Thousands flee as wildfires ravage northern California; 11 killed

Thousands flee as wildfires ravage northern California; 11 killed

At least 11 people were killed and more than 100 others were injured on Monday as massive wildfires swept through parts of California, destroying 1,500 residences and buildings, authorities said.

Firefighters were battling 17 fires across multiple counties around the state as of late Monday night, authorities said. Intensified by strong winds, the fires charred about 90,000 acres of land, destroyed at least 1,500 buildings and forced nearly 20,000 residents to evacuate.

St. Joseph Health said about 170 patients have been treated, many for burns and smoke inhalation, at three of its hospitals, including two in Sonoma County, where at least seven people died of fire-related injuries. The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said the number of fatalities could increase. Authorities have received more than 100 phone calls to report on people who were purportedly missing, according to one Sonoma County official.

Officials with the California Highway Patrol described one of the dead as an elderly woman who was blind and hard of hearing, according to ABC's San Francisco station KGO. The woman was found dead in the driveway of her home in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, according to the officials, who suspected that she may have been trying to escape the flames when she she died.

Details on the other victims have not been released yet.

Two of the largest blazes, dubbed the Tubbs and Atlas Fires by authorities, burned a combined 52,000 acres of land in Sonoma and Napa counties.

In Anaheim, 1,000 firefighters were mobilized to fight a blaze that burned an estimated 6,000 acres and destroyed at least 24 homes and businesses. At least 3,000 residents were evacuated in and around Anaheim and more than 5,000 structures were threatened by the flames.

Las Vegas shooter booked hotel overlooking Lollapalooza, seen with mystery woman

Las Vegas shooter booked hotel overlooking Lollapalooza, seen with mystery woman

Here's the latest on the investigation into the Las Vegas shooting:

� At least 59 people, including the shooter, died after Sunday night's mass shooting at a Las Vegas music festival.
� The motive remains unknown, but police say the attack was "obviously premeditated."
� The gunman, Stephen Paddock, may have planned to escape the scene.
� A note authorities found in Paddock's hotel was not a suicide note.
� Paddock visited several music festivals in the Las Vegas area.
� Paddock booked hotel rooms in Chicago in August overlooking the Lollapalooza music festival.
� Paddock was seen gambling for eight hours straight on the night before the shooting.
� Paddock was seen with another woman, who was not his girlfriend, in the days before the shooting.

Suspect may have visited other music festivals

Officials briefed on the investigation into alleged Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock told ABC News that Paddock booked hotel rooms in Chicago in early August during the Lollapalooza music festival. One of the hotels where he had reservations was the Blackstone on South Michigan Avenue, across from Grant Park, where the annual event took place.

The Chicago Police Department said in a statement Thursday, "We are aware of the media reports and have been in communication with our federal partners. As you saw earlier this week the city conducts extensive public safety planning and training around major events, in close coordination with our law enforcement partners, to ensure public safety."

A source with the Chicago Police Department confirmed for ABC News that Paddock had reservations at the Blackstone hotel.

However, a spokesman for the Blackstone told ABC News in a statement today, "We can confirm that there was no guest under [Paddock's] name who stayed at our hotel in August during the Lollapalooza music festival. We are cooperating with the authorities on this matter."

It's unclear whether Paddock traveled to Chicago at that time.

Officials briefed on the investigation also told ABC News that Paddock may have visited several music festivals in the greater Las Vegas area over the past several months. All the venues are believed to have been within driving distance of Las Vegas.

Paddock is also believed to have made regular trips to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino starting Sept. 3 and through the rest of the month. He was known at most of the big casinos on the Las Vegas Strip because he was a major player who visited the casinos a lot, the officials said.

Investigators are also looking into whether Paddock tried to secure a room at El Cortez Hotel and Casino, at the opposite end of the Strip from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, on the weekend that the Life Is Beautiful music festival took place, from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24, the officials told ABC News.

During the Wednesday news conference, Lombardo confirmed that Paddock rented a room that weekend at the Ogden hotel in downtown Las Vegas. Authorities have recovered items and surveillance video from when he stayed there, Lombardo said.

Paul Buck/EPA
ing at the Route 91 Harvest festival on Las Vegas Boulevard in Las Vegas, Oct. 2, 2017.more +

Paddock also searched for hotels near Fenway Park in Boston, though there is no indication that he traveled there, sources briefed on the investigation told ABC News.

