Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

At Least 2,000 Buildings Destroyed, Unknown Number Of People Dead As L.A.-Area Wildfires Continue With Zero Percent Containment; Former Presidents Reunite At Jimmy Carter's Funeral. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired January 09, 2025 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:30:00]

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: -- whether it's a homeowner not having any place to live to, you know, people trying to figure out what to do with this air -- Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes, that air pollution, just one of many lingering effects caused by these fires.

I do wonder, Kyung, you mentioned that you live roughly five minutes away. How are you and your loved ones doing?

LAH: So I -- I stayed at an evacuated home with our friends who live here in Altadena.

And the reality is -- and again, I just want to show you, like, here's a -- here's a fire truck going through -- a lot of them aren't quite sure if their house is standing. They can't get through some of these lines.

They live either further up into the foothills, or they just don't have any information yet. And they might be in San Diego, or they might be further north.

Our friends are really just unsure how to handle it all. All of our kids in this region don't have school. A lot of their teachers lost their homes and there is no power across this area for a lot of the immediate close regions. So it's almost as if you're living in suspended reality.

And the kid's -- the kids are crying out of control. I don't -- I don't really know how else to explain it. It's very difficult for children to comprehend what is happening.

And I want to stress there are a lot of children being impacted. There are so many kids I personally know who had to evacuate or lost homes, and they just don't understand or know how to deal with it.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's tough to process even some of the images that we're seeing, let alone living it the way that you are.

Kyung Lah, appreciate your reporting. As always. Thanks so much.

LAH: You bet. SANCHEZ: Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: While wildfires are certainly not uncommon in California, just the scale of this disaster that unfolding -- is unfolding right now is unprecedented.

Our next guest rushed to save his elderly parents from their Pacific Palisades home.

Ramis Sadrieh is with us now from Los Angeles. He's also the chairman of the Malibu-Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce.

Ramis, I'm so sorry for what you and your family are going through.

But as I have said to the people that we are speaking to, it's so great to talk to you and that you are all right and that you've gotten your loved ones.

Can you tell us what it was like evacuating your parents from the fire, which is from your childhood home?

RAMIS SADRIEH, CHAIRMAN, MALIBU-PACIFIC PALISADES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Thank you for having me and to share my story.

Basically, I'm a computer consultant and a technology consultant. And I go home to home. And my primary base is my hometown of Pacific Palisades.

I was at a client's, way outside of the Palisades doing some work. And then my next client had called me, who was in the Palisades, saying we're going to need to cancel appointment. They're evacuating us.

And that's all the information she gave me because I had no idea. And as soon as I hung up with her, the citizen app on my phone basically said, there is a fire in the Palisades that's raging and you need to evacuate.

And so I called my wife. I said, look, I got to go get my parents because my father suffered from a stroke a few years back. He's immobile. And my mother, she doesn't drive. So I was the only source of transportation.

So I rushed over there. It was a challenge getting there because there was bumper-to-bumper traffic. The police wouldn't let me up. So I had to find a side street. And luckily, I got to them and immediately just basically put them in the car, grabbed a few belongings, cash, and et cetera.

And the process of taking them out was even harder than getting to them because we were in a gridlock. It was just -- it was just pandemonium.

People -- the firefighters did not really know how to control traffic. The police weren't really there. They did make a presence, finally, while we were sitting with fire on both sides of us along Sunset Boulevard, the street that I have taken millions of times. And fortunately, before they brought over the bulldozer to push these cars away, I think we missed it by 15 minutes. We were able to make a U-turn because everyone behind me backed off and I was the last car, so I turned around as well and took a side street to PCH, or Pacific Coast Highway.

KEILAR: Yes.

SADRIEH But we're still in a state of shock right now. My parents are staying at my house. I'm not in the Palisades, fortunately, for all of us.

[14:35:01]

But just watching these videos, watching the news, and seeing the town that I grew up in, the high school that I went to, the elementary school that I went to, they're all burned.

I mean, it's unrecognizable. It's like the worst nightmare that you can have. It's like a set at Universal Studios. it's just unbelievable.

KEILAR: And, Ramis, as you're describing your exit, we've talked to other residents who did not have as difficult a time exiting the Palisades. But it sounds like it really depends on which of the exits you took, you know? And how were you to know which one?

Because it sounds like you were on that particular exit that was in very dire situation, and you didn't know it until you got there.

SADRIEH: Well, as a -- as a consultant that drives home to home in the Palisades, I know the streets a lot better than I did as a child. And I knew of this one street, side street that goes by the Bel Air Bay Club into the Pacific Coast Highway.

So I said to my parents, you know what, we're going to go to this street. And fortunately, the other cars -- there were other cars that knew about this. So we -- we're orderly going down.

