hello and welcome to another episode of path to the presidency. we're in the studio today, myself and sumi and courtney. it's been such a breezy week that we're doing the episode live this week because we just so much going on. couldn't get anything on tape. yes, and today is big news of donald trump being sentenced in his new york hush morning case, which brings a very dramatic close to this. um, he was given a sentence of unconditional discharge, which is the most... one of the most lenient sentences he could have gotten, which meant nojailtime, no probation, and no fine. um, obviously, this does mean that he has the blight on his historical record of returning to the white house as a felon. so it you know, it is big news. he said he planned to appeal the case. what do you guys think — does this where does this leave things? i mean, you know, you

know, it's interesting we were speaking as this news came out yesterday. we were speaking on friday, of course, and on thursday night, the news came out that the supreme court was going to deny his bid to have the sentencing halted. and we were speaking to a former federal prosecutor who we often speak to on bbc news, sarah kristof. and she was saying, you know, i think donald trump is the luckiest defendant i've ever seen because none of the usual rules are going to apply. and that's essentially what the judge said here as well, isn't it, that because of the extraordinary circumstances of donald trump entering the white house again, that, you know, the sentencing would did not proceed as it would have had it been somebody else who was facing these charges and had been convicted on these charges. i mean, what i wonder is how we'll see the maga world then carry this forward. obviously, for donald trump, the fact that this was, as many legal scholars called it, a bit of a slap on the wrist in turns of sentencing. they see it as a vindication of the fact that they don't believe in donald trump's inner circle as well, that this was a case that should have been brought in the first place.

i mean, he won't see this as him being a very lucky person at all, right. he sees this. and we heard him when he addressed the court for the first time today, which was fascinating, because we had those hearings in april and may, and we saw him going in and out of court every day, stopping and and talking to the media about, you know, how the system was stacked against him. today was the first time he actually spoke directly to thejudge, but again, repeating the points that he's held from the outset that it was not appropriate to bring this case, that there was no case to answer, that it's the politicisation of the department ofjustice, of the whole legal system, and he remains annoyed and angry about it. and, you know, yes, he's got this very rare hand—down of this, you know, unconditional discharge. so he doesn't have a penalty as such. but there is a stigma to being a convicted felon, particularly if you're donald trump and the circles that he moves

in the way he views himself. he won't be heavy about this at all. and he has vowed to bright on, but he's into a lengthy appeals process. now, like any other convicted felon in the american justice system, will have to wait for the docket number to come up and go through and let the wheels of the justice system turn. do you feel like it takes any bright out of his whole, you know, rhetoric around the the justice system has been weaponized against him when he has such a lenient sentencing? i don't think so. precisely because of the reason that katrina just named is that this is now on his record that he's a convicted felon. right. i mean, for him, that is the blight that you mentioned. and that will for him always be a sign that, as he said, the system was weaponized against him. and in his words, it was a sign of his political opponents trying to turn something against him so that he would lose the election, which, as you said, he didn't end up happening. and legal experts that i've spoken to today anyway seemed to be of the opinion that, you know, the appeal

that he's going to bring will hinge very firmly on the supreme court ruling during the summer of presidential immunity. and, you know, it could end up being heard, actually, at the supreme court, this this new york case could travel that far to here these arguments. and because it's, you know, the immunity that's now granted to presidents isjust so broad. and he feels it should apply to him for this case as well. well, indeed. the other two federal cases that were brought by the special counsel, jack smith, were now essentially dismissed byjack smith himself because of the presidential immunity that he will have going into office now. and the other case in georgia, which we saw was brought there, that has been stalled because of the controversy surrounding the district attorney there, fani willis. of course, there are 14 other defendants there that she could still prosecute a case on, but she's right now off the case, so it's unclear how that one will proceed as well. but i mean, i wonder where that ends up. and to your point, courtney, perhaps they see this as a line to move on, depending on what happens with the appeals. yeah, so possibly another chapter, but for now

it's i think there. definitely will be another chapter. it definitely will be another chapter. i mean, donald trump wants this removed. he wants this appeal to be held and he wants to no longer be a convicted felon. but as you said, it doesn't change the fact that on the 20th of january, when he stands up there with his hand on the bible and swears the oath, even if there's an appeal, he'll still have that line in history, in the history books against his name, won't he? it's in the history books. it is, it is. but, you know, ithink obviously much of the attention is now going to move forward to the inauguration and the fact that he is entering office with a mandate after having this convincing victory, he feels like he has had several successful weeks as well. after the election, with some of the announcements that we've seen. we'll talk about them as well about some of the picks for his cabinet. and so obviously, it's going to be, you know, that question of how the appeals process goes forward? does it end up in the supreme court will always

