firefighters on scene battling this significantly vast wind-driven fire. they're dealing with ridge top gusts of winds in excess of 99 miles per hour. when the devastation goes through that rapidly and that quickly, it taxes the infrastructure. power goes out. the hydrants start losing pressure. we were in survival mode. our number one priority is to make sure people get out safely. >> sandra: absolutely. it is day three of the devastating wildfires in los ang angeles. firefighters battle a series of infernos ravaging communities from the pacific coast to pass tee dina, some of which remain uncontained. and most cases, zero percent

containment. especially when it comes to the two biggest wildfires. the number of dead right now remains at five. but officials say they're uncomfortsable even putting a number to that because they are right now still in search and rescue efforts all over southern california. i'm sandra smith in new york and john, it's just hard to believe how little they've been able to contain at this point. >> john: it is. and they're going to have to check missing person records with addresses and then sift through the ashes to make sure that nobody got caught in the fire storm and left behind. a lot of work ahead of them even after they begin to get the fire itself under control. i'm john roberts in washington and this is "america reports." stunning, and i mean, stunning aerial footage shows the scope of the destruction left behind in the wake of the wildfires. homes that were filled with memories now just nothing less -- nothing more than rubble and ash and it's not just a block or a street. it's block upon block, entire neighborhoods simply gone. >> sandra: of course, now we're taking a look at some of these

before and after images. satellite images. one of them showing a series of homes along the pacific coast highway burned to bits by the palisades fire. >> john: meanwhile the eaton fire continues to raze thousands of acres further east. this image showing the destruction of a neighborhood in altadena. >> sandra: countless homes destroyed along with pillars of the community. this is the altadena community church. as you can see, it's been left nearly unrecognizable. >> john: in moments we'll speak with the man whose home is inside the eaton fire's mandatory evacuation zone. >> sandra: first let's get to matt fin live on the ground in altadena. what are you getting a look at there? >> reporter: more devastation and destruction here. to briefly give you some perspective, over the past couple of days i've been reporting from the palisades, santa monica, west hollywood last night. wire now 20 to 25 miles inland from those locations and look at

this here in altadena. just goes to show you how widespread the destruction is all across los angeles. and on our drive here this morning, a thick blanket of smoke is over this entire is city. if we were to walk more here in the altadena area, we would be able to show you much more devastation, you know, entire streets destroyed as well. so the city of los angeles really battling a hell scape this morning. those five deaths were confirmed here in the altadena area. one local report says a man was trying to save his home with a garden hose and he died with that hose in his hands. so we're neighbouring to pasadena area, a lot of charming historic architecture, a very

beautiful neighborhood out here, just adding to the list of destruction all across los angeles. we do see fires burning right now. we see black smoke plumes across the city, so day three of major american city burning. >> sandra: matt, what are you seeing as far as any activity around there? of course, people aren't quite supposed to return there yet to check on their homes. media has been let in. are you seeing people, first responders, emergency, there looking for people? what kind of activity is happening there right now? >> reporter: yes, so we're in a sectioned off area right now where only media and first responders are allowed in. police say you better have a legal or righteous reason to be where we are right now. this area being cordoned off, locals not allowed being allowed back in. although i did see, in the palisades yesterday, a lot of what appeared to be civilians on

foot and on bike getting in and around the palisades yesterday which i've covered fires before and a lot of times it's really kept very much blocked off. we saw a lot of civilians walking around or what appeared to be civilians walking around the palisades yesterday. here, in altadena, quiet in the area we are in but it is under investigation. >> sandra: matt, thank you very much for your reporting from there. live for us, thank you. >> john: we keep talking about the size of these fires in terms of acres or square miles or whatever. here's a map basically of the fires. this is the palisades fire and the size of the burned area. here's the eaton fire over here. this is 17,000 acres. that 17,500 is the same as the

