A look at Breaking News, politics and reports from around the world. Things he did 12 years ago. Paul manafort worked for me for a very short period of time. He worked for many other republicans. He worked for me for, what, 49 days . A very short period of time. And the prosecution wrapped up its first witness today. That was democratic consultant tad divine. He worked with manafort in ukraine. They expect to call two other witnesses tomorrow, another consultant as well as an fbi agent. And of course, this isnt the only trial manafort faces. His d. C. Trial is set to start in september, all the while, hes still in jail for allegations of Witness Tampering while he awaits these other trials. Thank you. Jessica schneider reporting. Tonight, President Trump is on the Campaign Trail as he embraces a new line of defense against the Mueller Investigation. Mr. Trump now echoing Rudy Giulianis argument that collusion is not a crime. Of course, this is the same president who frequently denies there was any collusion with russia in the first place. Lets go live to our chief white
threatening to shut down the government to make congress pay for a border wall, insisting thats a very small price to pay and tweeting, i dont care what the political ramifications are. Even fellow republicans are leery of a shutdown with the midterm elections fast approaching. I kind of see it as posturing, to be honest with you. An irresponsible thing to do, i think. Mr. Trumps Border Policy is coming under increasing scrutiny with them admitting to congress that separating children from undocumented migrants equals child abuse. Its a potential for traumatic injury to the child. One of the president s fellow hard liners on immigration, john kelly, appears to be sticking around. Sources confirm the president has asked kelly to remain at his post until 2020, though cnn has learned the Chief Of Staff wanted the story leaked to tamp down reports that he could be on his way out. Mr. Trump arrived in florida with the Upcoming Elections on his mind, throwing his support
behind rob desantis. Build the wall. He reads stories. Then mr. Trump said youre fired. Desantis appears in a new ad teaching his children how to build their own wall. And a show of big league flattery. Big league. So good. The white house closed out the month of july without holding a briefing for reporters today. That means the white house has held only three briefings for the press this month and eight total since the end of may. Theres no other way to describe what the white house is doing right now, the white house from the president on down, theyre hiding from the press, we should point out, over the last hour or so, this crowd has been very rowdy. Coming after us, telling us to go home, but were not going home. Were going to stay right here at the rally and do the news, report on his rally coming up tonight. Good for you. Thanks very much. Thats exactly what youre posed to be doing in a country that appreciates a free press. Jim acosta on the scene for us in tampa. Joining us now, senator
richard blumenthal. A democrat who serves on the judiciary and Armed Services committee. Thanks so much for joining us. Thank you, wolf. So Paul Manafort, the trial has now started. The administration insists this has nothing to do at all with the 2016 Trump Campaign, even though he served for a few months as the Trump Campaign chairman. Whats your response to that . The judge has said that neither russia nor President Trump are on trial, true. But the stakes couldnt be higher for the president here and for the Special Prosecutor as well because obviously, this trial is a critical step, a milestone, in the Special Prosecutors pursuit of both possible conspiracy and collusion with the russians by the Trump Campaign, but also Obstruction Of Justice by the president of the United States. How important is rick gates testimony . He was manaforts deputy for a long time. He stayed on working for the Campaign Even after manafort left. Hes pled guilty. Hes cooperating. Hell be supposedly one of the star witnesses. He will be a star witness. And he has given both the Judiciary Committee and other committees in congress critical information that indicates that he has very compelling evidence against Paul Manafort and the Defense Strategy is going to be to put him on trial. To try to make him the defendant, which is a classic strategy. But does he have kwauberating evidence to back him up . There are more than 400 documents that are going to corroborate his testimony, and they can challenge him. They can put him on trial, but crossexamining a document is very difficult to do. Particularly when it relates to financial crimes, tax fraud, and money laundering, and other kinds of fraud where there is a huge amount of money. Were talking Tens Of Millions of dollars. The president is now echoing his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and saying collusion is not a crime. What does that say to you . That says to me that theyre once again playing semantics. Theyre trying to use word games. Collusion, whether its called that or an illegal agreement, amounts to conspiracy when it involves an agreement to