Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Los Angeles Declares State of Emergency as Wildfires Spread; Trump Lobs Threats, Talks Land Grabs in Wide-Ranging Remarks; Trump Ramps Up Greenland Takeover Talk as Son Visits; Trump Claims: 'We Need Greenland for National Security'; L.A. Declares State of Emergency as Wildfires Spread; Meta Replaces Fact Checkers with 'Community Notes'. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired January 08, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:23]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York.

We are following breaking news out of Southern California, where dangerous and fast-moving wildfires are currently raging in Los Angeles. They are threatening thousands of homes and lives. The fire chief there says at least 30,000 people have been ordered to evacuate so far.

A powerful windstorm is what's really fueling the flames and has prompted officials on the ground to declare a state of emergency that's in effect, and the situation is only expected to get worse in the coming hours ahead, as the winds are forecast to grow even stronger, which is hard to imagine.

Residents fleeing the fires describing these harrowing scenes you're looking at.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the worst fire I've ever encountered. I've been within three within a mile, and I've never had to get evacuated. So I was really surprised that the fire moved so quickly this time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were running down. You could see palm trees, just like random palm trees on fire. So I'm sure leaves are burning and falling down. And it's literally apocalyptic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And hellish as well. Hundreds of firefighters are on the frontlines right now. They're trying to battle the flames. The largest fire now nearly 3,000 acres in size, and it's burning around the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. It's one of L.A.'s most affluent communities. California's governor urging residents right now to heed the

evacuation orders and warning these types of events are becoming far too common.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: Hell of a way to start a new year. We were here not too long ago. The Franklin Fire. A few weeks prior to that the Mountain Fire. November, December, now January. There's no fire season. It's fire year. It's year round.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: CNN's Nick Watt and his team have been following this coverage since this afternoon and into tonight.

Nick, hard to believe, you were saying earlier that today started as a pretty picture perfect day, and now look at what's happening behind you.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Polo. I mean, not to make this personal, but I started this morning having a swim in the ocean at 8:00. It was a beautiful morning, but just as I was getting out the ocean, the wind was beginning to pick up. We knew this was coming. Two and a half hours later, 10:30, this blaze began. Now it has exploded.

And look, we are now -- you know, we spent most of the day, Polo, up in the hills. The beautiful little windy streets, the beautiful multi- million dollar homes, some of which are no more. We've now come down into Palisades Village, the center of this community. That was an apartment building that we have watched.

Jesus. Whoa. Sorry. I nearly got hit by something there. Yes. Whoa. We're going to have to get back. We've just watched this building just disintegrate, the little part of that building nearly hit me there. All of these embers that you can see, Polo, that's the problem. These embers on that wind, any of these embers can cause another fire.

And that's what's been happening all day. That's what's been happening all day and will continue to happen all night because the wind is only going to get worse. It's going to be worse in just a few hours before the dawn.

So 250 firefighters who have already been fighting for hours doing what they can to try to contain this, but it's nigh on impossible, particularly up in those hills, those little roads, tightly packed houses and just so much fuel. We haven't had rain in L.A. for months, so there is just dry vegetation that is just fuel. It is fuel. And then this is the result. Look at that, look at that.

Whoa, my hat. Apartment building just gone. Absolutely gone. So you mentioned 30,000 people evacuated. I think that number is climbing. They're now issuing some evacuation orders for down in Santa Monica, which is a couple of miles that way. My wife and kids have just left our house and moving further south. If this gets to Santa Monica, that would be catastrophic and

unprecedented. Let's pray, let's hope that does not happen. But already what has been wrought by this fire is terrible. People's homes destroyed. And, you know, we saw those 30,000 people who were having to evacuate, you know, the roads just couldn't take it.

[00:05:01]

So there was gridlock, there was standstill. So people got out. They took with them whatever they could carry, whatever they could drag. And then they left their cars. But of course they had to get all these fire trucks in. So the fire department had bulldozers just shove those cars out of the way. Their first priority human life. Everybody got out. They hope. We don't know. Their next priority is property.

So that's what they're trying to save. But, you know, how do you fight a fire like that? I mean, it's almost impossible. And the embers from that, who knows what else they are going to ignite -- Polo.

