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Infernos Burn Out-Of-Control In Los Angeles Area; Sources: Trump Considering Economic Emergency Declaration; Canadians React To Trump's 51st State Claims; Thousands Told To Evacuate as Wildfires Rage In Los Angeles; High Winds Fuel Flames As Fires Erupt Across Los Angles. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired January 08, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:07]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: High winds drive devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area. Tens of thousands of people now under
evacuation orders.
Sources tell CNN, President-elect Donald Trump is considering declaring a National Economic Emergency.
And the rapid pace of AI development, it is all the talk of this year's Consumer Electronics Show.
Live from New York. It is Wednesday, January 8th. I'm Paula Newton, in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
And a very good evening to everyone, as we continue with our developing story. The California National Guard has been deployed to Los Angeles
County as raging wildfires push emergency workers to their maximum limits.
Four major infernos, look at them there, racing across the area as we speak, leaving tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders.
Now, the Palisades Fire has grown to nearly 5,000 hectares, with zero containment. Think about that. The fires are being fueled, of course, by
those fierce winds. Evacuees reporting downed trees and crushed cars.
The Los Angeles County Fire Chief confirms that the situation has now turned deadly. Two people have lost their lives so far, and many more are
injured.
CNN's Nick Watt has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just have one bag to pick.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time, mom. Let's get out of the house.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Just look at that view out her window, and this --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, let's get out of here. We tried. We tried, bro.
WATT (voice over): More than 50,000 people have been ordered or advised to evacuate from the Palisades Fire alone.
JIM MCDONNELL, LOS ANGELES CITY POLICE CHIEF: That makes the difference between living and not.
WATT (voice over): Flames hopped major roads, including the fabled Pacific Coast Highway.
KRISTIN CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE CHIEF: We are absolutely not out of danger yet with the strong winds that continue to push through the city and
the county today.
WATT (voice over): Those strong Santa Ana Winds were forecast, we knew something was coming, just not this.
Officials say they prepped for maybe one or two fires.
ANTHONY MARRONE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: There are not enough firefighters in LA County to address four separate fires of this
magnitude.
WATT (voice over): Four major fires are now burning in LA County, the most heavily populated county in the entire country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am acting -- I'm really very upset inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This year we knew with zero rain that one big windstorm and we were -- we were toast. It seems like a lot of the homes here,
they're burning because of embers that have landed in bushes and are lighting.
WATT (voice over): Wind gusts in SoCal hit 10 miles per hour, driving flames through bone dry brush and homes.
Utter devastation in the desirable neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. This is Palisades Village, the now barely recognizable chi-chi downtown. We were
here last night as those winds were picking up.
In the early hours, the fire hydrants here ran dry.
JANISSE QUINONES, CEO, LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER: We were not able to fill the cans fast enough, so the consumption of water was
faster than we can provide water.
WATT (voice over): The Palisades Fire already among the 20 worst in California's recorded history, and 15 of those have hit in just the past
decade as our climate changes and our planet warms.
ROBERT LUNA, LA COUNTY SHERIFF: This is a tragic time in our history here in Los Angeles, but a time where we are really tested and see who we really
are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: We want to thank our Nick Watt, who continues to report on this story.
Major Anthony Barnes is the General Secretary of the Salvation Army's Southern California Division. So grateful that you could take some time to
speak to us. And can you update us on the situation as it stands right now? Because I am sure, the people that have already been evacuated and those
keeping a careful watch on things to see if they too, must flee their homes.
Major, can you hear me? Major, if you can hear me, it is Paula in New York.
All right, we will return to our guest in a moment. In the meantime, we do want to bring you right up-to-date on the situation.
Our Anderson Cooper is in Altadena, California. He just arrived. This is now the Eaton Fire, and I want you to see what faced him when he arrived
just the last hour. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": The wind is just taking these embers from the tree. They're all over the block and they are moving
to other houses and you see new fires being created from these embers.
This house is gone. I mean, just look, all of these houses are gone here. There is a fire crew here. I was talking to the captain earlier.
[16:05:10]
They ran out of water here on this street about 30 minutes ago. They went - - they hooked up the hydrants. They turned them on, the water ran out.
So now, they're just moving on to another area. What they did when they don't have water is they try to create defensive perimeters around houses
that they think they can save, and those houses are houses that don't have a lot of bushes, hedges, plantings in front of them or around them.
Or if it does, they try to rip -- they've spent like the last hour just trying to clear debris from houses to try to maybe save it. But it is a
matter of luck or misfortune where these embers land, where the flames hop.
This area over here I want to show you, I mean, this house is completely gone. We've watched this entire house burn down, the house next door. The
car that you see over here, we watched that. The flames jumped from the house onto the car. There was a small explosion as the as the gas canister
blew.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Our Anderson Cooper there on the scene, and we are joined again by Major Anthony Barnes. He is the General Secretary of the Salvation Army.
