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Santa Ana Winds Intensify, Death Toll At 16, Firefighters Racing To Contain the Fire; Pete Hegseth's Confirmation Hearing Begins Tuesday; Governor Newsom Lays Out Plan For The Wildfires; Kyung Lah Interviews Governor Gavin Newsom; Jessica Dean Interviews Ben Richter And Pia Baroncini; Schools To Be Closed Due To Wildfires. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 12, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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


[17:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You are in the "CNN Newsroom," I'm Jessica Dean in New York. We're going to join my colleague, Erin Burnett, in Los Angeles coming up. Breaking news at this hour, the window to contain the deadly California wildfires is getting smaller. Now, here's the good news. Conditions through today have been better than expected. That's enabled firefighters to make some good progress.

However, the powerful Santa Ana winds with potential gusts of up to 50 miles per hour could soon spread further inland. There have been at least 16 fatalities already, and with many more still unaccounted for, the death toll is expected to rise. More than 100,000 California residents also remain under evacuation orders from L.A. County. And just a few moments ago, California's governor, Gavin Newsom, spoke with our own Kyung Lah about how the fires could further worsen the state's insurance crisis. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: What about insurance? And we know, and we love. Your house is insured, my house is insured.

GAVIN NEWSOM, GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA: Yeah. Mine's and the one I have, my dad's house is under the fair plan, the state's plan.

LAH: And it's very expensive. It has to be.

NEWSOM: Very expensive it's not great coverage.

LAH: Right. So what do you tell people?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: It's a great question. Newsom's answer, and much more from that interview coming up in just a few minutes. Right now, though, we want to tell you that a quarter of the Eaton Fire has so far been contained. Eighty-nine percent of the Hurst Fire is contained. However, when you go over the Pacific Palisades, over 23 acres have already been scorched. That fire just at 11 percent containment. Overall, 40,000 acres, that's a little over 62 square miles, have

simply been destroyed. That is the size of Washington, D.C. And CNN's Erin Burnett is going to join us now from the Palisades. Erin, I know you've been on the ground for a couple of days now and you've watched people go home to no home. You've watched people try to metabolize what's happened to them, all of these while these fires continue.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Yes. I mean, you know, we have been seeing here since, obviously, those fires ripping through on Tuesday and Wednesday. You know, on Thursday, people had not seen their homes. They still, so many of them have not seen their homes lining up, trying to go up behind where we are to the Pacific Palisades. But those are the people who have already suffered that unimaginable loss.

Right now, you have crews desperately trying to contain that Palisades fire, which is really what is up on these mountains behind us that are completely scorched where we are, Jessica, and Malibu Pacific Palisades behind us. That Palisades Fire, as you were pointing out, only about 11 percent contained, and that number has been very sticky. That has not increased from the official numbers that they have given us in quite some time.

So, while the winds are picking up here, they are desperately trying to contain that fire because they do anticipate that these winds are going to pick up even more and more. Those so-called red flag warnings going to make that fire at risk of spreading not just to Brentwood where it made a run yesterday, but also into the San Fernando Valley, Encino. Some of the most populated areas in greater Los Angeles will be under threat from this Palisades Fire.

And that is what they are most desperately focused on right now to try to somehow contain that. Contain means contained. It means cordon it off and be able to put a barrier around it. As you know, Jessica, it doesn't mean put it out. It means that they think that they can defend the perimeter of the fire. And right now, they are 89 percent not doing that, 11 percent doing that.

So that is what they're trying to do right now, as you can see on your screen, the scope of the damage up behind us in Pacific Palisades is still unimaginable. And people in those homes will wait hours and hours. Some people wait three, four hours if they're lucky to get up for 10 minutes to even see and survey the loss that was their home. I'm here with Bill Weir and Bill you've been up, you know, we've been up and around those palisades and, you know, you just see this scorched mountainside.

The day is so beautiful that it almost is hard to imagine the fight that is going on right over those mountains.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And the sort of the psychological fight that's going on in the minds of so many people who are worried.

[17:05:00]

There's another 80,000 people living in potential evacuation zones. It's a siege. It's now a week long fire siege. And where you think you're getting a break and where they deserve a break when the sun is out is when they're really ramping up the efforts especially the hotshots trying to cut those lines. The more they contain now, the better chance they'll have once those winds start kicking up, those desert winds howling through the canyons. That's -- knock wood, the worst case. We don't want that. But there's also a lot of fuel that's already been burned. So depending on wind direction, they could catch a break.

