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CNN's Breaking News Coverage On The Southern California Wildfires; Trump's Latest International Rhetorics Now Cause Outrage and Anxiety; Celebrities Express Sympathies And Concern On The Devastating Wildfires In Southern California. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired January 09, 2025 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. And we begin this hour with breaking news out of Southern California where officials are now deploying more resources to the front lines as firefighters battle fierce flames raging across the Los Angeles area.
There are currently five wildfires burning in L.A. County including the latest one to break out in the Hollywood Hills which has prompted more mandatory evacuations. One resident who fled the area described chaos on the roads with traffic jams as people rushed to leave and first responders raced to the scene.
The two largest fires right now are the Palisades fire and the Eaton fire combined. They have now burned more than 27,000 acres or nearly 11,000 hectares. Neither one has been contained at all. Officials are making clear the danger is not over yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF KRISTIN M. CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: I can tell you we're throwing all of our available resources at it as we speak. I am seeing active water drops.
CHIEF CHAD AGUSTIN, PASADENA FIRE DEPARTMENT: But I'll be clear, we could have had much more water with those wind gusts. We were not stopping that fire last night.
MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: We are still facing strong and erratic winds in Palisades and in Sylmar. We are very much in an active firefight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: CNN's Nick Watt has been on the scene since the fires broke out on Tuesday. He has the latest now from Los Angeles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN: I just have one bag to pick.
UNKNOWN: It's fine mom, just get out of the house.
NICK WATT, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just look at that view out her window and this.
UNKNOWN: Yeah, let's get out of here. We tried, we tried bro.
WATT (voice-over): Approximately 155,000 people have been ordered or advised to evacuate.
UNKNOWN: That makes the difference between living and not.
WATT (voice-over): Flames hopped major roads including the fabled Pacific Coast Highway.
CROWLEY: We are absolutely not out of danger yet with the strong winds that continue to push through the city and the county today.
WATT (voice-over): Those strong Santa Ana winds were forecast. We knew something was coming, just not this. Officials say they prepped for maybe one or two fires.
CHIEF ANTHONY MARRONE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT; There are not enough firefighters in L.A. County to address four separate fires of this magnitude.
UNKNOWN: I'm acting home and I'm very upset inside.
UNKNOWN: This year we knew with zero rain that one big windstorm and we were we were toast. Seems like a lot of the homes here they're burning because of embers that have landed in bushes and our lighting.
WATT (voice-over): Wind gusts in SoCal hit 100 miles per hour driving flames through bone dry brush and homes. Utter devastation in the desirable neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. This is Palisades Village, the now barely recognizable Shishi downtown. We were here last night as those winds were picking up. In the early hours the fire hydrants here ran dry.
JANISSE QUINONES, CEO, LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER: We were not able to fill the cans fast enough so the consumption of water was faster than we can provide water.
WATT (voice-over): The Palisades fire already among the 20 worst in California's recorded history and 15 of those have hit in just the past decade as our climate changes and our planet warms.
This is a tragic time in our history here in Los Angeles but a time where we're really tested and see who we really are.
WATT: Pacific Palisades still burning. This community has lost hundreds maybe thousands of homes and its infrastructure, the library, the theater, the school, the bank, the grocery stores, gone. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Joining me now is Ariel Cohen, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Los Angeles. Appreciate you talking with us at this difficult time.
ARIEL COHEN, METEOROLOGIST-IN-CHARGE, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: So, what can you tell us about weather conditions right now across L.A. County, particularly those high winds and their impact on the fires?
COHEN: We definitely still have some pockets of strong winds across the area. Nothing compared to what we saw last night.
[03:04:56]
That was a true destructive windstorm, widespread life-threatening windstorm that was also bringing a tremendous amount of forward motion to the fires that had developed. The winds tonight are nothing like they were last night. Last night we were seeing gusts up to 100 miles per hour.
As of tonight, we're only seeing gusts upwards of 30 to locally 50, couple spots 60 miles per hour in the mountains and the San Gabriel Valley, San Fernando Valley area. However, many locations are on the weaker side of that.
So, a lot of locations and lower elevations are only 20 to 30 mile an hour gusts. And so, the resultant impact in terms of fire spread is going to be not as fast as yesterday and last night. However, it's still going to be a significant issue. We have red flag warnings that remain in effect, which indicate that the potential for large fire development continues across the region.
