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At Least 5 Dead As Wildfires Rage Around Los Angeles; New Evacuation Ordered Amid Fire In Hollywood Hills; Dramatic Time-Lapse Video Shows Spead Of L.A. Wildfire; Thousands Flee As Six Wildfires Burn In Los Angeles County; Biden To Deliver Eulogy For Carter At State Funeral. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired January 09, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:48]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to all of our viewers in the United States and joining us from around the world, I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York.

From first this hour, breaking news out of Southern California where it's 10:00 p.m. that's where firefighters now battling five wildfires across the L.A. area and that includes the latest one to break out in the Hollywood Hills, which has prompted more mandatory evacuations.

One resident who fled the area described a chaotic scene with traffic jams as people rushed to leave and first responders were trying to get into the scene. I'll show you some video from the Palisades fire, the largest so far at nearly 16,000 acres. Remember, it started at only 10 acres yesterday. Residents have described what they've been seeing there as apocalyptic. At least five people have died in one of those fires.

Overall, more than a thousand buildings and other structures have already been destroyed. One resident watched from across the country. This video threw her home security camera as the fire burned through her backyard, making its way through it to her home. It's unclear right now whether her home is still standing though.

The Eden fire in eastern L.A. County continues to burn, more than 10,000 acres in size currently. So far, zero containment and wind gusts are expected to continue through the day on Thursday.

Also want to show you some satellite images that show this scale of the devastation with the orange and white illuminating where the fires have been raging. The mayor of Los Angeles urging residents to stay vigilant, stay informed as she addressed the devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN BASS, LOS ANGELES MAYOR: I stand here today with incredible sympathy and concern about the devastation and the tragedy that our city and county are facing. And I definitely want to send my condolences to the families who lost loved ones, to the families and neighborhoods who lost property.

Finally, air operations have resumed and that is a big deal. But it is up to the winds as to how long the air support can continue. But these conditions are highly volatile. We've seen a devastating fire in the Pasadena area. Fires have sparked up in Simi Valley and on the L.A. and Ventura County line. And as our firefighters do battle on the front lines, all of us must be vigilant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And tonight, CNN's Anderson Cooper is in Altadena, California, one of the places hit hard by this fire, where he says the fires are, in his words, are still just out of control. He takes us along to show us some of the heartbreaking devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, AC360: There just are not enough fire crews able to deal with all the blazes that are going on. This house is completely gone. The next house next door looks like the roof has just caught fire over there. The fire has also spread across the street. There are at least three houses ablaze.

And then the fire just in the last two minutes or three minutes has spread to that vehicle which was parked out front. There was a slight explosion as some of the gas went up. A fire truck passed by here. There's another larger blaze up there which they are going to try to deal with.

Right now, we're at Harriet in Altadena, Harriet Street. The fire has spread now to this house, which is really now engulfed in flames. But I mean, it's just surreal. I mean, look at this. Even a small thing like this tree is burning from the inside.

So on this block, I count one, two. I mean, all the houses on this side are gone. Now the fire looks, this house is engulfed. It's very much likely that this house will be next because these winds are now just whipping onto this house.

[01:05:00]

Yes, it is just devastating. And what's so surreal is look down the block. It is block after block here in this area in Altadena. I mean, there's a large, huge fire there, burning several houses. Any other time there would be fire crews blocking off this entire area, but there's just too many fires and they've just got a -- it's triaged.

COOPER (voice-over): We come upon Captain Chris Donnelly of the L.A. Fire Department. He crew have been out more than 24 hours.

COOPER: How's water? I mean, obviously Palisades have had water issues.

CAPTAIN CHRIS DONELLI, L.A. FIRE DEPARTMENT: Our hydrant ran dry about two minutes ago.

COOPER: And is that the water pressure issue or?

DONELLI: How we are -- because there's so many injuries, engines tapping the grid and multiple grids. We're basically just taking all the water out of the grid.

COOPER: So what do you do? I mean, you want to fight at these fires?

