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>> shop by law.com today. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> hello. a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the u.s. and around the world. i'm max foster and i'm christina macfarlane. >> it's wednesday, january 8th, 9 a.m. here in london, 1 a.m. in los angeles, where firefighters are battling a fast moving wildfires fueled by a ferocious winds that are only growing stronger overnight. >> three wildfires now burning across l.a. county. the largest fire nearly 3000 acres in size, burning around the coastal neighborhood of pacific palisades. one of l.a .'s most affluent communities. >> tens of thousands of residents have already been ordered to evacuate, as the city of los angeles declares a state of emergency. >> right now, the palisades fire isn't contained at all as it burns through five football fields a minute. the flames are being fueled by winds reaching hurricane force strength, and as they spread, so do the evacuation orders, which have now reached the city of santa monica. >> well, dozens of drivers

abandoned their cars on tuesday as some chose to flee the flames on foot. residents who evacuated described a harrowing scene. >> you live just right up the hill. tell us what happened. >> well, the smoke just got really bad, so i just started packing up all of our stuff, and we got in the car to go. and then all the cars were abandoned, so i had nowhere to go. so i just had to get out of my car and start walking. the smoke is so bad, i don't i have no idea where we're going. have you ever seen anything like this? >> no. >> never. never. and i've lived in malibu my whole life and i've seen tons of fires. this is nothing. i was i'm scared for my life. it was. it's terrifying. >> we were running down. you could see palm trees. just like random palm trees on fire. so i'm sure leaves are burning and falling down. and it's. it's literally apocalyptic. >> this live stream from la bech camera shows smoke and wildfires burning in the distance there. >> well, in east los angeles county, another fire is spreading rapidly under high winds. the eaton fire has now

grown to 1000 acres in just a matter of hours. california's governor is urging residents to heed the evacuation orders and warns these types of events are becoming far too common a hell of a way to start a new year. >> we were here not too long ago. the franklin fire a few weeks prior to that, the mountain fire. november, december. now january. there's no fire season. it's fire year. it's year round. >> well, joining us now on the line is david acuna, battalion chief and public information officer for cal fire. chief, thank you so much for being with us. can you at this hour just bring us up to date on these three wildfires that are raging across l.a., how quickly they are still spreading and how much worse do you expect this to get? >> hi, christine. absolutely. so we are dealing with a significant wind event throughout all of southern california, from ventura, all the way down to san diego. and

with 60 to 100 mile an hour winds expected to continue all the way through thursday, we're expecting the firefight to just intensify. in fact, we are having new fires pop up as we speak. >> so they are out of control and you're having to focus on saving lives effectively as the fire service. >> that is absolutely correct. so while we are, you know, struggling to deal with fires that are moving at 60 to 100mph, our focus is to maintain the life safety above all else um, and as we speak to you, chief, we are seeing live pictures of, uh, ferocious blazes still happening in los angeles. >> what we're seeing here is apparent house that is up in flames. i mean, we know, chief, that there has been 0% containment. obviously, you are focusing on rescue efforts keeping people alive. but in

terms of the possibility of containment, what do you need and what hope do you see for that in the hours ahead? >> well, honestly, we need the winds to stop. so once the winds have died down and we're able to secure some lines, uh, and we have made sure that all the people are out of the way, then we can devote all of our resources towards, uh, containing. and then eventually, uh, completely extinguishing the fire. >> i think one of the things that shows how desperate the situation has become for you is these images of, um, the fire service having to bulldoze cars off the road because people are so panicked, they're abandoning their cars, which is a huge problem for you, isn't it? because, you know, you need those roads to be clear, and a lot of them are really tight. >> indeed, it is a problem for us. and what makes it more of a challenge is we put out the

evacuations and evacuation. evacuation warnings and evacuation orders as early as possible. um, but many of these roads leading up to the foothill homes are very narrow and windy. and so it doesn't take more than a couple of cars to really block up the area. >> and i know that some people have been going to the beach because they don't think that they can get out. is that good advice? >> you know, every situation is unique. and as you mentioned, there are three major fires now burning. uh, the other two are nowhere near bech. so what i say is, is to get people out to an area not affected by the fire, uh, and they are able to move out quickly in order to save themselves, their pets and make sure their livestock are also taken care of. >> what have been your evacuation plans for the vulnerable in particular? i mean, we've seen some really like really shocking video, actually, of elderly patients