Can you hear me, Major? Major Barnes, can you hear me? It's Paula in New York.
MAJOR ANTHONY BARNES, GENERAL SECRETARY, SALVATION ARMY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DIVISION: Yes. Yes, I can.
NEWTON: Good. Great. Can you bring us right up-to-date on this situation? Because while thousands have been evacuated, so many more are wondering
what happens next.
BARNES: Absolutely. You know, we are having some difficult situations here in Southern California with these fires. Four fires going on throughout the
Los Angeles County. However, the Salvation Army is mobilized and we are prepared and continue to be in preparations to help meet the most immediate
needs for our neighbors in need.
NEWTON: But what are those needs? I mean, what are you seeing out there?
BARNES: Well, we move right into meeting the immediate needs of the people. We want to make sure that people have shelter. We want to make sure that
people have food in their stomachs, that people are not going hungry, that they have access to water and clothing.
We know so many of our neighbors in need are losing so many of their valuables, and folks are even being preventative measures, leaving their
homes but not knowing exactly where they're going to go, and this is where we get to step in and meet those immediate needs.
NEWTON: Yes, no doubt it is met with so much despair, but also shock. Even if they are thankful to be alive. I mean, are you expecting many more
evacuations at this point?
BARNES: Well, this is just -- it is an evolving situation which can go either direction, and so we are preparing without saying, preparing for the
worst, just preparing to serve in any way that we are needed to do so.
The Salvation Army, as you would know, is there before, during and after any disaster strikes and is committed to serving the whole person
physically, emotionally, spiritually. And so we do that by making sure that we have those basic human needs ready to go, and then we are prepared to
move in even long term once that transitions.
NEWTON: And unfortunately, that might be needed in this situation. But what are you seeing from people? What are you hearing from people when many of
them just escaped barely with their lives and have nothing?
BARNES: Well, what we are seeing is that that people are just trying to figure out, what do I do next? And that's where we get to come alongside
them, point them to the directions. There are a few places that are receiving people now. El Camino Real Charter High School, Westwood
Recreation Center, the Ritchie Valens Recreation Center, and a few more that are mobilizing.
And what we are doing is pointing people into those directions so that they can get those needs met, so that we can sit with them and find out, one,
how are you doing right now? And we want to remind people that we are with them no matter what, that they're not walking alone through these
disasters.
I think that's the first thing that's most important to us. The Salvation Army likes to let our neighbors in need, know that we are right with them,
because we are their neighbors as well.
NEWTON: In terms of the infrastructure itself, I think, you know, we are looking at homes go up, but obviously schools, community centers,
businesses, many of those things have been destroyed. Are you looking at communities that will be unrecoverable for months, if not years?
BARNES: I think that's always a possibility. You know, the devastation, if you will, is still being assessed. Yes, some schools are being affected.
Homes are absolutely affected, and the general community is feeling a sense of being disrupted, or feeling displaced.
And so we have a number of different centers within the city, places where some of our location centers that we give assistance to can serve as
shelters as well, as feeding locations. We also have child development centers, where families can potentially bring their children and have some
sense of normalcy, if you will. I don't even know that that's the right term.
But to just get them back to baseline, to let them know that that they're not on their own in this situation, that we are able to help meet those
needs and be with them through this.
NEWTON: Yes, we are just in the first day of this tragedy. I want to ask you, what are you hearing from people in terms of their shock?
[16:10:02]
Because while everyone has told us that these areas of California are used to these wildfires, this really seemed to take people by surprise. I don't
know what you've seen and what you've encountered in the last day.
BARNES: What we are hearing, as you would stand -- most standard here during a disaster is I didn't think this was going to happen to me, or I
didn't know this was coming, and I don't really know what to do next. We feel prepared to come alongside people in those disasters because we have
trained emergency disaster response experts that have provided skilled relief services, and we come alongside of them with our officers and staff.
In wildfire situations, these typically include things like providing food, hydration, clean up kits, and hygiene supplies. We also serve food, not
just to those that have been affected by loss, but also the hard working first responders of our community, the heroes of our community.
We provide that spiritual and emotional care, prayer support, pastoral care and so on. And then, as I mentioned earlier, as time allows and as we go
along into that long term recovery, as we seek to restore social service programs, implementing long term recovery plans.
And so we don't just meet their needs today, we are with them tomorrow and beyond.
NEWTON: Certainly, a lot of work ahead, and as you said, heroes, everyday people having to step up in order to literally save lives. We are going to
leave it there for now, Major Barnes.
BARNES: Yes.
NEWTON: Thanks so much. Appreciate you joining us.
