Trump Dishes Out Blame for LA Fires
Newscast
BBC
4.3 • 6.6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today, we look at the wildfires still raging across Los Angeles, where five people have been killed and more than 175,000 have been evacuated.
Adam speaks with BBC’s Los Angeles correspondent Emma Vardy about the extent of the damage and the rescue operations. And Politico’s California environment reporter Camille von Kaenel explains why President-elect Donald Trump blames the Democrats for the damage caused.
Plus, as the pound falls to its lowest level in over a year, at the same time UK borrowing costs hit their highest for 16 years - What is going on with the economy? Adam and Chris are joined by economics editor Faisal Islam to explain.
You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://tinyurl.com/newscastcommunityhere Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. It was presented by Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Teodora Agarici and Anna Harris. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The editor is Sam Bonham.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.6 | Hello, I've just recorded today's episode of Newscast. |
| 0:07.4 | And actually, one of the conversations that really stuck in my mind wasn't about the California wildfires or the increasing cost of British government debt. |
| 0:15.9 | It was the off-air conversation between Chris Mason and Faisal Islam about when is the last day it's |
| 0:22.2 | polite to say Happy New Year. And Faisal asked the question. I said, well, it's the 9th of January, |
| 0:26.7 | obviously, today. And I said it so confidently. Faisal thought that was an actual rule that existed. |
| 0:31.6 | But then it made me think, maybe it is and I just hadn't realized. So please, set me right, |
| 0:36.7 | or send in your own personal rules |
| 0:39.6 | about when you stop saying Happy New Year to people. You know where to send them to |
| 0:43.8 | newscast at BBC.co.uk or you can WhatsApp us on 0-330-123-9480. And just to play it safe, |
| 0:53.2 | I'm going to say, hope you have an informative time listening to |
| 0:57.3 | this episode of Newscast. Newscast from the BBC. I like landscapes. I don't think I'm being rude. |
| 1:03.8 | Japping, unemployed people who are overweight. That is not the agenda. It's the fun police working overtime. |
| 1:09.8 | The star is born, Elon. |
| 1:11.7 | So hurt that a miracle let this happen. |
| 1:13.9 | Frankly, I think we need a British Trump. |
| 1:15.7 | Take me down to Downey Street. |
| 1:17.4 | Let's go have a tour. |
| 1:19.0 | Blimey. |
| 1:20.2 | Hello, it's Adam in the newscast studio. |
| 1:22.5 | And if you've been online at all in the last few days, |
| 1:24.8 | you could not escape the dramatic pictures and video from the |
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