in beds, in wheelchairs, in bare feet, standing out on the street. and presumably there's going to be many hospitals. um, how are you handling that? >> you know, each fire and each location is unique. and with these three separate fires and three very different locations, even the palisades fire is amongst a number of jurisdictions. each one handles it differently. but the principle is to get everybody who is able bodied to leave of their own accord. uh, during the evacuation, warning and evacuation order so that we can devote our medical and fire resources to rescuing those who are unable to leave on their own. >> it's always an issue, isn't it? getting people to leave their homes because they value them hugely. and a lot of these homes are extremely valuable. are you struggling to get people to take your advice you know, it is a rather common situation where people wish to stay back and protect their

homes, but we consistently let them know that not only is that extremely dangerous, and right now futile because it's 60 to 100mph, no one's able to stop those fires. >> but more importantly, it then takes firefighters away from moving those who are unable or from attacking the fire. >> and we know california has seen many wildfires in the past. i'm sure you yourself have tackled many wildfires. but where does this stand, chief, on the scale of, uh, you know, some of the worst fires you've seen is is this the worst you've seen? >> you know, there's a lot of different ways to categorize that. what i would say is that this is one of the earliest major fires we've had. we have one of our cal fire incident management teams assigned to the incident. that's only the third time that's happened in january in the last 30 years.

so it's definitely a rare event. and now we are just trying to make sure we get as many resources there. thankfully, we have many of them pre-positioned from the north part of the state where there is sufficient rain and snow. we moved them down to southern california and now they're actively engaged. >> david acuna, really appreciate your time and sparing it to us. for us today. incredible job you guys are doing, and we appreciate the time you've given us to brief everyone. uh, cnn's nick watt has been on the scene following the latest fires. he has this update from l.a. >> reporter this is palisades village, the heart of pacific palisades. this used to be a restaurant. i don't know what that was, because there's nothing left. i can't tell what that used to be, but you can feel what the problem is. it's this wind. and the wind is only going to get worse. it's the wind. flip. look at these embers, chris. look at these embers. any one of these

embers could go and cause a fire somewhere else. look, we've got this. we've got another fire spot. fire up here, just around the corner. an entire apartment building was gone. it's. dry. vegetation. it's wind. it's a terrible combination. 30 000 plus. people evacuated. we have no idea yet how many structures have been lost. but we have been up in the hills. million dollar homes. we've seen destroyed. we're down here in the village. apartment buildings, restaurants. destroyed. the question is, just how far is this fire going to go before the wind finally dies down? nick watt, pacific palisades, california it's not just million dollar homes. it's average residences as well, isn't it? and cnn's natasha chen and her crew captured video leaving their location in santa monica tuesday night. she says it was,

quote, the most terrifying exit that we've made from any assignment in a long time. take a look. >> we were there from about noon until about just after 6 p.m. local time, when we had finished our last live shot. and i guess what, we hadn't quite surmised was exactly how bad it had gotten south of us on pacific coast highway. and that's the way we came in to get to our spot to cover the fire. and we knew that we had heard reports that the flames jumped the highway. but i guess we had not seen with our own eyes just exactly what that meant and what that looked like for us getting out of there. so at the end of the night, you know, we're i, we pulled up to a fire truck and kind of waved at a firefighter and said, hey, where do you think is the best way for us to leave to get out of here? he kind of shook his head at us and said, well, i guess you go south. and so that's what we did. um, pretty quickly

realizing that there were flames on both sides of the highway. they were embers flying over the lanes of the highway. i spotted an emergency vehicle and decided our best bet is to just follow that car to follow right behind him as closely as possible. if he's driving, then he's probably knowing the best way out. so as we're driving behind this emergency vehicle, i'm hearing an explosion on my right. there are houses on fire right up against the road on the left. and as i mentioned, embers flying. and so at this point, i'm just holding my breath. um, and i can feel the heat from inside the car and just watching the embers fly across the windshield. so, um, not ideal in that kind of, um, you know, we get put on a lot of kind of risky assignments. and in this situation, we had to make a calculated risk for the best way to leave. and i think,

