it's monday, january 13th, 2025. this is "cbs news mornings." fire threat high. winds intensify in los angeles

spreading the danger of new wildfires as residents in the burn zone try to return home to see what if anything remains. and city of angels. los angeles overflowing with kindness as volunteers turn out in droves to help those left with nothing. good morning, i'm michael george. well, firefighters are racing to make progress against the wildfires still raging across the l.a. area before the powerful santa ana winds return. the national weather service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 miles per hour and gusts in the mountains reaching 70 miles per hour. tragically, the death toll is rising. at least 24 are dead, 16 remain missing at least, and more than 12,000 structures were damaged or destroyed. crews from california and nine other states are part of the ongoing response including newly arrived firefighters from mexico. there are three active

wildfires, and as of yesterday morning they'd scorched 62 square miles, that's nearly the size of three manhattans. cbs' charlie demar joins us from pacific palisades with the latest. charlie, we know there's a little bit of a return to normalcy today as most schools reopen. >> reporter: michael, good morning. yeah, most kids will be returning back to school in the greater los angeles area. we know that eight schools will be closed. those are schools in heavily impacted areas. school officials say a number of factors went into making that decision to open schools like the fire's containment and air quality. but tragically as cadaver dogs continue to do their work and continue to search these burned down areas, the death toll is expected to rise. firefighters in southern california are in a race against time to contain the deadly wildfires. the national weather service warns that dangerous high winds are expected to return in the coming hours. >> these winds combined with low

humidities and low fuel moistures will keep the fire threat in all of los angeles county very high. >> reporter: as of sunday, officials said the palisades fire, the largest, was still less than 20% contained. residents of the luxury community returned home over the weekend to find their homes reduced to rubble. >> it's devastating and numbing, but everybody i've spoken to who's lost their homes, they all want to rebuild. >> reporter: and not every resident has been able to get back into their home due to national guard checkpoints that have been set up for safety concerns. this as california's governor has ordered another 1,000 national guard troops on the ground. the tragedy has triggered a massive outpouring of donations. piles of bottled water, clothing, and other necessities took over the parking lot at the santa anita race track near the eaton fire. >> we're like, let's go help. we have to. >> reporter: danny lee and his

6-year-old son oliver were among the many volunteers. >> kids and grown-ups are homeless. they don't have anywhere to live. >> reporter: officials say hundreds have fled the area to shelters with tens of thousands of people in l.a. county still under evacuation orders. now the cause of the two largest fires are still under investigation, but when all is said and done they are expected to be the nation's costliest. michael? >> all right, charlie demar on the front lines of the palisades fire. thanks. the fbi is trying to identify the operator of a drone that collided with a firefighting plane bottling the -- battling the wildfires. authorities say the drone violated temporary flight restrictions puts into place in the wake of the fires on thursday and damaged the aircraft known as the super scooper. officials say there have been at least 40 incidents of drones forcing firefighters to pause air operations. ♪ a church in santa monica opened its doors to people whose

own house of worship was destroyed in the wildfires. more than 200 people attended mass yesterday at st. monica catholic church including parishioners from corpus christi catholic church in pacific palisades. that 60-year-old church was burned to the ground last week. >> i think our community needed to come together. i mean, these poor people, they have no homes. >> the fires have destroyed several places of worship including a mosque, a synagogue, and catholic and protestant churches. and the political fight is also raging over the wildfires. president-elect donald trump is calling california officials handling of the disaster incompetent, asking why firefighters haven't put the flames out yet. cbs' tom hanson has that story. >> reporter: a county-wide crisis reigniting political hostilities. >> there is a serious lack of competent governance in california. >> reporter: democratic governor gavin newsom is now pushing back against president-elect donald

trump's claim that there had been no water for some fire hydrants. last week there were allegations of low water levels in at least one reservoir feeding the -- the hydrants hampering the response. >> the state reservoirs, i don't think misinformation advantages or aids any of us. >> reporter: the mayor karen bass downplayed talk of a growing rift between local officials and the incoming administration. how troubled are you that there's a lack of communication between the city of los angeles and the incoming trump administration? >> there isn't a lack of communication between the city of los angeles and the incoming trump administration. i have spoken with representatives of the incoming administration, i'll be talking more about that in the coming days. >> reporter: in a letter, l.a. county supervisor kathryn barger extended an invitation of her own to president-elect and urged the incoming administration to consider financial assistance for the communities affected. >> i look forward to welcoming

president-elect donald trump to our communities so he can see the desperate need. >> reporter: tom hanson, cbs news, california. president-elect donald trump's cabinet picks begin confirmation hearings this week. cbs' natalie brand is on capitol hill where senators will have their first chance to publicly question the nominees. >> reporter: more than a dozen of president-elect donald trump's selections to run the nation's top agencies will take the hot seat on capitol hill with a flurry of confirmation hearings starting tuesday. that includes trump's controversial choice to lead the department of defense, former fox news host pete hegseth who's come under fire for allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking, and financial mismanagement while leading a veterans advocacy group. hegseth denies the accusations. >> we need a qualified individual in that job, and he just does not seem to have the qualifications. >> reporter: democratic senator mark kelly, who sits on the armed services committee, says he wants hegseth's fbi background check to be made

available beyond just the committee's leaders. >> so i think it's in the nominee, mr. hegseth's best interests, if he wants to be confirmed for this job for us to have all the information. >> he certainly has the qualities that we need to lead the pentagon -- >> reporter: with republican senators holding 53 seats, majority whip john barrasso was asked on "face the nation" whether hegseth has the votes. >> every senator gets to speak for themselves, and they will do that. the meetings have gone very well. things are heading in the right direction. >> reporter: senator tommy tuberville of alabama is planning a rally monday afternoon with a group of navy s.e.a.l.s and veterans to try and rally support around hegseth ahead of his confirmation hearing. natalie brand, cbs news, capitol hill. vice president-elect j.d. vance is weighing in on pardons for those who took part in the january 6th riot at the u.s. capitol. during an interview on "fox news sunday," vance said people responsible for violence should

not be pardoned. he added that those who protested peacefully should receive pardons. he also said there was a bit of a gray area in some cases. president-elect donald trump has said he'd issue pardons to rioters on day one of his presidency. coming up, mission delayed. what prompted blue origin to scrub the launch of the biggest mark in the space race. and snowed in. how many inches of snow people in arkansas had to shovel over the weekend. 4 i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. and adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for type 1 diabetes or children. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles.

