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Only hours after the deadly Los Angeles wildfires started on Jan. 7, 2025 — a disaster that would burn more than 16,000 structures and level entire swaths of Pacific Palisades and Altadena — Gov. Gavin Newsom was already on the phone with LA28 head Casey Wasserman about saving the Olympics.
As revealed in CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti‘s new book, Torched, excerpted exclusively below, the race to rebuild Los Angeles quickly became entangled with the Olympic calendar — reshaping decisions around permits, oversight and public safety in a city still smoldering from catastrophe.
Despite no background in disaster response — and before the Jeffrey Epstein-related scandal that forced him to put his formerly eponymous talent agency on the market earlier this year — Wasserman, a private citizen with no official position, was perhaps the most influential behind-the-scenes figure in the rebuild. The grandson of mogul Lew Wasserman served as a crucial conduit between President Donald Trump, Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, even flying to Mar-a-Lago within days of the fire.
“These are America’s Olympics,” Trump told Wasserman. “These are more important than ever to L.A., and I’m going to be supportive in every way possible to make them the greatest Games.”
But what has that meant for Los Angeles recovery in the mad scramble for a city hell-bent on not losing the Olympics? Vigliotti has never-reported details on the levers Wasserman, Newsom and Bass pulled behind the scenes, and how the government shifted away from emphasizing environmental priorities and safer building codes to an expedited process in the race to LA28 — leaving many upset about the recovery. It’s a discontent that has fueled protest groups like They Let Us Burn and the insurgent mayoral candidacy of former reality star Spencer Pratt.
Below, an excerpt about Wasserman’s untold role:
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