At least 24 dead as strong winds return to fuel California wildfires

WE BEGIN WITH THE STORY CAPTIVATING THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.  THE FIRES IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 

AT LEAST 24 PEOPLE ARE NOW CONFIRMED DEAD AND DOZENS MORE ARE MISSING. 

THIS MORNING, FIREFIGHTERS SAY THEY’RE MAKING PROGRESS AGAINST THE WILDFIRES THAT HAVE NOW BEEN BURNING FOR ALMOST A WEEK IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA.   BUT THE THREAT WILL REMAIN VERY HIGH AS DANGEROUS SANTA ANA WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO PICK-UP AGAIN — STARTING TODAY. 

WEARY FIRE CREWS SAY IT’S NOT SAFE ENOUGH, IN MANY AREAS, TO ASSESS THE TRUE TOTAL DAMAGE. 

THREE FIRES CONTINUE TO BURN THIS MORNING: THE PALISADES, THE EATON, AND THE HURST FIRES — ALL OF WHICH BROKE OUT LAST TUESDAY. 

THE PALISADES FIRE REMAINS THE BIGGEST AND LEAST CONTAINED, AT MORE THAN 23-THOUSAND ACRES WITH ONLY ABOUT 13 PERCENT CONTAINMENT. 

OFFICIALS EXPANDED EVACUATION ORDERS FOR THE PALISADES FIRE AS IT NOW MOVES EAST, THREATENING THE BRENTWOOD AND ENCINO AREAS. 

THE EATON FIRE IS JUST OVER 14-THOUSAND ACRES AND 27 PERCENT CONTAINED. 

ACCORDING TO CAL FIRE, THEY’RE NOW THE SECOND AND FOURTH MOST DESTRUCTIVE FIRES IN STATE HISTORY. 

THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT SAYS FLAMES HAVE DESTROYED MORE THAN 7-THOUSAND BUILDINGS IN THE EATON FIRE ALONE.  INVESTIGATORS ARE ONLY ABOUT A QUARTER OF THE WAY THROUGH THEIR DAMAGE ASSESSMENT. 

THE COUNTY IS NOW UNDER A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF THE PLUMES OF SMOKES, BLOWING AND HOVERING, AS WELL AS PARTICULATE MATTER, WHICH COULD NOT ONLY BE A PROBLEM NOW, BUT IN THE LONG TERM, AS WELL.

NOW TO THE ONGOING WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST — THIS MORNING — MEDIATORS WITH THE U-S, QATAR, AND EGYPT SAY THEY’VE MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS IN BROKERING A CEASEFIRE DEAL BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS, BUT NOTHING HAS BEEN FINALIZED JUST YET. 

THE DEAL WOULD ALSO RESULT IN THE RELEASE OF DOZENS OF HOSTAGES, HELD  BY HAMAS IN THE GAZA STRIP EVER SINCE THE TERROR GROUP ATTACKED ISRAEL ON OCTOBER 7TH 2023.  IT IS BELIEVED THERE ARE ARE TOTAL OF 98 HOSTAGES, HOWEVER AS MANY AS THREE DOZEN ARE FEARED DEAD. 

OFFICIALS,  BRIEFED ON THE NEGOTIATIONS,  SAID THERE WAS A BREAKTHROUGH IN DOHA OVERNIGHT,  FOLLOWING TALKS BETWEEN ISRAEL’S SPY CHIEFS, PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST ENVOY, STEVE WITKOFF,  AND QATAR’S PRIME MINISTER. 

IN ADDITION — ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU AND PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN SPOKE ABOUT THE CEASE-FIRE DEAL ON THE PHONE SUNDAY.   

OFFICIALS SAY NEGOTIATORS FOR ISRAEL AND HAMAS HAVE TAKEN A PROPOSED FINAL DRAFT OF THE DEAL BACK TO THEIR LEADERS FOR APPROVAL. 

THIS IS **NOT** THE FIRST TIME THERE APPEARS TO BE A DEAL,  TO END THE DEVASTATING WAR, IS CLOSE. 

