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Wildfires Scorch Los Angeles, Killing At Least 11; California Fires Fueled By "Perfect Storm" Of Factors; Firefighters Battling At Least Six Fires In Los Angeles; SCOTUS Signals It Will Uphold TikTok Ban; Venezuela's Maduro Sworn In For Third Presidential Term; Two Largest Fires Still Burning With Limited Containment; Former Detainees Deny IDF Claims Against Palestinian Doctor; L.A. Fire Survivors Tell Of Harrowing Ordeal. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired January 11, 2025 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong.
Ahead this hour, a new health emergency in Southern California as crews rush to contain the flames of six active wildfires.
Days before his inauguration, Donald Trump is set to become the first felon to serve as U.S. president.
And CNN speaks to former Palestinian detainees. What they told us about the missing Gaza doctor who was taken by Israeli forces.
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WATSON: All right. We begin this hour with the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, where officials have declared a local health emergency. They say that days of intense fire and wind have released hazardous smoke and disrupted vital health services and resources.
Officials also issued a new evacuation order on Friday. It borders one of the city's busiest freeways, where several offramps have been closed. The death toll has risen to 11.
Firefighters are battling at least six fires, racing to save homes and communities as winds are expected to intensify. Meanwhile, authorities have ordered curfews in evacuation zones in an effort to prevent looting.
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CHIEF JIM MCDONNELL, L.A. POLICE DEPARTMENT: The LAPD will be enforcing a curfew in Los Angeles city areas, where mandatory evacuations are still in place.
The curfew will run from 6 pm to 6 am. Unless you are public safety personnel or other disaster workers, you have no reason to be at these locations. And if we see you in these areas, you will be subject to arrest.
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WATSON: The questions are swirling on whether enough was done to stop all of this from happening. Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley is now slamming city officials for budget cuts, which she says are making it harder to battle these raging wildfires.
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CHIEF KRISTIN CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: Let me be clear. The $17 million budget cut and the elimination of our civilian positions, like our mechanics, did and has and will continue to severely impact our ability to repair our apparatus.
So with that, we have over 100 fire apparatus out of service. So it did absolutely negatively impact.
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WATSON (voice-over): Now fire crews are starting to make progress although the two largest fires burning right now are still barely contained. New satellite images obtained by CNN show the massive burn scar from the Eaton fire for the first time.
What caused this much devastation and could it have been avoided?
CNN's Nick Watt reports.
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NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Did it really have to be this bad?
No one was caught unaware it's here. Strong Santa Ana winds were forecast and after months without significant rain, bone dry vegetation was obviously primed to burn.
Number one, were there enough boots on the ground to fight the flames?
Easy answer, no.
CHIEF ANTHONY MARRONE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We don't have enough fire personnel in L.A. County between all of the departments to handle this.
WATT: In a memo two years ago, L.A. City's Fire Chief Kristin Crowley said more staff were needed with increased risk due to climate change and increased construction in danger zones.
Just last month, Chief Crowley told Mayor Karen Bass that eliminating some civilian positions and cutting $7 million from firefighters overtime severely limited the departments capacity to prepare for, train for and respond to large scale emergencies. Clearing brush, which is basically fuel, is crucial and mandatory. Chief Crowley says budget cuts mean they couldn't inspect to make sure the clearing was actually happening.
MAYOR KAREN BASS (D-CA), LOS ANGELES: There were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation that we were dealing with over the last couple of days.
WATT: Number two, was there enough water to fight the flames?
Again, easy answer. No.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISPATCH: Multiple homes threatened. I need about 2 or 3 water tenders in there were some engines. We got dry hydrants.
WATT: Three huge water tanks help boost pressure in the hydrants around here but --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were not able to fill the tanks fast enough.
WATT: Because demand was overwhelming and the Palisades is at the end of the city water system with narrower pipes with reduced flow.
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Some hydrants ran dry at absolutely critical moments, like 3:00 am Wednesday.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISPATCH: We've lost most of the hydrant pressure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why was there no water in the hydrants, Governor?
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): It's all literally --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it going to be different next time?
NEWSOM: It has to be.
WATT: But experts tell CNN there's not a city water system in the world that could have flawlessly handled this.
JONATHAN PARFREY, FORMER COMMISSIONER, LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER: Now that we're in the 21st century, I think we have a new climate and we need to rethink our infrastructure.
