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southern california bracing for extremely critical fire conditions from a new round of santa ana winds. multiple wildfires blaze on. the death toll from the fires now rising to at least 25, with dozens still unaccounted for. a tense hearing on the hill. trump's defense secretary nominee pete hegseth grilled by senate democrats over allegations of sexual misconduct and past comments about women in combat. republicans come to his defense with hegseth getting support from a key committee member. the president of south korea now detained. what's next for the embattled leader? with a looming ban days away, tiktok users are jumping ship to alternative apps. where they're going instead. and how one los angeles artist is helping families who lost their homes in the fires preserve their memories. it's wednesday, january 15th.

"early today" starts right now. glad you're with me this morning. i'm frances rivera. southern california residents are facing another round of dangerous santa ana winds. firefighters are working to keep the deadly blazes under control in these extreme conditions. the fire-related death toll has risen to 25. and there are at least 37 people missing. 88,000 remain under evacuation orders. and 89,000 under evacuation warnings. workers have begun to restore infrastructure along the pacific coast highway after the palisades fire. but officials say it's still not safe for residents to return. the massive blaze is now 18% contained and has devoured over 23,000 acres. and crews have reached 35% containment on the eaton fire, which has burned more than 14,000 acres. president biden spoke tuesday on the devastation left behind.

>> the hearts of the nation are with the victims and families left behind and all the people who lost their homes and so much through these fires. it's been devastating. >> also tuesday, california governor newsom signed an executive order to help speed up aid for los angeles-area schools and students impacted by the wildfires. nbc's jennifer bjorklund is on the ground in the pacific palisades. >> reporter: los angeles just has to get through one more night with the forecast updated, saying that 3:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. will be the height of this windy forecast. and you can already see the damage that these fires have done. th, this is actually a historic building right here in pacific palisades. the business block building, the heart of this little town dedicated in 1924 and one of more than 30 historically significant structures destroyed into these fires, including the

will rogers ranch and zane gray estate. we did have a new fire pop up monday to the north, which was handled quickly, but all over southern california, people are packing up just in case. monitoring the cal fire map. and fire crews are fanned out in strike teams across the highest-risk neighborhoods. most of those fire neighborhoods are preemptively without power because of the danger of arcing lines. l.a.'s mayor comparing the firestorm with a hurricane that's carrying fire instead of water. and it certaininly did feel lik that. i'm jennifer bjorklund, nbc news, pacific palisades. >> it's important to follow those winds. let's now get to nbc meteorologist angie lassman, who's tracking the dangerous conditions this morning. good morning, angie. >> as jennifer just mentioned, we do have concerning situations once again across this region today. 10 million people under red flag warnings. the santa ana winds going to ramp up as we get into the later

morning hours pacific time. we'll see extremely critical fire weather across this same kind of area we were dealing with yesterday. san fernandoalley, simi valley, all locations included in that. right now wind speeds anywhere from the teens to the 20s and up to the 30s. but we're going to see those ramp up. and we're talking about 40-60 mile-per-hour gusts. we'll once again see a lull later today. 30-50 mile-per-hour wins as those continue to weaken. and then we really get down overnight to 15-35 mile-per-hour winds. it will still be breezy, however, frances in the hills and mountains of that region. >> it is a critical few hours left. now to capitol hill where the senate is about to begin a busy day of confirmation hearing. lawmakers will hear from pam bondi, nominated for attorney general, marco rubio and john ratcliffe who had been picked to run the cia. the only cabinet pick to have a

hearing so far is defense secretary nominee pete hegseth. overnight, joni ernst announced she will be supporting hegseth's confirmation unless there is a surprising turn in the gop. this likely clears hegseth's path to the pentagon. but his hearing did have some tense moments. garrett haake has more from capitol hill. >> reporter: president-elect trump's embattled pick to lead the pentagon, pete hegseth, making an impassioned pitch for the job. >> my only special interest is the war fighter. >> reporter: arguing he's the starting of false attacks. >> there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us. >> reporter: but hegseth, facing a grilling from senate democrats, including over a 2017 sexual assault allegation. police investigated, but no charges were filed. the local prosecutor saying, quote, no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