um, you know, thankfully, we got out of there and we got a real look at just the level of destruction and, um, really the fear that a lot of those residents might be feeling if they're looking at those images on the news, if they've evacuated, i can't imagine they're there wondering if their house is is the next one on fire, if they have anything to go home to? >> well, you know, we do report every year on these fires, don't we? but natasha and we've heard from so many other people this is like something they've never seen before. so it's genuinely different. >> apocalyptic. yeah. and we're also hearing some more news coming in to cnn that residents in malibu have been urged to get ready to evacuate, even though they're not under evacuation orders. and part of the reason for that is that this could actually help avoid traffic congestion and delays. if an order is later issued. we've been talking, max, about, you know, the congestion on the roads, cars being abandoned. so i guess authorities are trying to avoid that sort of situation. >> and i was seeing how, you

know, a lot of these are when it comes to the beachfront homes, the really expensive ones. the roads are smaller coming out of there to try to get to the highway. so all of those are being very tightly congested. >> yeah, they're almost hemmed in actually, by the pacific coast highway, which is part of the problem, i guess, for the teams as well, trying to get in to help with those evacuations. the, the authorities. >> um, now, a passenger on a flight captured the flames, devastating that area of southern california. here's what it looks like as they flew from salt lake city into l.a. international airport. it shows not only the grim conditions, but also how far the flames have actually spread. >> well, clearly, firefighters are in for a long night with those already extreme wind conditions expected to get much worse. a captain with the l.a. county fire department calls it the perfect storm for a once in a decade wind event. our meteorologist, chad myers, has more and we've already had

hurricane force wind gusts in places here in southern california, especially on the mountain tops. >> but here's what happens in the desert. unlike everywhere else in america, when the sun goes down, the winds die off here because of the cold air that's going to sink down into the desert. that cold air is going to splash onto the dirt, and it's going to spread out. well, where does it spread out? well, kind of in all directions. but when it spreads out through the canyons, that's when the winds actually pick up in the dark, which doesn't make any sense for most of you as you're watching this, but it happens here. so red flag warnings still going. winds were 40 to 60, but they could go from 60 to 80 overnight. so we're going to have to keep watching this now by later on this afternoon somewhere around 4:00. things are going to calm down. but that is a long time from right now for the highest class here of fire weather. the extremely critical warnings here. category three of three here across parts of southern

california. the firefighters have a long, long night and probably a fairly long morning before the winds begin to die off. >> we'll keep bringing you updates on that. but the incoming u.s. president held provocative and wide ranging news conference on tuesday. >> donald trump covered everything from potential terror, territorial conquests to windmills and low flow toilets, to the war in gaza. and when asked about the hostage negotiations, he issued a dramatic ultimatum if they're not back by the time i get into office, all hell will break out in the middle east, and it will not be good for hamas and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone. >> all hell will break out well, trump also pushed for american expansionism, refusing to rule out military force to seize the panama canal and greenland and calling for economic force to make canada the 51st state.

>> cnn political and national security analyst david sanger questioned trump about his territorial intentions. >> can you assure the world that as you try to get control of these areas, you are not going to use military or economic coercion? no. are you going to negotiate a new treaty? are you going to ask the canadians to hold a vote? what what is the strategy? >> i can assure you, you're talking about panama and greenland. no, i can't assure you on either of those two. but i can say this. we need them for economic security. the panama canal was built for our military. military? i'm not going to commit to that now. >> well, meanwhile, trump also wants to change the name of the gulf of mexico. cnn's jeff zeleny reports from west palm beach, florida. >> less than two weeks before taking office, president elect donald trump made clear he has his eye on a full agenda, both domestically and

internationally. speaking at mar a lago, his resort, giving his first full throated news conference of the year, he made clear about the gaza hostages. he said if they are not released by the time he takes office, all hell will break loose in the middle east. he also did not rule out pardoning january 6th defendants. he said that he would still evaluate case by case, but made clear that he was sympathetic to the defendants. on january 6th over the police. but it was the international law that drew so much attention on tuesday here in florida, when president elect donald trump, for the first time said that economic security is the reason that he would like the u.s. to acquire greenland. >> people really don't even know if denmark has any legal right to it, but if they do, they should give it up because we need it for national security. that's for the free world. i'm talking about protecting the free world. >> and danish officials pushed back on that, saying that greenland is not for sale, is not up for a land grab by donald trump or anyone else.

