up, some of the language here is pretty vulgar. >> i find it extremely rich and offensive. so we're talking about civil rights coming from a party that can't define what a woman is and won't give women the right to privacy. you all want men with, chicks with dicks in the bathroom with us. you can see that somebody's campaign coffers really are struggling right now. >> so she's going to keep saying trans, trans, trans so that people will feel threatened and child, listen, i want you. >> i am no child. do not call me a child. i am no child. don't even start out. i'm a grown man. which of those emails actually have ceilings? chairman, i am claiming my time. you will not do that. i am not a child. >> i am not a child in my time. >> if you

>> good evening, everyone, and welcome to laura coates live. firefighters are on alert for potential flare ups around l.a. powerful winds that could kick up embers and spark new fires that are still a threat for the next 24 hours, but so far, the gusts have actually not been as strong as they feared. now, investigators are trying to get to the bottom of the question that's on everyone's mind. how did all of this happen? what started the two most destructive fires in southern california history? now we know the dry brush and the high winds help fuel the flames. you can see here just how fast the palisades fire grew. what started more than a week ago has spread and

spread and spread. it's now burned more than 23,000 acres. that's more than 37mi÷, killing at least nine people for that fire alone. scorching 5000 structures. it's currently this fire, in particular, 18% contained. but what was the source of that initial spark? well, the first signs of the inferno were actually early on tuesday, january 7th. cal fire says it started at around 1030 in the morning. now, this video shows smoke rolling off the hills around the palisades. minutes after 1030. now, this satellite image was taken at 1037. now, at that point, the fire was a tiny fraction of what it would eventually go on to become. and now we're learning. the palisades fire appears to have started very close to another blaze that broke out just six days earlier, on new year's day. this is the burn scar from

that fire from a satellite image on january 1st. here's that same burn scar on the image on the palisades fire. it's less than 300 yards from where it looks like the palisades fire blaze began. now people are asking, could the winds have rekindled smoldering debris from that new year's day fire? well, agents from the atf are trying to figure it all out, but a source tells us there is no leading theory at the moment. and then there's the eaton fire. now, cal fire says it started at 6:18 p.m. on tuesday. here's video from an altadena resident. just a minute later. oh oh. >> oh, no. >> now what? he's filming there is an electrical tower with flames licking away at the base of it, as you see. and that's

not the only vantage point. another nearby resident. they recorded this. it was taken around 624. now, no cause of the fire has been determined yet, but the los angeles times is reporting that authorities are investigating an electrical tower as the possible origin site. the city's electric company is already facing a lawsuit. by the way. southern california edison says it found no problems around the time of the fire. i want to bring in cnn's nick watt, who is live in pacific palisades. nick, there have been concerns all day about the return of those now infamous santa ana winds. so far, though, the gusts have not been as strong as expected. how long is that going to last well, hopefully a long time, but at about 3 a.m. >> our time west coast. so 6 a.m. your time. they are forecast to pick up again. you know we went through this drill last night where we thought that the winds were really going to pick up in the middle of the night. you know, there

was a weather forecaster on the local news who was talking about these people being at the most danger, as he had his hand alarmingly over exactly where i live. so my truck is full of a couple of pictures and some stuff from my house right now. if we get through tonight, we will be good. so fingers crossed the forecast is wrong again. i mean, it's been great news and frankly, the palisades fire today has been very inactive. no real active flame. a few hotspots around the fringes that they've been really trying to damp down, just in case that wind does pick up. and, you know, another theme of the day has been, you know, mayor bass talking about, you know, it's time to look forward. it's time to start rebuilding. you know, she and the governor are signing executive directives, executive orders to try and make the permitting process a lot faster, to cut a lot of the red tape, which is notorious here in l.a., trying to cut a lot of that red tape so that the rebuilding can happen. i mean,

i drove along sunset boulevard through the palisades earlier and, you know, all the utility trucks are now there, you know, chopping up the trees that have fallen over, dealing with the gas lines, dealing with the power lines. but it is going to be a monumental task. but for now, as i say, the real focus is fingers crossed, hoping that those winds don't really pick up again tonight because, you know, a lot has burned here, but there's still a lot of vegetation. you know, last winter i was covering floods in los angeles that just there was a bloom of growth that then dried out. a lot of that stuff still around. so fingers crossed, certainly. >> and thinking about that. and don't forget, this is also not just a story you're covering. this is your home. and thinking about how how impactful and personal it is to you as well. nick. and you actually spent some of the day around the trails where the palisades fire started. yeah, we're hearing a lot about the investigation. obviously it's in its infancy, but what are you learning about the

investigation into how this started? >> well, yeah, we are up in what is called the sort of general area of origin. it's just on this hill behind me. you see, the police are here. they have not been letting anybody in. although, you know, normally media are allowed anywhere in wildfires. not here because this is a potential crime scene. so you mentioned that previous fire, january 1st, early hours of new year's day. that was just over there. so listen, that's obviously something they're looking into. were there embers, something still burning under the ground. that was then just reinvigorated by that wind? arson is also obviously on the table. you know, they had dogs out here in the past few days sniffing for accelerants. and there are also you can't see them because it's dark, but there are two utility poles up there right now. so listen, what they generally try and do is, you know, kind of rule stuff out and hone in on what might the cause actually be. the other

