's the good news.

They got those planes up, they've been hitting these hillsides about every 10 minutes now, and it's really stopped the fire from coming down to the road and crossing another ridge where there are homes. But that's the good news.

The winds have let up, and that has let the helicopters and the fixed-wing aircraft here get in the air, because they do have those three fires that you mentioned here. And the fear is perhaps those could merge. And that's really a dangerous situation, especially when fire officials tell us they're not sure if they're going to get any more resources to help them here. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. BARRY PARKER, VENTURA COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: We realize that resources, because they are so short, we're not planning on getting more equipment. So we have to use our limited amount of resources very carefully, very strategically. This is almost like surgery, to do structure protection, simply because we just don't have enough equipment out here in California right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GONZALES: And that goes for every fire up here. Up in Malibu, they've pulled some units off that fire to move them down south, even though that fire grew overnight to about 3,800 acres and they lost some containment on it.

They were at 10 percent yesterday. Now they're down to 8. And these winds that are gusting, even though we have gotten a little bit of a break, they are gusting from time to time. The fear is, once we hit dusk today, they'll kick up again and it will be another long night for firefighters -- Heidi.

COLLINS: And it's so scary, Vince, to hear when you talk to those fire officials say that, you know, they've got about 600 firefighters fighting the largest one that you just mentioned, the Ranch Fire there, but they usually have about 1,500 for a fire that size. Boy, everybody really, really stretched thin here.

CNN's Vince Gonzales in northern Los Angeles County.

Vince, thanks so much for that.

Want to go ahead and take a look at the latest numbers now on the southern California fires. Take a look at this.

A state of emergency has been declared in seven California counties. More than 400 square miles have burned. More than 300,000 people have left their homes. Many of them, unfortunately, will have nothing to return to.

More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed just in San Diego County alone. One person has been killed. About three dozen have been injured.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Meanwhile, we want to bring up these pictures that you have been seeing on the side of your screen there coming in to us from Orange County, California. Our affiliate there, KABC, showing you some of the very active flames and obviously a whole lot of smoke.

There are several fires that are burning in this area. Most notably, the Santiago Fire, which last report we had -- and, again, these numbers continue to change, as I'm sure you've noticed this morning -- was about 15,200 acres, 30 percent containment. But that was 8:30 last night. And certainly over the evening, things have changed considerably.

So we will be looking to get the latest information on this one in particular. We just wanted to show you yet another view and another portion of southern California that is being threatened, obviously, here today.

Meanwhile, there is a way that you can help. The victims of the wildfire ravaged -- being ravaged in southern California, take a look at that there. You can impact your world.

Go there to the Impact Your World initiative by getting to CNN.com/impact. And you can take action now. Several different ways to do it, if you just check it out online.

Meanwhile, fire is on the horizon, but still, it's so hard to leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been here 36 years. And I think I'm going to stay until it's right there. Then I'm on that, my quad, down the highway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Some people watch the skies and wait to go. Our California wildfire continues after this.

Meanwhile, another danger in southern California to tell you all about. Jacqui was just talking about it moments ago. There are health effects from the smoke. And now our Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a closer look.

Some good news, though. The space shuttle Discovery up and away. A picture-perfect liftoff for the first time in HD right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: I want to take you back to the story we've been following all day long, all morning long. Just a devastating situation in southern California.

These live pictures coming in now from the Orange County area. We told you a little while ago about the name of the fire there that they're most concerned about, the Santiago Fire. That is the latest situation, at least by way of air. As you look down at the smoke and the flames, still, obviously, very active.

Just a few moments ago, we were able to get in some sound from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was in San Diego, sort of taking a look at the damage and talking with local officials there.

Let's go ahead and listen in to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Well, I think the assistance is the important thing. I think what you see here is the locals, the state and the federal government working together, really being coordinated, because I think they've learned from the past, that if they're not coordinated, you can't really help the people.

And we are very coordinated. Everyone is making a great effort. There's lot of volunteers that are here, there is -- all together in the state of California, there's over 6,000 firefighters that are fighting with thousands of trucks and equipment.

We're getting a lot of equipment and manpower also from other states, from surrounding states. So everyone is working together, including law enforcement and so on. And it's important to pay attention to both, the fire-fighting activities and also the people that are being evacuated, because like I said, there's 325,000 people that have evacuated right now.