SANDOVAL: Nick, as we see these live pictures that you're bringing to us, and by the way, at any point, of course, I know you're taking those correct measures and you and your team are professionals at doing this. So at any point, if you have to bail, completely understand. But while we still have you, Nick, what's this sort of imperfect storm that has come together in the last few hours? Is it the tightly packed homes? Is it the steep hillside? Certainly the erratic winds. What is this making it so much worse for firefighters?

WATT: It's the wind. It is the wind, as it always is with these fires. You know, as I say, we knew this was coming because we know that whenever we have one of these Santa Ana wind events, which is warm, strong winds coming from inland, coming from the desert, we know we're going to get fired. So, you know, the state pre-positioned firefighters, but you never know exactly where it's going to ignite, of course.

And then getting those firefighters up into those hills. And of course, with this wind, you know, normally the last fire I covered up here in the Palisades in 2021, they had fixed wing and helicopters just dropping water and flame retardant. And that was huge. They haven't had those air assets up today with. So they've been fighting this on the ground. So you've got guys on the ground, tight packed houses, all this vegetation, tight windy roads. It is a terrible place to try to fight a fire. They're doing their best -- Polo.

SANDOVAL: Nick, thanks to you and your whole team. We do have eyes on the ground. Not only us, but also the residents in the surrounding regions that may be faced with a very difficult decision to potentially evacuate tonight. So thank you so much, Nick. We'll let you go so you can reassess.

In the meantime, let's go ahead and bring in Neeta Sreekanth Srikanth. She is a resident of L.A. County. She was -- my understanding is that you were in Pacific Palisades earlier as the fire was actually starting to grow. In fact, you were hiking in the Palisades, if I'm not mistaken, with your dog, when you saw the fire off in the distance. So I'm curious, when did you realize when this was about to get very serious?

NEETA SREEKANTH, LOS ANGELES COUNTY RESIDENT: It was actually my dog that informed me. So I had my AirPods in, and I was hiking up West Ridge trail, which is Mandeville Canyon up in the Palisades area. And as we started the hike, the winds were out of control. There was, as the previous person said, there's just dry brush everywhere right now in the Palisades. And so for the past few months, typically this is around the time that we get a ton of rain. And so without that and just walking up the trail, my dog got freaked out because it sounded like some sort of explosion when it first started.

So as we started the hike, you couldn't really see anything. It was a clear, beautiful day. Obviously windy with the weather that we have, but it was during the hike that all of a sudden I turned around and I saw just a puff of smoke go up, and that's when I really started recording, and I think I shared some videos with you all as to what we saw.

SANDOVAL: Yes.

SREEKANTH: And the dog started freaking out and it just continued to grow, and it was very clear and evident that this was a different type of fire. The fire was just out of control and it was spreading so fast and rapid.

SANDOVAL: And Neeta, those images that you just mentioned we're actually sharing those with our viewers as we speak, where you could see that smoke on the horizon. It really is quite apocalyptic here.

At this point do you have any friends or family in the region who have been affected? My understanding is so far you haven't personally, but are you in contact with some of those people who have already been affected by this fire?

SREEKANTH: Yes, actually, just before I came on, my friend and her husband had to evacuate from Santa Monica, and they're now staying with me here. And actually, if you step outside, you can see the fire. Right now, L.A. is lit up right now with the amount of fire and the smoke that you could still see through the night.

SANDOVAL: You know, for those people who aren't familiar with California, obviously wildfire is not unusual. But how does this really stand out from all the other fires that you have perhaps witnessed in your time there?

SREEKANTH: Yes, so I saw the 2018 one. That was a little bit different because of the wind trajectory at that time. A lot of the soot and the smoke was coming back towards the residents. This time, not that there's any type of small victory in this type of situation, the air is actually pushing towards the ocean, so the residents aren't as covered in smoke this time compared to what it was like in 2019.

[00:10:05]

2021, you know, not to compare these, it wasn't as bad as the 2019 one or the one we're actually currently experiencing. L.A. looks like an apocalyptic city right now, and I'm not sure what it's going to be overnight because the winds are very, very strong and we could wake up to even more destruction than any of us right now. Realize with the dark of night covering it all.

