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Crews Race To Contain L.A. County Fires Ahead Of More High Winds; Volunteer Worker's Altadena Home Now A Pile Of Debris; Cal Fire: Eaton Wildfire Now 27 Percent Contained, Palisades 11 Percent Containment; Trump Makes False Claims About FEMA And California's Water Policy. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired January 12, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:36]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta alongside my colleague, Bill Weir in Pacific Palisades, California. Bill, we'll get to you in a moment.

Let's start with this breaking news this hour.

Winds are picking up again across Los Angeles County, fanning the wildfires still burning out of control in what's become one of California's worst natural disasters. Santa Ana winds expected to slam L.A. County through Wednesday speeding these fires' path as it continues to incinerate entire communities.

Thousands of firefighters are on the ground trying to beat back a wall of flames. Air and ground crews are making some progress thanks to favorable conditions overnight.

Fire officials say containment of the Eaton fire now stands at 27 percent, while the largest of the fires, the Palisades, remains at just 11 percent containment.

Search and rescue teams are going house to house to search for victims. The fires killing at least 16 people, but at least 16 others are still missing at this hour. Evacuation orders remain in place for over 105,000 people.

At a press conference today, the L.A. County sheriff pleaded with residents to listen to officials warnings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF ROBERT LUNA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: If you are asked to leave and you're in an evacuation order area, your life is in danger. You need to leave.

And driving around some of these areas, they literally look like war zones. There are downed power poles, electric wires. There are still some smoldering fires. It is not safe.

We want to get you back into your homes, but we can't allow that until it is safe for you to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Evacuation orders are underway. The plea there coming from all officials that people need to listen to those warnings.

CNN's Bill Weir is there in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood, the hardest hit thus far. Give us an idea, Bill, whether people you know, are listening to those officials getting out with those mandatory evacuation orders in place. Or are we seeing more people who are trying to save their own homes with garden hoses, et cetera.?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: That's always the case, Fred. And this is sort of the calm before another firestorm.

Tonight we're actually set up here on Pacific Coast Highway near Will Rogers Beach, a command center. So we're seeing National Guards and ambulances and fire crews from really all over the country as they're fanning out here.

As you were given the numbers overnight, the Palisades fire, thanks to a really fierce fight in Mandeville Canyon, only grew by a few acres, but still only remains 11 percent contained.

Just for perspective, we talk about the acreage -- 24,000 acres burned. That is 37 square miles. And for my New York friends, the Island of Manhattan is only 23 square miles.

So this huge area burn, of course, we care the most about those that hold homes and lives and properties right there. And so the death toll now at 16, with 16 more missing.

Thankfully, none of those missing, children. It reminds me of the Lahaina fires when the numbers were in the hundreds for days before it settled down around 100 people finally lost.

So there's so much uncertainty. That count much lower than you expect given the vast area, which probably indicates a lot of people did evacuate when they should have.

But now, as we get this respite in the wind and we get the sunshine and reminds people of why you want to live in southern California, it's also allowing cadaver dog crews, forensic teams, to go into these neighborhoods and find more souls lost so that death count now up to 16, and they're expecting that, sadly, to grow.

29 people arrested so far in the fire zones, 25 in the Eaton fire up in the Pasadena -- Altadena area. A couple of them actually dressed as firemen who were trying to burglarize homes.

[14:04:40]

WEIR: And of course, the red flag warnings have been extended. A red flag is essentially the cocktail of dry vegetation, low humidity and high winds. And all of those things are in place now as the winds are expected to kick up later tomorrow and possibly into Tuesday as well.

They've requested an additional 70 water trucks for around the area, given the new winds kicking up. That's according to Fire Chief Marrone from L.A. County.

They are prepared for this wind event, they said. So many questions about water pressure and water availability. They're trying to rest assured.

And then your heart goes out to all those folks who are living in this horrible state of smoky limbo that can't get back to their homes, whatever is left of their lives. Many with just the clothes on their backs, no medication, some with small pets.

Yesterday they tried to take people in three cars at a time into the Palisades area. Give some people some peace of mind, but apparently the demand got so chaotic that the -- that the police chief in L.A. said, we're going to suspend that for now, shutting that down.

And that has to be massively frustrating for people who were even lined up overnight thinking that when the curfew lifted this morning, they'd be able to go in.

