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Southern California Wildfires Reach Third Day, Still No Containment; Musk Faces Criticism After a Livestream with Germany's Far-Right Party AfD. Outgoing Canadian PM Speaks to CNN; Los Angeles Residents Complained on Water Supply, L.A. Mayor Pushed Back on Crisis Response Criticism. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 10, 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]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Apocalyptic scenes are spreading across Southern California, where devastating wildfires are wiping out entire communities.

Is Elon Musk now the global far-right's ambassador? I'll ask an expert about the tech billionaire's political influence in Europe. And Canada's outgoing Prime Minister sits down with CNN's Jake Tapper about Justin Trudeau's reaction to Donald Trump's terror threats.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BRUNHUBER: One sheriff describes the devastation left by several wildfires as though an atomic bomb hit parts of Los Angeles. At least 10 people have died and authorities are now warning the total may grow.

Officials expanded evacuation orders on Thursday after a new fire broke out near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. California's governor says he's sending 900 more firefighters to battle the new fire. Officials say intensifying winds and dry conditions will continue to complicate firefighters' efforts into next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): We are not through this by any means. We keep seeing these fires pop up in different places. We may see more before this is over. If you're told to evacuate, then get the hell out. You might think you can outrun a fire. You are not going to outrun these fires. You're just not.

CHIEF KRISTIN CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: You look at the multiple fires, the fires keep coming. Our firefighters are working to the highest efforts. I've never seen this in my 25-year career and I can tell you, as a chief, I can stand strong. I can tell you that LAFD and the rest of our regional partners, our firefighters' boots on the ground, are absolutely tired, but I tell you they will never, ever give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The Palisades fire is the largest one burning right now. It's already damaged more than 5000 homes and buildings. Have a look at this. New satellite imagery shows that the fire has decimated most of the Pacific Palisades. The areas highlighted in red show any vegetation that still remains after the fire. CNN's Nick Watt is following the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNKNOWN: Whoa, there's the red plane swooping in to save us.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sadly, a little too late for this fleeing family. This morning, we found what's left of their home. Nothing. Thousands of homes have been lost across the county, plus businesses and more. $50 billion worth of damage.

But the wind's finally eased, so now they can attack these flames from the air. All last night we heard the planes, a reassuring sound in a fire. But winds will pick up again, blow through Friday night and get stronger again next week. More than 6000 personnel now fighting the worst fires in the history of this great city.

MARK PESTRELLA, DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS: Sewer, water, your power system and the transportation system have all been significantly damaged.

WATT (voice-over): We know the depth of the devastation, we can see it, the death toll. Well, it's just too early to tell.

SHERIFF ROBERT LUNA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: At one point, we'll be able to do a more thorough search of these impacted areas. Some of them look like a bomb was dropped in them, where we will be able to bring in canines and other things to help us hopefully not discover too many fatalities. That's our prayer.

WATT (voice-over): Forty-three acres burned in Hollywood last night. Hollywood, chaos in such a tight urban environment. In Santa Monica, a sunset-to-sunrise curfew kicked in last night as the Palisades fire threatens. So far across L.A., 20 alleged looters arrested, accused of preying on houses, left standing.

UNKNOWN: Shame on those who are preying on our residents during this time of crisis.

WATT (voice-over): Here in Pacific Palisades, where entire neighborhoods are just gone, arson investigators are today on the ground. And the post-mortem is already underway. Did the L.A. mayor's cuts to the fire department budget hamper the effort?

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: There were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation.

[03:05:04] WATT (voice-over): And that loss of water in the hydrants here in the Palisades at the peak of the blaze, Governor Gavin Newsom visited again today.

UNKNOWN: Why was there no water in the hydrants, Governor?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): It's all literally --

UNKNOWN: Is it going to be different next time?

NEWSOM: It has to be.

WATT (voice-over): But for neighborhoods like this and the people who once lived here, now what?

WATT: Now, we've met people who have walked miles into the evacuation zone to see if their house is still standing. It's very seldom good news for these people. Most houses are just gone. I've also heard of kids charging people a few bucks to come in on their bicycles to check on houses. The money they're giving to a fund to help the victims of this fire. Nick Watt, CNN, Pacific Palisades, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, I want to bring in Sierra Lindsey Kos, who's the co-founder and co-executive director of Extreme Weather Survivors, and she's in Kensington, California. Thanks so much for being here with us.

So, you know, you've been watching all of this unfold, and you, I understand, have a personal connection to one of the areas that's been devastated by these fires. I mean, take me through what you've been thinking when you've seen everything just go up in flames like this.

