>> reporter: when it came time to rebuild in their town of superior, where new construction is everywhere, they chose a design concept called passive house. it behaviors different in a fire than a traditional house where embers get sucked inside through roof vents. it's one of the reasons why we've seen homes in los angeles burning from the inside out, something the passive home seeks to prevent. >> there is very few places for an ember to get caught. >> reporter: johnny risvani who supplies materials for passive homes is telling us compared to the roof vents on most houses, this house has just a single air intake. and inside a powerful filtration system that controls the flow of air, keeping the embers out. >> as opposed to most homes, you've got a lot of different vents for a lot of different purposes. >> reporter: this has one. >> this has one intake. and in extreme weather situation, what you would do if you had the evacuate you would close off that intake. >> reporter: this home in los angeles, the only one still

standing in its neighborhood, followed similar building principles. but the challenge for some homeowners is the cost. it can be up to 7% more to build a home like this. and that might be one reason why just six of the 300 homes that have been rebuilt in this town are passive. but there is another way that the state of colorado is dealing with this on a much larger scale, and that's a new state law. >> right away, i was shocked that we don't require building standards roar lisa cutter is a democratic state senator. why was that surprising to you? >> if your house isn't well protected and you don't do everything you can and mitigate for fire around the property, et cetera, then you're putting your neighbor's house at risk. >> reporter: in colorado, more than one million structures are built in places that meet or mix with natural areas where there is a threat of wildfire. across the u.s., it's 48 million homes, or a third of all housing. cutter pushed for the creation of colorado's wildfire resiliency code board. it will identify areas with the highest wildfire threats, and

for the first time, enforce mandatory wildfire construction codes. >> people should be building in a way that's appropriate for the environment they live in. >> reporter: when you think about climate change, do you feel like you need to be prepared for things that are worse than you ever thought they were going to be? >> i mean, we've experienced something that i never thought you'd experience. and i'm ready for it to happen again. >> reporter: across the west, the time has come for some people to rethink how they live

well, we are deep into awards show season, and in just about a month, the oscars will be handed out. the academy recently announced the nominees, and cbs' vladimir duthiers explains some of the picks made history. >> i'll never let you down! >> reporter: "emilia perez," netflix's musical about a trans drug lord in mexico scored 13 nominations, including the first ever nod to an openly transgendered actor, karla sofia gascon for best actress, helping netflix lead in nominations among all studios. following with ten nominations each, "wicked" and "the brutalist" were both nominated for best picture, and ariana grande got her first nomination in a supporting role. ♪ ♪ when you and i are defying

gravity ♪ >> reporter: her co-star cynthia erivo made oscar history by becoming the second black female performer ever to be nominated for multiple times, bringing the actress to tears on a plane as she learned the news. >> i'm fine. everything's fine. >> reporter: after decades in the business, demi moore is another first-time nominee for best actress. she plays a beauty obsessed aerobics instructor in "the substance." >> demi moore getting nominated for an oscar, talk about a comeback. >> reporter: marc malkin, senior editor of variety says moore is a favorite to win. as for surprises -- >> what everyone is missing, of course, were a lot of people who weren't nominated. >> reporter: he said those include nicole kidman for "baby girl," denzel washington for his role in "gladiator ii" and pamela anderson for "the last show girl".

>> these are categories that are really stacked. it's really hard to get it down to just five. >> reporter: as los angeles is still reeling from the fires, malkin says the oscar celebrations may be toned down. but the community wants this opportunity to show its strength. >> hollywood and los angeles still wants to show the world that they're in business. >> that was vladimir putin duthier reporting. a disaster film was not nominated for an oscar this year, but stories of people fighting for survival are wildly popular with audiences and have been for decades. cbs' michelle miller went to find out why. >> reporter: with its epic scale, all-star cast, and groundbreaking special effects, 1974's "the towering inferno" set the standard for disaster films during a decade that celebrated the genre like never before. >> work it around, up there. >> reporter: the action takes place at the world's tallest building, which catches fire on its opening night. >> got to move all these people out of here. >> reporter: trapping a group of

a-list partygoers on the highest of its 138 floors. the film was so big, it took two studios to finance it and featured a huge ensemble cast that included some of the biggest names of the day -- paul newman, steve mcqueen, faye dunaway, william holden, and fred astaire, who won a best supporting oscar for his performance in the film. i got a chance to rewatch the film with screen crush editor-in-chief matt singer at fort lee, new jersey's barrymore film center. irwin allen's production of -- irwin allen was the king of disasters. >> the master of disaster. "towering inferno." like you said, one of the ultimate disaster movies, and the most successful. it was the number one movie of 1974. >> i mean, look. steve mcqueen, paul newman, uber stars. >> they almost didn't make the movie together because they