My colleague Julia Vargas Jones is up the hill in the Palisades with some of these frustrated folks. What are you seeing there, Julia?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, you nailed it. Its frustration. People have been waiting. Now we're on day six of this tragedy. They're saying it's time for them to be able to go home and see if their homes have made it or not.

Look, we have been allowed in these areas, you know, to do our jobs and to understand the situation so we can report it. And so obviously, we have been approached by so many families asking, can you please go to this address? Can you please go check? Can I come with you?

I want you to hear the story of one of the people that we spoke with today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOSE FAYNOSD, FAMILY LOST HOMES IN FIRES: I have to go wait in line in my car, where I can ride my bike up really quickly and check my properties.

JONES: They're saying that they're not allowing you to do that.

(CROSSTALKING)

FAYNOSD: We're not allowed. They're not allowing anybody. I tried yesterday, I've tried a couple of days ago. Nothing.

JONES: Their argument is that it's still -- the fire is still burning. The gas lines are still on in some parts and that it's just too dangerous. What do you think? Do you think it's true?

FAYNOSD: I agree. I agree. You know, save lives before anything else. I understand, yes.

JONES: But you're frustrated.

FAYNOSD: Of course. Wouldn't you be?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: You know, Bill, again this is the story of so many people. And we've watched people come back being allowed in, coming back and seeing their homes completely destroyed, losing everything, coming to grips with their new reality as they now realize they have to either choose to rebuild here or somewhere else. You're starting from zero.

But I will say something that really stuck out to me as we spoke to these families is how dedicated this community is to itself, to staying here. It doesn't seem like people are giving up in California, that they're committed to actually coming back to their community.

They're not yet saying that these disasters have reached a point that would make them give up on what they have that they say is so special here.

WEIR: We have seen this again and again, Julia, that these sudden disasters tend to bring communities together in the near term because you're all going through the five stages of grief at the same time.

But the longer they stretch out, the more uncertain it is. That's what really frays and tests the cohesion of communities.

But the police chief hinted at something. Maybe they may come up with a way for people to check on their homes with a video online, somehow. I don't know if that will satisfy folks in the near days, but we appreciate that insight from someone there.

Julia, we'll check with you later in the show.

The brief reprieve that firefighters have been getting from these high winds, unfortunately, is going to come to an end. They're expected to pick up this hour and then throughout the afternoon and into the evening.

Let's go to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar to see what you're seeing with the data there, Allison. A lot of people watching these winds with bated breath.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right, yes. And the good news is we have seen those winds calm down in the last 24 hours. And they've been able to make some vast improvements in those containment numbers.

But we would like a little bit more time. The unfortunate part is it's not likely to happen. You've got the red flag warnings and the fire weather watch in effect for several portions of southern California, in anticipation that these winds are going to start to creep back up.

We're expecting them to be about 20 to 30 miles per hour sustained, gusting upwards of 50 miles per hour here as we go through the next 24 hours.

Right now, these are current winds. You can see we've got some spots that are calm -- three miles per hour, six, eight. Those are still tolerable numbers, but in the coming hours we are going to see those start to jump.

So you look at the forecast, by this afternoon and into the evening hours local time, you can see they start jumping into the teens -- 15, 20, then 30 miles per hour.

[14:09:45]

CHINCHAR: We start going into the day Monday for this next wave of Santa Ana winds. And now you really start to see those numbers jumping 30, 40, even 50 miles per hour. And that's when it starts to become really difficult for the firefighters to contain.

When we look at the rest of these fires that are still here, that are not fully contained at the moment. You'll notice they all have something in common and that's that they are all under the severe drought category. It has been exceptionally dry in these particular areas.

To put that in perspective, the water year, as we refer to it, that begins on October 1st, ok. It matches more in line with the natural water cycle. That's why it starts October 1st, as opposed to January 1st.

But since that date, L.A. specifically has only had 3/100 of an inch of rain they would normally have at least 4.5 inches by now. So it's very important to understand that.

This is the wet time of year. January is the second wettest month of the year for these areas, and they have had nothing yet this month.

Now, when we look at the forecast going ahead, these last couple of days, we've been talking about there's no rain in sight. I do want to point something out. You can now see a little bit of green -- very small, very, very, very small for portions of southern California.

And were now talking day six and day seven. So it is still very far out. But there is the potential now that we may start to see those humidity levels build. We may start to see those rain chances, perhaps possibly start to go up by next weekend.