tip of the island up to harlem into the bronx there, that is about twelve miles, so it's enough to cover pretty much the entire island of manhattan or we take a look at our european neighbors to the east, that's enough to cover the city of london literally from hammersmith to canary wharf in the east. that will give you some perspective. this would nearly cover the entire cities of new york, manhattan, and london, england. and the fire still zero percent contained and continues to grow. so this is going to get even bigger. >> sandra: thank you very much. that is the fear at this hour. our next guest left behind his home north of los angeles. the eaton fire was closing in on it. that inferno has burned more than 10,000 acres, remains zero percent contained right now and is responsible for all five confirmed deaths in the region. christian forest joins us right now. thank you for joining us. just heartbreaking what all of

you have been through. please do tell us about what your experience has been. >> my family and i were forced to evacuate from the area on tuesday night. the wind were blowing super strongly, branches were fall from the skies. when we drove to the end of our street, you could see the flames in the distance in altadena. my family has lived -- my grandpa's from outlock and he's lived there his whole life. we had our family home for forty years and to have something like this happen all of a sudden, and it's not out of nowhere because you will of these things, preventioners can be used to manage wildfires, but to have something like this come so close to home is tragic and terrifying. we have no idea when we're able to go back. >> sandra: how's your family doing? >> they're good. but the uncertainty's really getting to my grandpa. we don't even know where we're going to sleep tonight. >> sandra: my gosh. our prayers are with you and so many affected by this. the uncertainty is so painful on top of everything else. this is what we're hearing from

more. of the altadena residents near you. >> everything in this neighborhood, altadena is not existing right now. >> you assume you're about to lose everything. that's all you can think about. is the house that your kids grew up is about to burn coudown. >> it's scary when you can see the flames coming up over the houses two blocks away and you're just getting out of the driveway. >> sandra: have you been able to connect with others in your community and again for your viewers, this is a live shot right now,al altadena, californ, where these flames continue. >> i have been able to talk to family and friends. it's just terrible. i've heard that the three grocery markets that i go to in altadena almost on a daily basis, i'm sure all of them have burned down. when i go back home, i don't know where i'm going to shop at anymore. it's just a tragedy that something like this would be permitted to occur just affecting so many people and their lives. >> sandra: we know that so many

who live in these areas are always prepared to a certain degree for what could happen. i'm sure you too and your family have always sort of lived with that fear. did you ever imagine this? >> i really think it's one of those things where you always assume it's going to happen to someone else. when it happens in your own backyard, you're always -- it's always a surprise for you. and there are things that could have been done, for example, the night that we left, our power was still on into the night. now, i don't know what caused the fire. i don't know if it was electricity-related. but the fact that our electricity was on is crazy to me. so we did not see this coming. we endured the station fire back in 2008 or 9. to see that this is still an ongoing issue for california residents and it's going to affect all future california residents and property values and property insurance. it's just an absolute disaster. >> sandra: what's the plan? it sounds like you've got a strong family unit when you sit down and you think about what's

next, what sort of are you putting together? >> i think we have relatives outside of california that we can maybe stay with. our local church has been a great support system. i'm currently doing the interview from our church. we're going to have to see when the evacuation order is lifted. we don't know what's going on in the neighborhood. there could be a looting going on. something could have happened at all fortunately locked out. we have no idea. we're going to take it day by day. see what our options are. just adapt to the situation. >> sandra: you are very strong. we wish the absolute best to you. i think we've got a live image coming in. can we put this up on the screen. this is pacific palisades as we know the aircraft to go up into the area to try to put out these fires with the winds slowing today. i want to thank you very much and our prayers with your family.

we will be praying for you as you manage your way through th this is obviously very welcome sight to know, john, the winds have sort of taken over a little bit of a break from yesterday. >> what's really interesting about that, and you see right there, just in front of the wing, the province of québec, canada, it's a water bomber that's been brought in from canada. to fight this fire. you'll remember that last year, québec had all those terrible forest fires. it was last year or the year before, summer before. québec had all those terrible forest fires. that's probably one of the aircraft that was fighting forest fires. now aimed at tamping down the flames there in pacific palisades. a thing of beauty to watch. it's helping folks out. president biden set to give an update this afternoon on the white house response to the wildfires.

