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monday, january 13th, 9 a.m. here in london, 1 a.m. in los angeles county, california, where firefighters are working tirelessly to tackle the ongoing wildfires as they brace for the return of gusty winds that could complicate those efforts. >> crews have made progress over the last weekend, but there's now a fear that strong winds will return, expected to pick up today and last through to wednesday, and they could undo that work and spark new fires if embers reach dry areas once again. >> right now, this smallest of three fires currently burning the hurst fire is mostly contained at 89%. the eaton fire, which has devastated the altadena area, is at 27%, but the largest one, the palisades fire, is only 13% contained, with more than 23,000 acres burned. here's one fire official describing what crews there need the most. >> we need mother nature to give us a break. we have the firefighters. we have the water. we need the time. >> the death toll climbing to

at least 24, with dozens more missing. governor gavin newsom says he'll deploy more national guard members to los angeles, bringing the total number to about 2500. he also says mandatory evacuation orders have been lifted for all fires except the palisades and eton fires. and we've learned the l.a. school district is set to reopen all but nine schools in the hours ahead we have made the decision to reopen all schools and all offices tomorrow, january 13th, at the regular time and hour of operation. >> however, we will reopen all sites based on an inclement weather protocol. >> what that means is that outdoor activity shall be restricted well, amid the devastation, an outpouring of love and support, a sea of donations transformed the horse racing track in santa anita park into a grass roots donation center. >> hundreds of wildfire

evacuees and volunteers gathered for free food, water and other resources. >> others affected by the fires lined up for assistance at a wildfire recovery center. one woman described the emotions that she's been dealing with. >> lots of tears, anger. we're going through the stages of grief. there's no doubt about it. i think i finally went from denial into anger last night. i'm but this is a challenge that i know we'll we'll get through it. we've gotten through challenges before. this just feels like the biggest thing that's ever happened to us. but we will get through it. we just have to take every step. and standing in this line is one of those steps. >> well, cnn's natasha chen is following developments for us from los angeles, relatively favorable wind conditions on sunday have helped fire crews make progress at the palisades fire behind us. >> these areas on the hillside have already burned on saturday

and on sunday we've been seeing nonstop aircraft coming through, dropping water in this area into the canyon below where there are more homes, and they were able to actually keep the fire from encroaching upon those homes. and coming up this ridge to where we're standing. so that's very positive progress for the palisades fire. but of course, this is all about to change in the coming days. we're expecting very high winds. red flag warnings through wednesday with low humidity. and that means a very high fire danger. authorities are telling people in the entire metro area to be prepared for these wind conditions and potential new fires and potential flare ups, possible preemptive power shutoffs to prevent disasters from happening. and at the same time, that means that until wednesday, until actually thursday, when the red flag warnings are over, they cannot have conversations with evacuees about repopulation. for example, the people who left the palisades area who may have

their homes still standing there, cannot try to come back in or discuss that with an escort, with police until these immediate conditions have passed. and so that makes things very difficult, very stressful for a lot of people here. in the meantime, we are learning that authorities are going undercover to make sure there are no looters in these evacuation zones, taking advantage of the situation. they're also scanning the skies to make sure people are not illegally flying drones, because we've already heard from authorities that someone flying a drone had that drone collide into a super scooper. so that happened on thursday, causing that aircraft to be grounded. very serious consequences here. so as they prepare for harsher conditions, fire crews, authorities say they have the resources now that have come in from other places. and the l.a. water system is prepared. back to you. >> well, earlier cnn spoke with ryan pierson. he's an altadena resident whose home and neighborhood was destroyed. he

shared some advice for those who may be in the path of wildfires. this week. >> i've already been telling many people that have reached out to us with with concern, who live elsewhere in l.a. that just, you know, pack up as early as you can and pack up more than you think you should because we're, you know, we're kind of going back over those, you know, that like about an hour that we packed and going, oh, if we just grab, grab that. and if we had just grabbed that. and so, uh, that that's my main message is just, you know, be ready and obviously heed the warnings and pay attention to what's going on around you. i think some people sort of pay too much attention to some of the, um, to the evacuation orders without sort of going to look themselves like, i'm kind of like, if you can, if you can feel the smoke, if you can feel, um, if you can see the smoke, if you can smell the smoke and you have a sense that the fire is somewhere near you within 3 to 5 miles, it's