The Boston Police Department said in a statement today, "We are aware of the media reports referencing a Boston connection to the Las Vegas mass shooting incident that occurred on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. The Boston Regional Intelligence Center is in contact with our local and federal law enforcement partners here and in Las Vegas and continues to monitor the situation. There is currently no known threat to the Metro Boston homeland security region related to this incident."

Meticulous planning preceded 'premeditated' shooting

As investigators delve deeper into how Sunday night's massacre in Las Vegas unfolded, more chilling details have emerged about the suspected gunman and how he carried out the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Authorities said Paddock opened fire on a music festival crowd from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, killing 58 people and injuring 489 others � a decrease from original reports, after officials double-checked numbers. More than 22,000 people were attending the final night of the Route 91 Harvest Festival when gunfire erupted.

The shooting lasted nine to 11 minutes, with the first reports of gunshots beginning Sunday at 10:05 p.m. PT and the final shots being fired at 10:15 p.m., authorities said. It's believed that Paddock was the sole shooter in the attack.

Senate leader: Twitter presentation on election interference 'deeply disappointing'

Senate leader: Twitter presentation on election interference 'deeply disappointing'

A leading figure in the ongoing probe of Russian election interference slammed social media giant Twitter on Thursday for what he considered a lackluster response to Congressional investigators.

After three executives from the company met with leaders on Capitol Hill, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters that Twitter�s presentation to investigators was �deeply disappointing.�

�Their response was frankly inadequate on almost every level,� Warner said. �I'm more than a bit surprised that anyone from the Twitter team would think that the presentation they made to the Senate staff today even began to answer the kind of questions we'd asked. So there is a lot more work they need to do.�

In a statement released after the meeting, Twitter revealed that it has identified 201 accounts linked to the Russian-generated Facebook activity that Congressional investigators say was part of a broader effort to influence the 2016 election. All those accounts, the company said, have been removed.

The company also noted that the state-owned Russian media outlet RT, or Russia Today, paid to promote 1,823 tweets that �definitely or potentially targeted the U.S. market.�

�The notion that their work was basically derivative based upon accounts that Facebook had identified showed enormous lack of understanding from the Twitter team of how serious this issue is, the threat it poses to democratic institutions,� Warner said.

Twitter isn�t off the hook just yet. Warner said today�s meeting highlights the need for an open hearing on the issue, and Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told ABC News that leaders still have a lot of unanswered questions.

�I think we�re only really beginning to understand how the Russians used social media to try to divide Americans against each other, as well as influence the outcome of the election,� Schiff said.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has invited Facebook, Twitter and Google to a public hearing on Nov. 1.

Earlier this month, Facebook revealed that it sold more than $100,000 worth of political ads to fake accounts the company told Congressional investigators were linked to the Russian government.

Facebook�s chief security officer Alex Stamos says most of the ads did not mention a specific presidential candidate or the election, but focused on �amplifying divisive social and political messages� on immigration, gun rights and LGBT issues. Sen. Warner, however, says it�s clear that those divisive messages were �often stories that would help one candidate and potentially hurt another,� part of a broader effort the intelligence community has determined was designed to aid Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton.

Richard Clarke, a former national security official and ABC News consultant, said Russian operatives appear to have used Twitter in a similar way, promoting stories with fake identities or automated accounts, called bots.

�Twitter amplifies the stories,� Clarke said. �Twitter makes it look like there are thousands of people who agree with the point of view, when in fact it's only one troll or only one bot.�

According to Laura Rosenberger, director of the Alliance for Securing Democracy and a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Russians appear to be successfully adapting the Cold War strategies for the digital age.

�Propaganda is not new,� Rosenberger told ABC News. �What's happened is this playbook is being applied to new tools. And I think that there's no question that Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin have looked at these tools, these social media platforms, which were created to be democratizing forces � but what the Russians have done is identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities within those systems and have used it and turned them on us to attack us.�

The social media strategy, she said, is designed with broader geopolitical goals in mind.

�It's basically to blur the line between war and peace, and it's really to sow chaos in societies as a means of weakening us,� Rosenberger said. �Russia is a declining power. Their economy is getting weaker. Vladimir Putin is desperately trying to hold on to power at home. These are the ways they think they can weaken us. And it's really important for us to understand that in the Russian mindset, what they're doing here is trying to undermine the very core of our country, our democracy, and Americans simply can't allow for that to happen.�

Iraq's Kurds vote on independence, raising regional fears

Iraq's Kurds vote on independence, raising regional fears :-

Iraqi Kurds voted Monday in a landmark referendum on supporting independence, a move billed by the Kurdish leadership as an exercise in self-determination but viewed as a hostile act by Iraq's central government. Neighboring Turkey even threatened a military response.

