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Death Toll Rises To 16 As Wildfires Rage In Los Angeles; Ukraine Says It Struck One Of Russia's Largest Oil Refineries; Ceasefire And Hostage Talks May Be Advancing. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired January 11, 2025 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:37]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Bracing for powerful winds. Firefighters in Los Angeles scrambled to contain fast moving blazes before Mother Nature fans the flames again.

Heartbreak and loss and incredible resilience. We're hearing from survivors left with nothing but their lives.

And Ukraine says it struck one of Russia's largest oil refineries.

(MUSIC)

BRUNHUBER: We're following breaking news in Los Angeles, where the death toll from raging wildfires has risen to '16. And that comes as officials are warning there's a very significant concern the fires will grow in the hours ahead.

Well, have a look here. You're looking at live pictures of a fire in L.A. County. Now, these are some of the most destructive wildfires California has ever seen. Powerful winds are picking up. After a brief lull on Friday allowed firefighters to start making progress.

But that work could be lost, with the largest fire inching closer to Brentwood, Bel-Air and other communities near UCLA. The Palisades Fire is at least 11 percent contained right now, and the second largest, Eaton Fire is 15 percent contained. The fire chief says to expect more power shut offs ahead of life threatening winds, an effort that could stop new fires from popping up.

Now, the national weather service warns very dangerous weather conditions will continue into next week.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is on the ground near Brentwood and shows us what fire crews are doing to prepare for this new round of strong winds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I want to draw your attention to this ridge line up here behind us. Up there where you see a vehicle parked up on top of that sandy colored area. They have been bulldozing, making that broader, making that wider. And the reason why they're doing that is because they want to have a defensible space, a place where they can battle against the flames. We're the fire to come this direction.

And we have gotten information that the winds will change direction and start to blow this way. Right now, the fire is burning out in this canyon here in Brentwood, California. But what they want to make sure is that it stays away from these homes that you see right here. All day Saturday, we've seen firefighters staged there behind these houses that are up against this ridge. And obviously a lot of people like to live here. They've got this lovely, beautiful nature backdrop behind them.

But this is also the downside of that is just how close they are to this fire burning here. The Palisades fire you can see as they have been doing all day, they've been fighting this fire from the sky. They've been dropping fire retardant. They've been dropping water to stop that forward movement.

But as the winds change, the smoke starts to change. And so, they have to change how they're fighting these blazes. But this is what they're continuing to do here to protect the houses along this ridge here. Because obviously, the first concern is to make sure that they keep people alive.

And as I've been told, most of the people here did evacuate. The next thing that they're working on is keeping homes safe. And so they have extra firefighters coming from all around the country, in fact, from several states and as well as Canada and Mexico here to help battle these blazes as we prepare for these higher winds over the next few days.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And CNN's Leigh Waldman joins us now with the latest from the Pacific Palisades.

So, Lee, we just heard Stephanie there talking about the fear of these higher winds. What is the latest situation right now?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, you can see why there's so much fear because of the destruction left behind here in Pacific Palisades. And we're starting to feel those gusty winds coming back into this area. But you can see what the flames did to this neighborhood, cars, vehicles left torched in the street. Homes completely decimated.

People keep saying its like a bomb went off in this area. And you can see for yourself why they're saying that throughout the evening tonight, we're under a curfew and evacuation orders from 6:00 p.m. local time until 6:00 a.m.

We're seeing a law enforcement officers driving through this neighborhood tonight, patrolling, making sure this area is secure. They're cracking down on looters who are looking to take advantage of the situation of the tragedy that happened in this neighborhood, since the homeowners can't come back home here.

[23:05:08]

Earlier on tonight, we heard a woman who was here who was looking for a lost dog with fliers and posters of her dog. So many heartbreaking stories coming out of Pacific Palisades for people who had to just flee with no time running from the fire that was getting so close to them.