violate the law. 18 United States code, 371. If there is an illegal agreement, whether it is by the center or one of the spokes on the wheel, its a classic Jury Instruction that no defendant has to know all of the purposes of the conspiracy or all of the actors in the conspiracy. If the president was part of a conspiracy, hes violated the law. Lets talk about Michael Cohen for a moment. The president s former fixer and lawyer. He says donald trump jr. Actually told his father about that trump tower meeting in New York City with the russians in advance. But thats not what we hear, what donald trump jr. Told your committee, the Judiciary Committee. Is that right . That is correct. And there is mounting evidence that donald trump jr. Misled or even more likely, perjured himself before our committee and possibly other committees because he denied telling his father about that meeting before it happened. Remember, this meeting was critical. It was the meeting in trump tower that was supposed to be the opportunity to get dirt on Hillary Clinton from Natalia Veselnitskaya and other russian agents, and if he is correct, Michael Cohen, and donald trump, father, knew about this meeting beforehand, it certainly is very compelling evidence. Because if you lie before a congressional committee, even if its Behind Closed Doors, thats a crime. It is a crime, and donald trump jr. Is in increasing jeopardy of being prosecutable for that kind of crime. Its interesting you say that. Yesterday, i interviews steve cohen of tennessee, a member of
the house Judiciary Committee and he predicted that donald trump jr. , Jared Kushner, both of them will eventually be indicted by manafort. They have increasing exposure here, and the evidence is increasing not only in the amount of evidence but also the credibility because for Michael Cohens contention that the president knew beforehand, theres other kinds of evidence as well that corroborates Michael Cohen, which further increases the jeopardy for donald trump jr. You agree with Congressman Cohen that both donald trump jr. And Jared Kushner potentially could be indicted . They have serious exposure, and it could well happen. Lets talk about facebook for a moment. You heard today they have removed a bunch of pages because of allegations, suspicion that foreigners, russians particularly, were involved in spreading disinformation to foment dissent here in the United States, to foment division in the United States, similar to what russia did during the 2016 president ial
campaign. How concerning is this to you right now . Its deeply concerning. But unsurprising, wolf, because the director of National Intelligence told us a week or so ago that the Warning Lights are flashing red. We know from the briefings we have received that the russians have continued their attack on our democracy. Its not only in the social media. Its also in cyber. Today, i introduced two bills on a bipartisan basis with senator graham and senator whitehouse. Aimed at Election Integrity and also countering this cyberattack increasing the penalties for cyber crime, enabling the Justice Department to stop bot net attacks. We need an all of government response. What were seeing from the administration is exactly the opposite. They are not yet even implementing all of the sanctions that we passed almost unanimously in the senate some time ago. I am a cosponsor of the deter act. My colleague Chris Van Hollen of maryland talked about it a little while ago on your show. Very important that we heighten sanctions and also there are other measures that we can and should take. On another really important issue, you heard testimony from representatives of the house of the administrations Homeland Security department. They testified before the Homeland Security committee up on capitol hill. And they gave various explanations why more than 700 children are still separated from their mothers and their fathers. What was your takeaway from hearing that . I found that these explanations, the attempt to explain the continued separation of the children, absolutely outrageous. And incredible. The most moving and powerful part of that testimony today in response to questions i asked was one of the Career Officials told me and the committee that it was the result of a deliberative process, that
actually took account of the pain and trauma that would be inflicted on these children. That career official, jonathan white, testified that the highest levels knew about the concerns that he and other Career Officials raised about this policy. So the explanations have been totally unsatisfactory. And from the day that i went to the border, which was now six weeks ago, there has been no plan, no system to reunite these children. It amounts to official kidnapping. And child abuse. And i should say these Homeland Security officials testified before your Judiciary Committee in the senate today, and a lot of people emerged very, very disturbed by what they heard. Senator blumenthal, thanks so much for joining us. Just ahead, well have more on Paul Manaforts trial and what it may reveal about Robert Muellers strategy as his Russia Investigation moves forward. And well also have a full report on facebooks discovery. Dozens of fake accounts likely linked to russians. Is it 2016 all over again . My car smells good. Repeat of moscows 2016 Election Interference here in the United States is already under way as the midterm elections near. Our Senior Investigative correspondent drew griffin is joining us right now. Drew, these fake sites seem pretty familiar. Almost identical, wolf, to what russian actors did during the runup to the 2016 campaign. Set up fake inauthentic accounts. Gather a bunch of followers, then spread disinformation, fake protests, all aimed at Twieding Americans against each other. Facebook calls it inauthentic behavior, and though facebook cant be sure, it sure looks like russia again. 