We have to pay attention to, do they have food, do they have the diapers for the babies, do we have enough toilet paper, do we have enough water for drinking, do we have enough cots and blankets and pillows and so on? Do we have enough medical attention for the people that are vulnerable citizens, that are older, that need medical attention and so and so?

All of those things that we have to pay attention to. And that's why I'm here. I'm a hands-on guy. And I inspect all of these things to make sure that all of this is there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm sure a lot of people appreciate you. Thank you so much, Governor. Thank you. I know you have to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger talking there from San Diego. He had asked for an emergency disaster declaration in order to get some federal assistance, and got that from the president. And also some military assistance, which we also have learned has come his way for his state by the way of the Marines and the National Guard, who have gotten in on this to help battle those flames.

Also, California Congressman Duncan Hunter asked the defense secretary for help fighting the fires. And it is on its way, specifically the C-130s that can drop the fire retardant in quarter- mile strips, very effective in this type of fire-fighting.

Earlier this morning, we had a chance to speak with Representative Hunter in San Diego.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), CALIFORNIA: Yes, that's an excellent response. They're coming in fast.

In fact, General Bloom (ph) started these tankers before he got the final request. It has to go down threw the bureaucracy. And naturally, it's got to go through three or four agencies.

But Governor Schwarzenegger made the -- made the -- triggered the request yesterday. That got -- that went to the incident center.

COLLINS: Right.

HUNTER: Then it's got to go to Northern Command, finally the National Guard. But General Bloom moved out, got these units ready to go. And the first ones are in the air right now and will be here at 2:30.

COLLINS: Talk to us about the people of your district, though, Representative Hunter. What exactly do Dan Diego residents need most right now?

HUNTER: Well, you know, I think if you -- you want to describe the people of San Diego County, I think there's one word that describes them really well -- character. They've got a lot of character.

You know, we send off the U.S. Marines and the U.S. Navy through our big port here to go out and protect freedom around the world and protect our freedom. And we're used to having to sacrifice and, you know, our spirit is we rebuild.

And I'm here with a lot of folks that have now lost their homes here in the north part of my district. After I get finished here, we're going to drive over. I'm going to check in with my wife. We just got the final permit to move into the house we rebuilt from the last fire.

COLLINS: Unreal.

HUNTER: So our canyon was closed yesterday because a fire was approaching. We'll see what happens.

COLLINS: Yes. And just so people understand, it was the 2003 Cedar Fire that you lost your home in.

You are the right man, it seems, to be going around and talking to people who are going through that same experience. What will you tell them?

HUNTER: Well, listen, I'm going to tell them, you know, look at your family. That's what's important in life. It's not -- it's not the sticks and the mud and the brick. It's the family.

And I would say that also to people who are thinking about evacuating right now in some of the canyon areas in San Diego County. Get out early. Get the family out.

I had to send my marine son in to drag my wife away from getting the last possessions out last time. You've got to get out and you've got to get out before those flames get close. So, use a wide margin of error. Get out early. Care about the family and don't try to get that last couple of pieces of possessions. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Terrific advice there.

California wildfires, the greatest losses, as we've been saying, in San Diego County. The latest numbers are just absolutely staggering.

CNN's Kara Finnstrom is there now with those numbers.

Kara, tell us what you know at this point.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the mayor is saying that, in his estimate, as many as 1,000 homes just in the San Diego area may be lost. They still need to confirm those numbers. They need to get up in the air, but it just gives you some idea of the massiveness of this disaster.

If you take a look behind me, you can see one of the homes that has been completely burnt to the ground. You can see the remains of a motorcycle over here, an ironing board over there. And that gives you an idea of the tremendous personal loss that these families are going to suffer, and the rebuilding of lives that's going to need to take place from here.

And at this point today, from what we understand, there are still 5,000 more homes in San Diego that are in danger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just left the house, because it's more important, our lives, than the house. The house can be replaced, but our lives can't.

FINNSTROM (voice over): Three hundred thousand people have been forced out of their homes as Santa Ana winds continue to fan 14 out- of-control wildfires.

For many, the danger arrived with little warning.

SEAN MCGOUGH, EVACUEE: We grabbed our cat and the boys and woke them up out of bed and grabbed some of our personal belongings, pictures, memories, and threw them in the car as quick as we could and got out of there.

FINNSTROM: Officials say 1,000 homes have been destroyed, most in San Diego County. And the number keeps rising. Evacuees waiting to return home know it's possible they'll find out their homes are gone.