thing that they're doing right now is they're trying to get from this sort of general area of origin down to a specific area. one investigator i spoke to today said they try and get it down to basically the size of a dinner plate. and the way that they do that, you have investigators actually on their hands and knees looking at every single piece of vegetation, every pebble, every blade of grass, figuring out which side the fire reached that particular item. and then they can map that, flag that, and try and just hone in on that area. because obviously, if you can figure out exactly where it started, that's going to be a huge help to figure out why it started and to hopefully prevent anything from the future with all the devastation, to think that this could have begun the size of a dinner plate. >> nick watt, thank you so much for joining. stay with us as well. with me now. adam vangerpen fire captain and spokesperson for the l.a. fire department. captain, we're getting to know each other here

this week. and what all that has happened. what conditions are your firefighters seeing even tonight? and can you tell us what your biggest concern over the next few hours is? >> yeah. so right now our biggest concern is the winds that are anticipated to come around 3:00 this morning. so we're anticipating them to be. we're still in the red flag conditions, but we're going to have some of our highest winds at 3:00 this morning until 3:00 tomorrow afternoon. and then red flag all the way through 6:00. so our firefighters are standing by. we have 5200 of them are still on scene in palisades, and we are pre-deployed all throughout the region. >> that number keeps growing. of the people that you have, it tells you the scope of the fire and what the work is ahead. we've obtained some satellite images that appear to show the first plumes from the palisades fire, starting about, what, 300 yards from the burn scar left behind by a fire on new year's day of all times. is it possible, captain, that a

new year's day fire may be rekindled last week, causing all this? >> well, we currently have. our atf has came in now. atf has been taking over the investigation. they're also working in partnership with our l.a. city fire arson investigators, l.a. county arts investigators, lapd, l.a. county sheriff's, uh, a lot of different agencies are involved in this investigation, and that's going to be something that we're going to be finding out in the upcoming days and weeks. >> and the atf doesn't interfere at all with your ability to fight or strategize, right? they're just a separate parallel investigation going on. >> no, they bring in all they are the they bring in all the tools and equipment, and they have all the technology. and so they brought in a very robust team and some of their specialized units that are going to be assisting us with this investigation. >> adam vangerpen, i know you work as a head of you. thank you for taking the time today to speak with me. thank you. now i want to get to

california. congressman brad sherman, a democrat whose district he covers. it covers most of the areas that have been impacted by the palisades fire. and just yesterday, he was able to tour his district to actually survey the damage. representative sherman joins me now. how much devastation? it's just unbelievable to see from where we are. what did you see on the ground in your district? and tell me about the ongoing danger that's still there? >> well, the ongoing danger is what the firefighter was just telling you about, and that is that the winds might whip up tonight, but we're prepared and we've got enormous resources deployed. there's also a danger if we let people go back to the community on their own. i know you can see me there, but i've got a firefighter with me. they're not in the screen making sure that i'm aware of

all the dangers that are left. the power lines, the natural gas, et cetera.. um, but we're all ready focused on what it's going to take to rebuild it. it's just devastating, though, to go block after block, burned out house after burned out house, and to realize that every one of those houses is a family. >> is everyone in your district accounted for? i mean, knowing that residents can't return to their homes, what's that like? not knowing if every family that those homes represented are all together? >> well, we still have a few unaccounted for people on missing persons. we also have not been able to go into the community with, i hate to say it, cadaver dogs looking for whether there are any dead people or dead dead animals. there. um, the, you know, we we we have over 20 casualties

between the two big fires in l.a. county, and it's, uh, i hate to say it, but i think we're going to discover more as we are able to go house by house, property by property. people are anxious to get back in and see their homes, but we just don't have the resources to escort every one of them. and then you also have the risk that when you take somebody to their home, just to show it to them, that they go in and refuse to leave. so we've got to be in a position to open up the. community. um, as, as we make it safe. and a lot of people are even if they even if they've heard that their house has been destroyed, they actually see it. it's going to be it's going to be heart wrenching for them. >> i mean, it's overwhelming the weight of the choices to balance the interests of the of the city with the interests of the people who desperately want to know what's happened to their homes or loved ones as well. you know, you and another a number of other california

congresspersons have sent a letter to the president elect trump asking for aid. but a number of republicans are saying that the fire aid should come with some kinds of conditions. listen i expect that there will be strings attached to money that is ultimately approved. >> there can't be a blank check on this. >> i think there should probably be conditions on that aid. that's my personal view. >> before we put funds, funds into place, we've got to find out exactly how we're going to hold these leaders accountable and what sort of policy changes are required. >> they don't deserve anything, to be honest with you, unless they show us they're going to make some changes. >> what do you say to those republican colleagues, congressman? >> well, you shouldn't kick kick us while we're down at the same time. we'd be stupid if we didn't learn from this. just as i know speaker johnson is from louisiana. they have had major hurricane damage both in katrina and the 2020

hurricanes. and as a country, we should insist upon building back better. and in fact, the california law already provides that we have a strict fire code for, uh, in terms of construction for any new construction after 2008. and all the people building back from this, this fire are going to have to meet that code. and while we don't have analysis of this fire yet, we had a major fire in northern california in paradise, and we saw that only 18% of the homes that didn't meet this new code survived, but well over 50% of those who did meet that did meet the new code survive. so we're going to build back better. uh, it's reasonable for people in the rest of the country to want to see us do that. we're committed to it, but we've got to learn some other things from this, especially uh, compulsory home maintenance, making sure that you don't