SIERRA LINDSEY KOS, CO-FOUNDER AND CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EXTREME WEATHER SURVIVORS: Yes, my middle school, my understanding, I'm actually not even sure yet because we still don't, I still haven't seen footage of it, but my understanding is my middle school is completely gone.

And then there was conflicting reports for a while about whether or not my high school was gone, but I eventually saw footage of my high school being completely burned down. And, yes, it's surreal. I mean, I think, you know, I work in this field.

Our organization supports and connects extreme weather survivors across our country, and it has been an incredible, I mean, I'm almost at a loss for words because every sort of morning you wake up with new texts of new friends or friends of friends or communities or kids' schools that are just gone, that are just completely gone. Yes.

BRUNHUBER: So talk to me about your organization. I mean, this mission is a bit unusual in the sense that you're connecting people who have survived these, you know, extreme weather, being just devastated by these things. What exactly are you doing to help? How are you helping folks? KOS: Yes, it actually started when I became a new mom. I had a pretty

horrible experience of taking my new -- brand new son from the hospital and having to drive through a fire in Oregon. And I just started thinking a lot more about the rapid increase of these extreme weather events.

And honestly, I was working at a full-time job in another place. But I just did a big listening tour of people who had survived, you know, fires, floods, hurricanes, were living through extreme heat. And the thing I heard over and over again from everyone was just that they unfortunately became experts at what it is to survive this stuff.

And they were so desperately wishing that they had been proactively connected to one another, to learn from one another, to support one another. And there's something sort of like nothing like someone who's been through it before to sort of provide that support.

And so, yes, so we're building a nationwide network. We actually part of the work that we're doing in Los Angeles right now is actually really rooted in a member of our team survived the Marshall Fire in Colorado. So that was the most destructive fire in Colorado history.

And what's interesting is that fire happened December 30th. Right. Like not in fire season. This California fire is happening January 7th. And what her community did that was so beautiful is they actually in the early days were able to organize over Slack. They were able to really streamline, create a like it's really noisy.

I mean, I'm sure people in L.A. are feeling this. It's very noisy after a fire, after extreme weather event. And so, to be able to streamline communication and really allow people within the community to have trusted, you know, information that they can share with one another is really well. Yes.

BRUNHUBER: One of the things I guess that brings a lot of people together in terms of the common struggle that they have when they've experienced something like this is insurance, dealing with insurance. I mean, it's been a huge problem, especially in your state, especially if you live in a fire prone area.

What kind of advice do you have for folks who are going to be going through this process this time around?

[03:10:04]

KOS: I mean, I think the biggest and I will just say that we are in the early days of this. Our organization is really only a year old, but we really agree with this.

And one of the things that we hear all the time from survivors is how much, you know, people tend to think of insurance or paperwork or honestly, a lot of economic concerns that it's something we can kind of put in a box.

But really, there's like all this trauma involved in it. It's really a painful, incredibly traumatic process to go through this, especially with our homes, something that means so much to us. And so one of the things that our group does is really convene people to work together to actually like fill out paperwork together and sort of have other experts that we can bring in to talk to one another about it.

And again, we're in early days of this stuff, but that's basically what we're working on. But I will say the other piece of feedback that I've heard consistently is just like take a beat. Don't sign anything right away and really try to communicate with others that have been through this process and can kind of help you get through the paperwork.

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

KOS: Yes. The insurance problem truly is something that we are not talking enough about. Right. Like, you know, people don't have to call it climate change if you don't want to. Like I know it's in our country, it's it can still be a politicized term, but, you know, we all know what this is.

We all know our country is getting hotter and drier and this stuff is increasing. And, you know, our insurance is crumbling and the things we rely on are crumbling.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. And with all of this being the new normal, your group, Extreme Weather Survivors, there's going to be, unfortunately, more and more and more people around the globe who will unfortunately consider themselves exactly that extreme weather survivors.

I have to leave it there, but appreciate everything you're doing. Sierra Kos, thank you so much for joining us.

KOS: Thank you so much. Take care.

BRUNHUBER: Nicolas Maduro is expected to be sworn into another term as Venezuelan president in the coming hours. As Stefano Pozzebon reports, the opposition isn't showing any signs of backing down from its claims the election was fraudulent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST (voice-over): Refusing to be silenced. Once again, Venezuelan protesters taking to the streets on Thursday demanding President Nicolas Maduro step down. Among them, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, her first appearance in months.

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): Whatever they do tomorrow, they will bury themselves. It will be the end of Maduro.

