here's abc's clayton sandell. >> let's go! >> reporter: as a firestorm closed in on santa rosa, not even hospitals were safe. patients, many on gurneys, wheeled to safety. at sutter santa rosa regional, nicole veum was in the middle of giving birth, when word came to evacuate all 77 patients. the exodus seen in newly released surt vecurity video. >> you just have a lot of faith. the firemen are going to come, and they could not. they were overwhelmed. >> reporter: kelsey claybrook helped knock down flames advancing on a huge tank of highly flammable oxygen. >> we were afraid that if it hit the tank, the building would go, our guys inside would go and that would be a real "oh, no" moment. >> reporter: dr. scott witt raced from home on his motorcycle, helping evacuate eight babies in intensive care. >> we talk and plan about these kinds of things, but we don't have to think that often about moving everybody at once. >> reporter: the staff worked even as many of their own homes, including dr. witt's burned to the ground. >> we be

clayton sandell, santa rosa, california. >> arbitrary indeed. and those fires are about two hours from where the oakland a's play. and they have stepped up to help a young victim. of the northern california wildfires. >> they lost their home and destroyed a 9-year-old's collection of baseball memorabilia. >> the loss left jaden so he wrote a letter to his team. >> i love watching a's games. i want to be an a's player. my saddest things were my baseball collision, cards. my 17 jerseys and my ten hats. >> that made it to the a's front office. oakland's president says everyone in the smith family will receive athletics gear and get to meet the team later this week. the team, by the way, says the meeting will also include a few surprises. >> i'm sure he will be completely pimped out with every bit of a's -- >> his letter says that he plays baseball in the back yard every day and has made up games that the a's have won six straight world series. in his version of events that's how it goes down. >> that's perfect. >>> jimmy kimmel's return to the big

>> all right, clayton sandell for us tonight. clayton, thank you. >>> here in new york city, a verdict in the bombing of the chelsea neighborhood of manhattan. convicted on all eight counts for planting two pressure cooker bombs on the street. one of them exploding, injuring 30 people. jurors were shown video. prosecutors say he was inspired by isis and al qaeda. the charges carry a mandatory punishment now of life in prison. >>> next tonight here to the interview. army sergeant bowe bergdahl, pleading guilty today. we all remember that moment after years of captivity, held by the taliban, squinting at the sight of the sun. tonight, in an abc news exclusive, bergdahl, before the camera for the first time. why he says he should not be called a traitor. here's abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross tonight. >> reporter: appearing before a military judge today, sergeant bowe bergdahl pleaded guilty to desserting his platoon, walking off his fwhas after gbase in af into the hands of the taliban. >> my name is bowe bergdahl

abc's clayton sandell is there on the scene and says crews are making progress but flames are still spreading and hard to reach areas. >> reporter: these water dropping helicopters are critical to the firefights effort because the terrain is so steep these narrow canyons it's hard for firefighters to get in. you can see from the smoke, thers >> that, indeed. our thanks to clayton. this photo shows how quickly familys had to evacuate. one woman had to load her pony into the back of her honda. thousands of residents are being allowed to return to what's left of their homes. >>> democrats on capitol hill are now pushing for tax relief to help puerto rico and the virgin islands recover from hurricane maria. this morning less than 15% of puerto rico has power. only about 70% has access to clean water. president trump says food and water have been delivered to puerto rico. but local distribution remains the problem. >>> afghan immigrant will spend the rest of his life in prison for last year's bombings in new york city. a jury took less than four hours to convict ahmad rahimi of planting two holp m

