angeles fire department, the pasadena fire department and the salvation army for wildfire relief efforts. fellow dodger chris taylor and his wife have launched a fundraiser through their ct3 foundation, matching donations of up to $5,000 to the lafd foundation. all right, rob, one more check of the weather. i mean, i my allergies are going wild today. allergies and 60s and 70s. not something you deal with in january. normally we got rain, but that's how things look in san francisco right now. nice foevening plans. nice again tomorrow. mild temperatures. the mornings, though, will feel like winter, with 30s and 40s in the valleys as we head towards midweek. chilly, chilly. all right, rob, thank you, and thanks for watching. nightly news is next. and we'll see you again at six. tonight, we are live in los angeles as the palisades fire makes a

devastating change in direction. entire communities forced to su the most destructive fires in l.a. history now bearing down on new neighborhoods. firefighters in an all-out battle to stop it. thousands of residents forced to evacuate, including celebrities like dennis quaid. >> we're fighting as hard as we can. to save our city. more homes destroyed. major landmarks at risk. this firenado flaring up. we're on the front lines with firefighters pushed to their limits. >> you're fighting the fires with swimming pool water? and those dangerous winds? they're set to whip back up again. plus, growing outrage. la's fire chief blasting city leaders, saying they failed them by not providing enough resources. the mayor responding today. our team across the fire zone covering every angle. also breaking

tonight, the snow and ice storm crippling the south. cars crashing on icy roads. thousands of flights canceled or delayed. an nba game postponed. when will it all fall out? new tonight, special prosecutor jack smith, who had charged president trump, resigning today. and back here in l.a., the street food vendors doing so much more than just feeding this devastated community. how they've started a movement to help. this is nbc nightly news with jose diaz villard. >> and good evening. i'm tom llamas, in for jose tonight. we are live from los angeles, overlooking the palisades fire. this has been the most devastating of the five major fires raging across the city. and in the last 24 hours, it has taken a frightening turn. i want to your video from last night. this is just after that fire switched direction, heading down the other side of the ridge. and this is that fire today, racing toward the heavily populated communities of encino and brentwood.

you can see the smoke you're just behind me. firefighters desperately have been trying to stop those flames from crossing over the ridge and heading to other major population centers. last night, evacuation alerts went out across the area, forcing thousands to grab what they could and flee their homes. and even as we track this battle, we're not losing sight of the massive humanitarian crisis across the city. the death toll rose today to at least 13 people. more than 150,000 people have been told to evacuate. more than 12,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed. the mayor today vowing to rebuild, but with so many now homeless, the coming days, weeks, and months will be a real challenge. our team is spread out across the fire zone, but we're going to begin on the front lines of the fire just behind me. tonight, this is the new front in the los angeles wildfires battle. >> this is still a very active firefight. >> the massive palisades fire already more than 20,000 acres growing overnight. evacuations ordered for encino and

brentwood, with homes in those iconic neighborhoods threatened by flames. news choppers capturing the growing line of fire. >> definitely some scary stuff. >> the atf now tasked with leading the investigation into what caused this fire, even as the battle to contain it rages on. >> this is areas that have not burned in approximately 50 years, so we are seeing fire that was moving through there quickly. >> we were on the ground with firefighters today as teams lined up, then fanned out across the massive fire zone. >> we're here at the front lines of the brentwood fire. you can see a flareup just behind me right there, the flames rising. and the fight is grueling for the firefighters. they have to go down the canyon, put out those flames. they've been at this for five days now. >> with water resources limited, fire crews are getting water wherever they can, including swimming pools. >> you're fighting the fires with swimming pool water? >> we've had to do that at multiple locations throughout the palisades fire. >> overnight, the dangerous santa ana winds picked up again after a short

lull. the conditions creating this swirling firenado . fire crews using chainsaws to cut and remove vegetation before it can catch fire. as dawn broke this morning, air drops continued over this canyon in an attempt to contain the flames. >> these guys are heroes. i mean, they've always been heroes, but this operation is unbelievable. >> but law enforcement sources say those air drops have been threatened today as multiple drones have been spotted in their flight areas, a serious risk to the crews flying them. these aircraft have played a critical role in getting the fires under control dropping water and retardant to slow the progress of the flames. but a drone is already blamed for damaging this canadian super scooper. it's been grounded for days, and officials say it may not be able to fly again until monday at the earliest. this as the world- renowned getty art museum threatened by fire, and students at ucla have been warned to get ready to get out as all classes now will be remote all of next