SANDOVAL: As a resident there, can you tell me a little bit about what folks, at least residents, knew that was potentially coming? Was there heavy winds in the forecast? Were people told to prepare for the potential for a wildfire? Certainly not that anybody could have predicted this.

SREEKANTH: Right. Well, there were warnings ahead of time. Right? We were kind of told that to expect the Santa Ana winds, and we were actually told they would be up to 100 miles per hour. And when that typically happens at this time of year when there hasn't been any rainfall, there was always going to be that high risk opportunity that a fire was going to spread.

As a resident, I did not expect it to happen immediately as soon as it started. And also, no one could have predicted that the destruction would have been this bad where Santa Monica is being evacuated at that point. And if Santa Monica is being evacuated, like we know that this is a significantly different than the previous ones. But in 2019, the smoke, the -- excuse me, 2018, the smoke and the soot pretty much covered the entire city. And this time the air is actually going out towards the ocean.

SANDOVAL: What's striking, too, is the contrast. You said something that our colleague on the ground, Nick Watt, had mentioned is that it was really a picture perfect morning. He went out for a swim. You went out for a hike. So many people likely doing the same. And when you look at these pictures and where the day is ending, it's just absolutely incredible.

Do you have any sense of what tomorrow will hold in store for so many of the people, so many of your neighbors, so many of the people in your community?

SREEKANTH: Yes. Well, right now the biggest concern on our side is the wind. Right? And with the fire still uncontained, like, where is the wind going to whip the fires to? So there's a good chance that even in the middle of the night, we could be getting evacuation orders for us all to leave because they're unable to contain it. So tonight is going to be really about being on edge and being ready and prepared in the event that we do have to evacuate.

But we hope that by morning and we're thankful to all the firefighters for all the work that they're doing. This is obviously a pretty nasty situation, but from a resident standpoint, we just right now at this point have to be prepared and ready to move as quickly as possible, while also not abandoning our cars in the middle of the road.

SANDOVAL: Right. That's also a really important point here. So many firefighters on the frontlines trying to protect homes, but most importantly to protect lives.

Thank you, Neeta. It's only 9:11 p.m. for you so the night is just getting started. Thank you so much for your insight. And be safe.

SREEKANTH: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: All right. Let's get now to U.S. President Joe Biden. He's pledging the full support of the federal government to respond to these wildfires. Earlier tonight, he said that he is being frequently briefed on the situation that's happening in California, quoting the president here.

"My administration will do everything it can to support the response. I urge the residents of the Pacific Palisades and the surrounding areas of Los Angeles to stay vigilant and listen to local officials."

Now, the White House has offered federal aid to states and local authorities on the ground, including help from FEMA, which is the Federal Emergency Management Agency that's on the ground as well. This is really just a situation that's going to continue to evolve, and we are going to keep checking back on this throughout the broadcast.

Meanwhile, intimidating remarks from President-elect Donald Trump about territorial takeovers, but not a lot of details about how or about when. Ahead, reaction to his talk of land grabs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:18:24]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE ENGEL, EVACUEE: The fire was basically encircling us. You could hear explosions all around us, and the fire was kind of rapidly moving down Bienvenida and towards our house. So I kind of glad I got out when I did. I really wouldn't have had any escape route had I not gotten out I don't think at that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: More now on our top story that we're following out of Los Angeles. Firefighters battling a huge blaze in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood that is growing rapidly, and it's being fueled by gusty winds that are only expected to get worse in the coming hours. Officials estimating at least 2900 acres have already burned.

And again, they're warning that those stronger winds are likely to make the situation worse. The blaze is threatening thousands of homes and businesses. We know a high school has already been destroyed, and L.A. Police saying that about 30,000 police have been evacuated.

Earlier CNN spoke with two Pacific Palisades residents who were helping to fight the wildfire by watering down houses and the brush surrounding them. Here's what they told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG YOST, PACIFIC PALISADES RESIDENT: What I'm doing is I'm looking over the top of my house, at the other house, that unfortunately burned, and we've been up there, you know, standing guard on that house so it doesn't continue on down the hill. So right now it's not looking real good. The wind is blowing real heavy and we're losing some light. So, you know, maybe a little bit of luck we'll be able to stay with it. And -- but we made a big difference just for the few houses around us for sure, with the firemen. They were doing great, too.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And we know there's hundreds of them. They're trying to do what they can.