kind of be hanging in the background as this one legal case that still remains of the many that we were talking about last year. but, you know, ithink the attention will mostly move away from it now as he looks to, to start his second term hitting the ground running. i mean, he has all the business of being a president now, of course, to feel with, doesn't he? i mean, that's true. he has to move on and the focus has to shift, and he has to get up and running with the business of the day with. so much happening. and i mean, i've been looking at, as we all have, the horrific wildfires that have been taking place in california, in los angeles. and obviously, you know, we're speaking on friday and there is still danger on the ground for so many people as those winds keep whipping. it is truly terrifying the destruction we've seen. and i know we've talked to so many of our correspondents on the ground as well there, but the questions have also been moving on to, 0k, what happens now for the people on the ground, those who have evacuated, who have lost their homes and also to the question of disaster relief, right.

with fema. and i spoke on our programme on thursday to a former fema administrator, because donald trump had come out this past week slamming the california governor, gavin newsom, saying, you know, this is essentially his fault. and he also slammed joe biden, the current president, saying he's left me with no morning in fema. and i talked to the former former fema administrator, craig fugate, about that. and he said, ok, that's not essentially entirely true. there was a big funding crunch for fema at the end of 2024. president biden did pass more funding for fema, but he said, look, we are kind of reaching the end of our rope in turns of funding. so it will need to be stocked up because the number of disasters being faced. and i wasjust thinking about the fact that, you know, we've again seen this clash setting up between a blue day governor, gavin newsom, and possibly donald trump, who has in the past threatened to cut federal disaster funding to california. one of the big issues that he's talked about is the fact

that the north of california is water rich. the south needs more water. and there is actually it was interesting. there's a small fish that is in protected waters in the in the north, in a delta there that donald trump says is, you know, some worthless fish. and that's why farmers in the south are not getting water. all of this to say, i mean, this could be another clash then between gavin newsom and donald trump, but also between what he deems as blue states and and, you know, his administration. the smelt is the name of the fish, the smelt. thank you. keep that in the back of your mind. it'll wind a pub quiz someday. the delta smelt. the delta smelt? yeah, yeah. ifeel like that's kind of going to be on t shirt slogans or something, but not to make light of a very, very serious situation. and i think we saw this kind of row between donald trump and gavin newsom or gavin new—scum, as donald trump likes to call him, because we know he gives nicknames to everybody.

and that was a lot harsher, i feel earlier in the week. you know, when we didn't know and how the scale of this fire, so many fires and how difficult it would be to get a handle on them. i feel like that rhetoric has kind of been toned down a little bit as the week has gone on. yes, there's been disinformation and as we have seen with previous natural disasters, and actuallyjust in the last hour or so, i got this letter from not sent to me, of course, but gavin newsom has sent it to president elect donald trump, very, you know, very nicely worded and kind of reminding him of how they toured california with those terrible wildfires in 2018 and inviting him to come back. and, you know, he signed it with respect and an open hand. "let's work on this together." let's do this together, because, i mean, it serves no one's interests to have them at each other�*s necks. well, certainly the people of california, i mean, gavin newsom here, you know, has in the in the weeks after the after the election, stepped forward and said he wanted to be at the forefront

of the so—called resistance movement against donald trump. right. and we've seen him say he's going to stand up to, you know, federal policies that work against, you know, california and, you know, the people of california. but he's in this moment of crisis, and he needs the federal help. and so, as you said, we've seen him sort of tone down some of that rhetoric. he's even said he plans to launch an investigation into the water shortage that's been reported in early. and i think, you know, now is not the moment to, you know, escalate the bright or any sort of 2028 ambitions that he may have that might be motivating him behind this. um, but it is a moment where we need to see whether donald trump will step into that presidential role and fulfil his promise to be a president for all americans, right?