BURNETT: Right. And the wind direction is everything. I mean, you know, as, as we're thinking about it, Jessica, I mean, and the canyons can change it. So the fire could -- it could leap and back -- it could give it the fuel to spread or it could cause it to actually fold back onto itself.

WEIR: Exactly.

BURNETT: And that's really the unknown. And also is where we're standing, right, we are literally between Pacific Coast Highway and the Pacific Ocean. And they can use those super scooper planes to scoop up the seawater and dump it, but when the winds go out there, it's too -- they can't even pick up the water.

WEIR: That's where most of that damage happened on. The winds are so high they couldn't put anything in the sky. No, you know, firefighting force in the world would fly in hurricane force winds. And so the more water that falls from the sky, the less you have to spray through hoses on the ground, right?

BURNETT: Right.

WEIR: And so it balances out. They say they're prepared. We saw this morning the fire chief requested an extra 60 water tankers to be positioned here and there. But right now, there's so much uncertainty as to which way this thing is going, and so much uncertainty as to how soon people can get back in and see what's left of their lives.

BURNETT: And just the exhaustion of the crews that we are seeing. I mean, this is nonstop. I mean, we talk about 24-hour days, 48-hour days. Perhaps you could do that for a sprint. This is now not a sprint.

WEIR: Right.

BURNETT: This is now a marathon.

WEIR: Exactly. And thankfully they got some reprieves. The cavalry has come in from eight different states. There's crews here from Canada, Mexico. So a lot more man and woman power on the ground than we had a week ago when this thing first started. But again, sort of at the mercy of fickle nature that doesn't care where you live, how you vote, how much you make. When that fire is unchecked, humanity is unable to stop it when it's really howling. So our thoughts with those guys and men and women up there right now trying to hold them on.

BURNETT: I mean, just truly incredible what they're doing and loading up that fire retardant, DC-10 after DC-10.

WEIR: Exactly. Yeah.

BURNETT: Because also with the winds, it does get even hard to fly those. I mean, those missions aren't easy. You and I have both seen them. I was up in the air the other day looking at it. And we see it constantly. But when the winds happen and the smoke is moving, that really, really heavy DC-10 is a really dangerous aircraft to fly.

WEIR: And there's this thing that's interesting. They call it the Venturi effect for the fellow weather nerds. That is, when wind is forced into a bottleneck.

BURNETT: Yeah.

WEIR: I experienced it in downtown St. Petersburg during the Hurricane Milton, where it accelerates. Well, here, it's coming across the deserts and then into those canyons and crowding downdrafts for these pilots. So they're just next level ability to put that retardant where it needs to go.

BURNETT: Yeah.

WEIR: As long as the winds are proper.

BURNETT: And again, working so indefatigably. I mean --

WEIR: Exactly.

BURNETT: -- and to think about at that level of intensity, you know, where any tiny thing could be life or death.

WEIR: Right.

BURNETT: All right, well, you know, we're here and we're in the staging area, Jessica, Bill and I. This is where a lot of, you know, crews are started. We've got National Guard over there, you've got utilities, all of it sort of staging from here for that Palisades Fire, specifically, Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Bill Weir and Erin Burnett, thank you so much. And you're right. Thank you for walking us through just the heroic actions that those firefighters are taking to protect people, protect homes. It is incredible. We're going to check back in with Erin and Bill throughout the hour. In the meantime, I want to go to meteorologist Allison Chinchar, who's joining us live from the CNN Weather Center. And Allison, as Bill and Erin were talking about, weather plays such a role in the firefighters' abilities to get ahead of these fires and try to fight them back and make sure that these embers aren't spreading. How are things shaping up? What are these winds looking like?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, so we are starting to see those winds begin to pick back up. And we have for about the last hour or so, you look at this wind map. This is current winds. And we've got a couple still left on here with those single digit numbers. But more and more of them are starting to creep into the teens in the 20s. And that's going to be the trend over the next 24 hours to see them continue to go up.

And not just for today, but also Monday. You'll notice both of these days have both the elevated and critical fire threat, not just in L.A., but even some of the surrounding areas as well. And that's an anticipation of these winds continuing to rise as we go through the evening and especially Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday because we're not going to really get a break for several more days now. You can see more of these starting to creep up 30, 40, 50, even some wind gusts as high as 60 miles per hour expected over the next several days.

