friendly over the years. it's not just any presidential funeral or any former president that's died here, but it's it's all of that that's coming into this, too. >> yeah. for democrats, i mean, this is the first failed presidency since carter, you know, clinton got reelected. obama got reelected. democrats, i think, judged those things to have been successes. but, you know, carter carter was a failed president. and and the image and the sort of caricature of carter has hung over the democratic party for a very long time. if you're joe biden, you must be wondering is how i'm leaving office going to hang over my party? not only did i not get reelected, but i also brought back donald trump stronger and more influential than ever. >> i interviewed jimmy carter in 2018, and i said to him, how do you feel about being the example that's always brought up of a failed president? he said, well, you know, i don't like to be compared unfavorably to anybody, but, you know, it's politics. that's the way it goes. and i think the question here is, you know, going forward, how much does joe biden take on that role in

political conversation? >> all right. thanks to all of you for being with us today. thanks to all of you at home for joining us as well. i'm kasie hunt. don't go anywhere. cnn news central starts right now. >> breaking now with simply devastating night turns into an uncertain morning. the most destructive fires los angeles has ever seen. thousands of homes and buildings destroyed. in some areas, it could get worse as people flee their homes. >> president-elect trump is on the attack, blaming everyone from the california governor to president biden for the fire damage and president jimmy carter laid to rest the state funeral of the 39th president begins this morning in washington, dc, bringing together all five living presidents to honor one of their own. >> i'm kate baldwin with sara sidner and john berman. this is cnn news central. >> all right. the breaking

news, the worst fires in los angeles ever. full stop. a harrowing night is making way for a treacherous morning with new, urgent warnings and explosive conditions. at least five fires are raging at this moment. the worst of them still, 0% contained. at least five people have died, but that number almost certainly will rise. more than 28,000 acres have burned. new this morning. 1000 buildings, homes, structures have been destroyed in that fire near pasadena. and the fire on the coast in pacific palisades. another 100,000 homes and businesses are also gone. look at these scenes. you can see satellite imagery showing how widespread the blazes have been. air quality is now at a hazardous level. six out of six. more than 100,000 people have fled their homes, some just now seeing what is left. >> this is our nest egg. this

is where we moved in when we got married. this is where our son was born. this was our house and this was what we worked for. this was what we were going to use to retire. it doesn't seem real. >> my my neighborhood that i grew up in and the rec center. i used to play basketball at. everything is just gone, and i just want to wake up from this bad dream. and it doesn't seem real. >> all right, let's get right to cnn's julia vargas jones, who is in those fires that have been raging near pasadena. give us a sense of what you're seeing this morning. >> well, john, that desperation that we just heard from residents. look, this is the reality that they're facing. so many people are coming home to check on their homes. and this is what we find. this is what they will find their homes engulfed by flames. this fire still burning here in altadena, across here, this neighbor, there's a gas line that's just been fueling this fire. and around all of this, the brush

that has fueled it with these winds of 100 mile an hour, winds that have just burned through all of this, bringing this hurricane of fire through these residential neighborhoods, street after street. we'll be seeing on both sides fire jumping over streets, jumping over highways and, you know, catching on these palm trees on this brush that about two years ago with our record water we got in california has raised this to the point that now is just the perfect fuel for these kinds of fires. at this point here in altadena, firefighters are still working tirelessly to put out small focuses like this one. they have been working 36, 48 hours, and there are firefighters coming from arizona, from oregon national guard on its way to help with this as well. thankfully, the wind has stopped down for most of yesterday and now there is aerial help. so there is some

possibility of of fighting this from the skies as much as from the ground. but we are hearing that it's supposed to pick back up. now, i'm not sure what this does to people like the the folks that we heard from, but here in altadena, we've seen the resilience and the willingness to help their neighbors, folks whose houses made it. john, just being still here, taking garden hoses, buckets, doing whatever they could to save their neighbor's homes. take a listen to one of them. >> i don't know who all these guys are that are helping to save my house right now, but i am very grateful to them for. >> is that what they're doing? is that what can i. yeah. >> can i you know, i was here an hour ago. >> i thought for sure when i came back now, it would it would be gone. >> so i'm happy that it's standing right now. >> but don't have a lot of hope.