week. and today, a close- up look at the devastation in altadena. house after house leveled. more than 150,000 people are under evacuation orders. after dennis quaid among them. >> i can't say enough about the firefighters and the first responders in this town. we got some good ones. good people here. and we're fighting as hard as we can to save our city. >> more than 1500 national guard troops have now been called up, some of them to patrol evacuation zones. and los angeles county officials say so far, more than 20 people have been arrested for burglary and looting. >> just emptied the truck here with everything i was able to throw in. >> and so many now in limbo. blake mallon, a married father of two, lost his home. >> tried to grab things that i thought would be hard to replace. so just a lot of kind of kid's, baby

things. lot of photo books. kind of memorable moments. >> reporter: he stayed to the very end as he helped firefighters, who ran out of water to save his house. >> i stayed, really, i gus for two reasons. one, to protect my house, and two, in the back of my mind, if i was going to lose absolutely everything, for me, i wanted to know that i did absolutely everything i could, if i was going to lose it. >> yeah. so it's all in the attic now? >> he watched his block burned down, and finally his home, as the attic caught fire. and for blake, it is a total loss. in september, he says his insurance company pulled his fire coverage. >> if you could talk to the insurance companies, what would you tell them? >> with this message, and my story and everybody else's story, is what's right for the people and the families that have paid into your businesses for

years. >> so many families in a similar situation. this as we look just over our shoulder here, helicopters from the firefighting department making drops on flames that are just behind us. that anger you heard there from the family towards local leaders in l.a. is growing. tonight, the fire chief blasting city leaders for not providing enough resources. the mayor is speaking out now. ellison barber has that part of the story. >> reporter: tonight, los angeles mayor karen bass under growing pressure. >> there is nothing, nothing, nothing that i will not do for the city where i was born and raised. >> reporter: overnight, her office responding to rumors that the city's fire chief had been fired, posting on social media, the fire chief was not dismissed on the and is in fold command of the l.a. update. >> do we have enough resources? i will tell you know. >> reporter: that chief, kristin crowley, speaking out to nbc's los angeles station, knbc, friday. >> this department was asked to take a $17 million budget cut. >> that is correct. >> she also told la's fox decision

that despite the city's growth, the number of firere stations has gone down. probably placing the blame for the current crisis squarely on the city. >> did they failure? >> yes. >> reporter: chief crowley and mayor bass side-by-side at a press conference today. >> the fire chief and i are focused on fighti the fires and saving lives, and any differences that we might have will be worked out in private. >> reporter: also to be worked out, the failure of fire hydrants in the region. >> two blocks down, there's a fire hydrant that's working just fine. the 12 blocks above us is not. >> governor, i live here, governor! >> reporter: california governor gavin newsom confronted on the issue earlier this week. >> is it going to be different next time? >> it has to be. >> reporter: some now calling for an investigation into the lack of pressure in the hydrants. frustration today mounting as people waited hours trying to gain access to their neighborhoods to see what, if anything, of their homes remains. >> all our friends have lost everything, and

nobody knows what's going to happen. just walking around. >> and ellison joins us live tonight. ellison, i know tonight you're among the people still trying to get to their homes. what are people being told about access? >> reporter: i mean, tom, it's just cars as far as you can see by i. people tell us that they had been told it would be three cars going in at a time get medicine. but these people over , re, they tell escorted by police, and that the priority would be people needing to get medicine. but these people over here, they tell us they are all waiting to go get medicine, and they say they cannot get answers on when they can go up, if they're going to be able to go up, and some of them, tom, they say they have been waiting nine hours. tom? >> yeah, and they unfortunately are going to have to wait a lot longer. all right, ellison barber perez. you've seen the images from above. entire neighborhoods totally wiped out. thousands of people are now homeless, facing not only the challenge of rebuilding, but how to get through the next few days and weeks. morgan chesky has this story. >> anybody need wawater?

