Transcripts For FOXNEWSW Shepard Smith Reporting 20181113 :

Time for everybody to ramp down the rhetoric. Plus, word of a recording that could link the killing of the Washington Post columnist to the Saudi Crown Prince himself. Its as close to a smoking gun as youll get. Reporting starts now. Shepard and we begin with the wildfires raging in the American West including the deadliest and most destructive inferno in california history. A fire in Northern California now blamed for at least 42 deaths after roaring to life in predawn hours while many residents lay asleep turning communities into ash. And the notice from authorities that like yesterday, more than 200 people are still officially missing. Search crews report finding bodies in burned out cars, in burned out homes and even on front steps. This was once a whole row of mobile homes in the town of paradise. The only things left, metal beams and cinder blocks an piles of molten metal and many dealing with the reality some of their homes and neighbors are gone. In paradise our neighbors didnt make it out. We watched cars melt and people screaming hair on fire. I dont know how we got out. It was two lanes going out and burning and exploding. Everybody has such a normal life everywhere but here. Everybodys just going to work and the sun is shining and our lives and our world is not. Shepard thats Northern California. To the south, a flareup west of los angeles around malibu. Firefighters racing and bracing for another round of santa ana winds also known as the devil winds. Hot, dry and powerful gusts that can whip embers from the ground into a fire storm. Officials say the fire here has killed two and burned hundreds of structures. In malibu aircraft have dropped fire retardant painting them pink. One family said they watched two homes burn to the ground on live television. We have team fox reporting. The chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt from malibu and claudia hunt reporting from the town of paradise first. Reporter from the ruins of what was the paradise and some encouraging news to report. The fire is now 30 contained and crews have kept it from advancing towards a city of 19,000 people. Here in paradise the cleanup is underway and theyre clearing away debris so power can be restored and evacuees can come back. No time frame for that though. Could be after thanksgiving. At the same time, more than search teams are shifting through ashes searching for remains and looking for bodies and looking for vehicles in driveways and roads and we heard where a car got stuck in front and all the people perished and 52 evacuees wait out with friends and shelters and mall parking lots have become tect tent cities with survivors sharing stories of how they escaped the flames. A couple days later we made it through and the cars in front of where we stopped were all on fire. Guardrails were gone and people were driving crazy zipping back and forth without looking. Reporter the president today has been expressing his sympathies an last night declared a federal disaster freeing up federal funds to help with the recovery and tweeted his support for the firefighters an families. And the impact of the fire extending far beyond the city of paradise. Toxic smoke is affecting millions of californias and even forcing School Closures in oakland nearly 180 miles away. Shepard. Shepard Claudia Cowan and breaking now another fire has reemerged. You can see the plane dropping fire retardant over the Lake Sherwood area and the fire just flared up this morning. In fact in the last hour, hour and a half. Theres brand new evacuation orders as the previous ones had been lifted. For most of us in the country putting ourselves mentally in this position is hard to do. Most of us for most areas of the country have never been in the middle a complete fire storms where in every direction flames rage and theres no way out or where neighbors have died in their homes or while sitting on their porches but thats the reality in Northern California and its what theyre trying to prevent now in the south. Team fox coverage continues and our Team Correspondent Jonathan Hunt from the windswept hills in malibu outside l. A. Reporter the city of malibu remains sealed off. Tens of thousands of people evacuated and anxious to get back home. I imagine it will be at least 24 hours when they are allowed to return and when they do, this is the heartbreaking scene that awaits many families. The iconic chimeny stack often the only thing standing and left standing a beach cruiser left the saddle left melted to some extent but otherwise intact. As we come along here what was presumably the office area of this particular home filing cabinets scorched and everything in them lost. Vehicles the same, shep. Just completely scorched, completely destroyed. And i think its easy to think of malibu as an area of millionaires an mansions, well, it does have that too but this is the street i lived on a decade ago. This is where i lived when my youngest daughter was born and the street i taught my eldest daughter to ride a bike and a dozen homes are gone and many live in these ranchstyle homes and hard working americans far from the celebrities malibu is often associated with and those ordinary americans are coming back to this kind of devastating scene. Its going to be heartbreaking for so many families over the next few days and weeks, shep. Shepard i had no idea, jonathan. Whats it like for you being there now . Reporter you broke up slightly there. I think you were saying you had no idea i lived here and whats it like . Its heartbreaking. Theres a guy on the corner, his home is no longer there. I dont know where he is. He used to come out and help my oldest daughter, jordan. You know her well. This