So again, just because we're not seeing the same strength of winds as we saw last night, I urge everyone to remain at a high state of vigilance as we still have these fires growing and we still have the winds there to create the rapid spread. And so everyone needs to have multiple ways of getting emergency information.
CHURCH: A very good advice there. So Ariel, what is the weather outlook in the days ahead and when do you expect the winds to die down and allow residents across L.A. County to get an opportunity to start piecing their lives back together?
COHEN: Unfortunately, it's going to be a while before the winds fully subside. At least the next few days through the end of this week, possibly even into this weekend, we'll have the gusty winds around. We are concerned about another uptick in the winds as we get to tomorrow night. Again, not expecting the same strength as we had last night, but there's going to be concern.
Those red flag warnings remain in effect. And so, I know that, you know, everyone is struggling with this. I know that the destruction and loss have been absolutely devastating. Our hearts go out to everyone on behalf of the National Weather Service. Our deepest sympathies I'm extending to everyone, but we have to continue to remain vigilant. The fire weather risk is not done yet.
CHURCH: Yes, everyone certainly wants this to be over, but good advice there. But what is your additional advice to residents right now as you watch the weather outlook and assess evacuation orders and warnings? Because some people are sort of waiting to hear, aren't they? They're poised and ready to get on the roads.
The problem with that, once the order is issued, then they sort of, they're subjected to these traffic jams, aren't they? And then, of course, the emergency workers are out there as well. So it's quite a problem for everyone.
COHEN: Main thing is to have a plan, have your go kit ready, make sure that you have all of the actions that you would take when that evacuation order comes, and you take that seriously. Seconds count.
And we're talking about life and death situations. So the more prepared you are, the more able you are to efficiently carry out those actions, the better things will probably be in terms of your path out of the area. However, the key is to have that information available, have multiple ways of receiving those emergency alerts.
CHURCH: Good advice as always. Ariel Cohen, thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate it.
COHEN: Thank you. Stay safe.
CHURCH: U.S. President Joe Biden has cancelled a planned trip to Rome to focus on the federal response to these wildfires. The president was already in the Los Angeles area for the birth of his great grandchild when the fires broke out.
On Wednesday, he received an update from local officials in Santa Monica. The White House says the president has approved a major disaster declaration for those affected by the wildfires. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump is calling for California Governor Gavin Newsom to resign. Trump has been critical of Newsom's response to the wildfires and has slammed him over the state's water policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Well, what's happened is a tragedy and the governor has not done a good job. With that being said, I got along well with him when he was governor. We worked together very well and we would work together. I guess it looks like we're going to be the one having to rebuild it.
But what happened there, I don't think is anything that I've ever seen quite like it. And the insurance companies are going to have a big problem because you're talking about big, big dollars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
A spokesperson for Newsom responded saying, we are focused on protecting lives and battling these blazers, not playing politics.
[03:10:06]
Well, fighting the fires is best left to the professionals, of course. Just ahead, we will show you what happened when one Los Angeles resident tried to douse the flames himself. Plus, how a California animal shelter is racing to help hundreds of animals in danger from the wildfires.
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CHURCH: Updating our breaking news, crews are now battling five major wildfires across the Los Angeles area. The newest is on top of the Hollywood Hills neighborhood, where new evacuations have been ordered.
Overall, about 150,000 people have been told to leave their homes. Most of these fires are not contained at all, fueled by erratic, gusty winds. At least five people have died, and the death toll could rise further.
More than 1000 buildings and other structures have been destroyed, including many homes. Cal Fire says the Palisades fire is already the most destructive ever in Los Angeles County. And for more now, we go to CNN's Natasha Chen reporting from Altadena in California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stunning video shows the moment enormous flames engulf a home in Pacific Palisades. We tried.
UNKNOWN: We tried, bro. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, bro. I'll get out of here.
CHEN (voice-over): The air is completely filled with embers as they race to safety.
It's a similar scene all over L.A. County, as intense winds can be seen and heard blowing hot embers through the sky.
UNKNOWN: Oh my God, it's jumping over.
UNKNOWN: I called the fire department about an hour ago. Obviously, they're very busy. I just called again to see if they were coming and obviously, they're just very busy. I'm acting calm and I'm really very upset inside.
CHEN (voice-over): The Palisades fire continues to grow and has so far destroyed an estimated 1,000 structures, making it one of the 20 most destructive wildfires in California's history. It is also the most destructive to ever occur in L.A. County, according to data from Cal Fire.
