this is home. what are we going to do? where are we going to go? unbelievable. never thought it would happen to us. >> kind of apocalyptic, a little bit. it looks kind of crazy. >> catastrophe in california. move than 100,000 residents forced to flee their homes in los angeles, as wildfires ravage neighborhoods across the city. the wind-fueled flames have killed at least five people and destroyed over 2,000 buildings. our team is on the ground with the fight to contain the devastation. new hope for a breakthrough in the gaza cease-fire negotiations. we're live ith a search for the deal. and the clock is ticking, president-elect trump's last-minute supreme court push to block his sentencing scheduled for tomorrow. and an economically-crippling port strike averted just in the nick of time. details on this thursday january 9.

"early today" starts right now. good morning. glad you're with me. i'm frances rivera. we begin this morning as an apocalyptic scene continues to unfold across southern california. multiple wildfires fueled by punishing winds and extremely dry conditions are spreading at an alarming rate. at least five people have been killed, and more than 100,000 have been forced to evacuate. the palisades fire exploded to more than 17,000 acres and has decimated more than 1,000 structures so far, making it the most destructive fire in los angeles history. a boil water notice has been issued for the pacific palisades neighborhood and some surrounding areas. the eaton fire near pasadena has devoured more than 10,000 acres and has damaged or destroyed as many as 500 homes or buildings. both blazes are still uncontained. and the hurst fire near sylmar has overtaken more than 800 acres and is just 10% contained. residents are being urged to

heed warnings from officials. >> all of us must be vigilant. so, if you receive an evacuation order, please leave immediately. if you receive a warning, get ready. protect yourself and protect each other. >> overnight, the sunset fire broke out in the hollywood hills, spreading some 50 acres and prompting more evacuations. luckily, slightly lower wind speeds have allowed fire crews to fight the blaze from the air. many schools across the los angeles area remain closed today and nearly 400,000 customers are without power across southern california. fema administrator deanne criswell says she will visit the region friday to assess the damage calling it a very dynamic and dangerous situation. let's get to valena jones on the ground in pacific palisades. >> reporter: we are on palisades drive where this community has been completely engulfed in flames.

tonight the wind is billowing. and you can see just the pure destruction that this fire has caused. and it's still raging here tonit. not a single house is left standing. you can see the destruction here just in this driveway coming through. it looks apocalyptic. and, if we come over here, as the fire continues to rage, tonight we're hearing how powerful the wind is. as we continue to hear the fire take over this community. and the fire's not slowing down. but what we haven't seen is a single fire crew come here and treat this area. we have seen fire crews drive past this area. but the problem with this is there is limited resources. and fire crews are focussing on the communities and the homes that they can save right now. but tonight you see this is a complete los as the fire continues throughout the evening

hours. >> and these communities can use all the help they can get. valena jones, thank you. let's turn to angie lassman. >> we have improvements whether we compare wind speeds from yesterday to today. we're still going to see those quite gusty. they're still going to be out of the northeast. so we have that offshore flow. 17 million people under red flag warnings. night the fire still burning current wind speeds, up to 40 miles per hour in closer regions across parts of the mountains and hills. that's where we'll see elevated wind speeds through the day today. closer to the coast, 10, 15, 20 mile-per-hour winds. we're going to keep the winds coming out of the northeast and dealing with these really dry conditions and windy conditions for the next couple days, frances. >> angie, thank you.

as flames continue to engulf neighborhoods, desperate residents are racing to try to save their homes with water hoses. this map shows how widespread the fires are as well as a small glimpse of the path of devastation. gadi schwartz is on the ground in the fire zone. >> reporter: this area of alta dena has become an absolute wasteland. you've got rows and rows of homes that have burned. you've got some homes that are still standing, but it's just a matter of time. this was the moment the sun rose over the fire raging above pasadena. but you'd never know it, because the dawn disappeared in the smoke. again, you hear hose explosions. so many of these homes, there is no hope. but, against the odds and mother nature, some stayed doing everything they could to fight back. there are people still here trying to fight this fire with garden hoses. there is still water in this