The concern is, before we get to that point, we've got those winds that are expected to go back up again.

So something to keep a close eye on certainly, but also focusing on those winds not only going up in speed but also changing directions, because that is also an integral part of a lot of these firefighting plans that they set in place. WEIR: And Allison, even some of the smaller fires, the Kenneth fire

that they say are pretty much 100 percent contained, doesn't mean the threat is no longer there, right? Explain that.

CHINCHAR: Right. So containment just means that what they've done is they've essentially set up a fire line around the fire, where they think that they may be able to prevent it from going too much farther.

But the fire itself is still burning. And so that's the thing. I want people to understand, 100 percent containment doesn't mean the fire itself is out. It just means that firefighters have been able to get a little bit of a better handle on the actual fire, not that it is out.

So that -- you're right, that is a very important thing to note too. It doesn't mean the fires are done. So again, and that's going to be a concern too.

That means its 100 percent contained now but we have seen before sometimes, Bill, these winds change directions and those containment numbers go back down.

So that's what they are hoping they can prevent here in the coming days. Even knowing that those winds are going to go back up again.

WEIR: Absolutely. As you pointed out, no significant rain here since May. We are living in the most flammable southern California, certainly in human history.

Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

For more information about how you can help Los Angeles area wildfire victims, and so many folks have reached out to me, reached out to all of us saying, what can I do? CNN.com/impact. Or you can text wildfires to 707070 to try to help these folks.

Well, more than 100,000 people still under evacuation orders in Los Angeles County. Residents desperate to know what is left of their homes. But this is still a crime scene, and the sheriff is warning them to stay away until its safe.

Coming up, we'll speak to one man who fled the Eaton fire, nothing but the clothes on his back. And when he returned home, he found there was no home for him to go back to. We'll be right back.

[14:13:10]

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WHITFIELD: The Eaton fire has devastated the town of Altadena, California. At least 4,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged in this unique community in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, just north of Pasadena.

Among the 42,000 residents who are now homeless, saddened and grieving the many losses this community has suffered is Rene Amy. These are pictures of Rene seeing the rubble of what was once a

gorgeous, urban, rustic, historic home nestled in a unique green space.

Rene is with us now and I'm so glad you are joining us today. I'm also very sorry for the loss of your home, Rene.

Can you tell me about what attracted you to the Altadena community in the first place?

RENE AMY, ALTADENA RESIDENT, LOST HOME IN EATON FIRE: Well, I've lived in this area for about the last 40-some odd years within, as one might say, spitting distance of Altadena. And Altadena has, as you mentioned, and I'm glad you did, really a unique characteristic.

It is probably, because I was thinking about it after the fact, one of the most diverse communities in the L.A. area, and people think everybody who lives in L.A. is a millionaire.

And yes, we've got a lot of those in Altadena, a lot of them. But we've also got community members, who were victims of redlining back in the day, who found Altadena as a sanctuary for living there, as basically a large and burgeoning black community, historically-black community.

And some of the folks who are displaced now, they have nothing, probably couldn't afford homeowners' insurance or renters' insurance or didn't have it. I'm very fortunate to have had amazing insurance.

But we have all kinds of people, a quirky art community, dedicated nonprofit people. It's really a vibrant community and one that I personally have worked in to develop a sense of community in over the last decade or so.

WHITFIELD: Really a rich history there.

And, you know, take me back to earlier last week where you were when the alert was first, you know, sent out to people that they needed to evacuate. And what were your thoughts at the time?

AMY: So I'll tell you, I managed to pre alert, if you will, because my neighbor had been over in Hawaii for over a month and was coming back.

[14:19:51]

AMY: Called us -- I want to say around ten -- saying that her brother- in-law, who was watching their house, had been concerned, you know, hey, we may need to do something.

So they arrived at midnight and told us that they were evacuating. And I was looking and monitoring them. The evacuation maps and everything on the east side of Altadena, you know, was a question.

And as I monitored that over the coming hours, what I noticed is that it went further and further east. And then all of a sudden, if you will, it came west and we got the

alert at approximately 3:00, I had signed up for Nixle (ph) that night, which was pretty weird. But we also got a regular phone alert saying, you know, time to evacuate.

And from that we then loaded up basically, you know, the fast things that you think of. And I now realize some of the things we should have gotten and didn't, but we got out and managed to think we were going to be able to stay in Altadena and in a friend's apartment.

