what a story to start our day. thanks, andy. thanks for joining us. i m john avlon. cnn this morning starts right now. good morning, everyone. so glad you re with us. i m poppy harlow with phil mattingly in new york. there s a lot going on on this monday, december 18th. happening right now defense secretary lloyd austin is back in israel, his visit part of the international pressure campaign for israel to change its tactics in gaza and restart the truce talks, pressure growing after the killing of three hostages by soldiers. republican front runner donald trump using darker more extreme rhetoric in that final sprint, the white house slamming trump for what it calls fascist rhetoric. right now storms gusting up the east coast and the travel delays it could cause this holiday week. cnn this morning starts right now. we begin with defense secretary lloyd austin meeting right now with israel s defense min minister. pressure is growing on israel to change its tactics
california history. agh. lucky for us the fires hadn t made it to where my family lives in oakland, but the air had gotten so bad that it wasn t safe to breathe. so my wife and i took me, the asthmatic, my elderly parent, and our kids straight to vegas. not because we wanted to gamble, but because it was close and there were cheap flights. now back then, it seemed like a oneself-in-a-lifetime thing. fire rescue, what is your emergency? but ever since, the fires in california have a gotten worse. dixie fire. woolsey fire. are more towns burned to the ground, more forests devastated and more refugees. this episode is about californians and fire, because we got to learn how to get along. now if you re thinking that you re safe because you live outside of california, nope. wildfires happen across america, from alaska to florida. and they happen all over the world. wildfires sweeping across australia. cape town. estonia and turkey. nigeria. all the wa
california history. ahh! lucky for us, the fires hadn t made it to where my family lives in oakland, but the air had gotten so bad that it wasn t safe to breathe. so my wife and i took me, the asthmatic, our elderly parents and kids straight to vegas. not because we wanted to gamble, but because it was close and there were cheap flights. back then, it seemed like a once in a lifetime thing, but every year since, the fires in california have gotten worse. the dixie fire. the hill fire. there are more towns being burned to the ground, more people whose lives are devastated, and more wildfire refugees. this episode is about californians and fire, because we ve got to learn how to get along. now, if you re thinking that you re safe because you live outside of california, nope. wildfires happen across america, from alaska to florida, and they happen all over the world. wildfires sweeping across australia cape town sonia and turkey. all the way to the north pole
fire to reproduce, for real. but once white caolonizers came west, timber became a precious commodity, and the fire enemy to be stamped out. then in 1910, wildfires destroyed 3 million acres across the u.s. west, so the u.s. forest service made it their policy to put out any fire as soon as it started. as a result, forests became dense and overgrown. there were too many small young trees and dead leaves and dry brush accumulated on the forest floor. add drought and climate change to the mix, and you have the perfect kindling for a wildfire. isn t it also part of the wildfires started to do things that people haven t seen fires do before? one thing i ve noticed is how fast the wildfires move. you could look at it one hour, and in the next hour, the situation is completely changed. i think we definitely saw that on the cal dor fire this past year. the best way to think about is
means dryer, more conducive to fires. but also, we have huge buildup of fuels because of fire suppression. what do you mean? california is a fire adapted ecosystem. so essentially for many decades, the western united states implemented a strategy of putting out fires as soon as they were ignited. patrick is talking about what s known as the era of fire suppression. remember smoky the bear? only you can prevent forest fires. well, smoky was too good at his job. generations of kids like me grew up thinking that fire was bad. it turns out that s not quite true. fire is a part of nature. the california landscape actually wants and uses fire. in fact, some of the trees, like the giant sequoia, actually need fire to reproduce, for real. but once white colonizers came west, timber became a precious commodity and fire the enemy to