We also saw crews with LAFD coming through here. We keep talking about fire hydrant issues and that was an issue in the Pacific Palisades area early on in the Palisades fire. Some of those hydrants went dry.

We saw fire crews coming through here and turning off the water for specific homes. Because these homes are destroyed, pipes are sticking out and we see water flowing out of those pipes. They told our crew here that they're trying to turn off the water to build up water pressure so it can aid in their fight against these fires that they're trying to get control of before these winds significantly move back into these areas.

So we're hoping that that helps with the issue. We know that the California governor is calling for an independent investigation into widespread hydrant issues with water accessibility and availability and pressure issues throughout the response to these wildfires in L.A. County. So we are seeing the heartache and the tragedy here, and we our hearts break with the community that when they finally do get let back into the Pacific Palisades don't have much home to come back to -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. There is so much loss there in the community. How are they coping?

We may have we may have lost the connection to Leigh. We will thank Leigh Waldman there. Appreciate that.

I want to turn now for more on the outlook of the fighting, the fires in the crucial days ahead. I want to talk to Brent Pascua, who is a battalion chief with Cal Fire, and he joins us now from Los Angeles. Thanks so much for -- for making the time and clearly a very busy time for you here.

So lets start with what I imagine is the biggest concern, the winds. What is the latest there and what are the fears?

BRENT PASCUA, BATTALION CHIEF, CAL FIRE: Yeah, the fears are we're going to get really strong winds again and it has the potential to blow fire over our fire lines that we've already created. We've got crews working 24/7 all night to improve these fire lines that we're putting in. We're going direct on the fire itself.

And today was a very productive day. We used all our aircraft, our air tankers, our helicopters, in conjunction with our hand crews, hose lays. It was a very productive day here on the fire.

BRUNHUNBER: But it must be frustrating to think that you've done all this work, establishing these fire lines and the sparks with -- with what we presume will be these high winds will now kind of undo much of the work you've done so far.

Is it possible that the containment numbers will actually shrink in the coming hours?

PASCUA: You know, hopefully we don't get those winds like we did the first two days. We're not expecting it to be that drastic, but we're prepared for it. We have cut the line extra wide and we have contingency lines behind that just in case it does jump. So it is a concern, but we're prepared.

BRUNHUBER: How will the winds affect fighting the fire from the air?

PASCUA: Well, so far, we had gusty winds today and they weren't like the other day where we had to ground our fleet. It was windy, but the aircraft still made a big difference. They were able to drop retardant and water right on the fire.

BRUNHUBER: So we've heard about the potential of the winds enabling the fire to jump the 405, the interstate. So for those who aren't familiar with the geography of L.A., sort of tell us what exactly that means and what's at stake if that happens.

PASCUA: Well, yeah, the Santa Ana winds can blow embers miles. But the way the 405 sits, if we do get the Santa Anas to surface and blow from the east to the west, it's actually going to move it away from the freeway and head back towards the coast.

So, either way, we had a surge of engines in that community near the 405 Freeway and then also in Brentwood. We put an engine, if we can, at every house, if not pretty much, almost at every house.

BRUNHUBER: Okay. So part of the fears was, I suppose, that that it would reach these densely populated areas near the 405, a much more urban area than we've seen before. Maybe even, you know, Westwood areas like, you know, right, by UCLA, which are which are highly populated. Are you saying that that there's less of a chance of that happening?

PASCUA: Yeah. If we get those Santa Anas blowing from the east to the west, it will blow this fire pretty much back onto itself.

[23:10:04]

We saw that today where, overnight, it -- when it was near Encino, it was making those canyon runs out to the east. Today, we got those east winds and it blew those -- those the -- that fire back to the west. On top of itself, where there's already burned and there's no fuel to burn.

So there were certain canyons that were being burned off, but it was just the wind kind of battling itself, going back and forth. Again, a very successful day with the winds, shifts like that.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, all right. So that would be the best case scenario. You talk about these canyons. I mean, I imagine that sort of, you know, for people who haven't been there, just -- just talk to us about the terrain that the firefighters are having to contend with and why it's so difficult.

