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Interview With Malibu, California, Mayor Doug Stewart; Los Angeles Braces For Return of Dangerous Winds. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 13, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

KATHRYN BARGER, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: Continued support for our impacted residents.

Our residents need this support to begin rebuilding. And, believe me, after last night's meeting that I attended with my constituents, they are desperate. So many residents I have heard from, especially those without insurance, are concerned they won't receive enough assistance to rebuild their lives.

On top of FEMA assistance, I'm going to be advocating for innovative loan and housing solutions to bring people back to their communities. People need help, and they need to know what kind of support they're going to receive.

Last night, I joined hundreds of impacted victims in Pasadena to hear their stories, understand their needs, and to discuss what comes next. Many wildfire survivors I have met spoke and -- spoke with have repeatedly told me they're worried about the rebuilding process.

Specifically, many have mentioned that they are eager to begin clearing debris and seeing what valuable possessions survived this devastating fire. I want you to know that, yesterday, the governor issued an executive order to streamline this rebuilding process.

This executive order is going to make rebuilding homes easier by cutting red tape and make it as affordable and efficient as possible for our residents to clear debris. Yesterday's executive order, along with the previous order, to waive the CEQA requirement in rebuilding, are two unprecedented actions that will be essential to making our community whole again.

I know that our wildfire survivors want nothing more than to begin the rebuilding process. And it is our job in government to get out of the way. Our neighbors deserve nothing less.

To all the residents in our county, we must maintain diligence over the next few days, as winds increase again. Please listen to law enforcement and their evacuation notices. And, believe me, I heard last night many are frustrated.

These next few days are crucial in our fighting of the existing fires and also preventing any new fires. Thank you for taking it seriously. I'd now like to introduce L.A. City Mayor Karen Bass.

KAREN BASS (D), MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Thank you, supervisor.

Angelenos, as we continue to experience the shock, the grief, and the anger, we have to stand together. And it is in that spirit that we have seen hundreds, if not thousands of Angelenos traveling all around the region to deliver supplies, clothes, whatever they think might help the victims of these fires.

As we have mentioned, the National Weather Service is predicting close to hurricane-force level winds, and so we're making urgent preparations. My top priority and the priority of everyone else is to do everything we can to protect lives.

As these winds approach, L.A. City firefighters and firefighters from across the county, state, and nation, and even overseas are in a proactive and strategic posture to save lives. Firefighting resources from LAFD and fire departments from all over are positioned in strategic holding locations.

DWP is deploying water tankers to augment water supply for firefighters. The emergency operation centers remain activated at the highest level to rapidly coordinate emergency response. As we prepare for more wind, we're also urgently working to provide people with much-needed resources.

This week, as Chair Barger said, our city and county will launch in person local assistance centers that are tailored to those affected by specific fires. These local assistance centers is for Angelenos impacted by the Palisades and Hurst fires, and they will open at the UCLA Research Park, which was formerly known as the Westside Pavilion.

It will operate from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., seven days a week. These centers will help people who have lost vital records like birth certificates, driver's license, Social Security documentation. They will help people who've lost their homes or businesses apply for disaster relief loans, and they will provide referrals for mental health counseling and other services.

We anticipate that there will be representation for over city -- over 20 city departments. There will be representatives from the state and federal departments and agencies. Later today, we are also going to be releasing policies on the city level that will help with the rebuilding process.

[11:35:01]

So, as we continue to go through these next few days where the fires are still a serious threat, we also want to begin to help people put their lives back together and to prepare to rebuild our city. I also want to again remind Angelenos that LACity.gov is now a one-stop shop for assistance for those who are impacted and a place to help Angelenos find a way to get involved. As the winds pick up, please stay safe. Please heed the call to

evacuate, should you receive that, and remember to heed all public safety guidance. Thank you.

LINDSEY HORVATH, LOS ANGELES COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: I'm Lindsey Horvath.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: All right, we have been listening to officials there in L.A. giving us updates on the fires and what's ahead.

They are warning this critical threat through Wednesday in L.A. County of potential additional fires and really undoing some of the containment that we have seen from the other fires, including the Palisades Fire and the Eaton Fire.

And you heard there from the mayor, Karen Bass, saying that there are local assistance centers that are opening up as well in L.A. to help folks who don't have a home anymore, who don't have the critical paperwork that they need. So that briefing is continuing.

