i mean in carr fire, next to the mendocino fire, we saw a tornado drop down in the middle of that fire and reaching speeds of 143 miles per hour. and causing so much damage. we ve not seen that kind of activity to that level before. and this really is now a year after year where we have maybe never seen maybe 100,000 or 150,000 acre fire, maybe once every several years. we are now seeing this every year. you re citing climate change as the primary culprit here. as you note president trump tweeted about this and he said the fires had been caused by the lack of free flowing water coming from the north and said it s being magnified by bad environmental laws. what do you make of that? actually it s a really a distraction from what we re focusing on, fighting the fire. there s plenty of water to fight
you see a tornado. a very rare thing to happen. we saw a tornado go over what was a 12,000 acre fire. you can see the 416 fire that has been burning for several weeks now. it s about 41% containment. we still have an exceptional drought taking place across the u.s. in fact, over 38 large active fires burning out of control across western portions of of the united states. breezy, low humidity, high temperatures, all fuel for the flames across this area. the potential exists for more fire activity. and we focus in on southwestern california where temperatures are really going to skyrocket this week. record heat expected for the weekend as a heat dome sets up over this area. and it s not going to be just the inland region. this is going to extend all the way to the coast including the greater los angeles reejb. inland temperatures, get this,
we need to draw a line in the sand and say none of it is okay. franken set to take to the floor soon for a major announcement. or so he says. don jr. tells house investigators he went to hope hicks when reports of his meeting with the russian lawyer surfaced. but he invoked attorney client privilege when pressed on conversationings with his dad. in my view, there was no attorney/client privilege that protects a discussion between father and son. maybe because neither father nor son nor hope hicks were lawyers. and california burning. hundreds of homes burned. citizens racing for their lives. as a 100,000 acre fire envelops the golden state. our whole lives were wrapped up in that house. everything. it s all gone. we begin this morning with al franken set to make a major announcement on the senate floor. amid new sexual misconduct
just to give you an idea. engine 11 where captain goodwin and his team are from is on the other side of los angeles. we have a 55,000 acre fire burning up in ventura county fire. that s the thomas fire where units from throughout the state are also and it s not just these two. i think we ve got at least four, possibly five, maybe more fires burning simultaneously throughout southern california. it s been a very, very dry last couple months out here. and even though we re in december and this morning the temperatures dipped into the 40 degree range, you got massive widefires through the area. quickly before we go, how about you? your family? your house? okay? reporter: that s nice of you to ask. i grew up not too far away from here, actually. just a little bit over this mountain towards the pacific ocean. my family s okay. my wife, my son are okay not too far from where the brave men and women from engine 11 are coming over here from. stay safe. so, so sorry to see this
sun is about to rise on the west coast and we have a situation. the wildfires that are getting worse by the day. live pictures now. this is los angeles and the neighborhood of brentwood. a lot of nice homes here, a nice neighborhood east of the 405 freeway along mulholland drive. if you ve followed stories out of l.a. over the years you ve familiar with this part of los angeles. 50 acre fire with winds of 25 miles per hour. it s not the size of the blaze but rather what they re dealing with as it relates to homes in this residential area. this is growing by the hour and we ll see what kind of help they get from mother nature or no help at all. jonathan hunt has been all over the story all night long and into the day today. when we check in with jonathan a bit later this morning we ll let you know how they re doing. some of these backfires have been set trying to get the flames under control to keep them away from the houses. there is a lot of concern right now in los angeles.