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♪ ♪ ♪ good morning. i'm jane pauley and this is "sunday morning." as you probably know, after more than 15 months of war israel and hamas have agreed to a ceasefire, ending this round of hostilities. and allowing for the release of some of the israeli hostages held in gaza along with palestinian prisoners in israel. to begin this morning, we get the latest from elizabeth palmer. then we go from the middle east to washington. today marks the last full day in office for president joe biden before the transfer of power to the man who is both his

predecessor and his successor, president-elect donald trump. so, this morning with nancy cordes we will be looking back at the legacy president biden leaves behind while robert costa looks ahead to the promises and prospects of a second trump administration. >> it's been the highest honor of my life to lead you as commander-in-chief. >> after 52 years in washington, joe biden's long political career is coming to an end. >> it's hard to imagine somebody is going to have the same faith in american establishment and institutions that i thin drove him in the course of his presidency. >> reporter: ahead this sunday morning, the biden legacy. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> beyond the white house, washington is bracing. >> trump is a little bit crazy but he is not stupid. >> reporter: for the return of president trump. what should they be expecting

day one of this presidency? >> i think shock and awe. >> reporter: how different another term be later on "sunday morning." once upon a time, in a very different washington, socialite perle mesta became something of a power broker while throwing the best parties in town. with erin moriarty we celebrate a most entertaining life. >> i'm the chose party giver. >> reporter: few may remember the woman who inspired irving berlin's "call me madam," but like ethel merman, perle mesta was once a force of nature. >> i have never met anybody like perle mesta and i never heard of anybody like her. she was a phenomenon. >> reporter: a look back at the hostess who changed america one party at a time coming up on "sunday morning." a groundbreaking soap opera

comes to cbs in a few weeks. with nancy giles, we go behind the scenes at "beyond the gates." >> where are we? >> reporter: this is the diner on our show. >> let's set our opening frame. >> reporter: it's been josh morrissey than 25 years since a tv network launched a new soap opera. >> it's a risky thing. >> reporter: how do you feel about that? >> let's go. >> right? >> excited. >> the first episode is just like, phew! >> reporter: creating a soap opera takes a village. we'll see how it happens later on "sunday morning." quiet on the set. tracy smith has an update on the hugely destructive california wildfires and considers what comes next. lisa ling catches up with actor steve guttenberg who suddenly has become the unlikely face of those fires. faith salie examines the life and work of tamara de lempicka,

whose story is as colorful as her iconic paintings. plus, commentary from historian douglas brinkley and more on a very busy sunday morning for the 19th of january, 2025. we'll be back after this. ♪ ♪

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it's been quite a week in the middle east. here with the latest correspondent elizabeth palmer. >> reporter: all israel is waiting to see the first three hostages free at last. hamas says they will be -- in gaza, hamas and some of the supporters celebrated the ceasefire as a victory. but it has come at a devastating cost. a cameraman for the bbc learned his entire family had been killed in one of the very last airstrikes of this war. right now, the ceasefire doesn't matter to me, he told colleagues. because everything in my life is gone. i have no one left.

and nothing matters to the families of the hostages now except getting their loved ones back. for most, though, that's a long way off. this first phase of the agreement will only see about a third of them freed over the next six weeks. the release of the rest still has to be negotiated. >> he deserves this respect of not having the body just rot away somewhere in gaza. >> reporter: udi goren's cudden tal chaimi was killed october 7th and hamas terrorists took his body into gaza. that made goren an activist, pressing israel's government to bring back all the hostages, both the living and dead. the current deal, he worries, is very fragile. >> this is just moving on to the next phase of our struggle, and had might take months and a lot can go wrong, and everything can

go wrong. >> reporter: the first hostage release in november of 2023 shows how it works when it goes right. hamas hands the captives over to the red cross inside gaza and then the red cross takes them back into israel. israeli hospitals have special rooms ready now for the hostages about to be freed. gershon baskin is a former hostage negotiator. >> no one is going to come back normal psychologically and physically. they are going to be in really bad shape. when the israeli public sees the condition of the hostages coming home it's going to increase the pressure on the government to make sure that every hostage comes home. >> reporter: realistically though, some will be buried forever in the wastes of gaza along with thousands of palestinians lost in this war. ♪ a tougher kind of glove, ♪ ♪ like you never did see... ♪ ♪ now the cloth is strong ♪