>> you've admitted that it was consensual, and you were still married and just this a child by another woman. how do you explain your judgment. >> false charges against me. 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. you've admitted that. if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn't it? >> it was a false claim then and a false claim now. >> we need somebody who's going to go in there and fight for innovation, fight for change. i think you're that person. and i appreciate your willingness to sit here and listen to some of these undignified attacks. it's ridiculous. >> reporter: democrats also going after hegseth's past opposition to women in combat roles. >> you will have to change how you see women to do this job well. and i don't know if you are capable of that. >> reporter: but, in a positive sign for hegseth, iowa's joni ernst, a combat veteran previously seen as a hegseth

skeptic appearing more supportive. >> will you support women having the opportunity to serve in combat roles? >> my answer is yes. exactly the way that you caveated it. yes. women will have access to ground combat roles, combat roles, given the standards remain high. >> reporter: trump transition officials tell me they were extremely pleased with hegseth's performance. remember, he can only afford to lose three republican votes. >> garrett, thank you. outgoing president biden will deliver a farewell address to the nation tonight. two people familiar with the plan tell nbc news the oval office speech will reflect on his time in various political offices and leave americans with a message about the country's future. can you watch at 8:00 p.m. eastern here on nbc. president-elect trump will be inaugurated on monday. and someone who will be

noticeably absent on the day is former first lady michelle obama. her office did not give a reason for skipping the ceremony. former president bush and his wife laura will attend the inauguration as will bill and hillary clinton and former president obama. breaking overnight, in a second attempt, authorities in south korea have now successfully detained president yoon over his botched declaration of martial law. yoon, who was impeached last month is the first south korean president to be arrested while in office. clauaudio lavanga joins us now with more. claudio, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frances. that's right. authorities in south korea said that in the early hours of this morning, hundreds of police officers arrived at the president's residence, where he's been holed up since december, after he was impeached following his declaration of martial law. they were met outside by thousands of people, some critics, some supporters, including lawmakers from the

president's people power party who argue that that arst warrant was illegal. but they were not challenged this time, as it happened the first time they tried to arrest him by his security guards. so, in the end, they were able to take him away for questioning. this makes president yoon the first, as you mention, the first sitting president to be arrested while still in office, and now he faces charges of insurrection, which is one of the few crimes for which a president in south korea does not have immunity. now president yoon also issued a statement saying that he still considers this investigation illegal, but he decided to cooperate in the end to prevent what he called could be an unsavory bloodshed. >> claudio, thank you. cuba says it will release over 500 political prisoners after the biden administration announced it is removing cuba from the list of state-sponsors

of terrorism. president-elect donald trump designated the communist-run country as a state sponsor of terrorism before he left office in january of 2021. that's five years after president barack obama removed it. but a senior biden administstration official says assessment did not show information that supports cuba being on that list. trump can reverse biden's actions as soon as he takes office next week. now let's turn back to nbc meteorologist angie lassman, who's also keeping an eye on the cold push into the i.c.e. hi again, angie. >> hi, frances. we have a little wintry weather to deal with, cold temperatures for parts of the plains and great lakes. zero degrees in minneapolis and feeling like0 below. that kind of range is going to last across that same region. low 30s in new york city today. upper 20s in st. louis. milder conditions will start to settle in, and we'll have a mixed bag as we get closer to the weekend for the temperatures. as we look at the snowfall today. we've got a little bit of that in the great lakes region.

and then we gear up for the next clipper system that's going to bring snow to the upper midwest and eventually out east we'll see snowshowers settle across the northeast and the appalachians, and there will be slick spots for sure for tomorrow as we head out for the early morning commute, places li west ke nashville. upper 40s in atlanta. 66 degrees with mostly-cloudy skies in orlando today. and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. >> thanks so much, angie. up next, elon musk faces a new lawsuit over twitter. and why tiktok users are heading to a different app. rs are headig to a different app. ♪♪ the bare minimum. anti-dandruff shampoo made with only nine ingredients.

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suing elon musk for alleged securities fraud. the agency says musk failed to disclose his active stake in twitter and therefore got to buy shares at artificially low prices. the suit claims he saved at least $150 million in share costs. a lawyer for musk says his client has done nothing wrong and accused the sec of harassment. musk himself called the agency, quote, a totally broken organization. barring an intervention from the supreme cour tiktok will be banned in the u.s. on sunday. in preparation, creators are now shopping around for replacement apps, to keep that content flowing. >> we're just going to tiktok's other app. >> reporr: amid fear a tiktok ban could take effect later this week, some americans flocking to chinese apps like red note and

lemon8. both have similarities to tiktok, and lemon8 shares a parent company, bytedance, topping apple's downloads. some say it's a form of protest. >> i go into an app like red note. they're telling no, no, no. i am in control of where i give my data. >> reporter: some users even protesting american-owned meta. >> you will not catch me on instagram reels. >> reporter: it largely focuses on concerns that china could manipulate data or steal user data. tiktok's parent company bytedance is explicitly named in the law. the government isn't prepared to block other apps like rednote. but they could be impacted because of chinese ownership. >> reporter: bytedance could sell tikiktok to an american owner. rumors were that elon musk was

