mattis were unique nominations in that, you know, they needed waivers to assume office. right. normally there's i believe it's a law where you need to be out of military uniform essentially for ten years before taking that job. and i one thing i am very heartened by is, you know, one thing that the united states prides itself is civilian control of the military. and i'm glad we're not having it. continuing the trend of, however decorated, accomplished people they might be having people that just left the military assume control as a civilian. >> megan, briefly. yeah. >> no, i think that makes makes a lot of sense. i do think that we have some serious concerns about hegseth, and i think esper raises them. and these are real legit concerns. and i mean, obviously he's going to pass. or get confirmed, so will be different. but i just i mean, it's really concerning to have him leave the dod. >> thanks to all of you guys for being here this morning. i really appreciate your time. thanks to all of you. thanks to you at home as well for joining us. i'm kasie hunt. don't go anywhere. cnn news central starts right now.

>> all right. >> developing this morning, the death toll rising in california as forecasters warn of one last extremely dangerous 24 hour stretch and another huge day on capitol hill. >> six of donald trump's nominees heading to the senate for confirmation hearings and donald trump's picks to be the attorney general and secretary of state are in the hot seat. >> and new this morning, tiktok plans to shut down the app to all u.s. users on sunday, unless the supreme court decides it doesn't have to sell or be banned. >> what this could mean for the app's future. i'm sara sidner with kate bolduan and john berman. this is cnn central. >> all right. the breaking news this morning. now is the time to stay on guard. that is the

urgent warning from weather officials in los angeles and neighboring counties. new evacuations and curfews are in effect as one more day of extreme danger. alerts cover much of the region. at this moment, four major fires are raging, the largest one in the palisades is still only 18% contained. that's after one full week of burning. overnight. the death toll rose to 25. fema says more than 40,000 applications for disaster aid have been filed so far. we're just seeing the first images of some of the destroyed areas. it's really the first time we've been able to get to some of these places, and there are new developments in the investigation into where and how the fire started. we're going to get to the critical threat from the wind in just a moment. but first, stephanie elam is in the pacific palisades. good morning, stephanie. >> good morning john. >> and we are seeing some of those winds starting to kick up. >> now that we know that the winds were not as strong yesterday as predicted, but now

is the day that they are watching out for that, particularly over the eaton fire. and this is why they're asking people in all areas to be prepared for an emergency and having to evacuate. as we see these winds pick up. but overall in these areas, it is a slow, methodical process of trying to make sure that they go from each lot to the next, making sure that if there's anyone who did not make it out, that they're able to find them, and then also just to for cal fire to go through each and make sure each place is safe. in fact, take a listen to an official from cal fire talking about this process. >> crews are doing a methodical process of moving through the area, going to every individual structure and searching it, looking for hazards, possibly searching for any victims that may not have made it out of the fire. and they will continue to do this until they cover the entire fire area. it's a considerable amount of

structures to search. thousands, and it's going to be a long process. >> a long process, and also going to delay when people are able to get back in and see their lots, to see if their homes are standing, see if they can salvage anything, especially since we do have these wind advisories, they want to make sure that people are not in here while that's happening. so we are looking for better wind weather towards the end of the week. so that might be a time that we could have that. but what's also interesting to note, john, is this new study from ucla that's saying that these fires burn hotter and were larger, in part because of human induced climate change, and that these fires probably still would have happened, but that they were worse because of it. so just something to think about as people are looking to rebuild how they do that, how they harden their houses. as people are starting to focus on where they go next. john. >> yes. the intensity of storms of all kinds that are an emerging problem. all right, stephanie, stand by. let's get right to allison chinchar for the forecast and what the winds

look like today. relatively speaking. lucky yesterday. will they be as lucky today? >> all right. and that really is the ultimate question. the key is we just have to get through the next 24 hours. after today, we finally start to see those winds calming back down really in some cases to very low single digits. here's a look at the red flag warning that's in effect for today. now until 6 p.m. local time later this afternoon. those wind gusts up around 50 to 70mph embedded within that red flag. warning. you have two particular areas where we're talking about particularly dangerous situations, and that's valid until 3 p.m. this afternoon. you can see three of the four fires we've been talking about are embedded within one of those pds locations. look at some of the wind gusts that we saw just in the last 24 hours, 74, 61, 60, 50. this is a concern. we got lucky yesterday, really in the last 24 hours that we have not had any new fires begin, because had they, these winds would have carried them very rapidly

in and around those surrounding areas. when we go through the rest of the day, again, you're going to start to see those winds beginning to pick up. that's why you have this wind advisory in effect for those sustained winds about 30 to 40mph in some areas could be gusting upwards of 5060, even as much as 70mph. but you'll notice as we go into wednesday evening and then gradually into thursday, all of these numbers finally start to drop back to much more reasonable numbers that the firefighters can use to get a much better handle on what's going to happen. and then thursday and friday of this week, finally, a much better wind direction as well. >> we just have to get through these next 24 hours. as you said. allison chinchar thanks to you. stephanie elam, thank you to you as well. >> kate also new this morning. history is in your hands. that is part of the farewell message and letter just released from president biden, biden to the american people. the letter is coming also as he prepares for what the white house calls a farewell address. his final prime time speech from the oval