KIMBERLY DEVANE, BUILDING OWNER: It's Armageddon. I'm driving through war zone right now, and I don't even know what to say. I'm speechless. I'm shocked. CHEN (voice-over): The Eaton fire also exploded in size. Officials say they're seeing a significant number of injuries being reported due to people who did not evacuate.
KIMBERLY BARGER, CHAIR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: Keep the advice of first responders. When they ask you to evacuate, evacuate. This is not a drill. This is in real time.
CHEN (voice-over): Emergency officials say their biggest concern right now, the powerful winds.
ERIK SCOTT, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: Fires being fueled by a combination of strong Santa Ana winds and surrounding topography, which makes it extremely challenging for us firefighters to really get a handle on it.
CHEN (voice-over): They admit fire crews are struggling to keep up with the demand.
CROWLEY: Together, these fires are stretching the capacity of emergency services to their maximum limits.
CHEN: Behind me is an example of just one of the many homes that have gone up in flames. We've seen businesses burn, homes burn. When we got here earlier this evening, this house was still standing, and now I can see straight through its living room to the fireplace that's left.
This entire community is devastated. Meanwhile, you've got a lot more people now in the Hollywood Hills trying to evacuate as a fire encroaches upon their homes. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: The Pasadena Humane Society says it has taken in dozens of animals since the Eaton fire broke out. Staff are saying many animals arrived with burns and other injuries, and the shelter says animal control officers are on the ground helping pets and wild animals that have been caught in the fire's path.
Dia DuVernet is the Pasadena Humane Society's president and CEO. She joins me now from Pasadena. Thank you so much for talking with us.
DIA DUVERNET, PRESIDENT AND CEO, PASADENA HUMANE SOCIETY: Thank you for having me. We really appreciate you bringing attention to the needs of animals in this disaster. Pasadena Humane, yes, we serve not only Pasadena but 10 surrounding areas providing animal care and control.
We're a non-profit organization, and one of the areas that we serve is Altadena. You were talking about that community, and it has been completely devastated. Our hearts really go out to all the people who have lost their homes and their loved ones, including their pets.
CHURCH: So how many animals are being looked after by the Pasadena Humane Society right now since the start of these wildfires, and how difficult has it been to shelter and feed them all? DUVERNET: Well, over the past 24 hours, we've taken in over 300
animals. We have been working around the clock and working in partnership with other shelters throughout the state who are helping us to transport out animals that were in the shelter before the disaster and are available for adoption.
So, we're transferring those out to make room for the animals coming in. We still have people who are evacuating who are seeking a temporary shelter for their animals, and that really has been our focus for the most part so far, but now we are starting to see people who evacuated and are now learning that they don't have homes to go back to, and they're going to need longer-term support for their pets while they work to get themselves back on their feet.
CHURCH: Right, and of course we know that most pets appear to be the main priority for many owners evacuating their homes. So, what is the story behind many of these animals that have ended up in your shelter? You've talked about some of those, but for the most part, what is the main problem?
DUVERNET: Well, the main problem has been so many people have had to evacuate and many of them do need help with their pets. They don't have a place to take their pet.
Some shelters will not allow pets in our areas and in other areas, so we can take care of pets while people find human shelter. We also have seen stray animals, you know, the winds have knocked down fences, animals have gone stray.
We had one dog come to us who was found near the fire area. He had multiple burns, his paws were singed, he was extremely dehydrated, and our veterinary team is working to provide him and many other animals the care that they need. So, we're thinking that we will be seeing more of these types of situations as this situation continues to evolve.
CHURCH: So, what is your advice to pet owners evacuating their homes to ensure that their animals don't get lost or perhaps even spooked in the panic?
DUVERNET: Well, we would suggest that you have a go-bag ready with several days supply. Make sure that your animals have identification. You don't have to wait until there's an evacuation order to evacuate. You can leave earlier if you're able to.
We're also having a new situation in the past few hours. Pasadena has issued a water alert and have informed us that the water in Pasadena is not safe to drink for people or for animals. So pets need to be drinking bottled water.
[03:20:01]
As you can imagine, this is going to be a challenge for us, caring for hundreds of animals in the shelter, but we will definitely do whatever we have to do to meet the needs of the animals that we're caring for. But we want to get the message out to pet owners, please don't drink the water and don't give the water to your pets.