is where i taught or the ride a bike and he used to come out and encourage her and clap if she got on two wheels. His home is completely destroyed. I hope he got out. I believe he got out but i dont know. I have other friends who live across the way here. Ive been down to check on their homes and theyre thankfully okay and theyre home has not been touched but so many people have suffered so much and its important to emphasize these are not millionaires. These are ordinary americans in very simple homes. Many have lived here for decade and took the homes over from their parents. They were here when it was just country side before any celebrity discovered malibu and now they have nothing left. Shepard very sad, the best to them. Recounts, believe it or not, are exceptionally rare in america. Fewer than 1 in 100 races every require a recount and rarer is a recount that changes the results. That said, the recount is Going Forward in florida. And well take you there as reporting continues this tuesday afternoon and an astounding new report coming from the white house. Thats later. Smile dad. I take medication for high Blood Pressure and cholesterol. But they might not be enough to protect my heart. Adding bayer aspirin can further reduce the risk of another heart attack. Because my Second Chance matters. Be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. After a scratch so small rocket you could fix it with a pen. How about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead . For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise their rates because of their first accident. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. The nations largest seniorliving referral service. For the past five years, ive spoken with hundreds of families and visited seniorcare communities around the country. And ive got to tell you, todays seniorliving communities are better than ever. These days, there are amazing amenities, like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars, and bistros, even petcare services. And nobody understands your options like the advisers at a place for mom. These are local, expert advisers that will partner with you to find the Perfect Place and determine the right level of care, whether thats just a helping hand or fulltime memory care. Best of all, its a free service. There is never any cost to you. Senior living has never been better, and theres never been an easier way to get great advice. Call today. A place for mom you know your family, we know senior living. Together well make the right choice. Very high triglycerides with diet and exercise deserves the hard work that went into the Science Behind vascepa. Prescription vascepa. Vascepa, along with diet and exercise, has Proven Results in multiple clinical trials. Vascepa looks different because it is different. Over a decade of Extensive Research and development achieved Proven Results. Thats the prescription power of vascepa. Vascepa is not right for everyone. Do not take vascepa if you are allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. Tell your doctor if you are allergic to fish, have liver problems or other medical conditions and about any medications you take, especially those that may affect blood clotting. 2. 3 of patients reported joint pain. Ask your doctor about what the Science Behind prescription vascepa can mean to you. Amarin thanks the clinicians and patients who participated in the vascepa clinical trials. Shepard the thrilling look that is almost yubiquitous insie the tv box at the Broward County canvassing board thingamajig where the vote continues. Race for governor and senate are still undecided. The state set thursday as the deadline to complete the recount but palm beach reports it will not be finished in side and a judge said, ramp down the rhetoric. Were outside the thrilling election place in lauder hill. Hello. Reporter just minutes ago a major milestone for Broward County. They just completed tabulating all the ballots that were put in early. Now, they have to get to the vote by mail ballots and all those from election day and the early votes which they just completed equals about 300,000 votes. Thats almost equal to all that cast on election day. All the ballots remain in bins. This is inside the building behind me under tight security under the watchful eyes of sheriff deputies. Every ballot once counted will be stored in a tightly secured room after the recount is said and done. Still to be recounted, votes by mail on election day, like i said, deadline of 3 00 p. M. Thursday. We will complete the recount. Theres never been a deadline we dont make. The senate race very title. Senator bill nelson behind me and governor rick scott and the votes are. 15 and he spoke in the senate floor from an office in d. C. This process is about one thing, making sure that every legal ballot is counted and protecting the ride of every floridian. Reporter meanwhile in miamidade more populeous theyll make sure to make the count. Shepard no election has every been overturned with a margin this large by more than 17,000 votes. Now theres a senate runoff. The Republican Center Cindy Hyde Smith running for a full term under scrutiny for a comment she made putting the states troubled history of race and politics back in the spotlight. Her opponent is the Democrat Mike Espy and served as agriculture secretary for president bill clinton and trying to become the states first black senator since reconstruction. Heres the comment causing the controversy. Its from the second of the month but just coming forward. Senator hydesmith was campaigning and how she described her loyalty to a supporter. The phrase, public hanging on the front row is especially loaded in the state of mississippi. The naacp said there