the president elect also talked about the panama canal. of course, it is one of president jimmy carter's biggest accomplishments. back in 1977, when a treaty was ratified, effectively giving the canal to panama. now, donald trump said that was a mistake. he said it has cost the u.s. billions. and even more than that, he said. also, for national security reasons, that should change. now it is an open question whether any of this actually can happen, never mind u.s. law speaker mike johnson in the u.s. house of representatives said that he has not had any discussions with donald trump on this, and it would be a violation of international law. however, that does not mean that this is not going to be more than an obsession for donald trump. he's been talking about this repeatedly, but for the first time on tuesday, also talking about the gulf of mexico, the context, of course, he was really aiming some sharp criticism at president joe biden for putting a ban on

offshore drilling. but for the first time that donald trump said it should be time to rename the gulf of mexico. >> we're going to be changing the name of the gulf of mexico to the gulf of america, which has a beautiful ring that covers a lot of territory, the gulf of america. what a beautiful name. >> a beautiful name, perhaps, but not something that the president of the united states can do. one thing is clear as donald trump heads toward his second term in office, the america first isolationist agenda that really encapsulated his first term seems to be changing. american expansionism clearly is on his mind. the question if it's bluster, a negotiating tactic, or an obsession of his. jeff, cnn, west palm beach, florida. >> panama's foreign minister quickly shot down the suggestion of the u.s. under trump taking control of the canal. >> la soberania the sovereignty of our canal is not negotiable and is part of our history of

struggle and an irreversible conquest. the only hands that control the canal are panamanian, and that will continue to be the case. >> well, canada is also shooing away talk of becoming a 51st u.s. state. outgoing canadian prime minister justin trudeau posted. there's not a snowball's chance in hell of that happening. workers and communities in both our countries benefit from being each other's biggest trading and security partner. >> although he is on the way out, i still am not entirely sure it's on the cards, is it? >> but still to come, an update on the devastating fires raging in southern california and a look at how the weather is fueling that disaster. >> and later. goodbye fact checkers. hello, community notes facebook, instagram threads making major changes to the way they deal with misinformation. >> kobe believed in himself at the youngest possible age

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tailors to you. download the m taylor app on ios or android, or visit mar-a-lago. >> com cnn this morning with casey today at 5:00 eastern. >> firefighters in southern california are struggling through a long, windy night battling wildfires. tens of thousands of people are under evacuation orders as several out-of-control fires threaten los angeles and nearby cities. >> the scenes are extraordinary. california governor gavin newsom says this type of disaster is going to be the new normal. he posted this message on social media. >> here at the palisades fire, you can see behind me how quickly this is growing. hundreds and hundreds of personnel all throughout the state of california are here, coming from northern california, we pre-positioned 110 engines. we've got fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, dozers, water tenders, specialty personnel, putting everything we can to not only suppress this fire, but to prevent additional fires over the

course of the next few days. unprecedented winds for this time of year and of course, this time of year traditionally has not been fire season. but now we disabuse any notion that there is a season. it's year round in the state of california. >> well, here's more now from natasha chen on the palisades fire. >> we've been seeing flames like this over the hilltop all day in different spots, hearing explosions, seeing ashes and embers and sand thrown around as night falls. >> we are expecting the wind gusts to peak overnight, creating a real problem for firefighters on the ground. >> residents, meanwhile, have evacuated this particular neighborhood, though some are still stuck in there. >> we talked to many of them who had come down the hill. unfortunately, this is only one path that they can take out of their neighborhood, so there was a lot of gridlock there, some of them even abandoning their cars and coming down the hill by foot with a suitcase, with their pets telling me they

had very little time to put together their bags. seeing how fast this fire was moving, we've now been told that the flames have jumped the pacific coast highway, where we are just a little bit south of us, and even burned a couple of lifeguard stations. the firefighters are working through the night. there are hundreds of them working this, and now there are thousands who have been ordered to evacuate or have gotten evacuation warnings to prepare that they could be next to ask to leave, to be asked to leave. though we know a lot of people to the neighboring malibu, as well as santa monica to the south, have seen these orange glows in the distance and they are starting to move on out, not taking any chances. natasha chen, cnn, los angeles. >> joining us now, ariel cohen, meteorologist in charge at the national weather service in los angeles. thank you so much for joining us. a lot of people are asking why we weren't warned about these winds. just explain how difficult that would have