where some critics say he should be doing more. >> sandra: california governor gavin newsom in a war of words. molly hemingway coming up. issue

for all those making it big out there... ...shouldn't your mobile service be able to keep up with you? get wifi speeds up to a gig at home and on the go. introducing powerboost, only from xfinity mobile. now that's big. calling off a trip to italy to folk it us on the apocalyptic wildfires ravaging florida right now. more live images coming in of a plane arriving. i don't know if there's multiple arriving. it could be. this is another one or the same one. that we just had a moment ago. coming into attempt to put out these wildfires. this is the president has pledged the federal government's full support but that response is facing criticism. jackie heinrich has the latest from the white house. the president set to brief with

with his top officials this afternoon. >> reporter: yes, we're expecting it to be in the room for that a couple of hours from now. the president spent the morning at the funeral for former president jimmy carter, but it's possible, and we hope, that he'll take questions this afternoon because yesterday the fire briefing in california, he did pledge support continuing for the community for those victims for as long as it takes, but he took no questions. instead using that time in front of the cameras in part to make a personal announcement. >> it's astounding what's happening. my son lives out there and his wife. their home was probably burned to the ground. today, it appears that it's still standing. the good news is i'm a great-grandfather as of today. a new granddaughter. a baby girl -- baby boy.

>> reporter: biden was in the l.a. region for a planned announcement designating two new national monuments in a win for environmentalists and tribes. it was timed, planned or not, in conjunction with his grand daughter, naomi's c section. at the fire briefing yesterday, governor gavin newsom gave biden credit for being on the ground from the moment the fire broke out. biden then explained why he was in the region for the birth great grandison and did not mention the conservation effort. his remarks were canceled because of the fires. today biden declared a major disaster making temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses. the president has not yet commented on insurance companies having pulled out of that state moving so many fire victims without any sort of coverage. he's also not commented on governor gavin newsom's decisions which he supported and trump opposed. trump railed against those

decisions in posts last night and laid blame on newsom's policies for some of this which newsom then pushed back on so expect biden to take -- to get at least some questions on those topics later on today. >> sandra: jackie heinrich live at the white house. thank you. >> john: on that topic, let's bring in molly hemingway. she's got a lot more on this. so trump is ripping gavin newsom up one side and down the other, posting on true social, fire is spreading rapidly, zero containment. nobody has ever seen such failed members before. gross incompetence by gavin newcome and biden's fema has no moneys, wasted on green new scam. l.a. is a total wipeout. your thoughts about what we're seeing? >> reporter: president trump has been talking about this forest management issue that leads to fires in california or it leads to out-of-control fires, since at least 2017. he's made this a big emphasis in his first administration and now he's doing it again. he talked about it for seven

minutes in that joe rogan interview, how much it was important to, for instance, clear brush around areas that could have what we're seeing happen here in california. and people are talking about how gavin newsom and trump are fighting and they're thinking about how gavin newsom is wanting to run for president in 2028 but this really is a massive political issue in california. california has one-party control and they've had it for quite some time. there are a lot of policy issues that have contributed to this disaster and it's very frustrating, i'm sure, for the people who live there because they are one of the most highly taxed people in california. they're not getting a lot for their tax dollars. they're not getting the brush cleared. they're not getting the reservoirs built so that there will be enough water to fight a fire like this in the case it's needed and for instance, jackie just talked about the insurance issue there. well, california made it illegal to charge enough money to make it worthwhile for insurers to insure these homes and now the rest of the country has to bail them out. >> john: one of the big problems

is we see the water bombers from québec who are joining in the fight here. in their water bombers they used in québec in december of 2023. they're bringing water in on these water bombers but there's no water on the ground. gavin newsom was asked about that. listen to how he responded. >> on this block when you have a system that's not dissimilar. piker whether there be electricity or the complete overwhelm of the system and the hydrants and the scale but then that's local. >> you're passing it off on the locals. >> sandra: absolutely it is a state issue. water has been a top issue since

california's been around. there are different issues. president trump was highlighting how the central valley has had its agriculture completely destroyed over this desire to protect the delta smelt which has made it very difficult farmers and orchards growers and this issue in southern california is really how they should have been building reservoirs to collect rain water. the last couple of years, we saw record rain in the region and there was no way to collect this water. >> we saw it all running down the roads and the hills and out into the pacific ocean. i remember the coverage of the atmospheric rivers and all that rain. they filled the reservoirs but let the rest of it run away. >> sandra: governor newsom has gotten money and the legislature to deal with some of this. the they haven't utilized that money properly. you are going to see a lot of people upset with the management of the state and the area. they're also issues with how l.a. has prioritized other issues other than the protection of the property and lives of the people who live there.