32 pages with names including black elevation, resisters, being followed by 290,000 accounts. The fake accounts also setting up and promoting real events and protests aimed at further polarizing u. S. Political discourse. Many of the events did occur, including this one last year in New York City, attended by actual americans who likely had no idea that the resisters Facebook Page was probably run by russians. Another event by the same group was supposed to take place in a couple weeks. Resisters set up a counterprotest against White Supremacists at the white house august 10th. Five other real groups signed on to participate. As facebook was announcing its crackdown on these potential russian sites, the u. S. Secretary of Homeland Security was at a Cybersecurity Conference saying theres no doubt Russia Meddled in the 2016 election. Everyone and everything is now a target. And russian actors may be at it again. Comparing the upcoming midterm elections to a looming storm. But today, i believe the next major attack is more likely to reach us online than on an
airplane. Were in a crisis mode. The cat5 hurricane has been forecast. And now we must prepare. Facebook says these current pages all shut down have the hallmarks of the activities the russians did around the president ial election. Though there are some differences, this time the pages didnt lead back to russian i. P. Addresses, and they used thirdparty services to buy ads to boost their posts and encourage people to follow the pages. Wolf, in addition to taking these pages down, facebook is reaching out to anybody who is in contact with them, telling them these inauthentic accounts are most likely russians. We have contacted some of them, wolf, and they are just stunned to find out. These are american citizens surprised to find out that these rallies they attended were most likely organized by possibly russian actors. Hundreds of thousands of followers out there, very, very worrisome, indeed. Drew griffin, good reporting. Thank you. Just ahead, Paul Manaforts
defense. Can his legal team shift the blame to his former partner turned witness for Robert Mueller . And well go to the scene of the California Wildfires as the Death Toll Rises and the destruction reaches historic proportions. How can we say when you book direct at choicehotels. Com you always get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed . Lets say it in a really low voice. Carl . Lowest price, guaranteed. Just stick with badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com
where fungal infections are common. Or if youre prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for Heart Failure or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding or paleness. Dont start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. Since enbrel, my moms back to being my mom. Visit enbrel. Com. And use the joint Damage Simulator to see how joint damage could progress. Ask about enbrel. Enbrel. Fda approved for over 18 years. Now under way. In Opening Statements, prosecutors said manafort had 30 Foreign Bank Accounts he hid from u. S. Authorities, but manaforts lawyer said the Defense Plans to blame his longtime Business Partner rick gates for the crimes which manafort is accused. Lets dig deeper with our correspondents and analysts, and jeffrey toobin, youre our legal analyst. Paul manaforts defense Attorney Says the secret bank accounts, thats just the way the russian oligarchs with whom he was doing business, they wanted to operate. That may be true, but you still have to pay your taxes. Thats the problem that Paul Manafort has. I dont really understand how theyre going to make the argument that blaming the russian oligarchs for his failure to pay taxes. Blaming rick gates certainly is classic Defense Strategy, which is when you have two partners, one of whom pleads guilty and cooperates against the other, the remaining one on trial blames the person who cooperates. Thats certainly what manafort is going to do. It doesnt always work. In fact, it usually doesnt work. But it is a classic and very appropriate Defense Strategy. Gloria, the president s team is trying to distance this entire manafort trial from the campaign, but these ukrainians with whom manafort was working and collected about 60 million, they were very prokremlin, proputin, prorussian folks in ukraine. Viktor yanukovych, the leader of ukraine at that time, was a close ally of putins. Is that argument going to work . Well, when he was out of power, the spigot dried up for Paul Manafort. He wasnt getting all that money anymore. Look, the bottom line here, wolf, is that if muellers team is successful in this trial, then it will be very good for bob mueller and not very good for anyone who is calling this a witch hunt, because what the white house cannot deny, and again, this trial is not about