PASCUA: Yeah, very steep terrain. Not like your typical wildfire, very steep terrain, makes it really dangerous for the crews on the ground. But the other thing to that is we know how to fight these fires. We can predict which way the fire is going to run. We can predict where we want to meet it, where our best chances are stopping it at.

So again, we let it do its thing. We let it run to the ridge. We hammer it with aircraft, and then we have crews there to meet the fire and extinguish the fire at the ridge.

Today, we also saw it back -- today, we also saw it back down towards houses, which is what we want. We don't want a head fire rushing our crews that are down at the houses, but with it backing like that, we were able to use aircraft and the crews that were at the houses and hand crews to cut that fire out and put that fire out.

BRUNHUBER: Talk to me about the crews. I mean, you're with cal fire. You know, you guys are among the most experienced dealing with -- with wildfires, obviously. But you have crews from -- from other states, even other countries coming in to help. Talk to me about the cooperation that you're seeing in these monumental efforts to -- to fight these fires.

PASCUA: Right. You know, I thought out of state was far away, but now we're getting Canadian firefighters and firefighters from Mexico. It's a really cool to see everyone come together. And we might not even speak the same language, but we know the priority and that's always life.

And after that, its structures and properties. So, we may not be able to communicate the best, but we still have our priorities on the same page.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Listen, we'll leave it there, but I appreciate your time. Brent Pascua with Cal Fire. Thank you so much for speaking with us.

You're welcome.

Well, those Santa Ana winds that he mentioned this month are exceptionally strong.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers looks at why they pose so much danger in the days ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Santa Ana winds happen all the time, but the one that we had on Monday was extraordinary, 85 to 100 miles per hour. Unheard of. But what were seeing now is even a 45 mile per hour Santa Ana wind will do certainly some damage because we have so many sparks that are already out there. By morning hours here, I mean, we have winds at 43, 45-mile-per hour gusts. Now, this is a transverse range. This is a mountain range up here. You're always going to see color here because it's on top of the mountain. That's kind of how the model is going to run this. But we kind of die off a little bit.

Have a lighter day on Monday, but then again Tuesday and Wednesday. Look at the colors as we bring them back all the way through Wednesday and even into Thursday. These deep reds are not what were looking for when we already have embers on the ground.

So, for today, critical for tomorrow, critical, Tuesday, Wednesday, the same story. Now that's a level two of three. When we had the firestorm, we were of three of three. And it's not going to be unheard of if some of these days, either Tuesday or Wednesday could get upgraded to three of three. Well have to see.

Obviously, part of the problem is the drought. Everywhere that we see orange here, that is severe drought and that just happened since March when the rain simply stopped. A lot of growth over winter, lots of lots of rain, lots of snow.

But then all of a sudden, it just stopped precipitating. There was just no more rainfall to come. We are going to see some of that smoke blow away from L.A. We've been talking about how bad the air quality is.

At least by Monday, when the winds are blowing from the same direction, we will be blowing that smoke offshore for the next few days, kind of swirling around here in the valley. Be very careful with that unhealthy air that's still out there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still to come, the California wildfires are leaving behind countless stories of heartbreak. And we'll hear from one family who lost everything and find out how they're coping with this disaster.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: The winds are picking back up in Los Angeles County, where there is significant concern over the growing wildfires that have now killed at least 16 people. The Palisades Fire is now threatening communities west of the 405 freeway and looking ahead, the National Weather Service says dangerous conditions are expected to extend into next week, which could lead to new fires. More than 100,000 residents remain under evacuation orders, but some orders have been lifted in certain cities.