because, as you said, especially in the first term, we did see him sort of pick some of these red and blue day fights. and in california, of course, was always a foil in that. particularly, of course, in the covid pandemic at the time. and there were some of those battles taking place. but, you know, then again, i think the question will also be what happens to an agency like fema? you know, there was a lot of concern during the hurricanes that we saw hit north carolina and florida last year that there wasn't going _ to be enough funding for a federal agency with, as we know, these disasters linked to climate change are leading to more and more natural disasters, that there might not be enough federal assistance as the year goes on. we're only injanuary, of course, and we're seeing one of the most expensive natural, natural disasters that we've seen now hitting california. and, you know, we have seen some republican members of congress in particular. i saw tim burchett, the congressman from tennessee, saying, you know, we didn't have the same debate about fema and its funding when hurricane helene hit the appalachians.

and the people who were from a red state or red region, rather. and now we're having that discussion about california. so i do wonder if fema itself is going to be politicised going forward and how important that kind of federal assistance. i remember being on the ground in florida and some of the people on the ground there telling me, look, fema is all well and good, but what the problem is that they cannot get to us in time because of their bureaucratic processes, and they don't have enough funding to help us in the first place. and so that will be a real concern for red and blue states in the year to come. but we did see funding for fema caught up in some of those budgetary builds around the time of the hurricane, and a number of congress people from florida who had been badly hit voting against extending the funding. and, you know, so, like, it's one of those situations, isn't it, that the politicians from either side kind of see an issue that maybe they can make a bit of gain on, but ultimately then realise, oh, hang on, there's real people really suffering here, and they're our constituents. and kind of sense prevails almost in a way. and i think this will be

one of those where, you know, it's there. but for the grace of god, go anyone in any day here with natural disasters, that it is potentially a bipartisan issue that we may see some movement on, on the hill. you know, donald trump will be in office. and yes, the republicans have that slim majority in the house and relatively slim majority in the senate. but actually, it is something that perhaps both parties can work on. yeah. and as you said, it's january, so there's a long year ahead. yeah. indeed. and of course, in the meantime, it's a long road ahead for californians for residents in los angeles. truly horrific. what we're seeing play out. as we're talking now, people don't even know when can they get back to their houses. you know, we're seeing fire containment percentages ofjust 3%, 5%. it's getting back to your house, seeing if it's still there. if it is still there then you've got the process of kind of what can you rescue or what do you have to clear from the side?

many of these buildings are very, very old, 100 years old. and, you know, again, we've seen that in some of the very dramatic footage where there can be one home standing in a row of others that have been wiped out. so there will be questions to be answered. i think about fire codes and different infrastructure issues. i mean, we know infrastructure in this country has been dramatically underfunded for many years. again, that is something that republicans and democrats agree on. oh, yeah. and certainly the questions were asked also after hurricanes helene and milton, where should structures be rebuilt. and that's one that will be had in california as well in los angeles. and certainly if you speak to residents of neighbourhoods like the pacific palisades, which has been absolutely razed to the ground by these fires, they've talked about the fact that they understand that the geography in which their homes are placed, they always knew that wildfires were an issue, they simply didn't expect the wildfires to come this quickly— and with such fury to completely destroy their neighbourhoods.

so, of course, you know, one resident i spoke to said, the way that our homes are nestled in the hills, we understood that wildfires are always going to be a threat to us. we had go bags. we were prepared in that sense. but yeah, do you rebuild there? do you consider different, as you said, fire codes? i mean, these are all questions we'll be having in california and and certainly in flood regions as well, where we've seen massive flooding. but this has been a very special set of circumstances, hasn't there? among the people we've been speaking to on all our outlets all week have made that point time and again, there are these extremely high winds, hurricane strength winds, extremely dry conditions preceded by a lot of rain, which meant all of the growth had grown and then drier out. so there was tinder basically just sitting there ready to go up. and, you know, we spoke to one woman on the shower who owned a restaurant there, the reel in that has been burned to the ground. and she said they had

a photograph beside the cash register in the restaurant of a fire from 80 or 90 years ago, which had come like close to where these buildings are, but not crossed the threshold. and at this time it had. but, you know, it hadn't happened in, in all that time in between. but, um, yeah, i mean, it does feel like a year's worth of news has kind of happened. and what date is it like the 10th of january? the 10th of january, i hope i'm not on the review of the year programme this year, because how are you going to... sorry to tell you. you're going to be on it. yeah, yeah. how are you going to fit all of that in? um, and that's before we've even gotten into, i suppose, the business of the path to the presidency. uh, next week, up on the hill where the path will be beaten into the senate for all of these confirmation hearings that we've been talking about for so long, the controversial picks, um, or some people who are considered controversial, picked by donald trump. and i mean, the one that i think all highs will be on is pete hegseth. right? picked as the secretary of defence.

