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At Least 16 Killed As Wildfire Scorch Los Angeles County; Fires Crews Brief Reprieve Ending As High Winds Return To LA County; Gov. Newsom Suspends Some Environmental Regulations In Order To Help Wildfire Victims Rebuild Faster. Aired: 3-4p ET

Aired January 12, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:22]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us here this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta alongside my colleague, Bill Weir in Pacific Palisades, California.

Bill we will get to in a moment.

We've got breaking news, windy conditions starting to fan the flames of the wildfires ripping through the Los Angeles area as firefighters race to save homes and communities.

The intense Santa Ana Winds are expected to pick up even more later on today and continue all the way through Wednesday. They're creating grueling conditions for the fire crews.

Overnight, air and ground teams made some progress, thanks to favorable weather conditions. Fire officials say, containment of the Eaton Fire right now stands at 27 percent, while the largest of the fires, the Palisades, remains just 11 percent contained.

The fires have killed at least 16 people, at least 16 others are still missing at this hour. Search and rescue teams are going neighborhood by neighborhood searching for victims.

One hundred five thousand people are under evacuation orders, and today officials pleaded with desperate citizens not to return to their homes too soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT LUNA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF: 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: Let's get to the hard hit Palisades area. That's where Bill Weir is now.

Bill. I mean, a lot of folks want to get to their homes. They want to see, but it is just simply too dangerous for a host of reasons right now.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And you get a false sense of security when the blue skies come out and the smoke clears to give you a little bit of a respite there, but these are still active crime scenes.

We don't know the cause of these fires, and so, they want to preserve those as best they can. There are still hotspots, gas leaks, so many different hazards, but the pull to return home and see what is left of your life is unimaginable for those who haven't experienced this right now. You've got so much uncertainty on where they stay. You know, when the smoke clears and they're finally allowed back in to see what's left, that's just sort of the beginning of what will be years long stress and disruption.

And so many folks thought they were going to get that first look this morning when the curfew lifted, but the overwhelming demand from community members trying to get back in, the Police Chief said he has to shut it back down indefinitely right now.

My colleague, Julia Vargas Jones is in the foothills of the Palisades, just above us here, who saw a lot of those residents and their struggle earlier -- Julia.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill, look what we are hearing from these residents is frustration. We saw dozens of people waiting and still not sure, didn't know, perhaps they hadn't been informed until that moment that they were not going to be able to go up and check on their homes or pick up medication, or check on their pets.

You know, we heard so many different kinds of stories of why people wanted to go up into their neighborhoods. We spoke to one man who was trying to get medication for his father, for his 95-year-old father. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED LUK, BLOCKED FROM CHECKING ON HIS FATHER'S HOME: A lot of people want to see if their home is intact or not. I am on a WhatsApp chat and there's hundreds of people wanting to know how their home is, how their neighbor's home is, and everybody seems to be reaching out in the community and tragic situation. This is the worst of the worst is what it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And, Bill, look, it is difficult to even think about what the next steps are for these people. They have to go through so much from just the cleanup of, you know, a site like this to just filing their insurance claims.

Now, we are hearing from Governor Gavin Newsom today signing an executive order that might make the rebuilding of these homes a little bit easier by waiving some of these Environmental Impact Assessment needs that are usually required to build in these areas of California.

But, you know, speaking to some of the folks here, too, they said, "I'll believe that when I see it. Like, I don't know that I can actually trust anyone right now." And honestly, Bill, we also heard some of that frustration on the response from the city.

[15:05:13]

You know, we've been hearing from residents that they did not feel that there were enough firefighters, that they did feel that there was enough clean communication from authorities, including that alert that went out erroneously a couple of days ago to more people than needed to be evacuated.

Still, around 100,000 people, 150,000 people under those evacuation orders, but it seems that that next step is still so far away. And now, with these new orders in place, even a little bit further.

WEIR: Julia Vargas Jones, thank you for that perspective up there. This is going to be a long marathon. It is going to grind on people for months to come. And there is the psychological toll, in addition to the physical toll because even if you're far from where the fires have been raging, the smoke has triggered these air quality warnings, serious health concerns for the region.

So joining us now is Dr. Tomas Aragon, director of the California Department of Public Health to get a sense of what he is working on.

Doctor, thank you for joining us.