Now, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will lead the investigation into the cause of the Palisades Fire. They'll be joined by a national response team that investigated the devastating 2023 Maui wildfire. U.S. President Joe Biden says he's using the full power of the federal government to help people in California. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to make sure California has every possible resource to fight these fires and help survivors. This is not going to be over even when all the fires are out. It's just going to be beginning. And the change in insurance policy in California for these modest homes, as well as these very expensive homes and businesses. So we're going to be around for long while to go to help the federal government and the mayor as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And joining me now from Santa Monica, California, is Giorgi and Leonardo Antinori. And they lost their home to the Palisades Fire.

Thanks for speaking with us. And sorry about everything that's -- that's happened to you guys.

[23:20:03]

I mean, you know, you guys lived in the Palisades. You think the Palisades. You think mansions? That wasn't exactly your experience. Talk to talk to us about your home.

GIORGI ANTINORI, LOST HOME IN L.A. WILDFIRES: We lived in a community called the Palisades Bowl, and it is a mobile home community. It's a lot of singles and families, young families and older residents who were priced out of Santa Monica and Venice or who have just lived there since the '70s. It was very, very modest.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. So, your home -- I mean, when you heard about the oncoming fires, I mean, did you -- did you think of staying or did you decide? Listen, we got to get out right away.

G. ANTINORI: You know, the fires never, ever come that far into the Palisades. They always stay in the canyons, pretty far from where we are. But when I saw the plume of smoke, I -- I did think that they would probably shut down PCH either way. So I called my husband, who was at home with our two year old, and I said, you know, just in case they shut down PCH, why don't you just head to my parents? We can meet there, switch cars, and I'll come home with the baby. And within an hour of that, that was at 10:30 in the morning. They were mandatory evacuating everybody. And by 5:00 everything was up in flames.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, it must have been just absolutely terrifying, especially as you say, when you have a two year old to care for.

G. ANTINORI: Yeah.

LEONARDO ANTINORI, LOST HOME IN L.A. WILDFIRES: Yeah, definitely. It moved pretty quick. So I looked out the window and saw the plume of smoke. And five, ten minutes later I looked again and it was like reaching the ocean. And, so it was time to go.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. And good thing you did. Unfortunately, your -- your home didn't make it. How did you find out about that?

G. ANTINORI: So our entire community was watching the news pretty closely. I had to turn it off at some point because it was just so emotional. And so, we woke up the next morning. I mean, we didn't hardly sleep at all, but at 8:00 a.m., when I finally decided I was brave enough to look, I looked and saw that everyone had announced that our -- our park was gone. And it was -- it was just devastating.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, we're seeing some pictures. I mean, did you -- did you go back and take those pictures?

G. ANTINORI: We did. We went back on Thursday together, on some borrowed bicycles from friends to see if we could salvage any -- any valuables from the ashes.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah.

L. ANTINORI: I went again today -- I went again today. And, it's just I'm still trying to, like. It's -- it's -- it's so mind boggling what happened. And so tragic that it just -- you just don't have words for it, you know?

BRUNHUBER: Well, I mean, your house is -- is almost your whole world. And when that disappears, I can understand the sense of complete dislocation. And, you know, we say sometimes, well, a house, I mean, it's just -- it's just things that can be replaced. But there's a lot that can't be replaced, right?

G. ANTINORI: Right. Yeah. I mean, you breathe, you breathe your whole life into your home. It's -- it's like a family member. It feels like someone has died. It feels like a family member has died.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah.

Is there anything that that you think of -- you know, that that just you wont be able to to replace that you'll miss the most?

G. ANTINORI: Yeah. So we actually, we have our two year old daughter, but we had a daughter 15 years ago. She'd be 15, and she passed away when she was one. And her ashes were in our home. And, I mean, they're gone, like, every memory, every piece of physical evidence of her life is just gone.

And that hurts. I feel numb right now because I feel like I've cried all of my emotions, but I've just been. It's just been.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. I can't imagine and only, you know, speaking to other victims who have gone through similar things. Yeah, it does -- it does just come in these waves and unfortunately it lasts for such a long time. When you're thinking of what comes next -- I mean, did you -- you know, if you want to rebuild, do you -- do you have insurance?