♪ stronger than the flames ♪ ♪ the flame is in the heart ♪ ♪ and the heart is in the work ♪ ♪ the work builds the life ♪ ♪ where we're safe at home... ♪ jpmorganchase invests in manufacturing to help create stronger communities. ♪ make the green grass grow all around all around ♪ ♪ make the green grass grow all around ♪ ♪♪ we lose 1% of our collagen every year, starting in our 20s, which means we must start banking collagen for plumper, glowing skin. do it with neutrogena collagen bank. trust me, i'm a banker. shouldn't they trust me, the dermatologist? it's not a competition. (♪♪) no more gross cough syrup. we all want you to feel better. i want extra tv time or i'll walk! how about this? introducing the only kids soft-chew for medicated cough relief. aaaaghhh! new mucinex children's mighty chews are mighty clever. over the years, you've talked to him about curveballs. you've talked to him about strategy. you've talked winning seasons... ...losing seasons...

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of the united states, joseph r. biden's career almost certainly ends tomorrow when donald trump assumes the presidency for the second time. we've asked correspondent nancy codes to look back. >> i, joseph robinette biden jr., do solemnly swear. >> reporter: when joe biden's presidency began four years ago -- >> at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed. >> reporter: few imagined it would end like this. >> president-elect and former president, donald, congratulations. >> thank you. >> reporter: his inauguration took place just two weeks after rioters stormed the capitol to disrupt the certification of his victory. >> when joe biden came into office he said he was going to defend democracy against autocracy. that was job one for him. everybody knew what he meant. >> reporter: franklin foer is a staff writer for "the atlantic" and wrote a book about biden's

first two years in office. when you calmed him the last politician, what did you mean? >> i was thinking about the way in which our politics is this war of attrition between these two sides that despise one another. >> people are saying, you know, biden just doesn't get it. you can't work with the republicans anymore. that's not the way it works anymore. folks, i am going to say something outrageous. i know how to make government work. >> biden had this very antiquated sense of how he could get things done. he felt like in order to save american democracy he needed to prove that this old-fashioned style of politics could still deliver important meaningful tangible things for the american people. >> reporter: in many ways, he did deliver. his administration oversaw the successful rollout of the covid vaccines, the stock market steadily rose to record highs,

while unemployment fell to a near record low. overseas, he expanded nato, strengthened alliances in asia with the goal of containing china, and cobbled together lasting support for ukraine. in its war against russia. >> the president needs to defend what is best about america. >> reporter: he did so while racking up legislative victories, including massive new inestments in clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing. >> i believe to my core that there isn't a single thing this country cannot do when they put our mind to it. >> reporter: and scored a win that eluded his predecessors, signing a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. >> a lot of that money came new jersey's way? >> you bet. >> reporter: new jersey governor democrat phil murphy. >> we are the most densely populated state in america.

so moving people and things is more important to us probably than any other state. and president biden did just what he said he would do. i would almost call it a renaissance in american infrastructure and there is all sorts of projects around our state. >> reporter: most notably, the $16 billion gateway tunnel project, which will expand the entry old tunnels under the hudson river and double train capacity between new york and new jersey. it's the largest project of its kind in u.s. history. >> it will take time to feel the full impact of all we have done together. but the seeds are plant and they will grow and bloom for decades to come. >> it's a very successful presidency. i think history will treat him very, very well. >> and yet he was sort of embattled from the start. even during some of these major milestone accomplishments, why do you think that is? >> i think it's a fair question to ask.

is this fair? and frankly, i don't think it is. but it is what it is. i mean, the numbers don't lie. >> reporter: biden's approval ratings started out strong, but they sank six months in after the deadly withdrawal of u.s. troops from afghanistan. his polling was pushed down further by high inflation, a record surge in illegal border crossings, and a war in gaza that divided his party. and then there were the persistent questions about his age that dogged him from the moment he took office. do you think he was aware that he was slowing down a little bit? >> anybody who had eyes could watch him walk across the stage and they could see that his gait was stiff, they could see he shuffled like an old man. and so he knew he was an old man as well. but i think that he probably

overestimated his own political skills because he has come back from the dead all of these times. >> dealing with everything we have to do with, uh, look, if we finally beat medicare -- >> reporter: democratic leaders pressured biden to leave the race after his disastrous debate performance last june. with just three months to mount her own campaign, vice president kamala harris lost the popular vote and every swing state. democrats also lost their majority in the senate, meaning republicans will now control the white house and both chambers of congress