>> john: what about the thousands of people who may not get insurance money to rebuild? granted a large part of of the value of a home there in those neighborhoods is the property. that the structure is built on. it's not going to cost them $10 million to rebuild a home but it could cost them 750,000 to $3 million to rebuild. >> or just imagine how difficult it will be to find architects and contractors when everybody in the neighborhood has had this happen. this is prime real estate. i'm sure that there will be a lot of opportunity here. but it's just an unspeakably unnecessary tragedy there went more work con on pre-empting. it's not just california. other states need to be doing this and they're not doing it as well as they should. but ultimately, state and local officials are the ones who are best suited to do it. you cannot always expect people in every other state to bail you out for your own failed policy decisions. >> john: it will be interesting to see what the investigation is complete exactly how and where this started. was it some sort of natural

process? there weren't any storms in the area. was it an arsonist? was it something else? a lot of questions unanswered. molly, great to see you. my best to your mom. sandra? >> sandra: all right. l.a.'s mayor under criticism for slashing the city's fire department budget before all of this. wait until you hear how much more the city spends on its homelessness crisis. >> john: plus, will californians try to pick up the pieces from the devastation from these massive fires? be on the hook for the damages. larry cudlow weighs in on the state's insurance crisis coming ex >> a lot of concern and worry about whether or not the insurance is going to pay. but we did take all of our family pictures and a few valuable paintings out last night. so, you know, all of the stuff that's here is replaceable. people are not.

here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max! >> john: the department of defense is sending some assists to the firefighters. ten navy helicopters armed with

water buckets. windy conditions at first grounded the much needed air support. jennifer griffin is live at the pentagon. what more, jennifer, is the defense department doing to help out? >> reporter: well, john, defense secretary lloyd austin was just asked whether the small amount of dod assets provided so far was the result of local and state authorities not yet asking for help. >> california has a lot of capability on its own but these are pretty significant fires. few requests have been made thus far. we stand ready to surge capability in as quickly as possible. >> reporter: the pentagon has provided ten navy helicopters. the national guard of california and nevada are each providing two modular air fire fighting systems which are loaded on c130 transport planes and drop flame retardant from 150 feet in the air, one unit can be 3,000 gallons and weighs 28,000

pounds. >> why not flood the zone, if you will, with more assets? >> it's a matter of also can those assets get in the air? we can surge assets and the president has directed this department to bolster whatever california needs, but we have to work with california and right now we can't even get assets up in the air because the fires are so wad and because the winds are so bad. >> reporter: those winds have slowed and planes and helicopters can now fly. the california national guard so far has activated ten crews or 200 personnel in addition to 400 military police soldiers to support law enforcement operations with 200 more available. >> we are providing some modular fire fighting systems so that when the winds are allow, we're able to employ that system in support of california. but we have a lot more capacity, a lot more capability that can be requested. >> reporter: this is often the case during these natural disasters, john, federal authorities can't move assets to

help until asked by the state or local authorities. >> john: jen, thanks. >> sandra: as if the wildfires themselves are the enough of a nightmare, california's facing an insurance crisis which could leave homeowner on the hook to rebuild their lives, so let's any bring in larry kudlow. just incredible that live shot there continuing to watch these fires burn. we have also popped that up -- we also have some aerial shots of the absolute destruction. >> it's a nightmare. >> sandra: a moment ago we were showing the planes arriving from québec to put water down. they're still at zero percent contain. ment. >> my brother, he and his life live in hollywood hills. they had to evacuate last night. they're back in their apartment. at least he's been texting me this morning. i think there was some containment of the hollywood fires. but, look, this is a tragedy. it's a nightmare. it's a catastrophe. and it's a natural disaster.