G. ANTINORI: No. So I think probably like hundreds of other people, it just -- the prices of insurance just got so high. And, you know, we were still trying to recover from, you know, the last four years of just everything changing after COVID that we thought, you know, we'll recover fast and then we'll just pick up our insurance again and everything will be fine. We never, ever, in a hundred million years thought that our house would go up in flames.

L. ANTINORI: Yeah, this -- this doesn't usually happen. When there's a fire, it's usually more up north, and it never really. It doesn't reach the community, Palisades.

[23:25:02]

G. ANTINORI: Yeah.

L. ANTINORI: It's never happened. I was talking to Giorgi's dad, and, he's lived here his whole life and since the '60s. And it's never, never happened before.

So even neighbors, as I was evacuating, I was grabbing things, just the passports and just documents, and just the most important things before heading out. Some neighbors thought that it wouldn't be as serious, but that's only because they've lived there for 30, 30 years. But then everyone got evacuated and, extremely serious.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah.

G. ANTINORI: Yeah. So we've just -- we're like, completely at the mercy of our community and anyone, you know, because we didn't have insurance.

L. ANTINORI: Yeah.

BRUNHUBER: Oh my gosh. So what -- what do you do? What -- what happens next?

G. ANTINORI: Well, as far as, like, moving and where were going to live, we don't know. In terms of, like, financial help, I mean, we have some really generous friends who started a GoFundMe for me. And honestly, it's been really amazing to see how many people have come and given us, you know, gifts and money and who just want to help.

And I was telling Leo, I was telling my family, I never realized how loved we were by our community. And it's just been -- it's just been overwhelming to see people help us, you know?

L. ANTINORI: We're so grateful to all our communities and how they -- how they came together. And they're really helping one another.

And we've gotten so -- we're so thankful and so grateful to every single person who's sent us a nice text message, sent us, they're -- they're opening their doors saying, I have a spare bedroom. You can take my bedroom, guys, you know. We have, you know, and -- yeah, we're so grateful.

BRUNHUBER: Well, in what is obviously such a tragic story.

I'll leave it on that note of help and hope and just wish you two and your -- and your young child all the best as you try and pick up the pieces. Giorgi and Leonardo Antinori, thank you so much for speaking with us.

G. ANTINORI: Thank you very much for your time.

L. ANTINORI: Thank you so much. Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: L.A. County has extended its smoke advisory through Sunday to what it calls the area's unhealthy air quality. The county's chief deputy director of health spoke with CNN about the problem. He says he's very worried about the long term health risks associated with exposure to this level of smoke and ash, and he cautioned residents to stay indoors if possible and to wear filtration masks outside. He's also worried about the county's water. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANISH MAHAJAN, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, UCLA: There's an even greater problem of these toxins that you're describing with the burnt out areas of the houses and all the chemicals that we live with that are now burned to ash. They also can find their way into the water. So we have several water districts here in L.A. indicating that residents do not use the water.

And that means you should not only not drink it, but you should also not use it for things like bathing, brushing your teeth or other -- other activities. And instead you should be using an alternative source.

And so, these are steps that we are asking folks to take here in Los Angeles to avoid the health risks of this -- of this wildfire smoke and ash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And he says the fires are throwing toxins into the air, which especially affect vulnerable people from the young to the elderly and can cause long term health problems.

Well, the death toll rises as wildfires rage in Los Angeles, our breaking news coverage continues after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:32:29]

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

As the death toll climbs, there is significant concern that the wildfires will grow in Los Angeles County. The Palisades Fire is closing in on communities west of the freeway, while a second front is moving toward the San Fernando Valley. And it seems this disaster may be far from over as dangerous conditions are expected to carry into next week.

While evacuation orders remain for thousands in southern California, some orders have now been lifted for certain areas.

An international effort is underway to get help to Los Angeles. On Saturday, firefighters from Mexico joined more than 14,000 personnel already on the ground.