been. >> we have these winds in the forecast for many days, issuing alerts of destructive wind storms, expected all the way from the san gabriel mountains to the san fernando valley, san gabriel valley, as well as the santa monica mountains and everywhere in between. this is an event that had exceptionally long lead times, not only of the powerful windstorm that we had anticipated, but also the potential for particularly dangerous situation. red flag warning, fire, weather conditions. this event had significant notification ahead of time. and you know, i know that when we have these wildfires spread rapidly, you know, it's a very horrifying experience for many. it just emphasizes the absolute need to take all of the notifications, all of the emergency alerts from local law enforcement and emergency management personnel. seriously, because seconds save

lives. >> we were hearing from california governor gavin newsom there saying that the the danger is still not over yet, that there could be worse to come. we know these winds are increasingly erratic. what are your expectations for the hours ahead? >> we're going to be seeing the peak of these winds continue with gusts upwards of 80 to 100mph over the high terrain. gusts of 40 to 80mph over nearby foothills and valleys. locations in los angeles county. we're expecting the rapid spread and explosive fire behavior continue as we head over the next several hours into the early morning hours afterward, we'll by afternoon, we're expecting the winds to begin to lessen some, but bone dry conditions continuing. very significant fire weather concerns with rapid spread of wildfires. and everyone needs to be at a high state of readiness as we head

over the next several hours and beyond, as we have the potential for significant fire growth. >> there's a problem here, though, isn't there? in the response, you were warning that this these winds were expected. obviously, you can't predict fires. but you you know, everyone knows there are fires in that area. combined with the advice you were giving, but no one responded to it. and for many people, it is too late to save their homes. >> you know, fires affect so many people and it's heartbreaking to see all of the images that have been coming. you know, when we are dealing with wildfires here in southern california or anywhere else, we talk about those steps of preparedness. ready, set, go. when we're making sure that when the red flag warnings are being issued and the notifications of powerful windstorms that all of the resources are being pulled together, i'm actually here right now at the los angeles county office of emergency

management, emergency operations center, where all of our emergency management partners, fire agencies, they're working together to make sure that all of the resources that are available to keep people safe and respond as effectively as possible, are implemented based on the forecasts that we're issuing ahead of time. we all work together as a community to keep people as safe as possible. >> and rachel cohen really appreciate that. thank you so much. i mean, there are going to be questions asked in good time, isn't there? yeah. you know, warnings went out, people weren't evacuated. yeah, but the fires are so much worse than anyone expected. our coverage of those fires continues in a moment. we'll be back.

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witnessed. >> yeah. so the first fire that i was on was the palisades fire in pacific palisades. and right away from the plume, i could tell that this was a very bad fire that was occurring in a densely populated area. uh, the brush was very dry, very unusual at this time of year, as many have noted. and the fire behavior that i saw was typical of what you'd see in summer. uh, especially in september, october, november. um, homes were catching easily because of how much brush was on either side of the homes. um, and then it just became a basically an urban firestorm. each home just started dominating, uh, up in the areas that i was at. >> how does this fire compare in the in the speed that it's spreading compared with the other fires you've seen? >> this is definitely the fastest. um, i've been covering fires now in california for the past three

years. um, so of course not as long as many other veteran, uh, storm chasers and stringers around the area. but when you have winds gusting 80 80mph in the canyons, combined with very dry fuels, uh, this is, unfortunately, the kind of wildfire that you that you get. >> and given that you're saying you know yourself residents are used to these kind of conditions, that you perhaps expect to see these kind of wildfires and what sort of warnings were put out there ahead of this really taking hold? and what was the urgency among residents that, you know, it could get it could come to this? >> oh, yeah. the national weather service has done an amazing job getting that information out and forecasting this for basically a week out. um, i thought they did an amazing job, but unfortunately, i think a lot of residents, you know, they've just kind of become numb to so many red flag warnings that they've had over the years. and i think the thinking of it might not happen