And the only challenge there was, it didn't have power. It wasn't in evacuation mode. How in the world could fire get down as far as we were thinking, we're going to be fine.

So I went back to get some HEPA filters, you know, air filters to deal with all that smoke and a backup battery pack, you know, to help run them. And fortunately, with a hard drive from my computer went back, grabbed those things, ran out.

And I have since learned that within a few minutes, just a few minutes of my having left that area, it was all up in flames. So it was it was scary.

And one of the biggest challenges that I saw, and I can understand the challenge, fire trucks driving around past active fires. Literally when I got back to the friend's apartment, there was a car fully engulfed within a minute or two, maybe 3 or 4, a phalanx of six fire engines appeared, stopped, watched, and with it still fully engulfed and with sparks and literally explosions occurring within the car, sending up white hot sparks.

They left, and I was flabbergasted as to why they would do that. And later when I came back, I saw that, yes, some of the nearby buildings had actually caught fire.

So the initial response was simply overwhelmed. And we all now know that my initial thought was they must be out of water, turns out to have been right as insane as that seems.

So, you know, and I went back in, I walked in on Tuesday, I think the -- the early pictures you see I don't know what all you have. I can't see that. I walked in on Tuesday and the neighborhood was still on fire. I was hearing explosions around me, and there was thick smoke.

So I didn't want to stay long, but I did walk back to see that my house was gone. But what I noticed was that there were still structures standing. Some of them, typically stucco houses.

When I went back with a CNN reporter on Friday, I saw that almost all of those were then gone. So I want to let people know from the hood, so to speak, from Altadena, that if you got in early, whatever you saw, it may not be there. And since they're not letting people in, that can be a challenge. But, I don't want to speak --

(CROSSTALKING) WHITFIELD: I mean, you really want to make sure, Rene -- you really are setting the stage there, how overwhelming all of this has been for residents, for firefighters.

AMY: I'd like to point out.

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

AMY: I just want to point out if I can. People will think, you know, well, yes, they got wildfires all the time. The founders of Altadena, the Woodberry brothers, their house was still standing. It was substantially higher up than my house, closer to the foothills. And so -- and it's a wood frame building, et cetera.

I don't know if it's there now. But Altadena has never within, you know, the, the U.S. expansion into that area seen a fire like this.

WHITFIELD: I mean, that community and so many others there in southern California that are now in the midst of these fires, never anticipated really having to face this kind of devastation.

So I wonder, Rene, you know, and I'm so glad that you're able to tell us the story and paint the picture for your lived experience and now your experience after this devastation.

But, you know, you for a very long time have been a volunteer helping other people get clothing and food. And now here you are in that situation, getting out with just a few items, the clothes on your back.

I understand you have your glass -- eyeglasses are broken, your hotel assistance, I'm told, ends this evening. There we go. Right there.

So how are you managing and planning to handle things moving forward?

[14:24:55]

AMY: Well, and actually, I have to say, I am -- I feel bad in a way, and I apologize in the background. I'm at a random Starbucks. You know, the things that go wrong that you don't think can.

And so somebody's rocking out to a stereo.

But yes, and I just forgot your question, I got to admit.

(CROSSTALKING)

WHITFIELD: How are you going -- yes, how are you going to move forward? I mean, you've lost so much, like so many.

AMY: Well, and I don't know.. I know you mentioned the idea that I'm losing hotel assistance. That's not actually true. I am very, very fortunate to have an extremely wonderful insurance policy. I had no idea how wonderful it would be and I'm not going to mention the company. But, you know, I am incredibly fortunate, I think, because they're

going to pick up, until I I can find a new place, they're going to pick up the cost of a similar size Airbnb.

And so, you know, to me, that is -- because I was at the convention center -- passing the convention center, actually, with the humanitarian aid organization, you mentioned the global humanitarian aid organization called ShelterBox. And they're all about providing assistance to people essentially living the worst day of their lives.

And I went through a ShelterBox ambassador field experience where they try and give you a sense of what it's like, but until you actually experienced it, which I now have, you know, there is a little bit of irony there.

But it's incredible to see first, and I've got to give kudos everywhere. It's incredible to see the response from the community.

I have literally been now overwhelmed with donations of clothing. It's absolutely wonderful. But I had to run to a Home Depot and pick up some, you know, black and yellow boxes to stuff it all into to be able to move to the, you know, so I've actually been burdened.

