morgan: morgan norwood., the man convicted of assassinating robert kennedy was granted parole today. sirhan sirhan was initially sentenced to death for the murder. when the california supreme court declared the death penalty unconstitutional, he was committed to life sentence. two of support. the parole -- the release could be blocked. heading into the weekend, the weather, a glimmer of hope. ama: we will take any bit of hope. sandhya: i do have hope. that is for the second half of the week. we will see improvement in our air quality then. not tomorrow. let me show you a time lapse. this was this afternoon. it was very hazy and smoky across the bay area. there is the ashtray there. if you are going to the a's game against the yankees, it will be smoky. keep that in mind. if you're going to the niners game on sunday, it should be better. right now, it is good to moderate. for sensitive groups around fairfield, concord, he would notice that livermore is in the red. north wind that dragged the smoke down. i wil

morgan: morgan norwood. larry: new developments, the man convicted of assassinating robert kennedy was granted parole today. sirhan sirhan was initially sentenced to death for the murder. when the california supreme court declared the death penalty unconstitutional, he was committed to life sentence. two of support. the parole -- the release could be blocked. heading into the weekend, the weather, a glimmer of hope. ama: we will take any bit of hope. sandhya: i do have hope. that is for the second half of the week. we will see improvement in our air quality then. not tomorrow. let me show you a time lapse. this was this afternoon. it was very hazy and smoky across the bay area. there is the ashtray there. if you are going to the a's game against the yankees, it will be smoky. keep that in mind. if you're going to the niners game on sunday, it should be better. right now, it is good to moderate. for sensitive groups around fairfield, concord, he would notice that livermore is in the red. north wind that dragg

morgan norwood, abc news, los angeles. >>> this is what greenville looked like before the fire. the town was a living museum of goldrush era buildings. in a matter of hours, the fire destroyed buildings dating back to the 19th and early 20th centuries. you can see only a few walls are left standing. a dollar general store was left untouched. fortunately no lives were lost. you can see live updates on all the fires burning in california with our wildfire tracker. find it on our website, abc7news.com. >>> smoke from the fires is having an effect on air quality. let's check in with spencer christian for the latest on what this means in the bay area. >> the smoke is been blowing mainly to the east, away from the bay area. we had very good air quality, but now we have an advisory in effect through tomorrow as the quality is now listed at moderate. that smoke will work its way down to the bay area. here is a look at the movement of the smoke. shifting wind has brought more of the smoke down, so the darker colors indicate thicker smoke. moving down the region. the forecast indicates sh

abc news reporter morgan norwood has the latest. >> reporter: director of national intelligence releasing the findings of an investigation into the origin of covid-19. four agencies assessing with low confidence that covid-19 spread to humans from natural exposure to an infected animal. one agency assessing with moderate confidence that the virus came from a laboratory incident. however, there was more agreement that the virus was not made as a biological weapon. president biden promising the effort to learn the origin of the virus will continue. the toll of the pandemic rising by the day. more than 1200 deaths reported in just 24 hours, the highest single day total since early march. >> hardest thing is watching these young people get this sick or dying. >> reporter: all 50 states now seeing high community transmission. >> our waiting room was full of covid-19 patient. >> reporter: in oregon hospitalizations up nearly ten fold in the past six weeks. in kentucky, the admission count breaking records. the governor fed up. >> i'm going to admit up front today, little emotional and little ra

abc news reporter morgan norwood has more on ida's impact. morgan: ida continues intensifying as it approaches the louisiana coast, becoming a category 4 hurricane before making length of. >> one of the strongest hurricanes to make landfall in louisiana since the 1850's. morgan: officials urging everyone to shelter-in-place. homes and businesses boarded up. many spent lots of time in lines waiting for gas. new orleans airport packed with people trying to leave on saturday. all flights scheduled to fly out on sunday now canceled. president biden approving a n emergency the commission for mississippi. he already had done that for louisiana. ida is said to make landfall 16 years to the day after katrina. >> every storm is different. they all bring their own challenges. but also, i want you to know that we are not the same state that we were 16 years ago. morgan: people hope the post-katrina system of levees, pumps, and seawalls will help the city. >> this one is coming from the south so it will be pushing water up the whole entire time. so the wa