hostage square has been the central focus of emotion and hope that israel has gone through in the past 15 months. we saw them get into that red cross vehicle. most of israel here, likely, exhaled a deep sigh. with that said, as margaret was saying, this is the beginning. we understand that the red cross vehicles will take half an hour to get to the border with israel, at the border. they will be handed off to idf troops where they will go through a very quick, urgent tr triage. they will cross the border and go to another triage. and they will be transported by land or helicopter, to one of several hospitals across the country. medical centers across the

country. three are right here in tel aviv. and one here sheba medical center, is the focus of where all three will be. we understand that they will be siloed off from the world, likely, except for their families. as they try to make a difficult reintegration process. there are specialized rooms. doctors, diatetitians and psychologists on-hand. >> on this significant day, the first round of hostages are handed over to israel, as the cease-fire and hostage release continues. our coverage will continue on cbs news, 24/7, in moments and on your local news. i'm errol barnett. for many of you, cbs news continues. this has been a cbs news special report.

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daytime tv fans rejoice. there is a new soap opera coming to cbs in just a few weeks. nancy giles takes us "beyond the gates." ♪ ♪ >> reporter: once upon a time, soap operas ruled daytime tv. during their heyday, there were more than a dozen of them. >> who do you think you are to tell erica kane? i wrote the book. >> reporter: now a handful remain. but next month, cbs will do something that hasn't been done in over 25 years. >> here we are. >> reporter: launch a new one called "beyond the gates." are you feeling the pressure of that at all? >> sure. >> i actually don't feel the pressure. i have always felt it would be something that would happen. >> and just to get the flip side, you had doubts? what were your doubts? >> the fact that networks don't green light soaps anymore. they have been canceling them.

>> reporter: sheila ducksworth is an executive producer and president of the cbs/naacp production. michele val jean is an executive producer, head writer, and show runner. >> i am so proud of each and every one of you. >> reporter: the series will follow the lives of the duprees, a prominent family living in a gated community just outside of washington, d.c. >> you have never seen a soap like this. you just haven't. you never seen black people like this in the middle of the day. [ laughter ] >> i am done being disrespected. >> done. >> plenty of love triangles, people you love, people you love to hate. all of that. it's really juicy. >> reporter: duckworth says she has been hooked on soaps since she was a kid. and getting this show made has been a labor of love decades in the making. she hopes that in between all of the drama, the audience learns

something. >> these areas right outside of washington, d.c., in the suburbs are some of the most affluent populations of black folks that you will find in america. a lot of people do know that, but a lot of people don't. >> my god, you made fools of us all. >> reporter: the last time a black family was featured prominently on a soap opera was generations in 1989. the show where val jean and emmy award-winning writer got her start. >> when show called, i jumped at it. >> reporter: why are these importance so important? >> they haven't been told before. black people go through same thing as white people. we get the trade. we tell secrets. we keep secrets. we love. we hate. that's the kind of mess that i really like to get into. >> reporter: so where are we?

>> this is the diner on our show. it's called orphey gene's. it's a gathering place for everybody in every economic bracket in the show. this is the soul and the heartbeat of it. >> reporter: veteran actors chift chift and tamara tunie play mr. and mrs. dupree. >> if anita asked, i'd run through fire. then and now. >> reporter: tell me about the family. the focus of the soap. >> the dupree family has been a fixture in this community from the very, very beginning. >> we are the bulwark. we are the strong men. but that doesn't mean we don't lose our minds along the way. [ laughter ] >> i ordered your usual. >> reporter: their oldest daughter is played by daphnee duplaix. >> you are going to be all right, sissy. >> reporter: karla mosley plays the younger daughter. a self-described wild child. >> you sorry son of a --

>> because she is such a storm, she encompasses so much, what is she going to do? and that's just fun. it feels like freedom. >> there is a lot of dysfunction because that's what soaps thrive on, right? but you are also seeing a healthy family, right, foundation, love, respect. >> reporter: when we visited the set last month, production was just getting underway. >> action. >> reporter: a crew of more than 200 worked around the clock -- >> quiet, please. >> reporter: to make this show a reality. >> i was there, george. >> reporter: whose home are we in? >> the duprees' home. >> this is dani dupree's home the diner. >> reporter: oversaw the cree air qualities of 27 sets. could we talk about this gentleman?