[17:10:03]

And that is really going to complicate things for a lot of those firefighters that are out there. You look at the fires that we have here. And yes, those containment numbers have been able to come up the last 24 to 36 hours. And that has been fantastic news, but they're not quite there just yet. And one thing that all of these areas have in common is just how dry it's been. All of them in these dark orange color here indicating they are in severe drought category and it's because of how little rain has fallen in the last few months, not just January itself.

But look at this, since October 1st, which is when the water year begins, that fall was more of a natural water cycle rather than having it start on January 1st. Since that October 1st date, they have only had three one hundredths of an inch of rain in the L.A. area. Normally, they would have at least four and a half inches by this point in time. And to kind of show you some comparison, this is January of last year. Now, we were where there was no drought whatsoever in the state of California. Now fast forward, we have several areas in that severe drought category.

Keeping in mind too, that this map is more normal. January is actually the second wettest month on average for this area. So this is not the time of year you normally see fires this large, especially spreading so quickly, but it's because that brush, that vegetation that's on the ground is so dry, it's able to spread those fires so quickly. Now one thing we've noticed is we've talked about the potential for rainfall in the upcoming week and there really isn't much hope, certainly not in the next five days, but when you push it out to day six and day seven, we do start to see the humidity levels finally begin to increase into areas of Southern California.

And I will point out, this is a very tiny, tiny portion of green. It doesn't necessarily mean it's going to result in a tremendous amount of rain, but at least even a little bit of some higher humidity levels would allow these firefighters at least a better opportunity to get some of those containment numbers up as well.

DEAN: Yeah. Well, we certainly wishing for that. Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for that. And you can find out how to help wildfire victims in the Los Angeles area. To donate, you can go to cnn.com/impact or text wildfires to 707070. Still ahead tonight, CNN is on the ground speaking one on one with California Governor Gavin Newsom. You'll see that here in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

DEAN: And welcome back to our breaking news coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires. We know President Biden was briefed earlier today on the status of the firefight and also how federal resources are being deployed. We also know that right now winds are getting stronger. Still, the Hurst fire is now near totally contained. That is freeing up crews to help take on the much larger and deadlier Palisades and Eaton fires.

We're joined now by former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. And Secretary, thank you so much for being here. I know you're a lifelong Californian. You began your political career as a state representative. I know you're in Northern California, but just I'd be curious how you would rate the state and local government's response so far to these fires.

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, look, for all of us in California, and I think for all of us in the country, this is a horrific event to have this kind of devastating fire taking lives, destroying property. And you know, I think everybody is doing what they can. The firefighters are on the line. They've been increasing over these last few days with volunteers from across the state. Whether they have sufficient water or not, I don't know, but I'm assuming that they now have water and they certainly have all of the equipment they need to fight this fire.

The problem is if these Santa Ana winds pick up, it's just going to be very tough for anybody, anywhere with whatever skill to be able to stop this fire from exploding again.

DEAN: Erin Burnett and Bill Weir were talking about that everybody kind of is at the mercy of Mother Nature when it comes to just the ferocity of the winds and this particular environment as well. And I know some of the state's representatives in Congress have called for a full investigation. Gavin Newsom, of course, wanting to know about the reservoir. Do you think that that is appropriate? Does there need to be an investigation into where things might have gone wrong?

PANETTA: Oh, yeah. Listen, without question, there has to be an investigation to look at all aspects of what was involved in trying to --there are all kinds of issues, whether it's water, whether it's response time, whether it's evacuation routes. There are a number of issues to look at. But very frankly, the fundamental mission as we speak right now is to do everything we can to stop this fire.

As long as this fire continues burning in Palisades and Eaton and other areas, and then it's hit by these horrific Santa Ana winds, we're going to continue to have a real devastating fire hitting California, more devastating than almost anything else we've experienced. And we have experienced our share of wildfires.

DEAN: I know. I mean, and it is continuing to happen in real time. I do want to also ask you about the upcoming confirmation hearings as we come back here to the East Coast for a second, because those are coming down the pike in this next week. On Tuesday, Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for Secretary of Defense, will be going through the beginning of his hearing.

[17:19:58]

And there was a moment early on where he seemed to be kind of hanging on by a thread and then managed to survive, keep Trump's support. What would you be asking of him in a hearing if you were one of those senators? You have sat in that seat as Secretary of Defense. What would you be asking of him?