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this week. now to the middle east where we're learning significant progress has been made overnight toward brokering a cease-fire and hostage-release deal between israel and hamas. that's according to u.s. and arab mediators. progress report comes after president biden spoke on the phone yesterday with prime minister benjamin netahyahu. one person familiar with the talks tells the "associated press" there was a proposed deal on the table, and israeli and hamas negotiators will now take it back to their leaders for final approval. the person says the next 24 hours will be pivotal. an egyptian official says all sides were aiming for a deal before donald trump's inauguration next monday. ukraine says it captured two north korean soldiers fighting alongside russian troops in russia's kursk border region. ukraine released video showing the two wounded north korean p.o.w.s being interrogated. president volodymyr zelenskyy will release them in exchange for ukrainian soldiers in

russia. ukraine released what it calls video of the captured north koreans. and president biden honored pope francis with the nation's highest civilian award. the white house says biden bestowed the presidential medal of freedom with distinction during a phone call with the pope saturday. he was supposed to present it in person but biden canceled the trip so he could monitor the wildfires in los angeles. it is the only time he's presented the honor with distinction during his presidenci. beware of charity scammers. what to look out for before you open your wallet to help fire victims. for before you open your wallet to help viral victims. ♪ it's a little pill with a big story to tell. ♪ victims. victims. victims. victims. victims. f victims. i victims. r victims. e victims. ♪ ...at each day's start. ♪ ♪ as time went on, it was easy to see. ♪ ♪ i'm lowering my a1c! ♪ and for adults with type 2 diabetes... ...and known heart disease, jardiance can lower the risk of cardiovascular death, too.

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the 320-foot-tall rocket from jeff bezos' space company sat on the launchpad. the trouble says it's trouble -- the company says it's trouble shooting a vehicle subsystem issue. no word on the next launch attempt. and l.a. officials are sounding the alarm about scammers preying on people who want to help during the wildfire disaster. matt pieper has that and more in today's cbs "moneywatch." >> reporter: stocks dropped on worries that good news on the job market may prove to be bad for wall street by keeping inflation and interest rates high. the dow lost 696. the nasdaq was down 317. s&p losing 91 points. wildfire scammers. officials are warning that some may take advantage of charitable people looking to help those in need. california's attorney general says anyone who engages in scams, price gouging, looting, or other crimes during the wildfires will be held accountable. the los angeles police chief suggests verifying organizations with websites like charity navigator and the better

business bureau. it was a slow weekend at the box office. "den of thieves 2: pantera" debuted at the top with $15.5 million. january is often a slow movie-going month, but the lull was slightly worsened by the closure of ten theaters in los angeles, the country's top box office market, due to the fires. the robbie williams biopic "better man" flopped with $1.1 million in ticket sales. time to make the doughnuts. some dunkin' stories are running out and there are none on the shelves in nebraska and a few other states. there are signs that no doughnuts are available due to a manufacturing error. that's your "money watch" report for this monday morning. i'm matt pieper, cbs news, new york. ahead, helping the most vulnerable fire victims. the effort to save pets left behind. even with my mom's alzheimer's,

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the goats were safely herded onto trucks. and there are many animal rescue groups working to save our four-legged friends impacted by the fires. here's cbs' lilia luciano. >> reporter: in the devastated town of altadena, licensed wildlife rescuer cleo watts has been called in to retrieve wildlife and pets left behind when their owners evacuated. >> if a pet's in need we're going to take it. >> reporter: over the last week, fire officials have called on her team to catch and care for animals. they've gone to great lengths to reach them. even digging up tortoises in hibernation. >> my heart goes out to all the families that have lost their houses and their -- i'm trying to do what i can do to help them reunite them. >> reporter: watts has brought the animals to the pasadena humane society including goats and a pig that suffered burns on its belly. the shelter says it's now five times over capacity as vets care

for animals with burns to the paws and skin, their whiskers singed. most are pets that now homeless residents can't care for at the moment. >> we're also very aware that thousands of people's homes are no longer there, and that's got to impact a lot of the pets who are in our care right now. >> reporter: jose hermoso hopes someone will find his family's two cats, monty and sky. they evacuated without them not realizing the intensity of the fire, and now their home is gone. >> we were going around shelters trying to see if we could find them here. no luck. >> mr. hermoso or whomever else is here looking for their pets that we've posted any animal that we know of as quickly as possible on our website for that exact reason. >> reporter: residents forced to flee the flames now hoping to be reunited with the rest of their family. lilia luciano, cbs news, altadena. and netflix says meghan markle is postponing the

premiere of her new series because of the devastation of the wildfires. "with love, meghan" was set to debut on wednesday, but it's being pushed back until march. the duchess of sussex is the host and producer of the show where she cooks, gardens, and landscapes with guests in montecito north of los angeles. friday she and her husband prince harry helped distribute food and supplies to victims of the wildfires. and coming up on "cbs mornings," talk show host graham norton will be live in the studio to discuss his new novel "frankie." i'm michael george. this is "cbs news mornings." is" (vo) is your asthma rescue a dinosaur? airsupra is the only 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,

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