WATT: Number three, are building codes to blame. Yes and no. Anything built after 2008 is subject to some of the strictest fire proofing codes in the country.
But only about 5 percent of structures around here were built after 2010, according to Cal Fire. And those codes generally do not require retrofitting.
So the new mall and Palisades Village is OK and the 100-year-old mall just across the road is gone and acres of devastation with the odd new build home still standing. Number four, power line problems. Six years ago, the devastating
Woolsey Fire just east of here was lit like many wildfires by sparks from above ground power lines in a Santa Ana wind.
JONATHAN PARFREY, FORMER COMMISSIONER, LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER: You could have 80 mile an hour winds but, if there's no spark, there's no fire.
WATT (voice-over): We don't know what ignited this week's fires but, according to Whisker Labs, there were multiple power line faults and sparks around the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires in the hours before they broke out.
If power lines are below ground, they cannot start fires. The town of Paradise, destroyed in 2018 by fire, right now rebuilding with the power lines underground.
Now this was, as some officials say, a perfect storm. The high winds meant they couldn't fight this fire from the air for those first crucial hours. And in terrain like this, without air assets, you have a hand tied behind your back.
BASS: Rest assured, we will absolutely do an evaluation to look at what worked, what didn't work and to correct or to hold accountable any body, department, individual, et cetera.
WATT: So California's governor Gavin Newsom has ordered investigations into why the water ran dry in the hydrants here in Pacific Palisades, right at a very crucial time.
More interestingly, perhaps, is L.A. city's fire chief, Chief Crowley, has said categorically now, on our air, that the budget cuts to her department absolutely had an impact on their ability to fight these fires.
One example she gave, they don't have enough mechanics to repair the 100 or so pieces of equipment that are currently in the shop that they could have used for this -- Nick Watt, CNN, Pacific Palisades, California.
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WATSON: And earlier I spoke to Monai Dupree, who says some of her family members lost their homes and everything they own in the fires.
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MONAI DUPREE, FIRE VICTIM: Fortunately, we haven't lost any lives but they've lost everything. We have generational homes that were lost with elders all the way down to infants. We have a family member just gave birth two weeks ago and had a baby shower last weekend. Everything gone.
Homes that were in our family for 60 plus years, 45 years. And everyone's just devastated. There's so much to do. And everyone's working with limited resources. And it's been a nightmare. WATSON: Where are all of your relatives staying right now?
DUPREE: And that's the crazy part is so many different circumstances. We have certain people who did have savings, who are having to run through that to pay for Airbnbs. We have family who are able to find shelter with other family.
But they're, you know, some people on red flag warnings and might be at risk for having to evacuate again because these fires have not been contained. We have elders having to go live in cramped quarters right now. We have people who are wheelchair bound, elders that are suffering from different ailments.
And it's -- everything is all over the place. It's difficult to get access to these programs. People like myself were in parts of the state where we lost power for days.
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And so you want to help, you want to show up. You want to offer shelter. But we're also trying to navigate the effects of these fires and these high winds. And it's just been chaos. Many of us have never been through this before.
I know California is shown as somewhere with a lot of rich people and celebrities or, you know, we should be used to these fires. This is something I've seen, in my entire life as a California native, and I'm devastated for my elders, for the young parents in our family, for the children, Christmas gifts gone.
My son's whole entire elementary school is gone and we haven't even begun to navigate how we're going to get through that, because right now we have people who don't have anywhere to sleep tonight.
So that that's the reality of what's going on. There's -- of course, there's the talks of preventative measures and what went wrong. But right now, people are suffering in real time and not sure what they're going to do next.
WATSON: And as you mentioned, Monai, there's a newborn in your family. I understand your son's school, I think you just said that that the elementary school was burned down.
How are these children dealing with this?
How are you trying to help them cope with just this upheaval?
DUPREE: You know, as parents do, we try to come with the healthiest ways to explain these things. Me having to explain to my son about his elementary school seems like a small task compared to our cousin, being asked right in front of us by his son, who attends the same elementary school, when they can go get the rest of their things.
And watching him have to explain to him or struggle to even find the words to tell a small child that there is nothing left. And so there's different levels right now. So for those of us who are telling our children this from the comfort
of our homes, it feels far easier than those children in our family right now who are old enough to understand what it means for everything to be gone.