he is up on tuesday, january 14th. set your diaries for that one and he will have his hearing. but it feels like, again, there was a lot of ferocity to the opposition to many of these individuals in the week or two after the election result, and that perhaps now there's something of an acceptance that many of these people are going to get confirmed, if not all of them. i don't know what you guys think. yeah. i mean, i think you're right that hegseth is sort of the big one this time, right? and, you know, putting it in the context of previous confirmation hearings, you know, you can compare it to, um, you know, we think about some of the hearings during trump's first term, supreme courtjustice, justice kavanaugh, that got very emotional. he faced some allegations as well. the question is, is it going to be that heated this time round, as you said, it's been because donald trump named these people so quickly.

there's been time for this to sort of settle in. and some of the more, you know, controversial people that he had named, like gates have been, have come and gone and hegseth has managed to stay on. he's had these meetings on the hill. he's starting to meet with democrats. um, and, and so, you know, he, of course, will face some pretty aggressive questioning. the question is, what will come up? how will it how will he respond? and will it have that sort of same visceral reaction that maybe we saw, you know, years ago in the midst of the metoo movement? um, in turns of some of the allegations that he's facing. iwonder, i mean, i think the early announcements of these picks did help some of these candidates actually lay the ground a bit and do some of that lobbying on capitol hill, and also the fact that matt gaetz, who was just looking at pictures of that his nomination was so controversial and that we saw that rise and fall of his pick

to be attorney general. i wonder if that does take some of the heat away from these other candidates. i know that there's still plenty of controversy around tulsi gabbard to be the director of national intelligence. rfkjr to be the secretary of health and human services. and there is still very vocal opposition among democrats, but they are in the minority at the moment. and, of course, you know, if you look at the fact that we've seen all of these candidates, including i shouldn't forget, of course, kash patel as well, to lead the fbi, that they have been lobbying consistently on capitol hill and meeting also with democrats to dry to make their case. i think i'd seen that tulsi gabbard was set to meet with mark warner, the democrat senator from virginia. and because of the massive snowstorm that we had here in dc, that got a bit delayed. but he had said, i have some very serious questions for her. i had some and i will have some. and my sense is that they will have pretty contentious hearings. i mean, that is to be expected. but i wonder if that that time for lobbying was successful enough.

also with the fact that donald trump wants these picks to be confirmed, that that is enough to get them over the line. i mean, fundamentally, the republicans have 53 senators, so they have the majority. so in a way, the democrats canjump up and down and make as much noise as they want. but generally these things go. you vote for the party. it's the pick of the president. that's their prerogative. i think it's i think you have to go back to 1989 for there to have been a vote on the senate floor for someone to be rejected. so it's kind of a done feel in a way. and it's whether the republican senators decide not not to vote for their own president's pick. and i think the steam seems to be gone out of that a little bit. but i agree with you. i think these hearings are going to be really fiery and really passionate next week and speaking to a couple of democratic strategists, the kind of approach that the democrats are

taking to some of this is that they are going to come out so, sparky, because, you know, we've talked about it so many times on the podcast here about the creation of viral moments and how many people. 0k. us nerdy types will possibly sit for hours and watch these things with the popcorn out, but most people won't. right. they're going to wait to get a curated feed on bbc news or elsewhere of clips. so what the democrats are trying to do is have some of their leading senators have very pointed remarks to make and kind of lead to some of those exchanges. and, you know, you mentioned the kavanaugh hearings. i mean, some of those clips were really made big deals of people and, you know. put kamala harris... harris. ..on the map, as you know, a pointed and smart prosecutor. right. and, you know, you have to remember, this is a party in flux.