But the people in those shelters and the people with no other resources, and I just want to say, I know you're going to make me -- saw me, but I just want to say we are Altadena strong and we will rebuild.

And that's an important message not only to the community members who lost their homes, but to the world.

I am absolutely resolved that we will not be another Paradise, California. We will not be one of those disaster zones that everybody talks about and not come back. We will come back. I am absolutely dedicated to that.

And the world will know that very soon as I let one of your reporters know so.

WHITFIELD: Well, Rene Amy --

AMY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: -- I know so many people appreciate your optimism and so much that you have done for various communities. And now it's so great to see that so many want to assist you and are doing so.

And even though very unfortunate circumstances, it also sounds like you have had a very good set of circumstances involving a good story to tell with your insurance company.

But Rene Amy, thank you so much. All the best to you and to all of your fellow neighbors there in Altadena. All the best.

AMY: Thank you and thanks to CNN. The pair of shoes I'm wearing right now, I got because the ones I had are the only pair of shoes I own, were just filthy and covered with soot and all that.

And the photographer who went up with me and took probably some of the pictures you saw, gave me a pair of his shoes, and I'm wearing them now.

So CNN is actually maybe not thinking of it, but has provided me with assistance. And I think you're going to be incredibly important as this all moves forward. So thank you.

WHITFIELD: Collectively, collectively, we are so glad to be able to help in any way. Thank you so much, Rene. All the best to you.

We'll be right back.

[14:28:37]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:32:50]

WEIR: Winds are again picking up across Los Angeles County, fueling the wildfires, still burning out of control in two main sections of the of the county.

Fire officials say the containment of the Eaton fire now stands at 27 percent. That's better news than recent days. The largest fire, the Palisades, just 11 percent containment. But there was a fierce fight to just keep it at 11 percent last night.

Natasha Chen is in the hills north of Brentwood, on the edge of that Palisades Fire.

Natasha, how is it now? Where is it going, do you think?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bill, there's been some good news overnight, and that is that they prevented that fire from coming this way. That's the Mandeville canyon below us. There are a lot of homes down below, and we still see on occasion some smoke rising in different spots.

So there are active fires going on. And we do see aircraft flying over us at certain points trying to pick up water and drop more behind us. There over the ridge, especially and down below. But the good news is that the winds right this second are rather calm, and then when they do pick up, were noticing for the most part that it's blowing this way where things have already burned.

And that is great for right now, even though we expect the winds to pick up more tonight into the coming week. And so that's where things could get a little bit unpredictable.

But at this very moment, they might be getting, you know, slightly calmer situation, which is so welcome at this point. There are a lot of residents who are notably very frustrated trying to get back in to see if they can get some medicine or see what the state of their homes are. And this morning, officials had to tell them that they just don't have

the manpower to escort people back in right now. And we are also just wanting to point out that beyond this group of homes right here, we're still seeing some haze and some smoke pop up at certain times.

So this is not by any means over for this section of the Palisades fire, even though it hasn't come across the canyon here, they are still actively trying to keep that, Bill.

[14:35:01]

WEIR: And obviously, the more that they can contain now, Natasha, the better it will be. Once those -- once those winds kick up again. Are you seeing them drop Phos-Chek the fire, the pink flame retardant sort of proactively or what's the action on the ground with the wildfire Hotshot crews?

CHEN: Yeah, I haven't seen that particular drop recently. In the last 30 minutes or so, we've seen the aircraft that are primarily picking up water from the reservoir to drop water over here.

But we do want to note that because there has been now so many resources, have been a lot of resources coming in. Officials this morning did say that they feel much more prepared should the winds pick up this week and bring in more complication, perhaps new fires. They -- they have the resources that were previously called upon by Cal Fire. They've got assistance from eight states and Canada and Mexico. Officials also said that the L.A. County water system is prepared for a fight ahead.

So, hopefully, that means that they're in position in case something should pop up this week. Even more than it has already.

WEIR: Yeah. Yes. Thank you, Natasha.

Yes, the cavalry has been arriving in mass in recent days here. And as she mentioned, firefighters have come from neighboring states, countries -- this is now an international firefight to help battle these blazes, those dangerous winds picking up later. We'll have much more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. A breaking news out of southern California. More firefighting help on the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF ROBERT G. LUNA, L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Yesterday, I submitted additional requests for more National Guard assistance specifically to the Los Angeles police department and the L.A. County sheriff's department. So I'm hoping that you'll see additional National Guard personnel arriving today.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Neighboring countries Canada and Mexico are also stepping up by sending fire crews to help battle the flames in California. CNN's Rafael Romo joining me now.

