(banker 1) yeah! let's get started. (vo) ready to meet the dream team? you can with wells fargo. it's wednesday, january 15th, 2025. this is "cbs news mornings." on edge. a critical day for california. tens of thousands of additional l.a. residents are under threat

of evacuation as powerful winds are expected to return raising the fear of new wildfires. on the hot seat. president-elect donald trump's pick to lead the u.s. military faces tough questions from democratic senators. and the final stages. hopes are rising in the middle east where israel and hamas sign off on a draft cease-fire deal. what are the terms, and when could the hostages be released? good morning, i'm michael george. millions of southern californians are bracing for the worst and hoping for the best as a final round of those dangerous santa ana winds are set to return today. firefighters got a reprieve yesterday when the winds were unexpectedly light, letting them make progress battling the two huge los angeles area fires and quickly snuffing out several new fires. the death toll has risen to at least 25, and officials fear that number will rise as nearly

30 people are still missing. search teams have started the grim task of combing through the charred rubble looking for remains. cbs' charlie demar joins us from altadena. good morning. >> reporter: michael, good morning. the process of locating and identifying the deceased is a slow one. over the past couple days here in altadena, we have seen search and rescue crews going home by home, sifting through the rubble of the more than 7,000 destroyed homes and businesses. severe wind warnings remain in place in southern california as officials stand ready to stamp out any new brush fires. >> we are surging resources across this fire as necessary to respond to any hot spots. >> reporter: this dramatic video could hold the key to what sparked the massive eaton fire. cbs news confirms it was shot three minutes after the inferno erupted near like electrical towers above altadena. yesterday investigators were seen probing for evidence. federal investigators also

swarmed the site of where the larger palisades fire is believed to have started. officials have not commented on theories that it may have been caused when embers from this new year's eve fire possibly reignited. >> the community deserves answers. >> reporter: president biden says it will cost tens of billions of dollars to rebuild and recover for those affected by the california wildfires. this as over 12,000 structures have been destroyed and over two dozen lives lost. search and rescue teams have moved into ravaged neighborhoods sifting through the rubble for victims. >> it's a considerable amount of structures to search, thousands. it's going to be a long process. >> reporter: rebuilding may also be a long process, especially for residents like the cohens. one of thousands dropped by their insurance companies just months before the fires. >> hopefully we'll find something that we can reside in temporarily while we hopefully rebuild our home. >> reporter: fema assistance

centers are now open to help survivors as they begin to move forward. thousands of people are now left asking what is next. fema is on the ground in los angeles. fire victims are eligible for some funding to make repairs and for temporary housing. but fema is warning about scams and for fraudulent contractors. michael? >> all right. charlie demar in altadena. thanks. today another round of trump cabinet picks heads to capitol hill for their senate confirmation hearings as president-elect donald trump works to shore up his administration ahead of monday's inauguration. and perhaps none are more controversial than defense secretary nominee pete hegseth. yesterday democrats grilled the army veteran on his qualifications and a litany of personal scandals. cbs' jarred hill joins us with the details. so can we get any sort of read on how president-elect donald trump feels about hegseth's chances? >> yeah.

cbs news is learning that team trump is pretty confident in how hegseth did yesterday during that confirmation hearing. this one was often combative, but it didn't appear to raise flags for the republican senators that he'll need to vote for his confirmation as defense secretary. in fact, one skeptic turned into a supporter. >> i don't have a similar biography to defend secretaries of the last 30 years. >> reporter: before the senate armed services committee pete hegseth painted himself a change agent as president-elect donald trump's pick to head the department of defense. >> it is time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. >> reporter: the iraq and afghanistan war vet stressed his focus would be on restoring a warrior mentality. republicans praised his experience on the battlefield. >> mr. hegseth will bring energy and fresh ideas to shake up the bureaucracy. >> reporter: democrats argued the 44-year-old isn't qualified for the demands of the job leading an agency of more than three million people with a budget of nearly $1 trillion,

citing hegseth's handling of two veterans' nonprofits. >> by the time you left that organization had deep debts, including credit card transaction debts of about $75,000. >> reporter: they also went after hegseth's reported past abuse of alcohol and questioned allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault at a california hotel in 2017. >> i was falsely charged. fully investigated and completely cleared. >> reporter: lawmakers also zeroed in on these comments from just a few months before -- >> i'm straight up saying we should not have women in combat roles. >> will you support women continuing to have the opportunity to serve in combat roles? >> yes, women will have access to ground combat roles given the standards remain high. >> reporter: republican senator joni ernst, a onetime skeptic, now on board potentially paving the way for hegseth to take the

helm. and one adviser said that yesterday's hearing set the tone for the rest of their nominees. today a couple more on the hill including pam bondi, pick for general, and marco rubio for secretary of state. he's gotten overwhelming support from lawmakers across the political spectrum. so that one could be almost a shoo-in. >> we'll be watching. thanks. tonight president biden will deliver his farewell address to the nation from the oval office. and you can watch it live right here on cbs or streaming on paramount plus starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern, 5:00 p.m. pacific. and breaking overnight, impeached south korean president yoon suk-yeol was detained in a massive law enforcement operation at the presidential compound in seoul. hundreds of officers entered the compound where yoon had been holed up for weeks vowing to fight efforts to oust him. in a video message recorded before he was taken into custody, yoon said the rule of