Among those who lost everything, nurses who helped to evacuate patients at a local hospital.

ANDY HOANG, POMERADO HOSPITAL SPOKESMAN: Some of our nurses have lost their homes. And it's just been an incredible, incredible experience for all of us. We are a family here at Palomar Pomerado Health. Our nurses, a couple of them, have lost their homes and they continue to work around the clock.

FINNSTROM: Firefighters, National Guard troops, even Marines are struggling to contain the blazes. Just as important, says the mayor of San Diego, are the volunteers bringing comfort to evacuees.

MAYOR JERRY SANDERS, SAN DIEGO: Any help we can get at Qualcomm Stadium, which will probably grow today in population because of some of the things going on in south county, then we can use that help.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FINNSTROM: Now, today is going to be a critical day for these firefighters. The red flag warnings persist, actually, into this afternoon. That means the high winds, the hot temperatures, the dry conditions all there, all the ingredients for the perfect firestorm.

So firefighters will be really working hard to keep these fires at bay. The good news, Heidi, is that on Thursday, they believe these winds will actually blow offshore and that firefighters may get the break they've been calling for from Mother Nature, where they can in, do the real grunt work, and hopefully get these fires somewhat under control.

COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. That's what we've been hearing here. Hopefully, they'll be able to get through this day and the next, though it is a tough, tough fight.

Kara Finnstrom live for us this morning -- this afternoon, I should say, now 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, coming to us from San Diego County. Really the worst and hardest hit area in all of this.

Meanwhile, though, we do have some good news to share with you today. The space shuttle Discovery up and away. In fact, a picture- perfect liftoff.

We're live from Kennedy Space Center coming up next.

As the flames race across southern California, though, fire crews are trying desperately to save homes. For hundreds of families that effort is just too late.

As we head to break, images of the fire from our CNN I-Reporters.

Our coverage continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It's 12:30 Eastern Time. I'm Heidi Collins. YOUR WORLD TODAY is not being seen in this regular time slot so we can continue our coverage of the Southern California wildfires and what pictures we have been getting in from all over the area.

This one we want to show you our I-Reporter John Dowdy, coming our way from Carlsbad, California. Now look at this. It looks like snow, doesn't it? It's actually ash from the Witch & Rice fires in San Diego County. That Witch fire, we have been telling you about for quite some time. Absolutely huge, it is the biggest one. Apparently, last we checked, is moving north and west.

In fact, a new fire sparked up in that area overnight that firefighters are very concerned about; and about 145,000 acres right now being fought in that area.

He actually took that photo from his balcony. He is under voluntary evacuation still there in his home at this time.

Live pictures coming to you now from a different area, Orange County, California. You see the flames still very, very active, and that thick, black smoke just gathering all the fuel that it can. It's just so available to these flames because of the dry, dry conditions and also the warm temperatures along with that wind. You can tell, by the way that smoke is just blowing. You've seen such similar pictures over the past several days.

Hoping this situation is going to change, but according to our meteorologists here, it looks like another day of this, and Thursday could possibly bring some of those onshore winds that will provide the moisture to help knock down these flames.

Really, really a lot to handle for the firefighters who are on the scene of all of these different fires.

We're hearing about 14 different fires across southern California to be battling right now, about 5,600 firefighters in all. Certainly, as we heard from the mayor in San Diego moments ago, they could really use more firefighters. In fact, they could use more fire trucks as well. And, obviously, donations that they need for who knows how many. But we have been hearing in between about 6,500 and 10,000 people who are seeking refuge at a shelter that has been set up at Qualcomm Stadium in the San Diego County area.

Also, people being told to stay at home, stay off the freeways, and in fact stay off of their cell phones so all of the emergency crews can use those lines and get people what they need.

Meanwhile, if you are in Southern California, we would love it if you would share your pictures with us of what's happening. You can send in a CNN I-Report. Show us the flames or how you're protecting your home or perhaps what you and your family are doing to just get out of there. There are two ways to send an I-Report. On your computer, go to cnn.com and click on I-Report, or type I-Report at cnn.com into your cell phone.

You can share your photos or video with us that way. But of course, please be careful and certainly don't put yourself in harm's way to do this.

I want to take a moment to get to some one who is on the phone with us. A Red Cross spokesman, H.T. Linke. He's coming to us from Mira Mesa High School, in San Diego, to tell a little bit more about what's going on there.