POZZEBON (voice-over): But Maduro, in power for more than a decade, does not intend to back down. He's planning to be sworn in as president for a third time on Friday. Despite widespread international outcry and independent electoral observers casting serious doubts over the legitimacy of his victory. The U.S., Canada and several countries in the Americas have instead

recognized Machado's ally Edmundo Gonzalez as the true president- elect. A former diplomat who fled the country last year, he plans to challenge Maduro by returning to Caracas and assuming power on Friday. U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders backing him along the way.

Gonzalez faces immediate arrest if he were to return, even though up to nine former presidents pledged to join him. Maduro's government deployed soldiers and militia before his inauguration on Friday.

DIOSDADO CABELLO, VENEZUELAN MINISTER OF INTERIOR, JUSTICE, AND PEACE (through translator): We have plenty of space in our jails. We have plenty of space for anyone who comes here to attack this country, to disrespect our people.

POZZEBON (voice-over): Tensions rising ahead of a crucial showdown and an early test for democracy in 2025. Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, so to come, Elon Musk's influence spreading from US politics to Europe's far-right. We'll look at his growing support for the AfD ahead of Germany's election. Plus, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks to CNN, warns of higher prices for Americans if tariffs are imposed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, OUTGOING CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Everything the American consumers buy from Canada is suddenly going to get a lot more expensive if he moves forward on these tariffs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[03:15:00]

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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear TikTok's plea today to overturn a ban on its operations in the United States. Lawmakers adopted the ban on the grounds the Chinese-owned platform is a threat to U.S. national security.

The social media site argues free speech outweighs fears that China is using TikTok to collect data on millions of Americans and sow disinformation. If at least five justices rule against TikTok, it would either need to find a new owner or shut down in the U.S. on January 19th.

And the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump's sentencing case later today in New York Hush Money can proceed. The justices, in a 5-4 ruling, denied Trump's emergency request to halt the sentencing, meaning the U.S. President-elect will be sentenced just days before his inauguration. New York judges signaled Trump will face neither prison time nor

penalties, but Trump criticized him over the case, warning, quote, "this is a long way from finished."

Meanwhile, a federal appeals court also rejected Trump's attempt to block the Justice Department from releasing special counsel Jack Smith's report on the January 6th insurrection case against the President-elect. Trump is expected to appeal that decision to the Supreme Court as well.

The U.S. President-elect also says his future meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin is in the works. Trump made the announcement on Thursday, saying the war in Ukraine needs to end soon. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: He wants to meet and we're setting it up. We have to get that war over with. That's a bloody mess. Soldiers are being killed by the millions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now that number quoted by Trump appears to be wildly inaccurate. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the Russian military has suffered more than 700,000 casualties so far, which would include both killed and wounded. Then last month, Ukraine's president said his country has lost 43,000 troops and 370,000 were wounded.

Elon Musk is facing criticism for hosting a live interview on X with the co-leader of Germany's far-right party, the AfD. He spoke for more than an hour on Thursday with Alice Weidel, the party's candidate for chancellor.

Musk has already endorsed her for Alternative For Germany's party in next month's snap elections, calling it the only one that can save the country. Tech billionaire's wholehearted endorsement of the AfD as a common-sense choice is raising concerns of potential election interference. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a highly anticipated and also somewhat controversial talk between tech billionaire Elon Musk and the head of the Alternative For Germany party, AfD, Alice Weidel, who is also the candidate for chancellor for that very party.

Now, the talk that took place on Musk's tech platform X was audio only, and Alice Weidel immediately came out swinging, accusing both former chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor, the current German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, of being both incompetent and ideological, criticizing Germany's energy policy, for instance, shutting down nuclear power plant, criticizing German bureaucracy as being anti- business and, of course, criticizing Germany's immigration policy as well.

[03:20:07]

All of that, of course, music to the ears of Elon Musk, who compared the situation in Germany to the situation as far as immigration is concerned in the United States and once again urged people in Germany to vote for the AfD in the upcoming election.

ELON MUSK, TECH BILLIONAIRE AND CEO OF X: If you are unhappy with the situation, you must vote for change. And that is why I'm really strongly recommending that people vote for AfD. That's my strong recommendation. And I think this is simply the sensible move. And I think Alice Weidel is a very reasonable person.

And hopefully people can tell just from this conversation, like nothing outrageous is being proposed, just common sense. So, in fact, as I've said publicly, I think only AfD can save Germany.

PLEITGEN: Now, Alice Weidel didn't only lay out the AfD's position. She also asked Elon Musk questions as well, for instance, about his position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also on the war in Ukraine, where once again she criticized Germany's leaders, accusing them of fueling the war, but then also asking whether or not Musk thought that Donald Trump would be able to help end the war in Ukraine.