worth. it's worth leaving. i think pretty much all the houses on our street were destroyed. um, and then at our home, our ping pong table in the backyard, sort of miraculously is still standing. so i've been telling people that when when the neighbors are safe to go back, we can all play a game of ping pong together in the backyard. >> seeing the positive there, thousands of los angeles residents are still under evacuation orders. >> the los angeles county fire chief says if conditions improve, authorities will start letting people return home. on thursday. cnn's julia vargas jones has more on what lies ahead for those devastated communities. >> on the sixth day of the palisades fire, residents are starting to want to go home to pick up the medication to pick up their pets, to look for items that they left behind. but this morning, chief of police of los angeles jim mcdonald said that will no longer be allowed. he said the

resources are just not there, and he understands that people might not be happy with this decision, but that's just what they need to do. they said they will start bringing in cadaver dogs to look for potential people that were left behind in the fires as well, that could create active crime scenes and really make it difficult for officers to bring folks into their neighborhoods. we spoke to some of those people. listen to what they have to say. >> i have to go wait in line in my car, where i can ride my bike up really quickly and check my properties. >> well, they're saying that they're not allowing people to do that anymore. >> anybody i tried yesterday, i tried a couple of days ago, nothing. >> and their argument is that it's still the fire is still burning. the gas lines are still on in some parts and that it's just too dangerous. what do you think? do you think it's too dangerous? >> i agree, you know. >> yeah. save lives before anything else, i understand. >> yeah, but you're frustrated. of course.

>> wouldn't you be? >> and that frustration that you hear in his voice there that's been echoed by so many other people. and we also had the opportunity to see and follow people as they saw their homes for the first time after this fire. this has been an event of an immense magnitude for this community. and yet we keep hearing over and over again that people are choosing to rebuild here. they're not abandoning their communities, something we've seen in events like this one. we're now hearing from governor gavin newsom that he will try to make it easier for that rebuilding to take place, saying that he will waive certain necessary permitting for building in this particular area affected by the palisades fire and telling our colleague kyung lah in an interview that he will make sure that these houses, all of these structures are inspected in the next 14 days. julia vargas jones cnn pacific palisades people in the area, victims of mother nature, really joining us now from

southern california is todd hall, a senior meteorologist with the national weather service. >> you can look ahead to what to expect this week. thank you so much for joining us. we are seeing the winds whip up again and the direction of those winds is really vital here for the firefighters. what do you expect to happen? >> yeah, we are going to see another round of santa ana winds developing on monday. later today into tuesday. and we are looking at a at an extended period of critical fire weather conditions through at least wednesday or thursday, depending upon the areas in southern california. you're you're you're living in. but in general, we're wish we had better news at this point. but we're still in this. and the good news is this this has the potential to be less strong than last week's event. so we're so there is some good news there. but we're we're you know, this one's a little this this particular round of santa ana winds is a little bit more challenging because the modeling hasn't exactly been the the numerical modeling we

use. and some of the projections we use haven't been as good at at giving us a good idea of what's going to happen. >> atop. we were hearing on reading there that one of the fires, the palisades fire, is still only 13% contained. we know the firefighters. what they desperately need is a break in the wind in order to try and affect that containment. do you have any idea as to whether there will be breaks forthcoming this week and indeed rain as well? i mean, we were just seeing a bit of rain there on the forecast. i mean, is there any good news? >> we do typically get a diurnal break in the winds during the afternoon hours. that tends to now today is the the exception to that. but typically our santa ana winds, we we have typically have a break in the afternoon hours. but again we're we're there's still a you know, the good news is right now the you know, we're expecting an onshore flow pattern to resume or reestablish across southern

california. and that b flow from the ocean to the desert, which we don't have right now, that will bring in some pacific moisture. and that will happen for later this week. there still is an outside chance. we're looking at a lot of our models, our model solutions and our ensemble forecast that we use, and we're looking at the potential for some rain, which could be could amount to some rain for the los angeles county area, some somewhere between the 18th and the 23rd at this point. so it's still we're still monitoring that. but as as we all know, doing this, doing this for almost 20 years and being a part of the montecito debris, the debris flow event in january, 19th january. i'm sorry about that. the debris flow event on january 9th, 2018 and near montecito, california. we know that that sometimes the deadliest conditions actually happen with the rain after the fires. and so that's why we need to we need to be cautious. we have to hope that we don't get a lot of rain all at once. but but we'll be monitoring