DONELLI: We do have water tenders, vehicles that shuttle water to us that carry 2,500 gallons of water. But again, they're stretched thin as well. So they have a lot of demand placed on them.

COOPER: So on a scene like this right now, what can you do?

DONELLI: We are looking at houses that we can save. So things that we can do, we can clear brush away from fences, things that we can do with our hands or with tools and we just help some homeowners get out. So just, I mean, first thing is rescue operations. We want you out. Houses can be replaced. All that lives cannot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Our thanks to Anderson for that report. Joining me live now is David Acuna. He is the battalion chief and public information officer for CAL FIRE. David, thank you so much for taking a bit of time here on what has been just an incredibly busy 30 plus hours now.

As we see some of the live images also from the scene, what can you tell us right now about where things stand as we speak?

DAVID ACUNA, BATTALLION CHIEF AND PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, CAL FIRE: So we're a little over halfway through this wind event. I would love to say that it's going to be over tonight, but it's not. It's planned to go through Wednesday into Thursday. We're hoping that it begins to taper off on Friday.

With all of that said, not only can these fires grow, but the bigger concern is that there will be a new fire. We do know that 95 percent of all wildfires are started by humans. And so it is up to the public to make sure they create one less spark in order to help firefighters and the public in their efforts.

SANDOVAL: I was going to say at this point, indeed, it certainly is likely too soon to tell. David, is there any idea how some of these fires may have even started.

ACUNA: That's correct. All of our law enforcement and firefighters are busy with the life safety, which is our number one priority. So we have not fully dove into the investigation process, but we will certainly do that. I know that our investigators are talented, and even when there's a lot of destruction, as you see out here, they are able to determine many times what caused the fire.

SANDOVAL: Right. Priorities are still understandably on preserving life and property. How about your firefighters? Obviously, fatigue and exhaustion for some of these men and women on the front lines, it has to be top of mind. It also has to be setting in some of them maybe even having their homes also at risk.

Is there relief on the ground already? Is it on the way? What can we expect on that front?

ACUNA: So we made a move on Monday to move additional personnel from the north part of California where we've had sufficient rain and snow to mitigate the wildfire risk. And we moved them down so that they could be prepared and indeed they were used and have been used.

So not to mention that I know Los Angeles City has done a recall of their personnel, and there's so many different elements that we just dig in and begin to bring people in. It is our winter staffing, which means in CAL FIRE, we have a lower number of engines available.

But we will still be committed to making sure that we address all these issues while not leaving things chop at home. Because keep in mind, CAL FIRE is and all risk fire department, which means we go to fires, we go to vehicle accidents and medical aid. So that's all being taken care of at the same time.

SANDOVAL: Yes. Those medical assistant calls, those don't stop while your firefighters are working on this. You mentioned the prediction that this wind event may hopefully soon be over. When that happens, as expected, how much of an upper hand will that give your crews?

ACUNA: Well, absolutely. Well, because then it's going to allow us to get our aircraft in to really mitigate those large jackpots of fire and to allow us to go direct on these fire lines, but it's still going to require a lot of work.

[01:10:03]

You know, when we create all of these dozer lines and other equipment lines, we have to repair that before we leave. Otherwise we'll end up with mudslides similar to what happened in Montecito after the Thomas fire.

SANDOVAL: Yes, we cannot have any more devastation than we've already had there. Finally, you mentioned also the, well, we could potentially see more fires, especially since it just takes one spark.

So right now, what is your message to people who have not received any evacuation orders, but they're also dangerously close to the affected region, should they wait to hear from you all to be told to leave?

ACUNA: And so we definitely will encourage anyone that wants to leave the area to certainly do that. One of the major issues in these foothill areas is that the roads are narrow and windy. And so when you have a thousand people trying to leave downhill, while at the same time we've got large fire engines, bulldozers, other heavy equipment trying to go uphill, it creates a traffic jam very, very quickly.

