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Winds Fuel Dangerous Los Angeles Wildfires As Tens Of Thousands Evacuate; Trump Lobs Threats, Talks Land Grabs In Wide Ranging Remarks; Trump Talks Land Grabs of Canada, Greenland, Panama Canal; Windstorm Fuels Wildfires in Southern California; Meta Replaces Fact Checking with "Community Notes". Aired 1-2a ET

Aired January 08, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York where we are following breaking news out of Southern California, where dangerous and fast moving wildfires are raging in Los Angeles and they're threatening thousands of homes at the lives of many residents.

Tens of thousands of residents have already been ordered to evacuate and now evacuation orders have reached the seaside city of Santa Monica. A powerful windstorm fueling these flames prompting officials to declare a state of emergency there.

And the situation is only expected to get worse in the hours ahead as the winds are forecast to grow even stronger in excess of hurricane force winds. Residents fleeing the fires describing these scenes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 moves so quickly this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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: Currently, hundreds of firefighters are on the front lines battling these flames, trying to contain them. The largest fire now nearly 3,000 acres in size is burning around the coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, which is 20, 23 miles west of downtown LA.

And another fire is also growing and it's growing very quickly. This one a little further east. The Eaton fire has now doubled in size to 400 acres in less than an hour. And that is burning at a rate of over one football field a minute since beginning just a few hours ago.

California's governor urging residents to heed the evacuation orders that they get and warns that these types of events are becoming far too common.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAVIN NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: 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: Already. For hours, our colleague Nick Watt and his team have been bringing us some incredible pictures, harrowing pictures. Nick, I'm curious, with the forecast showing that the winds are only going to grow even stronger, worsening the situation. Are you feeling that already or not yet? We can see them.

NICK WATT, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I'm not sure if you just jeep that saw those palm from hit me. Yes. Polo, the wind in the past half hour has definitely gotten worse. Now we are still in downtown Pacific Palisades. Behind me, that used to be a bistro over here. I'm not sure what that used to because there's just nothing left.

We watched an apartment building just -- Chris, look at these. Look at these embers. Chris, if you turn around, you see, that's the issue, Polo. These embers in this wind, they're just lighting spot fires all over the place. Wow, look at that palm tree up there, Chris. Palm tree, up, up, up.

So all of those embers could potentially be another little spot fire. So it is just frankly, largely out of control right now. We have more than 200 firefighters trying to get a hand, but it is very difficult.

The wind is so strong and as you mentioned, it's only going to get worse than this. This is not the worst of it. It's going to get worse. And they are battling these flames in very steep hillsides with tightly packed homes, narrow roads. This is a very difficult fire to fight and frankly to report on. We should probably get out of here shortly.

But as you say, Polo, that other fire that's popped up around Pasadena as well. So this fire, 30,000 people were evacuated. Earlier you mentioned evacuation orders moving into Santa Monica. My family's moved down and many other people I know moved a little further south.

[01:05:04]

It is sort of unimaginable when you see this in an environment that you're used to seeing. I live here. I come to the Palisades. Now I'm seeing buildings that I've driven by for years no longer exist. Right over there, one of the sheeshiest shopping malls in LA. There've been little spot fires popping up around that. So far that has not gone up.

But you can just see how treacherous this is and you can really see how the wind is just buffeting me around. That's the problem. So, yes, you know, this is going to be a very, very tough night for these firefighters trying to save as much as they can of the Pacific Palisades. Polo, back to you.

SANDOVAL: Nick, I know with your experience, you guys have taken precautions and at any point feel free to bail out of there just to get someplace safe. But I do want to ask you very quickly there, do you get a sense that everybody who had to get out actually heeded those warnings and left?

WATT: It's unclear. I mean, listen, it's obvious that a lot of people tried to leave because we saw cars gridlocked, stationary, standstill on the road, people getting their bags out the back and just walking. I do know of some people who tried to get out and couldn't and so just went back to their homes to sit and try and wait this out.

But a lot of people did leave, abandoned their cars on the road and those cars were just bulldozed out the way by the Los Angeles Fire Department because they needed to get in with their trucks and men and hoses to try to contain this place.

Listen, we knew yesterday that this was coming. We knew there were Santa Ana winds, we knew there could be fires. The state had pre- positioned trucks, firefighters, but you never know exactly where it's going to ignite.