Our teenagers, who are old enough to watch in real time as our family houses burn and their friends' family houses burn. And so I would say that's probably the most challenging right now, is trying to create some form of normalcy for the children.
But also be on alert in the event that we have to evacuate, having to know that certain fires are not contained, not knowing where to send our elderly. We've had a grandmother who had to evacuate, went to one place, had to evacuate from there.
So we've just honestly been taking this one hour at a time. For those of us who haven't lost our homes, trying to be available, however we can. But this is -- the only way I can describe it, it's a nightmare. Honestly.
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WATSON: Thanks to California resident Monai Dupree for sharing her family's devastating story.
Now joining us on the phone is Todd Hall, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Thank you for joining me. Todd.
You know, I guess the first question is what is in store for Los Angeles in the next 24 to 48 hours?
Because firefighters are still battling existing blazes. This crisis is far from over.
TODD HALL, METEOROLOGIST, NOAA: Yes, that's unfortunately the case. We're still a long ways here from being through the poor fire weather conditions we've had across Southern California the last several days.
WATSON: Right. So I mean, we're looking right now at live images from Los Angeles County of just a huge fire. But so a lot has been said about the winds and the conditions that they imposed.
What is the forecast when it comes to those Santa Ana winds?
HALL: Yes. So were looking at a -- right now we're getting a little bit of a reprieve from the Santa Ana winds. But as we move into tomorrow night and into Sunday morning, were going to be seeing another round of Santa Ana winds that is expected to affect the these fires again and the broader Los Angeles area into Sunday morning.
So we are already seeing a, you know, we're already on alert for these -- for these fires, these fire personnel that are on the on the fires. And we're trying to do our best to give them a headsup that that this stuff is on the way. WATSON: Can I ask if they, in fact, hit with the intensity that we saw
earlier in the week, would that prevent potentially the air assets, the water bombers from being able to operate?
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HALL: Yes, that is a -- we are -- we are expecting this event to be much weaker than we saw on Tuesday and Wednesday earlier this week, That event prevented a lot of the fixed wing aircraft from getting up in the -- up in the air to help prevent that.
Certainly this is going to be -- there's going to be some times where that may be affected but, you know, we're -- we continue to provide that intel to them. And I will say that we have some of the world class firefighters here that are always working to help.
They do some amazing things. Watching him through over the almost 20 years that I've been here, they've done some amazing things, given the -- some favorable weather conditions. And they have that for the next 24 hours. So let's see. Let's see what happens.
WATSON: You know, Todd, I was looking through some earlier reporting on what has happened in the climate around Los Angeles County, reports that there were only 0.03 inches of rain in Los Angeles from October to December.
So one of the driest periods on record in an area that has been consistently drought afflicted. But then the -- before that, you'd had just torrential rains the previous winter. And that those rains may have juiced, so to speak, the growth of plants that became the dried- out kindling for this fire.
Is that kind of the narrative that you think contributed to this disaster?
HALL: This is -- this is what Southern California is. I've lived in Southern California almost exclusively my entire life. I was born here, actually. I only left for a little bit. But yes, it's feast and famine. So we have years, we had two really good years of rain that brought us out of a drought.
And now we're, you know, we're in a La Nina and a La Nina pattern that developed across the Pacific. And that has brought drought. So were actually in the second -- if you look at our downtown Los Angeles sensor that we used, it's the -- downtown Los Angeles has only had the second driest stretch going back to May of last year.
So we've only had, you know, we've had less than a quarter inch of rain during that period. So we've had -- we've really been dry for about, really, going on eight months now.
WATSON: Is there any hope for precipitation in the near to medium future?
HALL: There's, you know, we're looking at some of our longer range solutions. They are hinting at some possible precipitation toward the latter part of the month. But you know, whether that materializes, it's just in modeling at this point.
You know, we know we have a huge deficit to make up. We should have normally about five inches of rain by this time. And were sitting at very little to start our water year. So what you said was 0.03. That's absolutely right. I mean, we still have about five inches to make up to get back to normal.
WATSON: Wow. All right. Well, meteorologist Todd Hall from the National Weather Service, thank you very much for joining us and explaining the grim forecast up ahead.
We're going to take a break soon. To start, though, we'll be looking at Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, who begins his new term as a wanted man in the U.S. And still ahead, Washington offers a new reward for information leading to his arrest while the opposition slams his inauguration as a coup.