SANDOVAL: Yes, we saw that video yesterday of having to use bulldozers to clear the path for your crews to get where they're badly needed. David Acuna, we thank you so much for keeping us posted not only today, but also yesterday and in the days ahead. Do be safe. Thank you.

ACUNA: Will do. Thank you.

SANDOVAL: You bet. Well, aside from the obvious dangers that wildfires present, the smoke can also carry some side effects, and not just for the area near the fire. I'll talk with an expert about what to watch. Stay with us.

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[01:16:20]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANESSA PELLEGRINI, OWNER, PACIFIC PALISADES RESTAURANT, LOST TO FIRE: Your quintessential Italian cheers. Everybody knew your name. I mean you walked in, you saw kids you soccer with, you saw people that you did business with, clubs, neighbors. It's, I mean, it really was just a community. It was just a community place that people came together, you know.

And I know a lot of people see the Palisades as a rich celebrity, famous, you know, person driven type of location. But I'm going to tell you that the people who live there are people and they're hard working Palisadians, they own laundromats, they own liquor stores, they own restaurants. They, you know, they come together, they play bocce ball in the park.

They are just like you and me. And even the celebrities which we have -- they celebrate their birthdays with us, you know, their anniversary, their celebrations of life. It is a -- it is a home to so many people. And I, you know, I want to tell everybody who's ever watching, who's ever in the Palisades that we will be back. We're not going anywhere and we're going to help the entire community rebuild. However, whenever, however that looks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Kinds of emotional stories bound to repeat themselves along main streets in the affected area. Just heard from a restaurant owner there reflecting on the loss of her neighborhood business to the raging wildfires in Southern California this week.

Crews are now battling five major fires across the Los Angeles area. The newest is on top of the Hollywood Hills neighborhood where new evacuations have already been ordered. Overall, about 150,000 people have been told to leave their homes. Many have most of these fires not even contained at all. They're still being fueled by this wind event that is still not over, according to officials on the ground who just spoke to us.

At least five people have died and more than 1,000 buildings and other structures have been destroyed, including many people's homes and, of course, businesses as you just heard. Our own CNN's Leigh Waldman is following developments. She is from the

site of the Palisades fire. Leigh, we just spoke in the last hour. Thankfully, you don't have civilians to talk to, meaning that many people heeded those warnings and left.

So walk us through what you're seeing there now. Well over 30 hours after this fire that started only as about 10 acres, but now tens of thousands of acres charred. What do you see tonight?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Polo, once we got here this afternoon, obviously the sun was up, but we saw at least three businesses go up in flames. That was down this building, the last of those buildings just embers now, still smoking, still smoldering.

But block after block looks just like this behind us. It looks apocalyptic. It looks like a scene out of a movie. So many of the same scene replayed again and again, as you drive into the Pacific Palisades, it takes your breath away. You can tell this is a beautiful community that was absolutely devastated and destroyed by this fire as it swept through here.

And we're experiencing those gusts of wind kicking up the ash in the air tonight as there's nothing left to burn because all of these businesses, people's livelihoods, people's homes have already been destroyed. But it's heartbreaking to see.

Now we're thankful, like you mentioned, there's no one here for us to talk to.

[01:20:00]

Obviously, it's late. We're seeing fire crews still driving through, patrolling through this area. But once people come back, they're going to see that there's essentially nothing for them to come back to. So many businesses, so many buildings absolutely destroyed by this fire.

SANDOVAL: What's so telling, Leigh, as you panned over, is the only thing that's recognizable at that property is the number of the address painted on the curb with the L A Dodgers logo. Aside from that, I think the owners of that property would have no idea that's where their structure once stood.

Tell me about the firefighters. What are you hearing from the crews on the ground? Clearly they're probably there -- we know they're exhausted. Do they know if there's any backup coming their way?

WALDMAN: You know, these crews are obviously exhausted. We know that they're working 36 to 48 hour shifts. They've been stretched incredibly thin. The L.A. fire chief has said if there was two wildfires, they could deal with that. But there's over six wildfires that are burning in L.A. County right now fueled by these winds that are gusting on us right now and by the dry conditions.