Now, Donald Trump is already provoking leaders in Greenland, Canada and Panama. We will talk about the international response to his blustery
rhetoric. We will have that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Four major wildfires at this hour raging across Los Angeles County in Southern California. Now, the infernos have pushed emergency workers
right to their maximum limits. The fires are being fueled by an extreme windstorm.
Anderson cooper is in Altadena, California for us.
Anderson, it is so good to have you there on the ground. I continue to be astounded by the conditions in front of you and in front of so many now in
Southern California. What are you seeing?
COOPER: Well, the area I am in in Altadena, which is Harriet Street and Glen is just devastated. I mean, there are a number of houses which have
remained on the corner of Harriet and Glen, but all around here, houses have just -- we've been watching for the last hour being destroyed.
Look at this vehicle. It is just -- it just started on fire. It spread from a house nearby which is burning-- it had been burning for about 30 minutes.
It started with the tire. It is now spreading to the whole vehicle. A very good chance that that vehicle may explode due to the gas inside the
vehicle.
[16:15:10]
You hear these explosions as gas tanks erupt as vehicles set on fire. It happened to this vehicle over here about an hour ago. But you can see,
look, this entire block is just gone. This is the south side of Glen Avenue, south of Harriet.
We've been watching as these winds which have died down and that is certainly some of the good news. As you know, there were hurricane level
winds throughout the evening, early morning, which really just made these fires just explode into areas where you don't normally see fires. They have
died down and the wind has just shifted really literally in the last three minutes or so right before we started talking to you.
But this whole area is just devastated and we watched as the winds moved these flames, these embers from house to house. And you see -- I mean, you
can literally just watch it jump. You can see the embers igniting these trees, and then the trees explode into embers that send just tens of
thousands of embers up into the sky. They can travel for miles, then land somewhere where they've never had a fire before.
It can land on a roof. It can land on a lawn. It can ignite a tree in somebody else's neighborhood, and then you have a whole other series of
ignitions.
This car is gone, obviously very much of concern, the house -- there is a house on the corner that is still standing. That is the only house on
Harriet -- on this part of Harriet Street, which is still standing, but the fire is slowly spreading to it, and there is nothing to be done.
The firefighters who were here, they have left because they ran out of water. Okay, that was some sort of secondary fire there. I don't know if
that was a -- I don't think that was the larger gas fire, though.
The firefighters have left. They ran out of water about 30 or so minutes ago. The hydrants ran dry. So they did the best they could. I was talking
to them. They tried to build what they called a defensive perimeter or make a defensive perimeter around some of these houses. The houses that haven't
burned yet, removing any shrubbery that may, you know, catch a spark, catch an ember, and then lead to the whole house burning down. But that's about
all they can without water.
So then they've moved now to another location, hoping to get water there. They've talked about bringing in water trucks, but obviously that's --
that's the explosion we've been waiting for. I think that was the gas. So that -- you know, so that happened.
There are still a number of vehicles on the street though, which have not yet caught fire, but it just -- it is house by house, minute after minute,
a fire which is just steadily spreading. And there is -- I mean, it is out of control at this point.
Obviously, fire crews are doing the best they can. The fire captain I spoke to, he has been up 24 hours. That is -- it is exhausting, but firefighters
in these situations are used to that. They may be -- no idea how long he is going to be on duty now. I mean, it could be another 12 hours. It could be
another 24 hours.
At a certain point, they just have to pull people off the line because they're just exhausted. They've already been working just around the clock,
again, another explosion.
But they are calling in for a lot more firefighters. They have firefighters, they say coming from western states all over -- from all over
the United States. How quickly can they get here? What equipment do they have?
One of the issues, because of these strong winds, as you know, earlier, getting aircraft up into the sky to drop water, to drop a fire retardant,
that has been a real issue. They have been able to get some up in a number of locations. But as the winds die down, hopefully that can increase.
But this lack of water is a real issue, particularly in the Palisades. I mean, they ran dry in the overnight hours and now I don't know how
widespread the water outage is here. I've only been on this corner, but it obviously was a great concern to the firefighters here.
They are trying to do the best they can, but it has been so dry here. There has been, I think like a quarter or half an inch of rain or something over
the last eight months. So, it is -- this is the wet season in this area. This is the time when they're supposed to get a lot of water, get a lot of
rain, get it into the ground. That has not been the case.
And the last I heard, there is no rain in the forecast for weeks, in the two-week forecast that that I saw. So that is now whatever gas was in there
has probably burned out.
So I will actually take you over. Let's go back over here. We will do it on the safer side of the street. There is a photographer from the Associated
Press who is here. He has done a lot of these wildfires. He was saying he hasn't seen anything like this.
And, you know, Nick Watt was saying this earlier. This is essentially a wildfire in Los Angeles. You know, you hear about wildfires out in
mountainous areas.
