News Wrap: Caldor Fire ravages California’s Grizzly Flats

• Judy Woodruff:

  In the day's other news: Anger built among Haiti's earthquake victims, as thousands spent a fourth night out in the open.

  Many accused officials of doing nothing, and hospitals struggled to treat victims. Saturday's quake left nearly 2,000 people dead and more than 10,000 injured.

  We will here more from Haiti later in the program.

  There's word that suspected Islamist fighters in Burkina Faso killed at least 47 people today. The government in the West African nation says extremists linked to al-Qaida or ISIS ambushed a convoy. The dead included 30 civilians and 17 soldiers and volunteer troops.

  Remnants of Tropical Storm Fred blew into the U.S. Northeast today, with warnings of mudslides and flash floods. The system already caused widespread flooding in Georgia and the Carolinas, where scores of people had to be rescued. One death was reported in Florida.

  Meanwhile, the storm named Grace is now a hurricane, heading for Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

  In Northern California, another community lay in charred ruins today. The Caldor Fire destroyed at least 50 homes in Grizzly Flats on Tuesday, and threatened hundreds more. Flames and fierce heat burned out trucks and cars and left chimneys standing alone and skeletal chairs in a gutted church. Evacuees were in shock as they gauged their losses.

  Derek Shaves, Resident of Grizzly Flats: It was a beautiful, close, small, vibrant community of mixed peoples from every demographic that you can think of, but a tight community. And it's — it's nothing now.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Some 100 miles away, the huge Dixie Fire is still burning near Susanville, a town of 18,000.

  The Biden administration is proposing major changes to cut a record backlog of 1.3 million immigration asylum request cases. They'd be moved from immigration courts to the Homeland Security Department, which would add 1,000 new asylum officers. The proposal is now subject to public comment.

  One of the owners of Purdue Pharma testified today that the company and his family are not responsible for the opioid epidemic. Richard Sackler appeared at a federal bankruptcy hearing on the company's plan to settle thousands of lawsuits over OxyContin. The Sacklers are also demanding immunity from further lawsuits.

  The federal sex abuse trial of the Grammy-winning singer R. Kelly has begun in New York. He's accused of using money and fame to lure and abuse girls, boys and young women. In opening statements today, federal prosecutors said that Kelly was a predator. The defense said his alleged victims knew what they were getting into.

  The state of Georgia has moved closer to taking over elections in the Atlanta area. The Republican-controlled State Elections Board approved a bipartisan review panel today. It will investigate elections in heavily Democratic Fulton County. Former President Trump has falsely claimed that fraud led to his narrow loss in Georgia.

  And on Wall Street, stocks lost ground late in the day, with major indexes down roughly 1 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 382 points to close at 34960. The Nasdaq fell 130 points. The S&P 500 was down 47.

from:pbs