>> yes, a real architect in the '50s. this is one of those gems that we were able to create and acknowledge. >> reporter: and no home would be complete without, oh, man! an elevator. that is fantastic. i am going to stand in the elevator. oh, look at this! it will take you where you want to go. next stop, wardrobe jeresa featherstone is the head costume designer. >> it feels at home. i know these people. it's about family. it's about fashion. we love to get dressed. >> reporter: and last but not least, hair and makeup. hair designer wankaya hinkson and makeup artist stevie martin say historically their departments have often lacked people who knew how to work on actors of color. but not here. >> i wanted everyone to see themselves on television and to

see how we can wear our hair and how different natural hair textures can be just as beautiful as straight. >> reporter: what's the feedback from the actors about getting up from your chair and knowing they look their best? >> they love it. >> when you look good, you feel good. >> reporter: this kind of care and elevation of your work and of your worth, how does that make you feel when you hit the stage and when you are starting to do your scenes? >> proud. so proud. >> proud. confident. >> definitely. that's a great one. >> give it everything you got. >> our girl has seen the light. >> reporter: starting next month the audience will weigh in. hit or miss, sheila ducksworth says the show will have an impact. >> i do think that it will change lives. i think that tv has that power to do that. i really do think it's going to open a lot of eyes. i think it's going to change a lot of perspectives and i think it's going to bring a lot of people together.

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as a new administration prepares to take office, erin moriarty shares the story of a woman who once wielded a very different sort of power. not far from the white house gates. >> i'm the chosen party giver. for the white house clientele. and they know that i deliver what it takes to make them gel. and in washington i'm known by what and all as the hostess with the mostest on the ball. >> reporter: in "call me madam," the 1953 movie version of irving berlin's musical, it was secret that ethel merman was channeling a real person, a wealthy widow by the name of perle mesta. is it fair to say that probably

in the '40s, early '50s she was one of the best known women in america? >> i was astonished. four, 5,000 newspaper stories about her a year. >> reporter: astonishing, says writer meryl gordon, because perle mesta was known mainly as a hostess who gave dazzling parties in the nation's capital, mixing power brokers from both sides of the political aisle with hollywood and broadway stars, and even members of the supreme court. >> perle game friends with a lot of supreme court justices. she s dancing with william o. douglas. >> reporter: she says perle mesta was the woman who knew everyone, and it's the title of her new book. >> she made herself very popular. >> reporter: she bought her way into society in washington, didn't she? >> she did. she was also smart about it. perle figured out how to make

friends with the right people. i am having a couple senators over, maybe you'd like to join us. >> reporter: she was born pearl skirvin, her father a oil man and real estate developer made and lost several fortunes in oklahoma. she moved to pittsburgh after marrying george mesta a steel magnate. when he died in 1925, he left perle, then in her mid-30s, a fortune that today would be worth more than $260 million. she spent that fortune in washington, d.c., says marie ridder, making herself famous. >> she was the social queen of washington, i guess. >> reporter: how old were you the first time you went to a perle mesta party? >> 20. >> reporter: marie ridder a conservationist and retired journalist. >> she invited me to a party because she wanted press coverage. no other reason.

not because she thought i was charming or anything, no. it was the press badge she cared about. >> reporter: and why? why it did she want reporters there? >> she wanted to be known. come on. >> i have never met anybody like perle mesta and i never heard of anybody like her. she was a phenomenon. >> reporter: sally quinn, who covered events like mesta's as a style section reporter for "the washington post," says mesta instinctively knew that work in washington wasn't just conducted in the halls of congress. >> you sit next to somebody at dinner. you know that if you have been trying to get them on the phone, if they are at the white house or the journalist, trying to get them on the phone, you can't. the next day you will be able to call and get them on the phone. >> reporter: by the late 1940s, mesta had become as famous as many of her guests. she inspired a made for tv movie

with shirley booth in this the lead role. >> thank you, mr. president. >> reporter: mesta was even featured on the cover of "time" magazine. >> the cover of "time" magazine, my gosh, it was a huge deal. >> reporter: the coverage, however, wasn't always kind. >> they talked about things, described her in a way that you would never describe a male. her ample bulk. >> her jowls. her, i mean, it was surprisingly cruel. i am not really sure why. it was almost like people were trying to take her down a notch. >> reporter: what made perle mesta such a power in washington was her uncanny ability to recognize political talent before others did. harry truman, dwight eisenhower, lyndon johnson were all early guests at her home. >> she had a real nose for who was going to be powerful. i mean, she was all over them