to me. so maybe it's not. i don't really have to prepare. um, it's definitely something, a thought process that i've seen a lot. >> but you could also criticize the authorities, couldn't you? because they could have issued evacuation orders sooner to avoid the gridlock that you ended up with. and they are now learning from that, it seems, because we're being told that malibu residents are being urged to leave before they issue orders. there. >> you know, unfortunately, i think this fire, you know, as many fires have recently happened in california, they just moved too fast. um, and emergency authorities, they're just so overwhelmed. um, that really, um, it devolves into chaos. and it's really unfortunately not. i wouldn't i wouldn't call on the authority's fault, but really, it's a matter of why are we building a neighborhood that's right into the wildland urban interface, which is where the wildland vegetation meets human

development, and especially with only one way, in, one way out. uh, that's unfortunately kind of one of the biggest causes for these issues with traffic. >> and, michael, i know you've been documenting what you've been seeing in recent hours on social media. i'm actually just looking at a couple of your pictures now, and i'm seeing one image here of of patients being evacuated, i guess, from a medical facility or a hospital or something like that. talk to us about the those evacuation attempts that you witnessed. >> yeah, it was very frantic. um, unfortunately, that fire, which was the eaton fire over by altadena, um, it just moved so fast into that area and they were rushing patients as fast as they could to safety. um, it was very chaotic. as i said, the wind was howling and it kept increasing as the evening went on, which was just as forecast as what the national weather service was saying. >> and i know also that there have been major power outages

as well. i think some 63,000 residents without power. and what impact does that having that you can see, uh, internet service. >> i definitely have noticed that, you know, signal is definitely slower, especially in the areas that are being impacted by fire. um, and for, you know, someone like me, i need to be able to get information out as fast as i can, whether that's as, as you talked about with my social media or back to the team at watch duty, as i'm a reporter for the watch duty app. um, information and getting that out is vital in situations that are as fluid as this. >> it is vital, and we're glad to see you are safe. having experienced all three fires across los angeles county in the last few hours. michael steinberg, we really appreciate you being with us. thank you thank you. and as michael just mentioned, workers raced to evacuate elderly residents from a

senior center in pasadena, california, as the flames from the eaton fire burned just a block away. the blaze has grown to 1000 acres just six hours after it started burning, and one worker said they had to move about 95 people. >> it really does look like a movie, doesn't it? they've got to feel for those poor people. dozens of residents were in wheelchairs, as you can see also. hospital beds. very thin gowns as well. they had to just get out of the building. some didn't even have their shoes. >> well it's tough, it's tough. they can't get up. they're stuck on the wheelchairs. we got to lift them up, put them in the vans and then take the wheelchairs at the same time. so you got to get everybody out of here. >> yeah, everyone got out safely. as far as you know. >> yes. >> wow. this thing must have been moving toward you guys really quickly out here. >> yeah. oh, yeah. it's crazy out here. >> well, let's bring in anita srikantha, a resident of los angeles county. she was in the pacific palisades on tuesday as the fire was starting to grow. thank you for joining us. i

understand you were actually hiking in the palisades with your dog when you saw a fire in the distance. at what point did you realize this was something very serious? >> yeah, well, unfortunate situation. >> when we started the hike. it was one of those beautiful, clear days and there was no fire up in the sky. for one second. i popped my headphones in and started listening to a podcast, and then my dog came and jumped on me. and i quickly turned around and i just saw the plume of smoke up in the air. up in the air. excuse me. um, and i think i was one of the first few people to actually see and witness what was happening in the air. >> what did you do in response to that? >> well, unfortunately, i was up in the hills, so i didn't have much service. so what i was able to do was just capture footage as much as possible. and then when i got back down to cell service, i was able to upload it online. while i was actually in the mountain, there were firefighters that were going up and down trying to

protect the area, but there was also some helicopters up in the air and they were actually on the pa yelling down to evacuate from the mountain. the fire was coming, and from my vantage point, which, um, you can see from the footage, you can see the actual fire spreading really quick. so it became a really fast moving situation. and the evacuation happened really fast. but it was pretty clear that this was not going to be an ordinary fire that we have out here in l.a. >> will you did you yourself evacuate from the area? i mean, were you particularly affected? we know that many people have had to just dump and run and leave their homes. >> no. so i'm actually right down in west l.a., the palisades area has had the most of the evacuation in santa monica. starting to have that. and as you reported just a minute ago, malibu residents are preparing to now evacuate. so i'm at that borderline right now where the palisades in santa monica, where we haven't been told that there is a mandatory evacuation. but part of the reason that we're all up in wired still at this time of the hour is because we're expecting that to happen