So, six exhaustive days. They've got a lot of tools there in southern California, but it needed help and its now getting it. And it's quite the surprise right from neighboring countries of Canada and Mexico.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right. And this is the time to say yes to whatever help that may be offered. And this is because California Governor Gavin Newsom said that his administration is trying to pre-position resources to a wider area to better fight the wildfires -- wildfires, because conditions are expected to deteriorate starting tonight, with gusts expected to be over 50 miles an hour by Monday from a private aerial firefighting company from Montana to firefighters from Mexico and Canada.

As you mentioned, Fred, California has been open to get all the help it can. As the governor pointed out in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press". There are currently firefighters helping those in the Los Angeles area from nine different states across the nation. Some of those firefighters have traveled from places as far as Oregon and Washington state.

Governor Newsom also welcomed the firefighting team from Mexico, with 73 members that traveled from Mexico City to California on Saturday. Upon arrival, the firefighters were sent to the Noble Creek operations base pending specific assignments to the fires in the Los Angeles area, according to Cal Fire.

Governor Newsom told NBC he believes he has the resources he needs to combat all the fires that are raging right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: We have 14,000 people working the line right now. We doubled the National Guard. We have 1,680 out there helping on logistics side.

I was just with folks from Mexico, 73 folks will be relieving some of our hand crews. We've got nine states that are now providing under this EMAC system support.

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: Let me thank every Los Angeles firefighter and the thousands of firefighters from across the state, the nation, and even the world. People are coming from everywhere to help us and make sure that we are ready for the days ahead. So to them, I want to say thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, better known as Cal Fire, also issued a statement expressing their heartfelt gratitude to the extraordinary department. States and countries that have stepped up to support California in the middle of this tragedy. Fred, it's really good to see that kind of cooperation. WHITFIELD: Really, it is.

All right. I know so many people are grateful that it is happening like that.

All right. Rafael Romo, thank you so much. See you soon.

All right. Coming up, Los Angeles officials are saying there is no animosity between the city and Donald Trump, the president-elect. But President-elect Trump continues to criticize their response to the wildfires. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:48:08]

WHITFIELD: As the deadly wildfires in California continue to rage through Los Angeles County, President-elect Trump is making false claims about FEMA and taking swipes at California Governor Gavin Newsom.

CNN's senior reporter Daniel Dale has more fact checking on the incoming administration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: I showed an expert on California water policy, one of President-elect Trump's social media posts bashing California Governor Newsom this week.

The expert responded that none of Trump's posts was true. I'll give you some examples of Trumps false claims. He claimed that President Biden is leaving him, quote, no money in FEMA. In reality, FEMA told me its disaster relief fund has $27 billion in it. Thanks to a funding Bill Biden signed in December.

Now, that might not be enough to cover the needs of this years disasters, but it's certainly not no money like Trump claimed. Now, Trump also claimed that Newsom refused to sign a so-called water restoration declaration that Trump said would have sent water from the north of the state down south.

Actually, no such declaration even exists. As Newsom's press office pointed out. Now, most importantly, Trump repeatedly tried to link the fire crisis and the firefighting challenges to Newsom's attempts to protect a fish species in the north of the state called the delta smelt. Rather than do what Trump himself wants and have more of that water diverted southward to farmers in the central valley.

Two experts on California water policy told me, this is absolute nonsense. There is no link whatsoever between northern environmental preservation and the fire situation. The Central Valley is not L.A. It's separated by a whole mountain range. Sending more water to those farms would have done nothing to stop fires from sparking an L.A. dry brush land. And this is key, the experts noted there is no shortage of firefighting water in the Los Angeles area. As of the time that Trump made these comments, mid-week, area

reservoirs were filled at or above historical levels.

[14:50:02]

Now, you might have seen there were some dry hydrants this week in one part of L.A., Pacific Palisades. That's real. That's significant.

But that issue had to do with logistical technical problems related to water tanks in the mountainous community, not a lack of water in L.A. as a whole. Hydrants elsewhere in the city kept flowing.