Thankfully, there are fire crews coming from other states to lend aid. The Navy is bringing in helicopters to help with the aerial response. Governor Gavin Newsom said over 7,500 firefighting and emergency crews are dispatched right now to try and get these fires contained.

But the fire weather conditions are going to persist through Friday. So that's a dangerous situation for so many people who live here and call this area home.

But we spoke to some firefighters who actually came here and checked on our crew and offered us pizza tonight and asked if were doing okay and gave us advice about being in this area. So, you know, even though they're exhausted and they're working to protect this area and to protect people, they're still showing their heart and their love to people who are doing our jobs, trying to inform people about what's happening. It's truly heartwarming what's happening in the state of such devastation.

SANDOVAL: Yes, those heartwarming stories do offer some hope and no telling when the residents of that neighborhood where you are will be allowed back in to pick up the pieces. CNN's Leigh Waldman in the middle of the devastation. Thank you so much for walking us through that. Be safe.

All right. Check out this video that was taken by a CNN team of a plane descending into LAX. As you can see, the view completely obstructed, really by that smoke that's rising from the scene there from where the wildfires are, that smoke could be potentially dangerous. You saw our own Leigh Waldman wearing that protective equipment to keep herself and her team safe.

And although UCLA Health is treating patients for fire related injuries, the fires could be causing even more potential harm. A recent study out of Stanford University claiming that wildfires like these can release cancer causing chemicals into the soil, though there is no evidence to suggest that is the case with these fires that are still raging in California.

Let's talk to an expert though. Joining me now is Anne Rimoin. She is a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, I should say. Professor, thank you so much for offering your expertise to this conversation. These are the sort of side angles that we also try to talk about.

I wonder if you can tell our viewers, especially those living in and around the area there in California, how can folks draw a distinction between let's say a woodland fire, which is typically organic vegetation, and wood, as opposed to an urban fire that's sweeping through neighborhoods? How much more toxic is that for people?

ANNE RIMOIN, PROFFESOR, EPIDEMIOLOGY DEPARTMENT, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Well, we really don't have data on specifically on how this kind of fine particulate matter really changes the risk when it comes to urban versus a fire in a forest. But the bottom line is this fine particulate matter can penetrate deep into the lungs and become a real problem. It can even enter the bloodstream.

And the bottom line is that it's very, very dangerous for people. In particular people who are older, people who have chronic conditions, young people who are pregnant, you know, it's the same list of people who tend to be vulnerable, who may be at greater risk.

SANDOVAL: We heard from some of our, from some of the people on the ground, including our own CNN colleagues who work and live in the region, some of them reporting that even though they live miles away from the devastation, they woke up this morning and the inside of their homes smelled like smoke.

So could you speak to just how far this sort of particulate matter could, can potentially travel? Doesn't have to be an exact distance. But why should people be sort of on guard as well and take protective measures even if they live far from the flames?

RIMOIN: Well, this kind of particulate matter can go long distances. And so it's very important to consider the air quality. And so what I like to tell people to do is to treat this as a very important situation that you want to avoid being outdoors for prolonged periods of time. If you do need to be outdoors, I would wear an N95 mask, which can help in terms of decreasing inhaling some of this particulate matter.

I would also inside the house where possible. And this comes again, you know, what you can do under very extreme circumstances. You know, I say run the AC with where it's recycling air inside. You don't want air coming in from outside. Close your windows, close your doors and really do make an effort to avoid inhaling it.

If you do have air filters, and of course, this is a luxury and some people don't have power. So this is all, if you can do these things, you know, use an air filter and this kind of particulate matter can stay in the air for a period of time. So it's going to be very important to be monitoring the air quality.

But in the interim time period where people are really in a crisis situation in so many places here in Los Angeles. I think that the best thing for people to do is stay indoors if you can, avoid physical activity outdoors, if you can, wear a mask, if you can outdoors.

