stepping up to help in the southern california wildfires and that includes royalty. this afternoon the duke and duchess of sussex, prince harry and meghan markle were seen helping. they also met with city leaders. you can go to redcross.org/cbs. cbs evening news is next. local news continues on our streaming service cbs news bay area. we're back here with more local news just for you at 7:00. we'll see you then. ♪ ♪ >> maurice: tonight, four straight days of devastating wildfires in southern california. the race for firefighters to contain the blazes. survivors return to what's left of their neighborhoods. the children whose schools are gone.

>> i'm just really sad. because i love that school. >> i'm totally innocent. i did nothing wrong. >> maurice: trump avoids jail time as he becomes the first felon president. and tiktok makes its final plea before the supreme court, just nine days before the popular app is set to be banned. >> to say tiktok changed my life is an understatement. >> maurice: the "cbs evening news" starts now. ♪ ♪ good evening. i'm maurice dubois in for norah, on the ground in a burned-out neighborhood in the pacific palisades section of los angeles, where finally firefighters are beginning to make progress in battling those deadly wildfires, but the fight ahead will be hard, and the window to make progress is short. dangerous, flame-driving winds are forecast to pick back up tomorrow night. the risk remains immense, around 160,000 people under evacuation orders, as six fires burn. the two largest ones are less than 10% contained. at least 11 people have died

here. officials say we could learn of more deaths as cadaver dogs search through burned-out neighborhoods. it is now estimated that more than 12,000 homes and other structures have been destroyed. we have teams across the fire zone, starting with cbs's jonathan vigliotti, who is again putting tough questions to the mayor over the city's response. and, jonathan, there is another controversy tonight. >> reporter: maurice, that's right. officials here are facing growing criticism not just over that chaotic response, but now a new nightmare for those already on edge. hundreds of thousands remain evacuated as new fires keep igniting, threatening more neighborhoods. and as the fires continue to burn, residents here are fuming. >> now is not the time to put all of l.a. in complete panic. >> the erroneous messages being sent out, i can't express enough how sorry i am for this experience.

>> reporter: phone warnings are a potential lifesaver in those critical first moments. this one from tuesday night worked as it should, but 10 million residents of l.a. county have received multiple false emergency evacuation warnings. >> well, i'm going to assume it is a false alarm like the one earlier. >> reporter: my question is for mayor bass. millions of people received false alarms. it's been acknowledged here in this room that many may now be deactivating their alerts. what are you doing, at this point, to earn back people's trust and to make sure these mistakes don't happen again? >> well, first of all, i think that was addressed at the beginning of the press conference by kevin mccowan. >> reporter: i would like that from you. i don't -- you are the top official here. >> so let me just be clear. i am going to spend every moment that i can making sure that i am in as many areas as possible. we want to see the city rebuilt. >> reporter: but you are -- respectfully, you are deflecting from the question. you have millions of people here

who get these alerts. they are ignoring them. there is a real threat here. what is your message to your constituents who are losing faith? >> i want the residents of los angeles region to have faith we are doing everything we can to bring the situation under control. >> reporter: and the national guard is here on scene to stop looting and to enforce a nightly curfew, maurice. >> maurice: tough but important questions. jonathan vigliotti, thanks so much. cbs's rob marciano spent the da% embedded with the l.a. county fire department as crews went through the disaster zone from the palisades fire, putting out flareups. and here is what they encountered. >> reporter: before the sun rose over the palisades fire, you could see the buildings still burning. day 4 and there are these hot spots smoldering just about everywhere. not far from this that has been up in flames, firefighters

