A rapidly growing wildfire has forced evacuations and road closures. Well talk to officials there on the ground trying to get word out to residents right now. And also developing this morning, a suspicious fire at a houston mosque is under federal investigation after officials discover multiple points of origin. Was it arson . Was it a hate crime . Youre in the cnn newsroom. 9 01 straight up right now. And so good to have you with us. Im christi paul. Im errol barnett. In this weekend for Victor Blackwell. Good to be by your side. Thank you for getting up early on a holiday weekend. All righty. Listen, lets get to the breaking news out of california, first of all. A wildfire is raging out of control. Mandatory evacuations in place now. Highways are closed. The 1,000acre blaze is ramging near ventura. Officials say the fire is uncontained. At this moment, parts of the 101 freeway and the Pacific Coast highway, these are major arteries in this part of california. They are shut down. Look
Reports of a top syrian rebel leader killed in an airstrike. Who he was, what this means to the war on isis. Your new day starts right now. Happy saturday to you. Im kristi paul. Im Errol Barnett in for vict victor black well. We want to deal with this unrelenting weather the region hit by a tornadoes outbreak earlier this week, now, look at these pictures were getting in. Drenched with double digit rain totals. Terrible flooding in some parts. Were talking 14 Million People today facing new Severe Threats. More than 22 million tomorrow overnight the death toll from this weeks tornado disaster did go up. At least 15 people are now confirmed dead. Dozens more are injured. Good morning, kristi, some of the states battered by this brutal string of storms the last couple days hit hard again overnight. We are talking mississippi, georgia, tennessee and alabama to those states affected. Reporter Severe Weather batters Southern States, parts of alabama, at least 20 inches fell in less than 24
killed at least eight people in the state. many roads are flooded, and some people are dealing with rising water in their homes. in mississppi, victor and tamika hale watched as their home of ten years was overtaken by water. the lawn mower, the trailer, it just floated away, garbage can, everything gone. it happened so fast, we had to get up and get out of there. the rain was coming way too fast. reporter: the couple and their 9-year-old son now homeless and staying with relatives. it s discouraging. we lost everything. my child, he didn t get none of his christmas items. of course, we have to remember the victims, the youngest is reported to be just a 7-year-old boy in mississippi. two people still unaccouted there in the state. many more displaced. several had to stay the night in a shelter. imagine spending your christmas like that. if you are feeling generous and want to help these people out, if this story impacts you, go to cnn.com/impact and contribute to those affect
in georgia, the rain damaged roads and made driving treacherous. and in mississippi, flood warnings and relentless rain add more misery to areas already devastated by tornadoes that killed at least eight people in the state. many roads are flooded, and some people are dealing with rising water in their homes. in ren, mississippi, victor and tamika hale watched as their home of ten years was overtaken by water. the lawn mower, the trailer, it just floated away, garbage can, everything. it happened so fast, we had to get up and get out of this. the rain was coming way too fast. reporter: the couple and their 9-year-old son now homeless and staying with relatives. it s discouraging. we lost everything. my child, he didn t get none of his christmas items. our thoughts and prayers especially with that family right there. and everyone affected, really, in the southern united states. the good news here, the storm prediction center has said that the risk for violent weather has dropp