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CNN International: Death Toll Raises to Ten as Wildfires Rage in Los Angeles; Trump to be Sentenced in New York Hush Money Case; U.S. Supreme Court to Hear TikTok Case; Deadly Wildfires Rage on in Southern California; Israel Identifies Remains of a Hostage Recovered from Gaza; California Wildfires: Losses Estimated at $50 Billion. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired January 10, 2025 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and this is the CNN Newsroom. Straight ahead, the nightmare continues in Los Angeles as the death toll from raging wildfires rises to ten. Officials warn that number could get worse, fueled by climate change, the fires also come after a year that has been declared the hottest on record and exceptionally dry.
Also, this morning, President-Elect Donald Trump will be sentenced in his hush money case in New York. And uncertainty in Venezuela as the country prepares to swear in Nicolas Maduro for a third term after an election win, the opposition strongly disputes.
For the fourth morning in a row, Los Angeles is waking up to scenes of devastation. Officials say at least ten lives have been lost, but the actual toll won't be known until the fires are out and the crews can go to assess all of the damage. Authorities estimate as many as 10,000 structures have already been destroyed, and four days of raging wildfires are taking a serious toll on residents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't even teach and I'm a first responder. I teach people to save lives, and I couldn't even save a house and I'm just shattered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Apparently, I have a decent policy, so maybe I'm going to be OK. So, I'll rebuild, but I'm thinking, am I going to be anxious every time the wind blows, even after I rebuilt? Am I going to sit here and go, oh, is it going to burn down my house again and I have to start over?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Community leaders are again urging people to get out of harm's way when told to evacuate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. 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.
KRISTIN CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES FIRE CHIEF: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Live pictures right now, thousands of acres still on fire. The burning fire is being raged and accelerated by the winds. The Palisades fire, which is already the most destructive in LA history, is only 6 percent contained at this point. Any progress in getting the fires under control depends mostly on weather conditions, which remain very treacherous.
Finally, there were some air assets that got into the air yesterday, but it all still very precarious. Police announced that they have arrested one person suspected of trying to start a fire. The LAPD has not confirmed whether the suspect had any connection to the Kenneth fire that broke out on Thursday afternoon near Calabasas. CNN's Nick Watt gives us a closer look at the devastation across the Los Angeles area.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, 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 winds finally eased so now they can attack these flames from the air.
[08:05:00]
All last night, we heard the planes, a reassuring sound in a fire, but winds will pick up again flow 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 DEPARTMENT: 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, LOAS 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): 43 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 LA, 20 alleged looters arrested, accused of preying on houses left standing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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 LA Mayor's cuts to the fire department budget hamper the effort?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation.
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.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why was there no water in the hydrants Governor? Is it going to be different next time?
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): It has to be.
WATT (voice-over): But for neighborhoods like this and the people who once lived here, now what?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Oh, incredible. Nick Watt, thank you so much for that point of view. Let's bring in Stephanie Elam, who's also getting a first- hand look at what's taking place this time in Altadena, California. Stephanie, what are you hearing from people? What are you seeing?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, it's -- you know I was in the Palisades fire before coming to the Altadena fire, with the Eaton fire here, we're all in Altadena. And in both places, there are just entire blocks where every house is gone on, and some places on both sides of the road, like, take a look at this.
I'm going to step out the way a little bit so you can see that you've even got these open flames because the infrastructure is broken apart. So that's obviously some sort of gas lane. You see the chimney is still standing here in this house in Altadena.
But overall, you have some 180,000 people who have been forced to evacuate, 200,000 people who are under warning, and all of this in a very densely populated part of Los Angeles County here, and also the Palisades fire. This fire here now they've said it's over 13,000 acres that has burned the Palisades fire closed 20,000 acres.
They have some containment there. But still, when you look at the level of devastation, it's hard to wrap your mind around it. And for some people, they've lost everything. For other people, they've lost loved ones, and that makes it even worse. I want you to listen to this one woman who lost her father, and she's the one who discovered him. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIMIKO NICKERSON, FATHER KILLED IN EATON FIRE: This is where we lived our whole life, and my son tried to get him to leave, and my neighbors and myself, and he said he'll be fine. I'll be here when you guys come back. And he said his house would be here. His house is here. And he was here too. He was in his bed when I found him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: Just unfathomable amount of loss and also what these people were up against when they did lose their lives, and now these loved ones trying to deal with that fact and how they move forward after that. But for all of these people, how do you start over? Where do you begin?