area, but with this much destruction, it almost seems, it almost seems futile. you were here fighting by yourself, right? >> yes. >> reporter: how long have you been out here? >> i've been out here since 4:00 a.m. >> reporter: 4:00 a.m. >> yes. >> reporter: trying to protect your home. >> yes. >> reporter: you now have a full contingent of firefighters here. >> yes. >> reporter: it seems like right in the nick of time. they saved this home for now. a scene playing out across so many areas from the foothills to the palisades. they're trying to make entrance. they're smashing down that door. they got to go inside. they got to make sure no one is here. >> who else is left in the house? >> reporter: homeowners on rooftops trying to wet down everything. >> here they come! they're going to help us! >> reporter: it's hard to show the scope of what's going on. as we headed down sunset boulevard, the loss was worse than any fire we've ever seen. and this looks like the apocalypse here. and, again, way too often

firefighrs left without water as hydrants went dry. >> they are not designed to fight wildfires. a firefight with multiple fire hydrants drawing water from the system for several hours is unsustainable. >> water! >> reporter: officials say they weren't able to fill tanks fast enough. something nbc's morgan chesky saw first hand. >> out of every hydrant you've seen, what are you seen? >> most of them are down or low pressure. >> reporter: if you had a hydrant for this building? >> if we had a hydrant for this building, we might have been able to save the back half. >> reporter: this apartment complex is untouched for now. but you can sigh how high those flames are. they're having to ignore massive structures like this huge apartment complex that looks like it's going to go up imminently, because they are overwhelmed. there isn't enough water up here. the winds also grounding that critical support from the sky for most of the day when

firefighters were able to make a stand and save a home. it was no victory. just a brief reprieve from the helplessness of fighting fire against the wind. sadly, that's a familiar scene for so many communities. our thanks to gadi schwartz for that. as president-elect prepares to return to the white house, his lawyers are asking the supreme court to step in and stop sentencing proceedings. we should get an answer very soon. >> reporter: that's right. we should hear from the court today in fact. mr. trump's lawyers argue that the president-elect is protected by the supreme court's recent ruling on presidential immunity. the judge overseeing this case has already indicated he's not inclined to sentence the president-elect to any time behind bars. samuel alito confirmed he spoke to mr. trump the day before the

emergency filing. alito says the president-elect wanted to discuss qualifications to serve in a government position and insisted that they did not talk about any pending cases. meanwhile, in a new filing, prosecutors say attorney general merrick garland intends to publicly release the report on mr. trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, but the classified documents case will stay under wraps for now, because there is still an active case against two co-defendants. president-elect trump returned to capitol hill wednesday where he met with senate republicans before confirmation hearings begin next week for his cabinet nominees. mr. trump also visited the capitol rotunda where he and melania trump paid respects to jimmy carter. president biden is set to deliver the eulogy for president carter this morning. every living president is expected to attend today's service. the funeral will take place at the washington national cathedral at 10:00 a.m. then president carter will return to his home state of georgia. this afternoon, there will be a

private funeral in plains, georgia at the church where carter taught sunday school. then a private burial service at the carter residence, where he will be buried next to his wife rosalynn. navy pilots will perform the missing man formation which symbolizes the loss of a fellow service member. in the waning days of the biden administration, aides to the president say they are optimistic about a cease-fire in gaza. the goal is to get a deal in place before president-elect trump takes office on january 20th. danielle, good morning. what do we know about the proposed cease-fire? >> reporter: good morning, frances. nbc news has been told by a senior administration official that the deal that's on the table is the same as the one outlined by president biden back in may.

the deal includes 34 hostages, though it's unclear how many of them are still alive. this is according to another administration official. several biden and israeli officials have also acknowledged that all parties involved here have gotten more serious about the talks since president-elect trump said that there would be, quote, hell to pay if the hostages are not released by the time he's back in office. his inauguration is 11 days away now. we're told by u.s. officials that they'll know by the end of the week if a deal is likely. now over the course of the past eight months, both sides have accused each other of being the main obstacle. the israeli military has confirmed they found the body of one of the hostages in a tunnel in rafah, a 53-year-old. the idf is saying there are serious concerns for the life of his son hamza as more than 50 people were killed by israeli airstrikes across the gaza strip on wednesday, according to palestinian medics.

