that's it for us at 5:00, cbs weekend news is next. see you at 6:00. ♪ tonight, raging on. fire crews in the air and on the ground battle spreading flames in los angeles and the return of gusty winds. >> neighborhood of l.a. where

firefighters are battling to beat back these flames as they come dangerously close to these homes. >> the growing, forcing new evacuations of people and animals. >> one of the many firelines where crews from all across california and other states are working hard to save as many homes as possible. >> at least 11 people dead. residents reeling. >> nothing prepares you for this amount of destruction. >> their neighborhoods now looking like a smoldering war zone. >> we are hurting. >> but the mayor facing a mounting fire storm of criticism. >> angry residents are demanding answers to what many believe is a failed response to this historic disaster. also tonight, special counsel jack smith resigns from the justice department. >> smith is out while the future of his report detailing his investigation into president-elect donald trump hangs in the balance.

plus, remembering sam moore. ♪ the legendary singer dead at the age of 89. and later, stepping into the breach in the aftermath of the wild fire disaster. >> the city of angels is living up to its name as people help fire victims with basic necessities. >> i feel like i'm god's soldier. this is what i should be doing. ♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs weekend news" from new york. with jericka duncan. >> good evening and thank you so much for joining us on this saturday. it has been a horrific week in los angeles. tonight an aerial assault is under way in the neighborhoods of brentwood and insee know. fire crews are rushing to save homes, and they're battling the return of gusty winds after the palisades fire flared overnight, ripping through acres of bone-dry california landscape.

new evacuations have been ordered. palisades fire is the largest of four active fires, two others are reported contained and not expected to spread further. flames scorched more than 38,000 acres, an area bigger than the entire city of san francisco. the death toll stands at 11. today in houston where the l.a. chargers played the texans, there was a moment of silence for fire victims and southern california. let's go to cbs maurice deboy in los angeles in the thick of it all where he leads off our coverage. maurice, good evening. >> reporter: jericka, good evening to you. tonight about 7,000 firefighters are working to try to contain the spreading flames here in los angeles county. it is day five now. no end in sight. this disaster destroyed more than 12,000 homes and other structures. today, crews raced to suppress multiple fires including at this home in mandeville canyon.

while progress was made, winds are again intensifying. also today, mayor karen bass and fire chief kristen crowley defended their preparations and response to the fires. at a news conference to two also addressed their differences saying they are focussed on getting the city out of the current crisis. now, overnight the palisades fire, the largest of them, grew by about 1,000 acres, leading to new evacuations. and national guard troops are deployed to keep properties safe. 22 people have been arrested, including suspected looters. we have a team of cbs news correspondents covering this disaster. we begin with the latest fire developments. good evening to you, lilia. >> reporter: good evening, maurice. and you're right, the winds are picking up and we are not far at all from that house you just mentioned. as you can see, there is smoke around. and i can see from the leaves and from the running firefighters that the situation could be a little bit heavier in the coming hours. >> reporter: firefighters in los

angeles are making an all-out aerial assault with helicopters dumping water on the spreading flames. while planes dropped fire retardant in an effort to slow down the quick-moving palisades fire. now threatening additional los angeles neighborhoods. just a few hours ago, there were walls of flames up this hill. and what you're seeing now is crews cutting a fire line, just to cool off this area. and when the wind shifts in this direction, that would hopefully stop the fire from hitting these homes. fresno battalion chief lupe fernandez. >> we successfully have this line in. the goal is to 25, 50 feet off before the winds come in. >> these farm goats had to be moved to safety as the flames crept closer. officials now issuing new evacuation orders for residents in parts of the brentwood and encino neighborhoods. jim bear was packing up all he could from his mother's home of 65 years. >> how close is the fire right