What kind of health issues are we experiencing right now?

I know we heard about, obviously, the folks who fled and were injured in the evacuation when the fire was raging. But right now, are you seeing an uptick in respiratory problems?

DR. TOMAS ARAGON, DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Yes. This is exactly what we are expecting. We are in the process right now of looking at the numbers along with our locals. The locals have a better grasp on the impact that's having. I do want to just take one moment to just give a big thanks to all the firefighters and first responders that are coming to California.

We have people coming from as far away as Canada and Mexico to come here and really help us. And I also want to just -- before I make that next comment to just add for anybody that's out there that needs any type of assistance, we do have a website that the state has set up. It is really important for everybody to know it is ca.gov/LAFires and that's LA Fires with an S.

And for anybody that needs any issues around mental health, if you feel that you just need to talk to somebody, you can go to MentalHealth.ca.gov.

WEIR: That's a great point to sort of hammer down on, the stress of this, the PTSD that will come out of this. I think a generation of Los Angelenos will have this as a marker in their lives to experience.

What encouragement do you give to people who are going through these problems, and really, what resources are there for them?

ARAGON: So, we want to make sure that people have -- are able to connect to professional services if they need them. The most important thing during any type of traumatic event is to have positive social connections. It is the most important thing. The emotions are going to be overwhelming. It can be impacting everything you're trying to do. It is natural to feel this way. Please, please connect with folks.

The other message we are getting out about wildfire smoke is to appreciate it is not just the people who are directly near the fire, it is the whole region. This smoke can travel hundreds, hundreds of miles away, so everybody needs to be aware.

I want to just make a few key points. One is for everybody to stay informed whether or not you live in the LA area, stay informed. You can sign up for an app which is EPA Air Now. Sign up for the app, put in your zip code and you can have air quality every single day wherever you live.

If you're in an affected area, stay indoors as much as possible. Recognize that when you smell smoke, you're being exposed. But if you don't smell it, you could still be exposed. That's why the air now is very important, because the particles are so tiny that they actually may not have an odor, but they can go deep into your lungs and cause inflammation of the lungs.

When you're inside your home, make sure that air is recirculating. Do not bring in air in from the outside. One thing that people can do if they don't have central ventilation is to set up a clean room. Focus on one room that you can maintain clean with the air purifier, everything closed so the family can spend most of their time there.

And the last thing I want to mention, and in California, we've always been really big about promoting mask, and an N95 mask, preferably with the ones that go around your head, and it has there here a wire on the nose so you get good fit and good filtration.

It reduces the amount of particulates you're going to breathe in, and it can really help for acute symptoms, but also long term symptoms because those particulates get deep into your lung. They get into your blood. They cause inflammation.

[15:10:10]

And you can have symptoms weeks later related to an exposure you have today.

WEIR: It is important, and moments like this, we are on the coast where the AQI is about 30 or so, thanks to some onshore breezes, but that could shift in a heartbeat.

And so to have that mask nearby, as you said, and stay out of that, don't exercise, don't go for a hike in Runyon Canyon now definitely.

Dr. Aragon, we really appreciate your insight. Thank you for your efforts on this and our best to all of your troops out there trying to do their best to save and help lives out there. We appreciate it.

ARAGON: Thank you, Bill.

WEIR: You bet. Red flag warnings in effect here in LA County. That's a lot of fuel. Low humidity and the winds are coming. Those winds that start in the desert. Utah, Nevada, come howling over the mountains later this afternoon and the next couple of days will be a new test for firefighters. We will take a look at the forecast. Stay with us, everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:17]

WHITFIELD: We continue to follow the breaking news out of Los Angeles, where the wildfires have forced thousands from their homes. One couple describes what they saw when they returned to find their Altadena home on fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TASIA CALLUM, LOST HOME IN ALTADENA WILDFIRE: It's like unreal. It was like literally a nightmare. I was hoping that there would -- our house would still be standing and just to pull up to see our house just fully engulfed in flames is heartbreaking.

You know, all the work we put in and it is just gone.

But it was scary, like initially seeing the flames on top of the mountain and then as we left, the flames were completely -- had come all the way down the mountain by that time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Heartbreaking indeed and that experience carried many times over.

CNN meteorologist, Allison Chinchar is here.