have anything flammable within 5 to 10ft of the home is just is just critical. and, you know, now everybody's thinking about it because this is the biggest fire. but how many people are walking around their home every week, uh, making sure that there isn't a fire hazard right next to the home? and the the analysis, as i've seen, say, most home fires are ignited by something within five feet of the home. >> well, congressman, we'll certainly hope that there will be changes made. but then the obvious response would be vegetation is if wildfire and brush fire also started and you have dry conditions, how do you regulate vegetation around the home that could also have traveled the embers on the wind? congressman brad sherman, a lot of work ahead of you. thank you for joining us. >> good to be with you. and thank you for your interest in this. >> of course. up next, pete hegseth chances of becoming secretary of defense looking

way up. and i mean way up after democrats tried to sink him today with the barrage of criticism. did they blow it or get it right? my next guest, veteran paul rieckhoff, has a lot to say about that. and later, pam bondi turn in the confirmation hot seat. the big questions tonight for donald trump's pick to be attorney general. >> kobe believed in himself at the youngest possible age. >> people who may never even know what a basketball looks like felt his presence. >> he wants the opportunity to make his own mistakes. he's going to end up making them. >> that's when the black mamba was born. >> he's one of the most remarkable stories in sports history. >> i don't want him to be remembered as just a basketball player. >> kobe. the making of a legend. premieres january 25th 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. elon 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 greene 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 think. >> there it is. see? told you. it's going to all work out. thanks. future me. >> we needed a project manager. yesterday we posted a job on ziprecruiter and had our guy on site in five days. he was qualified in every way. ziprecruiter finds the best candidates for all our jobs. they helped us build our dream team and they did it fast. >> try it for free at ziprecruiter.com slash hire from tried and true. >> to try something new. so many ways to save life. ready? wallet. happy. that's 365 by whole foods market. >> used car shopping. >> two rows, two dogs i'm sold. >> whoa whoa whoa. let's pause for the

facts. whoa. like nearly half of all used cars, this puppy has been in an accident. but carfax. com shows how an accident impacts price. so you don't have to overpay, huh? >> mm. >> unpause. whoa! >> whoa! wow. this is cool. yeah. sorry. >> they pull up with the facts at the all new carfax.com. >> and are you ready for this? >> mm. are you ready for this? are you ready for this? >> new alka-seltzer plus cold or flu? fizzy chews. chew. fizz. feel better? >> fast. >> no water needed. new alka-seltzer plus fizzy juice. >> your life is pretty smart. but when it's time to eat, suddenly you feel out of sync. refresh your routine with factor. chef prepared meals delivered with a tap ready in two minutes. imagine dinner on autopilot and enjoying tuscan tomato chicken without lifting a finger. upgrade your plate. optimize

your nutrition eat smart with factor now's the time to go back in time and shine a light on the family journey that led to you. >> learn when they said, i do. when they became heroes, how they ruled the school. curious about what you might find. with billions of records, photos and more, you're bound to find some gems. ancestry can help you dave's been very excited about saving big with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. five years? -five years. and he's not alone. -high five. it's five years of reliable gig speed internet. five years of advanced securit. five years of a great rate that won't change. it's back. but only for a limited time. high five. five years? -nope. comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities. comcast business.

see if sparks are right for you at roku. >> sparks follow the trump confirmation hearings. follow the facts. follow cnn. >> well, pete hegseth appears to be well on his way to being the next secretary of defense. he just got the backing of republican senator joni ernst. it's a big boost to his chances, of course. and it came after democrats spent hours grilling him today at his confirmation hearing.

>> december of 2014 at the christmas party at the grand hyatt at washington, d.c., you were noticeably intoxicated and had to be carried up to your room. is that true or false? >> anonymous smears. if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn't it? that was a false claim. commanders meet quotas to have a certain number of female infantry officers or infantry enlisted, and that disparages those women commanders are not capable of meeting that for the infantry commanders do not have to have a quota for women in the infantry that does not. >> exist i want to bring in founder of independent veterans of america, paul rieckhoff. >> he served as first lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in the iraq war. lieutenant, thank you for being here. i'm curious about how you think all of this went down today. hegseth was questioned over his drinking habits. the 2017 sexual assault allegation,

his stance on women in combat, and his qualifications to run a department with 3 million employees. yet he picked up senator ernst's support today. does that surprise you at all? >> no, it doesn't, laura, but i think it does disappoint me. and most objective and independent folks who care deeply about our national security and our troops and our national defense. nothing about today was normal. the whole thing was unprecedented on a level we've never seen. i think most of all, because so much of it was focused on his character and whether he's fit for this job, which is not something we normally have to take into account when we're vetting a secretary of defense. i mean, we're curious about whether or not he might pass an fbi check. this is the same job that was filled in the past by people who had been the director of the cia, people who had been u.s. senators. so the fact that such a focus was on his character and his integrity and things like whether or not he would get drunk on the job and his his adultery and his honesty, i think is really a dark point for our for our national security and for our

