the president and his administration are continuing to use every tool at our disposal to help fight these fires and ensure that the communities impacted are able to recover. lafd battled all night on the palisades fire, the hearst fire, the kenneth fire, and airdrop efforts, thank goodness, continue. we've been walking l through the wreckage of pacific palisades. it's an extraordinary site. bits of it are still smoking. you think of all the memories and hang—outs with friends as a kid and it's absolutely devastating. i'm heartbroken. joining me tonight are leon emirali, entrepreneur and former aide to the uk's chief secretary to the treasury, and shannon felton—spence, us political and communications strategist.

first, the latest headlines. a night—time curfew has been imposed in los angeles in an effort to stop looting. the fires raging around the city have left thousands of properties empty. there's been some progress in containing the blazes. donald trump has escaped fines and prison time over his conviction last year on multiple charges of fraud. however, the unconditional discharge he was given means he's the first convicted felon to serve as us president. the us says it will pay $25 million for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of the venezuelan president. nicolas maduro is wanted on drugs charges. he was sworn in today for another term after last summer's disputed election. the us and eu, among others, have recognised the opposition edmundo gonzalez as president—elect. centrica, which owns british gas, has said

gas storage levels are "concerningly low" because of the freezing weather. the bbc understands there is no danger of the uk running out of gas, though the issue may lead to more foreign supplies and a rise in energy costs. at mundo gonzalez is the opposition candidate in venezuela, not the opposition leader. we're going to start this hour again in los angeles. we can bring you these live pictures, where efforts to contain a series of devastating fires continue. the us department of health and human services has now declared a public health emergency for the state. obviously air quality is a huge concern and the impact that might have on health, so those

health impacts of the ongoing wildfire certainly one of the issues right at the forefront of all the authorities and the public�*s minds. there's been some progress in containing the blazes. winds have eased, but forecasters warn they could strengthen again through the weekend. but right now, people have been able to get up in those firefighting aircraft, and we are just hitting these pictures, you may have seen that if you are watching just a few minutes ago, these pictures of people at out about in la at the centre where donations of clothing have been made, and there are so many people who obviously have had to flee their homes with only the clothes they were wearing, which were likely to smell strongly of smoke, so people going to the donated clothing trying to find some they did change into to keep them going over the next few days while they try to come to terms with what's happened and figure out what's happened and figure out what to do next.

that night—time curfew has been imposed to try to prevent looting. many, many homes, of course, left empty. at least ten people have died and around 70,000 homes and other buildings are either destroyed, damaged or at risk. on wednesday, i spoke to caitlin doran. she and herfamily, her dogs and her 175—pound giant tortoise, tiptoe, had to evacuate the palisades. they are now all in her house in los angeles and shejoins me again with an update on her situation. caitlin, it is very good to see you again. thank you so much for talking to me and talking to our fevers for talking to me and talking to ourfevers on for talking to me and talking to our fevers on wednesday, because i could see the emotion on your face, because i could see the emotion on yourface, i could hear it in your voice, on yourface, i could hear it in yourvoice, and on yourface, i could hear it in your voice, and you were describing what had happened to your grandfather's home at the efforts to try to save it. for anyone who did not see that, just briefly tell us that again. just briefly tell us that a . ain. . ., just briefly tell us that aaain. , just briefly tell us that main. , ., , just briefly tell us that aaain. , ., , again. so my family has been in the palisades _ again. so my family has been in the palisades since _ again. so my family has been in the palisades since the - again. so my family has been in the palisades since the 1930s, | the palisades since the 1930s, so the connection to the

community is major. we had the fire started about 10:30am, we evacuated the tortoise at 3:30 p: m., evacuated the tortoise at 3:30 p:m., our neighbourhood did not have any support, we did not have any support, we did not have any support, we did not have any fire trucks or anything because, i mean, we did not have it, so my grandfather, boyfriend, dad and brother stayed until about... we got my grand father out at 8:30pm, but they had the hoses and were doing a reading they could, but the hoses ran out of water as well, so we had no fire trucks in our community, we had no water in our community, the winds were just, it was insane, and that night, tuesday night, it was the palisades fire, and now we have, what, six, seven fires? we have no resources. my family, we are all safe and we are all very happy to be together, but we have started the process of trying to find a

