let's bring in cnn correspondent maribel gonzalez. she is in pacific palisades, california, tracking the very latest for us. maribel, what have we learned overnight? what are you seeing, hearing smelling what's in front of you right now yeah. >> good morning casey. it's definitely a dire situation here in the palisades. and it's kind of a surreal one as well. we are just steps away from the ocean. in fact, it is dark right now. but i can hear the waves crashing. all of this happening as we are just steps away on the other side of these raging fires. as you see behind me now, here on the scene, we've seen dozens of fire trucks just on standby, hoping to contain some of this fire. but at this point it is zero containment, as you mentioned, it's only growing in the hour that we have been here. we've actually seen some of it contained, but you can see how rapidly the situation is evolving, because as soon as some parts get contained, other flames are flaring up, as you can see on camera right now. and as you mentioned, those winds, those d

cnn's maribel gonzalez standing by there. what are you seeing at this moment, maribel? >> yeah, john. good morning. well, we're here in this very block in the downtown area of pacific palisades, just around ten hours ago. and this shop that you see behind us, it was still standing at that time this morning when we were driving up, we saw completely burned to the ground. there's debris, there's rubbish, a few embers between that debris, some fires also still active nearby. and this scene, john, is the same one repeated block after block in this downtown area that you know, as you know, is a very picturesque neighborhood, but now looks more like a ghost town. >> i really am long term optimistic. >> but the devastation to hear people wailing and crying and concerned about their pet, their family, they're just bewildered about what's just what they're experiencing. >> and again, not just experience. i was not talking past tense. this is happening in real time. >> and that was california governor gavin newsom. that was california governor gavin newsom. he was here on the sce

i'm maribel gonzalez. >> yeah, very concerning all around, especially for viewers.f you have friends and families in southern california. vice president kamala harris, who has a home in the brentwood neighborhood of la, was briefed on the wildfires last night. in a statement, harris said in part, my heart goes out to all those being impacted by the devastating wildfires in southern california. we are deeply grateful for the heroic first responders who are risking their own safety to fight the flames and help keep communities safe. listen to local officials, remain vigilant and evacuate immediately if told to do so. we are tracking wildfires statewide and you can too, see fires and air quality at a glance. go to abc seven news.com/fire map. >> now, it's nothing like what is happening in southern california, but we've also been seeing some high winds in the bay area. this is new video from overnight that shows a massive tree that came down on union street in alameda. you can see it crushed part of a car. there was also a power outage along buena vista avenue. that str

cnn's maribel gonzalez has been on the ground over the past several days. she is joining us now. and, of course, maribel has been with us each morning throughout this as these flames have continued to burn. this is from thursday in the pacific palisades, california. maribel, what are you seeing where you are right now? >> keep going, keep going. don't. don't point the. >> casey is just a devastating scene here. we talked about thousands and thousands of people who had had to flee their homes and into safety. many of them will be returning to scenes just like this one. almost their entire neighborhood burned down, reduced, their homes reduced to ashes and debris. now here where we're standing, this is the scene that's replaying over and over again all throughout pacific palisades. as we know, this has been one of the hardest hit areas. and, casey, yesterday we were in the downtown area where we saw multiple buildings burning overnight. the threat of the fire damage still very real as in this area. the fire, the largest one of all five, is at at 6% containment. >> all right, maribel

cnn's maribel gonzalez is live on the ground in pacific palisades. maribel, good morning.i know you've been on the ground covering this. you and i spoke at this time >> an area pacific palisade. we were here. i'd not even ten hours ago and we're driving up this morning and just seeing how much destruction this has led this block where we're standing, for example, there was one business that was on fire. >> but as you can see now, there's now only one of them standing next to us. that's a veterinary center. this one behind us completely burned down. we're even seeing some. small spot flames pop up behind us. but, you know, this is far from over. just across the street, there's a church that has been completely burned to the ground. we also saw some flare ups coming up in a block a few blocks over. and as you mentioned, you know, this is devastating for the people here. it's not just these businesses, these brick and mortar stores. it's people's livelihoods. it's people's jobs. we spoke to one man yesterday who wanted to see for himself just what had happened to the cafe whe

let's go to cnn's maribel gonzalez in altadena, california, where the eaton fire has caused horrific damage. maribel, give us a sense of what residents may be returning to. >> yeah, jake, this is just a complete war zone here in altadena. tens of thousands of people have been displaced by these fires that we now know have collectively burned through an area about the size of miami. now, for those people under evacuation orders, they're not able to return to their neighborhoods. but when they do, this is the scene that so many of them will be facing. their homes burned to the ground, reduced to rubble, ash and debris, their cars parked on their driveways that they left behind as they were frantically trying to flee to safety. those now completely charred. but we also want to show you how these neighborhoods have been impacted here in altadena. as you can see, right across the street from the one that burned down, there's a house that is seemingly intact from the outside, looking like it was untouched by the flames, however, jake. but even for those that live in the homes that are still