couldn't decide whose name will be first? >> so who went out? i can't recall. >> well, they invented a billing that had never been used in movies before. that was their solution. one a little lower on the left, one a little higher on the right. >> reporter: "the towering inferno" earned a whopping $200 million at the box office. >> this is real water, real fire. there is no green screens here. >> get down! >> reporter: but it was just one of over 30 disaster movies released during the decade, including "earthquake," airport," and "the poseidon adventure." >> oh my god. >> reporter: what makes these so entertaining to watch? >> when you think of big hollywood movies, we tend to think of escapism. and here we have movies that are about these horrible catastrophes, these things that

we tend to want to escape from thinking about for two hours when we go to the movies. but i think what it comes down ultimately are two things. one, even though there is some sort of tragedy that's happening and a lot of characters do die, there are always that handful that survive. so what happens is we in the audience are safe, and we like to kind of imagine what we would do in these situations and perhaps think well, we would be the ones to survive. then there is one other important aspect. they have tons of special effects and they have tons of movie stars. and what do people love at the movies more than special effects and movie stars? advisers disaster movies got their start in the silent era when films like 1901's "fire" enthralled audiences. by the 1950s, "godzilla" and invading aliens were doing the

damage. >> you'll kill yourself for nothing if you explode that bomb. >> reporter: 20 years later, "airport" and its increasingly silly sequels saw the genre inspire some serious parody, like the movie "airplane." >> surely you can't be serious. >> i am serious. and don't call my shirley. >> you can watch "airport 1975" and you can see some of the inspiration for "airplane." you've got a singing nun. ♪ would you take better care of yourself ♪ >> just the most absurd scenario with an airplane that is flying, has a giant hole in it, but it's still flying straight, and there is no pilot, and the stewardess has to take over. >> there is no one left to fly the plane. >> so the movies are getting so absurd. >> reporter: yeah. >> and so outlandish, there is nowhere to go at that point, you can't help but laugh at them.

people had had enough. and that was when they sort of died out for a while. >> reporter: for the most part, hollywood put disaster movies on the back burner for much of the '80s. but eventually, the fascination returned. >> after a while, everything is cyclical. they had been gone for so long, and then movie making technology had gotten so good that in the 1990s, people started to make them again. >> reporter: what was that big comeback film? >> well, the big ones were really movies like "twister," "independence day" and the biggest of them all is "titanic" we don't necessarily think of that as a disaster movie. >> reporter: it is the ultimate disaster film. >> it really is. it has lots of characters, beautiful stars, romance, tragedy, survival, it's got it all. >> reporter: the '90s introduced cgi effects, and that innovation continued into the new millennium with films like "the day after tomorrow" and "san

andreas". >> oh my god. >> reporter: as for matt singer's favorite disaster title? >> boy, if you want to watch a bad disaster movie, like you're in the mood for something really silly, you're not going the find much sillier than "the swarm." it is a disaster movie about killer bees. >> the killer bees are coming, everybody get inside! >> reporter: and michael caine, he just looks so miserable. he looks like he is looking off camera for someone to call cut. >> but i have to speak to him, and i mean right now! >> reporter: he just so angry. not at the bees, but at himself for being in the movie. >> that was michelle miller reporting. stay with us. this is "cbs news ro dup."

the philadelphia eagles will take on the kansas city chiefs at the super bowl in less than two weeks. the chiefs advance to their fifth super bowl in six years

sunday after defeating the buffalo bills. cbs' steve hartman has the story of one player on that team who has won the friend of a lifetime. >> reporter: number 22, buffalo bills rookie running back sensation ray davis took to the field last month and made a beeline for this man. >> how are you doing, baby. >> reporter: patrick dowling, a man so near and dear to ray that for this game, on his cleats, he wore a picture taken the day it all began. do you remember the first time you met ray? >> i do. he looked right at me and he pointed. and he said are you patrick? yes, i am. man, you don't even know how long i've been waiting to meet you. >> reporter: in 2007, ray was 8 years old and in san francisco's tenderloin district when he saw a flyer for the big brothers-big sisters program. were you actually homeless? >> at times, yeah. >> reporter: ray says his parents were in and out of his life, and he was craving stability.