were more than 700 lynchings in the United States between 1882 and 1968 and more happened in mississippi than in any other state, about 18 in a state where the Current Population is nearly 40 black. Senator hydesmith issued a statement that she didnt mean anything negative and an exaggerated expression of regard and added she will not speak of the incident again and has not. Trace gallagher reports on the state of the race. Reporter shepard, records show African American women and teenagers were among those lynched and the naacp has come down hard on the comment calling it sick and going on to stay, quoting to envision this brutal and degenerate type of frame during a time when black people and jewish people and immigrant are still being targeted by while nationalists is hateful and hurtful. When hydesmiths component was first asked about the comment on cnn he deflected saying we need leaders to bring us together but later his campaign called hydesmiths comments reprehensible saying theres no place in our political discourse. In mississippi and our country we need leaders not dividers and her words shows she lacks the information and judgment to represent the people of our state. As for hydesmith, she accepted an endorsement from the national right to life president and asked repeatedly about her comment. We put out a statement yesterday and we stand by the statement. Can you expand why you said it and what you meant by it and why people in the state should not see it as offensive . We put out the statement yesterday and its available and we stand by that statement. Reporter that Statement Reads quote, in a comment on november 2 i referred to accepting a speaking engagement and any attempt to turn it into a negative connotation is ridiculous and one person said the controversial comment could have been phrased better but meant no offense and has no ill will in her heart. Shepard in georgia, folks are still waiting to find out who their next governor will be. A federal judge last night ordered the state to wait until at least this friday, friday at least to certify any results. The democrat, stacy abrams, sueded for more time to get the votes counted. Shes fighting to become the states first black woman governor and its so close it could go to a runoff. Her opponent has declared victory. Were reporting live from atlanta. Reporter democrats are celebrating a series of federal Court Rulings in their favor. Just today a judge blocked Elections Official in guinet county because voters failed to write their birthday or got it wrong. It follows a separate ruling for a goodfaith review of provisional ballots for voters flagged because of issues with their voter registration. Brian kemp is a fraction of a point above the 50 flesh hold to win outright. Abrams hopes to get enough votes to force the race into a december 4 runoff. She needs to vet 12,000 votes with provisional ballots from democratic counties she can get part of the way there but brian kemps campaign doesnt believe theres enough ballots outstanding to bridge that gap even if she gets all the votes. Reporter they accuse abrams of using the courts to steal elections an the abrams camp accuses them of trying to suppress voters. Shepard ahead the latest on lawsuits involving the trump administration, cnn suing the white house over the suspension of the White House Co correspondents press tab and the fight over one attorney general. Thats next. I am a family man. I am a techie dad. I believe the best technology should feel effortless. Like magic. At comcast, its my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. My name is mike, im in Product Development at comcast. Were working to make things simple, easy and awesome. Shepard 25 minutes past the hour now. And new information coming to us a brand new instant happening today. President trump facing the first lawsuit over this temporary pick to run the Justice Department. The state of maryland is asking the judge to declare Matthew Whitakers appointment illegal. The president tapped him as the acting attorney general after Jeff Sessions was forced to resign. The white house said the appointment is legal. Andrew napolitano has disagreed. Our correspondent Catherine Herridge reports. Reporter it allows the president to make a temporary appointment. No question the president and the department of justice leadership has confidence in matt whitaker. He has a full and Legal Authority under the vacancy reform act of 1998 where senior whos been where someone thats been a senior official can act as attorney general. Reporter theyre looking at whether he had the authority to make the department because whitaker was called a senior or principle officer. Yes, within certain limits. However, the question is whether he also qualifies under the constitution. Thats a closer call. Whenever you get something not settled youll always have this run of unintended consequences from it. Reporter and this morning the state of maryland filed these court papers challenging whitakers appointment as acting attorney general. The legal challenge comes as part of an existing obama care related lawsuit and heres the key quote, the appointment of whitaker as acting attorney general instead of Deputy Attorney general rosenstein violates the succession act as well as the appointments clause of the constitution. The state of maryland is seeking an injunction in the case. Whitaker is consulting with ethics officials at the Justice Department and we could get a legal opinion at some point today and the Justice Department is declining to comment on the maryland suit for now. Shepard Catherine Herridge report from washington. New today, the first lady is calling for a top security aide to be fired. Saying the aide no longer deserves the hon