Now, Elon Musk said, yes, he did believe that Donald Trump would be able to do that, although he wasn't willing to say how exactly that would be the case. Alice Weidel then positioned the AfD as being very close and very loyal to Donald Trump.

ALICE WEIDEL, MEMBER OF THE GERMAN BUNDESTAG: Look at the war in Ukraine now. There's a big danger to our national security and to actually to the entire European security.

This is also my hope in Donald Trump and in you, in your administration, that you end that terrible war, this worthless, worthless dying of young people every day, like as fast as you can, because the Europeans, they cannot.

PLEITGEN: Now, all of this, of course, comes at a time when Elon Musk has been inserting himself into the politics of various European countries, for instance, criticizing the current British prime minister, Keir Starmer, but also accusing Olaf Scholz of Germany of being incompetent as well. And German politicians have accused him of meddling in German politics and calling that unacceptable.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, for more on this, we're joined now by CNN's European affairs commentator, Dominic Thomas. Good to see you again. So, after what we just heard, what do you make of Musk putting his finger on the election scales in Germany?

DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, you can see why many European leaders are upset about this. They know that his role in the U.S. election was incredibly influential, the way that he funded campaign and provided also access to his X platform, not just to candidate Trump, but also to a whole range of disinformation and misinformation users of that particular space.

The far-right in Europe has been incredibly disruptive over the past 10 years and caused a lot of divisiveness. And I think that when it comes particularly to the last segment that you just mentioned, the whole issue around Ukraine, the problem actually for the majority of Europeans is not, of course, support moving forward for Ukraine.

That was the invasion of its particular territory. And many European countries, particularly those in the Baltics and on the front lines, were so concerned about this that they've been pushing the European Union to support them and two E.U. members, Sweden and Denmark, of course, ended up joining NATO in order to be able to protect them from this moving forward. So, a very different way of seeing the situation.

BRUNHUBER: So, I mean, practically, with Musk also attacking British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, I mean, can both Donald Trump and Elon Musk, can their tweets actually change elections, do you think?

THOMAS: Well, I think that they can. I think, first of all, just with, say, Brexit, we saw the role of different social media platforms and the ways in which misinformation and disinformation strategies prove quite effective in shaping the outcome of that particular vote.

I think the dramatic transformation really here is that Elon Musk is no longer really someone that you can see as a freestanding citizen expressing his opinions or exerting his influence through his incredible wealth, but he really is now inextricably linked to the Trump administration.

Trump himself has a track record of attacking his adversaries, particularly in the United States. But in this case, it's turned not just to European leaders, but leaders who are longstanding historic allies, members of NATO.

[03:25:07]

And I think this really kind of heralds a kind of new era of American foreign policy in which the America First agenda is really moving here into the international sphere and trying to shape the outcome of these elections to build stronger coalitions around like-minded far-right leaders.

BRUNHUBER: So, you know, on this so-called interference by Musk and so on, I mean, walk us through the EU response to this. I mean, they're not taking it lying down. I mean, could they ban X, for instance?

THOMAS: So, I think, first of all, there's individual leaders of Europe, including no longer E.U. members like Keir Starmer in the U.K., have been quite forceful in pushing back against it.

The E.U. thus far has taken measures, but I think are also waiting for President Trump to come officially to office with the understanding that this is an important international partner. And so I think they are being careful about their response.

However, having said that, proactive measures have been taken by the European Union so far through what is known as the Digital Services Act, the DSA Act.

And that's a particular measures of legislation that restrict illegal content on platforms such as X in order precisely to curb the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation. So those are some measures that they can take.

But certainly moving forward, banning particular platforms in the same way that the U.S. is looking at banning TikTok, banning X and other such platforms are perfectly on the agenda here.

And that gives you an indication as to the extent to which they feel that the influence can be exerted over not just elections, but politics in a more general manner in Europe because of the divisive nature of this.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, things are certainly changing quickly. I want to delve deeper into something you said a minute ago about the America First strategy and sort of what that means for America's allies.

I mean, on a wider scale than under this Trump administration, what does all of this and his comments about Greenland and all of this, what does it say about America's relationships with its strongest allies, do you think?

THOMAS: Well, I think that the strongest allies, Kim, are no longer their strongest allies. I think that's the sort of dramatic transformation. If you just look at the lineup of the last G7 meeting, of those G7 leaders that were there in June 2024, only two will be left moving into the 2025 meeting.