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in new york, they say you're always looking for a job, a boyfriend or an apartment. this is where i've been. >> and just like that. a generation of living out a "sex in the city" fantasy is coming to an end. on monday, the new york city landmark preservation committee

agreed to install a fence. it's, i can't imagine so many people going through that. >> does someone live there? that has to be the most annoying thing. imagine people sitting on your stoop. >> now they got the gate. a big day for lumen industries. on tuesday, apple tv set up a pop-up recreation of the macro data refinement office from severance in the main course of the station. fans and commuters who gathered to view the installation got to see the stars of choate, including adam scott and zach cherry clock in and do some of that work. ben stiller was also on hand, later posting pics and videos on x. season two of the sci-

thriller drops friday. imagine going about your business and there it is. >> yesterday it was jimmy fallon and bad bunny. and here grand central. you never know in new york city. when we come back, a u.s. regulator is cracking down on capital one after allegedly misleading consumers. jon hamm. sleading consumers. jon hamm. [swooshing sound] introducing allison's plaque psoriasis. ♪♪ she thinks her flaky, gray patches are all people see. ♪♪ otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. over here! otezla can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking. doctors have been prescribing otezla for over a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing oror swallowg, swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat or arms. severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting; depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss can happen.

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memo, telling employees, 2025 will be an intense year. the princess of wales announced her cancer is in remission. she shared the news on x after visiting the hospital where she received treatment and expressed gratitude to the medical team for their care. she is relieved and focussed on recovery. actor jon hamm was named man of the year. he is set to receive his pudding pot award at a celebratory roast and parade later this month. de . staying healthy can be hard, but this. this is a party. premier protein, my ride or die. boom! if you know, you know. let's go. this stuff changed my life. so good. high protein. check. one gram of sugar. oh, yeah. and a flavor for every vibe. (♪♪) (♪♪)

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alert. the average cost of eggs shooting up more than 60% over the last year, as the bird flu outbreak continues. the cost of a dozen eggs now as high as $6.17. that price spike taking a toll on restaurants and consumers everywhere. it comes as the usda reported over 18 million birds were infected by avian flu last year. turning back to the devastating wildfires in los angeles, where so many families have lost everything. now an l.a.-based artist is helping them preserve their memories, one sketch at a time. here's valerie castro. >> reporter: stroke by stroke, l.a.-based artist asher bingham is preserving memories. >> it's like, what can i bring out of this to make this more magical. >> reporter: from this bay window with a view to this bell in a nearby tree and this porch for sipping coffee. >> what i'm fascinated with is

taking something from a picture and building a story to it. >> reporter: the tragic story that all of these homes share, they're among the 12,000 structures destroyed in the eaton and palisades fires. >> this started because i did it for a friend who lost her home. and i was, like, i can't help you in any other way, and i truly don't even know what to say to someone that's lost this home. >> reporter: so asher picked up a pen and shared the artwork to instagram with a simple offer. to anyone who has lost a home in the l.a. fires, i will draw your home for free. 3 million views on that video later, there's now a waiting list of hundreds of requests. but, amid the submitted names and addresses and reference photos, life stories emerged. >> i'm, like, i will put every detail i can into perfecting this, to give you a good memory. >> reporter: so what keeps her going day and night? comments like this on instagram. this makes me cry.

how wonderful. we lost our home, and i know it would be so touching to have this. hundreds of los angeles families thankful that the lasting image of their home will no longer be one of destruction. >> it's so heart wrenching that i wouldn't be able to stop. i'll find a way to get through every house request that comes in. because they're beautiful and so sad. >> and our thanks to valerie for that report. coming up on "today", how celebrities are stepping up to give back amid the california wildfires. >> what's it like for you to do this in your own back regard? >> i mean, i'm just heartbroken for my city. but there peace part of me that feels like, i've seen this happen all over the country. and i've seen the good that shows up. and i have seen the resilience that shows up. >> our interview with jennifer gardiner and how she's helping families ahead on "today". families ahead on "today". thanks for (♪♪) years of hard work. decades of dedication.

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