>> reporter: tonight, a massive relief effort racing to keep up with the flames, with tens of thousands pushed from their homes by fire, with many starting from scratch. >> literally the basics. underwear, a pair of running shoes, socks. >> reporter: the red cross opening shelters citywide. this one near the palisades fire completely full. >> as a lifelong californian, we know wildfires. this, this isn't uncommon. but to see devastation at this scale, it's just heartbreaking. >> reporter: inside, families, some multiple generations, facing the reality of what these fires took away. for -- and her three children, it's a shelter turn home. >> i never thought of this. it seems like i'm in a movie. >> reporter: their home in the pacific palisades lost when the failings exploded late tuesday. the single mom now wondering 160 onyx and five-year-old fifi will be able to go back to dance class. >> walked meme through what happened. >> yeah, we were in, actually, in rehearsal, and i got the call that we should be

evacuating. we did lose our rv, which was our home. >> reporter: and i knelt edina, thousands more families homeless. for renato ortega, her house and backyard floral studio never stood a chance. >> we worked so hard to get here, and now, to see it this way, i never thought i would live through something like this. >> reporter: yet amid the ashes of unimaginable loss, glimpses of hope as survivors in a fire stricken city cling to what they do have. >> everyone here around as his family, like a blanket of warmth. and it keeps me going. >> reporter: yeah, and hearing mandeville canyon, you can see fires actively burning right now. this was a prime area of concern for firefighters, not just for the number of homes in this area, but also, should the palisades fire through here, it could very well impact the heavily validated san

fernando valley. tom? >> morgan chesky, we thank you for that. these powerful winds here have been fueling these fires, and now, after a bit of a lull, they're picking back up. i want to bring in meteorologist angie. angie, if they're going to be gaining strength later today, i think we're already feeling it. >> you definitely are, tom. those winds today, 20, 30 miles per hour in the higher elevations. those are going to be gusting 50, 60+ miles per hour as we get through at least the next 12 hours. you'll notice those renting up closer to the coast as well, up to 30 and 40-mile- per-hour winds expected. by late monday into tuesday, a high pressure drops in, sits over the great brace in. that means that another dangerous santa ana wind event takes shape. this is going to leave us with those winds 40 to 70 miles per hour across this region. the human levels 5% to 15% , further fueling what we've already been dealing with across that region. those alerts will continue through at least wednesday. >> we will be tracking that weather hour by hour out here. angie, we thank you for that. there's another

weather emergency we are following tonight. a major winter storm that has caused chaos in the south. snow and ice leading to thousands of flight delays and knocking out power to tens of thousands. kathy park is in tennessee with the latest. >> reporter: tonight, much of the south recovering after a crippling combination of snow, sleet, and freezing rain swept through the region. >> it's snowing. i mean, it is snowing. >> reporter: the powerful winter storm stretches from texas to the carolinas, snarling travel, turning dangerous for drivers in nashville. watch list car losing conontrol o the icy road, crashing straight into a pole. the treacherous conditions a nightmare for air travelers. the world's busiest airport, atlanta's hartsfield jackson, packed. today, more than 4000 flights delayed, and more than 800 canceled. the severe weather even forcing the houston rockets and atlanta hawks to postpone today's game to prioritize the safety of the players, fans, and staff. the rare snow day in the south brought 14

inches to parts of arkansas, and half a foot to some communities in tennessee. >> do you think, you know, you guys are ready for another round, if there is one? >> i like one per year. >> reporter: and while the snow has slowed, the work isn't over for the folks trying to keep the roads clear. >> looking ahead, what are some of the challenges now? >> worry now is the icy roads. you know, we have clear roads right now, but it looks can be deceiving. >> kathy park joins us tonight live from nashville, and kathy, the storm's offshore now, but the deep chill is sticking around? >> reporter: tom, that's right. temperatures across the south will stay below-average, plunging into the 20s in some spots, so any melting that we saw today will likely refreeze overnight. tom? >> kathy, we thank you for that. still ahead tonight, the resignation tonight from the special prosecutor investigating

president-elect trump. plus, the major reversal for facebook and amazon, both now dialing back their diversity initiatives. we'll explain. explain. there dual-action asthma rescue inhaler fda-approved to treat symptoms and help prevent asthma attacks. airsupra 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 airsupra 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. welcome to the modern age of dual-action asthma rescue.