but a couple of things i'll say. i'm not an expert on california insurance. but you have to look at the insurance companies like all state is pulling out, okay. the other one, let's see, state farm, is pulling out y are ey pulling out? they're not pullinout because they don't like helping people. e reason, the state insurance regulators won't let them charge the necessary high premiums, okay. they're very high premiums. because of the fire risk. they can't charge it. so you have overregulation on that front. on the other side, i'm sure these insurance companies understand that due to california politics, gavin newsom's very left-wing states, very high-tech state, nonetheless, they're not helping the infrastructure in california. so the reservoirs are in bad shape. the pipes are in bad shape. the water doesn't flow properly. you see these pictures of the hydrants where the water didn't come through.

insurance companies know that when natural disasters come, like big santa ana winds, for example, and someone lit a fire unfortunately, they can't afford it. i mean, the insurance companies have stockholders. they have to protect their net worth. they have to protect their capital. it's just not as easy as you think. the other point is, the california has a big insurance plan. the fair plan it's called, if i have that right. yes. the fair plan's going to be assessing private insurers in the state. but the fair plan -- this is very -- most unfortunate because the fair plan, which is california's state government, which is not done a good job in building the infrastructure and managing forests, for example, they're going to wind up driving out the private insurers and by the way, the individual homeowners. so this is in part -- i don't want to blame -- it is a natural disaster. okay. but i want to say, a bad piece of this is very bad management by the state government of the

insurance policies and the lack of management on forth management, reservoir management, water management. they spend so much in california. to make it greener. their climate change budget is enormous. the fire fighting budget has gone down. those are the problems all together. it's a bad story. >> sandra: this was karen bass earlier at the news conference on the budget. listen. >> it's most important to understand that we were in tough budgetary times. everybody knew that. but that the impact of our budget really did not impact what we've been going through over the last few days. >> sandra: and people can make what they want of that. obviously her leadership here is being called into question. but there are some who are pointing out into those

>> you guys voted for karen bass. you get what you get. now that your house on fire. now you're thinking about something else. now you want to know what's going on. what's going on around here? all these people who were deep blue democrats are now going to have to pull a permit to rebuild. and when they start running into the bureaucracy and the red tape, they're going to start going nuts and they're going to vote for rick caruso next time because they want to get -- that's all trump says, we're going to pull back the regulations. >> sandra: and they might find that all that regulation's going to make this rebuild process tough and to your point about the mandates on the insurance fees that they can't move them, the insurance will just leave. >> that's what's happening. again, all state's leaving. state farm is leaving. those are two big outfits. you have to worry about smaller

private insurance companies that may not have the capital. they may promise you the world and they may go belly-up. also, what adam's saying, again, i want to be sure to say this, this is a nightmare going on in california. okay. and it was a natural disaster nightmare. put apparently from reports the mayor was told that santa ana winds coming in the weather forecast was a big risk. point number one. point number two: she did unfortunately reduce the fire budget. by the way, i would like to he no about the police budget. i'll bet that came down too, defund police. robert o'brian and i were talking about this, he lived in pasadena for many years, the management of the infrastructure is nonexistent outside of the green story. so how can you have reservoirs that are not filled, shooting water that goes out into the ocean, and doesn't get through the pipes for the fire hydrants all around the city? that stuff could have been

avoided. i'm not saying the fires could have been avoided. i'm not saying the whole nightmare could have been avoided. but i am saying government policies have made the whole situation enormously worse. >> sandra: these are absolutely chilling images. just nothing left. nothing. everything burnt to the ground. just there's fireplaces and chimneys left standing. our best to your brother. >> thanks. he's a fighter, so is his wife. at the moment, they're back em oh. who knows. -- back home. >> sandra: the fires are still burning. larry, thank you. see you at four o'clock. >> thanks. >> sandra: we've been seeing the planes come in. they can only do so much, from québec, you were noting earlier. this is still -- this is ongoing and the biggest fires are still zero percent containment as far as we've been told. >> john: to larry's point about the water, and the president-elect is watching this afternoon, he also saw our segments with molly and jackie, and he text immediate in the statement, he's still on governor newsom to do something about this immediately in terms