here are wetting it down but say it is really not worth saving. >> reporter: we headed to the heart of the incinerated fire zone. burning debris is falling into the road. >> this all looks at -- hey, let's try and knock it out. >> reporter: for l.a. county, firefighters battling this wildfire, no flames are too small to snuff out. >> we decided to engage and not let it progress. >> reporter: personnel on high alert in a landscape of bone-dry brush that could quickly ignite into a fast-moving blaze. >> amazing just how aggressively brush like this can burn. look at that go up. wind right now is relatively light. having a hard time. >> go back and get more hose. >> reporter: this strike team made up of five engine units work together in shifts, clearing paths to the hot spots to lay down hose line and create fire breaks. and as part of more than 8,000 personnel attacking these fires, they are beginning to make some progress. now at least 8% contained, crews have established lines around

some of the perimeter to prevent it from spreading. what has been your biggest challenge the past few days? >> the biggest challenge is just how dynamic the fire has been moving, as well as working on the rotation of crews to constantly keep people on the fire at all times. >> reporter: maurice, these guys work 24-hour physical shifts. we were just out there a couple of hours carrying nothing, and we were getting exhausted. the winds have died down now, but as you mentioned, they're coming back tomorrow night, and there is no rain in forecast for at least a week. >> maurice: we can see how tough it is. thanks so much, we really appreciate it. well, the fires in the los angeles area have thrown the school year into turmoil. at least a dozen schools have burned, impacting more than 5700 students. cbs's lilia luciano talked to the children affected by all of this. >> reporter: in altadena alone, almost 2,000 students have nowhere to go to school now. it's hard to make sense of the rubble, but this is the remains

of what was the auditorium of a magnet middle school in altadena, one of many that have been completely destroyed. here we have seen parents, students, and alumni show up and stare in disbelief. just a mile away, that is the shock some fair oaks academy students were experiencing today. where is your classroom? >> right there. >> reporter: 7-year-old lucy van voorhis can't wrap her mind around losing her school. when you close your eyes and you think about your school, what are you picturing in your mind? >> i'm just really sad. because i love that school. >> reporter: what did you love about it? >> i loved my friends there. i loved my teacher. i loved the playground and p.e. >> reporter: she says evacuating her home felt like a bad dream. >> i was really scared. i mean, it was in the middle of the night when it was happening, so i'm still a little bit scared of the dark. >> reporter: when 10-year-old hudson and his 7-year-old brother atticus evacuated... >> we were sitting at our dining room table, and we could see the glow of the fire over our courtyard wall.

>> reporter: hours later, their father, a firefighter, saw their home engulfed in flames. >> that's my house right there. >> oh, no, i'm so sorry. >> we are trying not to show them some of the images because it would be just so heartbreaking. >> reporter: why were you sad? >> because i love going to school. >> school is a big part of it because that is really where -- you know, it's the foundation of a family's daily life. and now we don't have that anymore. >> reporter: the l.a. unified school district will determine over the weekend whether children will go back to school on monday. as for where those kids who lost their schools will go, maurice, it's still too soon to know. >> maurice: we can feel their heartbreak. lilia luciano, thank you so much. well, joining us now to discuss the federal response to this disaster is "face the nation" moderator margaret brennan. and, margaret, this is expected to be one of the most expensive

disasters ever in california. we know the federal government is offering its help. do we have a sense of what that's actually going to look like? >> margaret: we don't have a number yet, no, maurice, but we do know president biden has pledged that the federal government will provide 100% of funding for the first six months, but he's only president for ten more days, and it is not clear yet if donald trump plans to change the policy when he takes office. he's been publicly critical of california governor gavin newsom this week. during the first term, he threatened to withhold disaster assistance to newsom, but ultimately did approve it. late today, governor newsom invited mr. trump to california to work on the recovery effort together. here in washington, republican leaders tell cbs they are not opposed to putting together another relief package if needed, and they discussed it behind closed doors this week. >> maurice: and margaret, the fema director briefed the president today. what did we learn there? >> margaret: well, she said 10,000 people have already applied for federal assistance and the costs are expected to

climb. one of the biggest may be related to lack of insurance coverage. today, california state government declared a moratorium on companies canceling insurance policies. this has been a problem, maurice, even before the fires, particularly for americans living in disaster-prone areas, like florida, louisiana, really up and down the atlantic seaboard. congress has been looking at this issue and how to fix it because if homes become uninsurable, the values of the homes themselves plummet. there's no quick fixes. >> maurice: it just feels like one disaster after another. margaret, thanks so much. margaret's guests, by the way, on sunday's "face the nation" include the fema administrator and california congresswoman judy chu. turning now to the nation's midsection, where a winter storm sent snow and ice as far south as georgia. at atlanta's hartsfield-jackson airport, a delta flight aborted takeoff, forcing more than 200 passengers to evacuate onto a snowy tarmac.