Thanks for being with us. I know that the Red Cross always steps in and really tries to provide people with at least a little bit of what they need in a situation like this.

VOICE OF H.T. LINKE, SPOKESMAN, RED CROSS: Absolutely. That's what we're doing here. We have this shelter at Mira Mesa high school, four other shelters open in the county. Right now, I'm standing in the middle of a food line. There's just been an amazing outpouring from the community of people bringing the food here, for people to eat. This shelter has about 1,200 people here. They're waking up now, and they're coming to the food line, trying to get some breakfast. They've had a long and probably in some cases a less than fully comfortable night here. But at least they've had a place out of the cold, out of the storm, out of the fire, a safe place to be with their families.

COLLINS: And you know what, H.T., as we're talking to you, some good news to report here. We're showing some live pictures of fixed- wing aircraft flying overhead, hopefully being able to provide some fire retardant over, above some of these flames. Coming in to us from Lake Piru, California. We always like to show that, when we can see the aircraft flying overhead.

What are people saying where you are? I imagine the emotions have got to be running very, very high.

LINKE: They are. You know, there's a certain calm, in some respects. But there's also high anxiety. People have had to walk away from everything they have on very short notice and they've come to the shelter. Of course, their concerns are, when can I go home? Will my family and I be safe here? And what about people in other places, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of friends and family in other places, that don't even know where I am? So, we're trying to help them with all three of them.

Put them in a safe place. We can't tell them when they can go home, but we're trying to make them as comfortable as possible while they're waiting to go home. And we're trying to connect them to our Safe & Well Web site, which is an offshoot of Redcross.org. So they can register and let their family members or friends in other parts of the country know that they're alive, that they're safe and that they're in a Red Cross shelter.

COLLINS: Is it possible for people who are with you in that shelter to use cell phones from that location? Or are you able to provide them with some type of phone communications so they could possibly talk to family members?

LINKE: Many of them have come here with their own cell phones. In fact, I'm standing next to a lady who is charging her cell phone in the other half of the socket that I'm using. All they have to do is call 1-800-Red Cross, and they can register there on Safe & Well. If they absolutely don't have a cell phone, we'll find one so they can make that call and get registered. We want their families and friends to know where they are.

COLLINS: So, quickly, if they call that 1-800-Red Cross and they register, then other family members are able to call that same number, and find out if your loved one is on your list? LINKE: They can call. Or even easier they can go online to Redcross.org and there is a place where they can search for a friend or loved one who is affected by the fires.

COLLINS: OK, very good. We certainly appreciate your time with all of this. We know how busy you are. I'm sure people there very much appreciating your assistance. H.T. Linke with the Red Cross, doing all that he and his organization can do at Mira Mesa High School. That is in San Diego County. One of the many shelters that have been set up for people of Southern California.

You can watch continuing coverage of the wildfires ravaging California all day long right here on CNN. And when you're not in front of the television, you can still check out our online network, CNN.com, live. Just log on to CNN.com/video, for live feeds from the fire scene.

Also ahead, the space shuttle Discovery, up and away, a picture- perfect liftoff. For the first time ever we had it HD. Pretty amazing pictures. We'll show them to you in a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Shuttle Discovery on its way to the International Space Station, right now. A picture-perfect launch, it happened a short time ago. And CNN's Space Correspondent Miles O'Brien is live at the Kennedy Space Center. We're going to go ahead and check in with him to get more on how it all happened.

Actually, we will have it in a minute. We're going to take a quick break and we will be back. Don't miss this. Because this was the very first time we were able to broadcast a shuttle launch in high definition, absolutely beautiful. We want to make sure you see those pictures.

Let's check -- oh, there you go! We're going to take a break as we look at these pictures. We'll be back right here in the CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Shuttle Discovery on its way to the International Space Station as we speak. A picture-perfect launch just a short time ago. CNN's Space Correspondent Miles O'Brien had a front row seat to it all. Live from the Kennedy Space Center now.

Hey, there, Miles. It was beautiful.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: The only thing better than high definition is actually -- live definition, as in being here. So, it was nice to be here. It was nice, also, to share with our CNN viewers for the first time a high definition picture of the Space Shuttle Discovery launch.