And also, I certainly was not expecting it to be quite this. I hate to use the word apocalyptic, but that's what it looks like. You know, we've been driving along Sunset Boulevard, the famous Sunset Boulevard, and you just see houses in flames, in the darkness because there's no power. So all you see is black and little splodges of terrible orange of houses just burning, burning, burning.

And now we're in Pacific Palisades in the village. There's a huge pall of very dark smoke coming now over us. That's -- I don't know what that's burning, but that's burning some heavy fuel. That is not a good sign.

So, Polo, I think we might actually try and get ourselves out of here. You know, don't want to be a hero. So, yes, back to you. And I think we're going to get in my truck and get out of here.

SANDOVAL: Nick, that is a good thing, certainly a good idea right now. But we cannot thank you and your team, Chris behind the camera and the rest of the folks out there for bringing us these very important pictures to remind residents. Nick, please, we'll let you go.

But really those images, just absolutely remarkable seeing Nick standing in sort of a -- surrounded by these embers. And it is visual proof of that threat that we've heard from officials that it is only going to get worse throughout the night. With the National Weather Service, an official there who I had a chance to speak to in the last hour saying that it's likely that those wind gusts will blow in excess of 100 miles an hour. That's well over hurricane force wind, sadly, without the rain that a hurricane would bring.

And so that is now going to lead to a massive challenge for all of the brave firefighters who are on the front lines right now, working to try to limit the destruction that this fire has unleashed. Earlier, CNN's Laura Coates actually an opportunity to speak to one of

those L.A. county fire officials, one of the captains that's been working throughout the day and into tonight who described those tough conditions that the firefighters are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. SHEILA KELLIHER, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: I wish you could see, I don't know if you can see over here, but this hillside, it's probably hard to see with my camera is burning and it's just whipping tornado like, you know, columns and spouts. So it's the perfect storm as they say. The low relative humidity, the high gusty winds, the low fuel moisture, the lack of rain and the excessive fuel growth that we've had over the last three years really have set this up for this, you know, once in a decade wind event.

Fires like this, with erratic wind like this, you're not going to beat this one by yourself. You need to get out of the way, go somewhere safe and then let the professionals take care of it and then we'll go from there.

[01:10:06]

Because really, if people understand how bad a hurricane is or how bad a tornado is, you know, you can't stop those. The wind is so strong there's nothing you can do. You wait till it passes through and then you fix what's left. Right? Well, on add fire on top of that and that's what we're up against. So, you know, we've got to mitigate it. And the biggest thing is stay safe, get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: One of the first responders that's on this right now. Earlier, I also had a chance to speak to Ariel Cohen, he's meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in L.A. about the situation on the ground.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARIEL COHEN, METEOROLOGIST IN CHARGE, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES: 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, we're making these messages, you know, 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Neeta Sreekanth, she is a resident of L.A. County. Nita, 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 have my AirPods in and I was hiking up Westridge 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 29 -- 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.

[01:15:05]

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. 2021, you know, not to compare these, it wasn't as bad as the 2019 one or the one we're actually currently experiencing. LA looks like an apocalyptic city right now.

And I'm not sure what it's going to be overnight because the winds are very strong and we could wake up to even more destruction than any of us right now realize with the dark 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, that 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 were actually told it 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, we know that this is significantly different than the previous ones. But in 2019, the smoke, the 2018, the smoke and the -- so it's 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. You 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 too? 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's going to be really about being on edge and being ready and prepared in the event that we 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 in the front lines trying to protect homes, but most importantly to protect lives. Thank you, Neeta.

U.S. President Joe Biden is pledging the full support of the federal government to respond to these California wildfires. He said late Tuesday that he is being frequently briefed on the situation that's unfolding. 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.

The White House has offered federal aid to states and local authorities on the ground right now, including help from FEMA.

Still to come here in the Newsroom, a CNN crew forced to drive through the Palisades fire as winds fan the flames. A firsthand account is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:23:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just got pass Palisades.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: You just saw and listened to video from CNN's Natasha Chen and her team capturing this footage while they were leaving their shooting location in Santa Monica on Tuesday, an area scorched by the Palisades fire. She has plenty of experience in covering this and says that it was, quote, the most terrifying exit that we've made from any assignment in a long time. So that says a lot. We are certainly following breaking news on multiple wildfires burning

in California right now. California Governor Gavin Newsom noting that the flames are unprecedented for this time of year. He says hundreds of personnel are working to stop the fires using airplanes, helicopters, even bulldozers and much, much more to try to get ahead of the flames and protect as many lives and property as they can.