Plus, no punishment for Donald Trump in his hush money case. But he can't escape after being labeled a felon. How that happened is coming up next after this break.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lots of businesses and creators will lose the majority of their audience, potentially. Years of hard work from these creators and people have been gone in a second. The ripple effects of this will be global.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They can personally attest to the fact that I retain an accountant, an attorney, a videographer, an assistant, a translator, a sous chef, all in just the past year. I don't know if those are real enough jobs for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so mad and so anxious because TikTok changed my life. It's grown my business; 80 percent of my clients come from TikTok in my freelancing business.
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WATSON: Despite the potential implications for millions of American users, the U.S. Supreme Court is signaling it will uphold the controversial ban on TikTok, set to take effect on January 19th. CNN's Brian Todd has more on the court's debate between national security and free speech.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The nation's highest court tonight on the brink of deciding whether to uphold a controversial ban of TikTok in the U.S. a ban already approved by Congress and signed into law by President Biden. TikTok arguing a ban would violate free speech.
CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: There is a compelling First Amendment issue here, which is that this involves the access to information on behalf of tens of millions of Americans.
TODD: Specifically, more than 170 million Americans who use TikTok, according to the platform, more than half the U.S. population.
But tonight, it appears a majority of the Supreme Court is likely to uphold the TikTok ban. Some, including Chief Justice John Roberts countering TikTok's lawyers free speech argument.
JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT: It seems to me that you're ignoring the major concern here of Congress, which was Chinese manipulation of the content and acquisition and harvesting of the content.
TODD: TikTok is owned by a Chinese company that U.S. officials worry could be beholden to the communist government in Beijing and could conceivably help the Chinese regime spy on Americans.
CORDERO: That the Chinese government could demand data from TikTok and that it is covertly manipulating content that Americans receive.
TODD: TikTok denies that, saying it safeguards users' privacy.
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President-elect Trump initially supported a ban on TikTok in the U.S. then reversed course and is now seeking to pause the ban.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We love TikTok. I'm going to save TikTok.
TODD: A ban in the U.S. would have an enormous cultural impact, analysts say, because contrary to some perceptions, its not just a platform for goofy stunts and dance videos.
CHRIS STOKEL-WALKER, AUTHOR, "TIKTOK BOOM": Now you can get educational videos. You can get news reports, many major organizations, as well as politicians, including President Biden, have taken to the app.
TODD: And the impact on American businesses of a TikTok ban in the U.S. could be staggering.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH WRITER: By TikTok's own estimate, there are 7 million U.S. small businesses who could stand to lose $1 billion in revenue.
TODD: Businesses like Summer Lucille's clothing boutique in Charlotte.
SUMMER LUCILLE, BOUTIQUE OWNER AND TIKTOK INFLUENCER: I get 80 percent of my business from TikTok. I know it will cripple me and I will be devastated.
TODD: The TikTok ban in the U.S. could take effect on January 19th, unless TikTok is sold to other owners. Once a ban takes effect, experts say. If you buy a new phone, you won't be able to download TikTok. If you already have it on your phone --
DUFFY: If you already have the app on your phone, it's not just going to disappear but you'll no longer be able to update it, which means that eventually it would become buggy. It might have security vulnerabilities and eventually it would become unusable.
TODD: If TikTok is taken off the U.S. market, who stands to benefit?
Where would TikTok users go?
Analysts say Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube would likely pick up a lot of that business because they already offer short-form video feeds similar to TikTok on their platforms -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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WATSON: From TikTok to the U.S. president-elect. Donald Trump is walking away a free man but still a convicted felon after a final sentence was handed down in his hush money case.
On Friday, he received an unconditional discharge and will not face prison time or any other penalties. For his part, the president-elect was more combative than contrite when he addressed the court. CNN's Paula Reid has more on the judge's decision.
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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, president- elect Trump appeared virtually for his hearing on Friday. He appeared alongside his attorney, Todd Blanche.
Now the judge allowed Trump to appear remotely because he is, of course, the president-elect. And the judge had made it clear before this hearing that he was not really going to subject Trump to any punishment.
It was not expected that Trump would really face jail time here. But fines and probation were options the judge had.
And Judge Juan Merchan took some time to lay out why he was giving Trump no punishment and the judge explained that he believed that, now that Trump is president-elect, he is entitled to some protections, that that office conveys certain protections.