In the Palisades area, they already know that they even have to deal with the infrastructure has been ruined, had been damaged by this fire. And so, it's going to be more than just someone coming back out here with some two by fours and building homes again. It's going to be an entire infrastructure that's going to have to be addressed.
And just the idea of whether people want to come back and rebuild or if they're just ready to just let it go and move on. And that's some difficult decision making. And a lot of people this is, this is their retirement account. This is their savings. Were these houses that they built here? So just terrible set of circumstances here, Fred.
WHITFIELD: I mean, it really is Stephanie because, I mean, this is a testament to so many things, the speed of the fire. The Santa Ana Winds and the fact that it is targeted or hit places that people were not accustomed, accustomed to experiencing fires. I mean, we're talking about suburban and kind of urban settings, right?
[08:10:00]
So, I mean all of that, compounding the issue, and then the whole issue of insurance and whether people can pick up and start again. I mean, and you talk about decisions to make. It seems like people really don't know which way to turn.
ELAM: It's so much to take in at one time, right?
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
ELAM: And the part of the issue too, is some of these places do push back up into -- you know national parks or wild land areas. So those do get fired. In fact, where I'm standing now, the Eaton fire. If I look out this way, I can see the glow of the fire burning out into the mountains. You can't see it. It's smoky and dark out here, but it's still burning, right? And so that's part of the issue is, like some of this growth that has
been out into these areas, there's always that threat. And with the Palisades this is not something that they've lived without, but nothing has been like this, right? So, and then the winds. I was standing in those winds, I guess that was Tuesday morning. It was blowing me around Fred. Those winds were unprecedented, how strong they were.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, near hurricane --
ELAM: A little --
WHITFIELD: -- hurricane wind strength. And you've covered hurricanes. So, you know hurricane, right?
ELAM: They were hurricane strength.
WHITFIELD: -- right, you know what it feels like?
ELAM: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
ELAM: So, all of that, that strong breeze blowing those embers everywhere, and everything was on fire. It was terrifying driving in there. I will not even try to couch it as it wasn't. So, you look at what they're up against, it's just -- it's nothing that we have seen before.
And that's why we have to adapt to the fact that things are changing, climate change is playing a part how dry things are now, after two wet winters, so there's a lot of brush that grew up and then it died off, but it was still there in a lot of places, and that is just kindling for a fire, and in this case, along with the winds, recipe of disaster.
WHITFIELD: Incredible. Yeah, things have changed, and things continue to change. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much. Altadena, California, we'll check back with you. All right, firefighters are making a superhuman effort to combat the fires, and they're putting in very long hours in very dangerous conditions. The President of the California Professional Firefighters Union describes the unbelievable challenges that first responders are facing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN RICE, PRESIDENT, CALIFORNIA PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS: We're hearing much -- you know, they have a job. They're focused. You're going to hear much the same thing that you're hearing from the residents. They're stunned. They're in disbelief. Nobody thought that a wildfire could transition into an urban interface, into an urban conflagration like this.
And most of the firefighters on the line right now are entering into probably about our 96 plus. And those men and women are not going to stop working outside to -- you know hydrate up for a minute, get an energy bar. Maybe get something hot, if they're lucky, because they're going to focus right now and in the overnight of trying to build containment anywhere they can.
These men and women are not going to be resting probably. I'll bet you they have 48 hours plus more of straight work here, and then you're going to see probably some rotations. But this is a job that all conventions are out the window until we have the residents taken care of and in safe harbor and the fire beginning to see some containment around it.