that closely as we move forward over the next couple of months. >> todd so hard to forecast this with these winds. we know that are so erratic, but we appreciate you giving us the latest there. thank you. and fingers crossed. and you can help those impacted by the devastating fires in california. visit cnn.com/impact for information on vetted organizations. >> many people are left with nothing as wildfires continue to engulf l.a. county, cnn spoke with. well, i spoke one on one with california's governor, as you saw earlier, about the growing destruction ahead, his message to people who have lost their homes and have no insurance. >> and in washington, donald trump's cabinet picks are about to face a senate grilling. we'll get some perspective on the partisan fireworks coming up on capitol hill. >> also ahead, a hindu festival begins in india, the world's largest religious gathering, which is expected to draw an astounding 400 million people. >> only in india.

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l.a. county fire chief insists their water system is ready to fight the fires. >> at a news conference on sunday, chief anthony marrone said 70 water transport trucks requested by cal fire have arrived. they can help replenish water supplies in the fire engines on the front lines. >> this comes as state and local leaders face backlash over apparent water management issues. some residents have said they were forced to try fighting the flames with hoses and buckets of water, especially hydrants began to run dry. >> as questions swirl over california's handling of strained resources. cnn's kyung lah spoke directly with the state's governor during their conversation, gavin newsom explained the evolving scope and scale of wildfire damage, the governor of california, while overseeing this fire emergency in los angeles county for the first time, is now laying out some concrete timeline of when he wants this rebuilding to begin, saying that he wants assessments of all of the losses done within

two weeks. >> and that's to get insurance and fema rolling. so what is this assessment? help explain why we need this and and what this means for that homeowner. >> you got through the state fire marshal. cal fire working with county partners, teams of two go in. they will go into a property like this. they'll assess and they will photograph, and then they will post online after it's verified about a 12 hour process. and people can go on a website. they don't have to physically be here to know if their property is damaged. and that will then begin the process for the property owner on insurance and getting us to a point where we can start the rebuild process, how quickly do you anticipate being able to do this? well, as i said, i want all the inspections done within 14 days. every single structure that's been impacted by these fires. so that's thousands of homes, thousands of homes. and so that's the mandate. whatever resources they need. we said we're going to provide it. and then we're looking

right now at debris removal. and you're looking at herculean effort. well, you the debris is gone. and and we said we want nine months is the goal nine months to a year. you're looking at the magnitude of this. and with the hazmat side, it has to be done in a way that services the long term needs. and then obviously you're going to learn from this process. >> and then what about insurance? i mean, we know we live here. your your house is insured. my house is insured. >> yeah, mine is mine. i'm the one i, i have my dad's house is under the fair plan. the state's plan. >> it's very expensive, very expensive. >> and it's it's not great coverage, right. >> so what do you tell people? >> we tell them that we are not only assessing all of that in real time and have an independent group to look to stress test, not just the insurance market. the utility market in california as well. we've been making a lot of reforms in our insurance market, and we'll need to make subsequent reforms something that's particularly pressing for this community. >> you're standing in is lack of insurance. a lot of people

inherited homes or were working class. what do you what about people who didn't have insurance? >> and that's i mean, and that's going to be the most difficult and challenging thing. and that's where fema comes in. that's where the sba comes in. that's where the state of california comes in, where the federal government comes in. that's where philanthropy comes in. people have lost their lives. they've lost their businesses. they've lost hope. and we've got to restore the hope and then restore their lives and businesses and opportunities. >> the governor has signed a slew of executive orders, not just on the assessments to speed that along, but also on loosening some of the environmental regulations to get some of this building done as quickly as possible. kyung lah cnn altadena california the los angeles police department arresting looters across l.a. county. >> authorities say looting is becoming an issue within mandatory evacuation zones, with some trespassers impersonating firefighters. >> even teams of undercover federal and local law enforcement officers are