of diverting water to the southern part of the state. he quote, "governor gavin newsom should immediately go to northern california and open up the watermain and let the water flow into his dry starving burning state instead of having it go out into the pacific ocean. it ought to be done right now. no more excuses from this incompetent governor. it's already far too late." that's the latest from the president-elect on california, what he thinks the governor should do to take immediate action to help the folks in the southern part of the state. >> sandra: just brutal. i mean, so many people are just in the thick of this right now. and as we know, officials are saying they're still in survival mode looking for anybody who may have not fled or left. or evacuated. that might be in this mess. so we pray for them. >> john: the fact that they weren't able to get water up to this reservoir in the upper elevations to keep the water pressure up, that's a serious problem. because clearly they didn't have any plans. for anything this big. we're watching some other stories this afternoon. the federal district court has struck down the biden administration's attempt to

rewrite title 9. why advocates say it's a huge win for women's sports. coming up next. people tell me they'd love to buy gold. but because it's gold, they think it must be complicated. it isn't. not with rosland capital. with rosland... the entire process from start to finish is built on one concept. one... keep...it...simple. rosland capital a trusted leader in helping people acquire precious metals. gold bullion, lady liberty gold and silver proofs, and our premium coins, can help you preserve your wealth. call rosland capital at 800-630-8900 to receive your free rosland guide to gold, gold & precious metals ira, and silver brochures. with rosland, there are no hassles, no gimmicks, and our shipping is fast and reliable. remember. keep it simple. make gold your new standard. call rosland capital today at 800-630-8900, 800-630-8900.

that's 800-630-8900. it's time to feed the dogs real food in the right amount. a healthy weight can help dogs live a longer and happier life. the farmer's dog makes weight management easy with fresh food pre-portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come.

gold bond believes touch says everything. it says... i see you. i feel you.

and...i know you. gold bond. get in touch with irresistibly touchable skin. >> john: the federal district court in kent si is blking president biden's attempt to expand title 9 to include protections for gender-identity. this ruling is a victory for women according to to the attorneys as they propose changes would have forced schools to allow biological men onto girls' sports teams. joining us now is kristen wagner, ceo and president and general counsel for the alliance defending freedom. so judge danny reeves, who is the chief judge for the district court, and the district of kentucky, in part, wrote this in his decision: "when title 9 is viewed in its entirety, it is

bun ca can'tly clear that discrimination on the basis of sex means discrimination on the basis of being a male or female. as this court and others have explained expanding the meaning of on the basis of sex to include, quote, gender identity turns title 9 on its head." kristen, your 20,000 or 30,000-foot view of the ruling. >> it's a tremendous win for women and girls across this nation. it's the first nationwide injunction that has been imposed to stop the biden administration from forcing a national mandate on all federally funded schools to violate the rights of women and girls. >> john: what in essence do you think this will mean? it should apply the country. clearly, aclu, other organizations, will likely go to the appellate court to try to get this overturned. the biden administration is out in eight days. twelve days. less than that. my math is terrible.

but the biden administration will be out in a little while. they may not have time to pursue it. certainly other organizations will. >> yes, there are issues. this issue's coming up in a wide variety of contexts. i think it's important to recognize the significance of the court's decision because had the biden administration won in this instance, it would have wiped out about half of the laws in all states protecting women and girls that would have just eviscerated them as the jung found. judge found. while the ruling will go up on appeal it's important to recognize it hopefully stops this ping-pong effect that we're seeing between administrations where the rights of women and girls are subject to whatever administration wants to do on this issue and define biological reality in using the power of the federal agency. the ruling will hold and i also think it's important, as you point out, to recognize that we want to ensure that we're stopping the bad guys from doing the wrong thing and protecting the good guys as they're doing the right thing. so it protects good state laws but we have to keep fighting