Daniel Dale, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEIR: All right. Joining me right now to discuss the president- elect's inclination to name, call and criticize California's leadership at a time of such devastation, CNN politics White House reporter Stephen Collinson.

Stephen, great to see you.

So while Trump has long feuded with California Governor Gavin Newsom, why does the incoming president see this as advantageous right now?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think firstly, because it fits into this conceit that we heard a lot on the campaign trail from the president elect, that Democratic cities are obsessed with progressive priorities, like the environment, as Daniel was talking about, and don't do the basics for their people. So that's one thing.

You heard J.D. Vance, the vice president-elect on television this morning talking about incompetence in Democratic governments, especially in L.A. and in Sacramento.

Also, in eight days time, Donald Trump will be the president and he's going to inherit this massive crisis, at least the federal end of it. As soon as he walks into the White House, he's going to be under increasing pressure during the hopefully the fires will be over by then.

But during the rebuilding process, that's going to cost a lot of money. He's coming in with a Republican Congress trying to cut billions of dollars from the federal budget. He doesn't really want to be sending billions of dollars in new spending to a Democratic city and a Democratic state. So I think this is the start of what's going to be quite an intense period of politics around the billions of dollars of recovery money that it's going to take to get L.A. back on its feet and rebuilding after these terrible fires.

WHITFIELD: And money that the Biden administration just committed to for the first six months.

So meantime, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, you know, was asked today in a press conference about whether she worries Donald Trump will be resistant to assisting California once he is back in the White House. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASS: I'm not worried about that. I mean, I joined in the invitation to the incoming president to come to Los Angeles. I joined with the supervisor, and the governor spoke directly with the incoming administration yesterday. It was a fine call. So I'm not concerned about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, given Trump's feud, you know, with Newsom and deep blue, you know Los Angeles, is there a feeling that the president- elect will interrupt what has been committed federal assistance?

COLLINSON: Well, sometimes during his first term, he did try to use federal assistance after various disasters as political leverage. His whole modus operandi in life and politics is to use whatever leverage he can do against adversaries. I mean, I think its quite likely that he might see some advantage if he wants to get concessions from California on issues like immigration or its efforts to fight against his anti-climate agenda that Democrats describe, that he could use this money as leverage.

Ultimately, most of the time in the first term, disaster money did go out. But it's quite a tricky spot for California to be in, and I think it's going to take smart politics and the usual blend of flattery and compliments towards Trump to get him on side with this. That's one of the reasons why Gavin Newsom has invited him to California at the earliest time.

Of course, if this operation works out well, if Trump can get some credit for rebuilding Los Angeles, I think he might find that quite an attractive proposition. So there's a lot that's going to be going on about this.

WHITFIELD: He did kind of quip about that, you know, like we're going to were going to have to end up rebuilding it. So, so this demeanor overall from, you know, Trump kind of mirrors a lack of, shall we call it sensitivity, you know, during the Hurricane Maria destruction in Puerto Rico or perhaps a lack of seriousness of the COVID 19 pandemic.

So then like now, you know, he's placing blame more than he is offering solutions.

Do you believe that demeanor just might change after he's sworn in?

COLLINSON: I think we should wait and see what this administration looks like, and not necessarily judge it by the standards of the previous one, although, as you say, the president-elect has been casting blame. And that's not to say that there are some points being raised about whether Los Angeles was completely prepared for these fires. The problem is, as the politics unfolds, it becomes a little bit of a

debate between Democrats who argue that this was all caused by climate change and dry vegetation, because there wasn't much rain, because of climate change, which is true and Republicans who --

[14:55:05]

WHITFIELD: Since October of last year.

COLLINSON: Right, and Republicans who argue that, you know, there's incompetence in the government, there might be truth on both of these sides, but that's not much consolation to the people of Los Angeles, the thousands of them that have lost their homes. And they really need the help of Donald Trump and the government.

WHITFIELD: Yeah. All right. Stephen Collinson, thank you so much. Good to see you.

COLLINSON: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. He was one of the most decorated and influential artists of all time. Experienced the life and music of the iconic Luther Vandross. The CNN film "Luther: Never too much" airs tomorrow night at 9:00 right here. Or actually, that's tonight. Sorry about that. That's tonight, 9:00 right here on CNN.

All right, straight ahead. Six straight days of fires burning across Los Angeles means absolutely horrible air quality. We'll talk to the director of California's Department of Public Health, next.

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