law has completely collapsed in this country. lawmakers accused him of rebellion and impeached him last month after he declared martial law several days earlier. now to the middle east where there are encouraging signs of a possible truce. u.s., arab, and israeli officials all tell cbs news the first phase of a cease-fire deal in gaza has been agreed to in principle which includes the release of dozens of hostages. it comes as israeli warplanes keep up its attacks on hamas targets in gaza. cbs' elizabeth palmer reports from tel aviv. >> reporter: hidden somewhere in the ruins of gaza are 98 hostages held by hamas. the israeli military believes nearly two-thirds are alive. they along with two million palestinians have been under israeli bombardment for 466 days. in a war hamas started when it invaded israel and massacred or kidnapped more than 1,000 poem.

-- people. a provisional deal struck by israel and hamas proposes a roughly 42-day truce during which hamas will release 33 hostages, women, children, the sick, and elderly, in small groups. in return, israel will pull it military back to the inside perimeter of the gaza strip. it will allow in a friday of aid and release hundreds of palestinians from its jails. the hostages' families have spent more than a year pushing israel's government to do a deal, and they fear something may still go wrong. ora levy was abducted from the music festival. his brother michael is on tenter hooks. >> we were disappointed too many times, so i try not to let myself believe too much, but at the same time we are hopeful. >> reporter: the hostages' faces on posters and banners are a constant reminder of their

tragedy and their families' ordeal. elizabeth palmer, cbs news. coming up, bizarre court appearance. the man who allegedly sent threats to caitlin clark has outbursts in court. and later in cbs "moneywatch," violations at boar's head factories. the disgusting conditions inspectors say they found. disg inspectors pecks say they found. . . . . . . for more than a decade farxiga has been trusted again and again, and again. ♪far-xi-ga♪ ♪far-xi-ga♪ ask your doctor about farxiga.

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>> guilty as charged -- >> no -- >> show me -- >> stop talking. >> michael lewis had multiple outbursts when he appeared in court in indianapolis yesterday. he was ordered to stay away from two basketball arenas where the indiana fever play their home games and not to have any contact with clark. lewis is accused of sending multiple threatening and sexually violent messages on social media. nola.com says federal prosecutors will not charge louisiana state troopers in the death of black driver ronald greene. white troopers were captured on body cam video in 2019 stunning and beating greene after a high-speed chase. the video was withheld by officials for two years. the decision follows an fbi investigation into greene's deaths and allegations of an attempted cover-up by state police. and "the hill" says house republicans passed a bill

banning transgender student athletes from competing in girls sports. the proposed law would withhold federal funds from schools that don't comply. now opponents say it would force students to answer personal questions about their bodies and subject them to humiliating physical inspections. supporters say a student's birth certificate will decide whether they can participate in sports. the bill now heads to the senate where its future is unclear. coming up ahead, real estate on the moon. why a tiny house will end up on the lunar surface. the lunar sur. ♪ like a relentless weed, moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission... and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and

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making their way to the moon aboard a spacex rocket that lifted off this morning. firefly's blue ghost is flying ten experiments for nasa and will arrive first. the second lander belongs it a japanese company. on board that the moon's first house. it's a red toy-sized house designed by a swedish artist who's been dreaming of this for 25 years. when asked the purpose, the artist simply said "it's art." fair enough. well, capital one accused of cheating customers, and the disturbing finds at several boar's head plants. shanelle kaul has today's cbs "moneywatch." >> reporter: a mixed close to the markets on tuesday. the dow gained 221 points. the nasdaq lost 43, and the s&p 500 was up 6 points. the u.s. securities and exchange commission is suing tech billionaire elon musk. the agency accuses musk of failing to disclose his ownership of twitter stock in a

timely manner in early 2022 before buying the social media site. the sec alleges because of that musk was able to underpay by at least $150 million for shares that he bought later. musk denies any wrongdoing. a u.s. watchdog accusing capital one of cheating customers out of $2 billion in lost interest. the consumer financial protection bureau is suing the bank for allegedly promising customers one of the highest rates but then freezing them at a lower rate. capital one says it strongly disagrees with the allegations and plans to vigorously defend itself in court. and federal records now show government inspectors documented unsanitary conditions at several boar's head deli meat plants including the factory that was shut down last year after a deadly listeria outbreak. the plants were described to have meat and fat residue left on equipment and walls and dripping condensation falling on food, mold, and insects. boar's head officials said the violations documented in those three factories do not meet our

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ britain's princess kate receiving good news, saying her cancer is in remission. she celebrated the news by surprising staff and patients at the royal marsden hospital in london. this was the 43-year-old royal's first official update on her health since completing chemotherapy in september. and just like that, a manhattan landmark is getting a new look. >> in new york, they say you're always looking for a job, a boyfriend, or an apartment. >> the owner of the west village brownstone made famous as the exterior setting for carrie bradshaw's apartment in "sex and the city" got the okay from new york city to build an iron gate at the front of her famous

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♪ cue those trumpets as we welcome you to "cbs mornings" on this wednesday. i'm gayle king. >> i'm tony dokoupil. >> i'm nate burleson. >> we're all here so let's go