CHURCH: Right, very important. And you're doing a great job, of course, with looking after these animals and with these pets. So tell us, what is your primary need right now?
DUVERNET: Well, our primary need is really monetary donations that we can put towards providing emergency services for these animals in our care.
And we're also providing emergency supplies to pet owners who are able to keep their pets but need some support. So, we're providing pet food and litter boxes and other needs, pet supply needs.
But it's easier for us to have the monetary donations to source those rather than being inundated with a lot of people dropping off supplies that we need to then manage. So monetary donations would really be the most helpful to us in managing this disaster.
CHURCH: Let's hope people do that for you. I appreciate it. Dia DuVernet, thank you so much for talking with us.
DUVERNET: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well, the National Weather Service predicts Southern California should see a brief lull in wind gusts in the coming hours. But winds are expected to pick up again later today. CNN meteorologist Chad Myers has the forecast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHAD MYERS, CNN 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 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 they 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)
CHURCH: Our breaking news coverage of the wildfires in Southern California continues next. Anderson Cooper takes us to a neighborhood in Altadena where the second largest fire is still out of control. Plus, Greenland's government insists the island is not for sale, but Trump's territorial ambitions are still causing alarm. That story and more, after a short break. Stay with us.
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[03:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Let's get you up to speed on our breaking news this hour. Firefighters are hoping for calmer winds as they battle five separate wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Close to 11,000 hectares have burned in just the past two days, killing five people and destroying at least a thousand structures.
Dramatic time-lapse video shows the spread of the Palisades fire as it moved through some of the most expensive real estate in the country. The blaze lit up mansions and businesses along the Pacific Coast Highway and threatened nearby Malibu and Santa Monica.
The most recent fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills late Wednesday. The sunset fire prompted evacuations from the famous Mulholland Drive down to Hollywood Boulevard. Fleeing residents described a chaotic scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: I just heard helicopters and sirens outside. I really wasn't expecting it to be the fire because I always hear sirens right here.
So, I don't know. I walked to the front door and I went outside and I seen everybody running back-and-forth and I looked to my left and just seen a fire.
REPORTER: Have you ever seen anything like this in Hollywood?
UNKNOWN: No, nothing like this. I never think something like that would happen over here in this area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Anderson Cooper is in Altadena, California, one of the hardest hit communities where he says the fires are still out of control. He shows us some of the heartbreaking devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, 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, it looks like the roof has just caught fire over there.
The fire is 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. It's just surreal. Look at this, even a small thing like this tree is burning from the inside. So, on this block, I count one, two. All the houses on this side are gone.
Now the fire, look, 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. 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 huge fire there burning several houses.
Any other time, there would be fire crews blocking off this entire area. But there are just too many fires, and they've just got to, it's triage.
COOPER (voice-over): We come upon Captain Chris Donelli of the L.A. Fire Department. His crew have been out more than 24 hours.
COOPER: How's water? I mean, obviously the Palisades didn't have water issues.
CAPTAIN CHRIS DONELLI, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Our hydrant ran dry about two minutes ago.
COOPER: And is that the water pressure issue?
DONELLI: We are, because there's so many 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 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.
[03:30:04]
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)
CHURCH: Donald Trump is still 11 days away from his return to the White House, but he's already pushing hard to advance his legislative agenda.
The U.S. President-elect urged Republican lawmakers to move quickly during his visit to the Capitol on Wednesday. And he downplayed divisions between the House and Senate, saying he's open to whichever path is successful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: We're looking at the one bill versus two bills. And whatever it is, it doesn't matter. We're going to get the result.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Trump's legislative wish list includes shutting down the border, balancing the budget and floating tariffs to pay for his plans.
Well meanwhile, Trump's recent remarks about American expansion are causing growing alarm. Nic Robertson has the latest reaction from Greenland and beyond.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): It's the image amplifying president-elect Donald Trump's latest international threat. His son Donald Jr. landing in Greenland for a private visit. As his father refused to rule out taking the autonomous Danish territory by force.
TRUMP: We need them for economic security
UNKNOWN: Greenland is not for sale. Greenland will never be for sale.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Danish politicians in particular outraged by what many see as a Trump stunt.
UNKNOWN: The majority in Greenland, they find it quite scary and quite uncomfortable.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): The world's largest island, home to little more than 56,000 people. With huge strategic and mineral value. It's trying to carve out its own place in the world. And it's not for sale, according to its government. But some of its politicians do see a compromise.
