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Firefighters battling fierce New Mexico wildfires may get help from Mother Nature

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Roswell, N.M. — Cooler weather — and possibly rain — could bring some relief this week to firefighters battling blazes in southern New Mexico that killed one person, damaged hundreds of structures and forced thousands to evacuate.

Strong wind pushed the larger of two wildfires into the mountain village of Ruidoso, forcing residents to flee immediately with little notice. Weather patterns are expected to shift Wednesday with moisture from a tropical wave in the Gulf of Mexico, said Joshua Schroeder of the National Weather Service in Albuquerque.

“Today was really our last dry day,” he said late Tuesday. “Rains will then peak into Thursday and diminish by the weekend.”

South Fork Fire near Ruidoso
Smoke rises as a wildfire left behind extensive property and forest damage in Ruidoso, New Mexico, on June 18, 2024.

Kaylee Greenlee Beal / REUTERS


On the downside, he said, some shifts in wind were possible later Wednesday, and rain could lead to flash flooding in newly burned areas.

Ruidoso and much of the Southwest have been exceedingly dry and hot this spring. Those conditions, along with strong wind, whipped flames out of control Monday and Tuesday, rapidly advancing the South Fork Fire into the village. Along with homes and businesses, a regional medical center and the Ruidoso Downs horse track were evacuated.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office confirmed one fatality as a result of the fire but said it had no further details.

The New Mexico Forestry Division said some 1,400 structures were estimated to have been lost to the South Fork Fire as of Tuesday. It was unclear how many were houses. The division said the blaze had consumed almost 24 square miles and was zero percent contained.

“They’re working along the edges of the fire. They’re trying to get some kind of containment and then also resources are engaged in structure protection which is getting ahead of the fire and doing what we can to try and save some homes,” George Ducker, the Forestry Division communications coordinator, told CBS Albuquerque affiliate KRQE-TV.

South Fork Fire near Ruidoso
Charlie Barron holds his head in his hands after settling in at an emergency shelter where university and local officials set up cots and other Red Cross resources for those under evacuation orders because of the South Fork Fire at Ruidoso, New Mexico, at Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell in Roswell, New Mexico, on June 17, 2024.

Kaylee Greenlee Beal / REUTERS


The other wildfire in the region, dubbed the Salt Fire, had spread to some 8-and-a-half square miles and was also zero percent contained, the division said.

Ardis Holder left Ruidoso with her two young daughters, her gas tank nearly on empty and praying that they’d make it out safely. She was sure the house she rented in the village she grew up in is gone, based on the maps she’d seen.

“We were already seeing where all the fire hit, it’s everywhere,” she said late Tuesday from a shelter in nearby Roswell. “If there’s something standing, that’s awesome. But, if not, we were prepared for the worst.”

Lujan Grisham declared a county-wide state of emergency that extended to the neighboring Mescalero Apache Reservation, where both fires started, and deployed National Guard troops. The declaration unlocks additional funding and resources to manage the crisis.

Nationwide, wildfires have scorched more than 3,280 square miles this year – a figure higher than the 10-year averages, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. About 20 wildfires currently burning are considered large and uncontained, including blazes in California and Washington state.

The exact causes of the New Mexico blazes hasn’t been determined, but the Southwest Coordination Center listed them as human-caused.

“We are deploying every available resource to control these fires,” she said.

While many older residents call Ruidoso home year-round, the population of around 7,000 people expands to about 25,000 during the warmer months, when New Mexicans and Texans from hotter climates seek the cool of the leafy aspen trees, hiking trails and a chance to go fishing.

Nestled within the Lincoln National Forest, Ruidoso boasts nearby amenities including a casino, golf course and ski resort operated by the Mescalero Apache Tribe. Horse races at Ruidoso Downs also draw crowds as home to one of the sport’s richest quarter-horse competitions.

Ruidoso residents fled Monday through traffic-clogged downtown streets some described as apocalyptic, with smoke darkening the evening sky, embers raining down and 100-foot flames in the distance climbing over a ridgeline.

The evacuation order came so quickly that Christy Hood and her husband, Richard, only had time to grab their two children and two dogs. Heavy traffic on the way out turned what should have been a 15-minute drive into a harrowing two-hour ordeal.