those states and the acou in other actions. >> john: when title 9 was first enacted, it was to protect the rights of women in education and other items. it didn't specifically spell out sports. what critics say is that the rewriting of title 9, and it went from a handful of words, to i think 1500 words, or maybe it was 1500 pages, it was a long, long rewrite of title 9, what it basically did was it gave biological men the same rights as women in women's education and sports. and people say, that just basically took title 9 not only turned it on its head but pretty much erased it. >> it did. it made gender identity the new sex and essentially if you read the regulations that were put in place, you read the congressional record and the number of times that congress addressed title 9. it made very clear that it meant

male and female. there are significant exceptions in the law that recognize all right to privacy in our locker rooms and in our showers and the biden administration sought to undo all that with the swipe of a pen. this ruling stops them from undoing it and it's also significant to note, john, that there was a compelled speech problem in the regulations. it was seeking to force students and teachers to use wrong pronouns and to embrace something that they believed to be false in terms of those who are identifying as the opposite sex. the court ruled it violated their first amendment rights. >> john: that's the ruling for the eastern district of kentucky. we'll see what happens in terms of a challenge to it. again, it likely won't come from the biden administration doj. somebody was likely to challenge it. kristen, thank you for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> john: sandra? >> sandra: we are still at zero percent containment for some of the most catastrophic wildfires still happening in the los angeles area. we'll have the very latest on the ground for you when we return.

quick break.

>> sandra: nearly 200,000 calfans are under evacuation warnings and more than 180,000 have already left their homes and belongings behind. the palisades fire a, the

biggest of all and the biggest destructive disaster in los angeles history. max gordon is on the ground. what is it looking like there? >> reporter: it's a surreal scene. i'm wearing fire gear on the beach on malibu. on one side i have the ocean and on the other side i have smoke, i have destroyed multimillion dollar homes. officials here saying that the number of destroyed structures are in the thousands. this fire has grown to around 17,200 acres. it has become incredibly destructive, destroying entire neighborhoods. in the community of pacific palisades, neighborhoods there burnt to the ground, leveled. it looks like a bomb went off. we spoke to one resident there, take a listen. >> i'm thinking the sons and daughters of parents i know where they're going to live, where they're going to go to school, where they're going buy food. our grocery stores are done. with the way the permit process

is in l.a., these homes won't be rebuilt even if we started tomorrow for two years. this is devastation. >> reporter: absolute devastation. and then to the east of us, the eaton fire burning near pasadena. that fire sits around 10,600 acres, at least five dead there. back to you. >> sandra: thank you very much, max, for that update. fox corporation has made a $1 million donation to the red cross' california wildfires relief efforts and continues to be an annual disaster giving program partner. this enables the red cross to respond immediately to disasters by providing safe shelter, hot meals and emotional support and resources to aid and recovery. and here's how you can help. visit go.fox/redcross or scan the qr code on your screen. looks like we might be getting a new update on some of the fire situation from the mayor there in l.a. we'll have that when we return.

this is the second time i've had to evacuate since i moved here but this blows everything out of the water its apocalyptic. >> there is no evacuation plan. we'll be got the order for evacuation we had thousands of people trying to leave through the same doshi turned into gridlock. >> we can't even go to check on their house. >> brutal reality for so many right now john and so many are still living through this look at these live pictures pacific palisades at the fire still burns. >> john: yeah, this is the east of the main part of the eaton fire. the very top of mount wilson where our fox affiliate k tv i believe is their transmitting tower red and white one that you're looking up your the domes at the lower part of your screen are the ones exhibited toward

doshi observatory. also up there 911 services towers also local stations so the fire starts to get really close and damages those it is potential for some broadcasters to go off the air and 4911 communications to be effective. we hope that does not happen. also is a very important observatory the mount wilson observatory don't want to lose that either. >> sandra: yeah, that's part of the eaton fire which we know there is does that and the palisades fire are the biggest of the five. meanwhile the sunset fire where evacuation orders were lifted earlier at the moment -- mayor moments ago with a statement saying that is not 100% fully contained. the sunset fire character on. >> john: that's good news but i don't know how you get water up in the mountain unless you drop it by water bomber. >> sandra: all right our coverage continues thank you for joining us on america reports and centers met. >> john: i'm john roberts th