breaking news. >> breaking news. chased by

flames. a new, rapidly spreading wildfire is forcing thousands of residents in los angeles county to leave their homes. this is being called the hughes fire. and here is one main reason why it is such a threat. it is currently burning over 30 acres a minute. just take a look at this. the vastness of it. right. that is the length of 23 football fields. every single minute that's burning. this fire ignited just before 11:00 this morning. already it has exploded to more than 5000 acres. and there is no containment. and you can see so many areas that are burning as those embers are carried and they spread yet more wildfires. now we want to take a look at where the fire is located in relation to the other two major wildfires burning in l.a. county. this cal fire map shows the hughes fire is burning around castaic lake. you saw the lake in the photo earlier in the video, not far from santa clarita. so it is north of both the eaton and palisades fires. now let's take a live look at

the fire. information is coming in minute by minute. just in the last half hour, the five there freeway there, interstate five shut down there due to the rapidly spreading flames. a total of 35,000 people are in mandatory or warning evacuation zones, and that includes several schools in and around castaic. there is now a triple wildfire threat in l.a. county. here is the latest on the two other major wildfires burning there since january 7th. the largest is the palisades fire, at nearly 23,500 acres. that is 36mi■!s. t is now 69% contained. the eaton wildfire has grown to just more than 14,000 acres, with 91% containment. cal fire reports 28 deaths from both of those fires. those fires have prompted new demands for an investigation into the emergency alert system, abc news reporter zohreen shah tells us there are questions on whether faster action could have saved lives.

>> today, questions about whether the loss of life and massive scale of destruction in the recent los angeles fires could have been avoided. an l.a. county supervisor demanding an independent investigation into the electronic emergency alerts for the fire in altadena and pasadena that killed at least 28 people and destroyed over 7000 structures. >> it's important to gather all the facts, so we have a complete picture of what happened and how the system was put to work to protect lives, and this work must be prioritized. >> all 17 deaths from the eaton fire occurred toward the western part of altadena. some people who live there say they never got an order to evacuate. >> i'm very disappointed and angry about it because i feel like had we gotten evacuation official notification, we would have acted faster. >> neera chao says she evacuated when neighbors called, saying they got a message to leave. bridget james and her husband

brian say they also didn't know about the order. >> i don't know what their resources were. i don't know what their challenges were. >> the l.a. times reporting that some people in the area were not told to evacuate until seven hours after the fire started. >> our deputy sheriffs, along with our partners at l.a. county fire uh, were out there from the onset of this incident. >> the victims of this disaster deserve our transparency and accountability. >> in a statement, the coordinated joint information center said in part that once the immediate wildfire crisis had passed, there will be a comprehensive third party evaluation of all response efforts. heavy rain is in the forecast later this week. governor newsom is moving resources to the area in advance to help protect communities impacted by the recent fires, and there is a fear of landslides and possible toxic debris and chemicals that could spread with the rain. zohreen shah, abc news, los angeles. >> shifting back now to the rapidly expanding wildfire, the hughes fire, with weather conditions really fueling the

spread there. abc seven weather anchor spencer christian has a look at what fire crews are facing today. spencer. >> okay, kristen, this fire is growing very rapidly, as you pointed out. here's a look at the conditions in the area of the fire. now, so far, it has burned over 5000 acres. and it of course is still spreading. gusts are up to generally 30 to 40mph. there have been some higher isolated gusts. and as you pointed out, this is just above i-5 north of santa clarita. that's the location. and in the broader area, the red flag warning has been extended now for los angeles and ventura counties and other areas until 10 a.m. friday. winds generally out of the northeast at 20 to 30mph. gusts up to about 50. there have been isolated gusts up to about 70 miles an hour, generally in the higher elevations. and look at this humidity dangerously low, 2 to 10%. so the gusts look like this right now up to 54mph at browns canyon, many other locations with gusts between 30 and 40mph. and that pattern is going to continue for a while. it doesn't look like those winds are going