>> everyone that we've seen, every street that we've gone down, we've seen people trying to do their best. john. and it's times like these that that bring communities together, that it in the middle of all of this desperation, i cannot imagine what it's like for this woman to come in and look at her house on fire. but strangers helping her just julia vargas jones near those fires in pasadena raging all night. >> you and your team, please stay safe, sarah. >> we certainly have never seen anything like this in los angeles county as residents watch and wait, others are coming to grips with the reality that their homes are gone. as you heard there, cnn's anderson cooper takes us through another altadena neighborhood, now mostly lost to the flames. >> there just are not enough fire crews able to deal with all the blazes that are going on. this house is completely gone. the next house next door looks like the roof is just

caught fire over there. the fire has also spread across the street. there are at least three houses ablaze. and then the fire in just in the last 2 minutes or 3 minutes has spread to that vehicle, which was parked out front. um, there was a slight explosion as some of the gas went up. um, a fire truck passed by here. there's another larger blaze up there which they are going to try to to deal with. right now, we're at harriet. uh, in altadena harriet street. the fire has spread now to this house, which is really now engulfed in flames. but, i mean, it's just surreal. i mean, look at this. even a small thing like this tree is burning from the inside. so on this block, i count one, two. i mean, all the houses, all the houses on this side are

gone. >> just gone. it's really hard to believe. and you see that making reinforcing that wind speeds have been the whole ballgame with this disaster peaking at 100mph in terms of wind gusts. winds today gusting at a lower rate, thankfully, but they're not out of the clear. let's bring in meteorologist derek van dam on this one. derek, how are the conditions this hour and heading into this morning? >> all right. kate i was relieved this morning to see some of the video coming out of the area where helicopters and the aircraft helping fight the fire from the air were able to actually fly. that's the main difference this morning compared to yesterday, at this time when they were not able to fly because the the winds were too erratic and too strong. so there was some relaxation in the santa ana winds. but we do anticipate that to pick up in intensity through the course of the day. so we are monitoring five active large wildfires. we don't have enough time to talk about every single fire, but we know that the eaton fire, we saw it with anderson just a moment ago, charring thousands

of acres. but let's focus in on pacific palisades the palisades fire. here's the santa monica pier, the famed beach within this region. and look at how the fire is encroaching on this densely populated area of western l.a. into santa monica. the wind direction is so critical here. still coming out of the northeast. it picks up through the afternoon. ridge top winds down to the valley. floors could reach 60mph. that's tropical storm force. tropical storm force conditions. that's why we still have critical fire dangers and red flag warnings in place for much of the region. >> and also leading to, you know, a lot of air quality issues as well and warnings there. thank you. thank you so much for putting it all together for us, derek. we're going to stay close to it obviously with you throughout the morning. thank you john. >> all right. a curfew is now in effect from sunrise to sunset in santa monica. as

these fires continue to rage. this hellscape waiting for people for when they wake up this morning. quote. we are open to a dialog. the new message from dana bash officials amid reports of growing fear that president-elect trump is serious about acquiring greenland. >> i lay on my back, frozen, thinking the darkest thoughts and then everything changed, dana said. you're still you and i love you, super man. >> the christopher reeve story february 2nd on cnn. >> what do you got there, larry? time machine, you're going to go back and see how the pyramids were built or something? nope. ellen and i want to go on vacation, so i'm going to go back to last week and buy a winning lottery ticket. can i come? only room for one. >> how am i getting home? >> sitting on my lap like last time? ronald? fine. >> but i'm bringing this. >> all right. >> or you could try one of these savings options. >> the right money moves aren't as far fetched as you

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and eaton fire fires in southern california. those are two of the five fires currently burning with little containment. cnn national correspondent nick watt has been on the scene in pacific palisades, which, as we know, is one place, one of the places hardest hit. >> the last fire i covered here in the palisades, which at the time we thought was a big deal. that was 1000 acres. this is 16,000 acres. listen, we knew this was going to be bad. everybody knew this was going to be bad. with the santa ana winds, with the drought we've had for so long. no real rain since the spring. when those winds were forecast, we knew it was going to be bad. everyone got ready, but they were prepared for maybe 1 or 2 fires, as you say. now there were like six fires. how do you prioritize? how do you fight those flames? it is terrible. the thing is, all these friends who are asking me to go and look at their houses, you know, when i went into this one neighborhood earlier today and i was looking for their house, when i saw their

neighborhood, i thought to myself, you know what? for their sake, i almost hope their house is gone. because, you know, what would life be like living in the one house that's left in an ashy wasteland? and also when you're downtown, when your community is gone? the two grocery stores in the palisades here, huge grocery stores gone. the theater gone, the library gone, palisades high school was on fire when i drove past it earlier. other schools have gone offices, people's lives, even if their homes are still okay, their lives, their community. you know, a friend of mine says she's lived here for 35 years. she knows dozens of people who've lost their homes. her office is burned down. there's not much left. >> our thanks to nick watt, who's doing incredible reporting there. the palisades fire is the most destructive ever to hit los angeles county, exploding to more than 17,000 acres. and it is 0% contained at this hour.