THE U-S HAS SAID SEVERAL TIMES OVER THE PAST YEAR A DEAL WAS IMMINENT,  ONLY FOR IT TO FALL THROUGH. 

AN EGYPTIAN OFFICIAL SAID AN AGREEMENT WILL LIKELY TAKE A FEW MORE DAYS — AND BOTH SIDES ARE AIMING FOR A DEAL BEFORE DONALD TRUMP’S INAUGURATION NEXT MONDAY. 

HOWEVER, HAMAS SAYS THERE STILL ARE ISSUES IT SAYS NEED TO BE RESOLVED — INCLUDING AN ISRAELI COMMITMENT TO ENDING THE WAR  AND DETAILS ABOUT THE WITHDRAWAL OF ISRAELI TROOPS FROM GAZA AND THE HOSTAGE-PRISONERS.

TO POLITICS – AS CHANGES ARE UNDERWAY IN WASHINGTON — TWO BIG INTERVIEWS ARE MAKING HEADLINES THIS MORNING. THE INCOMING VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE AND THE OUTGOING FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY GAVE THEIR THOUGHTS TO FOX NEWS AND CBS NEWS, RESPECTFULLY, WITH JUST ONE WEEK TO GO UNTIL INAUGURATION DAY. 

IN HIS FIRST INTERVIEW SINCE LEAVING THE SENATE, VANCE SPOKE TO FOX NEWS SUNDAY OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS CONCERNING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION ON DAY ONE OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND OF BEING HOPEFUL THERE SOON WILL BE A CEASE-FIRE DEAL IN THE WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS. 

VANCE WAS ALSO ASKED ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP’S PLANS TO PARDON THOSE CONVICTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE JANUARY 6TH, STORMING OF THE CAPITOL. 

VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT JD VANCE 

I think it’s very simple look if you protested peacefully on January the 6th and you’ve had Meritt Garland’s Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn’t be pardoned. And there’s a little bit of a gray area there but we’re very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law and there are a lot of people we think in the wake of January the 6th who were prosecuted unfairly we need to rectify that. 

OVER ON 60 MINUTES, FBI DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER WRAY EXPLAINED HIS DECISION TO STEP DOWN THREE YEARS BEFORE THE END OF HIS 10-YEAR TERM. DONALD TRUMP APPOINTED WRAY IN 20-17, DURING TRUMPS FIRST ADMINISTRATION.  THE F-B-I DIRECTOR THEN OVERSAW INVESTIGATIONS INTO TRUMP, AS WELL AS PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND BIDEN’S SON HUNTER. PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP INTENDS TO REPLACE CHRISTOPHER WRAY WITH FORMER AIDE KASH PATEL. 

CHRISTOPHER WRAY | FBI DIRECTOR 

“Well, my decision to retire from the FBI, I have to tell you it was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. I care deeply, deeply about the FBI, about our mission and in particular about our people. But the president-elect had made clear that he intended to make a change, and the law is that, that is something he is able to do for any reason or no reason at all. My conclusion was that the thing that was best for the Bureau was to try to do this in an orderly way, to not thrust the FBI deeper into the fray.” 

WRAY WAS ALSO ASKED ABOUT TRUMP’S PLANS TO PARDON MANY OF THE ROUGHLY 1,500 PEOPLE CHARGED WITH FEDERAL CRIMES IN THE JANUARY 6TH RIOTS. 

CHRISTOPHER WRAY | FBI DIRECTOR 

“I do think it’s important to step back and remember that we’re talking about hundreds of people who are convicted, most of them pled guilty of serious federal crimes. Heck, I think 170 or so of them pled guilty to assaulting law enforcement, dozens of them with dangerous or deadly weapons. And there’s a whole bunch that were convicted of seditious conspiracy.” 

AFTER VANCE’S INTERVIEW AIRED ON FOX, THE VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT RESPONDED TO A CRITIC ON X — SAYING TRUMP WILL BE LOOKING AT EACH CASE CONCERNING JANUARY 6TH INDIVIDUALLY.