to diminish significantly in the next 24 hours. so in the bigger picture, you can see there's just we have dry weather and a dry pattern continuing over all of california at the moment. and that includes the bay area. we had some cold weather here this morning though. as you may have noticed, low temperatures dropped to 29 this morning in morgan hill and campbell, 28 at danville, napa and santa rosa and petaluma had a low of 26 degrees. a really cold this morning. looks like it's going to be cold again tomorrow morning. another frost advisory has been issued for the north bay interior valleys and the east bay interior valleys from 11:00 tonight to 9 a.m. tomorrow, temperatures dropping down to about 34 degrees. frost, of course, will form under these conditions and may damage sensitive plants. let's take a look at our forecast headlines tomorrow morning. cold and frosty. you know that already. tomorrow afternoon, though sunny and mild once again. it's mild this afternoon. looks like tomorrow will follow that pattern. but on saturday, gusty winds, much cooler. and we have a question mark. there is a slight chance of rain not

looking very strong, but we'll get to that in just a moment. so overnight lows down to 35 at santa rosa, 32 at lakeport 29 ukiah. we'll see 33 at fairfield and mid 30s in many other inland locations. upper 30s to low 40s will be the lows around the bay. shoreline. highs tomorrow up to 68. san mateo 72 at santa rosa 68 and santa rosa out at san jose rather so. a mild day tomorrow. so here's the forecast animation about that possibility of rain. notice things remain dry through thursday and friday, but friday night into saturday might see a little bit of rain developing down in the south bay, and it may expand a bit into the late night hours saturday into early sunday morning. but at the moment, the chance of rain looks like it's only about 20%. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. so mild conditions the next two days before the clouds and cooler weather arrive on saturday. and of course, possibly a sprinkle or two. it remains cool through the weekend, and then on monday and

tuesday we'll see a slight increase in temperatures. and finally, we get back to the pattern we've had most of this week. chances are our weather is going to remain dry through the weekend, but i need to mention that 20% chance of rain because it is a possibility. >> all right. thank you spencer. keep that in mind. of course, we are tracking wildfires statewide and the conditions that lead to them. you can get updated information on fires across the state and air quality data at a glance. it's all at abc7 news.com/fire map. developing news now a shakeup today at the u.s. capitol, where the trump administration is moving ahead with pledges to end federal dea programs. abc news reporter christiane cordero tells us the move means some federal employees no longer have work to report to proclamation. >> today, president trump is moving ahead with a slew of campaign promises, including removing diversity, equity and inclusion, or dei efforts in both the public and private sector. >> our country is going to be based on merit again. can you can you believe it?

>> by the end of the day, all federal employees working on dei programs are to be furloughed with pay. the order makes public sector dei programs illegal and directs departments to pressure private companies by threatening to investigate ones that contract with the government. several big companies, including mcdonald's, walmart, ford and john deere abandoned their dei policies before trump took office. on immigration, u.s. officials today tell abc news 1000 to 1500 additional troops are expected to be sent to the u.s. mexico border. these will be in addition to the roughly 1500 currently there. a new department of justice memo promises state and local governments will be investigated if they fail to comply with new trump administration immigration policies. and starting today, a new trump order reverses a policy that barred arrests in sensitive areas, meaning immigration officials can now target undocumented immigrants in churches and schools. at yesterday's national prayer service, bishop mary ann buddy asked trump to have empathy for

marginalized people, including undocumented immigrants. >> to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. >> trump called the bishop a radical, left hardline trump hater, saying her sermon was inappropriate. she responded today on the view. >> to say we need to treat everyone with dignity and we need to be merciful. >> in trump's executive order to reverse dei, he also revokes an equal employment executive order signed by president lyndon johnson in 1965. christiane cordero, abc news, washington. >> flights for refugees preparing to come to the u.s. have been canceled as part of the trump administration's immigration crackdown. that's according to a memo from the state department. the move is expected to affect about 10,000 people with scheduled flights, with some refugees going through a years long process. officials also say no additional travel bookings will be accepted. according to trump's executive

order, the u.s. isn't able to deal with the influx of more immigrants. during the biden administration. refugee admissions were actually capped at 125,000 a year. plenty of new changes as the trump administration takes shape. we're keeping track of the first 100 days, and you can as well at abc seven news.com and on the abc seven bay area app. big news out of the north bay, sonoma state university is eliminating all athletic programs starting in the 2526 school year. the school blames its growing budget deficit. sonoma state has 11 athletic programs and seven have not even completed their seasons. the school says student athletes who choose to remain at sonoma state next school year can continue to receive scholarships as long as they meet the terms of the scholarship. we'll have reaction to the sports cuts ahead on abc seven news at four. we've been following the federal indictment of former oakland mayor chantel and the charges she and others face over accusations of bribery