CNN's Gustavo Valdes has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: California is getting a little help from our neighbors north and south of the border with both Canada and Mexico, sending firefighters to assist local efforts to control the fires in the Metropolitan Los Angeles area. And it's going to be needed help because Saturday, the Palisades Fire began to extend close to another neighborhood. Thankfully, the winds were not strong enough and firefighters were able to get a handle on them.

However, fire officials warned that the situation could worsen in the next few days as the winds are expected to pick up again. Not as strong as what we saw at the beginning of the week when the fires started. But still, it is another reason to be concerned for these fire departments that have come from across the state and other the places in the United States to try to help these firefighters are certainly doing their best to keep the flames under control.

Now, for the residents who are trying to come back to the neighborhoods affected has been frustrating. The order of evacuations are -- remain in place, which means they cannot come to see what happened to their properties. This is also creating a little anxiety for those who don't know if their houses survived or not.

Saturday, I spoke with a lady in the Altadena area and she had not been able to get back to her house. I showed her, she gave me her address. I showed her over the phone images of her two-story burned down house.

[23:35:04]

And she said that she couldn't believe it. She -- her room used to be on the second floor, so for her to see nothing but a stairway up to nothing was really shocking. And they don't know when they're going to come back to be able to see if anything survived. But given what we've seen, not only here in Pacific Palisades, Altadena, the condition of the buildings are such that it is very likely that nothing survived.

Gustavo Valdes, CNN, Pacific Palisades, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And joining us now out of Cambridge, Massachusetts, is Juliette Kayyem. She's CNN's senior national security analyst, as well as a former assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.

Good to see you again. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, listen, I want to start with the reporting we got from our

reporter who was in the Palisades, spoke to her about half an hour ago. She was saying that there was a curfew in place tonight, in part to prevent looting. She talked to us about all the police patrols that were going through the area.

California officials say at least 20 people have been arrested on suspicion of looting. We know, you know, richer areas are hiring -- hiring private security. But those less well-to-do areas don't -- don't have access to that. How -- how big are those concerns about looting?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: They're -- they're big. They're serious. And unfortunately, they're quite common after a disaster.

We call them disaster vultures. These are people who take advantage of abandoned property, take advantage of people who are, you know, at the worst moments of their life. These range from -- from stealing and looting to consumer fraud, getting people to give, you know, getting people in the most vulnerable and taking advantage of them.

And so that is why you're seeing a very heavy handed public safety apparatus come into play now that people are returning home or that homes are abandoned, this is unfortunately necessary given what's -- what's going on. It's -- the oddity or I guess it's the paradox of what were seeing is because the fires were so bad and homes were so devastated for a lot of these areas, there's nothing to loot. There is, in fact, nothing there.

And so some of the areas, the worse off they are in an odd way the, the less looting, the less kind of public safety issues that they're concerned about will occur.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah.

Now the fires are so bad, of course, because of natural circumstances. We have the weather and the winds and so on and so forth. But something that is sort of incomprehensible as well is that people have actually been -- been arrested and stopped. People who have been trying to set more fires.

I mean, explain that for me.

KAYYEM: Yeah. It's like -- it's like -- it's the worst in people. And the worst people often come out. I want to put this in perspective. The best of people and humanity often comes out in disasters like these. It's why people like me can stay in this field.

You actually see the best of these communities. I grew up in Los Angeles. I -- this is a -- this is familiar that that Los Angelenos will come together across lots of divides. And you're seeing that unfortunately, there are those who either are from there or come there, who -- who will take advantage of this situation and, and exacerbate it, as we're seeing with the arsons, as we're seeing with a probably likely a lot of consumer fraud will occur. People set up fake GoFundMe pages, say, I lost my home and the

goodwill of others is going to give them money. They didn't lose their home, right? And so part of this is just trying to put a heavy sort of law enforcement efforts on.