here's clayton sandell with the tips tonight. >> reporter: shoppers in the market for a new car. >> my is 17 years old and i don't want to try another winter. >> reporter: are finding the time for big discounts is now. >> this one's cheaper than the used one we just looked at. >> reporter: at this denver area chevy lot -- >> inventory nationwide is definitely up. >> reporter: they're in the mood to make a deal. >> we're getting brand new 18's coming in, we're clearing out our 2017 mod tells, so it's a great time to see both models, and take advantage of savings. nationwide 2017 sales are slightly down compared to last year, meaning dealers have more cars sitting unsold. so dealers are offering incentives to move old inventory, making way for the new. >> right now is a great time to buy a sedan. car companies are having sh shutdowns of their plants. >> reporter: for buyers that can mean big savings. take this year's ford f-150 pickup, the discount can total nearly $3,400 more than the 2018 model. for the toyota camry, the discount on the 2017 model saves about 1,700 bucks. the experts t

lex this was clayton sandell reporting. a worker remains missing after an oil rig explosion. the coast guard has suspended the search for the 44-year-old from texas last night. seven other people were injured in the blast with an offshore break in lake punter train. three people are in the hospital. the oil company rig exploded. chemicals ignited on the structure. there is not evidence of any environmental issues. and new details this noon chaos reported inside a nursing home when several residents died following hurricane irma. was just hours after hurricane irma hit. airnursing home lost its conditioning. patients had to deal with sweltering heat. >> i'm on the phone right now. we have a patient and respiratory failure because we don't have air conditioning. she is not breathing. to change color and is turning slightly blue. >> 14 people died and officials suspended practices in the wake of that death. >> and search for answers after an age old girl fell to her death on a carnival cruise ship knocked in miami. seven-day caribbean cruise when she fell over a railing from an

clayton sandell, abc 7 news, denver. >>> happening today, san francisco's first bike park opens in mclaren the grand opening starts at 10:00 a.m. with a ceremonial first ride at 10:30. the event will feature a competition, bike riding lessons, food, and much more. construction on the mclaren bike park got under way back in april. >>> still to come on a"abc 7 mornings," a new campaign calls for president trump's impeachment. the multimillion-dollar effort spearheaded by a man who lives in the bay area. >>> commuter crackdown. a popular van service is suspended and users find th do you want to do a monster check? yes. no monsters. ♪ how about the drawer? ♪ no monsters. nightly monster checks are how grant makes home his. and homegoods is what makes it all possible. amazing finds. always great prices. make home yours. >> announcer: good morning north bay. let's get up and get going. >> this is "abc 7 mornings." >>> good morning and thanks so much for joining us. i'm countrihris nguyen. meteorologist lisa argen is tracking the conditions where you live, hi, lisa. >> hey, chris. it's quiet and

more than a dozen active fires still burning and abc's clayton sandell is on the scene in petaluma. good morning clayton. >> reporter: hey, good morning, george. there are more than 11,000 firefighters here working around the clock. they are hoping the current conditions hold so that they can get a hold on one of the worst fire disasters this state has ever seen. this morning a turning point as firefighters make significant progress on two of california's biggest wildfires. but officials say some fires are still raging and full containment could still be a week away. >> overall things are feeling optimistic for us. >> reporter: parts of northern california are still engulfed in flame and smoke. day nine of the deadliest wildfire disaster in california history. 40 people have lost their lives. 5700 homes and businesses destroyed. in san jose sunday firefighters battled a wind-driven fire that damaged homes. firefighters, some traveling from oregon and washington are working on little sleep. some in these two-person tents. >> it's physically taxing but it's something we're prepared to

abc's clayton sandell is in santa rosa with the latest. ning, clayton. >> reporter: and good morning, george. as you say, the good news is many evacuations here have been lifted, but if you look at this neighborhood, you can see so many people have nothing to come home to. this as the death toll here continues to rise. signs of progress on california's wildfires this morning overshadowed by the first firefighting death. >> traffic medical for a possible water tender rollover. >> reporter: officials say fatigue may have played a role in the crash of a water tanker that killed the driver. >> everyone is getting tired. there has been no break for these firefighters since the fires erupted last sunday evening. >> reporter: this is a typical scene here as thousands return home for the first time. the gibson and vella families have been neighbors and best friends for decades, but facing very different outcomes. the america news reports the gibsons' house is still standing. vella's completely destroyed. crystal bell along with nine family members