[16:20:10]
This is a suburban community. And now you know, so that car goes on fire. Look, it is now spreading up these palm trees. See the flames just going
right up those palm trees, the trees behind it have already burned. Yes.
So when these palm trees go, when those branches ignite, it is just going to explode into embers. And those embers are going to be carried to the
tree right next to it. That tree is going to explode into embers, and that is going to send tens of thousands of embers up into the air and who knows
where they will land.
The wind has died down, as I said, but you can just see how these fires work, to see it up close, it is an extraordinary thing to see how fires get
spread.
NEWTON: I mean, Anderson, you can tell that -- oh, there goes more.
You can tell that given where the wind is, even if you have a gust that's going in the opposite direction, it means where you're standing now that is
still pristine.
COOPER: Yes.
NEWTON: It could go up at any moment. I think what has been shocking so many people here is the lack of water. The fact that they already had --
the firefighters have left. There is no water.
COOPER: Sorry, I lost IFB for me, Paula, but I will just keep going for a little while and you can just cut me off or move away from me whenever you
want.
NEWTON: Yes, go ahead.
COOPER: But yes, look, you can see now the embers making that palm tree starting to glow. It is going to get up into the leaves. We are going to
try to reestablish contact -- driving up into the -- another -- just some sort of implosion inside the car.
This is going to now be fuel, those trees are now going to be fuel for this fire to spread, possibly to this house, which we have been watching very
carefully. Oh, you know what? Wow. Okay.
We are going to were dialing back in. Yes. So this house, there is a house on the corner which we have been watching, which we've been hoping would be
spared, but it looks very much like that house may now also be in flames.
I am going to try to reestablish contact with you and get back to you.
NEWTON: Anderson, I don't know if you can hear me. Okay, we will leave it here for now, Anderson, and we will definitely get back to you when we can.
Absolutely devastating scenes there still in Altadena, California. Anderson Cooper, again, thank you.
Now we are going to move on to some other news, but we will keep you right up-to-date. Obviously, you see very dramatic changes there, just block by
block.
Okay, sources say Donald Trump may declare a National Economic Emergency in order to adopt broad based tariffs. Now, that move would allow him to act
quickly and unilaterally. That's key.
The one source said nothing has been decided just yet. Now, he could do so under a law called the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, and it
lets the US president control imports during times of emergency without strict requirements to prove that tariffs are actually needed.
Our Kayla Tausche is in Washington, DC and you broke the story, Kayla.
I mean, I am kind of confused as to we understand the mechanism, but at the end of the day, is this the president-elect really wanting to move away
from Congress, literally just wanting to say with the stroke of a pen that he is going to do this no matter any kind of opposition he faces?
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, it seems that he is going to be seeking to use executive power at any opportunity
that he can to advance his agenda, understanding that his capital on with lawmakers is relatively thin. He is going to be meeting with senators to
talk about how to advance other initiatives like tax reform and immigration.
But when it comes to trade, his team is exploring how the executive branch, in particular, can pursue this program of wide ranging universal tariffs
that President-elect Trump campaigned on in a quick and wide ranging way.
Those are the key descriptors here, because you may remember that during Trump's first term, he did institute a very large, sweeping program of
tariffs against China, and also against the steel and aluminum exports of many other countries.
But those policy initiatives required lengthy investigations. They were met with much resistance from corporate America and lobbying organizations, and
ultimately took many, many months to implement and then faced much opposition even after they were put into place and resulted in negotiations
with many countries that ended up dialing much of that back.
Trump's team wants to avoid that this time. They want to put something in place right out the gate, and so they are trying to explore what powers
they have to do that. And this act, this law known as IEEPA, is seen as one of those vehicles that President Trump could potentially utilize to do just
that, because it gives him this wide ranging authority to declare an emergency, to describe it in any way he sees fit, and to put tariffs on as
a result.
During his first term, he used IEEPA to threaten five percent tariffs on Mexico that would step up to 25 percent if the country didn't get its
immigration situation in order and create a decline in the number of migrants that were crossing the southern border.
[16:25:14]
Ultimately, a negotiation reached an agreement where Trump backed away from those tariffs, but he is certainly familiar with the ability to use it. And
so declaring a national emergency on the economy would be seen as a very easy way for him to do this.
Now, advisers tell me that there are also other avenues that he is exploring using other sections of the trade law that allow the US to
challenge what they see as discriminatory economic practices or economic practices that challenge National Security, but again, many of those,
Paula, require lengthy investigations, and so this would really be, if Trump ends up going forward with it, a way for them to do this quickly and
in a very wide ranging way.
NEWTON: Yes, and it goes without saying, there is no economic emergency per se in the United States, given GDP growth, unemployment, inflation,
everything up pretty healthy levels.