so he signed up for a big brother. >> i needed it. i needed love. i needed consistently. i needed somebody who was going to be there and teach me right from wrong. >> reporter: and that person was patrick? >> yeah. that will forever be my big brother. >> reporter: they spent countless sundays together. from those early pop warner football games through patrick's wedding, ray became like part of the family. and although he has always been grateful, until this game, ray hadn't been in a position to show his gratitude quite like this. >> this is it. this is the moment. and that's something that i wanted to give back to him. >> reporter: the team honored patrick during the pregame, and later, ray even scored a touchdown. the cherry on top of all those sundays. >> to all the people out there that have ever considered doing it, it's not that difficult, you know. don't overthink what it takes to make a difference in a kid's

life. >> reporter: and he says don't underestimate the effect you can have. >> love you. >> see you. that's today's "cbs news roundup." for some of you, the news continues. for others, tune in later for "cbs mornings," and follow us online any time at cbsnews.com. reporting from the cbs broadcast center in new york city, i'm shanelle kaul. ♪

hello, and thanks so much for watching. i'm shanelle kaul in new york, and this is "cbs news roundup." here are the top stories. president trump takes aim at dei in the military, and justice department employees who worked on criminal investigations against him. legal challenges are expected after the trump administration files a slew of inspectors general. and sea of humanity is now on the move in gaza, heading home during the ceasefire. but is hamas building up again? president donald trump has now ordered a revision of the military's policy on transgendered troops, likely setting up a future ban. trump is also reinstating armed services members forced out by vaccine mandates. plus, we're learning more about new firings at the justice

department. erica brown has more from the capitol hill. >> reporter: president trump spoke at the annual retreat of house republicans at his doral resort in miami. >> in a single week, i've taken over 350 executive actions. we've signed 300. whoever heard of that one? >> reporter: he signed more monday night related to the military, including reinstating service members discharged for refusing to get the covid vaccine and building an iron dome missile defense shield similar to the one that protects israel. earlier republicans celebrated colombia agreeing to accept undocumented migrants from the u.s. after refusing them over the weekend. the president had threatened tariffs and sanctions. >> days of weakness, of indecisiveness, of leadership malaise in the white house are over. it's a new day in america. it's a new day for world. >> reporter: cbs news has learned president trump will sign the laken riley bill at the white house, the first legislation he'll sign into law in his second term. it requires the detention of

unauthorized migrants accused of violent crimes and thefts. >> our voices matter. >> reporter: as immigration remains a top administration priority, several protests were held around the country against the deportations of undocumented migrant. >> people shouldn't be walking around in fear or be scared to go anywhere. >> reporter: cbs news has also confirmed the justice department is firing more than a dozen officials who worked on special counsel jack smith's team prosecuting trump. erica brown, cbs news, washington. inspectors general in the federal government are meant to be nonpartisan watchdogs who root out corruption and fraud, but president donald trump has now eliminated more than a dozen of them. cbs' weijia jiang reports on that controversial decision. >> reporter: marc lee greenblatt served as the inspector general for the department of interior until late friday night when president trump fired him, along with more than a dozen other igs. >> this is absolutely unprecedented.

there is nothing that's ever happened remotely like this. >> reporter: greenblatt, who trump appointed during his first term, worries about who could replace him. >> the key is that our reports have credibility because we're independent. >> reporter: california senator adam schiff says trump broke the law because he did not give congress the required 30-day notice. >> the american people, if we don't have good and independent inspector generals, are going to see the swamp refill. >> reporter: but republicans like senator lindsey graham were quick to defend the president. >> get new people. he feels like the government hasn't worked very well for the american people. these watchdog folks did a pretty lousy job. >> reporter: just one week into his second term, trump has shut down dei programs across the government, removed at least 20 state department officials in leadership roles, and 160 staffers with the national security council were sent home while the administration reviews staffing. >> it's just simply stunning in

its scope and its depth and its speed. there has simply never been an administration i think in american history that has tried to do so much so fast. >> reporter: this week, much of washington will have eyes on three of trump's most controversial picks to fill his cabinet. senate confirmation hearings are scheduled for his nominees for the director of national intelligence, tulsi gabbard, for secretary of health and human service, robert f. kennedy jr. and fbi director kash patel. those are three fierce loyalists who have some prickly records to defend. weijia jiang, cbs news, miami. after more than a year of warfare in gaza, between israel and the iranian-backed hamas militia, palestinian refugees from the northern part of gaza have finally been allowed to return home. tens of thousands of them streamed into their heavily destroyed neighborhoods on monday. meanwhile, cbs' elizabeth palmer in east jerusalem reports that hamas is now taking advantage of

the ceasefire to regroup and recruit. >> reporter: israel's assault on gaza killed thousands of hamas fighters. but it also created a whole generation of new ones. "i have nothing left. today i'm prepared to join hamas." >> reporter: he asked that we call him ram my. . he is 22 and told an israeli air strike killed both his parents and two siblings. "i worked at a restaurant. my ambition was to be a talented chef, to earn a good salary". >> reporter: hamas started the war on october 7th, 2023 when they attacked israel and murdered more than a thousand people. but 15 months of relentless israeli bombing hasn't wiped them out. their handover last saturday of four israeli hostages was a spectacle to project power and draw new recruits.