And the reconfiguration of that is bringing into the fray right or right-wing leaning leaders such as President Trump. So, I think that changes the sort of the geopolitical aspect and means that President Trump has a sort of a bigger audience there in terms of his outreach.

I think for me, the key word that best summarizes the question here is not just American foreign policy anymore, but the question of American interests. And I and others use that word quite deliberately because of its economic reverberations.

What we're seeing here is a kind of coming together of a pursuit of America's economic protectionist and expansionist agendas through statements that have been made thus far relating to the Panama Canal in discussions around Greenland, let alone exerting influence on Canada.

And I think that moving forward is creating the greatest uncertainty because as we know, the economic impact that this potentially stands to have on different countries around the world will also feed into so much of the economic grievance and platforms that have fueled populist parties or far right parties over the past decade, Kim. BRUNHUBER: Yes, well, the far-right certainly has much more powerful allies now here in America. We'll see how that reshapes the world in the coming months and years. Dominic Thomas, thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate it.

THOMAS: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: And our breaking news coverage continues. We'll have more on the raging wildfires of devastated whole neighborhoods in Southern California. Stay with us.

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[03:30:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT": This is the Pacific Palisades neighborhood where we're broadcasting tonight and this is just house after house of utter devastation. This one, we were talking to Lonnie Wittenberg who lived here, I mean this is just utter destruction and you see the smoke and we've been seeing it in house after house.

This smoke that is coming up from parts, sometimes it's even shimmering and you can just feel the heat radiating up. There's still open flames. Of course, they say this fire is zero percent contained, but what's amazing here is just this utter devastation like a war zone. You think about Ukraine where rockets would have hit houses or the burned out kibbutz that we saw in Israel.

This is what this looks like, vegetation in some places untouched. There was an orange tree where the oranges were burnt to a crisp but you could still tell what they were and yet the houses completely melted.

In this eerie reality, the smoke there going in front of that chimney looks like perhaps that was a second floor fireplace, but the chimneys in house after house in so many cases are the only thing left standing. We go across the street here, you can see there is water coming down and by the way, we do see water in the houses, some of which you can tell was actually coming from a faucet maybe in a bathroom or a sink, so that water just continues to flow and then just these burn out cars, burn out cars everywhere you look.

And actually here, Frank and I will walk down a little bit and you can see all this detritus, stairway to nowhere. I know that I was talking to a man who lived in one of these houses. He was coming back to retrieve some things and he was saying that on that day they actually watched the fire come down this hill house to house to the point where they finally said we have to leave and they fled.

It's just that house right down there. They say one of their cats died, they were able to get two of them out. We still don't really know the death toll of what is going to be found in all of these houses as these fires continue to rage, zero percent containment even on this one as we said, but this is what it's like house after house after house.

A hellscape is what it looks like, a complete and utter hellscape. As Frank is painting around and showing you what these entrances to these houses would have looked like and these chimneys and then this light just shining through the smoke, the ash and the smoke coming down, the air is horrific and you're not just smelling burning wood.

Frankly, that's not what it smells like. You're smelling burning metal and burning plastic and burning chemicals and everything that would have been just the parts of daily life. Garbage cans are some of the few things, oddly, that you can see melted but still there even with all of that plastic.

A person who lived here said this entire community, obviously as wealthy as it was, is just completely obliterated. He said completely annihilated and obliterated and that is what it looks like.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, an update on our top story now, there are at least five major fires burning in Southern California. Have a look at this. Firefighters are racing to contain them as the strong gusty winds continue to pick up. At least 10 people have died and officials are warning the total number could be higher. Tens of thousands of homes, businesses, vehicles destroyed in the blazes.

[03:35:03]

The coastal Palisades fire now the most destructive ever to hit Los Angeles County. The newest fire near the border of Los Angeles and Ventura counties prompted officials to expand evacuation orders on Thursday.

Now in Malibu, embers from the flames in the hills have transformed what was once a luxurious stretch of beachfront to a pile of ashes. CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir gets reaction from local residents to the work of emergency services.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was some of the most unique and valuable real estate in the nation. That iconic strip of homes between Pacific Coast Highway and the sea. But now it holds mile after mile of smoldering ash and twisted metal. The result of Tuesday night's blizzard of embers that came howling down the hills to the beach.

WEIR: If I had to guess, I'd say 75 percent of the mansions along this 5 mile stretch of coastline look like this. Utter, utter devastation. We've been watching as a crew from Kern County in another part of the state has been spraying water on the hot spots around this former mansion. There's obvious water pressure here, but so many questions about water pressure around L.A. County as multiple crews try to tap in.