patrolling evacuation areas to stop looters and illegal drones. california's attorney general says those breaking the law will be prosecuted. >> the rule of law is in full effect. we are cracking down on those who violate the law. whether you are a impostor, an impostor for a firefighter to get into a disaster area, to get access to steal things, if you're if you're otherwise looting, if you're involved in scams, if you're price gouging and raising housing prices higher than they should be, which is only 10% more than it was before the state, the declaration of emergency, whatever it may be. or, you know, flying a drone, um, follow the law, be helpful, be part of one california where we're going to lock arms and help one another and lift each other up and don't look for opportunities to to be predatory, to victimize and exploit people who are suffering. >> well, as southern california grapples with this disaster, u.s. vice president elect jd vance is criticizing the state's leadership. here he is speaking with fox news on

sunday. >> we have to do a better job. >> we need competent, good governance. now, that doesn't mean you can't criticize the governor of california for, i think, some very bad decisions over a very long period of time. i mean, some of these reservoirs have been dry for 15, 20 years. the fire hydrants are being reported as going dry while the fire fighters are trying to put out these fires, there is a serious lack of competent governance in california. and i think it's part of the reason why these fires have gotten so bad. we need to do a better job at both the state and federal level. >> donald trump, sounding a similar tune, taking swipes at the governor but also making false claims about disaster agency fema. cnn's daniel dale has a fact check. >> i showed an expert on california water policy, one of president-elect trump's social media posts bashing california governor newsom. this week. the expert responded that none of trump's posts was true. i'll give you some examples of trump's false claims. he claimed that president biden is leaving him, quote, no money in

fema. in reality, fema told me its disaster relief fund has $27 billion in it. thanks to a funding bill biden signed in december. now, that might not be enough to cover the needs of this year's disasters, but it's certainly not no money like trump claimed. now, trump also claimed that newsom refused to sign a so-called water restoration declaration that trump said would have sent water from the north of the state down south. actually, no such declaration even exists. as newsom's press office pointed out. now, most importantly, trump repeatedly tried to link the fire crisis and the firefighting challenges to newsom's attempts to protect a fish species in the north of the state called the delta smelt. rather than do what trump himself wants and have more of that water diverted southward to farmers in the central valley. two experts on california water policy told me this is absolute nonsense. there is no link whatsoever between northern environmental preservation and the fire situation. the central valley is not l.a. it's separated by a

whole mountain range. sending more water to those farms would have done nothing to stop fires from sparking an la dry brushland. and this is key, the experts noted. there is no shortage of firefighting water in the los angeles area. as of the time that trump made these comments. mid-week area reservoirs were filled at or above historical levels. now, you might have seen there were some dry hydrants this week in one part of la pacific palisades. that's real. that's significant. but that issue had to do with logistical technical problems related to water tanks in the mountainous community, not a lack of water in l.a. as a whole. hydrants elsewhere in the city kept flowing. daniel dale, cnn, washington the federal emergency management agency working to help more than 24,000 people now affected by the fires. >> you'll hear from the agency's director after the break. >> plus, u.s. president joe biden enters his final full week in office. we'll look at what he's accomplished and what he's not been able to get done.

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pair of jeans today. m taylor available now on the apple app store, android and m taylor. com. >> i'm lauren lieberman at the pentagon, and this is cnn. >> hi. welcome back to cnn newsroom. here are some of the top stories we're following today. at least 24 people have died in the wildfires raging in los angeles county. and the sheriff's office says they

have dozens of dozens of reports of missing people. to date, the total area burned is bigger than the city of paris. well, croatian president zoran milanovic has overwhelmingly won reelection for another five year term on sunday. he is a critic of the european union and nato. milanovi÷ is sometimes compared to u.s. president elect donald trump for his combative style of communication with political opponents and the world's largest religious gathering began monday, as millions of hindu devotees gathered on the banks of the ganges in india to mark the beginning of maha kumbh mela. over the next six weeks, 400 million people are expected to attend the festival on the riverbanks of the city of prayagraj. >> firefighters are still working tirelessly to tackle the los angeles fires, but the return of gusty winds could complicate those efforts. meanwhile, in joe biden's final days as u.s. president, he's overseeing the federal response

to the fires. fema's role will be especially important in the aftermath, as cnn's julia benbrook reports from the white house. >> president joe biden is entering his final full week in office, and it is going to be a busy one. he is receiving regular updates on the efforts to suppress the fires across los angeles, and on sunday held a virtual briefing with key officials, including vice president kamala harris, department of homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas and fema administrator deanne criswell. during an interview with cnn's jake tapper, criswell, who has been on the ground in los angeles, emphasized that these fires are still dangerous and urged people to continue to listen to state and local officials. when pressed on what these next few days could look like, she said that any changes in weather could have a big impact on what happens next. >> firefighters are, you know, they're working day in and day out. there's resources that are out there, but if the weather changes, it creates