at any moment, and also because you can hear the firefighters and you can hear the police cars just driving throughout the entire streets of the city. >> are you not tempted to get out before you get the sort of gridlock that they got in the other areas? they couldn't get out by the time the evacuation orders landed well, there's certainly that as an option. >> but i think what we have to do right now is kind of trust the officials and follow their lead. there's probably more important and more closer people who are actually the fire that need to get out first. so i think we kind of need to have some sort of order of operation here and be civil about how we're all evacuating. >> i mean, we've been talking on the show to to officials, you know, noting that wildfires in california we know are not unusual. but this is an unusual event. i mean, does this feel particularly bad to you, given what you've witnessed in the past? and is it changing for you, your feelings about wanting to remain in this area? >> this is certainly different. the one before this that comes

to mind is the 2018 fires. where at that one, while the fire was much less than this one, the smoke was actually coming back onto the residents and there was soot and the fire burning smell all throughout the entire city. this time around, the air is actually pushing the fire out into the ocean. so a lot of that damage is not coming back onto us residents. but to answer your question, yeah, i think there's a lot of frustration right now because this is the type of stuff that could be preventable. we're hearing reports right now from firefighters that you go out and talk to, that there's actually not water coming out of the hydrants in some locations because the infrastructure is not set up correctly. the brush has been a consistent problem for over a decade here. well, you know, we typically have a week or a few days of rain that comes heavy in december and january. we have not had it this year. last year we had about ten days of straight rain, which kind of covered, and we had the beautiful spring flowers that come from the heavy rains. but these type of repeated mistakes happen over and over and over

again here in this city. and at some point we as residents need to speak up and start saying enough is enough and there needs to be change and actually fix what is currently happening in this city. the brush is preventable and we could easily be maintaining our heights, our mountains, in a way that prevents this type of fire. >> okay, anita. srikanth, really appreciate hearing from you today and hopefully the fires don't come too close. >> it's an important message she has as well. i think, you know, residents perhaps need to take more action into their own hands now. just ahead. why? facebook parent company meta is abandoning fact checkers, just as donald trump is about to return to the white house. >> and our breaking coverage of those explosive wildfires in southern california continues. >> kobe believed in himself at the youngest possible age. >> it's one of the most remarkable stories in sports history. >> i don't want to be

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to 3 6094 or go online to lipo. >> com i'm rahel solomon in new york and this is cnn. >> welcome back. metta is adjusting its content review policies on facebook and instagram by removing its fact checkers. instead, they will be replaced with user generated community notes similar to those on x under elon musk. >> meta ceo mark zuckerberg announced the changes less than two weeks before president elect donald trump takes office. zuckerberg acknowledges more harmful content will appear on meta platforms. >> however, the company says its systems will focus on high severity violations like terrorism, child sexual exploitation, drugs and scams. >> after trump first got elected in 2016, the legacy media wrote nonstop about how misinformation was a threat to democracy. we tried in good faith to address those concerns without becoming the arbiters

of truth. but the fact checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they've created, especially in the u.s. >> i think we'll need to discuss this in a bit more detail tomorrow. now, former president jimmy carter is lying in state at the u.s. capitol, where members of the public can pay their respects through thursday. excuse me? thursday the 39th president died in his home state of georgia last week at the age of 100. >> a commemoration of his life took place on tuesday. members of his family and congress paid their respects, and vice president kamala harris said carter lived every day of his long life serving the american people, and his works would, quote, echo for generations to come. >> carter's funeral service will be held thursday at the washington national cathedral, where president joe biden will deliver a eulogy. >> we're going to get back to our breaking news. evacuation orders, expanding across southern california as the region battles three separate wildfires being fueled by high winds. two of those fires sparked in the last few hours

and have already burned thousands of acres of land. >> and it's still the middle of the night in california, where officials tell cnn there is no hope of containing the fires tonight. instead, emergency workers are focusing on saving lives. more than 30,000 people have evacuated from the palisades fire alone, with the eaton and hearst fires quickly growing more dangerous. >> thank you for joining us here on cnn newsroom. >> i'm max foster and i'm christina macfarlane. more on the breaking news after the break

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