The men and women on this the boots on the ground are committed 100 percent without stopping, because that is what you have to do. And here's the other thing there. It's us. There's nobody else coming. We're the men and women. Excuse me, the men and women on the line are the ones that are going to take care of this and make the situation safe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Incredible. Still to come, can freedom of speech save TikTok? The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments today about whether the government can ban the popular video sharing app. Plus, an early test for democracy in 2025 both of these men say they should be inaugurated later today, as Venezuela's President details of a political showdown later on this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:15:00]
WHITFIELD: In a little over an hour from now, Donald Trump will be sentenced in the New York hush money case after months of delays in a slew of appeals. The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday denied Trump's emergency request to delay the sentencing. After the decision, the President-Elect criticized Judge Juan Merchan, who has already said, Mr. Trump won't face prison time or any other penalties.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL- ELECT: We're going to appeal anyway, just psychologically. Because, frankly, it's a disgrace. It's a judge. It shouldn't have been on the case. So, I'll do my little thing tomorrow. They can have fun with their political opponent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Marshall Cohen is joining us now from Washington, D.C., with more on this. All right, so what could potentially take place today?
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Fred, good morning. As you just said, we pretty much know exactly what's going to happen. That's because the judge has already signaled pretty clearly what he intends to do with the sentencing, and that is what they call an unconditional discharge. What that means is, according to our expectations, the conviction will
stand. Donald Trump, when this is all over today, will officially be a convicted criminal, a convicted felon, guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Yes, we all remember the jury verdict last year, but it only really, really becomes official when the judge sentences you and closes the case.
But that's it. There won't be any punishment, no prison, no probation, no penalties, no fines. It's an unconditional discharge. The case is over. And of course, that does open the door for Donald Trump to pursue his appeals, as he mentioned last night, and as he mentions it almost every single opportunity.
He thinks this is a totally ridiculous case. He maintains his innocence. He denies having the affair with Stormy Daniels that started this whole hush money payment in the first place. So, this will close the case, begin his appeals, and brings a level of finality to this historic saga where you know, we know we're just about 10 days away from the inauguration. It will, of course, be the first ever presidential inauguration of an adjudicated criminal.
WHITFIELD: Marshall Cohen, thank you so much. All right, it's one of the most popular apps in the world, but TikTok could be banned in the U.S. in a matter of days. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments just two hours from now about whether the government should be allowed to ban the Chinese owned app.
Unless the High Court blocks the ban, TikTok could go dark January 19th. In essence, the justices are being asked to weigh what the government calls a national security issue against the right to freedom of speech. CNN's Clare Duffy is tracking this important story for us. Clare, talk us through what we can expect this morning.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah, Fred, it's going to be a battle, really over free speech versus national security. The U.S. government has long argued that TikTok poses a national security risk because its parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in Beijing.
And the concern really is that the Chinese government could force ByteDance, could force TikTok to change its algorithm, to include certain videos or potentially remove videos critical of China, and also that it could force TikTok to hand over U.S. user data for intelligence purposes.
Like a lot of platforms, TikTok gathers a lot of user data, things like search history, purchase history, screen time, the way that users use the app, contact information. But TikTok says that this law violates its first amendment rights in part because it says it has already addressed those data security concerns.
[08:20:00]
And I want to play for you a bit from CEO -- sorry, TikTok CEO Shou Chew during a hearing earlier this year on Capitol Hill. He sorts of described the company's systems for doing this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHOU CHEW, CEO OF TIKTOK: Our approach has never been to dismiss or trivialize any of these concerns. We have addressed them with real action. The bottom line is this, American data stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel. We call this initiative project Texas, that's where Oracle is headquartered.
Today, U.S. TikTok data is stored by default in Oracle Service only vetted personnel operating in a new company called TikTok U.S. Data Security can control access to this data.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUFFY: And experts say that these U.S. government concerns really are at this point hypothetical, that there's no evidence that TikTok has been asked to or has handed over U.S. user data. But TikTok has been making this argument for a long time that it secures that data, and it has yet to convince the U.S. government. So, we'll see if it's able to convince the Supreme Court today, Fred.
WHITFIELD: TikTok audience is huge. I mean, it has 170 million American users. Do you have a sense of how many of them are feeling?
DUFFY: Yeah, a lot of users are really concerned about losing access to this platform where they get not only entertainment, but community and information. And in particular, the stakes are really high for creators and small businesses who make a living from this app. By TikTok's own estimate, around 7 million U.S. small businesses could stand to lose a billion dollars in revenue.