Kayla, I know you'll keep us up to date on this story. Really appreciate it.
Now Canadians are reacting to Donald Trump's claims that Canada should become, yes, the 51st American state.
I went out to Manotick, Ontario just about a half an hour from Ottawa. It is home of Pierre Poilievre, the leader of Canada's Conservative Party. I
wanted to hear them out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON (voice over): As Justin Trudeau triggered political upheaval from his home's doorstep in Canada.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister.
NEWTON (voice over): From his home, President-elect Donald Trump suggesting erasing Canada as an independent country altogether --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because Canada and the United States, that would really be something.
NEWTON (voice over): Doubling down on his threat to use economic force to turn Canada into the 51st state.
TRUMP: You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for National
Security.
NEWTON (voice over): Later, posting a map for emphasis.
As Trump was threatening from Mar-a-Lago, the locals were lacing up and speaking up in Manotick, Canada?
ROD MATHESON, RESIDENT OF MANOTICK, CANADA: It is embarrassing what he is doing to us. Shame on him. We are their best trading partner. We are a
great ally. We always have been. Shame on Donald.
NEWTON (voice over): We took to the ice with Canadians used to taking a few shots, but this --
LINDSAY CAULEY, RESIDENT OF MANOTICK, CANADA: I thought it was a big joke at the beginning, but he keeps poking us so, yes, it is -- who can explain
how his mind works, you know? Maybe it is true. It is going to be really interesting in the next little while.
DOUG GILLIS, RESIDENT OF MANOTICK, CANADA: And were not too keen on the tariffs as well.
NEWTON (on camera): It's a big threat, isn't it?
GILLIES: It's a very big threat.
NEWTON (voice over): That threat to slap a 25 percent tariff on all imports from Canada has worried many here in Manotick, Ontario, part of the home
district of the man leading the race to become Canada's next prime minister.
Pierre Poilievre, Canada's Conservative Party leader, has found a following not only with Canadians fed up with Trudeau's Liberal Party --
PIERRE POILIEVRE, CANADA'S CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER: This horrendous utopian wokeism --
NEWTON (voice over): But with admiring MAGA fans like Elon Musk.
NIK NANOS, VETERAN POLLSTER: The social media strategy for Pierre Poilievre and the conservatives has been absolutely masterful.
NEWTON: Veteran pollster, Nik Nanos charts Poilievre's more than 20 percent lead in the polls, but holding that lead will depend partly on how he
handles the attacks from across the border.
NANOS: What Canadians understand is that the US is their most important ally and economic partner, but they don't want to get too close and they
like it when there are politicians that stand up or are firm with Americans.
NEWTON (voice over): This voter believes Poilievre can stop the insults and start the bargaining.
PEGGY WILSON, RESIDENT OF MANOTICK, CANADA: We have to have a trade agreement with the United States. He understands how Trump works, and
President Trump is a deal maker. He likes to negotiate.
NEWTON (voice over): An election is still months away in Canada, and in the meantime, many here say they have to give as good as they get and will be
mounting a defense that could include tariffs of their own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON (on camera): And we will certainly continue to stay up-to-date -- keep up-to-date for you on that story.
In the meantime, we will return to Southern California, of course, after a break where four -- four -- major wildfires are tearing through the Los
Angeles area. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:32:37]
NEWTON: You are looking at live pictures of Los Angeles County. There are at least two people who've been killed by the fires raging there, many more
are injured. Authorities are warning that all, all Los Angeles County residents are in danger this hour.
Several Hollywood stars have also been forced to evacuate. Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars," says he has fled his daughter's home.
Actor Steve Guttenberg is actually assisting in the wildfire response. And James Woods posted this video of the fire closing in on his home. He spoke
to CNN earlier about his experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES WOODS, ACTOR: When we couldn't get our garage door open because the wind was blocking, what, because our door goes up like this, I said, oh, my
god, we're up in the hills here. Are we going to walk out? I'm 77 years old, man. I can't walk up these hills. It's like Mount Everest here. It's
like, you know, pretty steep. So, you know, it's just -- I posted this on X, but Sarah was on with her 8-year-old niece last night. She came out.
I'm sorry. Just, you know, one day you're swimming in the pool and the next day it's all gone. But, yes, she came out with her little yeti piggy bank
for us to rebuild our house. I'm sorry. I'm usually -- I thought I would be stronger than this. I thought I'd be stronger than this. But you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: So heart wrenching there. I mean, what a story.
Julia Vargas Jones joins us now from Altadena in Los Angeles County.
I mean, Julia, I don't know if you can hear me. I am looking at the scenes behind you. Bring us right up to date. What have you been seeing?