The Los Angeles Fire Department reporting that one firefighter has sustained what they describe as a serious head injury. Mandatory evacuations are expanding as well. And one resident says seeing flaming debris land in front of him was what ultimately convinced him that he had to get out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got within 300 yards of my house and some gentleman picked me up. Taking the rest of the way, the fire department stopped, and as it stopped, we saw some literally flaming debris landed in the road near where we were standing. So it seemed to me, let's get out of here. Whatever I lose, I lose and there's nothing I can do about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDVOAL: We mentioned Natasha Chen and her team and their coverage. Here's more of what they've seen as this fire rages on.

[01:25:05]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've been seeing flames like this over the hilltop all day in different spots, hearing explosions, seeing ashes and embers and sand thrown around. As night falls, we are expecting the wind gusts to peak overnight, creating a real problem for firefighters on the ground.

Residents, meanwhile, have evacuated this particular neighborhood, though some are still stuck in there. We talked to many of them who had come down the hill. Unfortunately, this is only one path that they can take out of their neighborhood. So there was a lot of gridlock there, some of them even abandoning their cars and coming down the hill by foot with a suitcase, with their pets, telling me they had very little time to put together their bags, seeing how fast this fire was moving.

We've now been told that the flames have jumped the Pacific coast highway where we are just a little bit south of us, and even burned a couple of lifeguard stations. The firefighters are working through the night. There are hundreds of them working this. And now there are thousands who have been ordered to evacuate or have gotten evacuation warnings to prepare that they could be next to ask to leave, to be asked to leave.

Though we know a lot of people to the neighboring Malibu as well as Santa Monica to the south have seen these orange glows in the distance and they are starting to move on out, not taking any chances. Natasha Chen, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Donald Trump carried out a rambling news conference at Mar- a-Lago on Tuesday filled with inflammatory remarks, many of them directed at the global audience. The incoming U.S. president talking a lot about land grabs, which prompted quick responses from those U.S. allies. He also wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has the details from West Palm Beach, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Less than two weeks before taking office, President elect Donald Trump made clear he has his eye on a full agenda both domestically and internationally. Speaking at Mar-a-Lago, his resort, giving his first full throated news conference of the year, he made clear about the Gaza hostages. He said if they are not released by the time he takes office, all hell will break loose in the Middle East.

He also did not rule out pardoning January 6th defendants. He said that he would still evaluate case by case, but made clear that he was sympathetic to the defendants on January 6th over the police. But it was the international law that drew so much attention on Tuesday here in Florida when President-elect Donald Trump for the first time said economic security is the reason that he would like the U.S. to acquire Greenland.

DONALD TURMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: 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.

ZELENY: And Danish officials push back on that, saying that Greenland is not for sale, is not up for a land grab by Donald Trump or anyone else. The president-elect also talked about the Panama Canal. Of course, it is one of President Jimmy Carter's biggest accomplishments back in 1977 when a treaty was ratified, effectively giving the canal to Panama.

Now, Donald Trump said that was a mistake. He said it has cost the U.S. billions. And even more than that. He said, also for national security reasons, that should change.

Now, it is an open question whether any of this actually can happen, never mind U.S. law. Speaker Mike Johnson in the U.S. House of Representatives said that he has not had any discussions with Donald Trump on this, and it would be a violation of international law.

However, that does not mean that this is not going to be more than an obsession for Donald Trump. He's been talking about this repeatedly. But for the first time on Tuesday, also talking about the Gulf of Mexico, the context, of course, he was really aiming some sharp criticism at President Joe Biden for putting a ban on offshore drilling. But for the first time that Donald Trump said it should be time to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

TRUMP: We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name.

ZELENY: A beautiful name, perhaps, but not something the president of the United States can do. One thing is clear. As Donald Trump heads toward his second term in office, the America first isolationist agenda that really encapsulated his first term seems to be changing. American expansionism clearly is on his mind. The question if it's bluster, a negotiating tactic, or an obsession of his. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Not surprisingly, Trump's remarks are not going over very well in places he claims to want to take over.

[01:30:03]

Panama's foreign minister, for example, he stressed that the country's crucial waterway is not up for grabs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAVIER MARTINEZ-ACHA, PANAMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The sovereignty of our canal is not negotiable. Donald Trump's opinions that he has discussed are not true. No such offer was received during this government.

Let it be clear no such offer. And also let it be clear the canal belongs to the Panamanians and will remain that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Meanwhile, back in West Balm, CNN's political and national security analyst David Sanger attended that news conference on Tuesday, and he pressed Trump on his territorial ambitions.