troops. and the most hyper partisan and really extremely political hearing for a secretary of defense we've ever seen. now, hegseth is a very political, i would argue, extreme political nominee, but that's usually not the case for a secretary of defense. this is usually the bipartisan job, the place that's supposed to be immune from all our politics. but we saw the worst of our division and our partisanship on full display here. and unfortunately, ultimately, our troops and our national security are at the center of all of it. but joni ernst moving was expected because there's been so much tremendous pressure from trump, from the maga base and from the right to move her because she's a sexual assault survivor herself. she's a combat veteran herself, and her influence is tremendous. so it looks like now with her caving, that his his nomination will go through. there's still a week to go and anything could come out, but it does look like he's on a path to to confirmation. >> well, lieutenant, just so i'm clear, is the focus on his character and his integrity. is that problematic to you? because those ought to be the

bare minimum, not the kind of the floor, not the ceiling in the consideration of somebody. is that the novelty of it, or is the fact that they focused on the wrong things and should have talked about something else? >> no. i think they had to focus on this. i mean, because of all the reporting and the allegations and his his inexperience. but but i think, you know, what i look at, laura, is when we think about a cabinet secretary, he should give it kind of maybe at a minimum, the principal school test. like, would you be okay with someone who has these kind of allegations and this kind of a track record of sloppiness at best in their personal history? if they were the principal of your kid's school, and if not, then why are we okay with that person heading our department of defense with 2 million employees and a $700 billion budget and our nukes, this is a sacred obligation, and this is a critically important place to have a person with honor, integrity and courage and a degree of nonpartisanship where they can rise above the politics and put our national security and our troops first. and what you really saw is a culture war, and you saw a culture warrior in pete hegseth

bringing that culture war to the department of defense, to the pentagon, and to this nomination. and the democrats are fighting back, and i would argue, pretty fecklessly. i mean, the other thing you saw here is that the democrats look shattered. they look leaderless, they look ineffective, and it feels like the trump steamroller ran them over today and is picking up steam. >> so how should the democrats, in your opinion, have conducted themselves? we did see, of course, some pretty fiery exchanges and the insistence on the answering of questions. but how do you think the democrats should have handled it? what were the questions? they ought to have honed in on? >> you know, i think it starts with who's on the committee. i mean, the democrats here only had, i think, two combat veterans that sat on that committee. so you don't have a lot of depth of experience in the military, personal experience where they can actually confront someone like pete hegseth, who served in the military honorably and who's been in combat. so i think it starts with that. but there wasn't really a united message. it didn't feel like anybody could get hegseth on the ropes, with the exception of maybe tim kaine and kirsten gillibrand. but many of them felt like they weren't prepared. they weren't really

aggressive, and they didn't ask critical questions like, are you going to put the constitution first? are you going to put donald trump first? i think that's the real core question here, especially if we talk about potential deployment of u.s. troops on u.s. soil, whether or not trump will use them to to tackle the migrant crisis. we're going to face some very real. >> there was a point. i don't want to cut you off, but there was a point. i got to get to this. there was where he was asked whether he'd follow certain controversial laws. and our time is limited. but i want to play for you and the audience. what he had to say about this exchange. listen. >> would you carry out an order from president trump to seize greenland, a territory of our nato ally denmark, by force? or would you comply with an order to take over the panama canal? >> senator, i will emphasize that president trump received 77 million votes to be the lawful commander. we're not talking about the election. >> there was another instance when he was asked about whether he would follow an unconstitutional order as well, and he skirted the issue, many believed. do you think that

that was indicative of his inclination to follow an order like that? >> i think what it revealed is that pete hegseth is not going to answer the question. he was very slippery and dicey throughout it, but it's clear that he's going to follow what donald trump wants him to do. i think he made it clear to any objective watcher that his loyalty is to donald trump and executing his agenda. when you try to drill down, to drill down on specifics, he often dodged it. he deferred. this is a person who's built for television, who's an excellent communicator. and we saw that today. and the democrats didn't really have an answer for him. so i think at the core of this, his qualifications, his ideas on iran, what he wants to do about the arctic, his position on nukes, or how he feels about our naval positioning. none of that even came up because they were so mired in the personal issues, which they had to be. but there also wasn't even a pivot into the larger macro global policy issues that our military is facing every day, from the migrant crisis to wildfires here at home, the department of defense touches all of those things, and they didn't really get into any of it at the time they took. >> they certainly focused on the character issues. we'll see how it all unfolds in the final vote, whether we'll call him

secretary or not. paul rieckhoff, thank you so much, lieutenant. >> thank you. laura. >> still ahead, it's the cabinet position that arguably donald trump cares most about. we're talking about the attorney general. so what kind of questions should pam bondi be facing tomorrow? well, congressman dan goldman has some ideas. he's here with me next. >> 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. >> you're seeing skechers famous glide step footwear everywhere. and now that famous design is available in hands free. skechers slip ins get the comfort and style of glide step now with the convenience of slip ins, with no bending down or touching your shoes, try glide step skechers slip in. freely. the third.