As we speak, there are flames up in Topanga Canyon where nervous locals are watching and hoping. Oh, there's a little drop there. Yes. What's going through your mind?

TYLER STOCK, TOPANGA CANYON RESIDENT: It's been a long couple days. Until this morning, it's been really hard for us to get resources up here, especially in the air like you're seeing now.

WEIR: Yes. Do you chalk that up to the fickle winds or fire management?

STOCK: I don't blame this on our elected officials or fire management. There's just no way you can plan for an event like this. I think everybody's doing the best they can and trying to get through it.

WEIR: How would you grade the response just by what you've seen?

STEJIN VANVEEDEGHEM, TOPANGA CANYON RESIDENT: I think the response is enormous and I think the firefighters that we have here are absolutely the best in the world. Initially, on Tuesday, when the fire started, I drove around at night and it was burning all across here. I did not see any firefighters at all.

The only thing that I could see is a flashlight, so I assume there were some people, but no helicopters, no planes at all. But now it's a totally different situation.

WEIR: You chalk that up to the winds or do you blame planning? There's a lot of anger from folks in the Palisades. Where were you?

VANVEEDEGHEM: There's a lot of anger, but the fire spread so fast and there were a lot of winds. It was night at that time, so I think it was too windy for the helicopters and for the jets to come in.

WEIR: There's so much heightened emotion, right? You want somebody to blame, you want to say, where's the cavalry, right?

STOCK: Yes, that's a totally understandable emotion to feel right now, but I think it's better to just focus our energy on doing what we can for each other and supporting our firemen who have been incredible. These guys are heroes and we need to support them the best we can and save the politics for later.

WEIR: Those flames in Topanga Canyon actually kicked back up later in the afternoon and a lot of those residents were going to spend a very tense night wondering about the wind direction, whether those Santa Anas would kick back up and make life hell.

Meanwhile, back here on the Pacific Coast Highway, we're in front of what was the dozens of oceanfront mansions that land this stretch that are now nothing but rubble. These are families' lives, of course, but the price tags on some of these just adding to what is certain to be the most costly disaster in California history. Bill Weir, CNN, Malibu.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Ongoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to CNN about his hope that Canada and the U.S. can continue to work together on climate change, trade and more. All of that coming up. Stay with us.

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[03:40:00]

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BRUNHUBER: The United States has bid a final farewell to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Leaders and dignitaries from around the world paid their respects at the state funeral earlier in Washington, D.C. The ceremony included a rare constellation of five living former U.S. presidents honoring the former naval officer and state governor from rural Georgia. Carter's body was interred privately near his home in Plains, Georgia, next to his wife, Rosalynn.

Canada's prime minister paid tribute to the late U.S. president, along with other world leaders. Justin Trudeau recently resigned as the head of his party and will soon be replaced. While in Washington, he sat down with CNN's Jake Tapper to talk about that and more.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Before I get into the funeral and before I get into what's going on with you back in your home country, I do want to ask, you know, our country and the world really is watching these horrible fires in Los Angeles.

Canada has a lot of experience with similar conflagrations. I know that you have been offering resources to the people of California and Los Angeles. What advice could you offer them?

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, OUTGOING CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well, I think unfortunately, over the past years, we've seen it get far worse and we've seen wildfires increasingly encroaching on urban areas. And that's an interface fire where we're having to train up more local municipal firefighters to deal with wildfires in a way that we never had before.

I've been back-and-forth texting with Governor Newsom. We've offered a tremendous amount of equipment that they're already accepting. There's expertise. There's things that we're having to do to deal with together as we, of course, respond to these fires, but also know that climate change means they're going to get steadily worse. And we have to keep stepping up on fighting climate change, too.

TAPPER: A lot of people out there might say, what does climate change have to do with this? Explain.

TRUDEAU: When the summers get drier, when weather gets hotter, when weather patterns shift, communities that were built in a place that never saw fires are suddenly seeing fires much more frequently.

There's a shift in everything. That means even what we see now is going to just get worse and worse and worse over the coming decades if we're not serious about reducing our emissions and looking for ways to protect our future generations.

TAPPER: So you are here in Washington, D.C., even though you just stepped down as your party's leader and you will soon leave as Prime Minister. But why was it important for you to come here to Washington today to go to President Jimmy Carter's funeral?

TRUDEAU: Well, President Carter was a dear friend of my father's. They overlapped in their times of service. And Jimmy had been down at my father's funeral after my father's funeral 25 years ago. He was always an inspiration to me in terms of compassionate, selfless leadership.