>> danielle, thank you. let's check back in with nbc meteorologist angie lassman who's also tracking a winter storm set to bring snow nd ice to the south. the irony here when it comes to the extremes that the communities are facing. >> indeed, we have a whole couple days that we're going to have to deal with this system in areas that don't often see snow or ice. 52 million people under this alert. specifically, dallas to little rock, that's where i think travel will be most difficult. we've got the potential for heavy snow, ice, rain spreading across this region. by tomorrow, slick roads and delays for air travel from cleveland to atlanta. we'll see that snow across the tennessee valley. travel will be difficult. by the time we get into the weekend, light to moderate snow for most of the northeast before the system's out of here. highest amounts, places like little

roadways. mid-30s in little rock. mostly sunny in birmingham. that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. coming up, more from the devastating wildfires in california. and we're back in a moment with a last-minute deal to avert a strike that would have brought the country's biggest ports to a stand still. s biggest ports to a stand still. nearly 1 million people 65 and older. so if someone you love is older, talk with them about vaccines. i forgot to wash my work shirt. just wear it again! i added unstopables with odor blocker and it keeps our clothes fresh all day! [sniff] ooo, imma be feelin it at work today. she smells so good i'm actually paying attention! smell unstopable. this charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy edges.

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for january 15th. now this comes after months of negotiations between the two parties, which, in september resulted in a shutdown stranding billions of dollars worth of goods. now the deal was agreed in principle verbally on wednesday. but it is still needing to be ratified by both port employers and tens of thousands of workers represented by the international longshoremen's association. and the sticking point, really, here was automation. but both parties said in a joint statement that the new framework will protect current jobs and introduce a framework for implementing technologies and creating more jobs and modernizing ports. so we'll see how that fleshes out. but this is set to save $4.5 billion in shutdowns if that were to have gone forward. still to come, the touching

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this morning, the wildfires in southern california continue to tear through homes and livelihoods. for nbc news' jacob soboroff, it has hit close to home. here's his report. >> reporter: i grew up in pacific palisades. born and raised here. and i've never seen anything like this. we've had a lot of fires. and even evacuated sometimes. but nothing like this. the whole town is gone as we knew it. this is the palisades public library. it's still on fire. i brought my kids here. this was like the pride of the community when this thing was built. the weight of it all, i think, is very, very intense to think about. >> in my 26 years, this could be one of the top most devastating fires i've seen. >> rorter: what happens in a situation like this, where the high school's destroyed? you've got churches destroyed. you've got the two supermarkets

in the community destroyed. how do you come back from something like this? >> you come back one day at a time. >> reporter: to me, sunset boulevard is the heart of my community. there's not a single house left standing here. what do you do? what do they do. >> there's just never, ever, ever been anything like this. >> i mean, i know my house is gone. but i kind of just need to see it first hand to just let it set in. i just can't believe it. >> i thought i was going to wake up this morning and it was going to be a bad dream. to be a bad dream. >> reporter: this is the first time that i've seen the house that i grew up in, and i don't really know what to say. ly know. mom? look at this. >> your birth house? >> reporter: yeah. >> oh, i'm so sad. every one of you guys was bo in that house. >> reporter: i know. makes me, it makes me sad, too.

this was a really, really special place for the soboroff family. and i'm very sorry to see it go. and i'm very sorry for all of the residents of pacific palisades and everyone across the greater l.a. area that's going through this right now. i look around the town, the neighborhood, the place that i grew up in, i talk to my friends who i spent so much time with on these streets. and it's hard to imagine what comes next and what happens next. >> our thanks to jacob for walking us through the destruction and also the emotion as many people will share that in the days to come as they return to what would have been, should have been and was their homes. we'll have continuing coverage of the devastating wildfires in los angeles throughout the morning. coming up on "today", we'll have crews in some of "top

story" tonight. our continuing coverage of the wildfires starts right now. s st.