And around 2 million U.S. creators could lose $300 million in revenue in just one month if the app is banned. So, this really is an economic driver that people are concerned about losing. And creators told me that while there are these other apps, there's YouTube, there's Instagram, often those apps prioritize different kinds of content.
So, if you're really successful on TikTok, it's not a guarantee that those other apps are going to be a really successful place for you.
WHITFIELD: All right. CNN Business Writer Clare Duffy, thanks so much. All right, for some help understanding the legal issues that will likely decide or be weighed in this case, we're joined by Jeff Lewis. He is a lawyer and a specialist in First Amendment, freedom of speech, litigation. Great to see you. Good morning.
JEFF LEWIS, CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER: Good morning.
WHITFIELD: All right, so what will be the argument to prove TikTok is a national security risk?
LEWIS: Well, that's just it. The government doesn't have any proof that TikTok has actually used data from its users to implement the will the Chinese government. So, you can expect that TikTok will hammer home today that this is speculative, that there's no real actual harm. And you can see expect that the government will argue that this is so important that doesn't have to prove actual interference with information or disinformation has actually occurred.
WHITFIELD: So TikTok does gather data. It admits to that. Perhaps it's the issue of what kind of data does it gather, and how much that matters, and whether it outweighs the concerns about freedom of speech. How will it go about doing that?
LEWIS: Right. So, the questions are, how is it gathered? Where is it stored? Like it was discussed in your lead in, is it's really stored in Texas, or does the Chinese government have access to this information, that's critical.
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
LEWIS: And can the U.S. government put in safeguards prevent misuse of that data, like social security numbers.
WHITFIELD: Right. And so, while the Chinese company CEO, we just heard his sound bite, he says, you know, it has addressed concerns about the way in which it, you know, gathers data, as you just underscored, with the organization, you know, in Texas. Will the U.S. Supreme Court be also trying to weigh whether this company should be sold to a U.S. company, or just period being banned from the U.S.?
LEWIS: Well, yeah, that's going to be a big part of the discussion today by the Supreme Court, is whether or not this is an extreme remedy, or whether lesser remedies, like putting the data in Texas, can sufficiently safeguard national security. And I expect the government to say, no, we've tried for years to get TikTok to be more transparent, and nothing has worked, and that's why this law exists.
WHITFIELD: They'll hear the arguments today, but how long before a decision would be rendered?
LEWIS: Well, January 19th is the big date my kids are looking at in terms of TikTok being banned. So, I would expect some sort of decision before the 19th.
WHITFIELD: All right. Constitutional Lawyer Jeff Lewis, great to see you. Have a great day.
LEWIS: Thank you.
[08:25:00]
WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, four major wildfires still burning across Los Angeles, causing widespread destruction, and the worst may not be over yet. Then, for many who live in Southern California, the life they had it's now gone. Residents return to their homes after flames tear through their communities, only to find there is nothing left.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Fast moving deadly wildfires are ravaging Southern California for a fourth straight day, and the threat is not yet over. The three largest fires burning right now are still largely uncontained, including a new one that broke out on Thursday, and crews are bracing for more gusty winds today.
At least 10 people have died. Tens of thousands are displaced, and entire neighborhoods have been reduced to smoldering rubble, as you see right there. Governor Gavin Newsom has deployed the California National Guard to help with law enforcement. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, meanwhile, is pushing back after facing questions about her leadership.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAREN BASS, MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES: These fires are burning now. Our job is to make sure that people stay alive, that we save lives, that we save homes, that we save property. And I also said that when the fires are out, we will do a deep dive. We will look at what worked, we will look at what didn't work, and we will let you know.
Until then, my focus is on the TV screens behind you, that are showing devastation that has continued. Thank you. Answered it in the morning. Answered it now, won't answer it again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Meteorologist, Allison Chinchar joining us now from the CNN Weather Center. All right. Good morning to you. It is bad, and the winds are kicking up again.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. So, this is going to be one of those things. We're going to have a very narrow window, Fred, where we will actually get those winds to calm back down before they go right back up again. So, we take a look at the forecast today, we still have that critical fire threat, that level two of three, mostly focused a little bit farther south of Los Angeles, but it's still there.