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH — WHO WAS APPOINTED BY ATTORNEY GENERAL MERRICK GARLAND TO OVERSEE THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP — HAS RESIGNED FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. 

WHILE HIS DEPARTURE WAS EXPECTED — IT COMES AS TRUMP AND HIS ALLIES CONTINUE EFFORTS TO BLOCK THE RELEASE OF SMITH’S FINAL REPORT ON HIS INVESTIGATIONS. 

SMITH’S RESIGNATION WAS MADE PUBLIC SATURDAY IN A BRIEF FOOTNOTE OF A D-O-J COURT FILING TO U-S DISTRICT JUDGE AILEEN CANNON OF FLORIDA. 

SHE WAS APPOINTED TO THE BENCH BY DONALD TRUMP. JUDGE CANNON ISSUED AN ORDER LAST WEEK TEMPORARILY BLOCKING THE D-O-J FROM RELEASING SMITH’S INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP’S INTERFERENCE IN THE 20-20 ELECTION RESULTS. 

THE D-O-J FILED AN EMERGENCY MOTION LATE FRIDAY ASKING A FEDERAL APPEALS COURT TO REVERSE THE ORDER.

“OK, we’ve just been getting an update from Mission Control we are standing down today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle subsystem issue that will take us beyond our launch window we are reviewing opportunities for our next launch attempt.”

THAT WAS THE WORD AS IT CAME DOWN THIS MORNING FROM JEFF BEZO’S BLUE ORIGIN – AS THE COMPANY’S PLANNED LAUNCH OF ITS NEW GLENN ROCKET FROM THE CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION IN FLORIDA WAS CALLED OFF DUE TO WHAT THEY CALLED A “FEW ANOMALIES” FOUND DURING THE COUNTDOWN. 

THE DELAY OF THE ROCKET’S INAUGURAL ATTEMPT TO REACH ORBIT COULD LAST JUST 24 HOURS **OR** BE LONGER. 

THE LAUNCH – WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN – WILL INCLUDE AN ATTEMPT TO LAND NEW GLENN’S FIRST STAGE BOOSTER ON A BARGE IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 

IN AN INTERVIEW WITH REUTERS BEFORE THE LAUNCH ATTEMPT – BEZOS SAID THAT THE BOOSTER LANDING IS QUOTE “THE THING WE’RE MOST NERVOUS ABOUT.”

FINALLY THIS MORNING –  THE NFL’S WILD CARD WEEKEND SAW ONE WILD FINISH LAST NIGHT. FIVE TEAMS ADVANCED OVER THE WEEKEND TO THE DIVISIONAL ROUND WITH STILL ONE MORE WILD CARD GAME TO PLAY TONIGHT.  

ON SATURDAY — THE HOUSTON TEXANS DEFEATED THE LOS ANGELES CHARGERS 32 TO 12 IN THE OPENING GAME OF WILDCARD WEEKEND. 

THEN THE BALTIMORE RAVENS MOVED ON WITH A CONVINCING 28 TO 14 WIN  OVER THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS.  

ON SUNDAY  THE BUFFALO BILLS DOMINATED THE DENVER BRONCOS 31 TO 7 

WHILE THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES GOT THE “W” AGAINST THE GREEN BAY PACKERS 22 TO 10. 

THEN LATE LAST NIGHT, A LAST SECOND FIELD GOAL — WITH THE BALL HITTING OFF THE UPRIGHTS AND GOING THRU- KNOWN AS A “DOINK” –  THAT GAVE THE WASHINGTON COMMANDERS THE 23 TO 20 WIN OVER THE TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS AND WASHINGTON’S FIRST PLAYOFF WIN SINCE THE 2005 SEASON. 

TONIGHT,  THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS WILL MEET THE LOS ANGELES RAMS — IN A GAME MOVED FROM L-A TO ARIZONA DUE TO THE WILDFIRES.