>> my parents worked hard for everything we had. they taught me the value of a dollar and how to use it wisely. those lessons are forever and today i share them with all our employees. it's why i team up with vanguard for our companies. 401 k plan, because everyone deserves to have someone look out for their financial well-being. >> vanguard 50 years of helping investors be well on their way. >> they say good things come to those who wait. well, we don't

buy it at university of phoenix, we're earning career relevant skills with every 5 to 6 week course as we pursue our bachelor's and master's degrees, putting what we learn into practice and updating our professional profiles in weeks. not years. always reaching day by day, skill by skill. we are the new workforce and we don't wait. earn career relevant skills in weeks, not years at university of phoenix. >> did you know you could save with goodrx even if you have insurance? >> i'm on medicare. i checked goodrx because it can beat my co-pay. who wouldn't like that? >> even if you have insurance, goodrx can help you save. another good reason to check goodrx. >> welcome to tackling life with jordan and veronica. brought to you by experian. >> who takes longer to get ready on game day? you okay? for sure. well, when you have to look like this. you got a lot of stuff to do. you just have to put a helmet on. >> yeah, i'm better at managing time, for sure. >> it's like a part of your job. like clock management with experian. you can cancel subscriptions you forget about and could save you time and

money. who needs the app more? >> both need it. >> who doesn't need to save more time and money? >> download the experian app now. whoa! >> yes! >> how do you sleep at night on a mattress from mattress firm? >> i sleep at the semiannual sale and clearance. >> save up to $500 on tempur-pedic. get matched at mattress firm. sleep at night. work. play blink. >> relief. work. play. blink.

unwanted subscriptions in the app, which is great for people who love money. but that's not me. >> follow the trump confirmation hearings. follow the facts. follow cnn. >> the department of justice. the prosecutors will be prosecuted. the bad ones. the investigators will be investigated. >> well, that was august of 2023. the former florida attorney general, pam bondi, complaining that the doj has

been unfair to donald trump and suggesting the very consequences you just heard. well, tomorrow she'll have a chance to explain just how far she will go. bondi set for her day one of her confirmation hearing to lead the doj as the attorney general, one that is of utmost importance in a position to donald trump. joining me now, democratic congressman from new york and member of the house judiciary committee, dan goldman. welcome, congressman. this is a moment many have been waiting for. arguably, the doj head, the ag, the most consequential member of the cabinet by some estimations, she'll be two days under the microscope for her endeavor to be that person. what question must they ask her? >> well, the thing that always sticks out to me about pam bondi is that when she was florida attorney general, she had an investigation into trump university. then donald trump, through his charity, i believe, which was illegal. i could be

wrong about that, but gave her campaign $25,000 and then her investigation went away. and that's the kind of corruption that is disqualifying for an attorney general, especially when you now have donald trump, who has threatened repeatedly to weaponize the department of justice. and her biggest qualification seems to be that, quote you just played, which is that she will prosecute the prosecutors and investigate the investigators. that's all donald trump wants out of his attorney general. and she has made that clear, so he doesn't have to ask her to do anything anymore because her audition was to say that. and when we've seen that she is sufficiently corrupt, when she was florida attorney general, then you assume you automatically presume that she will do whatever is necessary to favor

donald trump and and herself. and this is such an important position for the reasons you said, laura, that you cannot have someone who lacks any credibility. >> certainly she has denied that she has had either corrupt purposes or that she has been biased in her application of the law. but those questions will persist because they have been in the universe surrounding the motivation for having her be named as a potential pick number one. but number two, what about the fact that she, as of last august, talked about prosecuting the prosecutors? i mean, you and i both know the long line of priorities for a prosecuting body, for the department of justice is not necessarily to try to find out invisible corruption, if there is any within. does that strike you as as odd? that's a priority for her. >> it's absurd. it's purely political. there is absolutely no evidence, zero evidence to indicate that jack smith or any of the other prosecutors involved in any of these cases

did anything wrong. i mean, we're not talking about a crime. just did anything wrong. and it is. it undermines the entire system. when you have the top law enforcement official, the number one person in the attorney general's office accusing other line prosecutors, other career prosecutors of misconduct, much less criminal conduct, and that is the way that the department loses all of its credibility. and that's the way that when we talk about the rule of law, that's how it starts to crumble. >> now, many might argue, is it bluster or question? is it bluster in the performance as a pundit on television, or is it what she actually intends to do? do you think if she is confirmed, she will indeed follow through with her statements about prosecuting or investigating people like jack smith, members of the judiciary committee, members of the investigative bodies that she felt were unfairly targeting trump.

>> we don't know. i mean, what she does, it's hard to predict it. well, the point is, is that there's enough indication that she will, that she should simply not be put in a position where she could. and that's why you have a confirmation process and just think about what is coming forward right now, what we're dealing with, donald trump is doing everything possible to prevent the release of volume two of the jack smith's report on the classified documents, which purportedly says why he kept those documents and what he was going to do with them. he is going to the ends of the earth to try to prevent that. and republicans are right along with him, even though they held merrick garland in contempt because he wouldn't turn over a recording of the biden. investigation. so let's say it goes six days from now. and that's not released. well, every other special counsel report has been released. what's pam bondi going to do? donald trump is going to tell her, get rid of that case, get rid of that report. and she's