PANETTA: Well, obviously there's a lot of areas to cover and I hope that senators, Republican and Democrat alone, recognize that this is one of the most important positions related to national security. So it is very important that we pick the right person for that job. There have been issues that have been raised, whether it's dealing with alcohol, he's had some problems with that, dealing with sexual violence or sexual abuse. He's had problems with that.

I think the background check will tell us a lot about whether he's had other incidents along those lines. But I think also important is the issue of making sure that as Secretary of Defense, he understands that getting men and women to serve in our military is extremely important. He can't engage in these culture wars. He's got to recognize that we need strong men and women to be able to serve. They are an effective fighting force. We have the best fighting force in the world. He can't do anything to undermine our manpower needs.

DEAN: And there's been this argument floating around that Hegseth, despite not really having any experience to run the Department of Defense, could be sort of a figurehead. He could be staffed with people who have the experience to run the Defense Department. They can make up for it. Do you think it can work that way?

PANETTA: Well, that's frankly a lousy way to do business. Sure, there are a lot of people that can provide some support here, whether they're in the military or in the civilian side, and there are plenty of those. But to have a secretary who's not fully in charge of the department, able to manage that department, able to deal with the serious national security issues that we're confronting.

This is a dangerous world right now. We're dealing with Russia. We're dealing with China. We're dealing with Iran. We're dealing with the Middle East. We're dealing with North Korea. We're dealing with terrorism. There are a huge number of threats that are out there. You need to have a secretary that understands and appreciates the dangers that we're facing.

DEAN: Yeah, it is striking. This is a very different world that President-elect Trump is coming back into than what he came into in 2017.

PANETTA: Without question, this is a much more threatening world. This is much more dangerous. The fact is that now we're not dealing with our -- with these autocrats in separate, different channels. They are now working together. Russia is working with North Korea. North Korea is working with Russia. China is working with both of them. So we are dealing with an axis of autocrats right now that makes this a much more dangerous world and one in which the United States must continue to exercise world leadership and must continue to build and strengthen our alliances. That's the only way to confront this kind of world.

DEAN: All right, Secretary Leon Panetta, as always, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it.

PANETTA: Thank you.

DEAN: California Governor Gavin Newsom laying out a timeline for how quickly building inspectors will be able to look at all the structures damaged or destroyed by these destructive fires. We'll talk more about that when we come back here in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

BURNETT: And welcome back to our breaking live coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires. Crews behind us are trying to fight those fires as the winds are picking up here. We're in a staging area. Our Kyung Lah is in Altadena, which of course has been completely leveled, so many parts of Altadena. And the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, was there as well. Right now, dealing with the crisis, dealing with fighting the fires, and also dealing with recrimination and frustration about the situation on the ground and why this happened.

Of course, as there are still fears that it could continue happening as these fires rage. Kyung is with me now in Altadena. And Kyung, you had a chance to speak to Governor Newsome. What did he tell you?

LAH: That he's got his hands full, all of those things that you're talking about, Erin. But he's also certainly looking ahead to offering some concrete timelines and cutting the red tape, making a number of promises to our cameras, saying that he is going to try to make things easier for the people who have lost it all. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: So what is this assessment? Help explain why we need this and what this means for, you know, that homeowner.

NEWSOM: You got through the State Fire Marshal, CalFire, working with county partners, teams of two go in, they will go in a property like this, they'll assess. And they will photograph and then they will post online after its verified, about a 12-hour process, and people can go on a website. They don't have to physically be here to know if their property is damaged and that will then begin the process for the property owner on insurance and getting us to a point where we can start the rebuild process.

LAH: How quickly do you anticipate being able to do that?

[17:29:59]

NEWSOM: Well, as I said, I want all the inspections done within 14 days, every single structure that's been impacted by these fires. So that's --

LAH: That's thousands of homes.

NEWSOM: Thousands of homes. And so that's the mandate. Whatever resources they need, we said we're going to provide it. And then we're looking right now at debris removal. And you're looking at herculean effort. I'll give you an example. We were just with the inspectors. They say it's a little different world now today with batteries. Not just car batteries, but battery packs, people with solar, those Tesla wall batteries and the like. So, the hazmat side of this is made a little bit more complicated, which is fine. We'll work through that.

LAH: How soon before this house and that house behind you, how long before you envision this neighborhood?