joining us now is janet davis, who lives in one of the hardest hit areas and has not been able to return to her home. janet, it's hard to even ask you this. do you? do you know what has happened to your home yet? >> thank you so much for me as well. >> um, yes, i've seen some, uh, video footage and it's gone. it's gone. um. i don't have access to the area yet. >> your home is gone. you had to see that on on video. you weren't able to to. where were you when you all of a sudden had to had to leave the area and were evacuated? >> um, i didn't have the option of packing. i made an appointment to have my car maintenance and for car maintenance, and i, um, driven into santa monica that morning and i could not get back to the palisades. but by the time i could, i was

returning. there was. there's too much traffic. um, i so i went continued to my daughter's house, and i, um, just thought, well, i live on a, you know, i live on a street with sidewalks. there's a fire. extinguisher or a fire hydrant of two houses down. so what's the problem? and that that was it. so it was just like, wow, you can live in the city and have all this normal city stuff, and it doesn't make any difference. >> you mentioned the fire hydrants and apparently, well, firefighters said they they went dry at some point in the pacific. what do you think about that? yeah. >> um, it's pretty. uh, yeah. it's disheartening. it's, um, you know, unnerving unnerving. >> you said that you weren't

even able to get to your house once this all started. i mean, have you even started thinking about what all you left behind? i mean, what did you have with you? >> um, my clothes and my purse and my car. that's it. um, very little. i spent we spent yesterday trying to get, um, dealing with the online pharmacy to get my medicines. uh, prescriptions refilled. um, so i'm just kind of dealing with one thing at a time, trying to just get by for now. um, i'm fortunate to have a family member who works in the insurance industry. so we sat down and figured out what i would do. but, you know, i walked off with no paperwork, nothing. >> that is just a whole house of, you know, uh, what can i say? >> we we built our house pretty much from the ground up and,

um, filled it with family furniture and mementos. um, so it's hard to realize that, um, that, you know, a whole house full of family, antiques and things are gone. but they are full of memories. >> gone in that house. i'm so, so, so sorry, janet, that you're going through this. what? what do you need? what kind of help do you and your neighbors need? you left with nothing but the clothes on your back and your vehicle. >> correct. um, i, you know, i'm we're going to have to look at. i'm getting a lot of help from my family. um, i'm in a very, you know, financially, i'm in a fortunate situation, but it's just, i understand i've got to, um, the one of the first steps is i was told you there's a government agency that deals with getting the lots cleared of debris. and so that's probably going to be

a first step is to just get the lot cleared and then just keep moving. and so that's all i can do is just treat this as an adventure. and um, see what i can do with it. >> that is an incredibly resilient way to think about it, janet. you know, to treat it as an adventure. but i know that it's really devastating and painful to be looking at these images of your own home gone and the entire community in some cases, including the business district, also gone, life will be very, very different when it's time to return. janet, thank you so, so much for joining us this morning. for more information about how you can help wildfire victims, you can go to cnn.com/vote. impact. we have never seen anything like this. the apocalyptic scenes in los angeles as those deadly wildfires rage over tens of thousands of acres, homeless

family. >> but, um, this this hurts. and it hurts seeing the scale of it. i've lived here in the l.a. area my whole life, 32 years. um, it's never been this bad. >> and the pain of loss. in washington, we're just hours from now. all five living past and present. american president will be in the same room as former president jimmy carter is laid to rest. the most pressing question. who will sit next to whom? we'll take a look kobe was global. >> people felt his presence. >> kobe the making of a legend premieres january 25th on cnn. >> many remedies you take for chest congestion only mask the symptoms. >> hey, how you doing? this mucus won't move out. >> you're gonna love this property. the guys. congestion remedy. harmless. >> try this. mucinex 12 hour treats. the mucus that causes chest congestion for all day