russia. It is about Paul Manafort and the way he allegedly laundered money and didnt pay taxes, et cetera, et cetera. But it gives mueller, if he were to succeed in this, or if manafort at some point during the trial could decide to cut a deal, then it does give muellers investigation an awful lot of credibility. And what you cannot erase is that for five months, Paul Manafort was in charge of Donald Trumps campaign. Its not as if they didnt know each other. Its not as if i have been told they were never particularly close, by the way. I dont think trump ever particularly liked him, but he did work for trump. So you cant erase history like that. That is not what this trial is about. And he worked very effectively in getting the delegates at the Republican Convention onboard so that trump would get the Republican Party nomination. David, how do you see all this
trial unfolding . Yeah, look. Manafort is innocent until proven guilty, but as i heard joey jackson say in your last hour, federal prosecutors dont get to this stage without thinking they have a pretty good case, and at a minimum perception wise, it looks very bad for the predto have had someone as his Campaign Chairman, even if it was, as he says, for a short time, be this swampy, forget the criminal aspect for a second. Someone who made his name, manafort, whipping votes at the Democratic Convention for gerald ford winds up being a guy whose primary deal is working for yanukovych, a prorussian oligarch in ukraine. I think that this is going to, you know, not look good for President Trump. One more fact about this trial. Today alone, they did all jury selection, Opening Statements for the defense and the prosecution, and tad devine, the first witness. Tad devine, a prominent democratic usually political consultant. This is the rocket docket. This case will not take three weeks. It may not even take two. We also have the question during the convention how the platform was changed to be more proukrainian, and the question of manaforts influence over that. So that does affect donald trump and the campaign. Its interesting, caitlin, as you know the president has been saying for months and months and months, there was no koolution, no collusion. Now hes going one step further, echoing Rudy Giuliani and saying, you know what. Collusion is not a crime. What does that say to you . It shows theyre shifting their defense and recalibrating once again. You can remember the old days back a year and a half ago when they insisted there were no contacts between anyone on their campaign and any russian officials. Then when we found out there was overwhelming evidence there were contacts, then they shifted to theres no collusion. Now theyre shifting to collusion is not a crime. So we have seen them time and time again shift their defense. And as far as to the white house over the next few weeks and over the days of this trial playing out, theyre going to try to
downplay the role that Paul Manafort had with their campaign, but the one crucial thing, the one crucial contact with the russians they had was that trump tower meeting that Paul Manafort attended. If he had this really lowly role and his only job was to count delegates, there were no delegates in the room that day when they were meeting with russians officials. It raises the question of why would he attend such a meeting if he was a lowly Campaign Official with no power. I dont know what you think of this, jeffrey, but if their argument had been all along that collusion was not a crime, they would have a better argument now against an Obstruction Of Justice charge, but to have all along said Nothing Happened and then to possibly be investigated for Obstruction Of Justice, its like, well, if your argument is shifting to collusion is not a crime, why were you all along saying there were no crimes. In fairness to the trump team, they have said from the beginning that collusion is not a crime. Theyre just putting new emphasis on that argument now. Jay sekulow, one of trumps