long before therm who they were. >> reporter: in 1949, after harry truman was elected president, he rewarded mesta by namer her envoy to luxembourg. >> from the united states of america! >> reporter: that's how madam mesta inspired a hit musical. but the appointment didn't go down as well at the state department. >> she was belittled, cut out of meetings. >> our distinguished guest this evening is madam perle mesta, united states -- >> reporter: she was asked about the difficulty she faced on an interview program that aired on cbs at the time. >> have you found being a woman handicap in performing your ministerial duties? >> to a certain extent, it's a handicap because we have to prove ourselves, and we have to

prove that we can do a job. i think maybe we have to work just a little bit harder than the men do. >> reporter: still, mesta thrived in the post, continuing to give parties, including a monthly event for american gis based in europe. >> this went on for four years. she estimated 25,000 soldiers came to her parties. >> reporter: gordon says that only when researching her new biography did she realize what the hostess managed to accomplish behind the scenes. >> it is a great thing to be an american woman. >> reporter: perle mesta, a staunch feminist, and believer in civil rights, broke barriers in 1949 by insisting that truman's inaugural balances be integrated. >> she made an enormous effort to be inclusive at her parties, parties she organized for

democrats in a period which many people weren't comfortable having black folks to their home. she wasn't a civil rights crusader. these were her friends. >> reporter: mesta's star began to fade during the kennedy years. >> i guess many people took her seriously. i think my age group didn't. >> reporter: she died in 1975 at 92 years old. no one since, says sally quinn, haus taken her place. >> i don't think washington could handle a perle mesta today. >> reporter: quinn doubts in the current environment anyone could pull off what perle mesta once did so brilliantly, getting democrats and republicans to sit down at a dinner table and see eye to eye. >> are we missing out on something is, not having that?

>> oh, terribly. it's awful that people can't get together and talk.

nearly two weeks since the start of the devastating fires in and around los angeles, tracy smith looks at some of the sobering lessons that endure in the embers. >> reporter: the monster that roared through l.a. county last week is still alive. but firefighters seem to have it cornered. people have started returning to their homes, or what's left of them. and insurance, if they had it, is a whole other bat. and the focus now is turning from what happened to why it happened and what in the world is next. this disaster is as bad as about anybody can remember, but is it

really just the new normal? >> nature is telling us, i can't take this anymore. i cannot support you if you keep treating me this way. >> reporter: john valiant is the author of "fire weather" on the front lines of a burning world. and he says climate change is making disasters like the wind-driven l.a. fires fierce some. this is not an anomaly. this is the future? >> we can expect fires of this intensity and worse in the future. the types of fires we have seen over the past ten years are qualitatively different from the previous 100 years. >> reporter: wait. the types of fires are different? >> yeah. >> reporter: how has fire changed? >> a number of ways. the most potent and frightening way, obvious to the layperson, people like us, it moves faster and with greater intensity. you talk to any firefighter with any history, they are seeing

different behavior that is in many cases unfightable. >> reporter: and valiant says the cause is something science has been telling us for decades. the co2 that our combustion engines keep pumping into the atmosphere. >> we don't feel it. we don't smell it. we don't notice it. but if you were to take the car engine that brought me here and set it up on the floor here and fired it up, we would go deaf and then we would die. from the emissions. and that's under the hood of every internal combustion engine car, and there are hundreds of millions of them. so the emissions from fire, these trillions of fires we make every day, has created this artificially warm climate. >> reporter: and so, he says, we get more intense fires. stronger hurricanes. and hotter heat waves. >> we are going to lose

everything. and we are not joking. >> reporter: climate scientist peter kalmus has been sounding of the same alarm for years. so do you feel like you are sitting on all this science and you are trying to share it with the world and no one is listening? >> that's exactly how i feel, cre. >> reporter: we met him in 2022 near his home in altadena, california. just as he was about to move his family to north carolina. was part of that move because you were worried about wildfires? >> yeah. so, for a few years i wanted to move to someplace a little bit less fiery, but i want to make it clear i don't think there is any place safe from climate change. >> reporter: he learned that firsthand last year when north carolina was trashed by hurricane helene. and the california fires were a disaster for him, as well. his old house in altadena and his friends' homes all burned to the ground. >> i'm hopeful that if there is a silver lining to this tragedy,