Then when we push into Saturday, you'll notice a lot of those areas, especially the elevated risk really starts to shrink back. That's because by Saturday, we finally will start to see improvement in those wind speeds. So, for today, still 30, 40 mile per hour wind gusts, maybe even as high as 50 in some isolated spots.
But as we go through the afternoon and as we go through the evening, notice those wind speeds die back down into single digits in most places. This is fantastic news. This is exactly what those firefighters need to be able to build those containment numbers up and really get a much better hold on a lot of these fires, because we fast forward back into Sunday then and you'll see those numbers jump right back up again, 30, 40, even 50 miles per hour again.
[08:30:00]
And then by Tuesday, we anticipate them going up even more. So again, we've got that narrow window there that hopefully they can take advantage of. The other thing too is the wind direction, because that's also just as important. You'll notice most of these the winds, that's the little white things that are moving.
It's the wind direction. Most of the time the wind is going to be coming from the north, but at times it will shift to the east. It could shift to the southwest. It can go back and forth. That makes it very difficult for the firefighters too, because that very sudden change of direction makes it difficult for them in terms of the planning phase.
Now we do still have the red flag warnings, and again, notice it's pretty much from Los Angeles, north of Los Angeles, all the way down through areas just outside of San Diego. The other thing to consider too is all of that smoke that's making the air quality incredibly poor.
So, you have air quality alerts in effect in and around Los Angeles. When you look at the actual measurements here, when you -- for the air quality index, notice some of these red dots here, just outside of Los Angeles. That is the unhealthy category. So, what they're saying is there is so much smoke in the air.
It is very difficult to breathe for some of these folks. And not just the usual ones, say, the ones with asthma or allergies or the elderly, what's now starting to affect just your everyday, average person because of how thick that smoke is. The other thing where a lot of these fires are burning, it is where we're talking about drought.
You have most of these areas where all of the fires are this darker orange color you can see in the background, compared to the one to the west. That means they were in severe drought. So, all of that dry brush is just fuel for these fires -- excuse me, fires as they come through these particular areas.
Also noting too, Fred, when you look at the forecast, the one thing these places need is rain. And for the next seven days, there is nothing, not just in L.A., but really any part of Southern California or much of the Southwest in general.
WHITFIELD: All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much. All right, for many people impacted by these fires, at least five now, there is nowhere left to go. CNN's Kyung Lah spoke to some of the people who returned to survey the devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YVETTE ANDERSON, ALTADENA RESIDENT: Right over here is my kitchen, my living room.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my God.
ANDERSON: Pots and pans and stuff right there.
LAH: Oh, my god, yeah.
TONY RICH, ALTADENA RESIDENT: 25 years I've been here. Easy 25 gone less than three hours.
LAH: When you look out of your neighborhood, what happened here?
RICH: It just looked like a war zone here. This is a war zone. Looked just like a war zone.
ANDERSON: I saw the fire at 2 o'clock, I took a picture, and at 4 o'clock, my phone went off and it says, evacuate, evacuate. And that's what we did. There's nothing. There's nothing left. I literally just have the clothes on my back. There's nothing, things that my grandmother gave me. My granddaughter, she's always making me something, and I put it in a frame. You know, I don't have those no more.
LAH: Yvette said that this guy's house was touched by God.
RICH: It had to be, because it showed in burn.
LAH: But if his house was touched by God, what happened to the rest of the neighborhood?
RICH: God didn't care about us. There it shows it right now. But I'm going let this go, and I'm going to close my gate and I'm going to get out of here, because it's just making me sick.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Oh, my God, that is devastating. Kyung Lah thanks for bringing us their points of view. Let's go live now to Pacific Palisades, our Marybel Gonzalez has been covering the fires there. And I mean, the scene looks the same whether it's behind Stephanie Elam's live shot or behind yours. I mean, all you see is charred rubble.
MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Good morning, Fredricka. And that is because that is what so much of this picturesque neighborhood now looks like a complete ghost town. Where we are at right now is one of the neighborhoods that has been impacted. And as you can see, this where we're standing used to be somebody's home.