But, I mean, the bottom line is, there is concern for the days ahead in L.A. and the weather, with the high winds, as you heard there from the mayor, saying that this could be hurricane-level winds, as well as the dry conditions and what that could mean. We saw what it meant last week, and those fires there continue to rage in L.A.

And when we come back, I will speak live with an Altadena family who just lost their home to a fire -- get this -- for the second time -- their unbelievable story of resilience up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:41:09]

BROWN: The Eaton Fire has scorched more than 14,000 acres across Southern California. And it is now among the most destructive fires in the state's history. Thousands of homes, places of worship, and businesses have been reduced to nothing but rubble.

Our next guests lost their Altadena home in the Eaton Fire.

Joining us now, Roger and Cheryl Reid.

Cheryl, I want to start with you, because it's hard to even wrap your head around that this is the second time you have lost your home to a fire. But, unlike last time, you and your loved ones escaped alive.

CHERYL REID, LOST HOME IN EATON FIRE: Yes. Yes, thank God.

When I saw the glow of flames to the east of our house, that to my mind again comes the rolling fire coming out, burning oil coming out from under the door of my grandmother's bedroom, and my mother beating out, trying to beat out the flames with the broom, and then turning and screaming to me, "Go. Go get your sisters and brothers and get out of here" and being able to witness the rest of it from across the street and our neighbors and seeing the firemen coming down the stairs with my grandmother in on a stretcher and my mother hanging onto the fireman's coat, screaming and crying for her mother.

I was a child then. And I'm an old lady now, but these things stay with you. So when I look at, that said, get out of here, get your stuff, whatever you can, and that I still say, thank God this time we're not losing anybody in our family.

And my heart goes out to all the people that are losing...

ROGER REID, LOST HOME IN EATON FIRE: Amen. And yet we are alive.

BROWN: Yes.

C. REID: This is probably the first time I have really broken down with this.

R. REID: It is.

BROWN: Sometimes, you just need to let it out, right? And it's OK to do that after everything you have been through.

I mean, you are at your most vulnerable state right now, having lost a home again and having to also probably cope with all those memories from childhood, right? This is bringing that all back to the surface of what you went through as a kid...

C. REID: Yes.

BROWN: .. and now having to go through another loss.

Fortunately, though, you and your grandson, who you adopted, got out alive, and now you're trying to figure out how to rebuild.

Roger, what was it like for you? When did you realize it was time to evacuate? I mean, did you even have time to pack anything?

R. REID: Oh, yes. Actually, I was sitting there kind of at around, like, 8:00. I was watching the Laker game. We were awaiting notification.

And I said, what are we doing? We should be doing -- taking this seriously to get a to-go bag. We have been in Altadena since '94, when we purchased our home. At that time, it was an 800-square-foot home in 2002. We rebuilt it into a 3,000-square-foot story home.

And so we were looking at it and said, hey, we have had wind events in Altadena. The first year we were there, we had the catastrophic wind come down in the New Year's of '95. So we knew we have had the experience. We said, this cyclonic -- when they warned about wind event, I said, look, let's just pack up and be proactive. Let's just -- so we did.

[11:45:16]

We were out by about 10:00 -- by 10:00, 10:30. And we could see the flames in our rearview mirror. And so...

C. REID: Thank goodness that Roger was insistent, because Donnie (ph) had...

R. REID: Our grandson.

C. REID: ... remembered the fire from 2008. And it came so close to our house, but it still stayed north up in the hills.

And so he was kind of feeling like this would be a similar event and was waiting for the demand to evacuate. But Papa said, no, go now. Go.

R. REID: I said, we're leaving.

C. REID: The winds make the difference, the winds that were just like hurricane-force.

R. REID: Yes.

C. REID: Couldn't even open the car door and then couldn't close it because of the wind.

R. REID: We're members of the AME Church. And Reverend Larry Campbell at the AME First Pasadena, although we are members at Ward AME Church in Los Angeles, but Reverend Larry Campbell, whose congregation has lost -- catastrophically lost...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: So much catastrophe.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Well, listen...

R. REID: ... 48 homes.

BROWN: How many homes?