now to your place? >> it's probably as the crow flies about a mile away. >> are you concerned? >> no. and the reason i'm not concerned is people come first and the people are all out of here that i love. things can be replaced. and you do the best you can. >> reporter: 22 or more thousand acres have already been destroyed in this fire alone. 5,000 structures. hundreds of them are homes. authorities in california today are warning against price gouging and telling people that it could take you a year in jail if you take part of those practices. maurice? >> reporter: okay, lilia, thank you so much. tonight the mayor of los angeles, karen bass, faces heavy criticism other the city's response to the fires. cbss tom hanson joins me now. tom, you had some tough questions for the mayor today. >> that's right. frustration is growing towards city official. look no further than where we're standing to understand why. i want to zoom out so viewers can have a look as well. this is one of the hundreds of

homes in the fall palisades neighborhood reduced to rubble and ash. this is what it looks like in virtual every direction. >> reporter: as l.a. firefighters battle intensifying flames, democratic officials are facing heated criticism from residents. >> the chief and i are lock step in our number one mission. and that mission is to get us past this emergency right now. >> reporter: today mayor karen bass and fire chief kristen crowley presented a unified front following reports the mayor dismissed chiefs over her complaint of insufficient resources. how can we be slur you two are on the same page when everyone is facing this historic and unprecedented crisis? >> we have one mission. and that is going to be our sole focus. now, prior to this, the chief and i have always been in regular communication. and we will continue to do that. >> reporter: but during an earlier interview, the fire chief appeared frustrated in her

department's ability to fight fires after a more than $17 million budget cut last year. >> we are screaming to be properly funded to make sure that our firefighters can do their jobs so that we can serve the community that we took an oath. >> reporter: governor gavin newsom is also facing questions over the response. on friday, he ordered an investigation into why a 117 million gallon reservoir in the pacific palisades was out of service and the loss of water pressure to some fire hydrants calling it deeply troubling. >> why was there no water in the hydrants, governor? >> all literally -- >> is it going to be different next time? >> it has to. >> i would fill up the hydrants myself. >> i understand. >> but would you do that? >> i would do whatever i can. >> but you're not. >> for the moment, mayor bass wants to stay focussed on the fires. >> when the fires are out, make no mistake, we will have a full accounting of what worked and especially what did not.

>> and tonight as the fires continue to burn, the tab from all of the damage is reaching well into the billions, maurice. some experts say that this fire could be the costliest in california's history. >> we could feel the people's pain. tom hanson, thanks so much. on top of all firefighters are battling tonight, officials tell us there's another front in this fight, it's a matter of life and death. and it's coming at them right out of the sky. >> reporter: firefighters battling the flames from above, air tankers are dumping thousands of gallons of flame retardant. as super scoopers and helicopters drop massive amounts of water to slow the fast-moving palisades fire. complicating the attack, drones. >> people are out there using drones right now and interfering with the fire fight in a pretty significant way. >> that's correct. over the last few years we have seen an increase in personal drone activity. you know, this message we try to get out to the public f you fly,

we can't. >> reporter: california state officials say there have been at least 40 incidents involving drones, forcing firefighters to temporarily ground air operations. one drone even hit a super scooper, putting a hole in the wing and taking it out of commission. how terrible is that? >> it's very significant. no excuse for flying a drone. it's just willful misbehavior at this point. >> reporter: the faa issued a warning for drones to stay out of the skies, firefighters still battle to control the flames and the air space. >> there's no proven method to stop these drones we can deploy on an incident like this in a real blanket fashion. that technology doesn't exist at that level. >> you're relying on people to have some common sense. >> exactly. >> the fbi is working with fire officials to try to catch on authorized drone operators. it's a federal crime punishable a year in prison and fine up to $75,000. drone restrictions in wild fire