KUNO FENCKER, GREENLAND PARLIAMENT MEMBER: We are working on creating a sovereign country, which is Greenland. If Trump is talking about a real estate agreement, the U.S. is renting a big area of land in North Greenland. And it should be just very normal to pay for that.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Across the world in Panama, where Trump also warns force is an option, to take back control of the globally vital Panama Canal, there is no negotiation to be had.
JAVIER MARTINEZ-ACHA, PANAMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Our canal's sovereignty is not negotiable, and is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Canada too in Trump's crosshairs for annexation.
TRUMP: They should be a state.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): So much rhetoric, the German Chancellor appears to compare Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): The principle of inviolability of borders applies to every country, regardless of whether it is to the east or west of us. Every country must adhere to that.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Unlike his first term, where world leaders dismiss Trump's often bombastic rhetoric as just that, this time they seem to be preparing for more push and heavy persuasion from the incoming commander-in-chief.
METTE FREDERIKSEN, DANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): There are a lot of words being spoken right now. We need to stay calm and stick to our principles.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Denmark's newly revamped royal coat of arms, a calibrated hint of that calm. The polar bear representing Greenland just got bigger.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Meantime, Mexico is taking a page out of Trump's own book, pushing back against another idea he recently floated. President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke on Wednesday, a day after Trump suggested that the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed the Gulf of America.
The Mexican leader hit back in the same manner, suggesting that other things could be renamed too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The United Nations recognizes the name Gulf of Mexico, but next, why don't we call it Mexican America? It sounds nice, doesn't it?
The constitution of Apatzingan call it Mexican America since 1607. So, let's call it Mexican America. It sounds nice, doesn't it? Gulf of Mexico since 1607, and it's also internationally recognized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Trump's idea was also mocked by U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. He said, renaming the Gulf was a zany idea that won't do anything to ease the economic concerns of Americans.
[03:35:08]
Larry Sabato is the director of the Center for Politics of the University of Virginia. He's also the editor of "A Return to Normalcy? The 2020 Election That (Almost) Broke America." And he joins us from Charlottesville in Virginia. Always great to have you with us.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: Thank you, Rosie.
CHURCH: So, as we continue to cover the deadly wildfires raging across L.A. County President-elect Donald Trump is now trying to politicize the disaster, blaming both President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom for these wind-fueled fires and for the county running out of water. What is your reaction to that?
SABATO: It's so rude and it's so ill-timed. He's going to be sworn in on January 20th. We're almost there. And we're in the middle of this crisis, this hellscape, this apocalypse.
And instead of commenting solely on the crisis that Californians are facing, he feels obligated to use a derogatory name to describe the governor of California and, of course, blame it all on the Biden administration and the governor of California, both Democrats.
It's just so inappropriate. And I can't think of another politician who ever has done this or would have done it.
CHURCH: And Donald Trump was in Washington, D.C. Wednesday ahead of former President Jimmy Carter's funeral and to meet with key GOP senators Wednesday night to map out his legislative agenda.
Now, Trump is hoping to package all his top priorities into one single bill, including immigration, energy, tax cuts and spending cuts. How will this strategy likely play out, do you think?
SABATO: Well, the advantage is that you can press every Republican member to support this because it contains all the issues that Trump claims elected him in November 2024.
And that puts a lot of pressure on some of the stranger members of the Republican caucus. They don't want to be the one that negates the overall agenda.
On the other hand, when you put that many big topics in one bill, you're bound to have a couple of dozen members who are going to object to pieces of that bill. And if you give people too many reasons to vote no, you can be sure that some publicity hounds in the caucus will in fact vote no. CHURCH: And meantime, shockwaves are still being felt in the wake of
President-elect Donald Trump's provocative and wide-ranging news conference Tuesday.
His allies defending his land grab threats with Republicans enthusiastically supporting his pledge to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal by military force if necessary and to annex Canada as the 51st U.S. state using economic pressure. How much of this is reality and how much is distraction, do you think?
SABATO: Well, Canada is a complete distraction. That is utterly absurd. In fact, Trump managed to unite Justin Trudeau, the incumbent prime minister, who's resigning and is on his way out, and his main opponent, the head of the Conservative Party, who's very likely to be the next prime minister.
And both of them have said there's exactly zero chance that Canada will become the 51st state. And he's alienated Canadians. Look at the reaction from Canada. They're furious and they're offended, as they should be.