lawyers said months ago that collusion was not a crime, but to have Rudy Giuliani say it one day and have donald trump tweet about it the next day certainly suggests that argument is taking new salience for and the reason one suspects is because the evidence of collusion is out there, and they want to diminish its importance. And collusion by another name would be conspiracy to defraud the United States government, which is sort of the mantra they have been using against the russians who had been indicted. So collusion, conspiracy, whatever you want to call it, conspiracy is the actual crime. And dont forget, you have had guilty pleas here. So its not as if george papadopoulos, who worked for the campaign, et cetera, et cetera, or allegedly worked for the campaign because the Campaign Said he was a coffee boy, but you know michael flynn. Michael flynn, for example. Gates has flipped. You know, its not as if they can say none of our people met, spoke with the russians. The question of roger stone is still hanging out there. So you know, its not as if they havent they havent gone through a bunch of people and said, yeah, you know what. You did talk to russia. Yeah. You wanted to Say Something . Well, we have also just seen how yeah, thats right, how they changed their strategy, what they have said. Also just going back to the president himself, everything he has said about Paul Manafort, just a few days ago or earlier this month, was saying Paul Manafort had a very small role, did not much in the campaign. Theyre taking that same strategy there in trying to apply it here. But this also comes as there is fresh scrutiny about whether President Trump was aware of the meeting in trump tower or if he gave donald trump jr. The clearance to go ahead with that meeting which mikan cohen is now alleging that President Trump was aware of it. That raises the question, if bt President Trump did give donald trump jr. The permission to go to the meeting and try to solicit information about Hillary Clinton, which donald trump jr. Has made clear was what he thought he was walking into the meeting to get, that is
the question, and we know that is what the Special Counsel is looking into. You know, lets get to some exclusive new reporting from cnns erica orden. I want to read a couple sentences of what shes just breaking right now. Potentially significant, the Special CounselRobert Mueller has referred a collection of cases to new york federal prosecutors concerning whether several highprofile american lobbyists and operatives failed to register their work as foreign agents, according to people familiar with the matter. She writes the transfer of the inquiries marks an escalation of muellers referrals to the u. S. Attorneys office for the Southern District of new york in the period since he turned over a case involving President Trumps longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen. The names are significant. Since the spring, mueller has referred matters to the Southern District of new york involving longtime democratic lobbyist tony podesta and his work for his former firm, the podesta group, and former minnesota republican representative vin weber and his work for mercury
public affairs, the sources said. One source said the former Obama White House counsel, greg craig, a former partner at a law firm, is also part of the inquiry. What does all this say to you . The first thing is its not clear that any crime was committed here and whether these people will be prosecuted for anything. This is not good news for them, to be sure. And i think its indicative of Robert Mueller trying to clean the decks a little bit. Not wanting to keep his office in business indefinitely the way some independent counsels did. That anything that is not directly related to his core assignment, he is trying to give to the Justice Department and have those people investigate. But even though, as i said, its not clear that any crime was committed here, if i were any of those people, i would be extremely unhappy to hear that. Interesting. Republicans and democrats. Thats right, and the concern so far with allegations from the white house have been that Robert Mueller is not this
republican, even though he is a republican, the president has been very clear to allege that he only has democrats working for him, that hes out to get him. But this is a witch hunt against the president and his supporters. But clearly, heres Robert Mueller referring both of these cases, essentially trying to get out of the way, and not increase his scope of his investigation, which also shows that hes operating on a Straight Path here and not trying to make it this Giant Investigation thats going to go on for years and years and years. Thats what republicans are charging, which is that hes run amuck, but by farming things out, including one could argue, Michael Cohen, for example, he is saying, you know what. Im going to stick to my knitting. I have to investigate russian hacking. Im going to investigate potential collusion or conspiracy to defraud the government or Obstruction Of Justice, whatever it is. But i cant do all of this. And then the Southern District of new york may decide, you know what. We dont prosecute these cases of failing to register as a
lobbyist. Maybe well fine these people. As you point out, none of these individuals has been charged with anything. Its unclear if they will be charged. Tony podesta, by the way, the brother of john podesta, the Campaign Chairman for Hillary Clinton. Stand by because theres more Breaking News were following now. New details emerging of what the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been privately telling u. S. Senators about the Russia Investigation as he makes the rounds up on capitol hill. Our senior Congressional Correspondent manu raju has been working the story for us. Manu, what are you learning . Yeah, how Brett Kavanaugh views the Mueller Investigation has been a big question Going Forward as hes made the rounds on capitol hill, and of course, that huge implication for the president and his associates. I have been told that Brett Kavanaugh has privately relaid to senators that he believes the Justice Departments appointment of a Special Counsel is appropriate. Now, this is significant because he has expressed skepticism in the past about whether a