And there was a police presence right at the bottom of the Hill, right on Pacific Coast Highway, directing us out. So if I didn't know about this street, if I wasn't working the neighborhoods. And we got lucky.

KEILAR: Yes, yes.

Ramis, we are so glad that you did. We're so sorry for what your childhood community and your parent's community is going through. But they're so lucky to have you and that you got them out safely.

Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. We really appreciate it.

SADRIEH: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: And here's how to help those who have lost so much to the wildfires. You can find groups to contribute to by going to CNN.com/impact. You can text "wildfires" to 707070.

And ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, new reporting on a conversation between President-Elect Trump and a Supreme Court justice. Court watchers are asking sharp questions about what the two discussed and about the timing of the call.

That, and much more of our coverage of the fires in California, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:42]

SANCHEZ: A phone call between President-Elect Donald Trump and Justice Samuel Alito is again raising questions about the Supreme Courts independence from politics.

Alito says he spoke with Trump on Tuesday afternoon, the day before Trump asked the high court to pause his sentencing in the New York hush money case.

Let's get the details now from CNN's Steve Contorno.

Steve, what are you hearing about the call?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Boris, Justice Alito is saying that this was simply a conversation on behalf of a former law clerk of Alito. He was trying to give a positive recommendation to the former president and incoming presidents with -- to give him a job in this new incoming administration.

And that is something that justices do from time to time on behalf of their clerks. However, it is quite rare for that conversation to go all the way to a president.

And the timing of it has certainly raised eyebrows. Because, as you said, the day after Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf to block a New York court from punishing him in response to his hush money case.

Now, Alito says that he had no understanding that that was coming. Telling CNN in a statement, quote, "We did not discuss the emergency application he filed today. And indeed, I was not even aware at the time of our conversation that such an application would be filed."

Already, we have seen some House Republicans coming out in support of Alito and Trump.

Take a listen to what House Republican Tony Gonzalez told us yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TONY GONZALEZ (R-TX): I do think it's appropriate. He is the incoming president. He's a former president. And he's, very soon, he's going to be the current president. So I think, to me, it's a positive thing that President Trump is

meeting with the Senate, that he's meeting with the House, that he's willing to have conversations with the Supreme Court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Boris, Gonzalez went on to say that he did not believe that Alito should have to step away or recuse himself from the case involving Trump.

SANCHEZ: Notably, though, Steve, this isn't the first time that Justice Alito has faced questions ethical questions involving the president-elect.

CONTORNO: That's correct. This court has certainly been facing criticism about politicalization, and Alito has not escaped that. He was the subject of controversy last year for some flags that he flew at his residence at north -- excuse me, in New Jersey and in Virginia.

In fact, the one in Virginia was an upside-down American flag that he flew in January of 2021. That was obviously at the time when the former president was leaving office, and just ahead of when the insurrection took place on Capitol Hill.

SANCHEZ: Steve Contorno, live for us from West Palm Beach, Florida. Thank you so much for the update, Steve.

Special Air Mission 39, the flight carrying the remains of the 39th President, Jimmy Carter, is expected to arrive in Georgia in the coming hours after today's state funeral in Washington.

KEILAR: President Biden and former Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton all attended this service at the National Cathedral, along with President-Elect Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris and former vice president, Mike Pence. Al Gore and Dan Quayle were also there.

And it was hard, really, if you were watching, to ignore the apparent tension.

[14:45:03]

Take this moment, for instance. You see Pence and Trump meeting for the first time in four years and shaking hands. But Pence's wife, the former second lady, Karen Pence, does not stand up and seems to ignore the president-elect entirely.

CNN's Tom Foreman joins us.

Tom, it's awkward, but I was thinking about it. And I thought that day in the Capitol, it wasn't just Pence. It was one of their children who was there and in danger.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

KEILAR: And I think that's some context that's important, if you are Karen Pence, a mother and a wife. FOREMAN: Sure, sure. And if you look at Donald Trump's presence at

this funeral and the way he was regarded by almost everyone there, you get a sense of how awkward this was.

He was seated in the second row down on the end. Last presidential funeral was back when George H.W. Bush, was --- well, he was president. Then he got to sit right up front in the main seat.

Now he's in the second row. He's just in front of Pence. He's behind Kamala Harris. He was bending Barack Obama's ear much of the time, but pretty much no one else there spent any time really talking to him.

And when Kamala Harris came in, she sort of looked right past him and he sat there, seemingly sort of staring daggers at her for a moment. But then he was back to being in the back row there. And it was just a really interesting thing to see.

Another interesting thing, though, is think about also what was Donald Trump was enduring today. I'm sure that's how he sees it. He was being told about Jimmy Carter's record. And many of these things directly impinge upon what Trump says he is going to do.

For example, Jimmy Carter was the guy who oversaw the return of the Panama Canal to the Panamanian people and said this was an important and worthwhile thing to do.