And it was important for me. And I think it was important for the friendship between our countries that the prime minister be there to represent.

TAPPER: President-elect Trump has been needling you a bit, calling you Governor Trudeau, talking about making Canada the 51st state. Did you have any interaction with him today?

TRUDEAU: No, not today. But that's not going to happen. Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian. One of the ways we define ourselves most easily is, well, we're not American. There is such a depth of pride that that's not actually an issue.

What I think is happening in this is President Trump, who's a very skillful negotiator, is getting people to be somewhat distracted by that by that conversation, to take away from the conversation around 25 percent tariffs on oil and gas and electricity and steel and aluminum and lumber and concrete and everything the American consumers buy from Canada is suddenly going to get a lot more expensive if he moves forward on these tariffs.

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And that's something that I think we need to be focusing on a little bit more.

TAPPER: Did the re-election of Donald Trump and this more direct confrontation with Canada over this issue play any role at all in your decision to resign as leader of your party and prime minister?

TRUDEAU: No, on the contrary, what we were able to do during the first presidency of Mr. Trump was work together in a very challenging situation to come out with a very strong win-win in Canada-U.S. relations with the renegotiation of the USMCA.

It is a great deal for both of our countries. We've seen trade grow, we've seen opportunities grow, we've seen wealth grow in both of our countries for workers, for businesses. Working together concretely is something that we've been able to do in the past and I'm looking forward to continuing to work with him for the next two months while I'm still in office.

TAPPER: Let's talk about this potential 25 percent tariff from the United States on Canada. Economists say that will drive the Canadian economy into a recession and the Canadian government is preparing retaliatory tariffs if these actually go through. Which do you think would be potentially the most effective against the United States? I don't want them, by the way, just as an American, I don't want these tariffs, but minerals, energy?

TRUDEAU: You know, we don't want them either. We do not want to see tariffs on our side. We do not want to see tariffs on your side.

It's bad for people who have for generations made things together and been successful together to actually start creating barriers between economies like ours.

We have so many resources in Canada, more than our market can support, so we export them to our closest friend who can rely on them. It is a win-win for us.

We would, we would definitely respond, as we did years ago when President Trump put tariffs on steel and aluminum.

We responded by putting tariffs on Heinz ketchup, on playing cards, on Bourbon, on Harley Davidson's, on things that would hurt American workers. But we don't want to do that because it drives up prices for Canadians and it harms our closest trading partner.

TAPPER: Is there nothing that Donald Trump is saying about trade status and relations right now where you think that he has a point? There's nothing you think that is unfair?

TRUDEAU: I mean, the conversation around tariffs started around border concerns. And what I spoke with him about in Mar-a-Lago was the fact that less than one percent of migrants into the United States, less than one percent of fentanyl into the United States comes from Canada. But there are absolutely more things we can do.

TAPPER: And you've pledged a billion dollars to enhance border security.

TRUDEAU: And we're strengthening. That's, that's a clear win for President Trump. It got us to do even more to reduce even further the minimal amounts coming in. On trade, there's more that we can do. But we should be focused on making sure that we're replacing Chinese lithium or Chinese germanium or Russian titanium into American productions by relying on your closest and friendliest trading partner in Canada.

We can be a strong supplier of things that the U.S. needs to compete around the world because we can do it together. That's the argument that I'm making.

TAPPER: So, the struggle that you were having domestically, your disapproval rating had to do with, as I understand it, discontent with your government because of high inflation and the economy and also because of immigration policies.

Those are also issues that the left-wing party in this country has faced a lot of disapproval of and just lost an election over. It seems like voters in both of these, you know, liberal democracies are sending a message to left-wing parties, liberal parties.

We don't like how you're doing the economy when it comes to inflation. We don't like how you're doing immigration.

TRUDEAU: There are a lot of feelings involved. I mean, if you look at the actual numbers, inflation in Canada was lower, came down quicker. Our economy bounced back faster after the pandemic than anyone else's, including the United States, were projected to grow faster than the United States and all other G7 countries next year.

Our economy is doing very well. But when someone's paying $8 for a head of lettuce, it doesn't matter that you're doing better than they are in Spain or somewhere else. There is a sense that, OK, something's got to give.

And that's where incumbents are in trouble everywhere across the country, everywhere around the world, not just in our two countries. The issue, though, is that in a time of crisis, responsible politics is around focusing on things that actually make a real difference in people's lives.

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We delivered $10 a day child care. We're delivering a dental care program that provides free dental care to people who don't have coverage. We're moving forward on putting a price on pollution that puts more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians, of middle-class Canadians. These are policies that are not short term. They're policies that will have a deep impact in the well-being of Canadians and of our country for years to come.