office is scheduled for tonight. let's get much more on the president's final message as he prepares to leave the white house. cnn's arlette saenz is at the white house for us. what else is the president saying in this letter? and what are you hearing about tonight? >> well, kate, president biden will sit behind the resolute desk in the oval office for the final time to address the nation as he is looking to say goodbye to the country and cap off a more than five decade long career in public service. >> this is the latest effort by biden to really try to cement his legacy, as he's trying to present himself as this transformative leader who has provided the country with a steady hand, both at home and abroad. now, in this letter to americans that was released this morning, the president tries to make the case for his accomplishments by also reminding americans of what he inherited four years ago. he writes, quote, we were in the grip of the worst pandemic in a century, the worst economic crisis since the great depression and the worst attack on our democracy since the civil war. that being a

reference to january 6th, he adds. but we came together as americans. ultimately, president biden believes that he is leaving the country in a stronger position than when he came into office. he talks about how the economy is in a strong position, even though many americans at home don't exactly feel that way. in this letter, he also talks about other accomplishments like boosting manufacturing, low violent crime rates, and also efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs for older americans in this country. but even as president biden is pointing to these accomplishments, he is leaving office with low approval ratings, which stand around 38%. and he is also preparing to welcome back to the white house, the very man that he has described as a direct threat to democracy and being unfit to serve in the job as president. and that is really one of the challenging components of biden's legacy. his decision to seek reelection is something that continues to frustrate many democrats, who believe that that created an opening,

paved the way for trump's return to the white house. president biden himself has really remained defiant about that decision, saying that he still believes that he could have beaten trump if he had stayed in the race. now, biden is unlikely to rehash that part of his legacy, instead trying to offer some final words to the american people. he writes in this letter i have given my heart and my soul to our nation, and i have been blessed a million times in return, with the love and support of the american people. history is in your hands. much of biden's post-presidency plans are still in the works, but he did tell reporters last week that he does not plan to be out of sight or out of mind. >> kate more than five decades in public service. wrapping that up in one speech and one letter tonight we will see. good luck. good luck to the speechwriters on that one. arlette, thank you so much, sarah. >> all right. thank you. kate. >> day six of donald trump's cabinet picks will face questions from senators. the most contentious hearing may be for the eternal attorney general nominee, pam bondi, who has promised retribution

against some on behalf of trump. plus, new body camera video shows what happened when a teenager threatened an elementary school with an airsoft rifle. and why lawyers for sean diddy combs are requesting copies of the so-called freak off tapes. those stories ahead. >> kobe believed in himself at the youngest possible age. >> it's one of the most remarkable stories in sports history. >> i don't want to be remembered as just a basketball player. >> kobe premieres january. >> welcome to tackling life with jordan and veronica. brought to you by experian. >> who takes longer to get ready on game day? you know 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. >> all right. what if we move? >> hold on. let me think. >> we need a miracle. >> miracle? every thursday, starting at 245. i love you. >> i know. >> find childcare that fits your schedule. learn more at care.com. >> well, you're in the big leagues now. >> how was your vacation, sir? >> well, i needed one with your 10% loyalty program discount. >> that's $225 for the night. >> not bad. >> $155 for the night. >> hold up. how? >> it's easy when you know where to look. >> trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. >> trivago is my secret tactic. >> hotel trivago. >> all right, so that's one pair of prescription glasses plus anti-reflective lens coating. oh, award winning

customer service. that's me. that's also me. i see. and free frame adjustments for life. >> and that's included in the $95. >> oh, welcome to warby parker. >> when i started brightstar care, i had one focus to provide a higher standard of care. safe, reliable, nurse led care right? in people's homes. that's been my goal for 20 years, and it always will be. now local agencies are looking for experienced nurses and caregivers who have the passion it takes to deliver that higher standard of care. >> what if you could tackle your dog's itching, soft stools and low energy? millions of pet parents are raving about doctor marty nature's blend. >> such a huge difference in her health. more energy, more playful. no more pooping issues. >> i'm doctor marty. >> i've been a veterinarian for more than 50 years. the dangerous ingredients added to many pet foods could be impacting your dog's lifespan. that's why i formulated

nature's blend. >> now you can feed your dog wholesome cuts of real meat, vegetables and fruit with no artificial preservatives or fillers. >> try doctor marty risk free. go to doctor marty pets. slash tv life diabetes. >> there's no slowing down. each day is a unique blend of people to see and things to do. that's why you choose glucerna to help manage blood sugar response. uniquely designed with carb steady glucerna. bring on the day. >> to avoid digital threats. just turn on nordvpn. improve your protection against trackers, malicious

let's say you're deep in a show or a game or the game. on a train, at home, at work. okay, maybe not at work. point is at xfinity. we're constantly engineering new ways to get the entertainment you love to you faster and easier than ever. that's what i do. is that love island? >> 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. >> happening today, six of president elect donald trump's cabinet picks head to capitol

hill for high stakes confirmation hearings. defense secretary nominee pete hegseth was first in the hot seat. he locked in the gop support amid a contentious session as democrats pressed him on his character and fitness for the job. >> 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. who cheated on the mother of that child? less than two months after that daughter was born? didn't you? those were false charges. well, not fully investigated. and i was completely cleared. you have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two, after you just had fathered a child by wife three. >> can you name the importance of at least one of the nations in the asean, in asean, and what type of agreement we have with at least one of those nations? and how many nations are in asean, by the way? >> i couldn't tell you the