We've been talking about it spreading now three football fields a minute in terms of the fire itself. Sorry.

[00:20:02]

YOST: Every resources are being spread thin. The fire is going in lots of different places up in the hills.

BURNETT: Jeff, what are you going to do now?

JEFF MARKS, PACIFIC PALISADES RESIDENT: Oh, we're going back to fight fires. Yes, we're going up on the hill and keep saturating the field and the area and the roofs. And if there's any embers, we just water them down right away.

YOST: Yes. Catch it early. But right after we're done with you, we wanted to talk with you, tell you what was going on, we're going back up on the roof.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And now we're getting word of some of the most vulnerable to be affected by this wildfire. According to CNN affiliate KCAL, there are currently workers at a Pasadena senior center. They are trying to evacuate roughly 95 people using ambulances, using wheelchairs to try to make sure that they get to safety. Certainly no word of any injuries right now.

But as you see these pictures coming in from our affiliates on the ground, it really gives you a sense of the scramble that is happening as we speak to get some of those people to safety, especially those that are perhaps the most vulnerable.

We're going to continue to follow the situation that is unfolding, not just in, again, Pasadena, but certainly in the Palisades neighborhoods there where there are still many people being warned that they, too, may have to evacuate on top of the tens of thousands who've had to leave home, unsure if they'll make it, if they have a home to return to.

Again, some of our reporting colleagues there on the ground right now. We'll get you more as we learn it.

Meanwhile, the incoming U.S. president held a wild and wide-ranging news conference on Tuesday, and it's very hard to know exactly how many of his claims should be taken seriously. President-elect Donald Trump covering everything from potential territorial conquests to windmills, and low flow toilets, and certainly also including the war in Gaza, of course.

Now, when asked about the hostage negotiations, he issued a dramatic ultimatum.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL-ELECT: If they're not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone. All hell will break out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Of course many would say that that happened a very long time ago. Trump also made some audacious arguments for American expansionism. He refused to rule out military force to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland, and also called for economic force to make Canada the 51st state.

CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger questioned Trump about his territorial intentions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Can you assure the world that, as you try to get control of these areas, you are not going to use military or economic coercion?

TRUMP: No.

SANGER: Are you going to negotiate a new treaty? Are you going to ask the Canadians to hold a vote? What is the strategy?

TRUMP: Yes. I can assure you -- you're talking about Panama and Greenland. No, I can't assure you on either of those two. But I can say this. We need them for economic security. The Panama Canal was built for our military. I'm not going to commit to that now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: For more, we're joined by the man who you just saw speaking to Trump in that clip, David Sanger. He's CNN political and national security analyst and also author of the book "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion and America's Struggle to Defend the West."

David, let's dive right in here. How much of these calls for control of the Panama Canal, Greenland, of course we heard Canada again, how much of this is all just classic Donald Trump performing or posturing, and then how much do you think he actually means?

SANGER: Well, Polo, that's exactly what I was trying to elicit with my questions from. Look, in the first term, we heard about his desire to buy Greenland, which is not entirely crazy. Harry Truman had the same idea in the late 1940s, but the seller wasn't interested in selling. And that's what Trump confronted as well. But in the past couple of weeks, we've seen this fairly relentless group of tweets about the Panama Canal, about Greenland, and then what started as a joke about Canada but has now turned more serious.

And it's become gradually clear to us that it's different in the second term, Polo. That in the second term, he is willing to go use the instruments of American power to go force this territorial expansion. Now, whether he'll be successful, we don't know. It's pretty complicated. Denmark is a NATO ally. Imagine for a moment we use military force to compel something out of Denmark, the rest of NATO would be required by Article Five of the NATO treaty to line up with Denmark against us.

[00:25:01]

So, you know, this would get pretty complicated pretty fast. But I was just trying to push today to see exactly how serious he is.