I'll add one more thing, which is the drones, these people who are having fun with drones right now, we know there's been one altercation, essentially between a private drone and a helicopter trying to assist in water. So this is another area where people are just sort of losing their minds in many ways.

And order needs to be restored to protect people who live there, as well as the first responders.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. I mean, in order to actually do that, to restore order, I mean, is there any way to stop these drones or does it just rely on, on peoples common sense not to do it in the first place?

KAYYEM: Yeah, it's -- it's a reminder. And I think that will start to happen. Is there a reminder that there are rules about this? There are no fly zones in certain areas for obvious reasons.

We're showing on CNN these helicopters are just coming back and forth from the ocean to the -- to the mountains. And so it is very, very heavy truck traffic in the period.

[23:40:04]

In most major disasters, the federal government will sort of overtake the fly zone. In other words, they will protect the airspace because of things like drones, private airplanes, even -- even media have to be regulated because you just don't want that many media helicopters or devices up in the air. So, that will -- that is regulated.

And it seems like a lot, but unfortunately, because we've done so many major disasters, these kinds of things actually have a process. So there's always going to be outlier, criminality, outlier, bad, bad people. But for the most part, L.A. has been able to keep order. And I want to make that clear.

There's a lot of people on the outside saying, you know, all hell is breaking loose and we need to bring in the troops or whatever the -- as we're showing the experience in L.A. is one in which its a tragedy, but it isn't chaos. And we have to remember that.

And before people on the outside lose their heads about what people from Los Angeles actually want is, they want to return to their homes. They want to support law enforcement and first responders, and they want to begin this very long recovery without a lot of politics and mayhem from the outside.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. It is the exception rather than the rule. I only have about 30s. But I did want to ask you this because you've referred to it a couple of times. These disaster vultures who are, say, setting up fake charities and so on and so forth. Just so you know, people out there who are watching, they want to

help. What advice do you have for them so that they don't get taken by a scam, but can help those who -- who really are in need?

KAYYEM: There's three things I always say, and I do a lot of work in this -- in this side of disaster management and the recovery side.

Number one, use a -- give money to organizations that existed before this or organizations that you already have a relationship with. Don't just, you know, get a link, get a text or whatever. People are going to take advantage of your goodwill.

Number two is money generally tends to be more important than food or and/or even clothing, unless you are part of a drive that is seeking food or clothing. Money to these organizations then can get out to people in the ways that they need it -- they need it to.

Do not -- and third, do not give to a charity page for an individual or a family unless you know them directly or know someone who knows them directly. People -- GoFundMe is very good about bringing down fraudulent things, but unless you sort of have a tie to them or hear about them, you know, in the news, you want to keep your money to organizations that can do the greatest assistance to the greatest number of people.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Great advice. I really appreciate that.

Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Ukraine says it can now back up its claim that North Korean troops are fighting alongside Russia. Still ahead, Kyiv says two North Koreans have been captured and they're reportedly talking.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:36:53]

BRUNHUBER: Special counsel Jack Smith has resigned from the Justice Department. The departure comes amid a legal fight to keep Attorney General Merrick Garland from releasing Smiths report of his investigations into Donald Trump. That probe focused on Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office.

Smith's office has been winding down its efforts for weeks. His resignation before president Trump takes office wasn't unexpected.

Ukraine says it has struck one of Russia's largest and most modern oil refineries. This social media video, geolocated by CNN, appears to show a massive fire at the refinery in the Tatarstan region with a line of workers walking out. Ukraine says the facility was hit by a drone strike, which would be the second attack on it in less than a year. The refinery plays a key role in supplying fuel to the Russian military, according to Ukrainian records.

But Russian officials deny that the facility was hit. They say the images actually show an evacuation exercise.

Ukraine says it has captured two North Korean soldiers who were fighting alongside Russian troops. Ukraine and its allies say some 11,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to Russia's Kursk region, where Kyiv launched an incursion last year. Moscow and Pyongyang have never acknowledged deploying those troops.