All that remains right now are ashes, debris, rubble. Standing is the entrance way, what appears to be steel beam entrance way and a chimney in the background. This scene repeated blocks and blocks into this neighborhood in the downtown area as well. And we know that hundreds of thousands of people right now are under evacuation orders or warnings.
And for the people that had to leave, they can't go back home, but when they do, this is what so many of them are facing.
[08:35:00]
WHITFIELD: And then what today might be the focus for authorities. You know, we know that law enforcement is also fanning out to several communities because people are, I mean, sadly, they are looting some of these properties. What's happening in that area where you are? GONZALEZ: Yeah, we did hear that there were least 20 people arrested for looting, the city has imposed a curfew in the evacuation order to try to prevent that from happening. But today, the focus will continue to be on those containments. Here, the Pacific Palisades, this is one of the largest fires here.
It's at only 6 percent containment. Luckily, the winds have died down, Fredricka, so that will allow firefighters to get a leg up on this fire. We saw that happening yesterday with planes doing these aerial drops. Hopefully they will be able to do that today. But again, the fear is that those winds might pick up again. So really, they're just working around the clock to try to do that before that happens.
WHITFIELD: They are indeed doing incredible work. Marybel Gonzalez, thank you so much again. A live view right now of the fires still burning. I mean, they are raging, still out of control. Very little of these, at least five now, separate fires are contained. In Malibu, California, embers from the flames in the hills have transformed was one of the most luxurious stretches of beach fronts into a pile of ash.
Now CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir, gets reaction from local people to the work of the 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 these five miles 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.
TYLER STOCK, TOPANGA CANYON RESIDENT: Yeah.
WEIR: What's going through your mind?
STOCK: 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: Yeah, do you chalk that up to the sickle wind?
STOCK: So yeah -- I don't blame this on our elected officials of the 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: Yeah. How would you grade the response just by what you've seen?
STEIJN 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, and 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 some there's a lot of anger from folks in the Palisades, like, where were you?
VANVEEDEGHEM: There was a lot of anger. But, you know, the fire spreads so fast, and there were a lot of winds. It was night at that time, so I think it was too windy for helicopters and for the jets to come in.
STOCK: There's so much height and emotion, right? You want somebody to blame.
WEIR: Yeah.
STOCK: You want to say, Where's the cavalry, right?
WEIR: Yeah.
STOCK: That's a totally understandable emotion feel right now.
WEIR: Yeah.
STOCK: But I think it's better to just focus our energy on doing what we can for each other, 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 related --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Incredible. I mean, that was Bill Weir reporting and talking to people who have been impacted so directly and trying to make sense of it all. Right, brand new data from Europe's climate monitoring agency shows 2024 was the hottest year on record. On average, temperatures were 1.6 degrees Celsius, hotter than before humans began burning lots of fossil fuels.
And it should come as no surprise that climate change is one of the reasons California is currently facing such terrible fires. Laura Paddison has that part of the story.
[08:40:00]
LAURA PADDISON, CNN SENIOR CLIMATE WRITER: Deadly, destructive, out of control blazes are sweeping across the Los Angeles area. And you might be wondering, why is this happening now in the middle of winter? January is typically one of L.A.'s wettest months. So major fires are rare, but the climate crisis is changing fire behavior by driving hotter temperatures and more extreme swings from wet to dry conditions.
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NEWSOM: November, December, now, January. There's no fire season. It's fire year. It's year round.
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PADDISON: It's unclear what sparked the blazes, but they're being fueled by Santa Ana winds, strong, warm, seasonal winds which flow from the desert through the mountain toward the California coastline. These winds are not unusual for this time of year, but have been exceptionally powerful and have arrived as L.A. grapples with drought.
It's been the driest start to L.A.'s wet season for more than 80 years, parching a landscape which has a lot of vegetation after an exceptionally wet winter last year. This has created perfect fire fuel. Crucially, every wildfire has its own unique set of circumstances, but as we've seen in recent years, climate change is loading the dice in favor of more intense and more rapidly spreading blazes.
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right up next, from a disputed election to a controversial inauguration, these two men both say they should be President of Venezuela. That story in a moment. Also, ahead an update on the remaining hostages in Gaza. The body of another hostage has been found. We'll have a report from Tel Aviv.