Take a look at it. It happened just a little while ago, about an hour ago. Watch as "Discovery" launched to space. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a go for main engine start T minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Booster ignition and liftoff of Discovery, hoisting harmony to the heavens and opening new gateways for international science. Discovery has cleared the tower.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Houston now controlling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger, roll "Discovery".

O'BRIEN: Mike Currie (ph) there, the public affairs officer here in Florida, referring to harmony. "Harmony" is an important docking node for the International Space Station. Heidi, you can think of it as the wheel in the tinker toy, the piece to which the sticks connect.

It's an important node, which later this year, if everything goes successfully on this mission, a Japanese and European laboratory will be attached to it, thus fulfilling obligations that NASA, pledged when it first got into this International Space Partnership years ago; sixteen nations, in all, building this space station.

This mission, over two weeks, will include five spacewalks. That is unprecedented for a shuttle mission to the space station. And it's a little piece of history. It is commanded by retired Air Force Colonel Pam Melroy, the second woman to command a space shuttle. Eileen Collins is the first, you saw her here during launch time, helping us understand what was happening with the shuttle.

She will dock at the space station, which happens to be commanded by another female astronaut, Peggy Whitson. So, a little space trivia here, but an indication that, at long last, women are finally getting into positions that they deserve to be in, in space.

The space shuttle has seven crew members in all. They will be involved in the space walks, which are incredibly complicated and a lot of choreographing as they move some solar arrays to the proper place, attach that node to the space station, and conduct a very, very tight timeline, trying to complete this operation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: So far, though, everything has gone off without a hitch, Heidi.

COLLINS: And you know what, Miles, when it gets really complicated and there's a really tight deadline, you just have to call in the girls. I really like how that all pans out.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely. If you want to get it done, I have no doubt, this to do list will be done in space.

COLLINS: Me either. All right. It's very exciting. Glad you were there for it. Wow, very cool pictures coming our way for the first time in high definition. Thanks so much. CNN's Space Correspondent Miles O'Brien today. We want to get you more information now on the California wildfires. We'll have that for you when CNN NEWSROOM continues.

Another fire danger in Southern California, too, the health effects of the smoke and breathing in that air you are looking at right now. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be taking a closer look, in just a moment, here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to get you back to the situation we have been following all morning long, and into the afternoon now, the Southern California wildfires. And we're going to do that by talking with Holly Crawford. She is with the Office of Emergency Services in San Diego County. Obviously, this is the hardest hit area.

Holly, if you can hear me, tell us a little bit about the evacuation situation. I know Southern California has some mandatory evacuations going on, and many of them are still voluntary at this point.

HOLLY CRAWFORD, OFC. OF EMERGENCY SERVICES, SAN DIEGO CO.: Yes, they are. What I can tell you between the city of San Diego and the county of San Diego, we have we have initiated 346,915 calls to this point, to various households with either advisory or mandatory evacuation notices.

We're currently calculating exactly how many people that represents. We know that it's more than 300,000 people. So, it's a significant portion of the population of San Diego County that is affected by these devastating fires.

COLLINS: OK, then that's quite an update. Because if you've made 350,000 calls, as you say, that's clearly going to be more than 300,000 people, which we had last reported here.

Tell me the difference, if you would, between advisory and mandatory?

CRAWFORD: Well, you know, the good thing, if there is a silver lining, is that we have really been able to get ahead of these fires and warn people in advance so they're able to protect their lives, and get out in time for the vast majority of the population.

Some people we've called and said be prepared to evacuate. We're advising you to evacuate. That has been, in some instances, in some communities followed up with a mandatory evacuation. In other words, you need to get out right away.

COLLINS: If you get that advisory call, it's very likely you could be getting a mandatory call later. How has it been going? Have people been heeding these warnings pretty well?

CRAWFORD: For the most part, they have. I think we've been able to get the message out pretty well. We experienced a pretty significant fire back in 2003 in San Diego County. To give you an idea of the difference, that was one of the largest fires back then ...

COLLINS: Yes, the Cedar Fire.

CRAWFORD: ...in our community's history. That involved evacuating 50,000 people. So, this is -- this is huge. It's immense for our community. I think everyone is working together very well. If you've heard from one of our largest shelters, which is Qualcomm Stadium, people are really working together as a community. Things went fairly smoothly there last night. We have support from the National Guard at that location and community -- the community is really pitching in, in terms of volunteering and bringing in supplies as well.