SANDOVAL: Some wonderful advice for people who don't necessarily live in the area but do have the potential risk to inhale whatever is coming from these flames, especially that smoke that, as you say, carry -- could travel far distances.

Professor, thank you so much for your time and for lending your expertise to this. Again, some really important advice for our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. Take care. Have a good night.

RIMOIN: My pleasure.

SANDOVAL: All right. Still to come here in the CNN Newsroom, we will hear more from the people who made dramatic escapes from the L.A. fires. Our breaking news coverage continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:32:30] SANDOVAL: At this hour, we are following developments out of southern

California, where at least five wildfires are now burning nearly 27,000 acres.

Dramatic time lapse video actually shows the spread of the Palisades fire as it moved through some of the most expensive real estate in the country.

CNN's Natasha Chen and her crew were covering that fire on Tuesday, when the situation became too dangerous for them to continue.

Here's a look at their harrowing journey to safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Crazy times. Can you hear me now?

We finished our live shot right at the spot where people in Pacific Palisades had been coming down the hill to evacuate.

I already knew there was going to be a problem getting out. I even remember saying on the air, I don't think well be able to get out the way we came in.

This is CNN.

We wrapped up the last live shot in the midst of really strong wind gusts, pulled out of the parking lot. Me driving one car and our photojournalist Tom Larson and producer Kat Jaeger and a second crew vehicle right behind me.

I saw a fire truck at our intersection. Asked the firefighter, what's the best way out of here, knowing that there were road blocks in both directions on PCH.

He sort of shook his head and said, try going south. So we drove south toward Santa Monica for almost a mile. And then I knew this was going to be an extremely dicey exit.

Thankfully, we spotted an emergency crew vehicle going the same way, so we followed very closely behind that car.

Flames surrounded us on the right and left of the highway. Embers jumping into the lanes on the pavement, across our windshields.

At one point we heard a loud boom on our right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

CHEN: While a house on the left was fully engulfed just yards away from us. We could feel the heat from inside our cars, all the while not being able to see clearly in front of us because of the smoke.

There were brief stretches there when I honestly did not know if this was going to end well. I just held my breath, followed the emergency vehicle and kept moving forward. There really was no other choice. It was keep going or get trapped in

flames. It wasn't until I could see the famous Santa Monica Pier Ferris Wheel in the distance, that I knew the air in front of us had cleared up and we were going to be ok.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Absolutely unbelievable. We're glad Natasha and her crew are safe tonight.

Earlier, CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with California Governor Gavin Newsom about efforts to contain the fires and the eventual recovery process.

[01:34:52]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We've depleted all our resources in northern California. We had already pre-positioned on Sunday. Hundreds of personnel, special units, water tenders, dozers, engines, helicopters. And it wasn't enough.

And now we're getting the mutual aid system, the EMAC system, governors from all across the country are calling. Oregon sending a few dozen engines, and Arizona, Utah -- we're just grateful for all the support.

COOPER: A lot of these firefighters I was talking to on the street, they've been working, you know, 26, 27 hours. Are they -- that's just going to continue?

I mean, there's --

NEWSOM: I mean --

COOPER: -- there's enough folks here.

NEWSOM: Yes. I mean, we've got a few thousand people working on this, and luckily we were fully staffed. The U.S. Forest Service is not as staffed up traditionally at this time of year. Remember, we're in January.

COOPER: It's supposed to be wet this time of year.

NEWSOM: It's supposed to be wet, I mean. So this is, you know, this is anomalous. Even, you know, I remember paradise happened in November. I mean, so there's no fire season in California. It's year round.

But to have this level, the acuity of fires is without precedent. These winds are without precedent. And the challenge is these winds are going to continue on and off a little bit less intense. Last night you got 80 -- 90 mile-an-hour winds. These guys were just up there to try to mitigate the embers going two miles and getting just to go a quarter of a mile to try to save some. COOPER: What is the situation with the water? Obviously in the

Palisades, it ran out last night and the hydrants. I was talking to the firefighter on this block. They left because there was no water in the hydrant here.

