♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son.

a raymond james financial advisor get to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. brett: you know as someone coming out of college it can be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect, whether you'll like your job or not, whether you'll make friends, whether you'll fit in, and here i feel like it's so welcoming and such an inclusive place to work, you just feel like you're valued. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" christian: hello, i'm christian fraser. this is "the context." >> it is safe to say the palisades fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of los

angeles. >> there are embers flying one and a half to two miles ahead of the fire with a 75% chance that will ignite a new fire, so they were caught in a very difficult situation. >> so many memories in here that cannot be replaced. so many things are just lost forever. i know i'm safe but -- i don't understand. christian: apocalyptic scenes in california. one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of l.a. county with fires still burning tonight uncontained. we will hear from our reporters on the ground and we will speak to altadena resident peachy keen and among those evacuated. elon musk tells german voters to choose the hard right afd. trump's man has been interviewing the afd's co-leader

who told him germany's leaders are either stupid or they hate their country. and what does 2025 have in store when it comes to artificial intelligence? ai decoded, coming up. very good evening. the strong wind that is spreading the catastrophic wildfires across southern california are not going away yet. the strongest santa ana winds have passed but there is another wind forecast for thursday night into friday. the national weather service has extended the red flag warning. there are currently five major blazes now burning along the coast. palisades fire, which is the most destructive in l.a. history, has consumed more than 17,000 acres. that is roughly 27 square miles. it has destroyed at least 1000 structures and is entirely uncontained. the new blaze is the sunset fire which started last night in the hollywood hills.

some progress has been made on that fire but wind is still gusting, significant risk remains. the size and strength of the fires was matched only by the speed at which they spread. so fast, many of the evacuees were forced to abandon cars in the middle-of-the-road just to make it to safety. the winds have been gusting up to 100 miles per hour and all those wind speeds have dropped, the tinder dry conditions have exacerbated the fires, forcing over 100 80 evacuations with more still expected. firefighters are spread thinly along the line working long shifts amid extreme conditions, and in some places, the water hydrants have run dry. one positive development in the last 12 hours is that the fire department helicopters have been able to resume their air operations. they were granted yesterday because of the extreme weather conditions. our west coast correspondent emma vardy has this report from los angeles. >> the scale of this disaster is

clear to see. block after block, a blanket of destruction. more than 1000 buildings burned in this community alone. emergency services unable to save them. and still they burn. the most catastrophic fire los angeles has ever seen. overnight, the hollywood hills resembling a disaster movie. a huge crescent of flame engulfing an iconic community of california. more than 130 thousand people have been told to evacuate their homes. here, just one of many properties in golf, turned into a shell. >> a lot of the stories of heroic actions by our deputy sheriffs, police officers, firefighters, a lot of them are taking place from people who did

not choose to evacuate, putting their own lives at risk. so please, if you are asked to evacuate, evacuate. it is not only your life you are putting in danger. >> at least five major fires have been burning across los angeles county. the scale and spread has stretched firefighting crews. on the ground. and in the air. 16,000 acres and counting consumed by the inferno. one street filmed by a local resident, moments before he left. >> i thought maybe i would be able to get some extra stuff that we didn't take. i come to see that the whole street is just gone. it is like a war zone. we had so many memories here

that cannot be replaced. i had these great pictures of my grandfather from world war ii, both grandfathers, framed, and now they are lost. so many things are just lost forever. i know we are safe but -- i don't understand. >> fueled by hurricane force winds, these fires have struck at a vulnerable time. l.a. has not seen significant rainfall for months. >> currently we are at the palisades fire which is a very dynamic, fast-moving brush fire. looking out the window here, wind gusts are still 50 to 70 miles per hour, heading right to the ocean and turning back around and heading back up the canyon. there are embers flying one and a half to two miles ahead of the fire with a 75% chance that that will ignite a new fire. they were caught in a very difficult situation. >> as don came in the palisades, it revealed the grim reality of

what the fire left behind. there are miles and miles of streets like this, utter shock as the devastation here, communities just vanished, now ghost towns. once dream homes, now turned to dust. no one is immune. mansions now ash. the homes of jennifer aniston, rihanna, adam sandler, and paris hilton among those evacuated. the scale of destruction has upended life in los angeles and this ravaged city is bracing for more. christian: truly heartbreaking to see. let's go on the ground to speak to our colleague who is in altadena. helena, i was listening to a local weather reporter today, saying that before these drought-like conditions arrived, there were two years of record rainfall. what that did was grew the brush

and vegetation in the forest, and then came the drought, and that is what created these tend to like conditions that has added fuel to the fire. >> that's exactly right. you can see those tinder-like conditions around me now. when you speak to people in southern california, i know you have, they are used to wildfires. seasonal wildfires are nothing new. but eight months of very little rainfall that we saw a really exacerbated those conditions. you can also see some of those trees that were downed as well because the hurricane wind came through here of up to 100 miles per hour. i want to show you some of the devastation, still in the evacuation zone, but we have been able to survey what has been left. just countless vehicles like this one, completely charred and burnt out, as people piled into neighbors cars and rushed to get away. 10 acres completely burned out. scenes like this just