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is a heartbreaking story there, Paula. And we have been hearing so many stories like that one, of
people trying to save what they can from their homes. We spoke to a woman that had come back after being told to evacuate. She was in Pasadena, just
one town over, and she came back to get her things and it was too late. Her house was already engulfed in flames. But these volunteers were trying to
help her with hosing, just hosing down her house, trying to do something before firefighters could get in.
[16:35:02]
Now these firefighters here behind me, like these guys have been working so hard for the past 24 hours nonstop, some of them working 24, 36, 48 hours
nonstop. That's what they're telling us. And look, they have to make really tough choices. This fire has ballooned from like 200 to over 10,600 acres,
30,000 people are under evacuation orders, tens of thousands of structures are in danger of this line of fire.
And we know how fire works, these 100-mile-an-hour winds, they're bringing fire. It's kind of like a hurricane, but instead of water, you get fire.
And it spreads in this random kind of pattern where one house is totally fine and just next door, you see something that's completely destroyed.
Just going to -- on the other side here. This is people right now, police, the sheriff, and the fire department has set up a perimeter just one block
that way.
These are people that are trying to evacuate, trying to leave their homes. They can't go north of here. North of here would be going towards the fire.
They can't go north. We can't go north either because there's a gas station in the line of fire that's in danger of exploding. So authorities have set
up this perimeter to ensure that that doesn't happen.
That's part of that calculation I was mentioning to you earlier. What is it that you try to save, to try to contain the fire? We saw people pleading,
saying, look, I've called the fire department. I told them my address. I'm here waiting because they're working with things like gas stations or shops
that have hazardous materials that if they explode a whole block will go with them.
So these are some of the calculations, some of the stories that we're hearing here on the ground, Paula. And at zero percent containment, we're
sure we're going to hear so many more stories like that in the next 24 hours.
NEWTON: Yes. I mean, Julia, we're grateful that it seems the wind has died down a bit. That's also what they're telling us in the CNN Weather Center.
But I'm looking behind you. You know, like you said, it's so cruel. The homes behind you seem OK for now. And yet the ones in front of you
destroyed.
I want to ask you about this issue of water, right, because so many of the neighborhoods now have run out. You have people who were looking at -- in
their homes, looking at fires in their backyard, calling the firefighters. There was no water to put it out anyway.
VARGAS JONES: Yes, yes. And in the greater Los Angeles area, authorities have requested, told people to please not use water except for the bare
minimum because of the issue of conserving the water so that they can fight these fires. We overheard some firefighters connecting to fire hydrants and
they're like, oh, this one is not working. We have those issues across Altadena.
Look, it's not a good scene, Paula. It's good that the wind has died down. We had some really scary moments earlier. As you see the wind pick up and
how much that really affects, you see the plumes of smoke becoming clouds and just switching directions, you know, under this very orange, surreal
sun here in Southern California. But again, I can't really begin to fathom what to expect over the next day or so.
NEWTON: Yes, unfortunately so many residents right now coming to grips with what is before them.
Julia Vargas Jones for us on the ground. We'll continue to stay in touch. Really appreciate you being there.
And we will have much more on these deadly wildfires ahead, including a live update from Altadena in Los Angeles County, where, as we just heard,
those fires are affecting tens of thousands of people.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:41:47]
NEWTON: Now officials say more than a thousand structures have been destroyed by the Palisades Fire. I mean, we've been watching live on the
air that even more have gone up in flames. This is clearly not over yet. One climate expert says the Palisades wildfire alone could be the costliest
in U.S. history. It raises the question of what people who have lost their homes will be able to recover. Some insurance companies have previously
limited coverage in California, considering it too high risk.
Carmen Balber is the executive director of the Group Consumer Watchdog. She joins us now from Los Angeles.
Very grateful to have you here. I hope you and your family are safe. And for those people who now at least are safe, they're safe, their family
members are safe, their pets are safe. They're evacuated. They've lost everything. What is the challenge that follows now? What can they expect
that their insurance company will pay?
CARMEN BALBER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CONSUMER WATCHDOG: It's a long road, but there are a lot of protections in place in California to ensure that your
insurance company does pay what they've promised, but it's really important for those who are evacuated now, especially if they know already that
they've lost their home, that they start documenting everything.
And that starts with receipts for their evacuation costs because one thing that some homeowners may not know is that their insurance company will
generally cover additional expenses for leaving your home. That's everything from lodging to food to transportation. That's necessary because
you can't return to your home so start keeping receipts.
NEWTON: And that's -- yes, and that's good for anyone wherever you are in terms of what should befall you, given insurance companies. But California
is specific here, right? Several private insurers have been cutting coverage. California is not the only state where this is happening as well.
What has been the result? And is it time for a more drastic, you know, refit, shall we say, of the home insurance industry, not just in California
but beyond?