place to live altogether, and a thousand other families are doing the same thing, so it's just, will see what happens, but it is very much so minute by minute to kind of see what is going to happen.— is going to happen. yours to recovering — is going to happen. yours to recovering from _ is going to happen. yours to recovering from the - is going to happen. yours to recovering from the shock . is going to happen. yours to | recovering from the shock of this, and you're in the situation of limbo, i suppose. we're just showing, caitlin, situation of limbo, i suppose. we'rejust showing, caitlin, to let you know, ourfevers, pictures that you posted of the scene that night, and the home, the house, well ablaze, and obviously you had to call, there was a point in which you decided that there was no hope of saving it and you had to save yourselves, so tell us a little bit more, caitlin, then, about the conversations that are going on between you and the rest of the family about what you do next. presumably its insurance, and as you say, where you live, how to find somewhere big enough for all of you, at least in the short—term

totally. you, at least in the short-term totall . , ., . totally. the insurance thing, cra ! totally. the insurance thing, crazy! such _ totally. the insurance thing, crazy! such a _ totally. the insurance thing, crazy! such a process. - totally. the insurance thing, crazy! such a process. and | totally. the insurance thing, i crazy! such a process. and we have my grandparents, my honour, uncle and my parents and we have gone through this extraordinary, germanic event, but you've got to jump on all of those things very quickly, so this sounds horrible to say, but our entire community is going through this at the same time, so i feel like a lot of people are kind of leaning on each other. i am getting calls for my friend about how their parents with figuring out insurance and paperwork, leaving your house behind. we had a couple things with us to pack, we have a huge tortoise that requires a lot of support to get out of there, and it's just, it really is starting from square one. my mum does not even have a toothbrush! start over, start fresh, and palisades, may be six, seven

years we will be ready to rebuild, but until then, years we will be ready to rebuild, but untilthen, going to find somewhere nice and cosy for the whole family!— for the whole family! jack, on that point _ for the whole family! jack, on that point of— for the whole family! jack, on that point of rebuilding, - that point of rebuilding, caitlin, the family has been there, your grandfather's home has been there since the 1930s, i think you said, that building, that home? i i think you said, that building, that home? i am a fifth-generation, _ building, that home? i am a fifth-generation, so - building, that home? i am a fifth-generation, so my- building, that home? i am a i fifth-generation, so my family fifth—generation, so my family has been there since the 1930s. we own a property with a grocery store that burned down unfortunately.— unfortunately. does that make ou unfortunately. does that make you determine _ unfortunately. does that make you determine to _ unfortunately. does that make you determine to go _ unfortunately. does that make you determine to go back, - unfortunately. does that make you determine to go back, to i you determine to go back, to rebuild? is there any conversation going on about whether you move somewhere different? i don't even know if that would be a practical thing for any members of your family to do, but what kind of conversations are going on around that? we conversations are going on around that?— conversations are going on around that? ~ ., , ., , , around that? we have flip flops uuite a around that? we have flip flops quite a bit. _ around that? we have flip flops quite a bit, because _ around that? we have flip flops quite a bit, because there's - quite a bit, because there's nothing to go back to currently, but i feel like now that we have had a couple days to talk and we have talked to friends and kind of seen what we are going to do, for our

family, that's our home. we are going to go back, build it better, stronger, do what we have to do. i have some friends that are already out of the state. we did not even get to take by, that they did not have a home to go back to, so they are on their way to idaho —— we did not even get to say bye. which is forfive did not even get to say bye. which is for five states over. and that is insane. i've known her since we were five years old, but you got to do what you got to do, so there's a mix of get out now and the mix of, if we are going to go back, let's grab the shovels and just early build this community back, because if you know the palisades, it's a small town in a big city. you know your neighbours, you know all the drama of everything that is going on, and i cannot imagine people walking away from that. we will come back strong and well. ., we will come back strong and well. . ., ., we will come back strong and well. . a ., we will come back strong and well. . ., i. well. caitlin, good luck to you and all your— well. caitlin, good luck to you and all your family, _ well. caitlin, good luck to you

and all your family, and - well. caitlin, good luck to you and all your family, and yourl and all yourfamily, and your community. caitlin doran, really good to speak to you again, and do take care. thank ou. with me, we leon emirali and shannon felton—spence. shannon, one quick one to you if i may. just listening to caitlin, obviously so many stories, so many human stories that we are hearing now. what are your thoughts on what's happened in the last few days days? a it is apocalyptic images. days? a it is apocalyptic images-_ days? a it is apocalyptic imaaes. ., , . ., images. communities decimated by flames- _ images. communities decimated by flames- i _ images. communities decimated by flames. i live _ images. communities decimated by flames. i live in _ images. communities decimated by flames. i live in boston, - images. communities decimated by flames. i live in boston, i - by flames. i live in boston, i am on the excellent opposite end of the country, and even i was texting with a colleague who is in la of say, i hope you're safe —— exactly opposite end. she said herapartment burned to the ground, they lost everything. it is widespread, it has affected so many people