replicated, so many houses just reduced to rubble. you can even see here perhaps in the background, smolder, even some flames continuing to lick the structure here with these hotspots. 0% containment in this eaton fire. we know that there were five fatalities. in this direction, this is when it becomes striking. these are scenes familiar to all of us. patio furniture, people having their breakfast out there. in this direction, the trappings of our everyday domestic lives. washer, dryer is completely burnt out. if you cross over the street -- and we have to be cautious as we walk because you can see power lines are still down. 1.5 million people without power right now. i just found this so striking. as we cross the road, you have this power line, the top is hanging quite literally by a thread. but if you look underneath, you

see it is completely burnt out. it is just hanging by a thread. and i want to show you the sky, the reason we are wearing masks. there is this choking smoke right now, really acrid. if you can see that orange sky, it looks like sunset. it is not. it is the middle of the day. that is because of the haze. i want to show you that people are coming back, they are tearful, emotional, finding they have nothing left. we were just speaking to the residents of this house there. their grandmother managed to get out alive, they came back to try and look for an urn of their grandfathers ashes where you see that chimney is. they could not find it. just this little elephant ornament, that is all that's left. this is the contrast of los angeles, as well. you have a list of celebrities in the pacific palisades speaking out, trying to draw

attention to the plight of people, but you have also got regular family homes, for example, here next to an elderly care home that was evacuated. this same family said to me they have to go home, put on their uniforms and go to work. one of them working at a fast food restaurant. amid all this destruction, trying to get on with their daily lives, as well. i think that level of destruction is so difficult to comprehend. christian: just looking around you, helena, even if you were extraordinarily lucky and your house was spared in all this, it is the bones of the community that has disappeared. power, infrastructure, sewage system, banks, hardware stores, schools. is there any sort of question among people that you spoke to today that maybe it cannot be rebuilt? there have been three wildfires

in california in three months. is there a question mark as to whether this is one area of the world affected by climate change where people might have to move? >> i think there will be those questions. i think right now there is just disbelief at what people are facing right now. in terms of the scale of that challenge, rebuilding these areas, yes, you have president biden coming out and saying california will have everything it needs to rebuild. but this is unprecedented in l.a.'s history. i can compare it to things that i saw, for example, the maui fires. lahaina, for example, still very much in difficulty also when it comes to the economy and so on. yes, these questions will be asked. they are being asked by the likes of the governor, gavin newsom.

this really was what authorities had called sadly the perfect storm when it comes to these climatic conditions, when it comes to those hurricane like winds, and the topography of the area. the clue is in the name, hollywood hills. you have these canyons and then the chimney-like conditions, and that is why you see random destruction in some places, where the fires jump from house to house at random. i still think, the warning is, the wind could whip up again in the coming days, and people are just anxious about what could lie ahead. christian: thank you very much for that. let's speak to peachy keen and who had to evacuate her home in l.a. with her five kids and pets. our hearts go out to you, they really do. and awful scene to see on our screens. did you get to take anything with you, do you know what the situation is at home?

>> yes, i've actually hear in my house. we left for two nights. i took the kids back today because we heard that our street was fine. part of my roof came off, tile came off but the house is intact. thank goodness. my neighbors are safe. two blocks away from where your reporter was, they were not so lucky. i'm getting reports all day, at least 12 families that i know that go to our school, they lost everything. i am getting it both ways. i grew up in the palisades, one hour west of here, by the beach. my hometown is destroyed including my child home including my friends. i now live in altadena and this neighborhood is basically decimated. lake avenue, the main business thoroughfare is gone. my local grocery store is gone. my sons place of work, the hardware store that you mention,

is gone. these are family businesses. altadena is not the palisades. these are middle-class families. some of them have been here 50 years. these are old, beautiful homes. the police blocked everything out because of the looters, and my husband snuck in to take pictures of these beautiful homes which are gone. it is honestly beyond belief. christian: that question i put to helena about the future, the way people rebuild their lives. i think j.p. morgan today said it's about $50 billion worth of damage. do you think that part of southern california, the valley area, beautiful areas around l.a., do you think it can be fully protected from this? >> there have always been wildfires, wildfire before human

beings were here, natural disasters strike all over the world. this place is so beautiful, people will want to rebuild. some won't. but roots go very deep. this is like our homeland. unfortunately, what you are seeing, maybe it is partially climate change but also the effect of one party rule, they mismanaged fire management and water management for decades. my friends were trying to protect their homes and there was no water in the pipes in altadena and the palisades. unfortunately, that is squarely on the shoulders of the local government. people will rebuild, it's important to rebuild. no one will give up this place, it is too beautiful. christian: just quickly, i can hear it in your voice. are you still in shock? >> honestly, i've been helping friends put together gofundme's today. you can go on my twitter to see. a widow friend of mine lost her

husband two years ago, she has four children, they lost their home, they have nothing. the scale of it is not to be believed. i have not yet gone two blocks from me to see my friends houses that are gone. i don't know when we are going to go to school. school was canceled for us. so many of the families that go to school, they have no backpacks, uniforms, everything is gone. it is very emotional, shocking. like i said, where i live is not millionaire central, so it will take longer. christian: peachy keenan, thank you for talking to us tonight. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news.