different conditions. it's going to change the environment with which they're operating under. again, the most important piece is keeping them safe as they try to protect all the homes that are in the path of the fire. and then people need to, you know, start the registration process with us. they can register for assistance. they need to contact their insurance company and find out what their insurance company is going to pay for. and really, we can start working with them on what this road to recovery is going to look like. >> more than 24,000 people have already registered for fema assistance made available by the president's major disaster declaration. biden has directed the federal government to cover 100% of the state's cost for the initial disaster response. that's over the first 180 days. now, this is, of course, all happening as they're preparing for the transition. and biden says his team is briefing the incoming administration on the steps that they're taking, in addition to monitoring these devastating wildfires, biden has two major addresses this week one on monday from the

state department, where he will focus on foreign policy, and his major accomplishments in that area. and then one on wednesday, a farewell address here at the white house from the oval office. the last time he addressed the nation from the oval office was in july, and that's when he discussed his decision to step out of the 2024 presidential race. president-elect donald trump will be sworn in as the 47th president in just over a week now. reporting at the white house julia benbrook, cnn. >> well, this comes as senate confirmation hearings for trump's cabinet picks begins on tuesday. and first up is his controversial choice for defense secretary. one republican senator said that it could look like the brett kavanaugh hearings on steroids. cnn's steve contorno has more. >> it's a big week on capitol hill for donald trump's cabinet picks. >> 13 of them have senate confirmation hearings. >> that includes the highly anticipated hearing for pete hegseth donald trump's choice

to lead the pentagon as defense secretary. >> his nomination has been dogged so far by allegations of sexual assault stemming back several years ago. pete hegseth denies the charges. on sunday, several republican senators fanned out across the sunday political talk shows in defense of hegseth and several other controversial choices by donald trump, including tulsi gabbard, to serve as the director of national intelligence and robert f kennedy jr.. as secretary of health and human services. >> let me ask you about tulsi gabbard, mr. trump's pick for director of national intelligence. you have said that she needs to clarify where she stands on 702 r. mrs. gabbard's assurances enough for you, senator? are you now a yes on her? >> yeah, i am, and that was a very important piece for me. >> the first thing i asked robert kennedy jr. was about vaccination inoculations. he came back with he's not.

>> anti vaccination. he just is anti. >> he wants to have it science based. and that's what he kept going back to. let's have basic science to make these decisions. in terms of i think he wants a healthy country. >> and i also support pete hegseth. >> if you take a look at the current nominee, compared to who's been in the pentagon the last four years, where they had a woke military, where recruitment went down, morale went down, i think pete is going to be terrific. >> sources close to trump's transition team tell cnn that these nominees have undergone weeks of rigorous preparation for these high stakes hearings on capitol hill. some of them have been holding mock hearings that can last upwards of two hours, and they are being forced to confront every single question that can be considered quietly. senate republicans are also encouraging some of trump's more contentious picks to just go ahead and confront their controversies head on, and don't shy away from any concerns that senate democrats or republicans might have about their nomination. ultimately,

they are not only performing for the public and for the senate and all, but also for donald trump, who will be closely watching his nominees on the hill. senator mike rounds of south dakota telling cnn, quote, the bigger challenge for any of the nominees is just making sure the president still has confidence in them when they've completed their discussions. steve contorno cnn, west palm beach, florida. >> let's bring in natasha linstad, a professor of government at the university of essex. she joins us now from colchester in england. thank you so much for joining us. and steve, really showing there the amount of pressure there is on these candidates to perform. well. they've been in intense tutoring role plays. just take us through what they'll be practicing over recent weeks. >> well, they are going to face all kinds of questions, most notably from democrats, but possibly also from some republicans, about whether they are fit for these positions. i mean, if we