SANDOVAL: And I'm glad you mentioned NATO. We'll get on that in just a second. But first, I want to tell you that I also was listening as you asked the president-elect if he would potentially consider committing support to Ukraine to have some sort of leverage over Putin. He said, like in that other question that he wouldn't tell you. But what was interesting is he did venture onto the topic of Ukraine joining NATO. So let's play for our viewers a portion of what he told you, and then we'll discuss after.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Russia for many, many years, long before Putin said you could never have NATO involved with Ukraine. Now they've said that. That's been like written in stone. And somewhere along the line, Biden said, no, they should be able to join NATO. Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep. And I could understand their feeling about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: So, David, you were there. You were in the room. You're also familiar with the kind of negotiations that are in store for Trump when it comes to Putin. Did it seem to you that he was possibly sympathizing with Russia in his answer by saying that he understands how they feel about potentially having a NATO member on their doorstep? So could that be seen, maybe even by the Russian dictator as siding with him you think?

SANGER: (INAUDIBLE) he is open to their -- to Putin's argument. Look, he's not the only one. When NATO expansion happened, George Kennan, the man who designed Containment Theory, wrote an op-ed in "The New York Times" saying, you can't let NATO expand too close to Russia's borders. Obviously Putin was unhappy as more and more former Soviet states did exactly that.

The president didn't quite have his history right with the then Vice President Biden and then later President Biden. In those positions, Biden took the position that at some point Ukraine might qualify to join NATO, but that it wasn't ready because of internal corruption. It hadn't yet met the standards that were there. And so Biden has never pushed for Ukraine to join NATO. In fact, he's slowed down the effort. But that's all, you know, sort of water under the bridge for President-elect Trump, who was basically setting himself up to say, OK, part of this will be a commitment that Ukraine doesn't join NATO for 20 years or 30 years or so forth.

Where I really was trying to push him was, was he willing to provide some other kind of security guarantee to Ukraine so they know that even if they're not a member of NATO, Russia is not going to just regroup and roll over them.

SANDOVAL: Quite a year, quite an upcoming term.

David Sanger, thank you for being there, for posing those questions to the president-elect, and certainly for all of this valuable insight for us.

SANGER: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: But the question remains. So is there any real chance that Trump could cut a deal for Greenland? He's already sent his son to the autonomous Danish territory.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen with that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): With the Donald Trump Terminator action figure on the cockpit dashboard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This looks like the runway Santa Claus would land at.

PLEITGEN: Trump Force One on final approach to Nuuk, Greenland. Don Junior claiming it's all just a private visit.

DONALD TRUMP JUNIOR, SON OF DONALD TRUMP: We're here as tourists. Seeing it looks like an incredible place. We've been talking about going for a while. I was actually supposed to be here last spring for some of the stuff I do on my free time, but just really excited to be here.

PLEITGEN: But Don Junior's trip comes right as his dad, the president- elect, has reiterated he wants Greenland to become a U.S. territory.

I'm hearing that the people of Greenland are MAGA, Trump said in a post on his platform, Truth Social. And we will protect it and cherish it from a very vicious outside world. Make Greenland great again.

It's not the only expansionist talk from the president-elect. Trump also on Truth Social recently insinuating he wants the U.S. to swallow Canada as well. Many people in Canada love being the 51st state, he said. The United

States can no longer suffer the massive trade deficits and subsidies that Canada needs to stay afloat. Justin Trudeau knew this and resigned.

Greenland is important to the U.S. about halfway between North America and Europe. The U.S. already has important military assets, including a space force base with a missile defense radar base there.

And China has been trying to get its hands on some of the potentially vast mineral deposits the autonomous island, which is part of Denmark, holds.

[00:30:09]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need Greenland for national security. People really don't even know if Denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up, because we need it for national security. That's for the free world.

I'm talking about protecting the free world.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But that's where the president-elect's big ideas seem to meet a different reality.

Both Greenland and Denmark say this piece of the arctic can't be bought.

METTE FREDERIKSEN, DANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We have a clear interest in that it is the United States that plays a large role in the area and not, for example, Russia. But Greenland is for the Greenlandic people.