on a personal level. they lost their homes and i feel like what is interesting about this is that it is the perfect convergence of lines of a horrible headline. long drought, climate change, defunding public services, celebrity homes, there isjust so much here that seems like he could have been prevented with some better planning and some forecasting. it'sjust some better planning and some forecasting. it's just really devastating to watch. forecasting. it'sjust really devastating to watch. shannon and leon. _ devastating to watch. shannon and leon. i'm _ devastating to watch. shannon and leon, i'm going _ devastating to watch. shannon and leon, i'm going to - devastating to watch. shannon and leon, i'm going to speak i devastating to watch. shannon l and leon, i'm going to speak to you both injust a moment because we heard caitlin they're talking about going back to the palisades, building it better, and that's a subject we're going to onto next. something that's really captured attention with these fires is the sheer scale of the urban destruction. have a look at this one street in altadena where the eaton fire is burning — this is fair oaks avenue. this is what it looks like now after those flames tore through the neighbourhood. house after house, street after street, it is all gone — almost nothing

left of these homes thatjust days ago were full of families lives and possessions. joining me now is christopher flavelle, climate adaption reporter at the new york times. christopher, really good to have you with us. so many questions looking forward, a lot of questions right now to be answered, but looking forward for stops on the la mayor at that news conference earlier say that they were going to aggressively rebuild, but that cannot happen one presumes without a serious consideration of how you try to rebuild, to deal with future fires. ., ., �* , fires. yeah, that's right. after event _ fires. yeah, that's right. after event like - fires. yeah, that's right. after event like this - fires. yeah, that's right. after event like this that fires. yeah, that's right. - after event like this that are so devastating, _ after event like this that are so devastating, the - after event like this that are so devastating, the first - so devastating, the first instinct _ so devastating, the first instinct i_ so devastating, the first instinct i find _ so devastating, the first instinct i find my- so devastating, the first. instinct i find my reporting so devastating, the first - instinct i find my reporting is just— instinct i find my reporting is just to — instinct i find my reporting is just to assure _ instinct i find my reporting is just to assure everyone, - instinct i find my reporting is . just to assure everyone, you're going _ just to assure everyone, you're going to _ just to assure everyone, you're going to rebuild, _ just to assure everyone, you're going to rebuild, right? - going to rebuild, right? homeowners— going to rebuild, right? homeowners who - going to rebuild, right? homeowners who havel going to rebuild, right? - homeowners who have lost everything. _ homeowners who have lost everything, they— homeowners who have lost everything, they want - homeowners who have lost everything, they want to i everything, they want to rebuild, _ everything, they want to rebuild, officials -

everything, they want to rebuild, officials want i everything, they want to rebuild, officials want toj rebuild, officials want to rebuild, _ rebuild, officials want to rebuild, they— rebuild, officials want to rebuild, they want - rebuild, officials want to rebuild, they want to - rebuild, officials want to| rebuild, they want to get rebuild, officials want to - rebuild, they want to get their economies— rebuild, they want to get their economies back— rebuild, they want to get their economies back together, - rebuild, they want to get their economies back together, but| economies back together, but people — economies back together, but pebble who _ economies back together, but people who study _ economies back together, but people who study this - economies back together, but people who study this stuff. economies back together, butl people who study this stuff say this is— people who study this stuff say this is the _ people who study this stuff say this is the moment _ people who study this stuff say this is the moment to - people who study this stuff say this is the moment to pause i people who study this stuff say. this is the moment to pause and think. _ this is the moment to pause and think. hang _ this is the moment to pause and think. hang on. _ this is the moment to pause and think, hang on, if— this is the moment to pause and think, hang on, if we _ this is the moment to pause and think, hang on, if we rebuild, i think, hang on, if we rebuild, as we — think, hang on, if we rebuild, as we rebuild, _ think, hang on, if we rebuild, as we rebuild, how— think, hang on, if we rebuild, as we rebuild, how should . think, hang on, if we rebuild, j as we rebuild, how should we rebuild — as we rebuild, how should we rebuild innocent— as we rebuild, how should we rebuild innocent motorway? i as we rebuild, how should we i rebuild innocent motorway? 0r rebuild innocent motorway? or your— rebuild innocent motorway? or your previous _ rebuild innocent motorway? or your previous guest _ rebuild innocent motorway? or your previous guest talked - your previous guest talked about, _ your previous guest talked about, they— your previous guest talked about, they want - your previous guest talked about, they want to - your previous guest talked i about, they want to rebuild better— about, they want to rebuild better and _ about, they wan