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defense, more ammunition, more and air to ground munitions and other equipment to support ukraine's f-16. the fighter jets. in just a few hours, the state funeral of former president jimmy carter is set to get underway. public visitation of the late president lying in state at the u.s. capitol wrapped up this morning. the motorcade will arrive at the washington national cathedral shortly, where president biden and all of the nation's living former presidents will be attending. cnn's kayla tausche joins us now. this is always a remarkable image to see all the former and current presidents in one place. kayla. >> yes, john. and it hasn't happened since december 2018, when that same group was gathered for the state funeral of former president george h.w. bush. it's an exclusive club, but it's one among whose relationships have been fraught in recent years with the two elections of donald trump seen as controversial among the establishment. president biden

recently was asked what message, what message president elect trump could learn from jimmy carter, and he said one word in his answer. he said, decency, decency, decency. we expect that to be a highlight of biden's own message today as he prepares to deliver a eulogy for his longtime friend of 50 years. biden was among those helping to convince carter to run for president when he was serving as georgia's governor. in turn, carter endorsed biden's many senate runs and even helped raise funds for him in the late 70s. the two counseled each other on politics and life for decades, and biden recently paid a visit to plains georgia early on in his presidential term, biden will be among just one of the speakers delivering a eulogy. we know that also, eulogies prepared by president gerald ford and vice president walter mondale will also be read by their own relatives. their sons will be delivering those eulogies, with president biden delivering his own at the

washington national cathedral today. following the service, carter will be flown home to plains georgia, his hometown, for a private interment. around the same time, we had expected president biden to depart for his final foreign trip to rome, italy, where he was expected to meet with italian leaders. ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy, as well as pope francis. that trip has been canceled because of the fires raging in los angeles. but it all comes as biden today will be cementing the legacy of his longtime friend jimmy carter, while trying to burnish his own in his final days in office. >> john, you bring up a great point, kayla, which i don't think any other living politician had as close of a relationship with president carter as an elected official. as the current president, joe biden. so it will be very interesting to hear what he has to say today. kayla tausche at the white house. great to see you. thank you very much, sara. >> all right. ahead, more breaking news out of california as thousands of firefighters are desperately trying to contain the deadly fires raging in los angeles county. here is the problem. the intense winds

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entire blocks of homes, entire communities on fire and destroyed. just gone. the before and after images of local businesses, coffee shops, houses of worship all highlighting the utter devastation that is being left behind and the harsh reality that residents will be and are returning to in southern california. the lack of water at times to fight some of these fires has been a focal point since the first blaze emerged. anderson cooper spoke with los angeles fire department captain about the difficult fight. >> our hydrant ran dry about two minutes ago. >> and is that the the water pressure issue or. we are, because there's so many engines tapping the grid and multiple grids. we're basically just taking all the water out of the grid on a scene like this right now. what can you do? we are looking at houses that we can save. so things that we can do, we can clear brush away from fences, things that we can do with our hands or with tools. and we just help some homeowners get out. so just i

mean, first thing is rescue operations. we want you out. houses can be replaced. all that lives cannot. >> for sure. joining me right now is brant pascoe, a battalion chief with cal fire. it's great to see you again, chief. thank you for coming back on. you and i spoke. i think it was 9 a.m. eastern yesterday morning, and you were really in the thick of it in pacific palisades. at that point, you told me that where you were, it was fire all around you. apocalyptic. how are things looking today? >> it's night and day to day. i'm standing next to a metal pole that blew over in the 80 mile. an hour gusts, and it's right next to a palm tree that i'm looking at right now. and it's not even moving. um, what a welcome sight. uh, what this fire is so desperately needed was a break in these winds so that we can actually get some containment now on this fire that is great news. >> all over the place. the water situation is. you heard there. some firefighters have talked to our colleagues on the ground that they've been dealing with water pressure

issues. given the demand on the supply, maybe in just specific neighborhoods, hydrants running dry was a topic at a press conference of officials yesterday, and it sparked criticism and a lot of chatter online that essentially you all are running out of water. can you speak to this? i mean, from your perspective, is the overall water situation for firefighters good or is it struggling? >> you know, two things. um, one, just thinking about the in the middle of the firefight with all that water being used at the same time, i could see how there would have been maybe some issues. i've spoken to a lot of crews that have come in here this morning asking those questions, because i get asked those questions and they say they've had water the whole time. maybe the pressure was a little low, but they weren't experiencing dry hydrants, so i'm not sure. but i can imagine at the height of this firefighter, there may have been some issues. >> so overall, from your perspective from cal fire and all the firefighters you're