This is something that Trump has suggested. He wants to take the Panama Canal back.

Jimmy Carter was praised for his respect for human rights and the decency of people out there, and how self-importance was not a big deal. Character was brought up over and over again. You have to have high quality character.

Donald Trump has criticized everybody there and said that -- you know, said, oh, they're in a sense bad people, you know. And many people have raised questions about his character over that.

Jimmy Carters environmental record, Donald Trump wants to overturn that. Even the issue of Mount Rushmore. Donald Trump has made no bones about the idea, oh, I'd like to -- you know, his supporters encouraged the idea that he should be on Mount Rushmore and he certainly wink at that, like a good idea.

During one of the presentations, the statement was basically, you know, nobody deserves to be on Mount Rushmore, except who is there. But if anyone should be on the foothills, Jimmy Carter, which seemed almost certainly slightly target at Trump.

So a really interesting experience from launch.

SANCHEZ: Tension? I didn't really notice any tension. What do you mean?

I did notice there was a really endearing moment between former President Bush and former President Obama. The two of them are very familiar. You see the sort of belly pat. We

know about former President Bush's relationship with Michelle Obama, who noticeably was not there.

What can you tell us about the relationship between him and Barack Obama?

FOREMAN: You know what I think you see there? What you see there is, first of all, it's a little bit of George W. Bush's personality. That's just a little bit the way --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Like the bro-in-chief.

FOREMAN: Yes.

KEILAR: Yes, a little bit.

(LAUGHTER)

FOREMAN: Yes. Right, right.

But also, what you see there is the community of respect and care among former presidents who, very often, most often, find ways to say we can be together.

A lot of people don't know, but Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford were fast friends. I talked to Jimmy Carter about this numerous times. I talked to Gerald Ford about this. They talked to each other almost every single day. And they disagreed politically, but they respected each other.

What you see there is the community of former presidents, who say, for all of our egos -- and they've all got them -- the country comes first. That comes above ego.

And I think it's safe to say most of them don't believe that about Donald Trump. And that makes him the odd man out.

KEILAR: I could talk about this for hours.

FOREMAN: You could --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: I want a lip reader. I want all the things.

FOREMAN: It's all armchair psychology. We may all be wrong. But it was hard to look at it and not see him at the end of the aisle, sitting over there, bending Obamas ear, and everyone else just kind of ignoring him.

KEILAR: Tom Foreman, thank you so much. Never will ignore you, my friend.

FOREMAN: You certainly can. It won't bother me.

(LAUGHTER)

[14:49:29]

KEILAR: So we, of course, are following our breaking news. Ahead, the fires in Los Angeles that are impacting hundreds of thousands of Californians. Celebrities are not immune. You've probably noticed that. Neither has been the movie industry and it's many workers in Los Angeles. We'll have the latest on that ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This time of year is usually one of celebration in Hollywood, but the ongoing fires are bringing productions to a standstill and disrupting awards season.

The Critics Choice Awards was set for Sunday, but it's been postponed. Nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced in a press release, rather than in person. And Oscar nominations have also been pushed back.

KEILAR: More than a dozen shows that film in Los Angeles have had to halt production, according to the "Hollywood Reporter." And that includes Gray's Anatomy, Hacks, Suits-L.A., and more.

CNN entertainment reporter, Lisa Respers France, is with us.

Lisa, this is huge. It's really hitting an industry where consistent paychecks are already not guaranteed.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Absolutely correct. You know, Los Angeles is an industry town. So even if you're not an actor or a producer or a writer, you're usually connected in some type of way to Hollywood.

And we have to keep in mind that the industry was already kind of struggling to get back on its feet after the strikes, the writers' strike and the actors strikes in 2023, which you would think afterwards that Hollywood would come just racing back.

[14:55:05]

But that actually didn't happen. You had a lot of productions that were either canceled or postponed. We've seen studios have a ton of layoffs. So the industry was already kind of struggling.

And then to have something like this happen, it's completely devastating. And also shows that it does not matter how much money you have, Fame and fortune does not matter when something like this occurs.

People have lost entire communities. And we're hearing all types of stories. And it's not just that, you know, things that are connected directly to the industry have burned down. Things like Jamie Lee Curtis telling a heartbreaking story about how

the church where, years ago, she used to go for sobriety meetings is gone.

So psychologically, this could not come at a worse time for Hollywood and, which, as you pointed out, right now, should be celebrating and should be right deep into award season.

But instead you have people that are having to deal with this type of devastation. And it's just -- it's horrible to watch.

KEILAR: Yes, it certainly is.

Lisa, thank you so much for that angle. We really, really appreciate it.

It's a tragedy. It's unfolding in real time. And we're watching it here. Ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, we will be speaking with a man forced to evacuate ahead of the fire. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)