exact amount of nations, but i know we have allies in south korea and japan and in aukus with australia trying to work on submarines with them. >> mr.. hegseth, none of those countries are in iron cross. none of those three countries that you mentioned are in asean. i suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations. >> despite all that, it looks like he could sail through among the six nominees to be questioned today, the president elect's choice for attorney general pam bondi, the florida former florida attorney general, is a loyal trump supporter who defended trump's 2020 election lie. cnn's lauren fox is joining us now from capitol hill. what are you watching for today with these many nominees? >> yeah, in just a couple of hours, pam bondi is going to take the hot seat. and you can expect the democrats are really going to grill her on a key question. can she be independent from donald trump? >> she's obviously someone who's been very close to him over the years. she represented him in his first impeachment

trial. she is someone who has spent a lot of time with the president. and one of the key questions from democrats is going to be, will she be able to enforce the law as it is written, or is she going to be influenced by donald trump? this is just an example of the kinds of things that bondi has said in the past. backing up donald trump. here she is. >> the investigators will be investigated because the deep state last term for president trump, they were hiding in the shadows, but now they have a spotlight on them. the good residents who are all supporting us in pennsylvania. their votes don't count by these fake ballots that are coming in late. and back to the observation. they're not letting us watch the process. >> pam, did you just say fake ballots? >> there could be. that's the problem. they've had this reckless obsession with impeaching president trump from before he was even sworn into office.

and it's continued on and on. they are dead set on taking out our great president, and we're not going to let it happen. >> and you can expect that this is going to be a key focus for the top democrat on the committee, dick durbin. we have just obtained part of his opening statement in which he says, quote, miss bondi, you have had many years of experience in law enforcement, including nearly a decade of service as the attorney general in one of the largest states in the nation. but i need to know, would you tell president trump? no. if you are faced with the choice between your oath to the constitution and your loyalty to donald trump? and i think that that really sums up what today is going to be like in this hearing room. sara. yeah. >> and we should say our kate bolduan is going to be speaking with dick durbin in our next hour. so we'll hear more from him. what are some of the other key nominees that stand out that you're expecting potentially some fireworks?

>> yeah, i mean, i think one of the most interesting hearings that we're going to see today is senator marco rubio, who's going to go before the senate foreign relations committee. >> he has been nominated to be donald trump's secretary of state. and i think one of the key things to keep in mind about this hearing today for rubio is that he is going to be walking into a room with colleagues who he has worked with over the years, colleagues who have a lot of respect for him on both sides of the aisle. so that might be an opportunity where we actually see really substantial policy discussions and get some insight into what donald trump's future administration is going to look like when it comes to the relationship with china, when it comes to u.s. investments in the war in ukraine. i think that marco rubio is going to be in a really interesting position because he has traditionally been more of a foreign policy hawk than donald trump, who's more of an isolationist. and i think how he sort of threads that needle is going to be really interesting to watch today. >> it will be a little bit like the times of old, potentially, where nominees have some

bipartisan support. lauren fox, thank you so much. appreciate it. kate. >> also breaking news coming in this morning. tiktok making plans now to shut down the app for all 170 million of its u.s. users. and in just four days and more than 6 million people under a new fire threat today, as winds in southern california threaten to kick back up. officials are asking everyone to hold on for another 24 hours. >> trump's cabinet picks the candidates you've heard about for months go before the senate. who will get the votes? >> i think we have great people. >> follow the trump confirmation hearings. follow the facts. >> follow cnn for the times. when cooking just isn't in the cards, try brand new ready made meals from hellofresh. no prepping, no cooking. just heat up and dig in to

delicious new from hellofresh sophie's helping me get my money right to achieve my ambitions. >> plus, i'm investing in my game. so if i can help fund all your ambitions no matter how ambitious. >> bank with sophie to score a higher apy and an epic welcome bonus, 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 help us build our dream team and they did it fast. >> try it for free at ziprecruiter.com slash hire. >> your loved ones are getting older and they need your support. care.com is here to help. it's an easy way to find background checked senior caregivers in your area and some peace of mind. >> see why millions of families have trusted care. go to care.com now. >> i'm not a doctor. >> i'm not even in a doctor's office. i'm standing on the streets talking to real people about their heart. how's your heart? >> my heart's pretty good. >> are you sure?

>> i think so. >> how do you know you're driving a car? you have the check engine light, but the heart doesn't have it. hey, check. heart sign. i want to show you something. put both fingers right on those pads. there you go. in 30s, we're going to have a medical grade ekg reading. there it is. that is you. >> look at that. >> with kardia mobile, you can take a medical grade ekg in just 30s from anywhere. >> kardia mobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. and it's the only personal ekg that's fda cleared to detect normal heart rhythm, bradycardia and tachycardia. how much do you think this device costs? probably $1,099. wow. >> that's impressive. >> checking your heart anytime, anywhere has never been easier. and kardia mobile is now hsa, fsa eligible. get kardia mobile today for just $79 at kardia. com or amazon. >> i had over $36,000 in debt. >> i didn't even know how i was going to buy food for my kids. >> i picked up the phone and

called national debt relief. they were my savior. >> national debt relief can significantly reduce the amount you owe. >> now that i'm out of debt, i feel free. >> i feel powerful, i'm doing the things i want to do. singing in a chorus. i'm traveling with my husband. >> i'm thriving. our family is thriving. >> call or visit national debt relief.com to get started. can to support your brain health. >> mary. janet. hey, eddie. no! frasier. frank. frank. >> fred, how are you? (♪♪) hello, oh.... it'll be there in a couple of years. honey, they're here. how much longer? uh, it's going to be a while. wait. ah, wait. (music dies down) (clock ticking) (clock ticking) wait. (♪♪)