NEWSOM: So, on the basis of just moving forward to eliminate as many barriers as possible, the current estimate. And you can come back in two weeks. And objectively on the basis of new information, I likely would have a modestly different answer. After stress testing the last 48 hours, we think if we get these contracts up and running, we deal with jurisdictional issues between the cities, many cities, and the county of L.A. and the state working with our federal partners hand in glove that we can move forward in six to nine months get all that debris removed, all the hazardous materials removed. We get this first 14 days done that will start that clock.

LAH: You're seeing --

NEWSOM: Well, you tell the debris is gone, and I said nine months is the goal. Nine months. You're looking at the magnitude of this, and with the hazmat side, it has to be done in a way that services the long-term needs. And then obviously, you're going to learn from this process. Some of the buildings that are surviving, part of their assessment is why did they survive? In so many cases, it's building materials. It's not having the eaves.

You see, this is a miracle. This house survived with the old structure where you get those embers that would flow right into the attic and that structure is gone. Making sure that you never see new construction like that again.

LAH: And then what about insurance? And we know -- we live here. Your house is insured. My house is insured.

NEWSOME: Yeah. Mine, the one I have, my dad's house is under the fair plan, the state's plan.

LAH: It's very expensive.

NEWSOM: Very expensive and it's 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 in a higher independent group to look, to stress test, not just the insurance market, but the utility market in California as well. We had that experience after Camp, led to one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. 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're 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's responsible? Was it arts? All those things are being determined. And so, we're just stress testing the worst-case scenario. If it was a utility, what does that mean to the utility market? As it relates to insurance, what does it mean to private insurers? Who are the insurers? We've been making a lot of reforms in our insurance market and we'll need to make subsequent reforms.

LAH: Something that's particularly pressing for this community you're standing in is lack of insurance. A lot of people inherited homes or were working class.

NEWSOM: Yup.

LAH: What about people who didn't have insurance?

NEWSOM: That's going to be the most difficult and challenging thing. And that's where FEMA comes in, that's where the SBA comes in, that's where the state of California comes in, that's where the federal government comes in, that's where philanthropy comes in. People have lost their lives, they've lost their businesses, they've lost hope, and we've got to restore the hope and then restore their lives and businesses and opportunities.

LAH: J.D. Vance was on television today talking about lack of competency on your part.

NEWSOM: Okay.

LAH: What do you say to that? You've heard this almost every single day.

NEWSOM: Yeah. I haven't talked to him. You know, hurricanes that were attached to fires, unprecedented when experiences. Heroic firefighters from all across the United States. We've got folks from Texas, we've got folks from Wyoming that have been pounding on this, the best next- gen technology. We've got these fire hawks, guys with night vision goggles, pounding these fires 24/7. We've got thousands of National Guard men and women that have been on here. We pre-positioned 120 engines, helicopters, dozers, water tenders. We did that on Sunday, two days before this event. So, with respect to the future vice president, I didn't hear his remarks, but I would invite him as I did Donald Trump to visit with the community, express empathy of the scale of this tragedy and be here for the American people that happen to reside here in Southern California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:35:05]

LAH: And essentially, Erin, what he's saying is he doesn't have time to deal with that, that this is such a massive disaster here in Los Angeles, that he has just got to focus on things like this that you've just heard from him, Erin.

BURNETT: And, Kyung, you know, obviously, that's going to be so crucial because there's only days left of the Biden administration. So, when he talks about hoping that FEMA is going to pay for insurance for people who didn't have it, that is going to become a Trump administration issue.

There's also, Kyung, as you were talking about with him, you know, so much of the anger and recrimination here about the water. And even as they're fighting the fires, right, he's in the midst of the fighting the fire, why the hydrants ran dry? What was the situation with the reservoir? Do you feel that he has answers to any of that?

LAH: I think he knows he has to have those answers. He has launched that investigation to look into the hydrants, to at least figure out what happened with that local reservoir. He does very clearly say that in regards to some of the lies that have been pushed, that those state reservoirs, those are lies. But in regards to the local reservoir, certainly that's going to be a part of the investigation.

A lot of questions, like you heard the governor talking about the utility lines. All of that has got to be answered moving forward. In part is you got to figure out who's going to pay for it, who's going to be to blame for all of this.

BURNETT: Right. I mean, and such crucial questions. And it sounds like, Kyung, from your conversation, that there has been -- there has been no contact between the incoming Trump administration and the governor of California and officials here, even though this is likely to be the costliest wildfire in U.S. history. What are the costliest natural disasters in all of U.S. history?