COLLINS: Yes, well, boy that is absolutely terrific to hear. You're getting some help from the Marine Corps, as well. Anything you can get, I imagine, is exactly what you're looking for. Holly Crawford, talking to us from the Office of Emergency Services, San Diego County.

Holly, thank you.

We want to get over to Jacqui Jeras right now, in the Weather Center, to talk a little bit more about these wind conditions.

Jacqui -- and we talked earlier about air quality, too. Both, obviously, major concerns.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. The next three plus hours, Heidi, are going to be very critical. Doppler Radar and also weather observations are indicating some very strong winds aloft. And we think that as temperatures heat up now over the next couple of hours, that helps to mix up the atmosphere a little bit. So that is going to start to bring those stronger winds down. They'll be chunneling on through those canyons and passes. And we'll watch those wind speeds and gusts pick up, very likely.

So our most critical part of the day, today, is now upcoming. Once we pass say, 3, 4, 5 o'clock, we'll start to watch some improvement. Hopefully it won't be too bad as we head into the afternoon hours.

I want to show you this satellite imagery. We laid over the smoke plumes, along with what we call the heat signatures. All these little flames you see here, that is a heat signature that we're detecting from space. So, it really covers a very large part of extreme southwestern California. There, you can see the winds blowing the smoke plumes well into the ocean. So, just incredible, how many people are being affected by these strong winds and the smoke.

Now, we talked about air quality. Let's switch our source here and show you the air quality issues that we've been talking about. This next image I'm going to show you comes from the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, and their Air Now program. These dots and this image shows you the smoke and air quality from yesterday afternoon, from the three-hour average. So, over three hours, at its peak, these red dots all over the place. You can see how localized they are near the fire areas, is where air quality was unhealthy for everybody. And you can also see it was moderate north of the fire areas, even north of the Malibu area.

So air quality today is going to continue to be a concern. The tips you can do is stay indoor, keep your air conditioning on. Circulate air within your home. Don't intake that outside air. Don't you do your dusting today. I know you're bored, and you're sitting at home. Watch CNN. Don't dust, don't vacuum, because that kicks up the all the particles and is really bad for allergy sufferers and asthma sufferers. Even if you don't suffer from that, you're feeling it out there today -- Heidi.

COLLINS: No question. Everybody is going to love your advice on not dusting today. I'm sure. Jacqui Jeras, thank you.

As Jacqui was telling us about the fires and effects on people's health certainly a concern today. Our Chief Medical Correspondent Doctor Sanjay Gupta takes a look now at the dangers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): There are lots of health effects when it comes to these wildfires. We're learning about them, seeing some of them firsthand. Certainly there are people who are more at risk. Children, older people, people with existing health problems.

But take a look at this image here. As you look at that plume of smoke on the left is the normal, on the right, you see all that smoke there. That can obviously cause a lot of short-term and long-term problems for just about anybody out there. The long term, obviously, you worry about things to exacerbate asthma or emphysema.

But in the short-term, besides the eye irritation, and the irritation to all you mucousans (ph), your nose and in your throat, you can also get significant swelling of your airway. And this is something that doctors will pay special attention to, if someone comes into the hospital, who has had a lot of smoke inhalation, they have to make sure they can breathe OK on their own, at the time, and a few hours, a few days from now, as well. The airway swelling can take some time to develop. That's something doctors are really going to pay attention to.

There are a lot of people, as I mentioned, at particular risk from all this smoke inhalation. People with congestive heart failure, people with a history of pulmonary disease, more specifically, emphysema and asthma.

In case you're curious, you'll see a lot of images of people wearing those masks that sort of cover your nose and your mouth. What we're hearing and learning is that most times those masks really don't work. Just because the particle matter you see in the air is smaller than what the mask can filter. A lot of those particles still getting into the nose and mouths of those people suffering through that smoke in out there in Southern California.

Best bet, is to stay indoors. Not always easy, I understand, for people out there. But burn centers are now full, hospitals trying to take care of patients as they're coming in from both the fire and the smoke. We'll stay on top of the story over the next several days, for sure. We'll have a lot more on the health aspects, in particular.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: CNN's Doctor Sanjay Gupta with those health effects. Need to watch out for all of that today if you are in Southern California. Meanwhile, CNN NEWSROOM continues with Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon in just a moment, continuing coverage of the raging wildfires in California.

I'm Heidi Collins. See you tomorrow at 9:00 Eastern right here in the NEWSROOM.

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