israel ziv is a retired general with the israeli defense forces. >> they can recruit thousands of people. it's not even a question. and definitely there is enough hatred there for young people to join the hamas. >> reporter: hatred rooted in despair. the prospects in gaza couldn't be bleaker. virtually no jobs, no homes, and no future. >> if israel will not push for an alternative, i think it's only a matter of time until the hamas, which is already there and never left will rebuild itself and, you know, the next october 7th is only a question of time. >> reporter: an alternative for gazans would require a working economy, billions of dollars in reconstruction funds, and a peace plan leading to a palestinian state. sadly, right now, all of those look a long way off. elizabeth palmer, cbs news, east

jerusalem. stock markets were in a frenzy monday over an artificial intelligence chatbot made by a chinese start-up. the ai program called deepseek is now the number one downloaded free app on iphone. what's worrying investors is that it appears to have quickly caught up with american tech companies at the forefront of ai development while at a fraction of the cost. taking a look at the markets, the dow finished the day in the grown on monday, beginning 289 points. but the tech heavy nasdaq took a beating, down a whopping 612 points and the s&p 500 was down 88 points. up next on "cbs news roundup," wildfires in southern california have revealed a homeowners insurance crisis. even those

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this is "cbs news roundup." i'm shanelle kaul in new york. two democratic lawmakers in california have proposed legislation that would let residents and insurance companies sue oil and gas companies for damages caused by climate change. the state is reeling from billions of dollars in damage caused by recent wildfires. as cbs' mark strassmann explains, a homeowners insurance crisis is unfold, and not just in california. >> that's the living room. dining room, kitchen. >> reporter: virtually everything robert kovarubia has owned has settled into heaps of ash. >> that's the refrigerator. >> reporter: his family of six has lived in altadena for ten years. their american dream had four bedrooms, four baths, 2400 square feet. >> from three miles, you could see the flames coming our way. >> reporter: l.a.'s eaton fire swept through their neighborhood. >> it's going to be tough for us

to make an inventory of everything we lost, right. >> reporter: covarrubias, an i.t. executive helps alex can help. he is an independent insurance adjuster fire victims hire to help. we listened as he delivered bad news. >> you're underensured when it comes to the policy. and there is clearly not going to be enough to make you whole again. >> reporter: that's true even though covarrubias' homeowners policy covers more than $1 million in losses. >> based off your numbers, it's anywhere between 500 to a million dollars short. >> reporter: he is sis staring second disaster, a financial one. what are you going to do? >> i don't know yet. it's devastating. it hurts. >> reporter: he drove us through scarred and scared altadena neighborhoods, scared, wondering how they'll ever afford to rebuild. >> the cost to rebuild, the

materials are outpacing the policies. >> reporter: so the idea that people are going to be made whole in many cases is a pipe dream? >> i don't know how families are going to be able to do it. >> reporter: for some victims, the loss is both total and totally out of pocket. nationally, 12% of americans have no home insurance. with premiums soaring, they dropped their coverage and roll the dice. and then a disaster like this lost big. >> i don't think most americans understand that they're underinsured. i think most americans see insurance as something they have to do. >> reporter: jeremy porter studies natural insurance after disasters. take colorado's fire in 2021. a $2 billion disaster. an estimated three fourths of victims discovered they were underinsured. >> if your home is completely destroyed, it's very difficult for most insurance policies to cover the complete rebuild of a property. so there is a second layer of kind of revictimization.

>> reporter: that's where robert covarrubias now finds himself. his savings now compete with a million dollars in uninsured losses. are you determined to rebuild? >> yeah. >> reporter: here? >> yeah. the property is worth it. the place is worth it. >> reporter: it's an assurance to his family. his insurance makes that more