Now, you can take those policies like a child care policy and say, oh, see, that's just about wokeness and about women's rights. Well, no, it's about getting more women into the workforce at a time where we need economic growth. That's what it is.

But when you get a -- I was going to say conflagration, but at least an intersection of both right-wing policy, right-wing attacks and social media, you end up with a lot of misinformation, disinformation and responsible governments have to stay focused on the policies that are making a difference. And that's what we've been doing.

TAPPER: I know you have to go before you go. I know you're not going to say who you want to succeed you, but whether it's Wayne Gretzky or Chrystia Freeland, what's your number one piece of advice for your assessor when it comes to President Trump?

TRUDEAU: Understand that the win-win is what we need. Making sure that everyone understands that we do better when we work together, that yes, the American president has a capacity to hurt the Canadian economy. There's no question about that. But anything an American president does to hurt the Canadian economy will also hurt American consumers, American workers and American growth. We do better when we work together to take on the world, whether it's China or Russia or anywhere else.

When we work together, we can't be stopped. And that's the focus that we need to have. And that's certainly what I continue to work on with President Trump.

TAPPER: Prime Minister Trudeau, thank you so much. And au revoir.

TRUDEAU: Pleasure to be here. Merci, Jake.

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BRUNHUBER: As the wildfires rage around Los Angeles, some are pointing the finger blame at the city's mayor. We'll have her response next here on CNN. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: After all the loss in California, some are looking to place blame for the wildfire devastation. L.A.'s Mayor Karen Bass has faced criticism for her handling of the crisis and scrutinized for being away from the city as fires ignited. She's pushing back, saying her priority is to save lives. CNN's Jason Carroll reports.

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JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Los Angeles battles its worst wildfire in history.

RACHEL DARVISH, PACIFIC PALISADES RESIDENT: I'm definitely a critic of the mayor. She was in West Africa while West Los Angeles was burning.

CARROLL (voice-over): The city's top elected official, Mayor Karen Bass, is facing criticism on a number of fronts.

REPORTER: Do you owe citizens an apology for being absent while their homes were burning? Do you regret cutting the fire department budget by millions of dollars, Madam Mayor?

CARROLL (voice-over): A Sky News reporter --

REPORTER: Madam Mayor, let me ask you just again.

CARROLL (voice-over): -- grilling Bass after she landed in Los Angeles Wednesday, returning from a diplomatic trip to Ghana. Bass left on Saturday. The National Weather Service issued warnings last Thursday and again on Sunday about extreme fire weather conditions. Monday, Bass posted on X there is an expected destructive and potentially life-threatening windstorm.

[03:55:05] By Tuesday, according to the city, Bass was already flying home as the Palisades fire was quickly spreading. Since being back on the ground, the mayor has been on defense over her absence.

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: I've been in constant contact with our fire commanders, with county, state and federal officials. I took the fastest route back, which included being on a military plane which facilitated our communications.

CARROLL (voice-over): Another complaint, some residents say there wasn't enough water where and when it was needed.

JOSE OLVERA, ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: Started with the wind, everything, and I started waiting on the floor, on the floor, the roof. The pressure of the water is going away. So, I started filling up buckets, the trash cans with water.

DARVISH: There's not water in the fire hydrants. I paid for it, didn't I?

CARROLL (voice-over): Did some hydrants run low? The short answer is yes. Some more context, according to the Department of Water and Power. All 114 water storage facilities were filled, but heavy use of fire hydrants depleted the supply. The extreme conditions, compounded by high winds, keeping firefighting aircraft grounded.

BASS: We all know that this has been an unprecedented event. We also know that fire hydrants are not constructed to deal with this type of massive devastation and that the number one problem, especially on Wednesday, was the fact that we weren't able to do the air support because of the winds.

CARROLL (voice-over): Bass now also having to defend the decision to reduce the fire department's 2024-2025 budget. Last summer, she approved cutting more than $17 million from it. Last month, L.A.'s fire chief raised concerns with the mayor and city council, saying in a memo, these budgetary reductions have adversely affected the department's ability to maintain core operations. Bass says the cuts did not impact fighting these fires.

BASS: There were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation that we were dealing with over the last couple of days.

CARROLL: The total budget for the Los Angeles Fire Department is more than 800 million. Bass has said in the past that that budget includes funds for things like hiring new firefighters. But her critics, and there are many of them on the ground there in Los Angeles, continue to say that her judgment is in question. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thanks so much for joining me this hour. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Max Foster.

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