The danger is not over. I mean, there are still fires burning. You know, there may be containment in certain areas, but it is still very much a threat, and then the Santa Ana Winds that are going to be back with a vengeance, that does not help.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think that's the key, as we've been in kind of this lull for the last few hours, and that's been great news for the firefighters. They've been able to make the containment numbers go up a little bit, which is what you want to hear, but that is about to change. Now, you can see on this map these are current wind gusts coming in right now. And you can see, yes, we still have a few places that are calm or even in those single digit numbers, which is fantastic.

But we've also got a couple, San Bernardino, Riverside, Santa Monica. You're starting to see those tick back up into the teens and those 20 mile per hour ranges and as we go through the rest of the afternoon, they are going to continue to go up.

That's why you have the red flag warnings and the fire weather watches in effect, because those wind gusts are going to get up to 30 to 40 miles per hour especially by later on this evening and into the overnight hours and those humidity levels still expected to stay on the low side.

So we look at the forecast here again by this evening. Notice, most of these areas now starting to jump into the teens. Then the 20s and 30s. Even as we go through the day, Monday and the same thing for Tuesday and the same thing for Wednesday.

So this next event is going to be a little bit more of a prolonged event, and that we are really not going to see those wind gusts drop below that 20 to 30 mile per hour range for quite long periods of time.

Again, here is a look at Tuesday, then going into Tuesday evening and into Wednesday. When you look at all of the fires, the containment numbers are going up, that's fantastic. That's what we like to see.

I would also like to point out too, though, for people to understand this does not mean that the fires are contained in the sense that they are out, it just means that the firefighters have been able to fully contain almost kind of a perimeter around the fire and really prevent it from getting much bigger.

However, when you have the wind direction change, especially when it does it very quickly, sometimes you'll see those numbers go from a hundred percent containment down to 84 and it means that that shift in wind direction, they've lost some of that containment.

So again, just to emphasize, the containment numbers going up is what we want to see, but it does not mean the fires are out. And one of the things that's been affecting that is all of these fires we have are in this darker yellow color you can see here, that means they are in severe drought.

That ground is completely dry and those embers can latch on to any of that dry vegetation and spread rapidly because of those incredibly dry conditions.

Since the water year began, now, the water year begins on October 1st. it is not like a calendar year. It doesn't start in January 1st. It follows more of a natural water cycle, that's why it begins then. Since that date, they have only had three-one-hundredths of an inch of rain in Los Angeles area. They would normally have at least 4.5 inches by this point. Also noting too, January is the second wettest month of the year for this area. Normally, we aren't talking about fires of this size and this type of devastation because the ground has had some recent rainfall.

That is not the case. In fact, you look a year ago last year, so January 9th of last year, none of the state was in drought because again, this is normally the wetter time of year.

Compare that to this year, you can see not only severe, but even some of the higher categories of drought creeping into portions of Southern California.

Now, we've been showing the forecast rainfall graphic the last several days with really no hope in sight. Today is the first day where we've really started to see a little bit of green appear on here, albeit incredibly small circle of green -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: So that just means some humidity in the air, but it is not actually translating into some rainfall, which is what they desperately need.

CHINCHAR: Correct. And you're still talking day six and day seven from now. It is not really the imminent rainfall that we would need in the next couple of days.

WHITFIELD: I think that graphic that -- those numbers really hit home, because when you're talking about less than an inch of rain since October, I mean, this is no win.

CHINCHAR: Yes.

WHITFIELD: No win in terms of the dryness and the possibility of what we are seeing.

All right, thank you so much, Allison.

All right, as crews battle the deadly wildfires in LA, we are learning the harrowing stories of families that had to evacuate before they lost everything in the fires like the Antinori family, they lost their home, their belongings and the ashes of their late daughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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 they're gone, like every memory, every piece of physical evidence of her life is just gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:24:46]

WHITFIELD: After a blessed 24-hour respite from the howling winds and smoke, they are picking back up again, fueling wildfires all around us here in Los Angeles County.

[15:25:00]

Right now Fire officials say the Eaton Fire up around Altadena, 27 percent contained. They've made ground there, and the largest at nearly 24,000 acres, the Palisades Fire still only 11 percent contained. That number belies the fierce fight that happened in Mandeville Canyon overnight.

Natasha Chen is in the hills north of Brentwood there, on the edge of that Palisades Fire, which is also flirting with Encino overnight.