abc news reporter morgan norwood with the latest. >> reporter: the extreme weather out west intensifyingn from california to oregon. the dixie fire growing by the minute torching 250,000ic ahe and 33% contained. residents told to evacuate. in gorman, airplanes attacking this blaze from above. and on the ground, lightning splitting the tree in half lighting it like a match stick. across the region, a dangerous heat wave hovering over several states. and in washington, triple digit temperatures as the smoke from the wild fires starts to set in. compounding the risks. >> it's kind of extra bad since there is the fire going on. and it's just a little harder to breath and deal with, but i am used to it since my life has been here. >> stermooons crting a masve flooding emergency from new mexico to montana. the highway, sweeping the truck and trailer. the driver able to escape. and in arizona, cleanup continues after rain funneled through the telegraph fire burn scar, sending mud and debris rushing into businesses, homes and streets. >> can't tell you how sad i am to see this house like this. m

we begin with morgan norwood. reporter: chaos unfolding in kabul. desperate afghans clinging to military planes leaving the airport. officials shot and killed two armed men. at least one u.s. military service member injured. the pentagon saying there is no indication the shooters were members of the taliban. the president admitting the situation is now a crisis but doubling down on the withdrawal of u.s. troops. president biden: i stand squarely behind my decision after 20 years, there is never a good time to where you u.s. forces. the truth is this did unfold quickly than we anticipated. reporter: 20 years collapsing in a matter of days. >> the taliban are out in force. you see them at detcht checkpoints around the city. we have been driving for five minutes. what is noticeable is we have not seen one woman out on the streets 368 reporter: the president signing off on deploying at least 6,000 troops assisting the emergency evacuation of almost all u.s. personnel, american citizens and afghan who is supported the u.s.-led mission. ama: tens of thous

we begin with morgan norwood. reporter: chaos unfolding in kabul. desperate afghans clinging to military planes leaving the airport. officials shot and killed two armed men. at least one u.s. military service member injured. the pentagon saying there is no indication the shooters were members of the taliban. the president admitting the situation is now a crisis but doubling down on the withdrawal of u.s. troops. president biden: i stand squarely behind my decision after 20 years, there is never a good time to where you u.s. forces. the truth is this did unfold quickly than we anticipated. reporter: 20 years collapsing in a matter of days. >> the taliban are out in force. you see them at detcht checkpoints around the city. we have been driving for five minutes. what is noticeable is we have not seen one woman out on the streets 368 reporter: the president signing off on deploying at least 6,000 troops assisting the emergency evacuation of almost all u.s. personnel, american citizens and afghan who is supported the u.s.-led mission. ama: tens of thous

morgan norwood has more. morgan: ida ctiit app the louisiana a life-threatening, category four hurricane before making landfall. >>le awhast -- mordant: officials -- mordant: officials -- morgan: officials are urging everyone to shelter-in-place. >> new orleans airport new orlea with people trying to leave on saturday, all flights scheduled to fly out on sunday, now canceled. president biden approving an emergency declaration for mississippi saturday night. he had already approved one for louisiana. hospitals now sheltering in place, stocking up with supplies including fuel for generators. ida is said to make landfall 16 years to the day after katrina. >> every storm is different, they all bring their own ch allenges, but we are not the same state that we were 60 years ago. >> people hope the system of levees, pumps, and seawalls will protect the city. >> is going to be pushing water up the whole entire time and also, the water is my biggest concern. >> i was around for katrina and i don't want to be. morgan:

morgan norwood has more. luz: -- reporter: ida intensifying as it approaches the louisiana coast, forecast to become a life-threatening category four hurricane before making landfall. officials are urging everyone to shelter-in-place. homes and businesses now boarded up. many spent saturday waiting in long lines for gas. >> we hope we aren't calling insurance on monday morning. reporter: all flights scheduled to fly out on sunday are now canceled. president biden approving an emergency declaration for mississippi saturday night. he had already approved one for louisiana. people stocking up. ida is set to make landfall 16 years to the day after katrina. >> every storm is different. they all bring their own challenges. i also want you to know that we are not the same state we were, 16 years ago. reporter: people hope the post-katrina system of levees and seawalls will protect the city. >> this one is coming from the south. it will push water into the entire town. >> i survived katrina. reporter: ida is expected

morgan norwood with the latest.ires igniting within hours, prompting evacuations and pushing hundreds of firefighters desperate to contain the flames. in san bernardino county, south fire leaving this home smoldering. flames seen racing down the mountain and smoke overtaking the highway. crews launching choppers to keep the fires from overtaking the community of lytle creek, where some residents have been told to evacuate. >> it caught one of my trees, but the tree was alive, so it did not last long. reporter: in kern county, the french fire threatening nearly a dozen communities. >> we are talking fire traveling at 40 miles per hour. that is how quickly it comes down. reporter: north above sacramento, evacuations overnight. and the dixie fire, the state largest in its history, still roaring. crews digging trenches to prevent homes from burning to the ground. smoke from the caldor fire closing on lake tahoe. the plume of black haze forcing vacationers to go home. officials say the top priority is keeping the blaze f

morgan norwood has the latest on the other major fires. >> the bridge fire furiously burning more than 2000 acres. smoke billows into the sky. the dixie fire continuing to path of does -- it's path of devastation. this force, in a way. >> hanging in there, trying to protect from the fires as long as we can. we are nervous. >> firefighters battling the call to a fire, but making no headway. the massive area of burned seen from space. weather conditions whip up more flames. >> because it is a dance forest, -- dense forests, the wind is spotting fires miles away. >> 1.4 million acres have burned in california. that is up more than 50% from this time last year, making for an historic horrifying start to the season. >> every acre can and will burn someday. just make sure you are ready. >> what you need to do to boot -- to be ready? ryan curry he -- >> wednesday's fire force 1600 to evacuate. when crews told some to leave, they were not ready. >> i do not have any warning. i had to get out. i saw the flames behind me, behind my place, just loaded up my dogs are my family and got out. >> offi

abc news reporter morgan norwood has the latest. >> reporter: director of national intelligence releasing findings into the origin of covid-19. four agencies assessing with low confidence that covid-19 spread to humans from natural exposure to an infected animal. one agency assessing with moderate confidence that it came from a laboratory incident. there was more agreement that the virus was not made as a biological weapon. president biden promising the effort to learn the origin of the virus will continue. the toll of the pandemic rising by the day. more than 1,200 deaths reported in just 24 hour, the highest single day total since early march. >> i think the hardest thing is watching these young people get sick or dying. >> reporter: all 50 states saying high community transmission. in oregon hospitalizations up nearly 10 fold in the past six weeks and in kentucky the admission count breaking records. the governor fed up. >> i'm going to admit up front today, a little emotional, little raw. >> reporter: pediatric hospital admissions are climbing 514% since july 4th. a glimmer of hope as

as morgan norwood shows us, thousands remain evacuated. this fire is still only 21% contained. >> the dixie fire once again exploding in size, now the second largest wildfire in california history. firefighters racing to contain the spread but surrounded on all sides as they drive through the flames. >> left behind a lot of stuff. fires ravaged through everything. >> people drive to evacuate as the exceed fire threatens 14,000 structures, already destroying more than 600 homes and the entire town of greenville. >> it's scary when you sit there and see all the smoke coming over the mountain and wonder where is that because you can't see it. >> further north, the mcfarland fire raging as aircraft reinforce containment lines. as the wildfires tear through the west, the united nations sounding the alarm on the global climate crisis in its strongly worded report saying that it is unequivocal human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. >> experts warn we will continue to see that extreme weather, including wildfire and hurricanes.