R. REID: I believe -- I believe it -- well, we know 26, but the count that I heard, because nobody can get back above certain...

BROWN: Right.

R. REID: I have heard it was up to 40 -- in the 40s now.

BROWN: So much catastrophe.

Robert and Cheryl Reid, I know that there's a GoFundMe for you as you try to rebuild your lives now. I'm going to put that on my Instagram page, so folks can see that. So many people like you need help.

And we just appreciate you coming on to share your story and helping to shine a spotlight on what's happening there in California. Thank you so much.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:51:46]

BROWN: I want to bring in Mayor of Malibu Doug Stewart.

Mayor, you are right now at the emergency operations center in Malibu. You're having to deal with what's been going on since last week and looking ahead. We just heard from those L.A. officials in that press conference that the fire threat is critical through Wednesday. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass says the city is making urgent preparations to mitigate its potential damage on top of what's already been lost.

How are you preparing?

DOUG STEWART, MAYOR OF MALIBU, CALIFORNIA: Well, we're in the same mode as they are. And we're all sharing the same resources, whether it's the fire department or the sheriff's department in our case.

We have got major winds coming up. And while it's not as bad as it was a week ago, it very easily could be a repeat of what we had. If there's another fire, it'll move quickly. So that's first and foremost on our plate, is to make sure we're ready in case another fire breaks out.

We also have got to take care of all of our residents that have been seriously impacted by what's already happened. So, we're in multiple stages of repair and preparation for the future.

BROWN: The question is, though, how can you be ready in case another fire breaks out?

We have been hearing from residents who said the city overall was underprepared, that there seemed to be a lack of resources. Also, we heard from officials that there was this issue with the water not being in the hydrants because, in part, the water system was not equipped to handle it. There was one reservoir that Malibu relied on that was -- had been out of service since last February.

I mean, these are not overnight fixes. So how can you be prepared for more fires?

STEWART: Well, let me help you with this a little bit.

Malibu and the city of Los Angeles are two separate entities.

BROWN: Yes.

STEWART: We don't have the same water system. We don't have the same fire department. We don't have the same police department. We are totally separate.

And for Malibu, with our Los Angeles County Fire Department and our sheriff's department, was prepositioned for this fire last week. We were staffed up and ready to go, and quick response by our support people. Our water system is operated by Los Angeles County, not Los Angeles City.

And we have had plenty of water service. Granted, there's been spots that have popped up where it could have been better. But, for the most part, everybody got what they needed. And it was just a case of being overrun by massive hurricane winds that, even with the best of our resources already on scene, all we could do was to respond the best we could.

Well, we had the resources. We had the water. We had the sheriff. We were ready.

BROWN: So you were ready.

So were there no issues of water not being in the fire hydrant or low water pressure there in Malibu? Because, obviously, there have been widespread reports of that from last week. And then there is a reservoir. My understanding is that there's, of course, many reservoirs you rely on, but there is one that's been out of service for many months that also services Malibu.

STEWART: No, that doesn't service Malibu.

BROWN: OK.

STEWART: Those are two separate ones.

It's almost like a bright line between the city of Malibu and the city of Los Angeles. And the water system that you're talking about with that reservoir was for L.A. City.

BROWN: OK.

STEWART: Ours is supplied by a water tanks that are separately ours. And our county water District 29 is the one that actually operates it. They were ready. They had the tanks full and waiting for the disaster.

[11:55:09]

I have to tell you, we could not have been more supported by our county people, Supervisor Barger, Supervisor Horvath, the sheriff. Everyone has been ready for us. I contrast that to the City of Los Angeles. Malibu was ready and did all we could to be prepared.

And that's been a story when we had the Franklin Fire a few weeks ago. Instead of rising to meet the head -- meet the fire head on, we were actually preprepared, so that, in our philosophy, you roll everything and send anything back you don't need. So we had a high response when that fire started. Same for this one.

BROWN: All right, well, listen, we wish you the best of luck in the days ahead and as you help that those residents who are out of homes now from last week's fires. A lot on your plate.

Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart, appreciate you making time for us. Thank you very much.

And thank you all for joining us. I'm Pamela Brown. You can follow me on Instagram, TikTok and X @PamelaBrownCNN.

Stay with us. "INSIDE POLITICS WITH DANA BASH" starts after a short break.