already demonstrated that she effectively is his vessel in the department of justice. and so she's not going to do what's right. she's not going to do what the department precedent is. she's not going to do what department policy is. she's just going to do whatever donald trump wants. and that's why it's dangerous. >> we'll see how it all unfolds. we're just days away from a new administration. thank you for joining. >> thank you. >> still ahead. tonight is it a statement or something else? michelle obama, the former first lady of the united states, deciding to skip donald trump's inauguration. all the backlash and all the praise next and later, we'll take you back out to los angeles county for the incredible discovery made in the ashes of this burned down home. you won't want to miss it kobe. >> the making of a legend premieres january 25th on cnn. off cameras, off. >> all live cams off. >> what's going on here? they

just took us off the air. get out of my studio. >> turn the cameras back on. >> three. two. one. >> there's a hostage situation in the olympic village. >> september 5th. rated r. >> not again. you're cold. is coming. your cold is coming. thanks, revere. >> we really need to keep zicam in the house. >> only if you want to shorten your cold. when you feel a cold coming, shorten it with zicam. >> my doctor's office with a filing system from the 80s has my social. >> think of all the places that can expose your info. lifelock monitors millions of data points for identity theft. if there's a problem, we fix it. guaranteed. >> upset stomach. >> iberogast. indigestion. iberogast. bloating. iberogast. thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms the power of nature. iberogast. >> what would you look at that?

>> jerry, you got to see this. >> saying that. >> trust me. after 15 walks gets a little old. >> yeah. i really should be retired by now. i wish i invested when i had the chance to the moon unbelievable stop waiting and start investing. >> e-trade from morgan stanley. >> my moderate to severe crohn's disease and my ulcerative colitis symptoms kept me out of the picture. >> now there's skyrizi. i've got places to go, and i'm feeling free. >> control of my symptoms means everything to me. control is everything to me. >> and now i'm back in the picture. >> the most significant symptom relief at four weeks with skyrizi. skyrizi is proven to help deliver remission and help visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. >> at 12 weeks and one year. >> don't use if allergic

serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lower ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu like symptoms or vaccines. liver problems leading to hospitalization may occur when treated for crohn's or uc. >> ready to get back in the picture? ask your gastroenterologist how to take control of your crohn's or uc with skyrizi. control is everything to me. abbey could help you save. >> so what are you thinking? >> i'm thinking about our honeymoon. what about africa? safari. hot air balloon ride. swim with elephants. wait. can we afford a safari? >> great question. like everything takes a little planning. >> or put the money towards a down payment on a ranch in montana with horses. let's take a look at those scenarios. >> jp morgan wealth management has advisors in chase branches and tools like wealth plan to help keep you on track when you're planning for it all. the answer is jp morgan wealth management. >> nice to meet you. my name is david. i've been a pharmacist for 44 years and i'm from

flowery branch, georgia. when i have customers come in, i recommend prevagen. number one, because it's safe and effective, does not require a prescription. and i've been taking it quite a while myself. and i know it works. and i love it when the customers come back in and tell me, david, that really worked so good for me. makes my day. prevagen. >> at stores everywhere. without a prescription. >> what the biggest companies deliver is an exceptional customer experience. what makes it possible is unmatched connectivity and 5g solutions from t-mobile for business. t-mobile connects 100,000 delta airlines employees, powers tractor supply stores nationwide with reliable 5g business internet, and partners with pga of america on game changing innovation. this is how business goes further with t-mobile for business. >> president obama will need another plus one at the

inauguration of president elect donald trump, former first lady michelle obama says she's not going. you know, she didn't actually explain why she's not going. but when you go back and listen to what trump has said about her, you can probably understand why she may want to stay home. >> you know, it's nasty to me, michelle obama, she was nasty to shouldn't be that way. >> that was a big mistake that she made. >> how so? well, there's no love lost between the two. and when it comes to trump, the former first lady ditched her mantra of when they go low, we go high. a long time ago. >> i hope that you'll forgive me if i'm a little angry that we are indifferent to his erratic behavior, his obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon. a

known a known slumlord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse. >> with me now, alicia johnson, former senior adviser to president biden's 2020 campaign and author of the upcoming book flip the tables the everyday disruptors guide to finding courage and making change. love that title and love her and the book. and lance trover, republican strategist and former spokesperson for north dakota governor doug burgum's presidential campaign is here as well. good to have both of you. thank you alicia. looking forward to that book. as you know, there's no reason that was given by the obamas for the former first lady's planned absence. why do you think she's not going to be there? >> listen, that silence speaks extremely loud. it is disruptive. right? she's not there because she laid it out this summer as she was campaigning for vice president harris. the egregious things that donald trump has not only done to this country and infected into our culture, but the things that he has said about her family and putting them in harm's way. so i think michelle obama is, as

the kids say, is standing on business and not making sure not putting us in a position to believe that this is normal. right. to believe that the way that president donald trump acts and operates is normal. when people talk about this as breaking tradition, well, donald trump broke tradition many moons ago. his first administration. and also he's a convicted felon. we should not normalize this behavior. and so her silence, i think, speaks loud and clear. how do you see it? >> should she attend? >> i don't care whether she attends or not. >> i mean, look, is that for all first ladies before her or just her? no, i'm just saying i don't if she wants it. look, i'm sure it's a lot warmer in hawaii anyway right now, but look, here's the deal. if you know, if she. if she wants to attend, that's great. if she doesn't, you talk about what donald trump has said about her. what are the things that she said about donald trump? i mean, at the end of the day, i mean, i'm not sure it really matters either way whether she comes or not. i mean, she wants to come. great. if she does not stay in hawaii. >> you know, there's