Natasha, where do things stand right now? Are you feeling these gusts?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A little bit, Bill. In fact, I am just watching which direction my hair is blowing to kind of tell where the wind is at the moment. You can kind of tell it is going this way. Not too, fiercely at the moment, but that's good because it is blowing back into areas that have already been burned instead of coming toward us on this ridge here.

We are standing just over the Mandeville Canyon, where there are a lot of homes down below, and they are so thankful that the winds were favorable overnight so that they could keep it out of that area.

We are seeing some smoke here and there below us right there. So there are active fires going on, it is just that they are working pretty successfully at this moment to push it that way.

Now, within the last hour, we also saw some bulldozers coming through this residential neighborhood, trying to cut some lines there and heading toward that direction, and also more aircraft, too, traveling that way to pick up water to bring it back and dump it on the fires over there behind us.

So, a lot of activity going on to play, to attack this fire and hopefully take this opportunity while the winds are a little bit calmer to get more of a handle on this because we know that winds are expected to pick back up.

And in the meantime, you've got a lot of residents who are very desperate right now. They've been trying to get back into the fire zones, trying to see what's left of their homes, or to pick up important things that they might have left behind. Unfortunately, officials tell them they simply can't accommodate that today. They have all hands on deck, as you can imagine, and just not enough resources for police to escort these residents back.

Hopefully they can figure something out to help them down the line. But right now, still trying to actively fight this fire -- Bill.

WEIR: All right, Natasha Chen, stay there. We will check back with you throughout the hour.

Hundreds, thousands of firefighters now from, I believe, eight states, Mexico and Canada, an international effort rallying around these right now. So the cavalry has arrived, and now it is sort of how much can they contain before the next big fight?

But then there are those who have already been lost and still trying to get our arms around and our minds around the enormity of that. These double fires have taken at least 16 lives. There are 16 others that remain missing, and officials say that number could go up.

The mayor today of LA said donations continue to pour in from around the world and the country to help these victims. Mayor Bass, vowing her city will rebuild from the ashes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D) LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: We will be prepared. We will get through this, but it takes the unity and the spirit that I saw yesterday to make sure that Los Angeles comes out of this a much better city.

And the generosity we are seeing proves that we will. More than 13,000 people have donated over $6 million to the California Community Foundation's Wildlife Recovery Fund.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEIR: And CNN's Gloria Pazmino joins us now.

Gloria, you're learning more about the actual lives, the personalities, the stories of the people lost in these wildfires. What can you tell us?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bill, over the last several days, my colleagues have been doing incredible work trying to piece together the details about the victims that have been lost.

Sixteen people confirmed dead. So far, 11 of them from the Eaton Fire and five from the Palisades Fire. We've heard stories of people who stayed to fight the flames, the disabled and the elderly who could not get out, and those who stayed because they had fought off smoke and flames before and thought they could do it again.

We learned the story of Rodney Nickerson. He was a grandfather who raised an entire family in the house, which has now burned to the ground. He was 82 years old. A retired aerospace engineer who worked at Lockheed Martin.

He lived in the neighborhood for more than 50 years, and as the fire was approaching, he refused to leave. His family said that he was very attached to the neighborhood and the house where his children and his grandchildren had grown up.

His son spoke to him, Tuesday morning, as he did on most days, he told us. But as the day went on, he wasn't able to reach him. Our affiliate in Los Angeles spoke with his daughter. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMIKO NICKERSON, GRANDFATHER DIED IN WILDFIRES: This is where we've been our whole life, and my son tried to get him to leave, and my neighbors and myself. And he said, he'll be fine. "I'll be here when you guys come back." And he said his house would be here.

[15:30:05]

His house is here and he was here, too. He was in his bed when I found him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: She was able to find him in bed, the remains of his body.

We are also learning about Anthony And Justin Mitchell. They were a father and son. Anthony used a wheelchair and lived with his son, who had cerebral palsy. They were never able to evacuate their house in Altadena. Anthony was found near the bed of his son.

Now there are many more, Bill, we are trying to piece together the details, but as you have said earlier, this is going to be a long process. We know that 16 more people have been reported missing so far, 12 in Eaton, four in the Palisades. But officials have made it clear that they expect the numbers to increase over the next several days.