Greenland, the prime minister of Denmark and the prime minister of Greenland have agreed that, again, there's absolutely no chance that Greenland is going to join the United States unless there's military action. And what a foolish endeavor that would be.
Panama is the one that I think people need to follow closely because we've had a long history with Panama, including military actions, over the centuries. And it's possible, though unwise and unlikely, that something could happen there.
CHURCH: And, Larry, Trump made a last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court to stop his sentencing on Friday for his hush money case. The judge has already said, though, that Trump won't get any prison time anyway.
So why does he care about this so much and what would you expect the Supreme Court to do at this point? Would they do his bidding, do you think?
SABATO: Well, the Trump Supreme Court could do anything. Six of the nine are very pro-Trump and have helped him repeatedly and come up with decisions that have made his trek to the second term of the presidency easier.
So, I don't think anybody would rule out that possibility, although it will generate a lot of criticism for them. What's interesting is apparently one of the justices, Justice Alito, actually called President Trump, apparently to recommend somebody for a job within the past 24 hours or so.
[03:40:09]
That's highly inappropriate in lots of different ways. So there's a lot of controversy there, and it's so strange for Trump to regurgitate this because it's all over. He's beaten all the charges, many would say unfairly, in that he should have been held to account for January 6th, but he never was.
And we'll see even whether we can get the report of the special counsel released publicly. That would at least be a small triumph.
CHURCH: Larry Sabato, always great to have you with us. I appreciate it.
SABATO: Thank you, Rosie.
CHURCH: From a winter with record rainfall to a winter of nearly none at all, we will look at how dry conditions have made Los Angeles the perfect place for wildfires. Our coverage continues in just a moment.
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UNKNOWN: We lived here for 11 years, and we moved last year, but we rented it out as an investment property.
COOPER: This was your retirement?
UNKNOWN: This is our retirement. This is our nest egg. This is where we moved in when we got married. This is where our son was born. This was our house, and this was what we worked for. This was what we were going to use to retire. That was our investment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Devastation in Southern California as people lose their homes to wildfires. At least five people have been killed and more than 1,000 structures have been destroyed. More than 150,000 people have been ordered to evacuate as the fires burn out of control in Los Angeles.
Evacuees describe apocalyptic and chaotic scenes. California's governor has mobilized 7,500 firefighters and emergency workers to combat five wildfires in Los Angeles County.
Forecasters warn that winds are expected to pick up on Thursday, making their work even more challenging. And CNN's Bill Weir has more on how climate change has impacted the region, making these fires especially dangerous.
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BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CHANGE CORRESPONDENT: This is just one of over 1,000 buildings that have burned here in the town of Pacific Palisades, a community that is now utterly devastated by this later storm of wildfires here.
This community, home to some very affluential residents, but also working-class small business owners, many of whom have lost everything in this part of Los Angeles County.
Unnatural disasters on an overheated planet heated up by fossil fuels has created these 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.
[03:45:05]
And with 60, 70-mile-an-hour winds as this thing broke, spreading it out, 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 on 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.
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CHURCH: Earlier, CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with California Governor Gavin Newsom about efforts to contain the fires and the eventual recovery process. Take a listen.
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GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We've depleted all our resources in Northern California. We'd already prepositioned on Sunday hundreds of personnel, specialty units, water retenders, 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's 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 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 of 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 had 80, 90-mile-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 set a safe zone.
COOPER: What is the situation with the water? Obviously, in the Palisades, it ran out last night in the hydrants. I was talking to the firefighter on this block. They left because there was no water in the hydrant here.
NEWSOM: Local folks are trying to figure that out. I mean, just when you have a system that is 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 got 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, long, long recovery process. But, look, we have residents moving back into Paradise, California. I've seen remarkable recovery efforts.
I've seen a remarkable sense of community, 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, concerned about their pet, their family. They're just bewildered about what they're experiencing. And, again, not just experience. I was not talking past tense. This is happening in real time.
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CHURCH: At least 13 people are dead after the latest Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says dozens of others were wounded in Wednesday's attack. Videos from the scene showed a building on fire, as first responders worked to remove the victims.
Hours earlier, Ukraine said its drones hit a Russian oil depot in the Saratov region, more than 600 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Kyiv says the facility provided fuel to a nearby airfield used by some of Russia's strategic bombers.