talking to, when when someone says there's no water, that is not true. the water situation is good from the firefighters perspective. >> i have yet to ask any of the firefighters that i've come in that have come in here to talk about their firefight. they have said they have the only water issue. i heard that was maybe the pressure was a little low, but other than that, they had water. >> okay. so it doesn't seem it's a concern right now or becoming a bigger problem i guess is probably maybe the way, maybe the way to put it. do you have an updated number on how many homes, businesses or other structures have been destroyed from these two main fires? the palisades and eaton fires? the last i saw was about 2000 is what was being discussed, but i'm not sure if that's outdated. has it gone up? >> my number is really low. i have an official damage inspection team that goes out and makes it all official, and so i have a lower number right now. that number you have is is probably more closer to the actual number.

>> okay. do you think that the tide will turn today in terms of getting containment, especially on these two major fires? >> i really do. i really do, like i said, this is night and day. yesterday i was trying to hold the tripod up for these interviews today. again, i can't even see the trees blow right now. so what a welcome sight. >> the l.a. county fire chief was talking yesterday at a press conference about how there simply was not enough manpower, manpower for an emergency of this size. how can you talk to how stretched the teams were at the height of this, or probably still are? i mean, you guys aren't you've still got to contain these things. are you seeing the backup coming in from neighboring states is making a difference. >> yeah, we're getting a lot of reinforcements, which is great. but if you think about it, at the height of this fire, with those 80 mile an hour winds, if we had crews at every house, this still would have been a difficult firefight. um, it was just trying to fight

this fire. like in a hurricane with fire all around you. um, so. yes, in any type, in any fire like that, you're going to be strapped for resources. but now that we have our conditions back to a little more normal, i believe we're going to get a handle on this. >> battalion chief brett pascoe, thank you so much. you have been very kind in getting the information and bringing it to us in the most updated fashion. we really appreciate it and good luck today. let us hope this tide does turn. thank you, thank you, thank you so much. >> sarah. the battalion chief saying it's like trying to fight a fire in a hurricane. the devastation of just one fire in los angeles county has amounted to more loss than the county has ever experienced in its history. that's from just one fire. there are at least five major fires burning, destroying thousands of properties and taking at least five lives. we have just heard again from cal fire. the good news this morning that the santa ana winds have finally calmed down for a bit. however,

forecasters are expecting them to whip up yet again. cnn's maribel gonzalez is live on the ground from the apocalyptic scenes in the pacific palisades. what are you seeing this morning, just before the sun comes up? >> good morning sara. we were standing on this very block just around ten hours ago, and it already looks so much different than yesterday. more fire damage targeting these areas. these businesses, like the one that you see right behind me. this used to be a pizza shop, but as you can see in the overnight hours, this has just burned to the ground. in fact, you can still see some of those spot fires active in that rubble. this is just one of the many businesses on this block that have been impacted. there's only one standing and that's a veterinary center that is right next to us. across the street. a church burned down a few blocks over on the drive back home yesterday, we saw the high

school also experience experiencing severe fire damage. the best way we can describe this? it looks like a ghost town. block after block impacted by these fires, there's still active flames, smoke billowing out of some of these businesses. this is far from over. >> i really am long term optimistic. but the devastation to hear people wailing and crying, concerned about their pet, their family. they're just bewildered about what's just what they're experiencing. and again, not just experience. i was not talking past tense. this is happening in real time. >> and that was california governor gavin newsom. he was actually on the scene yesterday. we saw him and his staff stopping by the downtown area. one of the hardest hit areas here in pacific palisades to scope out and evaluate just how bad the damage has gotten.