To Baghdad, the vote threatens a redrawing Iraq's borders, taking a sizeable part of the country's oil wealth with it. For Turkey and Iran, leaders feared the move would embolden their own Kurdish populations.

The vote � likely to be a resounding "yes" when official results are revealed later this week � is not binding and will not immediately bring independence to the autonomous region. Nevertheless, it has raised tensions and fears of instability in Iraq and beyond.

Just hours after polls closed Monday night across the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, the Defense Ministry announced the launch of "large-scale" joint military exercises with Turkey.

Earlier in the day, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey threatened the Kurdish region with military intervention. Iran � which also opposed the vote � held military exercises along their border Sunday.

The Iraqi Kurdish push for independence has been made even more combustible because Kurdish forces captured extensive territory in fighting against the Islamic State group in the past year. Those areas run from northwestern Iraq to the Iranian border on the east � including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Baghdad claims those territories, but the Kurds say they are part of their zone and some residents there are participating in the referendum.

An escalation in rhetoric within Iraq set the stage for increased tensions as Iraqi Kurds lined up to vote.

The Kurdish region's president, Masoud Barzani, and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi both threatened to use force ahead of Monday's vote.

Barzani softened his tone before he voted. He told a news conference Sunday that he believed the vote would be peaceful but acknowledged the path to independence would be "risky."

"We are ready to pay any price for our independence," he said.

Al-Abadi had said on the eve of the referendum that the vote "threatens Iraq" and "is a danger to the region."

"We will take measures to safeguard the nation's unity and protect all Iraqis," he warned in a televised address from Baghdad.

The United States and United Nations both opposed the vote, describing it as a unilateral and potentially destabilizing move.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the U.S. wouldn't alter its "historic relationship" with Iraqi Kurds but the referendum would increase hardships for the Kurdish region of Iraq. She said the Islamic State group and other extremists are hoping to "exploit instability and discord."

Statements from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed regret that the vote was held and said issues between Iraq's federal government and Kurdish region should be resolved through dialogue.

The promise of an independent state has long been at the center of Iraqi Kurdish politics. When colonial powers drew the map of the Middle East after World War I, the Kurds were divided among Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq.

That dream was evident among some of the voters in the disputed city of Kirkuk.

"I feel so great and happy. I feel we'll be free," said Kurdish resident Suad Pirot after voting. "Nobody will rule us. We will be independent."

The oil-rich city has large Kurdish, Arab, Turkmen and Christian communities, and it has seen some low-level clashes in the days leading up to the vote. A curfew was imposed Monday evening for fear of more violence.

Baghdad residents strongly criticized the referendum, saying it would raise sectarian tensions and create an "Israel in Iraq."

"This is a division of Iraq," said journalist Raad Mohammad. Another Baghdad resident, Ali al-Rubayah, described the vote as a "black day in the history of the Kurds."

Lawyer Tariq al-Zubaydi said the referendum was inappropriate amid the "ongoing threat of terrorism and Islamic State" militants.

"The country is going through a difficult period. This requires a coming together of our efforts, he said. "A unified country is better for all."

Speaking in Istanbul, Erdogan said Turkey doesn't recognize the referendum and declared its results would be "null and void."

Erdogan also suggested Turkey could halt the flow of oil from a pipeline from northern Iraq, a lifeline for the land-locked Kurdish region battling a severe economic crisis.

Turkey has urged the international community � and especially regional countries � not to recognize the vote and urged Iraq Kurdish leaders to abandon "utopic goals," accusing them of endangering peace and stability for Iraq and the whole region.

"We could arrive suddenly one night," Erdogan said, pointing to Turkish military exercises underway along Turkey's border with the Iraqi Kurdish region.

"Our military is not (there) for nothing," he added.

North Korean minister says Trump has declared 'war'

North Korean minister says Trump has declared 'war'

North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said Monday that his country has the right to shoot down U.S. warplanes in response to President Trump's "declaration of war."

North Korea has "every right to take countermeasures � including to shoot down United States strategic bombers, even when not inside the airspace border of our country," Ri said in brief remarks outside his hotel in New York, where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly. "The question of who won't be around much longer will be answered then."