He also gave a nod to the fact that the American people saw what happened with this case, saw what happened with this conviction and still sent Trump back to the White House and conferred upon him those protections.
And Trump's reelection is something that we've seen other prosecutors and other cases and judges overseeing those cases sort of grappling with. But Judge Juan Merchan also wished Trump best of luck in his second term.
Trump will be the first president to take office as a felon. But his lawyers are going to continue to appeal his conviction. And after the Supreme Court's big ruling on immunity last year, which came after this trial, there is a possibility that Trump's conviction could be overturned -- Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
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WATSON: A judge has ripped into Rudy Giuliani for his, quote, "outrageous and shameful conduct" as he was held in contempt for the second time in a week.
The former Trump lawyer was ordered to swear that he acknowledges several records documenting there was no fraud in the 2020 election. If he doesn't before Inauguration Day, he'll be fined $200 a day and could even face jail time.
The ruling comes as Giuliani repeatedly makes false insinuations about two Georgia election workers, even after they successfully sued him for defamation. He was ordered to pay the women $150 million and he agreed to stop slandering them.
To South America now, where Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro has started his third presidential term after being sworn in on Friday. He's facing major pushback both at home and abroad.
Venezuelan officials and companies face more international sanctions. Maduro's legitimacy is being questioned and the U.S. has issued a $25 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
But as Stefano Pozzebon reports, Maduro denies allegations of wrongdoing and remains defiant.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deaf to the international outcry around his election and to the cries for liberty of thousands in Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro is sworn in for a third presidential term in Caracas on Friday.
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Sending a message of defiance to anyone daring to criticize his rule, especially the U.S.
NICOLAS MADURO, PRESIDENT OF VENEZUELA (through translator): I was not put here by the U.S. government or by any pro-imperialist government of the Latin American Right. I'm here because I come from the people.
POZZEBON (voice-over): The White House and the European Union are among several international powers who did not recognize his July win, now slapping new sanctions on more than a dozen government officials and a $25 million reward for Maduro's arrest.
Neighboring Colombia saying Thursday it will not recognize Maduro's victory, sending Venezuela further and further into isolation as its government temporarily shut down its western border on Friday.
It all stems from the controversial 2024 election. Venezuelan authorities announcing Maduro's victory without showing any proof and the opposition publishing thousands of electoral tallies that independent observers and several organizations say they prove their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, actually won.
Now pledging to continue to protest.
MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): Maduro will not be able to govern by force a Venezuela that has decided to be free.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Gonzalez himself fled abroad, fearing for his safety. He gave a speech in the Dominican Republic on Thursday and, on Friday, he said he decided to remain in exile until conditions in Caracas improve.
But with Maduro cementing his grip on power for more than a decade, many are increasingly looking at U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to take a stand. Trump on Thursday voiced his support for a free Venezuela, as the fate of its people remains uncertain -- Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Bogota.
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WATSON: We're going to take a break now but, when we return, fire crews are struggling to contain the two largest wildfires burning in Los Angeles right now. And more keep popping up.
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WATSON: Welcome back. I'm Ivan Watson, broadcasting live from Hong Kong.
Some much needed reinforcements are on their way to help the firefighters who are battling raging wildfires around Los Angeles. Mexico says it is sending a support team consisting of firefighters and other experts. And they will join more than 12,000 emergency responders who are already on the fire lines.
That's on top of hundreds of federal emergency workers that President Biden pledged on Thursday, along with dozens of more aircraft.
Help cannot come soon enough because fire crews have been battling the blazes for days now, sometimes pulling 48-hour shifts. One city official says some of them barely got any breaks since the emergency started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LINDSEY HORVATH, LOS ANGELES COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: The resilience of our firefighters on the front lines of all of these fires is nothing short of extraordinary.
I encountered a firefighter who was in the Sunset Mesa area, who had been out on the grounds since the fire broke out. And he shared with me just the traumatic experience that he has lived through. He hasn't left the fire until late last night. He was given some -- just a couple of hours of relief. He said it was like walking through hell.
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WATSON: CNN's Anderson Cooper gives us a closer look at the effort to get these fires under control and stop new ones from breaking out.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): In the mountains of Topanga, the battle rages on. By air and on land, firefighters are trying to save the community of Fernwood.