fees and no obligations. get the real value from your life insurance when you need it. with abacus. >> the thing about emergency medicine, you never know what you're going to get. >> i need help here. even though you do everything right, you don't always get what you hope for. >> the pit, streaming exclusively on max. >> all right, breaking news. an earthquake in the world of social media that could be even bigger than we thought. reports that tiktok is planning to shut

down its app to users in the united states this sunday, the day a federal ban is scheduled to take effect. now, that ban was supposed to just mean that people could update their apps. this goes much, much further. this means that people won't even be able to get in to tiktok. this comes. this new report comes from the tech site the information. cnn's clare duffy is here. this is a huge deal. this is much bigger than we thought it would be and much quicker. >> yeah, i imagine there are some creators on tiktok who are really freaking out now, if they weren't already bytedance really had three options here. the first was to shut down tiktok altogether when this ban went into effect. the next was to sell tiktok to a non-chinese owner. they've expressed very little interest so far in doing that, although we may be hearing some negotiating happening soon. and the third option was to essentially do nothing and allow the app stores to ban it, because it was always really the app stores that were on the hook to remove the platform from their app stores. and that's really what we expected, was that

people just wouldn't be able to download the app. if they got a new phone, they wouldn't be able to update it. but if you had the app on your phone, you would still be able to use it. now, according to this new report, it sounds like people won't be able to access the app at all. if they go on there, they'll be redirected to a site explaining the ban. creators may be able to download their data, their old videos, but they won't actually be able to access tiktok. and this may be sort of a negotiating tactic on the part of bytedance. there obviously are going to have a lot of upset creators. and as they're trying to potentially work out a plan with the new trump administration that having lots of angry folks in the united states, 170 million american users could be, you know, a leverage point for bytedance here. we're already seeing creators move to a number of different alternative apps as people try to figure out sort of what's next. and it's not necessarily the instagrams and the youtubes that you would expect. there are a lot of new apps that are cropping up, including lemon8, which is a bytedance app like tiktok, is a rednote, which is

actually a chinese owned app as well. and then flip clapper fan base, a number of these other apps that are also short form video creators can make money. so it'll be really interesting if we do see this ban go into effect, whether any of these ends up being sort of the winner over the mainstream apps that we know of. >> yeah. again, this is just such a huge difference from what almost everyone thought this was going to be, which was, you know, you won't be able to put the new app on the phone. it would get a little bit of clunky over weeks or months, but not i can't get in to watch my cat videos as of sunday. i mean, i think 170 million people are in for a big surprise now. the inauguration is monday and as you said, we just don't know how this is going to change or what will play out here. >> yeah, it's a really good, good question a big question. and again let's talk about that second option there that bytedance could sell tiktok yesterday. we are seeing reports from bloomberg, from the wall street journal that chinese officials are now considering elon musk as a possible new american owner for at least part of the u.s. operations of tiktok, which is really interesting, right, because elon musk already owns x, he could add to his massive social media portfolio that he

already has. tiktok called this report pure fiction, but for a lot of political reasons, it would make sense why the chinese would consider elon musk, you know, a friendlier american owner than a lot of other folks who have put their hands up to buy this platform. elon musk has huge business interests in china. it's the second largest market for tesla. he does a lot of manufacturing there. and so china may see elon musk as the best possible option here. if they don't win their supreme court case. >> all right a lot going on a lot w mbe lot of unhappy people in just a few days. thank you very much sarah. >> all right. she has defended the president elect and promised to investigate the investigators who investigated him. pam bondi president trump's choice for attorney general heads to the hill to face questions today. and pulling hope from the ashes. cnn was there as a firefighter who lost his entire home in the fire, made an incredible discovery that actually made him laugh.

>> what's that? what's that? >> what's that let me see. >> what's that? that's it. that's it. that's it. that's it. >> oh my god! oh my god! oh my god! >> oh my god! oh, god! >> this part changed my life. >> superman. crazy. just that simple little thing over the horse. >> chris wanted to change the world. >> people are literally walking because of him. >> superman. the christopher reeve story. february 2nd on cnn. >> that's $225 for the night. >> not bad. >> $155 for the night. wow. >> it's easy when you know where to look. >> trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. hotel trivago. >> introducing the x back from copper fit. our groundbreaking technology, designed for compression support of your lower back and core. like you've never experienced before. the back evenly distributes the support across a broader surface area of your

back for relief of lower back aches and pains. an orthopedic designed alloy support panel and four built in flexible stabilizers to help improve alignment and promote better posture. available at gaetz. com. copper. fit. feel the difference. >> if you take or have taken humira for moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and still have symptoms, you don't have to settle. ask your gastroenterologist if switching to rinvoq is right for you. it's one of the latest treatments from the makers of humira. rinvoq works differently than humira and may help. rinvoq is a once daily pill that can deliver rapid symptom relief, lasting steroid free remission, and helps visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. >> rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections before treatment. >> test for tb and do blood work. serious infections, blood clots some fatal cancers including lymphoma and skin. serious allergic reactions, gi tears, death, heart attack and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell

your doctor if you've had these events. infection hep b or c smoked are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. >> rapid symptom relief and lasting steroid free remission are possible with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist if switching to rinvoq is right for you. you could pay as little as $0 per month. >> i started bright star care to provide a higher standard of care. it's been my goal for 20 years and it always will be. if you're an experienced caregiver with that same passion, join the brand that supports you. >> most pet owners know the struggle. >> your best bud can track all sorts of gunk indoors. now there's a simple solution that won't have you pulling out the mop and bucket. it's muddy math. the anti mud mat that keeps your dog's paws clean before they make a mess inside the muddy mat uses thousands of advanced ultra soft microfibers that are five times more absorbent than ordinary floor mats, trapping dirt and water protecting your floors. the

durable super grip underside won't move or slip. use muddy mat under your pet's food dish in the bathroom. even catch spills in the kitchen, and it's machine washable. reduce the mess caused by your pet easily. call or go online to order your revolutionary muddy mat right away. through this exclusive introductory offer, we're giving a massive discount. see how you can get one muddy mat completely free. order two and get one free for only 19.95 each. pete g. writes, "my tween wants a new phone. how do i not break the bank?"