Ri was referring to a tweet late Saturday from Trump warning Ri, "If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!"

Donald J. Trump 

?@realDonaldTrump

Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!

8:38 AM - Sep 24, 2017

•  49,79749,797 Replies
 
•  36,61736,617 Retweets
 
•  131,507131,507 likes
• 
  

Trump tweeted after Ri said in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly earlier that day that the U.S. mainland was an "inevitable" target for rocket attacks after Trump's previous remarks on North Korea. This followed an unprecedented statement by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in which he described Trump's behavior as "mentally deranged" and called him "a dotard" and "a gangster fond of playing with fire."

In his first U.N. address last week, Trump referred to Kim as "Rocket Man" and said that if the U.S. is forced to defend itself or its allies, it will have no choice but to "totally destroy" North Korea.

What Trump and team hope to get out of the UN General Assembly

What Trump and team hope to get out of the UN General Assembly

President Trump will this week play host at the United Nations General Assembly, where he'll tackle a series of global challenges as he faces backlash from not just adversaries but allies in an organization he disparaged as a candidate.

Here�s what the Trump administration will be focused on for its first UN General Assembly.

North Korea

North Korea continues to be the most difficult foreign policy challenge facing the White House, and Trump will be conducting diplomacy himself as he tries to win more support for his administration�s efforts to isolate and pressure the provocative regime.

Less than a month after the country�s sixth nuclear test -- and its largest yet, at 250 kilotons -- North Korea has said it intends to produce an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

The latest test prompted a hard-fought and rare unanimous vote in favor of sanctions that included North Korean allies China and Russia. Passed one week ago Monday, they now ban over 90 percent of North Korean exports, limits its oil imports, and bans alternatives like natural gas.

That means time is running out, and as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday, �If our diplomatic efforts fail, though, our military option will be the only one left.�

President Trump appeared to tout the new sanctions in tweet.

Candidate Trump bashed the U.N. for its �utter weakness and incompetence.�

�The United Nations is not a friend of democracy. It�s not a friend to freedom,� Trump told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee�s conference in 2016. �It�s not a friend even to the United States of America, where, as you know, it has its home. And it surely is not a friend to Israel.�

But administration officials say reform of the international forum, not withdrawal from it, is a top priority of his ambassador there. Nikki Haley showed up on her first day promising a �new day,� but explaining that the U.S. wanted �to show value at the U.N.�

Trump will participate in a forum on Monday with the U.N.�s senior leadership and the leaders of more than 120 other nations to discuss �Reforming the United Nations: Management, Security, and Development.�

Haley told reporters at the White House Friday that the organization "stopped focusing on the commas and the periods" and was "actually acting."

The administration called for severe cuts in funding to the organization -- funding that the U.N. says it cannot do its work without.

�U.S. aid is vital to what we do to support refugees around the world and to find solutions to their situations,� United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said standing next to Tillerson Sunday.

The fight against terrorism

The other key priority for the Trump administration will be the fight against terrorism. As the U.S. accelerates ISIS�s fall on the battlefield, it must now confront a global challenge of what comes next in Iraq and Syria as other terror groups and Iran -- which the U.S. calls the leading state sponsor of terrorism -- jockey for position.

Trump�s White House has delegated authorities to U.S. military commanders in the field and given the Pentagon broader powers to make decisions, which he says has bolstered the campaign against ISIS.

Trump will meet with several Middle Eastern allies to discuss that issue in particular, including Jordan�s King Abdullah and Egypt�s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Wednesday and Turkey�s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Afghanistan�s President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday.

They say together they will look for ways to support the governments in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop the flow of foreign fighters and their exportation of terror back to their home countries, and resolve the bloody conflict in Syria that has allowed terrorist groups to thrive in the heart of the Middle East.

The last two points are crucial for European allies, too, as the United Kingdom copes with its sixth terrorist attack this year alone.

Meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a strong Trump ally, will be a focal point for the White House. The two leaders will meet Monday, and Iran is expected to be a top priority as Israel grows increasingly concerned and active about Iranian influence in neighboring Syria.

Beyond Iran�s support for Hezbollah and other terror groups, Trump will also face an urgent question about what he plans to do with the Iran nuclear deal. Behind the scenes, his administration will likely measure support for the accord and potential changes or alternatives as it contemplates whether to withdraw.

The signatories of the deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, will meet this week to discuss the deal -- the highest-level meeting yet between the Trump administration and Iran.