president can be indicted. He continues Behind Closed Doors to say that he believes the properly role is for congress to impeach and remove a sitting president and after a president is removed from office, thats the time in which a former president then could be hit with criminal charges, and hes expressed some concerned about an independent counsels constitutionality and about the Supreme Court precedent unupholding independent counsel. An independent counsel like ken starr, for Who Cavanaugh Works is different than Robert Mueller. They operate on separate guidelines from the Justice Department, but there are serious questions about whether or not he views the Mueller Investigation just as skeptically as he views the independent counsel. Now, what were learning for the first time that hes telling these senators that he believes it is okay for the Justice Department to name a Special Counsel, but wolf, i am told hes stopped short about saying the Mueller Investigation is
constitutional, so thats still a question that members are going to have to ask him at his confirmation hearings. For the first time, were getting a glimpse into his view about something that could be very significant Going Forward if hes confirmed to the Supreme Court. Very significant. If he is confirmed to the Supreme Court, any indication about how he would deal with the subpoena compelling the president to testify before the Mueller Probe . He has not broached that subject. Thats one area that, of course, members still have a lot of questions. And of course, the president s legal team has said they may fight a subpoena if it were to come to that. So another question that he could face on the high court, wolf. Breaking news up on capitol hill. Manu, thank you very much. Just ahead, after President Trump touts progress with north korea, there are now some signs the country may be building more intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Plus, Breaking News. 20 people now reported missing as the deadly wildfire grows in Northern California. You always pay your insurance on time. What good is your insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Has its suspicions. Tonight north and south Korean Military officials meeting for fresh talks at Panmunjeom On aimed at reducing tensions just as Satellite Imagery shows north korea could be building new liquid fueled Ballistic Missiles according to the washington post. This despite the Trump Administrations hope that north korea would give up its Nuclear Weapons following the singapore summit. For intelligence analysts, the critical question is what has north korea been up to in the weeks since then . What were seeing with the intelligence leak as well as the unclassified Satellite Imagery is a continuation of production as well as even the expansion of Production Facilities for fissile material for Nuclear Weapons. Reporter there is no signs conservatorship is heading toward shutting everything down. Despite these underground nuclear test tunnels being destroyed and some limited dismantlement at a satellite launch site. The top Intelligence Officer said days ago it is classic north korean tactics. Im not surprised the north koreans might be trying to hide some things to be deceptive. Reporter the top u. S. Military officer in the region also warning recently north korea may still be producing nuclear fuel for war heads. We havent seen a complete shutdown of production yet. We have not seen the removal of fuel rods. Reporter if there are new liquid fuel Ballistic Missiles, several u. S. Officials say its not all that concerning because liquid fuelling take long enough that Spy Satellites can see it and offer early warning. The larger u. S. Intelligence concern advanced solid fuel missiles can be fired in surprise. The way ahead now has slowed. We have no rush for speed. The relationships are very good. So we will see how that goes. We have no time limit. If we have abandoned timelines, abandoned the pressure, it seems to be that the Trump Administration has embraced the obama administrations policy of strategic patience. The longer the negotiations drag out, the Less International resolve there is. Reporter now, the most important intelligence to gather may be Communications Intercepts and eavesdropping on kim jongun and his top lieutenants so the u. S. Can try to figure out exactly what they are up to. Wolf. Barbara, what are you learning about the remains of u. S. Service members killed during the korean war that were just sent back to the United States . Well, those will be arriving in hawaii. And it is about 55 sets of remains. The north koreans say the u. S. Is trying to determine exactly what is in those box has the north koreans turned over. We do know today there was only