NEWSOM: The local folks are trying to figure that out. I mean, just when you have a system that's not dissimilar to what we've seen in other extraordinarily large-scale fires, whether it be pipe electricity or whether it just be the complete overwhelm of the system.

I mean, those hydrants are typical for two or three fires, maybe one fire. You have something at this scale. But again, that's going to be determined by the local.

COOPER: Finally, your message to the folks here, to this community.

NEWSOM: I mean, we have their backs and we're going to be back. And this is going to be a long -- a long, long recovery process. But look, we have residents moving back into Paradise, California. I've seen remarkable recovery efforts. I've seen remarkable sense of community and purpose, resilience.

So, you know, I'm not just playing the politician role of optimism. I really am long-term optimistic.

But the devastation, to hear people wailing and crying and concerned about their pet, their family, they're just bewildered about what's just what they're experiencing. And again, not just experience. I was not talking past tense. This is happening in real time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: All right.

Let's go now to Tanner Charles. He is actually a storm chaser who was working to save a friend's house from the Palisades fire. He joins us live from Los Angeles.

Tanner, thank you very much for taking the time to share your story. You went over to help a friend fight the fire until you both had to retreat for your own safety, which is obviously the right decision here.

Talk me through the moment when you decided to, rather than evacuate and leave the scene, to stick around and help somebody who needed that help.

TANNER CHARLES, STORMCHASER: Yes. So actually, I was on my way -- just to document the fire and just to see if I could help anyone. I knew I had some friends kind of in the Palisade area, but the person I ended up meeting was my friend, Orly. And so Orly came up, and he was just -- he was in his car, and he was preparing to evacuate and that kind of thing.

I was like, hey, man, would you want to help me? Kind of just like, document what's going on and, like, just, you know, keep tabs on the fire. And so he said, yes.

And so we went up to the ridge just to watch the flames and where things were going. And I, you know, I report on what's going on to people who follow me on social media and that kind of thing, just kind of helping people know what's going on.

As the flames were getting closer, I also realized that his house, that Orly's house was actually right down the road. And so as the flames were getting closer, I was like, hey man, we should we should head to your house and we should actually start doing what we can to prep your house just to, you know, to fireproof the house, if you will.

And so as we went down, we met a few other folks down there. We were on the leading edge of the fires. And so when embers would come down, we would try and douse them out or put out the embers as much as we could.

We tried to just, like, just do what we could on the edge of the fire to keep our home safe and that kind of thing. But eventually it got it -- it was. Yes, it got too much.

As you saw in the video there's -- there was just a point where I was hosing the front yard. He was hosing the backyard. We met in the middle of his house just to reconvene and see how we're doing. Just like a check in.

And then as I looked over, I saw that just a bunch of these embers went into his yard and just engulfed the whole -- the whole yard, like the whole fence just went up, the brush went up, everything in his yard, just like, engulfed in flames.

[01:39:44]

CHARLES: And so we went out there for like two seconds. And as we went out there, I was just like, we can't -- there's nothing we can do. Like it's not safe anymore. We have to leave.

And so --

(CROSSTALKING)

CHARLES: My thoughts are -- it was -- it's difficult because, you know, my friend grew up in this house. You know, this was his like, you know, it's him and his family. You know, this is where they grew up and everything.

And so it's really hard. But also its not worth losing your life over. And so, making the right decision to leave was -- it was the right decision.

SANDOVAL: As we begin to hear more of these stories of resiliency, of neighbors helping others, is this really quite common where you live? And can we expect more of these stories to emerge during the recovery?

CHARLES: Yes, all throughout the neighborhood, especially in the Palisade area there was just == I just saw neighbors helping neighbors. There was even one specific person that had his home, like he had like a home -- homemade hose that he, like, hooked up and was able to, like, douse his house and his neighbor houses and that kind of thing.

I saw other neighbors just helping other neighbors, like, pack up their cars and that kind of thing. And so I think one of the silver linings when it comes to these disasters is that community really rallies around each other, you know. They really try and help each other when they can.