four people were injured. the pilot reported an engine issue. atlanta saw 3.5 inches of snow, the most there in seven years. in just ten days, donald trump will become the first u.s. president to assume office as a convicted felon. trump was formally sentenced today in the stormy daniels hush money case. he received a rare unconditional discharge, which leaves his conviction in tact without punishment. cbs's weijia jiang explains. >> reporter: for the historic sentencing in new york, president-elect trump appeared virtually from mar-a-lago, attacking the proceedings as he did during the trial, and maintaining his innocence. >> this has been a very terrible experience. i did nothing wrong. >> reporter: but a new york jury convicted trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records, part of a scheme to cover up payment to former porn star stormy daniels ahead of the 2016 election.

he faced up to four years in prison, but judge juan merchan did not impose any jail time, fines, or probation, noting that it was only because trump's upcoming presidency protected him from punishment. >> donald trump, the ordinary citizen, donald trump, the criminal defendant, would not be entitled to such considerable protections. >> reporter: the sentencing went forward, despite trump's last-ditch effort to delay it, asking the supreme court to intervene. but in a razor-thin 5-4 decision, two conservative justices joined the three liberals to rule against him. he now becomes the first felon to occupy the oval office. judge merchan, a frequent target of trump's, had the last word in court. >> sir, i wish you godspeed as you assume your second term in office. >> reporter: trump cannot pardon himself here because this

was a state case and not a federal one, but the president-elect says he will appeal, a process that could take several months, or even longer. and just like his sentencing requests, this case could end up at the supreme court. maurice? >> maurice: weijia jiang in south florida, thanks so much. well, tiktok could be banned in just about a week and a half unless the supreme court puts a stop to it. which way the justices appear to be leaning, that's next. ♪ ♪ ♪ i've got places to go and i'm feeling free. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me.♪ and now i'm back in the picture. feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi helped visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and with skyrizi, many were in remission at 12 weeks, at 1 year, and even at 2 years. don't use if allergic.

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heard a last-ditch appeal today from the immensely popular online platform tiktok. >> maurice: the supreme court heard a last-ditch appeal today from the immensely popular online platform tiktok. cbs's jan crawford was in court for the arguments. >> see how i look very presentable? >> reporter: for tiktok, the clock is ticking, with justices troubled, the popular social media app is more than funny videos. ♪ ♪ >> congress and the president were concerned that china was accessing information about millions of americans, tens of millions of americans, including teenagers. >> reporter: those kind of national security concerns drove congress to pass a law ordering china-based bytedance sell tiktok by january 19th or shut down in the u.s. >> they're not saying tiktok has to stop. they're saying that the chinese have to stop controlling tiktok. >> reporter: a lawyer for the biden administration told the justices the chinese company has spied americans. >> there was a well-publicized incident where bytedance and

china surveilled u.s. journalists. >> reporter: one was emily baker white of "forbes" after she wrote stories critical of the company. >> i had tiktok on my phone, as a reporter covering tiktok, and so bytedance could look up all of the places that i was going. so whenever i went to a coffee shop or a bar, a restaurant, the library, and used, you know, and was using my phone from there, they would be able to tell that. >> reporter: but tiktok and free speech advocates say the law amongst to censorship. >> there has never been a law like this, that had such a sweeping effect and such a sweeping ban on such a widely-used speech platform. >> reporter: now one possible approach, with next sunday's deadline looming, the court could enter a brief pause. that would give tiktok maybe a little more time to find a u.s. buyer. maurice? >> maurice: jan crawford, thank you. well, they barely got out alive, but the video of their escape went viral. a family's story is next. ♪ ♪