. around the world, people paused monday to remember the six million jews who died in the holocaust. 80 years ago, the nazi concentration camp of auschwitz b birkenau was liberated. cbs news shares the story of a 94 holocaust survivor in st. louis who formed an unlikely friendship with a nazi descendant. we must warn the story contains images difficult to watch. >> reporter: on a wednesday day in st. louis, holocaust survivor oscar jacob enjoys life's simple pleasures. >> i did it! >> reporter: it's a far cry from his youth in romania, where in 1944, jews were rounded up and sent to auschwitz. 13 at the time, oscar survived by claiming to be older. he was put to work while 41 family members were put to

death. >> and i wanted to say gun to my mom and never had a chance. they would be killing about 500 people at a time. and if the crematorium was overcrowded that they couldn't burn the bodies that fast, they would burn the bodies on the outside. >> reporter: months later, he was forced to travel without food or water to the nazi camp middle baldora, there he toiled in underground bunkers building the b-1. >> the condition in the tunnel was horrible. prisoners, they just couldn't continue working so many hours and so hungry and thirsty. so they would take a pause without permission. but they grabbed these prisoners and they hung them in the tunnel. the rest of us were forced to punch the dead bodies that were hanging. >> it sounded like a tank in the

sky. and it exploded with deadly results on london. >> reporter: the b-1 was the world's first cruise missile, designed to terrorize and kill civilians. >> 6,000 people dead, 17,000 injured. >> reporter: fast forward to 2013 and a world away, gabriel lesariko was dying of cancer, and stunned her daughters with a final request, to finish her memoir. suzanne rico only knew her mom grew up in germany during world war ii. this image of her grandfather hunk in the home. >> we could say mom, tell us about our grandfather. and she would say "he was a genius," and that was it. >> reporter: but in her mom's photos and films, rico uncovered a family secret. robert lesser, her grandfather, was the nazi engineer behind hitler's v-1. >> you can't fool yourself about what it was used for. it was a killing machine.

>> reporter: rico was a news anchor used to asking tough questions. so she confronted her ancestry in a podcast, the man who calculated death. what amends can you make when you can't go back and change history? >> reporter: she and her sister traveled to germany and walked the tunnels of dora. >> you know, you can feel the souls of the dead, the damage. and it became really clear to me that i needed to talk to somebody who was there. >> reporter: a holocaust survivor group connected her with oscar, who agreed to a meeting. >> to be honest with you, i was very skeptical. i didn't know if i can trust her. >> and my hands were shaking. was it going to be somebody who was angry, who blamed me? rightfully so. >> reporter: but oscar welcomed her into his home. an unexpected friendship has grown. ♪ >> reporter: what was it that she said to you? >> she said "i'm sorry." and no german never said to me i'm sorry what happened to you

and your family. and to me, that meant a lot. and god bless her for that. >> reporter: he we joined oscar and his family as they visited the st. louis holocaust museum where oscar's story is among the survivors. >> see, that's exactly how i looked. like a skeleton. >> oh my god. >> reporter: four years after the war, he recalls sailing into new york harbor. >> we were dancing and laughing and joking, and we just couldn't take our eyes off that we're in america. >> reporter: he met margo, his wife of 67 years, and together they raised four boys while he worked as a plumber. his free time was spent at a nearby farm where the animals helped him cope with recurring nightmares. >> on a daily basis, i cannot forget. it comes back over and over again. >> reporter: now at 94, with

eight grandchildren, his message of never forget is sure to

the vanderbilt transplant center in nashville, tennessee, has set a world record for the number of heart transplants performed in a year. cbs' nikki hauser takes us inside the busy operating rooms where in 2024, doctors saved the lives of 174 people.

>> we're in operating room 11, which is a cardiac operating room in the midst of a heart transplant. >> rewarm. >> rewarm. >> reporter: this team is hours into surgery, and the time has finally come. one heart comes out and a new one takes its place. >> you don't want cardiac surgery to be exciting. you want it to be boring. that's our goal. >> reporter: while it's just another day for the vanderbilt transplant team, this past year has been anything but routine. together they set a world record, performing 174 heart transplants in 2024. >> there is not a more cool thing than to take a bad old heart out and put a new one and it work and it help change someone's life for the better. >> i love you. >> reporter: down the hall, sarah dylan is recovering from her own heart transplant surgery. >> i feel like a miracle. >> i started crying. i was thanking god. we got the call.

thank you, god, thank you, lord, thank you, vanderbilt. >> reporter: it's patients like sarah that bring this team back to the o.r. every day. it's what drives them to stay ahead of the curve, like developing unique technologies and strategies to preserve the organs. >> and those things i think have allowed us to travel longer distances to recover hearts and consider hearts that might otherwise be discarded. >> we've taken hearts from alaska, puerto rico, canada. >> reporter: they all end up right in this room. where the whole team works to make history again. >> the real driver for all this is innovation. how do we do it better, how do we solve the next set of problems that are associated with not just transplantation, but advanced cardiovascular disease. >> reporter: nikki hauser, cbs ne , nashville,

it is tuesday, january 28th, 2025. this is