You've been in Lahaina. I was there for that fire as well, and we know that this is a painstaking, long process. Once authorities are able to get into the area to do the recovery, cadaver dogs being used in that effort, but it may be a while until we have a full picture of just how many lives have been lost -- Bill.

WEIR: Gloria Pazmino, thank you.

And yes, our hearts go out to all who knew and loved those people who were lost. Firefighters now continue to battle the Eaton Fire near Altadena. That is where several thousand of the 10,000 buildings destroyed so far were, at one point.

Next, we are going to talk to a family that lost their family home to that blaze. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:54]

WHITFIELD: Firefighters in Los Angeles County are at a critical stage in their six-day battle now against these deadly wildfires. High winds are expected to make their efforts to, or at least high winds are expected to intensify again later on today and this is leaving tens of thousands of residents in limbo as they wait to desperately return to their homes. It is simply not safe yet, so they can't do that in the communities where they have been evacuated.

Let me talk to you now, a couple of people who are very familiar with the Altadena community. Many structures were burned to the ground there in Altadena. This is mother and son, Kaye Young and Aaron Flowers. I understand both of you now were born and raised in Altadena. Do I have that right?

KAYE YOUNG, ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: Yes.

AARON FLOWERS, ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Okay. So, Kaye, you still live in Altadena. Tell me about where you were at the time of hearing it was time to evacuate and what you know of your home right now.

YOUNG: Okay, so my name is Kaye. Last name is Young. And we have two homes. The one home is my mom's in Upper Altadena and her home was destroyed completely. My home is maybe five minutes away, and my home as of Thursday was still standing.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful, right? I mean, this is bittersweet. Thank goodness your home is still standing, as far as you know, but sadly, you know, your mom's home is not. I know this represents some real history that you and your family have with Altadena.

Tell me about, you know, this very meaningful and very deep, rich history of Altadena and how your family's role in the history of Altadena, you know, just resonates with you.

YOUNG: I am looking at some of the pictures that are being posted, and it is like bringing back certain themes, certain memories. I do, like, I said, I live in Pasadena. I have been in Pasadena, raised and born in Pasadena, and I also have my son and two other kids that were born and raised in Pasadena.

We were hoping that this year, my grandchild, because she is expecting a daughter, yes, a daughter, so that would have been three generations that are here. Actually, that would have been four.

But I am born and raised, been here for 63 years, and there's nothing but memories there.

On the Thursday after the fire, I was able to walk approximately three miles to get to my mom's home and there is so much disaster going up to the Loma Alta area, going down Loma Alta, seeing the school that I actually -- the middle school that I actually attended was burned. All the homes on that particular street, my mom's street, you can actually see through the two -- the street behind and the street in front.

My kids, my nieces and nephew all have history in that home and it is not there anymore.

FLOWERS: Yes, our grandma bought that house in 1959. She is a retired nurse. My mom's a retired nurse. There's a lot of pride in our community.

I currently live in Santa Cruz, and I moved there in 2018 when they had the Paradise fires. And so I saw something similar, as far as whole, you know, cities and communities being burnt down. And, I mean, even now, six years later, they're still building. You know, and I think that's the part for me that I'm a little concerned about, just future-wise, is, you know, the uncertainty of our current home or my mom's current home, you know, how we knew it was still standing was from a news video because they were filming the elementary school across the street from us burning. That's the only reason that we even knew our home was still standing at that time.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

[15:40:04]

FLOWERS: Yes, it is a scary scenario. I mean, I flew down as soon as I could. I got in yesterday, and so I am just trying to help, you know, help my mom and my younger brother who was there with her. You know, thank God that he was there to actually help my mom and you know, pack up cats and whatever clothes on their back.

And, you know, fortunately, we have friends who do support, you know, we're staying at a friend's house who also lost her home, and she has opened her home to us, you know, and so that just shows how powerful the community actually is.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And that is so wonderful. I mean, Aaron and, you know, I mean, I can tell, you know, through you and through you, Kaye, how meaningful, how important Altadena has been for your lives, you know, this is generational wealth.

And, you know, let me tell you, I've been to Altadena one time and when I was there and I had great breakfast at a cute little place right downtown, and I remember thinking, oh, my gosh, this is like the best kept secret, this little community, a best kept secret to me. I didn't know about it. You know, we happened upon it and thought, what an amazing, beautiful place.