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>> reporter: that's right, tom. jack smimith's resignation was affected ahead of mr. trump taking office, and we learned about it in a court filing today, where a footnote revealed the special counsel submitted his final confidential report on tuesday, and separated from the department of justice yesterday. now, trump had been indicted in connection to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and separately for mishandling classified documents. the federal charges against trump were dismissed after he won the election in november. now, smith has a completed a report on the elected interference case, and that could be released as soon as tomorrow. the lawyers for mr. trump's former co- defendants are trying to block that. tom? >> aaron gilchrist for us tonight. aaron, we thank you. staying in d.c. now, president biden today awarded pope francis america's highest billion honor of the medal of freedom. president biden, a devout catholic, was supposed to travel to the vatican next week to visit with the pope, but that trip was canceled so the president could oversee the response to the wildfires

here in california. the president awarded the pope the medal over the phone today instead. and overseas, ukrainian president zelenskyy says his army has captured two north korean soldiers who were fighting for russia. zelenskyy releasing these images of the detained soldiers who were injured and given medical attention. these are the first troops from north korea captured in that war. and we're back in a moment with more from the front lines here. plus, the change coming to two of the biggest companies in the world, meta and amazon rolling back diversity initiatives. will other companies do the same? stay with us. with miebo, eyes can feel ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ miebo is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye: too much tear evaporation. for relief that's ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ remove contact lenses before using miebo. wait at least 30 minutes before putting them back in. eye redness and blurred vision may occur. what does treating dry eye differently feel like?

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we we are back with the significant reversal from two of the biggest companies in the world. instagram and facebook's parent company, meta, and amazon now both rolling back some of their diversity and inclusion initiatives. new question tonight about whether other companies will follow. emily has more. >> reporter: tonight, a major change up in the corporate world as tech behemoths amazon and meta are dialing back their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. anti-dei activist robbie starbuck recently telling cnbc -- >> they are causing division, employee on employee, and you're losing money. >> reporter: amazon saying in a recent memo, we've been winding down outdated programs and materials. and meta told employees friday, given the shifting legal and policy landscape, the company is changing meta programs focus on hiring, training, and picking suppliers. ceo mark zuckerberg on joe rogan's

podcast friday. >> it's one thing to say we want to be kind of, like, welcoming and make a good environment for everyone, and i think it's another to basically say that masculinity is bad. and i, i just think we kind of swung, culturally, to that part of the, the kind of, the spectrum, where, you know, it's all like, okay, masculinity is toxic. we had to, like, get rid of it completely. >> reporter: his comments come as tech giants appear to be trying to make inroads with the incoming president, a vocal critic of dei policies. and following similar moves from companies like ford, walmart, and mcdonald's is still, some companies are bucking the trend. costco's board urging shareholders to vote against a proposal to re- evaluate its dei policies that they say enhance our capacity to attract and retain employees and satisfaction among its diverse customer base. as the workplace sees a new wave of scrutiny. emily, nbc news. and we'll have much more from right

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kicking into high gear to help those in need. >> this massive operation, to feed and help those in desperate need, started small. >> we started with two hotdog cars, and now we here. >> reporter: when the fires hit, street food vendor jenny medina and his son did what they could. they handed out hotdogs. but then, he put out a call on social media for more food and more help. >> there's multiple, a lot of people are helping us out. >> reporter: that callout led to this turnout on thursday night, with people dropping all kinds of donations for anyone in need. and this was the turnout today. his and other street vendors operations taking over the santa anita racetrack parking lot. street food chefs from all across los angeles joining in. >> we've been working for more than 12, 15 hours a day. >> we just came to try to do the right thing. we didn't expect to inspire so many people. >> reporter: comfort food giving people who lost so much if you will to sibley

keep going. >> this means the world to us. we care about this community, you know? it's the most important thing. >> reporter: across the disaster zones, restaurants feeding and cheering first responders as well. shep jose undressed making sure firefighters here don't go hungry. >> we are -- the different fires, trying to provide food to the firefighters. make sure we have food almost 24 hours a day. so we have two food trucks. >> reporter: simple dishes with so much heart, a recipe for helping. this community heal. and if you want to help, we have a list of organizations you can donate to that song nbcnews.com , or you can scan the qr code that's on your screen right now. and be sure to tune into meet the press tomorrow morning for an exclusive interview with california governor gavin newsom. that's nbc nightly news for this saturday. i'm tom llamas, reporting live from los angeles in the fire zone. we thank you for joining us. stay safe.

good night . fire before the winds build back up. we're tracking the conditions on day five of the l.a. county wildfires. plus, more help has arrived for firefighters from mexico arrived in los angeles, joining more than 10,000 on the ground trying to get the flames under control. also, it's hard to be on social media, you know, at the moment, and it feels kind of numbing without actually doing anything. so this feels better and like we're more involved. how the bay areaea is rallying to support fe victims down south.