cnn's maribel gonzalez has been on the ground for us throughout, and that's where we find her again this morning. maribel, bring us up to speed. what are you seeing at this point? and talk a little bit about what the damage to that plane may mean for firefighting efforts on the ground yeah. >> good morning casey. well, we're back here in pacific palisades this time in the neighborhoods. we're getting a closer look at the extent of the damage here. to the residents who live here and call this home. and, casey, i just want to first explain to you where we are. if you can see behind us. this used to be a home. but now, as you can see, there's rubble, there's debris. it's been reduced in some parts to ashes right in front of me. i'm seeing a dining table. that one seems to be intact. it's just it's devastating to see. and the drive up here. you heard someone just moments ago describing this as a war zone. and that is such an accurate description. cars along the side of the road, sometimes multiple cars almost nearly blocking the road, just left abandoned and charred. all throughout this neig

maribel gonzalez, thank you so much.ciate it john. >> and of course, the air around los angeles is well into hazardous levels. a level six out of six on the air quality index because of all the smoke and ash, one family told us that is why they had to leave. >> we couldn't breathe anymore. and we had we had all the filters going in the house. we had hepa filters and nothing seemed to work. >> so what are the exact medical impacts? cnn's chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, explains just about anything you might imagine is going to be inside that smoke, but it is important to draw a little bit of a distinction between standard forest fire and what they call the wildland urban interface. >> think about that urban setting that you're looking at there. you're burning everything plastics and metals. you're unearthing certain metals that are even in the soil, cars and electronics and carpets and drapes. all of that gets into the atmosphere. these volatile organic compounds, benzene and formaldehyde and all these type

maribel gonzalez, thank you very much for your reporting. president biden has pledged that federal resources will be available for the people of california. cnn's betsy klein is joining us now from the white house. betsy, what are you hearing from president biden? >> well, amara, president biden and vice president harris are staying in washington this weekend where they will where they will continue to receive briefings from their team on the state of this federal response. and you may know that president biden was scheduled to be in rome this weekend, meeting with the pope as well as ukraine's president zelenskyy and other italian officials and vice president harris, for her part, was set to kick off an international tour starting in singapore with stops in bahrain and germany. both of those trips canceled as they continue to monitor that federal response. and this hits quite close to home, literally, for vice president harris, whose los angeles residence is within that evacuation zone, continues to be as of this morning. now, i want to get

cnn's maribel gonzalez is there. so what's the plan for? firefighters today? winds calming just a bit. >> yeah. good morning victor and emirates. that is a very good news for firefighters here. the winds have subsided. those previously posing a very very big challenge to them when trying to get to those hard to reach areas. but we know and as of yesterday we also heard planes doing their aerial drops. that is also the plan for today. the eaton fire, which is the second largest fire here in the county, now making a little bit of progress here in pacific palisades. the fire is at 8% containment. the hope is that the winds subsiding will give firefighters a leg up today to try to get to those areas that need the most help. >> all right. is there any update on the effectiveness of the overnight flyovers? >> yeah, as i just mentioned, that the eaton fire, which is over in the altadena area, that one is now at around 3% containment, which is very good news, because we know that those that fire was threatening so many homes in that area. i should also mention that th

let's get right to cnn's maribel gonzalez. she's on the ground for us in pacific palisades. ribel, what are you seeing? >> hey, john, it's very surreal being here. you know, on one hand, we're just several feet away from the beach. >> we can hear those waves crashing, but on the other side just steps away. >> and across the pacific coast highway, you can see some of those flames continuing to blaze here. we're seeing some of those embers falling down. the smoke definitely so strong we can't take our masks or goggles off. you know, officials are saying that there's toxic fumes, you know, from the particles in the area and are asking people to stay away. now, this area under mandatory evacuation, we saw tens of thousands of people fleeing their homes even as early as yesterday, when officials warned that these conditions could get worse. we saw some of those cars stranded on the roads as people were just desperate to flee the area. and you can definitely see why the palisades fire burning at five football fields a minute now, almost at 3000 acres. now, this is just one of two o

let's get to cnn's marybel gonzalez, who is on the scene near one of these fires. maribel, what are you seeing? >> hey, john. yeah, we've seen some of those fires behind us going out as the morning has progressed. but, you know, those winds have been relentless. and that is one of the biggest concerns right now for officials because overnight we saw two fires popping up because of those conditions. we're expecting to hear from them in the next couple hours to give us a good idea of, you know, what this looks like now that the sun has come up, and if there will be any more evacuation orders. we know that right now, those three fires have been 0% contained, despite over 1400 firefighters working around the clock trying to put out the blaze. and here in the pacific palisades, you can see there's dozens of fire trucks. there's crews on the ground trying to combat those flames. and where we're standing, you know, it's a very it's a very eerie feeling. steps in this direction. and you can see the bech. you can hear those waves crashing down. but just steps over here in the pacif