BALBER: Well, the one thing I will say is that most Californians are still covered by a traditional insurance policy. About 4 percent of people in the
state have moved to what we call our insurer of last resort. But now too many people are in it. It's called the Fair Plan, and that has lower
benefits. It has lower coverage. People can expect to be repaid less from their Fair Plan policies often than traditional insurance.
But most Californians do still have regular insurance in the regular home insurance market, and they should expect those claims to be paid.
NEWTON: You say they should expect those claims to be paid, but what are they facing? Because there's a lot of proof that has to happen and a lot of
insurance companies turning away when they see signs like this to say, look, we'll insure it this time, but we will not re-insure you, given the
risk of this kind of catastrophe.
BALBER: Well, there's an important consumer protection law in California that says after a declared emergency, and these four fires are definitely a
declared emergency, insurance companies can't non-renew people in the fire zone or in the surrounding zip codes for a full year. So everyone who's
been evacuated, whether or not their home was impacted, should at least have the comfort of knowing that their insurance company will not be able
to non-renew them for the next year.
[16:45:03]
NEWTON: And after that year?
BALBER: And after that year, we need stronger protections in place in the market so insurance companies are not simply abandoning whole parts of our
state. One of the things that these fires are telling us is that mitigation is critical to help protect our state from the worst of wildfires, and by
mitigation, I mean home hardening so higher building standards, protecting your roof, closing eaves against those wildly blowing embers to make homes
less likely to burn down, and brush clearance to prevent some of this home- to-home passage of the fire that we're seeing here today.
It's really shown the importance of those mitigation steps. And we need protections that say, if you mitigate, insurance companies have to cover
you. That will help keep Californians insured.
NEWTON: Yes, certainly quite a challenge ahead of so many residents right now that have lost everything.
Carmen Balber, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Now CNN has crews right across Southern California reporting on these wildfires. I want you to listen now to Natasha Chen, who filed this report
from Altadena.
Natasha, are you there? Can you hear me? It's Paula in New York.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi. Yes, I can.
NEWTON: Natasha --
CHEN: We are in Altadena, California.
NEWTON: Go ahead. We can see the flames behind you. And you've been doing extraordinary reporting for the last 24 hours. And I hear just the last
hour for you as well has been intense.
CHEN: It has. We're in a main business thoroughfare in Altadena, where there are flames every direction we look. Right now we're focused on this
one right here, as you can see, a business complex fully engulfed in these plumes of smoke, are just rising high into the air, dropping embers. And we
have to be a bit careful about where the wind is carrying these embers right now. And you can see because of that how easy it is for another
structure to catch on fire.
The structure across the street is already burned, and there's nothing left of that. We can also, at some point here, turn a little bit to show you
just how extensive this is all around. This business is gone. That business is gone. Look further up the street. That business is on fire. Across the
street, there's another business on fire. That's just beyond the Bank of America. Actually, over this fence here we see an apartment complex that's
also on flames over here.
In order to get to this location, Paula, we actually drove through several neighborhoods where the flames had already come through. And those homes,
unfortunately, are mostly gone. That's in that direction over there. When we drove past, there was nothing left of that. We're talking about the --
just down to the foundations of those homes. Some cars left the metal frames of those cars.
Let's go back over here and you can actually just see, I don't know if you can see in the distance just how many emergency vehicles are trying to stop
people from coming up this road. Of course, we are being extremely cognizant of when this might be too intense and how to get ourselves out of
here, but this is just to show you the extent of this.
This is the heart of the city. This is a main business intersection where you pretty much see every single block has either already gone up in flames
or is in flames -- Paula.
NEWTON: Yes. And you can also see that there's really no hope. This has to burn itself out. At least this building you're showing there. I mean, those
embers are coming down like fireballs. It is raining fireballs right now. And we see just the challenge in front of so many people.
Natasha, I'm curious, when you got to this location, how many blocks are we talking about of burned out homes did you see?
CHEN: In the residential areas, oh, gosh, I would say more than a dozen blocks. We saw downed power lines. We saw certain people still hanging
around because there are some homes intact, and they're trying to protect those homes. So just because of the nature of how these embers fly and how
the wind changes so suddenly, it can randomly skip over a house. And so there are some people just trying to protect what's left and what's
standing there.
It definitely, when you look around here, it seems rather futile. But I understand that desire to really just protect what is remaining here.
NEWTON: Absolutely. I mean, look, Natasha, you had a harrowing escape last evening from one of those fires. How are people feeling about should they
stay in place? Should they evacuate? I mean, I imagine it's a pretty agonizing decision at this point in time.
CHEN: I think that there are a lot of people I've personally spoken to who left when it was an evacuation warning and not an order because they saw
from a distance how quickly this was rolling. Unfortunately, there have been people who did not evacuate. And, you know, that is making things
difficult for emergency responders of course.