look at just the case of the nominee for secretary of defense, pete hegseth, he, as the report mentioned, has faced accusations of of sexual assault, sexual misconduct, drunken behavior, which, of course, would be concerning given that he will be in charge of an enterprise that is worth over 800 billion, have been in charge of over seven several million different employees, and he doesn't really have any kind of management experience. so some of the questions that they're going to take him through are about, well, how do you do this or that? how will you manage such a huge or. and what is shaping your worldview about these different types of decisions that he's going to be needing to make? i mean, i think we need to illustrate that when trump took over in 2017, the world was a very different place. this is pre covid, but also there weren't different conflicts going on. and trump i think was really trying to push the envelope to see what he could get away

with, with some of these different nominations and pete hegseth is definitely one of them. he is just sort of no one was really expecting this type of nomination. so i think there's going to be questions about how well equipped he is to handle the huge challenges that the u.s. is facing. >> i mean, some of the controversial picks aside, natasha, do you think we're going to see a faster approval process than we did in 2017, purely because trump and his team will have learned from the hold ups that time around? the fbi checks, the ethics checks. will it be a speedier process? do you expect? >> well, trump is definitely trying to make it as speedy as possible, trying to strongarm things, get around things, get around. going through ethics, approval and so forth. and i think for the vast majority of his nominations, they are going to go through fast. there is a lot of enthusiasm on the republican side for most of

these nominations, but there are a few that i think are going to be a bit tricky. in addition to pete hegseth, as i mentioned, also robert kennedy, you have some senators who are concerned. even mitch mcconnell is concerned about his stance on the polio vaccine. 15,000 doctors have sent a letter to senators asking them to really consider, you know, this nomination and reject it. you also have tulsi gabbard, and i think that might be the one who might not make it through. she's nominated for national intelligence. she'd oversee 18 spy agencies. she was pretty recently a supporter of bernie sanders. and there are questions from the democrats of whether or not she is a russian asset. that might be the one that just doesn't make it. i think there are already some concerns amongst the senators, and there's only 53 republican senators. and so just even a few could make it difficult for that type of nomination to go through. >> in the last set of hearings for the first trump. um, you know, cabinet, you actually saw

some of those nominees try to distance themselves from some of trump's views. take nikki haley, for example. but this time around, they're not going to get away with that, are they? a real pressure on their performances in terms of not slipping up and saying something that donald trump doesn't like? >> exactly. you have a republican party that has really been transformed under trump. he doesn't have complete control over the republican party, because i think there are some that are thinking of him as a lame duck president, that he's only going to be there for four years. and then there are others that really see him as the future of the republican party, even though he's in his 70s, and they know that he will punish those that don't get in line. we've seen this happen again and again. he uses his power through social media, through, you know, connecting with the public to to punish people. and if they don't get in line, you know, they will won't be able to get reelected. and we've seen that

happen time and time again, or they will be demoted to, to some sort of committee that they don't want to be on. there's different ways that he can punish them. and so this is a more authoritarian style party. it's become very, very hierarchical. and it will be interesting to see where they are able to push against trump and where they're going to have to do exactly what he says. >> and just briefly, natasha, just to reflect a little bit on joe biden's last week in office. we know that he's been very busy implementing a series of executive orders before donald trump returns. how likely is the president, the new president, to just reverse all of that the minute he's in office? >> most of the things that biden is doing are going to get reversed. things on asylum seekers or immigration, on the environment. i mean, trump had rolled back over 100 regulations on the environment after he took over in 2017 and on abortion rights, reproductive rights and on

transgender rights and on lgbtq rights. those are the things he's probably going to go after. and overturn. but there are a handful of environmental policies that that biden was able to safeguard. and of course, any kind of bipartisan legislation that went through that will be difficult to overturn as well. >> all right. well, you can but try. just a few days left. natasha, we really appreciate your thoughts. thank you. >> thanks for having me. >> still to come, the latest on the gaza ceasefire hostage deal negotiations as the white house hopes to strike an agreement in the final days of the biden administration. >> plus, volodymyr zelenskyy makes an offer to a north korean leader. kim jong un. details just ahead. >> 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.