it's that, you know, the public will wake up and get angry and say, we need to do something about this. enough is enough. >> reporter: scientists like peter kalmus have been warning the world about impending climate disaster for years now, but on january 6th, as the fire closed in on altadena, perhaps the most effective warning dame from this guy. edgar mcgregor has been picking up trash in altadena every day for more than five years. he is also into meteorology and runs a facebook page about weather. days before the fires even started, he warned his facebook followers about dangerous conditions, and on january 6th he posted a video telling them to drop everything and get out of town. >> this is imminent! do not bait for an official evacuation notice. if you think you should leave, get out! >> reporter: you literally said, get out. >> i said get out. i stood in the middle of my street at home, filmed myself

with the mountains on fire behind me and told people, this is serious, get your social security cards, your deed to your home. this is the big one, this is not going to employee over. >> reporter: jenn siebert, an altadena mother of two, didn't need to hear that twice. how much of a difference do you think edgar made? >> i think he -- well, he definitely saved my family's life. we all listened to him. he knows what he is talking about. >> reporter: her own house somehow survived. her neighbors weren't so lucky. >> my best friends, they lost everything. >> reporter: but they are alive. >> they are alive. >> reporter: maybe -- >> probably because of edgar, i would imagine. everybody in the beautiful altadena group is alive because of edgar right now. >> reporter: jenn siebert never met edgar mcgregor in person, so we asked if she wanted to shake his hand. >> sorry.

>> reporter: it's okay. >> hi. i have seen all your -- >> yes. >> hi. >> i am sorry. i am sorry. this is horrible. >> i am so appreciative of you. >> thank you. >> and you saved my family and you saved so many people. so, thank you. >> reporter: the fires, experts say, are a warning on a much bigger scale, that the earth will continue to get drier and more volatile unless we do something about climate change. but, of course, warnings only work when people listen. have we just pushed nature too far? >> the upside to all of this is nature is inviting us sternly to re-engage. it's only going to get hotter, and so nature is saying, wake up.

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and here again is jane pauley. >> that's steve guttenberg in "three men and a baby," a movie that helped make him a box office star some years back. but in the past few days guttenberg has assumed a new role. lisa ling tells us how he has become the unlikely face of the fires devastating los angeles. >> important announcement i want to make. >> reporter: january 7th, as the palisades fire exploded, a man interrupted a reporter's live shot. >> thank you for talking to us live, sir. is your name? >> steve guttenberg. >> reporter: steve guttenberg, one of the biggest movie stars of 1980s and '90s. >> may the force be with you! >> these cars were going on fire. >> reporter: he had been moving cars so emergency vehicles could get through. he can't remember how he got to

safety. >> thank you, guys. >> reporter: this part of sunset was just? >> stacked with cars, yeah. couldn't get through. so i was moving some of these cars over there. and then a lot of these cars didn't have keys in them. locked. >> reporter: right. >> so it's like -- >> reporter: many days later much of his hometown reduced to ruins, he was still there to protect his and his neighbors' homes. what is in you telling you to stay here? >> it's not often in life that you feel like you can make a difference, and i really feel like i can make a difference. i am able-bodied, i'm strong. i have a heart and i care. and this is what i'm supposed to do today. >> reporter: if you know steve guttenberg, you know he is a helper. seven years ago he put everything on hold to care for someone with whom he was deeply in love. his father.

i am going to try to get through this interview without crying because i lost my dad. >> what because your dad's name? >> reporter: douglas. >> hi, douglas. you know, when you say a person's name who has passed, they come around. i believe they are not always with you, because they have other things to do. but douglas is here. so is stanley, my dad. >> reporter: tell me about stanley. what was your dad like? how would you describe him? >> he was the greatest. he was the first man who ever held me. first guy ever looked in his eyes. and i fell in love my dad. >> reporter: guttenberg has written a book about his journey as a caregiver for the man he considers his hero. it's called "time to thank." >> my dad and his dad weren't close. my grandfather was cold. he wasn't a kiss, hugging type of dad to my father. so my dad was the opposite. >> reporter: a kissing and hugging dad who worked jobs that weren't exactly touchy-feely. >> he was an airborne army

ranger. he was a new york city policeman. he was a powerlifter, weight lifter, and he did handstands for 20 minutes. for. >> reporter: his dad was also a hands-on parent. it was to steve's surprise when he wanted to move to l.a. at 17 to try to become a movie star, he was allowed to do it. >> my parents gave me $300. they said you got two weeks. and i got a kentucky fried chicken commercial. my parents let me stay another two weeks. i got a little movie. >> not liking school is uncooperative? >> i got more commercials. then i actually stayed a year before i quit and went back to school. >> reporter: he wasn't in school for long before hollywood beckoned him back. >> i was at a party in my my suite at albany state and got a call from my agent. everybody was a little inebriated. and my agent said, i got an audition for you, it was boys from brazil.