LAH: Yeah, these are two men who have a long history of battling it out over tweets and over social media. They have a public battle, but they also understand how to work with each other. Newsom has lived through the first Trump administration. We have seen him here at the state understand that there has to be coordination. And so that coordination is not going to be lost.

It is also politically advantageous for the incoming president to make sure that the largest economy in the country is going to be upright and is going to be working, and also understanding that California did swing more red, certainly nowhere near close to voting for Trump.

But there are very large pockets of the state that became more conservative. So, that's not lost on Trump. He certainly understands that. He knows what the politics of this is. And also, Governor Newsom certainly is -- he is political. He understands that. But at the same time, he has an entire state to take care of. A very large crisis on his hands.

BURNETT: All right. Kyung, thank you very much. It was such an important interview with the governor of California, who is at the center of this storm. We're going to take a brief break, and our breaking coverage will continue right after that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: As the fires continue to burn across Southern California, thousands of Californians are asking things like, where will we live? Do we have enough clothes, enough diapers? And while the federal and state governments have pledged to help those in need, some Californians are taking it to their own hands right now to help rebuild their communities.

Joining us now, Los Angeles County residents Pia Baroncini and Ben Richter, who have jumped into action to help their neighbors by getting a drive together for various items. Thanks so much to both of you for being here with us. Pia, I want to start first with you. What inspired you to take an action and what have you seen?

PIA BARONCINI, INFLUENCER, ORGANIZING FOOD DRIVE FOR FIRE VICTIMS: You know, we could see the fire from our house. I'm born and raised in Pasadena. My mother grew up in Altadena. It's just endless stories, endless personal stories. My best friend who bought her childhood home from her parents, her house is gone, her mother's house is gone, her sister's house is gone.

Altadena and Pasadena specifically are a hub for a very legacy black community. And more recently, so many families have been starting their lives there. People who didn't really want to live in West Hollywood or Beverly Hills were wanting a more quiet suburban way of life. And their houses are gone.

And we did outreach really quickly. I posted on Instagram. I wanted to figure out what I could do. I reached out to Ben right away because Wake and Late is a huge space. And the outpouring was so intense right away. So, I knew we needed a large space and it has just taken off. We have Revolve, we have Hudson Jeans, we have -- I mean, huge brands. Gap, Dillard's. Halle Berry is coming. We have Nickey Kehoe donating home items, Parachute. It has really been overwhelming.

DEAN: Yeah. And so, you're putting all of these items into one place because, as we keep reminding people, we keep interviewing people, they literally left with the clothes on their back. They were lucky to just --

BARONCINI: I have friends who did not think that their houses were going to burn down. They left quickly and they have nothing.

DEAN: Hmm. And Ben, you've got this space where all these donations are going to people, will then be able to go there and get what they need. New clothing when they, as I was saying, don't have really anything at this point.

[17:44:58]

And we know that the federal and the state governments have pledged to help these victims of the fire. But what is interesting to me is how people like you and Pia have jumped in immediately right now because this need is immediate.

BEN RICHTER, FOUNDER AND CEO, WAKE AND LATE: Yeah, Wake and Lat community is just such a huge part of what we're doing and who we are. And so, you know, when Pia called, it was just, you know, a no-brainer for us. We've been trying to do anything that we can for the fire department, for the LAPD, anything that we can do to help our community and teams. To get Pasadena and Altadena back on their feet is the least that we can do.

DEAN: Yeah. And Pia, what's the greatest need that you're seeing right now?

BARONCINI: Honestly, everything. I'm so -- it's like I open my phone and there's just another thing. You know, I have an autistic child. I keep thinking about the parents of children on the spectrum who don't have their sensory toys. My friend's cat is missing. My friend yesterday messaged me she doesn't have a crib. I mean, it's really everything. So, we haven't turned down anything. What we've been really able to do, which I'm excited about, is people from out of state have been messaging, saying, what can I do? So, I'm just, like, ship it all to us.

We have 40 volunteers a day. I have tables being donated. We're also asking people to send us letters of encouragement that we can put on the walls. And basically, Thursday and Friday, we're hoping that's going to be the hub of the drop-off. We'll be sorting all day. Saturday and Sunday, people can come pick up anything they need. I have some people coming.

You know, I know a lot of these families. Shame isn't the right word, but to show up and grab things for yourself, a lot of families are saying it's awkward. We're hoping that people will come. Our goal is to get as many families directly affected in Altadena and Pasadena as possible. We can come, we can get a hug, you can hopefully grab a bite to eat and be with your community and grab what you need. And if we have -- you know, we're going to have a lot of stuff. Hopefully, we'll be able to continue to do this for as long as we need.