this is a party that has, you know, we've talked about this before, but, you know, there's i've talked to several democrats who have said what resistance movement, you know, and i think they're looking for something. they're looking for a fight, you know, unify behind a common enemy. and i think these confirmation hearings are giving them something to fight for. and, and try and, you know, pick up the pieces after the election. so i agree, i think we'll here, you know, loudly from some democratic senators. do you think there's any possibility that anything comes out in these confirmation hearings? for example, when tulsi gabbard is grilled about her meeting with the former syrian leader, bashar al—assad, that it could change some minds among republicans as well. or do you think this really is kind of done and dusted? i don't know, i think she's one of the individuals that doesn't actually have a date set for her hearing, which also is quite interesting. um, but i don't know. i think donald trump has such a hold over the republican party at party at the moment. that would be an incredibly brave republican senator at this point

to kind of go against him. i mean, you know, we saw a big push from joni ernst, didn't we, about pete hegseth and obviously her own military background and so on. but even she seems to, you know, she withstood a lot of a barrage from donald trump. but even she kind of has said now she's going to support pete hegseth. so i think you're going to see party unity. and from the republican party next week, which is something we've seen since the election day as well, really. he requires it of them. so, you know, the question is yes. will this, will this, will they come together? will we have the, you know, rogue senator who steps forward and expresses throughout and maybe clears the way for others. but i think you're right that donald trump's message to these senators is get in line. these are my picks. and this is, you know, the cabinet that cabinet that i want. well, it's certainly going to be something for us to talk about. we won't have a shortage of kind of interesting

viral moments to dig into when we meet again next week, but i'm just looking forward _ to seeing what the hearings tell us about some of the dynamics within the senate and some of the dynamics among democrats and republicans, and where we see things headed for some — of those cabinet members, and likely, as you guys said, to be confirmed. i think there's an appetite as well to just get on with it. isn't there like after the election and how divisive it was that people just want politicians to govern. to do their... yeah. the job that they were elected to do. indeed, indeed. you know, and this is kind of showboating sometimes. and yeah, we get very caught up in it. but people are just like, you know, put food on my table. help me with my house, help me with my insurance in california. but anyway, lots to talk about next week and we will see you then. thanks so much for being with us. bye— bye. bye. hello again. it was another very cold start today across eastern areas of the uk. temperatures widely —3 to —8 celsius, but there's some sunshine.

a lovely start to the day there in kent. furtherwest, it hasn't been as cold, temperatures are on the rise. a lot more cloud, though, for northern ireland, western scotland with some outbreaks of rain moving its way in. a bit of cloud around some central and eastern areas, with some freezing fog patches which could linger on into the afternoon. elsewhere, though, there will be some sunshine. maximum temperatures in the east still about two to four degrees. another cold day here, but in the west, less cold, highs of about eight or nine celsius. and as we go through tonight, the cloud in the west will gradually move its way a little bit further into northern england. across wales, still a bit of cloud in the southeast of england as well, but with some clearer skies in the far southeast, here, we could still see a touch of frost into monday morning. but a very big difference in temperatures in northern scotland. look at that, 11 celsius on monday morning. very, very different compared to the last few days. but with those higher temperatures and with some

rain moving its way through scotland, we could see a significant thaw, quite rapid, and that could lead on to some localised flooding. a bit of rain moving its way into the lake district as well. we'll see some pretty strong winds towards scotland and northern ireland. further south and east, though, some sunny spells, the winds a little bit lighter. temperatures about five or six celsius. so again, just a tad higher for many of us, especially so where it's going to feel really very mild compared to the last few days. temperatures of ten to 13 or 1a celsius. high pressure is gradually moving away to the east as we go through into tuesday, and that allows the milder air to move its way a bit further eastwards. so you can see that, for all of us on tuesday, under the influence of those milder conditions. highest temperatures once again towards northern and western parts during tuesday, lots of cloud, could be a few spots of rain here. driest and brightest across the south, temperatures here about eight or nine celsius, but again, further north nine to 13 or 1a degrees. so the highest temperatures

will always be across northern areas during the coming week, above average, whereas for england and wales, generally speaking around about average, but still lots of fine weather to come during this week, so the end of the cold snap. bye— bye.

live from london. this is bbc news. the number of people killed in the los angeles

wildfires rises to 16 with firefighters battling to contain the two biggest blazes. an aerial attack on the enormous palisades fire, which is menacing brentwood, one of la's most exclusive neighbourhoods. winds are picking up again, strengthening the flames. a further 166,000 people are being warned they might have to leave. and calls to sack the uk treasury secretary because she's been named in a corruption investigation in bangladesh. welcome to bbc news. it's four the morning in los angeles where firefighters are continuing to battle the wildfires that have destroyed huge swathes of the city. the number of people killed has risen to 16, and a dozen are missing after five days of the devastating fires.

the two biggest blazes remain largely uncontained,