(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?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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: I can't 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.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I'm not going to commit to that now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: For more, were 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 Americas 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 him. 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 (ph) this territorial expansion.

Now, whether he'll be successful, we don't know. It's pretty complicated. Denmark's 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 5 of the NATO treaty to line up with Denmark against us.

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: -- 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.

[01:34:54]

SANGER: Obviously Putin was unhappy as more and more former Soviet states did exactly that. The president didn't quite have his history with right with the vice -- with then-Vice President Biden and then later President Biden.

In those positions, Biden took the -- 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 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: Still to come, one witness describing L.A. as looking more like an apocalyptic city. We will bring you the very latest on the wind-fueled fires that are burning out of control in southern California. Stay with us.

[01:36:40]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANDOVAL: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

More now on our top story that's breaking out of Los Angeles.

Firefighters battling a massive blaze in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, which is about 20 miles west of Downtown L.A. It has been growing rapidly, and it's been fueled by gusty winds.

Officials estimating that at least 2,900 acres have already burned since the first 9-1-1 call came in to authorities about 12 hours ago now. And they're warning that stronger wind gusts are expected in the coming hours, worsening the situation, making it harder for firefighters.

The blaze, also threatening thousands of homes and businesses, abandoned cars lining the roads, with many people deciding to just walk to safety.

And L.A. police saying that about 30,000 people have been evacuated. Those images just absolutely ominous, especially when you see some of these people that are rushing to safety with their belongings, with their pets.

Here's what one resident described, what she had to do to get away from the dangerous wildfire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the smoke just got really bad, so I just started packing up all of our stuff and we got in the car to go. And then all the cars were abandoned, so I had nowhere to go.

So I just had to get out of my car and start walking. The smoke is so bad. I don't -- I have no idea where we're going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: It is absolutely heartbreaking, the level of uncertainty for so many California residents tonight and the uncertainty that they face, not knowing, as she said, will they have a home to go home to?

And clearly for firefighters, they especially are in for a very long night with those already extreme wind conditions expected to get even worse tonight.

The captain of the L.A. County Fire Department calls it the perfect storm for a once-in-a-decade wind event.

Our meteorologist, Chad Myers, with the lay of the land.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And we've already had hurricane force wind gusts in places here in southern California, especially on the mountain tops.

But here's what happens in the desert. Unlike everywhere else in America, when the sun goes down, the winds die off. Here because of the cold air that's going to sink down into the desert, that cold air is going to splash onto the dirt, and it's going to spread out.

Well, where does it spread out? Well, kind of in all directions. But when it spreads out through the canyons, that's when the winds actually pick up in the dark, which doesn't make any sense for most of you as you're watching this, but it happens here.

So red flag warnings still going. Winds were 40 to 60, but they could go from 60 to 80 overnight. So we're going to have to keep watching this.

Now by later on this afternoon, somewhere around 4:00 things are going to calm down. But that is a long time from right now for the highest class here of fire weather.

The extremely critical warnings here, category three of three here across parts of southern California. The firefighters have a long, long night and probably a fairly long morning before the winds begin to die off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Thanks for that Breakdown, Chad.

Earlier, CNN did have an opportunity to speak to Pacific Palisades residents who were helping to fight the wildfire by watering down houses and the brush surrounding them. Here's what they said.

(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 -- 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.

[01:44:47]

YOST: 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 HOST: Yes. And we know there's hundreds of them 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. YOST: -- their resources are being spread thin.

There's -- 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, catch it early. But we're -- right after were done with you, we wanted to talk with you, tell you what was going on. We're going back up on the roof.

BURNETT: You're going back up, I mean, and throughout the night, are your families ok?

MARKS: Well, our families are out of here. We're the -- we're the -- we're the ones holding the ground.

BURNETT: So, Jeff, may I ask you what -- have firefighters been able to I mean, have you -- you live there. So you've been through this before? I know that our reporter was just saying your specific area has not had a direct fire in quite some time.

You're used to it, of course, in general, but specifically to Pacific Palisades. But it is fearsome how it is spreading right now. And you have through the hours of the night. Have you ever seen anything like this before?

YOST: This is as close as we've seen. And its black smoke everywhere. I think -- hopefully that's the end of one of the houses that burned, but it's definitely spreading and the wind is not helping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Absolutely remarkable. Soot-covered, but determined to keep their neighbors up to speed on what their property looks like. They do say they plan to stay through the night to continue fighting those flames.