it was going to be starring greg peck and larry olivia and james mason. >> reporter: hard to turn that down, right? >> yeah. i asked my dad. he said, go down and do the audition. if you get it, you will decide. and i got the job. >> reporter: guttenberg says it was laurence olivier who taught him humility. it was his dad who helped him get a break about a film about a bunch of misfits joining the police force. >> you make me sick. >> i told my dad i had a screen test coming up for this movie "police academy." he said, well, you should wear my police academy shirt. i said, yeah. and i remember going to the screen test and i was up against another actor who is really talented. and the director said, hold on here, boy. did you make that shirt? i said, no. it's my dad's real police academy shirt. half a day later my agent called and said, you got it. and maybe it was because of that

cadet shirt that my dad gave me. >> that's incredible! >> reporter: guttenberg would go on to become one of the busiest actors of his generation. with more than 100 films and tv shows under his belt. >> this is the deal. you are going to have to wash where the poop was. now, come on. >> all right. >> come on. >> reporter: all the while, his dad was there, ready to bring him back to reality. often calling before the rest of l.a. got out of bed. you never missed that 6:00 a.m. call? >> no. i had to be home at 6:00. even if i got home at five to six, i had to answer that phone. he was my anchor. >> reporter: when his dad was diagnosed with kidney failure while living in phoenix, guttenberg got in his car. driving 400 miles every week to care for his father.

>> the drive really gave me time to think and time to thank. >> reporter: steve guttenberg and his siblings even became home dialysis techs. but only he couldn't accept the inevitable of. >> i gave him a hug. something didn't sound right. we had a nurse with us. the nurse put a stethoscope to him. she said, he is gone. i said, no. and i started doing cpr on him. i just couldn't accept it at that moment. >> reporter: when would you say you finally let him go? >> probably let him go a year later. it's hard to believe he is gone. i still think that he is here. >> reporter: he is. >> he is. >> reporter: just say his name. >> stanley. >> reporter: and right now he thinks his father is sending along some helpful advice.

do you feel stanley presence? >> my dad is around. i feel my dad is here with me. i think he is also saying, steven, enough, get out of there. >> reporter: so far, his home is still standing, but steve guttenberg says it's time to listen to his dad. >> you know, the truth is, no matter how big your house is, how much money you have, how expensive your car, at the end of walking down the street with a little suitcase of a few things that you saved and you're looking for someone to tell you where to go. >> reporter: yeah. >> right? (♪♪) years of hard work. decades of dedication. committed to giving back. you've been there, done that. and you're still here for more. so now that you're 50 or older, and at increased risk for pneumococcal pneumonia and ipd be proactive with capvaxive- a vaccine specifically designed for adults

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what's old is new again in washington, d.c., as donald trump prepares to once again take the oath of office. here's correspondent robert costa. >> reporter: four years ago donald and melania trump bid farewell. >> hopefully, it's not a long-term goodbye. we'll see each other again. >> reporter: many in both parties believed trump was heading into a permanent political winter, especially after he sought to overturn the 2020 election. >> mike pence, i hope you stand up for the good of our constitution and for the good of our country. and if you're not, i am going to be very disappointed in you. i will tell you right now. >> reporter: and a mob of his supporters attacked the capitol. >> usa! usa! usa! >> goodbye. we love you. we will be back in some form. >> reporter: but the 45th

president saw the moment differently. as a pause, not an end. >> usa! usa! usa! >> well, i want to thank you all very much. >> reporter: and now, the trumps are back. >> to rescue our economy, i will sign -- >> reporter: the soon to be 47th president is promising mass deportations, trade tariffs, tax cuts, and a smaller federal government. >> america has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. >> i think it will be shock and awe. he is going to parade down pennsylvania avenue swing those doors open at the oval office and sign a hundred or more executive orders that overturn the damage of the last four years. >> reporter: indiana's jim banks, a staunch trump ally in the house during the first term, was elected to the senate last year. >> has he changed as a person at

all or is it the same trump? >> well, i don't think he has changed at all. i think he learned a lot of lessons. he is making it very clear to republicans in the senate and house we have a short window of time to get things done. that's a different attitude than 2017. but there were a lot of things that president trump wanted to accomplish in the first two years we never got aren't to do. he won't miss the moment this time. >> reporter: you say, senator, he has a short window to get things done. is he effectively a lame duck? he can't run for re-election again. >> i would never call donald trump a lame duck. the political reality, the midterms are right around the corner. >> reporter: getting congress to go along with his plans could be tricky. yes, trump has a bully pulpit. >> putin said that he wants to meet with me as soon as possible. >> reporter: to do pressure world leaders, business titans and lawmakers. but the republican majorities are paper thin. >> i am your warrior.