interesting the change and shift about the role of the first lady. i mean, we know there's questions whether the former first lady, who's known as melania trump, will be in this traditional sort of space and time as the first lady in washington, d.c. and beyond. are we seeing a change in the way that we view the first lady's presence for our living presidents to be there? >> look, i think that we are right. there are some first ladies who come into the white house. they have these initiatives. they are very outspoken about certain issues. and then some people say that's entirely too much. and then you have first ladies who kind of, quite frankly, go missing in action. and folks say, well, well, where is she? and so as the country is grappling with the actual role of the first lady, there is, i would say, as we're talking about tradition, tradition, for them to actually be there and pushing forward certain initiatives around the president and making sure that we're breeding this culture where people are welcomed into the white house, where it's less political and it's about the american people. but i think ever since melania trump

has not been in the public eye in some spaces, the role of the first lady is being questioned about what it will be in the future. >> it does send a message. i feel like i mean, the democrats for a year have lectured everybody on decorum and how donald trump breaks decorum and all these types of things. and i think for her to not know that was the crux of the campaign. donald trump would democracy and the republic would end as we know it, because he breaks decorum if he gets reelected again? that's what michelle obama and everybody else told us over the course of the last year. so i do think her not showing up says, i mean, talk is cheap, right? i mean, why isn't she coming? >> let me ask you though. sorry, i don't want to cut you off. but there is also this notion. he is and will be the president. united states again. right. he could as easily extend an olive branch to a former first lady. and we saw just last week carter funeral. we saw the conversation happening. whatever it was between president obama and president elect donald trump as well. and frankly, she has a higher favorability rating than even donald trump does. now, polls aren't everything, but

it could actually benefit him to have to be in at least a cordial graces, wouldn't it? >> she has a standing invitation. she's a former first lady. i mean, the decision is up to her. that's what i was going back to at the very beginning. she wants to come. she can come if she doesn't want to, that's fine. but i think it goes back to, you know, democrats spent a year lecturing republicans on decorum and how donald trump breaks china and comes to this town and messes up the way of the world here in washington, d.c. and so, i mean, i think for them it's like, okay, well, yeah, look, i get it. they went all in on the election. they lost, i get it. >> so but but i think if you were going to talk about how much of an existential crisis that donald trump is, right, the threat that he is to democracy, you actually can't throw that out the window and then say, i'm going to cozy up next to him. i think she's actually being very consistent with that message. >> well, here's who will be there. elon musk, jeff bezos, mark zuckerberg, sam altman, just to name a few. what message does that send? >> i think to me, this is a larger story of how quickly corporate america and silicon valley has changed since november 5th. i mean, we have seen a sea change from both

sides. i think it is a reflection of they are waking up and realizing that the world doesn't revolve around silicon valley and new york city and washington, d.c., that there's a whole country in between that hasn't been loving what's been going on in corporate america with their woke policies and the censorship coming out of some of these tech companies. and i think these guys are finally waking up to it that many of the voters in this country are looking for something different out of corporate america, or they know which side of their bread is buttered. >> it's about their money for them and lining their pockets. >> so i like my analogy better. bread and butter. lindsey johnson, lance trover. thank you both so much. well, you know the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. well, our next image and our next story certainly fits that to a t a needle in a haystack discovery. and the incredibly moving story behind it. next. >> i've got good news and i've got bad news. what do you want? first? the bad. the news is newsy even more than ever. what's the good news? means we're doing another season of

have i got news for you? >> have i got news for you returns february 15th on cnn. >> maya knows how quality care can bring out a smile, but it's been a few dog years since she was able to enjoy a smile of her own. good thing aspen dental offers affordable, complete care all in one place, and new patients without insurance get $29 exams and x rays, plus 20% off treatment plans for everyone. loving our patients unconditionally. it's one more way aspen dental is in your corner. come and get your love. >> now's the time to go back in time and shine a light on the family journey that led to you. ancestry can help you piece together the past with billions of records, photos, and more. memberships are on sale now. >> i thought we had a plan for dad. he was set to go to the senior living community right by my house. then a friend suggested i talk to a place for

mom. they really opened my eyes. my advisor listened and understood his needs and showed us options that were still nearby, but a better fit for dad. now he's in a warm, engaging community with a big group of friends. i know we made the better choice for free senior living advice. >> go to a place for mom.com from starting strong. >> to. >> it's been a week. so many ways to save life. ready? wallet. happy. that's 365 by whole foods market. is your asthma rescue a dinosaur air super is the only asthma rescue inhaler fda approved to treat symptoms and help prevent asthma attacks. air super should not be used as a maintenance treatment for asthma. get medical help right away if your breathing doesn't improve or worsens, or for serious allergic reactions like rash, mouth or tongue swelling, trouble breathing or swallowing, or chest pain, using air super more than prescribed could be life threatening. serious side effects include increased risk

of thrush or infections, or heart problems like faster heart rate and higher blood pressure. ask your doctor if air supra is right for you. >> we needed a project manager yesterday. we posted a job on ziprecruiter and had our guy on site in five days. he was qualified in every way. ziprecruiter finds the best candidates for all our jobs. they helped us build a dream team and they did it fast. >> try it for free at ziprecruiter.com slash hire. >> ooh, stuffed up again. >> so congested. >> you need saline from vicks. >> just sign x, breathe. >> what is wow. >> senex. breathe. ah. >> at morgan stanley. old school hard work meets bold new thinking to help you see untapped possibilities and ♪ ♪ with so much great entertainment out there... wouldn't it be easier if you could find what you want, all in one place?

my favorites. get xfinity streamsaver with netflix, apple tv+, and peacock included, for only $15 a month. to caregivers, find all the senior care you need at care.com. >> this is cnn, the world's news network, closed captioning is brought to you by skechers.