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WHITFIELD: All right now to the Israel-Hamas war, the Israeli military says it has identified the remains of another hostage recovered from Gaza. The IDF says 23-year-old Hamza Al Ziyadnah was found dead in a tunnel in the Rafah area. This comes just days after the remains of his 53-year-old father, Yousef were also recovered from a tunnel in Rafah.
Both were kidnapped during the terror attack on October 7th, 2023. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is joining us now live from Tel Aviv. Jeremy, what more can you tell us about these hostages and circumstances? How these bodies were found?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, earlier this week, the Israeli military recovered two bodies from a tunnel in Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, they confirmed that one of those bodies, as you said, was that of Yousef al Ziyadnah, a 53-year-old man who was kidnapped on October 7th.
And today, the IDF has now confirmed through forensic analysis that the second body was that of Hamza Al Ziyadnah, Yousef's 23-year-old son. Both of them are part of the Muslim Bedouin community here in Israel. And they were taken hostage on October 7th from kibbutz who leads where they were working on a dairy farm that's a kibbutz that is right next to the Gaza border.
[08:45:00]
Two other members of the Ziyadnah family had also been taken hostage on October 7th, but they were released as part of that one-week long cease fire and hostage release deal that took place in late November of 2023. This now leaves us with 98 hostages who still remain in Gaza, 94 of whom were taken hostage on October 7th, that includes both living and deceased hostages, although the exact number of living hostages still remains unclear.
Meanwhile, we are seeing in Gaza as Israel is continuing to keep up its military campaign with multiple air and artillery strikes killing people in central and in northern Gaza, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Jeremy, how do we expect this might impact cease fire talks if they are indeed still going on?
DIAMOND: Well, it's unlikely to have an impact on the talks themselves, other than to kind of continue driving the sense of urgency for a deal. That is the point that the hostage and missing family's forum is making arguing that this, quote, historic window of opportunity, as they call it, must not be lost.
We know that the start and stop negotiations between Israel and Hamas are still ongoing in Doha, Qatar. But now a Hamas official is telling CNN that Israel is introducing new last-minute conditions in these negotiations, calling for holding a one-kilometer strip of land along Gaza's eastern and northern borders, which this Hamas official says is a new demand by the Israeli government.
The Israeli officials haven't responded to this claim by Hamas, but what we do know is that there are clearly still difficulties. You know, a few weeks ago, it seems as if we might be on the cusp of a deal, and then we saw progress stall once again. Nonetheless, earlier this week, President Biden said that he believes that there is real progress being made, and he accused Hamas of standing in the way of a deal.
An Egyptian official and another diplomat familiar with the talk said that there has been no breakthrough and that there is still a lot of work to do, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thank you so much. All right, still to come, an update on the fire scorching Los Angeles and a look at the role of the struggling insurance industry will take in rebuilding entire communities.
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WHITFIELD: All right, in a few hours, Nicolas Maduro is expected to be sworn in for another term as Venezuelan President. Observers say today's inauguration is taking the country into politically unchartered territory. Both Maduro and Gonzalez are claiming they should be sworn in.
The opposition is also saying its leader Maria Corina Machado was violently attacked after a rally on Thursday, but was released later on in the day. The Venezuelan government denies she was detained. Stefano Pozzebon is in neighboring Colombia and joins us now from the capital of Bogota.
So, both leaders are saying that it should be them being sworn in today. What is expected to happen?
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: Well, Fred, we know what we're expecting from the Maduro side. The president is, frankly, string role in his inauguration. We expect him to go first to the Supreme Court for the swearing ceremony. And then in the hours of the afternoon today, he will go to the Parliament, the National Assembly for -- to deliver a speech and to be formally proclaimed.
[08:50:00]
And that is where, also, crucially, Fredricka, we will see which members of the diplomatic corps will attend the ceremony, and in a way, recognizing Maduro's rule. We know, for example, that Colombia will still send their ambassador. Brazil will do the same. The United States do not have any relationships with the Maduro government, so nobody from Washington will be there, while European countries are expected not to send a diplomatic representation at these ceremonies.