i am your justice. i am your retribution. we will take care of it. >> reporter: trump's sense of vengeance also hovers and critics worry nominees, mario carbone for fbi director and tulsi gabbard for director of national intelligence, could upend institutions. what do you say to progressives, to democrats who still feel down about the election result? >> look, this is a very pivotal moment in american history. you don't have the time to moan and groan. you don't have the time to live in despair. you've got to fight back. >> reporter: democrats and independences adjusting to this new political reality. >> trump is a little bit crazy but he not stupid. >>reporter: and vermont senator bernie sanders despite his many disagreements with trump says he is keeping an open mind. >> we don't want to count everything he is doing. there are things that he said over the years that make sense to me.

you want to lower the cost of prescription drugs in america, we will work with you. >> reporter: for him the art of the deal persists to a point. is trump's transactional nature an up or down -- >> it's up. but when you are going to sell out the american working class, which i suspect will be the case very often, we are going to oppose you vigorously. >> reporter: president biden in his farewell address gave democrats a playbook of sorts for how to define trump and his allies. >> an oligarchy is taking shape in america of extreme wealth, power an influence that tlerns our democracy. >> reporter: you used the term oligarchy to describe the allies of president trump. not a term we often hear in american politics. >> you know why i used the word oligarchy? it's true. when donald trump takes office, he is going to have elon musk, jeff bezos, and mark zuckerberg at his side. the three wealthiest people in this country.

that's called oligarchy. >> reporter: republicans say, hold on. and insist they have solidarity with working people. >> i grew up in a working class home, son of a union factory worker, voted democrat all of his life. hated nafta. my dad was immediately captured by donald trump. i thought my dad was crazy at the time. he was right. he is one of those former union works class democrat voters who is a solid trump republican voter today, and that changed american politics in such a significant way and i think american politics will be changed the rest of my life. >> reporter: this summer will mark ten years since donald trump came down that golden escalator. and tomorrow's inauguration highlights what once seemed impossible. trump has endured and dominated american life. with his highs, his lows, his

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on the each of president joe biden's departure from the white house, we asked historian douglas brinkley for his assessment of four 46th president. >> when president richard nixon died in 1994, most americans thought instantly of one word. watergate. they didn't think of the epa, the vital government agency

nixon created. nor did this he think of china, the country he visit as president and strengthened diplomatic ties with. no, the country remembered him above all -- >> i shall resign at noon tomorrow. >> reporter: for his foulest political blunder. whether the same fate will befall joe biden remains to be seen. his achievements are tang and noum am numerous. enrollment in the affordable care act doubled from four years. he got more federal judges confirmed than any president in a single term save jimmy carter. his steadfast support for ukraine and nato expansion at a time of creeping autocracy in europe was heroic. but biden's mistakes cost him and his country dearly. he appointed an attorney general, merrick garland, whose painstaking scrupulousness delayed and doomed the doj's prosecution of donald trump.

furthermore, biden undermined his own credibility by pardoning his son after he repeatedly vowed not to. another broken promise proved far more consequential. biden's implicit campaign pledge in 2020 that his presidency would serve as a bridge to a new generation of leaders rang hollow when he ran for re-election four years later. >> i decide the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. >> he handed the reins to his vice president kamala harris, he put her in an inauspicious position from which she didn't recover. biden's mistaking conviction that he and he alone could defeat the man he considered a threat to the democratic order is the very reason that man will place his hand on the bible tomorrow. >> so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. >> over his 50 years of public

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we leave you this sunday morning in president-elect trump's home state of florida, roaming with key deer at big pine key. i'm jane pauley. please join us when our trumpet sounds again next sunday mor i'm jane pauley, please join us with our trumpet sounds again next s day morning. i'm margaret brennan and this is "face the nation." the cease-fire is in place. the prisoner swap is under way. is this the beginning of the end