we got you, pete. xfinity mobile was designed to save you money and gives you access to wifi speeds up to a gig. so you get high speeds for low prices. better than getting low speeds for high prices. right, bruce? -jealous? yeah, look at that. -honestly. someone get a helmet on this guy. xfinity internet customers, ask how to get an unlimited line free for a year, plus a free 5g phone. >> and that's included in the $95. >> oh, welcome to warby parker. >> kobe believed in himself at the youngest possible age. >> it's one of the most remarkable stories in sports history. >> i don't want to be remembered as just a basketball player. >> kobe premieres january 25th on cnn. >> today is a huge day for donald trump on capitol hill. half a dozen of his nominees will be facing confirmation hearings, and it is all about to get under way with two of the biggest jobs in the president's cabinet. his picks

for attorney general and secretary of state about to sit in the hot seat. we'll see if today, today mirrors the tone that was set very clearly yesterday with the first big hearing, the contentious line of questioning that donald trump's choice for defense secretary pete hegseth faced, well, from democrats. but democrats he does not need in order to get through to get a full vote in the senate. which is why everyone watched one republican senator very closely in that hearing on that committee, republican senator joni ernst, who had questions leading into the hearing but then announced her support for hegseth after it wrapped. >> does he have your vote? >> um, i am breaking news, simon. i figured you would ask this. um, so yes, i will be supporting president trump's pick for secretary of defense. >> cnn's alayna treene is standing by in west palm beach, florida. you know that that that donald trump's team was

obviously watching every moment of that hearing very closely. what are they saying after hearing that from joni ernst? and now what are they expecting today? >> yeah, there's a lot of expectations about what's going to happen today. >> but just to go over what happened yesterday following hegseth hearing. look, they were of course, very pleased with how it went. the warm welcome from the chairman wicker, and saying that he had essentially, you know, thought that he was an excellent choice during his opening remarks. and of course, joni ernst, her line of questioning really did not produce any fireworks. she said that a lot of her initial concerns over hegseth that they had, you know, hashed out behind closed doors, all of that. very welcome to donald trump's team. and look what they had wanted is what they saw. they wanted republicans to kind of defend hegseth to be the opposition force to the very ugly questioning that they were anticipating that would come from democrats. and that's what they saw. they saw a lot of republicans really kind of show

their loyalty to donald trump, saying that they anticipated that trump knew who the best pick was to serve in his cabinet. but of course, yesterday was such a big moment for them. not only was it donald trump's first nominee to face questioning in congress, but also hegseth is one of the most controversial picks that he has. and so, of course, yesterday was going to be one of those moments that they were very worried about. i know there was a lot of, you know, anticipation, some uneasiness heading into yesterday. they feel very good about his chances now that he is going to get confirmed and get confirmed. her her signal of support for hegseth does show that this is likely to go to the senate floor very quickly. now, as for the other nominees today, a couple ones i want to point out. you're going to have one of the biggest selections that donald trump had made pam bondi to serve as his attorney general. she is going to be in front of a committee today. you're also going to see marco rubio, as you mentioned, secretary of state, another massive pick given all of the wars in the middle east and the

enormity of the foreign affairs position right now. and then also, he's going to have kristi noem his pick for department of homeland security. donald trump clearly wanting to hit the ground running as it comes to border issues and immigration. so a lot of big moments today as well. all of them have been preparing rigorously behind closed doors with the help of trump and some senate republicans. kate. >> yeah, and we'll get underway just about just a couple of hours here on the show. we're going to be taking that live as these confirmation hearings with some of the for some of the most important positions in donald trump's cabinet, they'll be in the hot seat. it's great to see elena. thank you so much, sarah. >> all right. thank you kate. joining me now to discuss chuck rocha, democratic strategist and former senior adviser to bernie sanders presidential campaigns and former presidential campaign manager for marco rubio, terry sullivan. all right. we'll start with rubio, because, terry, you're with us. you know, we saw democrats battling with trump's pick for defen secretary. but as you see, joni ernst one of the people that people were concerned, the

republicans were concerned wasn't going to say yes to the nomination. has has decided she's going to vote for him. when it comes to marco rubio, though, who works with these senators who they know. do you think this will be a much more sort of bipartisan kind of confirmation, like we've seen in the past? >> yeah, i mean, look, because he's clearly one of the most qualified people for that job. so this is going to be boring. and it's why people aren't talking about it. because he's going to get it might even be unanimous consent. but yes, he will get plenty of votes on the democrat side of the aisle as well. >> yeah, they've already signaled that today you have pam bondi, which may be a very different confirmation process. she's the nominee for attorney general. you know, bondi was florida's first female attorney general. so she does have legal chops, but she is also a huge supporter of trump backing his 2020 election lie, at times saying there was