Melissa Bell has more on this new development.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine has released footage that it says shows two North Korean soldiers captured wounded in the Kursk region these last few days. What the video appears to show and CNN can't independently authenticate it, nor indeed confirm the nationalities of the men it shows. What the video shows or not shows is what Ukraine says are those captured soldiers, but also the Russian ID that was found on one of them.

Ukrainian Secret Services saying that the men say they had been brought to Russia on the understanding they were being trained there and found themselves in frontline combat instead.

We don't know much about the circumstances of their capture, bar what President Zelenskyy has said, that it was a difficult thing to achieve given the Russian force's tendency to execute wounded soldiers in order that they cant end up in enemy hands.

What the Ukrainian secret services are saying, though, is that these two men are the first captured North Korean soldiers. And of course, that is important since Ukrainians are trying to figure out exactly how many North Korean soldiers there are currently fighting in Kursk, remember also the scene of very fierce fighting, all the more since the latest push by Ukrainian forces to try and make what progress they can there in their attempt to keep that front active, that Russians can't resupply the eastern front, where the fighting, of course, continues as well.

A capture that will be important for the Ukrainians in trying to figure out not just the numbers of North Korean soldiers currently fighting in Kursk, but the nature of their training and readiness for battle.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[23:50:01]

BRUNHUBER: An oil tanker suspected of being part of Russia's shadow fleet is being towed to Germany. Officials say the Panamanian flagged tanker lost power in the Baltic Sea on Friday. The ships, carrying nearly 100,000 tons of oil thought to be from Russia. So far, none of it has leaked. Russia has been using a fleet of aging and sometimes rusting tankers to circumvent international oil sanctions.

Frustration is growing among some Israelis over the lack of progress in hostage and ceasefire talks. Protesters in Tel Aviv on Saturday marched with signs calling for an end to the war in Gaza. The protests come as Israel sends its intelligence chief, Mossad Director David Barnea, to Qatar for indirect talks with Hamas. An Israeli official tells CNN that sending Barnea is a sign of clear progress in the talks, and of the pressure Israel is feeling to reach a solution.

All right. Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, a world champion slackliner takes a walk in the clouds. Just ahead, how he conquered a heart stopping high line walk hundreds of meters off the ground.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Have a look at this. This video shows the chaotic aftermath of a tram collision in Strasbourg, France.

[23:55:05]

French officials say dozens of people were hurt, but none of them critically. The injuries ranged from fractures to scalp wounds. Another 100 people were evaluated for shock or stress, and luckily people nearby stepped in quickly to help the injured.

Emergency officials say more than 100 people were evaluated for shock or stress, and luckily people nearby stepped in quickly to help the injured. Emergency officials say more than 100 firefighters and 50 rescue vehicles rushed to the scene. The collision happened in a tunnel near the city's central train station. No word yet on the cause.

Heavy snow has swept across central and northern Japan. Plows had their work cut out for them in Niigata prefecture, clearing heavy snow from the streets. The region received nearly a foot of snow for up to 30 centimeters in just 24 hours. Officials are urging residents to stay vigilant for snow falling from rooftops and for avalanches.

All right, well, if you're afraid of heights, you might want to wince at this next story. Have a look here. Three time world champion slackliner Jaan Roose is back in action, 224 meters, or 735 feet in the air. I can barely look at that.

The Estonian walk the vertigo-inducing high line between the Emirates towers in Dubai as the city's skyline provided a breathtaking backdrop there.

Roose had this to say about his 100 meter walk between the towers, serious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAAN ROOSE, ESTONIAN THREE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION SLACKLINER: Doing it for 15 years, I do get fear, but, of course, it's a different each time. Depends on the situation of the wind conditions, because it's necessary to feel the fear., safety wise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Roose said the anchor spots on the towers were at different heights, so he felt as if he was walking uphill. And of course, he had to walk back downhill again.

It was the least of his problems, I imagine. Gosh.

All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.