And you're now the second, you know, homeowners that I've talked to today from Altadena and it is palpable. You can tell just how meaningful this community has been for you.

But, you know, particularly for a lot of Black families where there is generational wealth, the history is deep of owning homes, you know, very early on, as you mentioned, your grandmother in the 1950s.

Is it your concern now that it is not just a community, but, you know, family traditions, this generational wealth that is going to be difficult to reclaim, especially in California, where it is just so expensive.

What are your concerns about, you know, the recovery of what has become, you know, a beautiful tradition of, of buying homes, owning homes right near your family?

FLOWERS: Yes, I mean, I think the, the reality of, you know, having a child and not being able to take them back to the place in which you were raised is shocking.

YOUNG: The place that you call home.

FLOWERS: Yes, you know, there is always the fear that, you know, the people who are here won't be able to rebuild. And, you know, you'll see those certain pillars in the community and not be there anymore, you know? I am hoping that the younger generations will stay. I am hoping that there are resources available for the ones that are still here.

I think for now, everyone's just waiting. I mean, the fires are still going. You know, the winds are picking back up in a few days. We don't even know the status of the house that my mom may currently have, so we just have to brace and prepare for that as well.

WHITFIELD: Well, we are wishing you the best on that.

YOUNG: And even if --

WHITFIELD: Oh. Go ahead. Okay. Yes.

YOUNG: You know, I am saying even if it is standing, those whose homes were not destroyed, there is still the air in the home, the air quality in the home. You know, you can't live like that. You know, with such a severe damage that was in the environment.

So your quality of air in your home, your clothes, your fabric on the walls and then that's another thing, electricity. My home may have been saved. I do not --

WHITFIELD: And running water. Right?

YOUNG: Yes. Running water. How -- the electricity. How are they going to be able to let me live in my house, but then yet still, the surrounding areas, the school across the street, the plumbing, how can they even make it so I am able to utilize that and get back in my home per se, versus a person that's home is totally destroyed.

WHITFIELD: Yes, all very legitimate concerns. I mean, the recovery is going to be very difficult, but our prayers go out to you and hopefully the recovery will be forthcoming. You will be able to return to that beautiful community and continue on with the incredible family history.

Kaye Young, Aaron Flowers, all the best to both of you. What a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you so much. All the best.

YOUNG: Thank you.

FLOWERS: Thanks.

YOUNG: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: For more information about how you can help the Los Angeles area wildfire victims, go to cnn.com/impact or text Wildfires to 707070 to donate.

When we come back, California's governor tells CNN all fire damaged buildings will be inspected within 14 days as tens of thousands are still under evacuation orders and many are trying to reach their homes and assess the damage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's okay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's okay, Vanessa. We are healthy. We're here. We have everything. We have our lives. That's all it matters, okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:48:46]

WEIR: Welcome back to Pacific Palisades.

As Southern California became an increasingly popular place to live over the generations, it took a real toll on the coastal environment. So LA County is a notoriously difficult place to build, especially along the coast.

But today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order suspending some of those environmental regulations in order to help victims from the wildfires recover and rebuild faster.

Joining me now, my colleague, Kyung Lah just spoke with Governor Newsom.

Kyung, what did he tell you?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, what we are really understanding after our conversation with the Governor, is that his goal right now is to cut through the bureaucratic red tape, which, frankly, as somebody who lives here, it can be a lot. So what we are hearing from the Governor right now are some concrete timelines that anyone who has lost their home like this can take away as something that they can hold the state accountable for.

The Governor says as he was walking around Altadena here, he was walking with Cal Fire and other state Fire officials, and what he was saying to CNN is that within 15 days, he is hoping to have full assessments done of each of these homes. We are talking about thousands of homes.

[15:50:02]

Now, why are these assessments important? You have to have an assessment of your loss by the state in order to take that to your insurance and to take it to FEMA. You can then start the process of getting some money, trying to figure out how you're going to rebuild.

So it is a critical piece of information. The Governor says, come back to me in two weeks. Tell me if we are on the same timeline. That timeline may vary. But he says the goal again is to cut through the red tape through various executive orders, like the one you just mentioned, Bill, and then comes the even bigger problem, the more problem that everybody in the state is going to feel is the issue of insurance. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: What about insurance? I mean, we know, we live here. Your house is insured. My house is insured.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Yes, mine is -- I mean, the one I have, my dad's house is under the FAIR Plan, the state's plan.