“As we were leaving, there were flames in front of me and to the side of me,” said Hood, a real estate agent in Ruidoso. “And all the animals were just running – charging – trying to get out.”

On social media posts, Ruidoso officials didn’t mince words: “GO NOW: Do not attempt to gather belongings or protect your home. Evacuate immediately.”

As Jacquie and Ernie Escajeda left church Monday in Ruidoso, they saw smoke rise above a mountain behind their house.

They kept a close eye on their cellphones and turned on the radio for updates. There was no “get ready,” nor “get set” – it was just “go,” Ernie Escajeda said. They grabbed legal documents and other belongings and left.

On Tuesday, the couple got a call from friends who are on vacation in Utah but have a home in Ruidoso that they’ve been told was destroyed, Jacquie Escajeda said.

“They lost their home,” she said. “There’s only one home standing in their whole little division that they live in, so there are a lot of structures lost. We have no idea if we’re going to have a home to go to.”

Public Service Company of New Mexico shut off power to part of the village due to the fire.

Lujan Grisham said cellphone service had been affected in some communities near the fire, and mobile cell towers were being set up to restore communications.

Amid highway closures, many evacuees had little choice but to flee eastward and to the city of Roswell, 75 miles away, where hotels and shelters quickly filled. A rural gas station along the evacuation route was overrun with people and cars.



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Israeli strike kills Lebanese soldier as Hezbollah fires at least 185 rockets at Israel

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Hezbollah fired at least 185 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in the militant group’s heaviest barrage in several days, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with cease-fire efforts to halt the war.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center killed one soldier and wounded 18 others on the southwestern coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon’s military said. Israel’s military expressed regret and said the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah, adding that its operations are directed solely against the militants. The strike was under review.

Lebanon Israel
Rescue workers search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024.

Hussein Malla / AP


Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon’s military has largely kept to the sidelines.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on U.S.-led cease-fire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Hezbollah fired a total of around 160 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted, the Israeli military said.

Israel Lebanon
Israeli police bomb squad inspect the site after a missile fired from Lebanon hit the area in Petah Tikva, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday Nov. 24, 2024.

Oded Balilty / AP


Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast and a 70-year-old woman suffering from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire. The first responders said they treated three other people in northern Israel, closer to the border, including a 60-year-old man in serious condition.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the rockets or interceptors.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel’s ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country’s north.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a cease-fire, and U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.


U.S. envoy says there is “real opportunity” to end fighting between Israel, Hezbollah

04:33

The European Union’s top diplomat called for more pressure on both Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was “pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government.”

Josep Borrell spoke Sunday after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group.

Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate 200 million euros ($208m) to assist the Lebanese military, which would deploy additional forces to the south.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of U.N. peacekeepers.

Lebanon’s army reflects the religious diversity of the country and is respected as a national institution, but it does not have the military capability to impose its will on Hezbollah or resist Israel’s invasion.



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Sen. Rand Paul says he “will not support” use of military in Trump’s planned deportations

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Sen. Rand Paul says he “will not support” use of military in Trump’s planned deportations – CBS News


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Republican Sen. Rand Pual of Kentucky tells “Face the Nation” that while he supports President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation, but through the “normal process of domestic policing.” “I will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities,” Paul said.

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Transcript: Rep.-elect Sarah McBride on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” Nov. 24, 2024

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The following is a transcript of an interview with Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, Democrat of Delaware, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that aired on Nov. 24, 2024.


MARGARET BRENNAN: The 2024 election was historic for several reasons. Among them, the first openly transgender person was elected to the United States Congress. She joins us now from the state she will be representing, Delaware. Democratic Representative-elect Sarah McBride. Welcome to Face the Nation.

REP.-ELECT SARAH MCBRIDE: Thank you for having me, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, it’s interesting, given how polarized, how angry and divided this country is that people choose to serve and to run. You told my colleague Scott MacFarlane that it was your personal experience as a caregiver for your husband during his bout with terminal cancer that inspired you to run. Do you expect that health care policy will be the focus of your work here?