evidence of cheating. she has also said the department of justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. she also said the investigators will be investigated. chuck, she's already held this job of attorney general in florida. can she be independent of donald trump? when you look back at some of the things she has said and that she has done. >> well, that's what the constitution says. and you've seen lots of democrats say that this should be an outside organization. it's not donald trump or joe biden's justice department. it should be a standalone. and i think that it gives pam bondi a leg up that she actually did run as the attorney general and successfully so in florida, we may have a disagreement on philosophies, but unlike a lot of the other picks, going back to marco rubio, i don't like marco rubio. most democrats don't. but he you can't deny that he's not qualified to do the the job. i think with some of these nominees, outside of the two that we're talking about, there's lots of folks who simply aren't qualified. a lot like pete had said yesterday. but i think you're not going to see as much pushback on bondi or senator

marco rubio, who's been in the senate a long time. and there's lots of democrats who will vote for him. >> yeah, it's certainly a far cry from matt gaetz, who was initially put in that nomination position, who just simply left. he didn't have the votes. all right. one nominee that hasn't really been discussed much is the person who will lead the management and budget office. russell vought voight. he's trump's nominee. he served in that government office in 2020 for trump. but he is also one of the architects now of project 2025, which trump said he didn't know anything about. he didn't know the people who wrote it. what does this tell you this nomination tell you about the next four years? chuck? >> well, i think you heard a lot about project 2025, and it's the old okey doke. if anybody who has been around for 10s knows, he's like, i don't know nothing about that old boy or nothing about this project, but guess what? we're going to hire him to pretty much run the entire government. this is one of the most powerful positions in america because they oversee so much of the budget, so much

of the infrastructure of our government. and i'm not here to defend every aspect of everything that the government does. i'm as big a critic as anybody else, especially when it comes to tax time. but this is the old okey doke. if he knew who this fellow was, he knows what project 2025 is. i think the american people are going to get a rude awakening when they go seeing what this old boy is going to do when it comes to making sure that the government checks show up on time. >> terry, what do you make of what you just heard? >> yeah, i mean, look, the the project 2025 talking points didn't work in the election for democrats, and i'm not sure it's going to work now. no one gives a flying well, no one cares about some, you know, think tank in washington, d.c. and so, look, he's a qualified guy for the job. he's a policy person. he was in the the administration before. he's loyal to donald trump. shocker. donald trump picks people that are loyal to him. and so he's he's going to do a good job. he's got the experience. he's loyal to the president. and and yeah i mean look so he worked for a think tank in dc that no one really knows about.

>> a lot of people know about it now though, because it did become a talk show. >> but i don't know but don't don't know the details about it. i mean, beyond beyond the name 2025, which was a talking point in the, in the in the campaign. >> no one really knows much about this think tank. i mean, there's not a lot of lot of visibility into it. so i don't know that they do know a lot about it. >> okay, interesting. because a lot of people talking about getting rid of the department of education, for example. so there are some things that have come up to the fore where the public has been talking about it. democrats though, let's look at the nominee that has already gone before, which was contentious. they threw everything at pete hegseth and there was a moment in particular that was embarrassing. senator tammy duckworth questioned him about what he knows concerning u.s. agreements with some of the indo-pacific countries. let's take a listen can you name the importance of at least one of the nations in the asean, in asean, and what type of agreement we have with at least one of those nations? >> and how many nations are in asean?

>> by the way, i couldn't tell you the exact no, you could not. but i know we have allies in south korea and japan and in aukus with australia trying to work on submarines with them. >> mr.. hegseth none of those countries are allies across. none of those three countries that you mentioned are in asean. i suggest you do a little homework before you prepare for these types of negotiations. >> terry, shouldn't it matter that a nominee that is about to head the most powerful military in the world doesn't know this? >> well, when you say this, i'm not familiar with asean either. and so but you're not heading the department of defense? no, thank god, but but no, it is a, um, uh, look, i don't it's a game of gotcha. and both sides of the political aisle play it. and this, this time. look, you can there's lots of stuff to argue about pete hegseth about, but knowing whether asean is what countries are part of it, um, i don't think, you know, most

people know and i know that most people are not appointed for this position, but i don't think this is a, a, a huge deal. it was a political gotcha moment by by senator duckworth. >> chuck, did other democrats who went after him, they went after him from allegations and she did as well about, you know, women in combat. some of the things he said that he doesn't think that women should be serving in combat roles or sexual misconduct. the allegations of that. but the democrats miss an opportunity to probe his knowledge of the job, because duckworth seems to be the one that did that. others didn't. >> i think what you saw yesterday, and i have gotten lots of presidential campaigns and candidates prepared for something like this, and what they're trying to do here is they know that they don't have the votes to stop the nomination, but what they're trying to do is protect themselves, as they should. and america, by saying, this person is not qualified either because of his character or these allegations or his limited knowledge of what the job really entails. so if, god forbid, something was to happen, a democratic senator

could say, i brought this up, that this fellow is not qualified. i'm not wishing that anything happens. i hope that nothing ever happens. and i actually hope pete hegseth does a great job. but there's no question in my small mind that he's not qualified. and if something does happen, they can say, look, we raised these character issues early in the in the hearing. but republicans continue to support somebody like this who was not qualified. >> well, chuck, i don't think you have a small mind. neither do you, terry. i am glad the big minds of the day are on the show this early and talking with me. i appreciate you, chuck rocha and terry sullivan. appreciate it. all right ahead. new video shows the fear and quick thinking when a teen with an airsoft rifle was spotted at a connecticut elementary school. you will see what happened next with body camera, video and sean combs lawyer says they want copies of the so-called freak off tapes. why? they say these videos actually prove combs innocence. those stories

ahead. >> just close the doors and you're in a world of your own. travel is not just about the destination. it's also about how you get there. fly emirates. fly better. >> okay, everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. >> ensure with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health and ensure complete with 30g of protein still congested. >> nope. uh oh. >> new mucinex 2 in 1 saline nasal spray spray. >> goodbye. >> new mucinex 2 in 1 saline nasal spray with a gentle mist and innovative power jet spray.

