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Jan. 23, 2025 10:59-11:05 - CSPAN
05:56
Washington Journal Rep. Judy Chu
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john mcardle
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donald j trump
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judy chu
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unidentified
For 3 p.m. Eastern today.
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john mcardle
We're going to take you back up to Capitol Hill to the Cannon Rotunda.
We're joined by California Democrat Judy Chu.
She represents that Los Angeles area-based 28th District of California.
And Congressman, Congresswoman, just wanted to start first by asking about the district, how it's doing today, where the fires are in relation to your district right now.
unidentified
Well, my district is doing better now.
The fire is 95% contained.
However, the number of homes burned number in the thousands.
In fact, there are 9,500 structures that have been destroyed and burned, and 17 people are dead.
Finally, the evacuation orders have been lifted, so people are going back to their homes, but they are discovering that they are burned to the ground.
And even if they have a home standing, that it's full of smoke and ash.
So the period of recovery and rebuilding is starting, and it's going to be a very difficult one.
In the meanwhile, there's a new fire that has started, the Hughes fire, which is north of my area.
It is, I think, about 18% contained.
So they are making progress over there.
But people really have to obey the evacuation orders and make sure that they and their families are safe.
john mcardle
You mentioned the evacuation orders released from your office yesterday saying that you're demanding an independent investigation into the deadly evacuation order delays during the start of the Eaton fire.
Explain.
unidentified
I'm very, very concerned because the evacuation orders did not reach western Altadena for many hours.
And as a result, there were those that did not leave right away.
And actually, all 17 of the deaths that occurred were in that area.
So I want to know what happened, who's behind this, why were those evacuation orders delayed?
It's a tremendous tragedy, and we cannot have this happen again.
john mcardle
Delayed by how long?
What do you know about the delays?
unidentified
It was several hours.
Remember that most of the people evacuated within that first day.
And the fire started on a Tuesday night at 6.30 p.m.
Most people then were ordered to evacuate.
That Wednesday, they woke up to this fire that was coming towards our home.
And we're talking about several hours where they could have been evacuated and had their lives saved.
john mcardle
What does recovery look like in your district?
unidentified
What do you, your constituents, need from Congress right now?
Well, right now there is hazardous removal by Cal EPA.
They are making progress.
The next step will be debris removal.
It'll be a big job.
And then there will be the process of rebuilding, of getting insurance companies to be able to assess the damage and then provide funds for that.
But it will not be enough.
And the job is enormous.
There have been estimates as high as $250 billion as far as the damage to both Palisades and the Eaton area.
So we definitely need disaster aid.
We need disaster aid without conditions, which has been the case for every disaster aid package in our nation's history.
These wildfires don't have any political affiliation.
judy chu
They don't have any political party.
unidentified
And when America's, when Americans are in their most desperate time, when they are in great, great need of help, we need to be able to help them.
And this will be a very, very important time for us to give that aid so that they can recover and that the economy can return to what it was before.
john mcardle
On disaster aid, President Trump was asked about disaster aid by Sean Hannity in that Fox News interview that took place up on Capitol Hill.
unidentified
This is about 30 seconds from yesterday.
donald j trump
I don't think we should give California anything until they let water flow down into there from the north to the south.
unidentified
This is a political thing.
I don't know what it is.
donald j trump
You know, they talk about the Delta smelt.
unidentified
It's a little tiny fish like this.
They say it's an endangered species.
Well, how is it endangered?
donald j trump
No wonder it's endangered.
unidentified
It's not getting any water.
That was Donald Trump in that interview with Sean Hannity.
Your response, Congresswoman?
Well, it is based on tremendous misinformation.
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