LAH: And it is very expensive.

NEWSOM: Very expensive. And it is not great coverage.

LAH: Right. So what do you tell people?

NEWSOM: We tell them that we are not only assessing all of that in real time, we have hired an independent group to look, to stress test not just the insurance market, the utility market in California as well.

We have that experience after Camp led to one of the largest bankruptcies in US history, the largest investor owned utility, PG&E from that came a Wildfire Fund to help stabilize that market, and I say that because we are also mindful of the ongoing investigation as to the cause of this.

And part of that cause determination, no one has an understanding fully yet of what caused these fires beyond just hurricane force winds, unprecedented winds and the driest conditions since the 1850s as it relates to this dry January here in Southern California, a combination of those two things.

But was it a utility line? Who is responsible? Was it arson? All of those things are being determined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And we did talk briefly about some of the daily jabs that he is getting from the incoming Trump administration, from President-elect Trump himself. Today, it was Vice President-elect JD Vance and what the Governor said is, look, he doesn't have time for that. Clearly, it annoys him. But he says, Bill, what he has to deal with right now are some of these more, you know, problems of how to get rid of this debris and how to get homeowners' safe -- Bill.

WEIR: You brought up a great point on the insurance. In the last couple of years, All-State and the Hartford and State Farm stopped writing fire policies in this state. They're trying to force them to come back. There is a negotiation ongoing right now, but this affects everybody outside of the fire zone as well.

Some of the -- it is the price of living in paradise these days.

Kyung Lah, thank you so much. We appreciate that.

And we'll be back here with more from the fire zone. Stay with us, everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:57:11]

WHITFIELD: All right, the United States could be exactly one week away from an all-out ban on TikTok. The US Supreme Court seems likely to uphold the law to ban the popular social media app. Justices heard arguments on the issue a couple of days ago.

Supporters of the ban say the app threatens National Security, opponents say getting rid of it would be a First Amendment violation.

Joining us right now is Jeff Lewis, a constitutional lawyer.

Great to see you again, Jeff.

So the ban on TikTok is set to go into effect a week from today. Most of Friday's arguments focused on whether the law violates the First Amendment, an d based on the questions the Justices asked, can you tell whether they are compelled to uphold the law banning TikTok.

JEFF LEWIS, CONSTITUTIONAL LAWYER: Yes, the law is going to be upheld because most of the Justices were not viewing this case as a First Amendment restriction on free speech, they are viewing this as a National Security case and the United States protecting its National Security.

WHITFIELD: So this is happening at a time when President-elect Donald Trump has voiced possible support for TikTok. Here is what Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor had to say.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SONIA SOTOMAYOR, US SUPREME COURT ASSOCIATE JUSTICE: I am a little concerned that a suggestion that a president-elect or anyone else should not enforce the law when a law is in effect and has prohibited a certain action that a company would choose to ignore enforcement on any assurance other than the change in that law.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So it sounds like preemptively, she is saying, you know, don't try it. But if, you know, Trump is to try and save the app, dismiss any Supreme Court ruling that upholds the ban, then what?

LEWIS: Well, President Trump does have the power to buy TikTok some time to either divest itself through spinning off from the Chinese government, or to allow TikTok to assure National Security personnel in the government that there is no real National Security risk.

But at the end of the day, I think TikTok is going to have to spin itself off to put the government at ease regarding the big National Security issues.

WHITFIELD: Usually, when things are matters of National Security, you know it might be handled in other branches of government. This is quite unique, is it not, that this is a Supreme Court case?

LEWIS: It is unique for the government to come in and impose this really severe sanction of divest or your banned, but the circumstances are unique in that you have one of four nations -- China, Iran, North Korea or Russia -- owning a very powerful social media platform. So the circumstances do warrant this very unique action.

WHITFIELD: All right, constitutional law attorney, Jeff Lewis, thank you so much. Great to see you again.

LEWIS: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, tonight, a special hour of the deadly fires in Los Angeles and the residents facing unthinkable tragedy.

Join Anderson Cooper for "The Whole Story." That's tonight at 8:00 PM Eastern, right here on CNN.

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