However, they still do entertain relationships with the Maduro government. What we don't know, Fredricka, is what happens on the other side Gonzalez, who yesterday, on Thursday, was in the Dominican Republic, once again, receiving the support of Venezuelans abroad and other presidents in the region, other heads of state in Latin America who support his claim. But he said he was going to Caracas today.
He was going to appear in Caracas today for his own swearing ceremony. And we don't know how he exactly intends to be doing so, given that there is several arrest mandates and more than $100,000 bounty on his head, just in the very early hours of today, Friday, the Venezuelan government shot the border with Colombia, which is the largest section of the Venezuelan land border, and canceled flights between Bogota, where I am, and Caracas and other Venezuelan cities.
So that is a sign of how the government feels encircled in this moment. And well, it could come down to a very dramatic showdown in the hours to come, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, quite extraordinary. Stefano Pozzebon, thank you so much. All right. And in the States, we're just now getting a look at the latest U.S. monthly jobs numbers. And they grew in December, up by 256,000 which blew past estimates. That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Economists were expecting an increase of 153,000 jobs. As for the unemployment rate, it dropped slightly, coming in at 4.1 percent. All right, returning to our top story. Los Angeles is waking up to another day of fire, smoke, destruction. Fire officials say they have made some progress in fighting the blazes on Thursday, as winds died down a bit, but the wind is expected to pick up again today and over the weekend.
The Palisades fire, already the most destructive in L.A. history, is only 6 percent contained at this point. It is believed that nearly 10,000 structures have been destroyed so far, and there have been 10 confirmed deaths overall, though that number is expected to rise. For so many homeowners in California, the devastation wrought by the fires will be compounded by the fact that they don't have insurance to cover the damage.
That's because some insurers have dropped customers in the state between 2020, and 2022, insurance companies declined to renew 2.8 million homeowner policies in California. And that includes more than half a million in L.A. County alone. The state has set up a program aimed at making alternate insurance available, but it comes with higher premiums and lower coverage limits, forcing many homeowners to go without.
It is estimated that the current wildfires in California have already caused more than $50 billion in damage, and it comes at a time when the insurance industry is paying big bills for natural disasters connected to climate change. CNN's Anna Stewart has that.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Last year was very costly due to natural disasters, hurricanes, storms and floods all around the world. Munich Re, the world's biggest insurer, estimated total losses of $320 billion with 140 billion covered by insurance, so less than half. Climate change is playing a big role, according to Munich Re's Chief Scientist.
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TOBIAS GRIMM, HEAD OF CLIMATE ADVISORY AT MUNICH RE: We saw a number of extreme weather events in many countries, including Canada, United Arab Emirates, Spain and Brazil. We all have the pictures in mind, with the airport in Dubai, knee deep in water, with the City of Valencia, where cars were swept away in mud like toys, with areas that were widespread flooded in Brazil, in Central and Eastern Europe, in China and in many other regions. Climate change is showing its claws.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: The two costliest, most destructive disasters of last year were both in the United States, hurricanes Helene and Milton. The aftermath led to losses of $56 billion and $38 billion respectively. Now the current wildfires in California aren't included in this report, given its new year.
But JP Morgan Chase has estimated that already economic losses stand close to $50 billion. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
WHITFIELD: All right, quickly before we go, Battalion Chief with Cal Fire, Brent Pascua spoke about the weather conditions facing firefighters right now.
[08:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENT PASCUA, BATTALION CHIEF WITH CAL FIRE: We're at 6 percent now, with the winds predicted later today, I believe we'll still be able to use our aircraft with our ground troops. We'll see that 6 percent get into the double digits, I believe at least, which is still headed in the right direction, which is what we all want.
We still have this fire weather with the low humidities, the gusty winds, but this is what we're used to fighting. That what we saw in the first couple days of this fire was something like I have never seen. It was 60, 70 miles an hour, and we were just chasing our tail, trying to get people out of the way so we wouldn't lose any lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Some kind of break would be nice. But again, the fires continue to rage there. At least five fires now in Southern California that are crossing thousands of acres. There's a wider view right now. The fires are still actively burning. It's a 05:00 a.m. hour there in Los Angeles, and you can see just a long stretch of fires burning all the way up to the coast, hitting urban, suburban areas.
We'll continue to watch here on CNN. Thank you so much for joining me here in the Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.
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