goodbye to congestion. its comeback season. >> some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking allstate first. >> like, you know, to check the weather first before sailing. >> it's going to get nasty later. yep. hey. >> perfect day for sailing, huh? have fun on land. >> i'll go tell the coast guard. yep. >> yeah. checking first is smart, so check allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. you're in good hands with allstate. >> i had over $36,000 in debt. >> i didn't even know how i was going to buy food for my kids. >> i picked up the phone and called national debt relief. they were my savior. >> national debt relief can significantly reduce the amount you owe. >> now that i'm out of debt, i feel free. i feel powerful, i'm doing the things i want to do. >> singing in a chorus. i'm traveling with my husband. >> i'm thriving. our family is

thriving. >> call or visit national debt relief.com to get started. look out, cause here i come. >> have you always had trouble with your weight? same. >> discover the power of wegovy with wegovy. >> i lost 35 pounds and some lost over 46 pounds. >> and i'm keeping the weight off. >> i'm reducing my risk. >> wegovy is the only weight management medicine proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack or stroke in adults with known heart disease and obesity. >> don't use wegovy with semaglutide or glp one medicines or in children under 12. don't take if you or your family had mtc men2 or if allergic to it. tell your provider if you plan to have surgery or a procedure, are breastfeeding, pregnant, or plan to be. stop taking and get medical help right away. if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or any of these allergic reactions serious side effects may include pancreas inflammation and gallbladder problems. call your prescriber if you have any of these symptoms. wegovy may

cause low blood sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. call your prescriber about vision changes. if you feel your heart racing while at rest, or if you have mental changes, depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. common side effects include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain, flu or upset headache, feeling tired, dizzy or bloated gas and heartburn. some side effects lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems with wegovy. >> i'm losing weight. >> i'm keeping it off and i'm lowering my cv risk. >> ask your prescriber about wegovy to avoid digital threats. just turn on nordvpn improve your protection against trackers, malicious websites, and malware ridden downloads. get the deal now. >> i have to find a babysitter. >> i have a lot of questions. >> when can they start? today. >> now how about saturday? >> are they background checks? >> my wife and i haven't been out in a year. >> we need a date night.

>> no offense. >> find all the care you need at care.com. >> 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. the cavs look to roll with the thunder. >> both of these teams don't want to give an inch. >> then the kings and rockets clash. >> this young team is starting to mature. >> cavaliers. thunder. >> rockets. >> kings coverage begins tomorrow at 7:00. presented by state farm on tnt. >> so wind gusts are expected to pick up today again for los angeles and ventura counties after what became a welcome change in the forecast yesterday, bringing relatively calm conditions. the national weather service has now reinstated the particularly dangerous situation. red flag warnings for the area and now

more than 6 million people are under a critical fire threat. the death toll stands at 25 people killed from these fires, nine killed in the palisades fire, 16 in the eaton fire. both of these fires are now among the most destructive wildfires in california's history. and the fight is not over very clearly. let's get an update. joining us right now is cal fire battalion chief once again. david acuña, it's good to see you again, chief. thank you. yesterday seemed to be not as bad as predicted in terms of the winds. thank goodness. what's it looking like today from your perspective? >> well, thankfully you're right. we were able to make some progress. get some of those containment lines down and really mop up some of the areas that were hot so that when the winds do come, it doesn't blow an ember up and over the containment lines. but what we really transitioned is into our suppression repair or were it's our watershed emergency response team to prepare the landscape when it

rains. >> i've seen in terms of the kind of long battle to fully extinguish the fires, that it's going to take weeks to fully extinguish these fires. how long could this take? >> you know, that's actually a great question. we don't know because there's a lot of areas that is unique here. so, you know, it's a suburban, sometimes urban area where, you know, there are a lot of people have those battery storage systems, those hold heat for months, you know, are we going to be able to to mitigate that? there's areas that we have to get to because it's just very, very steep and difficult to get to. we have more than 15,000 people on site, more than 8500 firefighters from local, state, tribal partners and federal all working together to make sure this. plus we have additional personnel mobilized in the area for any new starts.