And so even my friend Orly, he was just saying, earlier today that he just feels so loved and taken care of because his phone keeps blowing up for -- of people just saying, hey, if you need anything, you know, my house is here. You know, you can stay here for however long you want.

If you need food or water or anything, if you need like extra clothes. So like, just like seeing the community come out and seeing friends come out just to help out each other is really encouraging.

SANDOVAL: How long have you lived in the region?

CHARLES: And so I am originally from Minnesota, but I lived here for about six months. And so, Orly has lived here for more than 25 years. And then his parents have lived here even longer.

And so just coming up here and just being around everyone has been really encouraging for me. I come from a place called it's called Minnesota Nice. You know, but I really feel like that also extends down here. That there is there is a California nice that happens when disaster happens.

SANDOVAL: Less than a year living in the region. What an experience. But we're thankful that you're around to tell us about it, and especially that you were there for your friend, Charles. We thank you for sharing your story and for documenting other stories like these as a storm chaser. Do be safe.

CHARLES: Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Some Hollywood celebrities have also lost their homes in the fires, and some of them are also sharing their stories. Actor Mandy Moore, she's expressing gratitude that she and her family managed to escape, but she says her children's school was destroyed, as were other community fixtures in Altadena.

Actor James Woods, sharing video of the Palisades fire closing in on his home. Luckily, he and his wife did manage to escape, but he told CNN earlier that he's unsure if the house is still standing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES WOODS, ACTOR: Sarah was on with her 8-year-old niece last night and she came out. I'm sorry. Just, you know, one day you're swimming in the pool and the next day it's all gone. But yes, she came out with her little yeti piggy bank for us to rebuild our house.

I'm sorry. I'm usually -- I thought -- I thought I thought -- I would be stronger than this. I thought I'd be stronger than this. But you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Actor Billy Crystal and his wife also quite emotional right now. The two lost their home. He told, quote, "Words cannot describe the enormity of the devastation we are witnessing and experiencing. Janice and I lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love, beautiful memories that can't be taken away."

CNN's Bill Weir has more on how climate change has impacted the region, making these fires especially dangerous today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: This is just one of over a thousand buildings that have burned here in the town of Pacific Palisades, a community that is now utterly devastated by this latest storm of wildfires here.

This community, home to some very affluent residents, but also working class, small business owners, many of whom have lost everything in this part of Los Angeles County on natural disasters on, an overheated planet heated up by fossil fuels has created this drought conditions in January.

This is typically one of the wettest months of the year in Los Angeles, but it hasn't rained significantly in months.

Last year we got a lot of water all at once in California, created a super bloom of weeds and other vegetation, which is now bone-dry fuel up in these canyons. And with 60 -- 70 mile-an-hour winds as this thing broke, spreading it out.

[01:44:55]

WEIR: The winds died down a bit overnight, but it also spread into Runyon Canyon. This is an area right above the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the famous handprints and stars. Those hills just north of that area were evacuated last night as the fire crept over the canyons there.

This is extremely difficult terrain for first responders to fight in, and they weren't able to fly a fixed wing or even helicopters to fight these flames. During the first 24 -- 36 hours of these blazes.

But now from the Altadena area up north of Pasadena, here in the Palisades, now in the Hollywood Hills, it is an all-hands-on-deck moment here in southern California for a wildfire storm few have ever seen.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: It is truly historic, Bill. Firefighters are still hoping that the winds will eventually calm down. There is hope that that will happen eventually as they work to get a handle on at least five fires burning in the Los Angeles area. You see where they are.

We'll have the latest on them in just a second.

[01:46:00]

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

The Los Angeles fire chief says residents are not out of danger yet as five wildfires are still burning in the area. And the National Weather Service is warning that while much of southern California may soon see a brief lull in the wind gusts, winds are expected to pick up slightly throughout the day on Thursday.