areas will remain in place until at least the 23rd of january. well, tonight the weather is again heightening the fire risks. let's check in with cbs news meteorologist grant gilmore. >> good evening, maurice. look, i want to give some perspective just how dry southern california was going into this past week. since may 1st, downtown l.a. has only seen .29 inches of rain. the normal amount of rainfall for may 1st through today is about 5.5 inches of rain. now, the fire season usually wraps up in october when we start to expect cooler temperatures and at least a little bit of rain fall. normal rain fall for november and december is about 3.26 inches. last november/december only saw .16 inches of rain. now research shows that climate change is making wild fire season longer and more intense. increasing the conditions that produce fire conducive weather. now climate central found that southern california sees about three more fire weather days now compared to about 50 years ago. and it looks like we see more of

those fire weather days in the immediate future. high wind and red flag warnings in effect for much of southern california where those santa ana winds are expected to increase through tonight into tomorrow before dying down briefly on monday and increasing again into tuesday. maurice, back to you. >> grant gilmore, thanks so mch. this thing is far from over. let's take you back to the cbs broadcast center in new york and jericka duncan for tonight's other news. >> maurice, thank you to you and your crew. you're doing incredible work bringing us those important stories. straight ahead on the "cbs weekend news" jack smith who led prosecutions of donald trump resigns. missing minutes, new details about the investigation into this deadly jetliner crash in south korea. and later, we get a look at los angeles's better angels responding to those most in need. stay with us.

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♪ jack smith, the special counsel who took over two investigations into donald trump has resigned from the justice department. cbs's willy james enman has more tonight from the white house on what all of this means. willy, good evening. >> reporter: jericka, good evening to you. the attorney general has committed to releasing part of smith's report on election interference, but first he will have to get approval from the courts. in a move that was widely expected, special counsel jack smith departed the justice department, capping off years worth of federal investigations into president-elect donald trump. buried in a footnote in a court filing this afternoon, federal prosecutors revealed smith had,

quote, separated from the department. smith handed over his findings to the department of justice on two criminal investigations into the former president. one focussed on alleged mishandling of classified documents and the other on allegations of election interference. >> let's remember that the two federal criminal cases pending against former president trump will never move forward. and so, all that's left for the department of justice to show their work is to provide that final report to the public. >> reporter: a federal judge stopped the release of smith's report earlier this week. leading to a last-minute appeal by the department of justice. >> merrick garland has said that he will release the part of the report related to the federal election interference case but not the part related to the mar-a-lago retention of documents case because there are still two defendants that could go to trial in that case. >> reporter: she says ultimately the pending case against trump's co-defendants could be up ended

by the president-elect's pick to lead the justice department. federal judge in florida has asked for more details of smith's report on election interference by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. and if the court sides with the department of justice, we could see the first volume in the coming days. jericka? >> willie james enman at the white house. thank you. still ahead on the "cbs weekend news" investigators of the south korean jetliner crash have learned something new and quite puzzling. we'll explain. ♪

♪ tonight, clean tap water is flowing again in richmond, virginia. the city lifted its boil water advisory ending a five-someday crisis. the water system in the city of 200,000 was knocked out on monday during a powerful winter storm. today we learned the black boxes of a boeing jetliner that crashed in south korea last month stopped recording about four minutes before the accident. that's the same time the pilots reported a bird strike. the boeing 737 800 skidded off a runway on december 29th. 179 people were killed. investigators say it's not immediately clear why the devices failed. five years ago today in wuhan, china, a 61-year-old man died from a mysterious new virus. it was the first known death from covid-19. there were no official remembrances in china today

where the pandemic is a tabu subject. covid claimed 7 million lives worldwide even with the eventual development of vaccines. next on the "cbs weekend news" saying good-bye to a soul man. ♪

♪ ♪ i'm a soul man ♪ ♪ i'm a soul man ♪ that's sam moore the memphis rhythm & blues singer the higher voice of the 1960s hit duo sam & dave known as double dynamite. best known for the hit "soul man" which topped the charts and won a grammy back in 1968. today we learned moore died in coral gables, florida, following complications while recovering from surgery. sam moore was 89. when we return, we go back to los angeles where people are finding comfort from neighbors willing to help. my name is brayden.