the tech billionaire elon musk have been interviewing the coleader of germany's afd party. the interview went live a short

time ago on the x social media platforms. her anti-immigration policy -- party pulling at 19% in the run-up to germany's elections next month. in a message she posted, he said the traditional parties in germany have utterly failed to people. the afd is the only hope for germany. here is a clip from that interview. >> 7 million people but these are officially counted. >> 7 million, while. >> 7 million people of influx since 2015 officially counted. then because the people, just another funny number. our state allows people to throw away their passports before they cross the borders that are not protected and controlled, so 57%, almost 6% of the people coming into our country, open border, they throw away their papers. why do they do that?

because once entering our country, with this funny immigration policy, they cannot be deported anymore. christian: musk of trying to stop the interview. his intervention in european politics is causing widespread consternation. tonight, the french president emmanuel macron is meeting with sir keir starmer where the subject is set to come up. muska is privately discussing with allies in america how keir starmer could be removed as prime minister before the next general election. with us tonight is jackson james, resident senior fellow at the german marshall fund in the u.s. thanks for being with us. i suppose this was alice weidel 's chance to introduce herself to a global audience, and on that story, probably a success. but do you think it will move the dial in the german election? >> i don't really think so. i think alice weidel and quite

frankly muska himself are not typical of the people that are actually congregating around the afd. they are both very global in their backgrounds and their thinking. as a result, i suspect they may change a few but they will not have an impact. the issues that people are really concerned about are not much of what they covered. that is the economy, immigration issues, and to some extent, the problems of anxiety about the more next door. christian: musk called alice weidel the leading candidate to run germany in this interview, but as far as i was aware, all other parties are working with her, and the leading candidate is the cdu center-right. why is he not talking to him? >> good question. obviously, alice weidel is somebody who is kind of a soulmate in terms of his thinking, libertarian politics, his ideological background.

quite frankly, i think they also have one thing in common, they have both been in high finance communities. i think you just found somebody he has a lot of common denominators in. christian: some of the facts that put -- that she put out there are questionable and need to be fact checked, but things that you put out that resonated with voters are energy, the decision to close down nuclear energy when we are at a fuel crisis in europe, and the level of taxes in germany. that will resonate, will it not? >> the energy prices are higher. basic issues will be how they bring them down. on the tax issue, yes, germany is a high tax country. what i said before, basically, most voters will focus on three things. the economy, the immigration issue, how to get that under control, and about that anxiety

of the war next-door in ukraine. the sophistication of talking about nuclear energy, wind, solar -- by the way, at the end of the conversation, how long will it take for mr. musk to get to mars? it was really well beyond daily politics in germany. christian: quickly, we have sir keir starmer meeting with emmanuel macron tonight and we are told this topic will come up, certainly mr. musk's recent interference in eu politics. why do you think eu governments are so timid at pushing back? >> i think there is a nervousness here about particularly in germany because the election is coming up next month. they are concerned about how that will turn out. these kinds of platforms, megaphones that mr. musk owns, is something that unnerves them. but the best way to respond to that is to simply not be indignant.

just be innovative about what their policies can be and should be and get out and sell. christian: good to talk to you tonight. thank you for coming on. just want to show you some live pictures from georgia. the plane carrying jimmy carter's casket has just landed in fort moore, georgia. shortly we will see pictures of the casket heading through downtown plains where the public is lining the route where jimmy carter makes his way through his hometown. he will be buried later this afternoon in a private service close to the family home and next to his beloved rosalynn, who he was married to four 77 years. quite a poignant afternoon in washington, of course. we have been watching through the day, the service at the national cathedral. one of the more intriguing parts of the day was the arrival of the five living presidents who

have history, of course, lots of history. we cut some of it together with you. donald trump was the first to arrive. not sure if it was the intention to shake the hand of his former vice president. they had not interacted publicly for four years, not since mike pence refused his efforts. barack obama did exchange some pleasantries with the president-elect. not so, george w. bush, who arrived shoulders back, straight past the trumpet and straight to al gore, who he famously defeated in the year 2000 votes. slightly awkward encounter. the vice president kamala harris arrives soon after, pointedly pushing the second gentleman in front of her, avoiding any need to engage with the president-elect. then president biden arriving last. to say this was uncomfortable

viewing was perhaps the understatement of the day. it was like the wedding where you try to position people next to the person that they didn't want to talk to. but it has everybody talking, no doubt. evening shows will have some pretty good fun with that. there you go, on the right-hand side of your screen, the honor guard just approaching mission 39, as it's known. that is air force one but it is known as mission 39 when president biden is not traveling on it. of course, carrying the casket of the 39th president of the united states. we will continue to watch that announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation,

pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: get the free pbs app now and stream the best of pbs.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son.