: Well, I certainly am glad to be back here in Delaware after two weeks of orientation and to have the privilege of serving this state that I love in Congress. I ran to bring down costs facing workers, retirees and their families. That means bringing down the cost of health care, but also housing and child care and everyday expenses like gas and groceries. I did run for office after my experience as a caregiver to my husband, Andy, during his battle with cancer. And throughout that experience, while Andy ultimately lost his life, we both knew how lucky we were. We knew how lucky Andy was to have health insurance that would allow him to get care that would hopefully save his life. And we both knew how lucky we were to have flexibility with our employers. That allowed Andy to focus on the full time job of getting care, and me to focus on the full time job of being there by his side to care for him, to love him, to marry him, and to walk him to his passing. And I ran for office because I do not believe that in the wealthiest, most developed nation on earth, that that time and that ability to get care should be a matter of luck. I believe it should be the law of the land. And it’s why during my time in the Delaware General Assembly, I passed paid family and medical leave and secured the largest investment in our state’s Medicaid program. And I want to do that work in Congress on health care, but also on housing and child care. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: Paid leave is something that Mr. Trump has paid lip service to, we’ll see in the new Congress if it comes up. We see in our CBS polling that 86% of voters feel congressional Democrats should find common ground with Mr. Trump and Republicans. Do you feel you can?

: Well, I said throughout this campaign that I will work with anyone who’s willing to work with me to help Delawareans, to lower costs facing my constituents. There are opportunities for us to find common ground. But it’s also clear that this administration, as it begins to fill its appointments with Project 2025 authors, that a lot of the policies that this president will pursue will likely hurt my constituents and raise prices. And so where I need to fight back, I will. But where I can find common ground, I will certainly seek it. That’s what I’ve done during my time in the General Assembly, where nearly every bill I passed passed with bipartisan support. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: As you mentioned, you were here for orientation. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was asked about you coming to work and some objections by a female South Carolina Republican representative regarding what bathroom you’d be able to use. Here’s what the speaker said.

SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON (ON TAPE): A man is a man, and a woman is a woman, and a man cannot become a woman. That said, I also believe- that’s what Scripture teaches, what I just said. But I also believe that we treat everybody with dignity.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you believe that you are being treated with dignity by your colleagues?

: I didn’t run for the United States House of Representatives to talk about what bathroom I use. I didn’t run to talk about myself. I ran to deliver for Delawareans. And while Republicans in Congress seem focused on bathrooms and trans people, and specifically me, I’m focused on rolling up my sleeves, diving into the details, setting up my office, and beginning the hard work of delivering for Delawareans on the issues that I know keep them up at night. And I look forward to working with any colleague who’s ready to work and ready to be serious about the issues that matter because at the end of the day, how I’m being treated does not matter. What matters is how the American people are being treated and whether we’re actually focused on the issues that matter to them.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, some of your fellow congressional Democrats, including Tom Suozzi and Seth Moulton, have also recently spoken about their feelings, looking back at the last election, and said Democrats should be more open about saying whether they object to transgender athletes playing in girls sports. Those were the specific examples they brought up. How would you respond to your soon to be Democratic colleagues on those? Do you understand why some parents, for example, feel uncomfortable or frustrated?

: Look, I think this country is still entering into a conversation about who trans people are, the full diversity of the community. And I’ve had conversations with colleagues in the Democratic caucus already that- that span diversity of thought about how the party should engage on a whole host of issues. But I think we are all united that every single American deserves equal rights. I think we are all united that attempts to attack a vulnerable community are not only mean spirited, but really an attempt to misdirect. Because every single time we hear the incoming administration or Republicans in Congress talk about any vulnerable group in this country, we have to be clear that it is an attempt to distract. It is an attempt to distract from what they are actually doing. Every single time, every single time we hear them say the word trans, look what they’re doing with their right hand. Look at what they’re doing to pick the pocket of American workers, to fleece seniors by privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Look what they’re doing undermining workers. And here’s also what we have to be clear about, because I think the last week has been a prime example of this. Every bit of time and energy that is used to divert the attention of federal government to go after trans people is time and energy that is not focused on addressing the cost of living for our constituents. And we have to be clear that there is a real cost for the American worker every time they focus on this. 

MARGARET BRENNAN: All right. Congresswoman elect, I’m sure we’ll be seeing you here in Washington. We’ll be right back.



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