and corruption. the same day the charges were announced, an oakland city official named in the indictment resigned. larry gallegos resigned from his position as a project manager for the economic and workforce development department. you do not see him in that video. there he is. his name showed up in the indictment as one of the people tao appointed as part of a corrupt arrangement with the duong family. now there are concerns about the recycling contract with the duong's family company, california waste solutions. >> not only was oakland for sale, it was on sale for cheap $95,000 and a few other things. it's just boggles the mind how cheap they were willing to sell out the city. >> tao faces a minimum of 95 years in prison. or i should say that is a maximum and upwards of $1.5 million in fines. she'll be back in court on february 6th. president trump has set a date for new tariffs. ahead, the countries he's targeting and a look at the widespread possible

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i'm not happy with the way that pg&e handled the wildfires. yeah. yeah. i totally, totally understand. we're adding a ton of sensors. as soon as something comes in contact with the power line, it'll turn off so that there's not a risk that it's gonna fall to the ground and start a fire. okay. and i want you to be able to feel the improvements. we've been able to reduce wildfire risk from our equipment by over 90%. that's something i want to believe. [skateboard sounds]

donald trump's initial wave of executive orders. the trump administration has announced intentions to impose tariffs on trading partners beginning february 1st. this is the first time a date has been attached. 10% tariff planned on imports from china for the fentanyl crisis 25% tariffs on imports from canada and mexico for both drugs and unauthorized immigrants. joining us now to talk about what these tariffs would mean is anastasia fedak, assistant professor of finance at the haas school of business at uc berkeley. professor fedak, thanks for your time. >> thank you.

>> when might these announcements be formalized and tariffs actually implemented? >> yeah, i think february 1st is quite an aggressive timeline, to be honest. of course, it depends on ultimately what authority president trump would choose to use to impose the tariffs. many of those would take showing right certain actions or intents from the partners that you're imposing tariffs on. so that takes some time. so it's unlikely to be as quick as february 1st. and of course then the question is also not just of when but of if. so whether the intention is actually to impose all of those tariffs or whether the intention is to basically use them as a negotiating tactic to put pressure on these trading partners. >> right. which is what some people are saying. perhaps this is just a negotiating ploy, right? a starting point in negotiations. but what is the state of rationale for using them to contain the drug crisis or border crossings? >> yeah, of course we've seen that already in the first trump administration. he did impose tariffs on china. and those are

still in place. largely those were kept in place by the biden administration. but with other trade partners, with canada, with mexico in the first term, there was a lot of that was used as rhetoric, was used as a pressure point, basically to then negotiate from. and when we saw negotiations between the us and canada in the first trump administration. so i think it is quite likely that he's going for something similar this time around. and it's a tool. right. so it's and these are very large trading partners for the us. these are the largest trading partners for the us. so it would of course be costly to impose those tariffs. but the relative size of the trade arrangement is even larger for those partners. so for canada, for mexico, us as a trade partner is an even more important partner than they are for the us. so i think he may be counting on basically this asymmetry that even though it would be costly for both sides and maybe even more costly for the other side. and so he can extract agreements to things that he would like, such as, for

example, keeping the migrants on the other side of the border and so on. >> it's a game of chicken in a way. right. but if they were enacted, what would be the consequences? let's start with the consequences on consumers. right. already we've been worried about inflation and the prices of things that we buy. how might that be impacted? >> yeah, i mean absolutely. those can go up further. right. so disruption to trade agreements, especially such large trade partners like canada and mexico, which are both our largest, sort of the largest imports for the us, also the largest exports for us goods as well. so they're very important on both sides. so disrupting those supply chains, disrupting those relationships is likely to both cause increases in prices for the goods that are dependent on on the supplies from those countries, as well as also jeopardize some of the exports from the us to other countries, because a lot of those are going to canada and mexico. >> what does this mean if you own a small business, and what

does it mean on a macro level? when you look at the economy and the general output and growth? >> yeah. so i mean, of course it depends on what kind of business you have, right? what kind of sector and what your individual dependencies are. so for some businesses it would be much more costly if they're dependent. right. ultimately on the supply chains that are built with those trade partners. for some businesses, some individual businesses, it may even be beneficial if they're sort of benefit from reduced competition. right. so if somebody is supplying the kind of good that is also supplied by these trade partners, they may benefit from, from an increased access to the remaining market. so i think for individual businesses, it very much depends on what exactly your business is doing. but on a broader scale, the prices are likely to go up from less trade with mexico or canada. as a result, inflation numbers may take back up and that may lead to increased interest rates, as fed needs to keep inflation numbers back down, which of course would