The Israeli military says it has recovered the body of a hostage in Gaza. The body of 53-year-old Yusuf al-Ziyadna, an Israeli Bedouin, was found in a tunnel in the Rafah area of southern Gaza.
The IDF says he had been killed in captivity and they found the bodies of two Hamas operatives nearby. Israel's military says they also found evidence that raised grave concerns for the life of his son Hamza, who was also taken in the October 7 Hamas attack.
Israeli authorities believe there are now 99 hostages being held in Gaza, dozens of them believed to be dead. Indirect talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal are ongoing in Qatar, but have been deadlocked for months.
[03:50:00]
Well meanwhile, Palestinian medics report Israeli strikes killed dozens of people across Gaza over the past 24 hours. The aid group Doctors Without Borders warns three of the few remaining hospitals in the enclave are at risk of running out of fuel, threatening the lives of hundreds of patients. More now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond, reporting from Tel Aviv.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, 2025 is already proving to be a deadly year for Palestinians inside of Gaza, and particularly for children. At least 74 children have been killed in the first days of this year, according to the United Nations.
And in just the last 24 hours, we have seen dozens of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes inside of Gaza. Overnight in southern Gaza in particular, a deadly night for children, where eight children were killed in strikes that killed 19 people altogether.
We're also monitoring a strike that happened in the West Bank, in the village of Tamoun, where three people were killed. The bodies of those three people were returned by the Israeli military to Palestinian health services. Among those three bodies, two of them were children, an eight and a 10-year-old.
We are watching as these airstrikes and this violence is continuing. There are negotiating efforts aimed at ending all of this carnage, those ceasefire and hostage negotiations that have been going on, start and stop for months now.
They are progressing as we speak in Doha, Qatar. And with not only the current Biden administration, but also the incoming Trump administration.
Steve Whitkoff, president-elect Trump's incoming special envoy for the region, arriving in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday to join Biden administration officials in kind of presenting a united front in these negotiations.
And it's clear that both the Biden and the Trump officials are indeed rowing in the same direction, saying that they are aiming to get a hostage and ceasefire deal in place before Donald Trump's inauguration on January 20th. Whitkoff said that he's seen some great progress towards that
direction, sounding some optimism that he believes that deal can be reached before January 20th.
Biden administration officials and Israeli officials sounding a little bit less optimistic, making clear that there are still some very difficult issues that need to be resolved.
Israeli officials telling me that they are still waiting for a list of the living hostages to be provided by Hamas, a critical demand that they have been making, of course, at this point for months now.
What is clear, though, is that these two sides are very, very close to an agreement. Whether or not it can be reached, and whether or not it can be reached before that date of January 20th remains another question altogether.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Still to come, Hollywood celebrities are also being impacted by the Southern California wildfires, and some are doing what they can to help their neighbors. Their stories, just ahead.
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CHURCH: It is the most destructive fire ever in the history of Los Angeles County, according to Cal Fire. But the Palisades Fire, now larger than the area of Manhattan, is just one of five blazes emergency crews are racing to contain.
High winds are literally fanning the flames, at one point spawning another fire in Studio City that quickly spread to nearby structures.
[03:55:07]
A swift response from the Los Angeles Fire Department put out those flames quickly, averting further disaster. But as the destruction continues across Los Angeles, some residents are looking to what comes when all the fires are contained.
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UNKNOWN: But something this big and this fast that kind of just wiped out the whole town was something that I personally, and I think a lot of people from around here, never saw coming.
I just hope the Palisades can come together and figure out how we can all pitch in and try and build this town back up to the great place that it was.
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CHURCH: Some Hollywood celebrities have lost their homes in the fires and a few are sharing their stories. Paris Hilton posted about the shock of watching her house burn down on live T.V. She says she's thankful her family and pets are safe and that her company's charitable wing is reaching out to non-profits for ways to help other victims.
Actor Mandy Moore expressed gratitude that she and her family escaped, but mourned the loss of her children's school and other community fixtures in Altadena.
Actor James Woods shared video of the Palisades fire closing in on his home. He and his wife escaped but are not sure whether their home survived.
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JAMES WOODS, ACTOR: Sarah was on -- with her eight-year-old niece last night. 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 she came out with her little Yeti piggy bank for us to rebuild our house.
I'm sorry, I'm usually -- I thought I would be stronger than this, I thought I'd be stronger than this, but you know --
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CHURCH: And actor Billy Crystal told CNN, 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."
And I want to thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "CNN Newsroom" continues next with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
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