PLEITGEN: The Danish prime minister there remaining diplomatic, at the same time seemingly addressing President-elect Trump, urging everyone to respect the Greenlandic people, and that in the end, they would be the ones defining their future.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Also, a similar message from Panama, its foreign minister quickly shooting down the suggestion of the U.S. under Trump taking control of the Panama Canal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(AUDIO GAP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: All right. We'll try to get you those comments later. But essentially, you do have people, officials in Panama reacting to this constant conversation that -- that Trump maintains going. We do want to get back to our breaking story, though, in Los Angeles

of that massive fire that has forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people. We're going to check back on this developing story on the ground in just a few moments. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:36:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen anything. Fires were this close to the cars. People left their cars on the Palisades Drive. Yes. Burning up the hillside, the palm trees. Everything's going. And the wind. And the firemen are great, but you can only do so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Back to our breaking news this hour. Los Angeles is under a state of emergency as firefighters race to top [SIC] -- stop two fast- moving wildfires.

Strong winds in Southern California, they are making the Palisades Fire spread at an alarming rate, and the concern is that it's going to get even worse on Wednesday, according to fire officials on the ground.

Local officials adding that at least 30,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes already. And there's concern that there will be need for more evacuations.

The Los Angeles Fire Department is even asking off-duty members to potentially help push back some of the flames.

In the meantime, the Eaton Fire roared to life just a few hours ago, quickly burning an area larger than 150 American football fields. Both fires are at 0 percent containment so far.

CNN has a crew -- has several crews across the region, trying to work as safely as possible to bring you the very latest pictures on the ground and the stories of those affected, including from inside the areas torched by the wildfires.

CNN's Natasha Chen and her team captured some of these video leaving their location in Santa Monica, California, earlier today. With a lot of experience on board, she says that it was, quote, "the most terrifying exit that we've made from any assignment in a long time."

Here's more of what she saw.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): We were there from about noon until about just after 6 p.m. local time, when we had finished our last live shot. And I guess what we hadn't quite surmised was exactly how bad it had

gotten South of us on Pacific Coast Highway. And that's the way we came in to get to our spot to cover the fire.

And we knew that we had heard reports that the flames jumped the highway. But I guess we had not seen with our own eyes just exactly what that meant and what that looked like for us getting out of there.

So, at the end of the night, you know, we're -- I -- we pulled up to a fire truck and kind of waved at a firefighter and said, Hey, where do you think is the best way for us to leave, to get out of here?

He kind of shook his head at us and said, Well, I guess you go South. And so that's what we did, pretty quickly realizing that there were flames on both sides of the highway. There were embers flying over the lanes of the highway.

I spotted an emergency vehicle and decided our best bet is to just follow that car, to follow right behind him as closely as possible. If he's driving, then he's probably knowing the best way out.

So, as we're driving behind this emergency vehicle, I'm hearing an explosion on my right. There are houses on fire right up against the road on the left.

And as I mentioned, embers flying. And so, at this point, I'm just holding my breath. And I can feel the heat from inside the car and just watching the embers fly across the windshield.

So, not ideal in that kind of, you know -- we get put on a lot of kind of risky assignments. And in this situation, we had to make a calculated risk for the best way to leave.

And I think, you know, thankfully, we got out of there. And we got a real look at just the level of destruction and, really, the fear that a lot of those residents might be feeling if they're looking at those images on the news, if they've evacuated.

I can't imagine. They're -- they're wondering if their house is -- is the next one on fire; if they have anything to go home to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[00:30:00]

SANDOVAL: Our thanks to Natasha and her team.

Joining me now is Ariel Cohen, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.

Ariel, we are so lucky to have you right now. We know you guys are extremely busy. But if you could just help us and our viewers around the world really understand what this combination of different factors has been that made this fire get so bad in the first place and affect tens of thousands of -- of residents. ARIEL COHEN, METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, LOS

ANGELES: First of all, I want to say that this is a very heartbreaking situation. It is incredibly sad to see what society is going through during this exceptionally destructive event.

I can't emphasize it enough. On behalf of the National Weather Service, our hearts go out to everyone who is being impacted by these fires.

You know, we're in the midst of a destructive windstorm right now, a once in a decade or two decade type of wind event with winds now gusting upwards of nearly 100 miles per hour across the San Gabriel Mountains and the nearby foothills, and then also across the Santa Monica mountains, extending across parts of the Los Angeles basin area, where we're having trees coming down, significant structural damage already occurring, and it will only get worse overnight.