We will be right back with more news about this devastating fire in California -- a rare, rapidly-spreading wildfire impacting tens of thousands of residents.

[01:46:37]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE GUTTENBERG, ACTOR: I haven't seen anything like this in my entire life. And I don't think many people have. At 9:00 in the morning, it was an idyllic Pacific Palisades. And then

by 10:00 -- 10:30, the sky was dark. It was as if it was nighttime.

So I got in my car. I was in town, and I drove toward my house, and it was bumper to bumper traffic. Finally, I got to the corner of PCH and Sunset, where they weren't letting anybody up. So I got out of my car and I started to try to help people because people were just coming down the road.

I was helping people in wheelchairs, and there were people that didn't have -- their feet were dragging on the floor. There were mothers who were hysterical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: You just heard from actor Steve Guttenberg describing the panic caused by the Palisades fire that's currently still burning west of L.A. for at least 12 hours now, with still no signs of containment.

Tens of thousands of people have been ordered to immediately leave their neighborhood, and nearby cities have begun issuing their own evacuation orders.

The fire started Tuesday and has burned nearly 3,000 acres so far. And as we've said, it's expected to continue spreading overnight, fueled by those rare, rare and very strong winds.

We'll continue to monitor the situation there.

We want to get you to some other headlines including tech giant Meta. It's raising eyebrows after announcing far-reaching changes to exactly when it comes to how it moderates content on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Critics warning that it's a recipe for misinformation.

Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, META: Hey, everyone.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Meta's 40-year-old CEO is taking a page from Elon Musk's playbook making sweeping changes to how videos and other posts are moderated on Facebook and Instagram.

Mark Zuckerberg announcing his platforms will get rid of fact checkers in what he says is an effort to promote free speech, because Meta's fact checkers, Zuckerberg says, made too many mistakes and often engaged in censorship.

ZUCKERBERG: But the fact checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the U.S.

TODD: Instead of fact checkers, Meta will use so-called "Community Notes" to monitor content, notes that any Facebook or Instagram user can post. As Meta's new chief of global affairs, Joel Kaplan explained to Fox News.

JOEL KAPLAN, CHIEF OF GLOBAL AFFAIRS, META: So somebody can write a note and then the way it works is different people on the platform can sort of vote on that note. And if you get people who usually disagree, who all say, yes, that sounds right, then that note gets put on the -- on the post and people see it.

TODD: Mark Zuckerberg is now following in the footsteps of Musk, who has dismantled X's fact-checking teams and replaced them with user- generated community notes.

A Musk critic and anti-hate advocate says Zuckerberg and Musk are being irresponsible in making community notes the only way to guard against false claims and disinformation.

IMRAN AHMED, CEO, CENTER FOR COUTERING DIGITAL HATE: This is going to create a tidal wave of unchallenged lies, increasing the spread of hate, threatening the integrity of our communities, our democracy, and potentially harming public health and our kids.

TODD: This comes as Zuckerberg, like Musk who is now a key ally of President-Elect Donald Trump, seems to be engaging in an ideological pivot to the right in American politics.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR-CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: This is not the guy who presented himself as a liberal humanitarian when he first presented Facebook as an idea and a reality.

TODD: Zuckerberg's global affairs chief, Kaplan is a prominent Republican. Zuckerberg also announced that another major Trump ally, UFC CEO Dana White, will join Meta's board. Trump, who once accused Zuckerberg of election interference and threatened to imprison him, now says this --

TRUMP: Honestly, I think they've come a long way, Meta.

[01:54:50]

TODD: A source tells CNN, Meta gave Trump's team an advanced head's up that the Meta policy change was coming.

Zuckerberg recently joined major tech CEOs like Apple's Tim Cook, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Spotify's Daniel Ek in courting the president- elect.

One analyst says this about Zuckerberg losing his fact checkers.

SABATO: Trump is a big winner. The Republican Party is a big winner. MAGA is a big winner. The loser, of course, is correct information.

TODD: In making his announcement, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that his new policy could create new problems for content moderation.

Zuckerberg said the reality is this is a trade-off, that it means that Facebook and Instagram would, quote, "catch less bad stuff". But he also said it would reduce the number of innocent people's posts and accounts that they accidentally take down.

Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And we thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Polo Sandoval, getting ready to hand things over to Rosemary Church.

Stay tuned for more breaking news coverage of the rare and rapidly- spreading wildfire just west of Los Angeles.

[01:55:55]

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