one dog tag from the korean war as part of the remains. Its not at all clear yet, is it a u. S. Dog tag . Is it from one of the allies that fought with the u. S. During the war . Its witness of the indicators that it may take years to identify everything that the north koreans have turned over and try and bring closure to those families, wolf. Barbara, thank you. Barbara starr at the pentagon. We are also following Breaking News. 20 people are now reported missing as that giant wildfire ravages parts of Northern California. Cnns nick watt is in redding for us. Nick, the fire has now burned an area larger than the city of denver, and the loss clearly tremendous. Update our viewers. Listen, wolf, across the state of california right now we have 17,000 homes under threat from flames. More than a dozen wildfires burning in the state. Now here in Shasta County the carr fire, this is now the worst fire this county has seen since
records began way back in 1923. 170,000 square miles have burned here. As you mentioned, 20 people currently listed as missing. Six people confirmed dead. This apocalyptic blaze is eating through thousands of acres of forest, so large its visible from space. The flames have destroyed more than 800 homes and counting. Those statistics are stunning. But the personal stories hit hardest. You could see the flames in your Rearview Mirror as you were driving away . Yes, that was the terrifying part. It was like a wall of fire. It was like a train. It had a noise. I thought i was in a sciphi movie. Driving away from a home you may never see again. Thats what happened. Lots and lots and lots of memories. They are gone. I mean everything is gone. Everything . Everything. What did you manage to save . I have two rubber maid tubs
that i threw some stuff in. Some scrubs for work. Reporter a nurse. Shes back at work already. I actually felt better yesterday than i had in a long time because i was at work and i felt like i had a purpose. Right. This was her home before the fire. And this is all thats left ofity stacey kellys house, rubble and a few kmared trees. In fact her entire called sarks six houses, all completely destroyed. Then if you look just across the street, the random nature of wildfires, another house, still standings. I just feel empty. I dont know. I dont know. I dont think i will rebuild that house. I dont think so. The fire swept lieu the west side of redding. Population more than 90,000 and through Rural Communities to the north is west. A country girl. I grew up in the woods. My dad is a logger. Reporter like many who attended a town meeting here in
redding, janet from ranch gulch, population 492, lost everything. Its when your head hits the pillow and you remember your home. And you remember my great grandmothers rocking chair, and the things your children made you you know, when they were little. Reporter the town hall was largely residents thanking First Responders for saving lives, but so many worldly possessions lost to the flames. My husbands dead. And all of his artwork is gone. I dont care that the George Foreman melted. I dont care that i need a knew refrigerator. I do care that i lost my grandmothers thimble. Those are the things i care about. Reporter this fire is 27 contained. They aret treeing efforts up in
the northwest part of the fire. The air quality is bad. Flames can fly. Lets switch to another camera shot that shows the devastation back here in redding. This was a neighborhood of this Northern California town. One other very sobering statistic. Of the end ten biggest wildfires in california history, four of them have happened in the past year alone. Awful situation. Totally awful. Nick, thank you for the report. I want to bring in meteorologist jennifer gray. Weather clearly a major factor in this fire disaster, right . Its the biggest factor, really. And really, nothing is going to change until the Weather Pattern changes. And we dont think thats going to happen until sometime next week. We have this ridge of High Pressure thats creating this heat dome over the west. You have incredible daytime heating. You have very low humidity. So you have the hot air, the dry air, and a a lot of wind. And it is just fuelling these flames. Heres the forecast for redding
over the next couple of days. You see temperatures in the triple digits. No chances of rain. We are going to have the sun out. And we are going to have the flames still working their way across the west. Temperatures are going to be in the triple digits for tuesday and wednesday for a lot of areas in the west. You look at the win. We really dont have this huge area of strong win. But what you have to remember is that the winds inside of these fires can be much, much stronger than the wind outside. So it creates almost like its own Weather System where we have these huge pyrocumulus clouds. Winds of 60 and 70 miles per hour. They can shift on a Dime Making It very, very dangerous for the firefighters. And you cannot outrun the fires when you get stuck in areas with wind that strong. It is very dangerous. We have 98 large active fires in the west right now. As mentioned before, carr fire is number seven right now, most