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>> maurice: the dramatic video of a family escaping from their los angeles home moments before it went up in flames caused an outpouring on social media. it logged millions of views in a matter of hours. but we wondered how the family was doing. and today we found out. despite their efforts to save the family home, 30-year-old orly israel... >> yeah, let's get out of here. we tried. >> maurice: and his friend tanner charles knew they were in trouble. >> got to get out of here. >> maurice: video of their harrowing escape from tuesday night's inferno was posted on x. it's now amassed more than 8 million views. orly's father, david, watched it in disbelief. >> oh, my goodness. >> maurice: today, we drove with david and orly as they returned to their palisades home of 20 years for the first time since the fire. >> it was such a beautiful, beautiful curated house. >> i wanted to come back to my house and be there and see it in person and mourn it in person,

and i wanted to do it with orly. >> maurice: you said mourning in person. >> yeah, i loved this house. this house was really a member of the family. and just to see the destruction is just... it's just gut-wrenching. >> maurice: hidden in the rubble, memories. >> this is crazy. it survived! >> bennington, vermont. we've had this for probably 40 years. >> maurice: the israel family has had to move to three different locations since evacuating, living essentially as nomads. what are you going to do now? >> that's a really good question, and i don't know. >> maurice: but not all is lost. >> i'm really sad for my community. that everybody, everybody has lost everything. i've just had so many wonderful times here, and the good news for me is i still remember those times, the times aren't gone, the memories aren't gone. the house is gone, but the love that was in the house, that is still in me. >> maurice: david told me he

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>> questions, comments, complaints, concerns? >> reporter: behind most every great teacher, there is a great teacher. a mentor, who long ago kindled a passion for education. >> yes, say it louder. >> reporter: for science teacher clay morton, that guiding light was walt manger. >> there was nothing he wouldn't do for his students. he was just one hell of a man. you know? there's my parents, and there's walt. >> reporter: walt was clay's geology professor in college. he says they stayed close for a while, but eventually lost touch. until a few years ago, when clay learned his old prof had alzheimer's. the thought of all that genius and gentleness going to waste was more than clay could bear. so he set out to save as much of his brilliance as possible. >> walter! >> reporter: the plan was to meet monthly. >> how are you? >> reporter: here at the high school where clay teaches in fayetteville, arkansas. >> he doesn't remember where my room is. he doesn't remember what we talked about last time.

but he knows that we do this. >> reporter: what they do is look at walt's old geology slides. >> look at how flat it is. >> reporter: in the beginning, walt could explain each picture in great detail, and clay would take notes. >> i remember you talking about this in general geology. you explained why these people would build the structures way up in the mountains. >> yes. >> reporter: but now, three years on... >> well, who took that picture? >> reporter: he doesn't even remember taking most of them. >> boy, these are really nice pictures, whoever took these, yeah. >> it's so hard to see him.

i'm juliette goodrich. firefighters in southern california taking advantage of calmer winds tonight as they race to slow down flames after an unprecedented firestorm and in the midst of the destruction, a heroic effort to protect homes. >> we had no water pressure. i

knew i had a spa. so i carried as many buckets as i could as long as i could. >> we bring you stories of neighbors helping neighbors amid the slow response. and right here in the bay area the bird flu has now spread to san francisco with a child showing symptoms. it's so sad when you are in a vulnerable state to be preyed upon. >> burglarized not once, but eight times, thieves repeatedly targeted an oakland hills home gutted by a fire. we will hear from the homeowner. this is cbs news bay area with juliette goodrich. it's been four grueling days. firefighters in southern california now doing what they can and they are seeing some signs of progress as they continue to battle wildfires that have already erased entire neighborhoods off the map. the fires burning across the region have burned in an area bigger than the size