i was five years old when i came to st. jude. i'll try and shorten down the story. so i've been having these headaches that wouldn't go away. my mom, she was just crying. what they said, your son has brain cancer. it was your worst fear coming to life. watching your child grow up is the dream of every parent. you can join the battle to save the lives of kids like brayden, by supporting st. jude children's research hospital . families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food, so they can focus on helping their child live . what they have done for me, my son, my family-- i'm sorry, yeah. life is a gift, especially for a child battling cancer. call or go online and help save another lives of children like brayden.

now, i'm 11 years old. we were actually doing the checkup for my brain. and they saw something in my throat. it's thyroid cancer. it was heartbreaking to find out that he has cancer again. but we knew who we had behind us. it just gives me hope. you can make a difference. join with your credit or debit card for only $19 a month. and we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt. without st. jude or its donors, we would have been in a bad place. these kids, they've done nothing wrong in the world. finding a cure for childhood cancer, it means everything. help st. jude give kids with cancer a chance. [audio logo]

♪ finally tonight, as the people here of southern california discover how much they've lost, communities are stepping up to help them. we're in arcade ya, california, with the details. elise? >> reporter: maurice, this organic outpouring of support grows by the minute. people just keep showing up at this racetrack to help while people who have been forced out of their homes shop donations for what they need. with every hot meal, hope and humanity are the focus here at this make-shift operation. where community members are feeding and clothing their neighbors who have lost everything in the l.a. fires. >> we're also giving away two

packages of water to each family. >> you have a house full of memories over the last decade, what did you grab? >> nothing. just the paperwork, one pair of tennis shoes, my clothes, like a couple of clothes. >> everything else is gone? >> everything else. >> so single mother jocelyn came here to look for basic needs. blessed by a city of angels. >> so this all started with me and my friends. we have a team. we had two hot dog carts, 500 hot dogs. >> reporter: the love shown from just those hot dogs grew to this. after juan diaz put out a call to action on social media. he believes hundreds of volunteers have come out to help at least 1,000 people find clothes, shoes, bedding and household necessities. >> i just want people to know that you don't have to be rich to come out here and help. and i feel like i'm god's soldier. so this is what i should be doing. >> a soldier's mission elizabeth nuno will never forget. >> material comes in and out. but lives don't. we'll come up again.

it's going to take a while. it's going to take a process. but, we're together as community, family. we're all here. and they're all here for us. >> reporter: now, this spot is one of many places where people in l.a. are taking donations. if you would like to help wherever you are, head to redcross.org/cbs. maurice? >> elise preston, so good to see there. thank you so much. as we send it back to jericka duncan, jericka, we 150 this situation unfolding so many aspects to this story. the human cost. the people. the politics. so much. one thing that jumps out and remains is it will be about time. so long that we'll be dealing with this that people here in southern california. >> absolutely, maurice. i have to say those harrowing stories really put in perspective what matters most. again, thank you so much. well that is the "cbs weekend news" for this saturday. from maurice in los angeles, we thank you so much for watching.

i'm jericka duncan in new york. have a good night. ♪ from cbs news bay area this is the evening edition. >> now at 6:00 tonight fire crews in southern california

are bracing themselves as heavy winds pick up tonight. coming up, our katie nielsen is bringing us the latest from the palisades fire. plus, a man in altadena risking his life to save his home and his neighborhood. >> i saw the fires coming down. i did everything i could to stop the line to save my house, to help save their houses. >> what he saw while trying to save his neighborhood from going up in flames. and back here at home, a celebration turned into tragedy. da lin is bringing us the latest in last night's deadly shooting in oakland. >> live from the cbs studios in san francisco this saturday night, i'm brian hackney. >> and i'm andrea nakano. regions in southern california continue to burn for the fifth straight day. there are now 13 confirmed deaths related to this fire. this was video taken early this morning before sunrise. fire crews had a bit of a break yesterday but could see some challenges as winds pick up tonight. and here is a live look at the