DEAN: It's amazing. Ben Richter and Pia Baroncini, thank you so much for what you're doing. And certainly, we hope to talk to you when it's better days. Thanks to both of you. BARONCINI: Thank you.

RICHTER: Thank you so much for having us on. Thank you.

DEAN: Yeah. All right, we'll be right back.

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BURNETT: We are back with our coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires right now at the foot of Santa Monica Mountains of Palisades and the destruction up right behind us here with the crews that are staging that response to fight that ongoing raging Palisades Fire right behind us.

As that happens, these houses are raised, schools are raised, communities are completely disbanded and destroyed. Ross Szabo is the wellness director at the Geffen Academy at UCLA. UCLA, by the way, has been warned they could be on evacuation. That is the touchy -- touch and go nature of this situation as they're fighting this fire right now.

Ross, you are not only living this yourself. But in this moment where tomorrow is going to be Monday and children are going to go back to school, some of them, and I want to talk about the kids that aren't going back to school, though, first, if I could, the schools here in Altadena, some of them have been completely burned down. Those schools, as far as I understand, talking to families here in the Palisades, they don't have a plan yet. They don't know. So those children are completely adrift in a certain sense. So, what to do in a moment like this, of such complete and utter un-rootedness?

ROSS SZABO, WELLNESS DIRECTOR, GEFFEN ACADEMY AT UCLA: It's really unimaginable. And, you know, a lot of times, teachers don't even get training on this. There's no person coming in and saying, hey, here's what you should do. So, at Geffen Academy, we started Mental Health Education Institute and put out resources to really try and help people so that they understand just some tips, some things to think about.

But remember, a school community really is the whole community. It's not just the kids, the students. It's the teachers, the parents. And a lot of teachers are parents, too. And a lot of teachers in the communities you're talking about have kids going to the school. So, it's just a really devastating moment.

BURNETT: And just -- you know, some of the schools, I know there's a question -- I mean, they're not going to be going back to their school any time. Maybe never. I mean, by the time of -- as many years as it could take, right? So, who knows how those remote learning situations may present themselves? I know that some schools, even in the area, kids are going back. There has been a lot of -- I guess -- you know, frustration may be the right word. Parents don't know really what a lot of L.A. public schools are even planning to do, whether it's remote learning or in-person learning, just this moment of in limbo.

How, as you talk about this, should teachers even address this with children who are both living through trauma, but also desperately seeking some sort of sense of normalcy from authority figures in their life, especially teachers?

SZABO: Schools are that routine for a lot of students. And so, every school district is going to work as hard as they can to get kids back into that routine. Some of the biggest tips I have are -- obviously, we talk about mental health a lot of times after a crisis or a natural disaster. Mental health needs to be talked about as often and as normalized as physical health. And the reality of this disaster is, as you said, it's not going to be a week or a month. It's going to be months and maybe years. So, some things that people can do are, one, realize that any reaction to this trauma is okay.

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Some kids are going to be devastated and lashing out and upset and frustrated. Other kids are going to seem like they're not affected at all. Every response is okay. Teachers don't need to fix everything. They can be there for people and validate and affirm the emotions that are happening.

The other thing that's really important is that schools have a common language for mental health. We do have a common language for physical health, but a lot of schools aren't on the same page with mental health. And so, it's critical to build that understanding.

And then the last piece there, sorry, is to make sure that teachers aren't processing their emotions with their students. It's a really difficult time. Make sure, as a teacher, much like that oxygen mask, you're taking care of yourself outside of school so that you can show up in the classroom, wherever that is.

BURNETT: All right. Well, Ross, I very much appreciate your time. Thank you. And for viewers, just to understand, talking to people here, you have of course the families, parents and teachers who have lost their schools. The schools are completely gone. Those situations, so many of them now totally adrift as they try to figure out what to do.

But even in other schools, as -- today, it's a clear day. But when the wind blows another way and this fire is raging, ash is coming down. Children from many schools, Los Angeles high school (ph), they were closed. Maybe they're going to online learning. Maybe they're not. Just a complete and utter sense of uncertainty for so many in the second largest school district in this country.

We are going to take a brief break. We'll be back here along, of course, with Jessica Dean in just a couple of minutes.

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