And then, with the very dry air mass that settled over the area, a very rare, volatile combination of parameters has come together to fuel the explosive development of horrific wildfires across the Los Angeles area, all the way towards the coast across the Santa Monica Mountains and towards Malibu.

This is a particularly dangerous situation, a rare category of red- flag warning that we use for the worst of the worst conditions that can come together to create the rapid spread of fires that spot miles in advance and spread rapidly, raging paths of destruction.

We're seeing that come to fruition. And, you know, when we're making these forecasts, when we're making these messages, you know, these -- these correspond to real-world impacts. And it's so sad to see what's going on.

And we urge everyone to stay at a high state of readiness as we head through the overnight hours into tomorrow, as this will only get worse.

SANDOVAL: It is absolutely heartbreaking, the idea that the worst could possibly still be ahead for so many people, Ariel. And we certainly join you in wishing so many of these people just a safe way out.

I wonder, some of the surrounding regions -- you know the area. For those viewers that are watching, those viewers who are listening right now that perhaps have not been evacuated but may have to make that decision, what are some of those surrounding regions around where the fire is located right now?

Those people that really should make sure that their phones are on, if they possibly make it a few hours of sleep tonight?

COHEN: We have destructive winds going on all the way from the Glendora-Claremont area, all the way through Monrovia, Altadena, Pasadena, up through the San Fernando community, then extending through the Hollywood hills, Beverly Hills, greater Hollywood area, through the Santa Monica mountains, all the way to Malibu. It's a very large footprint all the way. Griffith Park. Thinking of a

few other areas, as well. Echo Park, Elysian Park area, and everywhere across the San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley, Calabasas, Agoura Hills area, Western parts of L.A. Basin, Malibu Coast, and throughout the Santa Monicas.

You need to be at a high state of readiness throughout all of the overnight hours into tomorrow and to have multiple ways to receive lifesaving evacuation notices from local law enforcement, as well as emergency management. You may be seconds away from having to save your life when those orders come. Take them seriously. This is a deadly situation.

SANDOVAL: Ariel, thank you so much for joining us.

You go down that list, it is clear there's a potential for millions of Californians to be affected throughout the night. So certainly, important to continue to monitor.

So, thank you and the rest of the experts there at the National Weather Service for keeping us up to speed. Good luck tonight.

COHEN: Stay safe, everyone.

SANDOVAL: All right, still ahead here in the newsroom, forget the facts. It's just community notes that supposedly are to the rescue. Facebook, Instagram and Threads making major changes to the way they deal with misinformation. That's coming up next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: A dangerous, fast-moving wildfire is bearing down on coastal Los Angeles, with fire officials calling it an immediate threat to life.

Already, tens of thousands of people have been ordered to immediately leave their homes in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, which is about 20 miles West of the center of the downtown of Los Angeles.

And nearby cities have already begun issuing their own evacuation orders. The fire started Tuesday and has burned nearly 3,000 acres so far. It's expected to continue spreading overnight, fueled by strong winds.

California Governor Gavin Newsom says this type of disaster is going to be the new norm. He posted this message on social media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Here at the Palisades Fire, you can see behind me how quickly this is growing.

[00:50:03]

Hundreds and hundreds of personnel all throughout the state of California are here, coming from Northern California. We pre- positioned 110 engines. We've got fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, dozers, water tenders, specialty personnel.

Putting everything we can to not only suppress this fire, but to prevent additional fires over the course of the next few days. Unprecedented winds for this time of year.

And of course, this time of year traditionally has not been fire season. But now we disabuse any notion that there is a season. It's year round in the state of California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And a few moments ago, we heard from officials at the National Weather Service, warning that the situation is going to get even worse, with winds gusts predicted to reach 100 miles an hour. That's well over hurricane-force winds.

Sadly, that's minus the rain that a hurricane typically brings. So, the concern here is that firefighters will not be able to keep up.

So, the concern -- the focus, I should say -- is to save lives. In fact, we know, according to our several affiliates on the ground, including KCAL and KCBS, that there's currently an effort underway to evacuate the residents of a senior center.

Nearly 100 of the most vulnerable people affected by this fire being rushed to safety. Some of the many people whose lives could be in danger.

So do stay tuned to CNN and, certainly, to officials, as they continue to inform us on the situation on the ground.