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>> u.s. president joe biden and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu discussed the latest progress on the negotiations on sunday. the white house says mr. biden once again called for an immediate ceasefire in gaza, the return of hostages and increased humanitarian aid to the enclave were joined by nadia. you have been in this situation many times trying to read the runes of these negotiations. i mean, are you more positive? >> well, look, there certainly seems to be a bit more optimism towards these negotiations that are ongoing in qatar. but again, it's important to underscore that the sticking points that we're hearing about from mediators are very much the same sticking points that we've been hearing about for months now. so while there is that cautious optimism, that's certainly how the biden administration has been framing this. they've also been clear that the deal is not done until it's done. and so they are still working on hammering out those key sticking points, which remain at the presence of israeli forces along the philadelphia corridor, that buffer zone between egypt and gaza. the terms around whether or not this is a permanent ceasefire, a lasting ceasefire or a temporary halt. there is also questions around another

buffer zone between gaza's eastern and northern borders. we know that hamas has expressed its wish not to see that deepened, as israel wants to see that they want civilians to be able to return to their homes in those areas. and, of course, one of the crucial points is also, of course, the exchange of hostages, the release of hostages in exchange for the release of palestinian prisoners. now, we have seen some movement. we know, of course, that the delegations are all in qatar discussing these points. we've been hearing from the head of the commission for palestinian detainees, who said he is now planning to travel to doha today to advise on which palestinian prisoners should be on that list to be released. if indeed this deal materializes. so certainly there has been some movement. and of course, netanyahu on his side has been meeting with ministers. he has sent his own delegation. we know that he's met with the far right ministers who have previously opposed this ceasefire. bezalel smotrich and itamar ben gvir. they remain against any sort of ceasefire being approved at this stage. they want to see a full eradication of hamas. but clearly there is pressure

building both on netanyahu and the israeli government, both from the biden administration and from the incoming trump administration. but also, of course, hamas is in a different position as well. it is weakened. the regional situation has changed. we've seen a ceasefire in lebanon with hezbollah, the collapse of the assad regime. iran is heavily weakened. so this is a different situation now. >> it does feel like there's not really much room or nowhere for hamas to go at this point. but i was going to say, how much of this is to do with the incoming president, with the incoming administration? because trump has said before he wants to see a deal on the table before he's in office. >> that's right. and he hasn't really given any sort of clear outline of how this deal would be reached. it's still, of course, very much on the table for the biden administration. biden has reiterated that he wants to see this deal agreed as soon as possible to ensure the release of hostages and, of course, an end to the hostilities in gaza. but as you mentioned, trump has been clear. he has said all hell will break loose in the middle east if there isn't that ceasefire agreement. he's even said that he wants to see an agreement reached before he is sworn into office. so there's certainly that pressure mounting on netanyahu's

government to secure some sort of agreement before january 20th. we know, of course, that there has been some discussions as well with trump's incoming middle east envoy, who remains somewhat positive and optimistic that we could see that deal. but again, the biden administration is still focused on this deal until trump is sworn into office. and again, while there is that sense of optimism, as we heard from the national security advisor, jake sullivan, over the weekend, there isn't a deal until the deal is done. well, nada. >> thank you. >> we'll see you back here. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is offering to release two north korean soldiers. if north korean leader kim jong un can arrange the release of ukrainian troops held in russia. >> on saturday, ukraine announced that it captured the north koreans in russia's kursk region. ukraine's security service released a video that says it shows the wound of prisoners being interrogated. >> neither moscow nor pyongyang have acknowledged that north

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wednesday. >> well, thousands of people still can't return home. videos show california's national guard and police enforcing a mandatory evacuation zone in santa monica on sunday. health officials are raising concerns about the air quality in los angeles county. the fires have released hazardous smoke that poses several short and long term health risks. that led to the county to declare a local health emergency on friday. after several days of intense fire and wind, experts say toxins from the smoke can cause more serious problems. >> that's especially true for children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with respiratory, heart or immune system issues. some of the symptoms from the wildfire smoke include burning eyes, headaches and breathing difficulties. experts cautioned residents to stay indoors if possible and to wear filtration masks outside. >> now what one family is calling a glimmer of hope found amid the fires destruction while searching the rubble for

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>> cnn this morning with kasie hunt next. >> it's monday, january 13th, right now on cnn this morning. >> we need mother nature to give us a break. >> racing to contain officials warn of the potential for explosive fire growth this week as crews try to handle the wildfires that have already ravaged l.a. >> plus, we are very, very close, inching closer negotiators cautiously optimistic about ceasefire talks between israel and hamas, and the rubber hits the road this week with all of these hearings on the cabinet confirming the cabinet, what will president elect donald trump's hand-picked nominees face as they sit before senators this week?