increase the borrowing costs and would slow kind of slow things down as a result. >> and people have been hoping for those interest rates to keep going down, making it easier to afford a loan to buy a house or a car. it is interesting because before the election, it seems like there were a lot of financial leaders who spoke out against tariffs. but today, jpmorgan chase president jamie dimon, who's in davos at the world economic forum, actually said if it's a little inflationary, but it's good for national security, so be it. seemingly now approving the tariffs and changing his tune. is there a bright side that we're, you know, that maybe people haven't seen in the past that they're starting to see. >> so i'm going to just have a word on national security. so as a. >> member of an international working group on russian sanctions, i am going to be the first to acknowledge that there are cases of national security. right. and kind of global issues that would warrant economic action, right. tariffs, sanctions and so on. so it is

definitely a tool. and so that sentence kind of without any further context, just saying if it's important to national security, we can live with a little bit of inflation. that is true. there are definitely circumstances in which that may be the best course of action. now for individual trade partners, there really starts to matter whether we're talking about a rogue regime, right? and in the past, the us has imposed sanctions on rogue regimes, including russia, including iran and so on. or are we talking about some of our closest allies? in the case of canada or mexico, right. this is not an adversarial. >> relationship, right? absolutely. professor anastasia fedak, really appreciate your time. i wish we had more time to converse, but yeah, fascinating. we'll see what happens. haas school of business at uc berkeley. thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> we're staying on top of that wildfire burning in los angeles county. rapidly spreading flames have now shut down part of the

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bernie and castaic, not far from santa clarita. we've learned that evacuation orders have extended into ventura county. the fire has led to a prisoner evacuation at the detention center, and has shut down part of interstate five. this fire ignited just before 11 a.m. already, it's exploded to more than 5000 acres, charred, and there is no containment. let's take a live look at that fire burning right now. you can see really dry vegetation there. this time of year, those hills should be green. but in fact, they are brown. that is part of the problem, of course. so much fuel, so much dry fuel just burning there in the ridge hills area. a total of 35,000 people are in mandatory or warning evacuation zones, including several schools near castaic. new developments stanford

university will not discipline a student journalist who was arrested while covering a protest last june. the san francisco chronicle was the first to report the decision at the time, then freshman dylan hill was covering a pro-palestinian rally for the stanford daily go. hill was wearing his press pass when he followed a dozen student protesters inside the president's office. officials say they caused extensive damage after a brief occupation. go. hill was taken into custody along with the protesters. all were released from the santa clara county jail after more than 12 hours. millions of linkedin users are suing the social media platform, accusing it of using their private messages to train ai models without their permission. the class action suit involves linkedin premium customers. they claim the platform quietly rolled out a privacy setting that let users enable or disable the sharing of their personal data with third parties. they also say linkedin discreetly updated its privacy policy to say data could be used to train ai models. linkedin, based in

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soon. i'm telling you, life is good. >> living apart together. highly recommend. >> videos for living apart together. getting millions of views online. >> some people think it's bizarre, but it works great for us. >> fans say it's the best of both worlds. companionship when you want it, alone. time when you don't. >> living apart together allows couples to maintain their autonomy and independence within the context of a long term, committed relationship. >> and it's not just a hollywood movement. the census bureau says that in 2023, almost 4 million americans were living apart from their spouses. >> people these days are looking for relationships that work for their lives. >> mandy and cody crystal, both 38, live 360 miles apart in alaska, married in june. they see each other once a week. >> it's roughly a six hour drive or a one hour commercial flight. >> sometimes during the week,

i'll just fly down for dinner and i'll hop on the plane to get back for work the next day. >> right now, they keep separate homes because they each share custody of their kids with their exes. but mandy says even if they lived in the same city, she'd still prefer to live apart. >> it's like, wow, this isn't what we expected, but it's pretty great. >> right now. we're thinking there's a good chance that we'll we'll keep maintaining two separate houses and then just get together on a on a very regular basis. >> experts say while this works for some, living together separately isn't for everyone. >> it makes the time the couples do have together all that more special, because it's not something they take for granted. >> i'm eva pilgrim, abc news, new york. >> all right. could work for some folks. thanks for joini tonight, there is breaking news right now as we come on the air. a new wildfire has just exploded in los angeles