[16:50:02]
So I -- we won't really be able to tell until the flames and dust settle here just how many people decided to stay behind. But I can tell you that
there was a lot of gridlock trying to get out of Pacific Palisades on the west by the ocean yesterday. And then, of course, all of this happened
overnight and early hours here on the northeast side of the city.
NEWTON: From what you've seen and what we've heard from officials, I mean, at this hour, so the winds we know have died down. The CNN Weather Center
tells us we're by no means out of this, though, yet. What is the hope here? Is the hope that more, you know, more aerial help will be in the air trying
to douse some of these fires with containment, or that eventually, as the winds die down, they will be able to do the spot firefighting that they are
so used to doing?
CHEN: I think it's a little bit of all of the above. I think that there has been some aerial attack in limited form. But let's turn back on this side.
I think it's just getting more intense here. But that's obviously very difficult to do if you've got very strong wind gusts. And I will tell you
last night, standing by the ocean there by the Palisades Fire, it felt like tropical storm force winds.
And so if you've got those kinds of winds, even if you did fly an aircraft, which it wouldn't be safe to do, dropping buckets of water from the ocean
onto flames won't be terribly effective in that situation where the water would just scatter to, you know, places that are not the target of where
you were trying to drop. So the winds definitely made everything more difficult.
You are correct. We're expecting a little bit of a reprieve as the day goes on and what we really need, Paula, which does not seem to be in the cards,
is rain and I don't see that happening.
NEWTON: Yes, it hasn't been in the cards for months, unfortunately.
Natasha Chen, very grateful to you. Do stay safe and we'll continue to check in with you and we'll be right back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Four major wildfires are raging across Los Angeles County in Southern California. Now the infernos have pushed emergency workers right
to the brink. The fires being fueled, of course, by that extreme windstorm.
Chad Myers is in Atlanta.
I mean, look, Chad, I know how closely you've been following this. You know, we just heard Natasha saying these this felt like a hurricane to her,
you know, in terms of what was coming with all the fire spreading. What can we expect now?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sure. I mean, that was a category one, category two wind gusts for sure. But now the winds have calmed down.
[16:55:06]
Southern California is a strange weather phenomenon thing. You've got winds that actually pick up after dark. 99 percent of everybody watching right
now when the sun sets, the winds die off. It doesn't work that way in Southern California because of the desert with a high pressure to the north
and a low pressure to the south.
So let me kind of explain here what's going on. We have the high desert. It's called the Great Basin. High pressure was here. Still is. Low pressure
down to the south. Just to the north there of almost about Yuma, Arizona, just about there. So what happens at night when the sun sets, the cold,
high pressure here, because it's a desert, air is dry, sinks to the ground. Unlike a hot air balloon that goes up, the cold air sinks to the ground.
When that happens, the high pressure even gets higher. So your difference, your delta between the high and the low becomes greater and the winds blow
harder at night due to that. And so this is all what happened as the winds were blowing down the hill. That's what we were seeing. The 70, 80-mile-
per-hour wind gusts.
Now things at least have calmed down. We are down into the 20s and 30s mile per hour. But, you know, I mean, that's still 50 KPH, that's enough to
certainly blow a spark around or two -- Paula.
NEWTON: Yes. And obviously you want the water to be effective dropping from the air.
Chad Myers, thank you, sir.
And that was QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Paula Newton. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is Breaking News.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper, and we are following two major stories this hour.
The first is on Capitol Hill, where this evening, President-elect Donald Trump is going to meet behind closed doors with Senate Republicans. There
are 53 Senate Republicans now. They have the majority, and they are the very lawmakers who will ultimately decide whether President-elect Trump
gets his cabinet picks confirmed.
Our teams are spread across the Capitol. We're going to check in with them in moments, but we're going to start with our LEAD story and the incredible
grim scenes on the West Coast.
Four wildfires burning out of control in and around Los Angeles. New images showing incredibly large flames burning right now in Altadena, California.
These flames fueled by these strong winds, gusts of up to 100 miles per hour, and homes, cars, and businesses reduced to ash in just minutes. The
flames spreading so fast that fire hydrants are running out of water. At least two people have been killed.
Fire officials say there are, quote, "significant number of people injured." And the Los Angeles County fire chief says there are simply not
enough firefighters to contain these blazes.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper is on the scene in Altadena, California, right now near the Eaton Fire.
Anderson, what we saw from you there about an hour ago was heartbreaking. Homes just going up in flames seconds after seconds. How widespread are
those flames?
COOPER: I'm sorry, I don't have IFB. So we're at the same location we were when we talked to you last. The winds have died down here, which is the
good news.
END