>> sara. yeah, he's been traveling to the several fires. he was in altadena there where we saw the fire just exploding behind him. and you said he has visited pacific palisades, where the worst so far of the damages. maribel gonzalez, thank you so much. appreciate it john. >> and of course, the air around los angeles is well into hazardous levels. a level six out of six on the air quality index because of all the smoke and ash, one family told us that is why they had to leave. >> we couldn't breathe anymore. and we had we had all the filters going in the house. we had hepa filters and nothing seemed to work. >> so what are the exact medical impacts? cnn's chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, explains just about anything you might imagine is going to be inside that smoke, but it is important to draw a little bit of a distinction between standard forest fire and what they call the wildland urban interface. >> think about that urban setting that you're looking at there. you're burning everything plastics and metals.

you're unearthing certain metals that are even in the soil, cars and electronics and carpets and drapes. all of that gets into the atmosphere. these volatile organic compounds, benzene and formaldehyde and all these types of things are in the air, and people are breathing them in. now, initially, you may not have sort of classic symptoms of smoke inhalation injury. it may be more sort of burning eyes and scratchy throat. even vaguer symptoms like headaches, for example. but eventually people may develop breathing difficulties and even chest pain. that's because of the toxicity of the smoke. but it's also really small particle sizes as well, something known as particulate matter 2.5. and what that means is basically particles as small as 1/20 the width of a human hair. you breathe that in, that goes into your bronchioles, it goes into your lungs, it gets into your bloodstream and can eventually affect just about every organ in the body. so

that's that's why there's so much concern there that can cause sort of this systemic inflammation. there are things you should do to protect yourself. and keep in mind that this, these toxins in the smoke can travel. they can get miles into the air and they can travel miles with all the wind. so even if you're not directly in the path of the smoke or the fires, you need to be careful here. stay inside as much as possible. if you do need to go outside, think about wearing an n95 mask, a high quality mask inside portable indoor air cleaners. that can be really helpful to keep that indoor environment as clean as possible. now is a good time to look at the filters on your hvac system, make sure they're up to date, and also if you're driving around, turn on the recirculation button on your car. you want to keep the air circulating inside without bringing outside air in. it's a dangerous situation. obviously there's a lot of toxins in the air, but there are also ways to try and protect yourself. >> our thanks to doctor sanjay gupta for that is such good

advice, because that air is just oppressive. >> kate, the other important story we are following today. donald trump and the new republican leadership in washington with his inauguration less than two weeks away, the president elect went to capitol hill with a message for republican lawmakers. pass his agenda and do it fast. but how to get there? that might still be a big question mark. and on the shoulders of republicans on the hill right now, cnn's manu raju has more. >> donald trump met for more than an hour with senate republicans for the first time since they took the majority, since the first time they, the 119th congress, has been sworn in. and just days before he becomes the next president of the united states, big ticket items on the agenda. how to proceed with a number of those major agenda items, like energy policy, like dealing with immigration and the border, also dealing with taxes and the like. and one of the big questions has been the process all along. this is not just a sequential debate. how to sequence his agenda. it actually has carried

significance because when congress goes down one road and it does not go its way, it could all collapse. the process is not executed to perfection. they'll need perfection. given the narrowness and the house republican majority and the fact that in the senate they can only afford to lose three republican votes on any party line vote. but donald, does donald trump want to add all those issues into potentially one bill, but also the debt limit raise the national debt limit with spending cuts as well? all complicated, complex issues that they want to get done as soon as the first quarter of this year. but when trump emerged from this meeting, he expressed confidence that the party would be in line. and also senator john thune, who i asked him out of this meeting whether or not he is on board with the house's approach, which wants to put this all together in one big bill, even as thune has suggested, narrower bills in order to score some early wins and punt on more complicated issues like taxes for later. are you in line with what trump and mike johnson want, which is one bill, one? >> we're in all in line with

getting the result and the process arguments that we have around here, i think are a lot less important, certainly to the people across the country, than accomplishing the things i just mentioned. >> but trump indicated he really did not have a preference on how to proceed, even as the house and senate tried to squabble about what the best way forward is. nevertheless, this will be an expensive and expansive agenda. one of the big questions will be how they will pay for that expensive agenda. trump, behind closed doors, suggested that tariffs could be one way to pay for it. that is a big question. a lot of people believe it will not really pay down for the cost of such a massive bill that trump is proposing here, but one of the big debates on capitol hill, how will he pay for it? what will they cut, and will they get the votes in order to get this all through all big questions as they pursue an aggressive timeline, an ambitious agenda to get it done in just a matter of months. >> speaking of aggression, this morning, president elect donald trump is doubling down on his expansionist threats. the