>> slip in pants looking for the most comfortable, stylish, easiest pants around? >> try new skechers slip in pants. just slip in and experience skechers innovative comfort technology fabric. skechers slip in pants we have seen horrific stories of loss of loved ones, homes, prized possessions. >> but what if i told you we had a story of something found while victoria desantis had taken off her wedding rings as warnings were going off around l.a. and setting them by the front door just in case she had to evacuate. but when the eaton fire reached her altadena home in the middle of the night, victoria looked outside and saw embers flying through the air, patches of grass in front of her own home were on fire, and she had no time to gather her things. victoria's rings were left behind. her neighborhood decimated her family home of 20 years totally and completely destroyed, and it seemed like

all was gone. but victoria asked for help. firefighters dug on their hands and knees through ash, through rubble, and there was just a glint of light in all that dirt and victoria's ring had been found for her, a symbol of her family, a symbol of their love. in all the darkness in victoria and marco, desantis. join me now. oh, i'm so happy to meet you all and to see you in this way. i'm so glad that you were able to find that ring. i know it would have meant so much to me as someone very sentimental. tell me about the moment you found it. what was your immediate emotion? >> i mean, i absolutely could not believe it because i just picture my roof, my ceiling, my couch, everything is on top of it. so how would you be able to find it? and this firefighter used. a, um, event to sift through everything. he pulled it off the house and was using it. and then he said, i found something

and i just i mean, i think my picture kind of speaks like i just burst into tears. i couldn't believe it. >> i mean, when you ask to find something in. >> yeah, it's hard enough to find something in your house when you when you have light, it's not burned down. >> i think we might be kindred spirits for some reason, in that moment in time, trying to find that needle in the haystack. but imagine that and what that meant to her, to find that marco, for her to look for it, to ask the firefighters. obviously, it tells you a lot about what that symbolized for your marriage and love. >> um, it's it's incredible. it's it's it's, uh, it's definitely a little like ray of light in an otherwise kind of dark time right now, you know, that we really needed. and it lifted us up. and everybody out there who's just showing their support not just for us, but for our whole community, that was devastated. um, and, you know, neighboring communities like the palisades, it just it just restores your faith in humanity, honestly. and love.

it's amazing. >> that's so powerful to think about. and for so many people seeing that just that symbol there, victoria, i mean, what would you the firefighters, you asked for the help, anything you want to say to them who were able to sift through and and number one also take you seriously and say that they would help and they did help on their hands and knees. >> absolutely. i mean, they came up to us and said, do you have questions? do you need anything? i said, yeah, can you help me find my ring? um, and he said, we accept hugs as payment. so i think i probably squeezed them so tight their heads popped off. but i definitely gave them a lot of hugs. they were so lovely. i was like, you probably have other things to do. it's okay. and he's like, no, no, no, we're good. i found an 1800, um, uh, pocket watch the other day. so i got you and i was like, oh, my god, okay. i mean, they're so kind. i know all of these guys work so hard, so we're very grateful. >> i bet for them it meant a lot to to be able to do something. and they are just up against the most extreme

conditions, as are the communities that you come from as well. let me ask you, marco, you were actually away for work when your family had to evacuate. first of all, what was it like to have to even see what was going from a distance? >> well, yeah. as i was flying out of lax, i looked and saw the the smoke over pacific palisades and some of our dear friends live there. so i texted him. i was like, hey, are you guys okay? you know? and that's when i kind of got the indication the night before, we had been up all night with these crazy, like 100 mile an hour, 100 mile an hour winds, nothing we've ever los angeles. those are like hurricane force winds. and so it's just one of those things where. yeah, it was it was just like you thought it was going to be a wind problem. and then it turned out to be a fire thing. and that's just, you know, when the worst thing is going to happen is you're going to have trees fall on your car, but fire, you know, it's just we've had fire before and usually they can put it out. >> this house is 100 years old. >> our house is 100 years old. >> it was about to celebrate its 100th birthday. you didn't

think this was going to happen, but it was just a perfect an imperfect storm of, you know, really dry year we had without any rain and the crazy winds and the, you know, it's just it was just a tinderbox, really perfect. >> and our entire neighborhood is gone. your next door neighbors on either side, rose and tilly across the street. kenny, everybody who's lived there for generations. and then families like us that have only lived there in the last 20 years. but we have a really tight knit altadena is a really tight knit, amazing community. um, and, uh, yeah. and so we have a lot of hope that that they'll be, um, you know, the best days are behind it. >> yeah, it's the next chapter. >> yeah. >> i love the way you think about that. and of course, this is the kind of area, as you say, where you know your neighbors by first name and you're caring about how they're doing as well. i'm so glad i