>> and i mean, talk about working overtime and the heroic work that firefighters are doing. it cannot be overstated. we're also seeing, though, reports in the l.a. times reporting that even ahead of ahead of all of this, there were days of warnings of hurricane force winds that could come with threats of these fires sparking up. and even with those warnings, the los angeles fire department did not pre-position all of the available firefighters and engines that they could have on january 6th, as the winds were picked seventh as the winds were picking up. the report claims that the the lafd staffed only five of more than 40 water carrying engines that were available then before the fire spun out of control. have you heard any of this? what's your reaction to it? >> you know, i'm not sure what the l.a. city fire department status was, but i do know for cal fire, we took those warnings seriously. we moved a large number of equipment, personnel and heavy equipment crews down to the southern california from northern california, where there's less of a fire threat. so it was all

pre-positioned. and again, we do have additional resources now pre-positioned in case of something else breaks out. >> and that is, again, the concern today as i keep hearing hold on for 24 hours. and then you will get a kind of more consistent reprieve from these winds. chief, thank you very much, as always, sarah. >> all right. developing right now, south korea's president is under arrest after authorities scaled a blockade to get into his compound. yoon suk yeol will be in solitary confinement until friday morning. groups of his supporters and opponents clustered outside the presidential compound, shouting as he was taken into custody. he is wanted for questioning in multiple criminal investigations, including some alleged crimes that could carry the death penalty over briefly declaring martial law last month. cnn's mike valerio is joining us live now, so he's in solitary confinement, i think, until friday morning. your time. what happens next? right. >> well, and what a headline,

sara. >> let's just stick with that for a beat. >> the elected leader of a stable democracy is in solitary confinement for a significant period of time. >> this has never happened before to the leader of south korea. while the president was in office. so what happens next? investigators are hoping that he'll answer questions. sara. about 200 of them concerning why he declared martial law back on december 3rd, throwing this country into chaos. and so far, sara are reporting is showing that the elected president of south korea. yoon suk yeol is not responding to any of these 200 questions. he's essentially pleading the fifth. so, you know why we got here or how we got here was an open question. it wasn't a sure thing. there have been not one, but two tense standoffs about bringing the now suspended president yoon suk yeol into custody january 3rd, his equivalent of the secret service. sara was not giving him up. they said, you know

what? it's our job to protect the president, and we are not going to give him up to investigators for questioning. that same dynamic started to replay again this morning, and after six hours, president yoon suk yeol said, you know what? i want to try to avoid violence. and he actually gave a statement to the nation saying in part, quote, responding to these illegal and invalid procedures is not an acknowledgment of them, but in hopes of preventing unsavory bloodshed. too long didn't read there was the fear that the secret service could open fire on investigators and throw this country further into chaos. so what happens now? we're going to see if these sessions of questioning lead to the elected president being indicted, being held responsible on a criminal basis for declaring martial law. and we'll also be waiting to see sara if he is impeached and

removed from office for declaring martial law back in december. >> and, mike, i know you've been seeing some stop the steal signs, some parallels there between supporters of president yun and president trump here in america. mike valerio, thank you so much. live there for us from seoul. >> kate a scary scene at an elementary school in connecticut. we want to tell you about manchester schools that went into lockdown monday after police received calls of a potential school shooter surveying the property and holding what appeared to be an automatic rifle. a quick thinking teacher helped get students back inside. once they heard all of this. authorities say the gun was not actually a rifle, but an airsoft gun that shoots plastic bb's. you can see we're going to show you this is some of the surveillance video. you see how real that that airsoft gun really looks. police now say that the teenager who had that gun actually told them he wanted them to think it was real, so they would kill him. 17 year old has been arrested and now faces several charges.

john. >> it's also terrifying. all right. this morning, attorneys for sean combs are asking the judge overseeing his criminal case for copies of nine tapes that prosecutors allege were taken during so-called freak off parties. these parties are the alleged drug fueled events at the center of the racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking case against combs. cnn's kara scannell is here with the details. >> good morning. >> good morning john. yes. >> so sean "diddy" combs, his lawyers, want to amend the protective order so that they can actually get copies of these nine videos that were obtained from victim one's attorneys. >> now they've been able to view them, but they say they want copies because they want to do some forensic analysis, dig in and clear up the audio that they say is on them. >> now, this, though, is part of and the reason why is because diddy is saying, is that these videos would exonerate him. >> he writes in this filing to the judge, there is no evidence of any violence, coercion, threats or manipulation whatsoever. there is no evidence that anyone is incapacitated or under the influence of drugs or excessive alcohol consumption. there is certainly no evidence of sex

trafficking. having reviewed these videos, it is now abundantly clear that they confirm mr. combs innocence. now, these are just a handful of the tapes, and these are nine. the prosecution says that they have dozens of tapes. they say that there's more than one victim here. and but this is part of combs defense. he has been saying since he was arrested that this was all consensual. prosecutors are saying that they are prepared to present evidence at this case, at the trial, that this was coerced, that these women were forced to take drugs, that they were doing this under threats of physical and other violence, and that they have more than one victim here in the case. now, they responded overnight saying that all the details that combs's lawyers have laid out in their letter to the judge itself violates the protective order. so they want that taken down and redacted. and they said that they want more time to respond in fulsomeness to this. you know, they said instead of conferring in advance or redacting all content related to the videos, the motion blatantly violated the protective order when it left unredacted descriptions and

characterizations of material designated for attorneys eyes only. this is going to trial on may 5th, but as you can see, we're already getting a sense of what combs defense is going to be. he's really leaning into that. this was consensual. and prosecutors saying that this was absolutely the opposite, that these women were forced to have sex with male prostitutes. >> that's what i was going to ask a i mean, how central are these tapes to the actual prosecution and to whenever we have a back and forth like this, it's a window into what the case itself might look like when it gets in a courtroom. yeah, exactly. >> i mean, the freak offs here are the center of this case. and prosecutors say they have these dozens of videos where they show multiple people having sex that they say was coerced. they say that combs was able to use financial pressure, threats of physical violence against some of these victims. but all of this will come out at trial through the testimony of the victims. some of these videos that will probably be played in the courtroom, and this will be the back and forth here, as we're really seeing, combs has been digging in that this was all consensual with his long term partner shaping up to be some

case.