COOPER: They've been hitting this fire here in Topanga with a number of aerial assets. Fixed wing aircraft, there was a large one, there was a smaller fixed wing aircraft. They just dropped fire retardant on it. That's what the reddish pink color is.
They've also brought in helicopters that have been dropping water on this spot as well. They have a lot of assets in this area on the ground. They're also putting water on it from fire trucks down there. But this is a spot that they are focusing on right now.
COOPER (voice-over): One after another, choppers move in. They sound an alarm to let anyone on the ground know water is coming.
COOPER: You can hear the sound, kind of a siren going. That's the warning that they're about to drop water. This is probably the, I don't know, the fifth or sixth water drop we have seen just over the last 10 minutes, I'd say.
They're devoting a lot of resources trying to trying to nip this in the bud. It looks like from this vantage point, I'm told it is likely a structure fire. You can tell because of the Black smoke.
COOPER (voice-over): New fires pop up all the time. There's one also in the distance near Entrada.
COOPER: It looks like from this vantage point that there now may be another issue, another fire over this ridge. You can see the dark smoke rising from there as well. So there's a fire that they believe is a structure down off to the right.
And then, over that ridge, it looks like there is now another fire to deal with. And obviously, on the horizon you can see some other smoke trails as well.
So they are trying to save this community. That is where the battle has been joined. A lot of air assets, trucks on the ground, fixed wing aircraft like this.
Wow, I mean it's extraordinary to be standing here and feel the power of that aircraft go right over you and watch it just swoop down so low. This is rare, you see an aircraft swooping that close to houses.
COOPER (voice-over): We watched three choppers drop their loads in quick succession.
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It's a sign of how vulnerable this neighborhood is. On Medley Lane in Fernwood, we find James Larson, a firefighter from Orange County. He's been doing this for 30 years.
JAMES LARSON, ORANGE COUNTY FIREFIGHTER: Right now, we're setting up a defensive stance. There's some fire coming up the ridge here. We're protecting these properties., of course, our main priority is life safety for not only the citizens here but for the firefighters.
COOPER (voice-over): Nearly everyone who lives here has evacuated but Adam Weber and some others have come back to try to save their homes.
COOPER: What is it like for you to see this?
I mean --
ADAM WEBER, RESIDENT: It hasn't hit yet. It's a very surreal and devastating to watch and at the same time, I have so much respect for the fire and really taking in the medicine of what's happening. It's a moment I've never experienced before in my life. It feels like LA is having its 9/11 moment.
COOPER (voice-over): Firefighters will likely stay here all night. The situation changes with the wind. As we leave, we notice a new fire is now raging on a distant mountain. There is no end in sight -- Anderson Cooper, CNN, Fernwood.
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WATSON: OK, still ahead, a Palestinian doctor detained by Israel hasn't been seen in public for weeks. CNN speaks to two former detainees who claim they have seen him. The latest on his whereabouts. Next.
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WATSON: Two Palestinians who were recently released from a notorious Israeli detention center say they saw a prominent Gaza doctor held at the facility and that he appeared to be in, quote, "poor condition."
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. Israeli forces detained him in December after a raid that closed his hospital. It was the last functioning major health facility in northern Gaza.
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WATSON (voice-over): This video shows the last time he was seen in public. He's the man in the white coat, walking toward an Israeli tank outside the hospital. Israel has not specified where Abu Safiya is being held but says he's being investigated as a member of Hamas.
The former detainees say he is not a member of the group.
They tell CNN, quote, "Everyone was surprised by his arrival because he is a humanitarian doctor who does not belong to any organization. We asked him what was wrong and he said he was humiliated and mistreated."
They also said Abu Safiya told them the Israeli army "came to the hospital, killed five medical staff members and burned Kamal Adwan hospital in front of the doctors' eyes."
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WATSON: Meanwhile, we're learning more about two Israelis held hostage by Hamas. Their bodies were recovered in southern Gaza this week. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more from Tel Aviv.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, earlier this week, the Israeli military recovered two bodies from a tunnel in the area of Rafah in
the southern part of the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, they said that one of those bodies was that of Youssef Al- Ziyadnah, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th.
The Israeli military now confirming that the second body that was recovered from that tunnel was that of Hamza Al-Ziyadnah, Youssef's 23-year-old son.
Both of them are part of the Muslim Bedouin community that lives here in Israel. And they were taken hostage on October 7th from Kibbutz Holit,
right near the Gaza Strip, where they were both working on a dairy farm.