Not even 10 p.m. yet in L.A., so the night is really just getting started.

All right. Meanwhile, let's get you caught up on other headlines. Meta is adjusting its content review policies on Facebook and Instagram by removing its fact checkers.

Instead, they will be replaced by user-generated so-called community notes, similar to those that we've already seen on the platform X.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announcing the changes less than two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Zuckerberg acknowledged more harmful content will likely appear on the -- on some of the platforms.

The company says its systems will focus, instead, on high-severity violations like terrorism, child sex exploitation and drugs and scams.

Brian Stelter is CNN's chief media analyst and joins us now with more.

Brian, let's dive right in here. Zuckerberg calling this repositioning part of a so-called new era. You and I know that's very different. You've even gone as far as to call this a Trump-friendly makeover.

Can you tell our viewers why that is? BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, Zuckerberg is very

dramatically trying to reset his relationship with Trump and with Trump voters.

He's clearly trying to appeal to conservative users, and it's working. But he may also be putting off some liberal and independent users in the United States.

And this is much broader than any one country. These changes have big impacts all around the world.

Facebook is loosening up its content rules, and it's scrapping its relationships with third-party fact checkers.

That's going to leave some journalists out of work, because they rely on Facebook's funding for some of their fact-checking efforts.

It feels to me as if Zuckerberg, Mark Zuckerberg, is basically saying to the Facebook audience, you're on your own. You know, police yourselves. Figure out what's true and false on your own. And he's implementing more of an Elon Musk-style community note system in order to do that.

SANDOVAL: And on that note, Brian, in his statement, Zuckerberg touted this as a -- what he called a simplification of the content policies that he said are out of touch with mainstream -- with the mainstream.

But -- but really, why rely on users to add context? How will they, in turn, be fact-checked? Is there even an answer to that?

STELTER: Right. There is some value in that. It has worked in some cases on X, but there are lots of other cases on Elon Musk's platform where disinformation, lies, and just plain nonsense run rampant.

So, it is not an entirely effective solution.

And more broadly, what we see Zuckerberg doing here is trying to put his finger up into the wind, trying to figure out where the American public is at. And as he said, be in the mainstream.

But as a result, for example, as of today, Meta's revised guidelines allow users to call women household objects and allow people to dehumanize transgender individuals, using the word "it."

So, those are examples of the concrete policy changes that are going into effect on Facebook, on Threads, on Instagram that may appeal to some users, but might also really repel, really tick off other users.

I'm curious to see if alternatives like Bluesky gain any ground. But let's remember, Meta has a dominant position. For many people, Meta is the internet. They use WhatsApp. They use Facebook.

And basically, by making these changes, Zuckerberg is making changes across the entirety of the Internet.

SANDOVAL: If you could just quickly take us back to -- even back to 2016, Brian, how did this fact-checking process for Facebook, for Meta, for Instagram, and the other companies become so politicized? How did we get here?

STELTER: Well, that's the thing, right? This all started with Trump's first election, when actually made-up stories designed to deceive people were running rampant on Facebook.

[00:55:05]

Zuckerberg was pressured to step in. He did strike these deals with fact checkers. He did implement some content moderation.

But now the company is saying, eight years later, that it went too far; that the rules are too complicated; that it's making too many mistakes; that it's removing too much content that should be staying online. So, it's trying to fix that.

On one level, this is well-intentioned and a logical reset, but it also feels like a very craven attempt to appeal to Trump and the incoming Trump administration.

You know, overall, loosening Meta's rules, they're going to lead to a more open, freewheeling environment. Some users might like that better.

But it also results in an uglier, nastier environment, where you don't know what is true. It feels to me that Zuckerberg just handed over the keys to the users and saying, you all go police yourselves. You all go figure it out on your own.

SANDOVAL: Meta's press release this morning: "more speech and fewer mistakes" was their headline. The reality is, it's going to be more responsibility on us, the user.

Brian Stelter, thank you so much for --

STELTER: Yes, exactly.

SANDOVAL: -- for offering your expertise.

STELTER: Thanks.

SANDOVAL: Take care.

And I'm Polo Sandoval. I will be back with much more live coverage of the situation in Los Angeles right now. We'll be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)