president elect wouldn't rule out sending military troops to acquire greenland or the panama canal. when asked by cnn about it on wednesday. this comes as danish officials say trump's allies and advisers are warning them trump may be more serious about acquiring greenland this time around than he was when he was brought up. the idea during his first term. cnn's natasha bertrand is joining us now from the pentagon. how are danish officials reacting to what amounts to a threat by donald trump? >> well, look, sarah, when donald trump first proposed buying greenland back in 2019, danish officials kind of scoffed at the idea. and the danish prime minister actually called it absurd, rejecting it outright. well, now danish officials are taking this threat much more seriously, and they are being told by trump allies and advisors that, look, this is not something that donald trump is just going to do away with quickly this idea. and so one official danish senior danish official actually told me that their impression

is that the ecosystem surrounding this idea is actually much stronger than it was five years ago. and another senior danish official told me that this time around seems, quote, much more serious now. secretary of state antony blinken, he actually also weighed in on this yesterday. and he said that, look, this is obviously not going to happen, and therefore it's not even worth discussing. but danish officials that we spoke to actually don't agree. they say that a frank discussion with the incoming trump administration, with trump officials, that is really going to be the only way to kind of stave off a crisis. they are still skeptical, of course, that president trump could actually pull this off or that he's actually serious about pursuing it. but they say that they do want to have a discussion about it, because the u.s. is a major ally and a major nato ally. of course, here's what the danish foreign minister said about this just yesterday. >> and i kind of fooled you. at

greenland, we fully recognize that greenland has its own ambitions. >> if they materialize, greenland will become independent, though hardly with an ambition to become a federal state in the united states. we are open to a dialog with the americans on how we can possibly cooperate even more closely than we do to ensure that the american ambitions are fulfilled. >> look, greenland obviously is very strategically important for the united states. the u.s. does have its northernmost military base in western greenland, and they work very closely with greenland and denmark in order to try to stave off threats posed not only by russia but also by china, which is increasingly kind of flexed its military muscles in the arctic. and so this is this is obviously, you know, something that the u.s. has been concerned about in recent years. and donald trump, actually, just to kind of underscore how close greenland is to the united states, posted a map just last night on truth social, showing that proximity there. it's actually closer to

new york than it is to copenhagen. sarah. >> all right. thank you so much. if there's anything that tells us that he's more serious about it, he sent his son, don junior over there to take a look around. natasha bertrand, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> john, we have new reporting that supreme court justice samuel alito in president elect trump spoke on the phone just hours before trump asked the court to delay his sentencing in the hush money case. and then hollywood came to a halt as these deadly fires rage across los angeles, celebrities speaking out about their loss. >> she came out. i'm sorry. just, you know, one day you're swimming in the pool and the next day it's all gone

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for. oh god, oh god. >> those sort of sounds come out of me before, so it's very odd. it was just such a it's kind of a guttural pain and disbelief and shock and and fear. >> as i was approaching my property and not seeing the house, our street in particular our block, i should say, was pretty much nothing left. it looked like in many cases there was no houses ever built there. it was just decimated to nothing. >> cnn entertainment reporter lisa france is with us now. this is just a body blow to so many people who live and work out there. >> it absolutely is. john. good morning. >> part of the issue, too, is that people sometimes forget that celebrities are people as well. and fame and fortune is not saving them from the devastation. joan rivers

daughter melissa rivers, actress melissa rivers talked to our own kaitlan collins about what she experienced. let's take a listen. >> um, i definitely have not gotten my head around it. >> um, i got some video sent to me that our house is totally gone in my personal. situation. that's it. that is the end of everything that we're. that belonged to my family and the history of it. so i honestly, to be 100% honest, i grabbed my mom's emmy, a photo of my dad, and a drawing that my mother had done of of me and my my son and i, i can't even remember which is grammatically correct right now. >> john, stars are actually using social media to connect with people. this is us star mandy moore shared some of the images that were coming out of her community, and altadena and just complete and utter

devastation. it's so hard to look at these scenes, and when you talk about horror, paris hilton actually posted on social media that she watched her house burn. she said she was heartbroken beyond words. sitting with my family, watching the news and seeing our home in malibu burned to the ground on live tv is something no one should ever have to experience. the devastation is unimaginable to know so many are waking up today without the place they called home is truly heartbreaking. and likewise, john, billy crystal put up a really heartbreaking post as well, talking about what his home meant to him and his family, the home that they lost. he said janice, his wife and i lived in our home since 1979. we raised our children and grandchildren here. i mean, just so much pain. every inch of our house was filled with love, beautiful memories that can never be taken away. i mean, it's just unimaginable. john, what's happening to so many people? and we're getting a firsthand view of it because of celebrities and their long reach.