Here's CNN's meteorologist Chad Myers with that forecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The wind forecast is better. I mean, better than this, better than hurricane force wind gusts. But we're still going to be 20 to 30 with a gust of 40.

But unlike yesterday, when we had the perfect setup out here with the high pressure over the Great Basin, the cold air, because of the clear skies coming down at night, the entire high pressure getting higher pressure and exhaling through the canyons, through the mountains and making all those winds of those almost hurricane force, certainly in some spots there were hurricane force and above. Not going to get there tonight.

So 20 to 30 but the fire starts are already here. See the problem we would have had damage with the wind anyway, but it wouldn't have been such damage had we not had the sparks. Had we not had the fire starts.

Well now, there are millions of hotspots on this map. So any fire, any ember, any additional fire push could actually make more fires, of course.

Still extreme for tonight all the way through the morning hours. But then by later on this afternoon, things do go down to only critical.

And I'm not saying that tongue in cheek, but 20 to 30 with a gust of 40 is better than 60 to 70 with a gust to 80. So today will be better. As the sun rises, things will be better out there.

And with the firefighters with the lesser winds, they will be able to get the air assets up in the air and help them out with those water drops for sure.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANDOVAL: A promising forecast from Chad Myers.

Let's go to Washington now. The incoming U.S. President blaming California's governor for the deadly fires while visiting the capitol on Wednesday. Donald Trump accusing Gavin Newsom of not allowing enough water to flow into the fire hydrants of Los Angeles.

Here's how Newsom responded to Trump's accusations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: I hate to even ask this question, but the president-elect chose to attack you, blame you for this.

NEWSOM:: It's -- one can't even respond to it.

I mean, it's -- people are literally fleeing. People have lost their lives. Kids lost their schools, families completely torn asunder, churches burned down.

This guy wanted to politicize it. I have a lot of thoughts, and I know what I want to say. I won't. I stood next to a president of the United States of America today, and I was proud to be with Joe Biden.

And he had the backs of every single person in this community who didn't play politics, didn't try to divide any of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: While current President Joe Biden who was in Los Angeles yesterday, or I should say on Tuesday for personal reasons, he also canceled the last overseas trip of his presidency due to the tragedy in California.

The U.S. President was planning to visit Rome to meet with Italy's prime minister as well as the Pope. President Biden said the federal government will do anything and everything as long as it takes to contain the fires, and also rebuild.

While at the Capitol on Wednesday, President-Elect Trump and incoming first lady Melania visited the casket of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who was lying in state in the rotunda of the Capitol.

Trump expected to attend the state funeral service on Thursday, with former U.S. President Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

President Biden will deliver remarks at that funeral for former President Carter, who died last month at 100 years old. The president is set to deliver a eulogy for the man that he called a dear friend and remarkable leader, whom he said, quote, "lived a life measured not by words but by his deeds".

Mr. Biden said that when his son Beau died from cancer, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter were actually the ones to help them heal.

Details now on the funeral plans for the hours ahead from CNN's Brian Abel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN ABEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Funeral services fit for a president. The nation remembering the life and service of its 39th president, Jimmy Carter.

[01:54:44]

ABEL: Today's funeral service at the National Cathedral in Washington is its sixth presidential state funeral, bringing together five living presidents -- Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Donald Trump -- to honor Carter, the longest-lived commander-in- chief.

Asked by Carter before his death, President Biden will deliver a eulogy and given by their sons are eulogies by former President Gerald Ford and Carter's Vice President Walter Mondale, written before their deaths.

Today's service, capping off days of pomp and circumstance in D.C. for Carter's passing, with ceremonies at Joint Base Andrews, the U.S. Navy Memorial, and in a remarkable homage, the procession following the same route, Carter and his family walked the day of his inauguration in 1977, before a service in the Capitol Rotunda.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: May his life be a lesson for the ages and a beacon for the future. May God bless President Jimmy Carter.

ABEL: In Washington -- Brian Abel reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: and we thank you for watching the last hour.

I'm Polo Sandoval in New York City.

CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church is next.

[01:55:58]

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