Two other members of the Ziyadnah family had been released during the ceasefire deal in late November of 2023. They had also been taken hostage
on October 7th.
That means that 98 hostages are now still being held inside of Gaza, 94 of whom were taken captive on October 7th. That includes both the living and
the deceased hostages who are still being held by Hamas as bargaining chips.
What we have seen in the meantime is that these start and stop negotiations in Doha, Qatar, appear to be leading to progress at times but other
moments, it seems as if they are backtracking once again. This has kind of been the pace of these start and stop negotiations.
But now, a Hamas official is telling CNN that Israel is introducing some new conditions in these negotiations, claiming that Israel is demanding to
hold on to a one-kilometer strip of territory along Gaza's eastern and northern borders that they previously had not demanded.
Israeli officials have yet to respond to that new claim being made by Hamas. But meanwhile, President Biden, earlier this week, blaming Hamas
for the fact that there is not yet a deal, saying that they are getting in the way but nonetheless insisting that real progress is being made.
We know that both Biden administration officials, as well as incoming Trump administration officials, are pushing to see if a deal can be done by
January 20th when President-elect Trump will be inaugurated as the next president of the United States.
Meanwhile, an Egyptian official and another diplomat briefed on the talks, they are both making clear that there has yet to be an actual breakthrough
in these negotiations that could make such a deal possible before January 20th. They say that there is still a lot of work to do -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Poet and Los Angeles native Amanda Gorman says she reacted to the fires the only way she could: with words. Let's listen to her poem when we come back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) AMANDA GORMAN, YOUTH POET LAUREATE: All our angels have gone. This smoldering dawn, we soldier on.
We've proved ourselves strong, not from how badly we've burned but how bravely we bond. Apocalypse does not mean ruin but revelation.
In devastation, this infernus (ph) has injured us but it cannot endure us. Even in the surreal, we do not surrender. We emerge from the embers.
The hardest part is not disaster but the after. Scorched earth is where the heart hurts, where we restore first, where
we start the work. Today we mourn. Tomorrow, reborn, we end the burning. Befriend the
hurting. Mend those who face the flame.
We reclaim our city's name, a revelation that only this place tells. To find our angels, all we need do is look within ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: That was America's first youth poet laureate, Amanda Gorman, reciting her poem, "Smoldering Dawn." She's also a Los Angeles native, who lives in Pacific Palisades. And when the fires broke out, she was working in New York.
She says this poem was a result of her heart breaking and something she had to write to process what was happening.
We've heard other voices as well. CNN spoke to Los Angeles residents, who described the terrifying ordeal of fleeing the fires and the heartbreak of returning home to complete devastation. Still, they remain hopeful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I took my son. We ran to the car and he was scared. He was crying. I was scared.
It's OK.
I'm trying to, you know, be calm and, try to get out of the Palisades as fast as we could.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I dropped to my knees and I just started praying. Please, God, please just save my house.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready to jump into the ocean. All the firemen, they got the hell out of here. They evacuated quickly and I should have followed suit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We started piling up the Torahs in the back of my car. I checked with my husband. I couldn't see him. There was so much smoke. I checked with him. Do you have all of them?
And he said, I think so. And we just left.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he was walking around with his lantern in the house. Chase and I were talking to him. We were on FaceTime.
[03:55:00]
And he said, he'll be fine. I'll be here when you guys come back. He was in his bed when I found him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was so fast. A friend was able to go to the neighborhood once it had completely burned down and send us a video and that's when we found out for sure.
KIT GOLDSMITH, EATON FIRE VICTIM: The idea of trying to figure out where we're going to be for the next month, where we're going to have this baby. We had so many friends and a massive support group there that I was really, really planning to lean on and losing them is like, it's almost harder than losing our home.
NIC ARNZEN, VICE CHAIR, ALTADENA TOWN COUNCIL: I probably only have a dozen or so homes in my census track. It's like half the town is gone. It's just too overwhelming. We're just living with the clothes on our back and lucky to have friends that are bringing us in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think everybody just needs to, to understand that they've done their best. And, you know, as long as they're with their family and they have their lives, you know, life is long and I think we have that to look forward to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: You can help those impacted by these devastating wildfires. Visit cnn.com/impact for more information.
I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong. Thanks for joining me this hour. CNN NEWSROOM with Ben Hunte is next.
