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South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol Arrested For Questioning; 25 Killed in Los Angeles County, High Winds Still Expected Overnight; Hostage-Ceasefire Deal Details Still Under Discussion; Trump's Defense Secretary Pick Pete Hegseth Grilled By Democrats At Hearing; Veteran Firefighters Warned About Deadly Blazes Last Month; Gaza's Uncertain Future Amid Ceasefire Hopes. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired January 15, 2025 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[00:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next chapter.

COATES: I love the way you think about that, and of course it's a kind of area, as you say, where you know your neighbors by first name and you're caring about how they are doing as well.

I'm so glad I got to meet you guys. And there's some symbol of hope coming from that.

Victoria, Marco, time to renew those vows.

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COATES: I don't know, I see a vow renewal in our future. I'm just saying. We could do it here on air.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You bet.

COATES: Thank you. Nice to meet you all. It's good to smile, thinking about all that's happened out there. Thanks.

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COATES: Thank you. I'm glad to highlight your communities. It means so much to everyone.

Thank you for watching, everyone. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" starts right now.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: South Korea steps back from a political crisis.

Hello, I'm John Vause. Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOON SUK YEOL, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Unfortunately, the law is all broken in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: South Korea's impeached president detained by criminal investigators. But he's not going quietly, claiming his arrest is illegal.

Closer than ever to a ceasefire and hostage deal. But when?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJED AL-ANSARI, QATARI GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON: Until there is an announcement, there will be no announcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And even then, how will it be enforced? Who will control Gaza? Could Hamas fill a power vacuum? And when will all the hostages be home?

And heartbreak, regret and frustration on the fire lines in Southern California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF ANTHONY C. MARRONE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Let me just take a minute. Sorry. You're not supposed to make me cry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The fire chief who warned officials less than a month ago this fire disaster and loss of life was a question of when, not if.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: We begin in South Korea, where the impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol has been arrested for questioning over his failed martial law decree last month. He was taken into custody by anti-corruption investigators a short time ago, ushered away from the presidential residence in his motorcade.

Yoon faces multiple inquiries and an impeachment trial. He denounced the investigations in a prerecorded message released after his arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOON (through translator): Unfortunately, the law is all broken in this country. It is truly deplorable to see a warrant issued to an agency that does not have the right to investigate, a court that does not have the right to examine the warrant issue, an arrest warrant, a search warrant, and to see an investigative agency forcefully proceed with this illegal act of deceiving the people by issuing false official documents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yoon says he was surrendering to authorities now hoping to avoid bloodshed. Hundreds of opponents and supporters turned out in Seoul as authorities moved in to detain him.

Live now to CNN's Mike Valerio is standing by in the South Korean city of Gwacheon, not far from the capital, Seoul.

And Mike, you're in Gwacheon there because that's where the headquarters are for the corruption investigation office and where the impeached president is expected to be or is being questioned right now.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John, and we'll give you a lay of the land about a few dozen meters behind us. That's where the furor has migrated from a very high end neighborhood of Seoul, the capital, where the suspended impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol was held up for the better part of two weeks.

Now his supporters have amassed here. You can see them behind the gate of the premises, which in part houses the corruption investigation office. And you just see all of those banners and the bullhorns that are saying, paraphrasing them here, that this is an illegal proceeding and that even though the suspended and impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol is here for questioning, that they're going to keep on fighting.

And as we zoom out and I'm going to sort of step in a crescent moon over here, this is the building, John, where he's being questioned. This government office on the third floor. The warrant that he's being detained under right now is allowed to keep him here for investigators' questions up to 48 hours. They can apply for a new warrant if they want to keep him any longer. But we have new piece of CNN reporting that came in within the past five minutes, revealing that he is expected to spend the night in jail at Seoul Central Detention facility, which is a couple minutes' drive away from here.

So we're on several levels of history, John. This is the first time that a sitting South Korean president has been arrested, brought in for questioning about criminal charges. And this is the first time that we have seen a sitting, I stress sitting South Korean president spending the night in jail. This is all relating to why he declared martial law on December 3rd.

[00:05:00]

So investigators are going to be asking him what was his intent? Did he plan this? Was this really in his eyes, in his mind, a national crisis, or did he do this for his own sense of political gain?

He said, to some degree, to some extent, as much in his address to the nation in the early hours of December 3rd and 4th, saying that in his view, the legislature was paralyzed, so he was declaring martial law in order to rid the legislature, his words, not mine, of anti-state forces, forces sympathetic to North Korea and perhaps arrest some of his political rivals. So the object of bringing here -- bringing him here will be for investigators to figure out what was going through his mind.

But, John, it will be interesting to see at the end of this questioning how many questions he answered, is he going to plead the equivalent of the American Fifth Amendment, continue his right to remain silent before any kind of criminal trial? It will be fascinating to see what, if any, questions he answers, because he's still remaining defiant. And he says that this process is illegal, John.

VAUSE: Yet another unprecedented day in South Korean politics, and Mike Valerio there to cover it all for us. Thank you.

The death toll in the Southern California wildfires has risen to 25. At least 13 people remain unaccounted for. Winds driving the flames were not as fierce as predicted Tuesday, but forecasters say they will pick up again overnight.

The Palisades Fire is the largest, close to 10,000 hectares burned. Authorities say it's 18 percent contained, with very little fire activity along the perimeter. The Eaton Fire has burned close to 6,000 hectares and is 35 percent contained. The L.A. County fire chief warns that this danger is far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARRONE: The anticipated winds, combined with low humidities and low fuel moistures will keep the fire threat in the L.A. region critical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: We get more now from CNN's Veronica Miracle reporting in from Altadena, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Seven days into the fight and concerns along the fire lines remain high.

CHIEF KRISTIN CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Life- threatening and destructive and widespread winds are already here.

MIRACLE: Another round of Santa Ana Winds and red flag warnings across already fire-weary areas. The extremely critical fire warning affecting more than two million people.

MARRONE: Severe fire weather conditions will continue through tomorrow. The worst winds are predicted today for the late afternoon and into Wednesday.

MIRACLE: This is their concern. Another wildfire sparking overnight Monday and burning more than 55 acres by dawn, this time to the west of L.A. in Ventura County. Firefighters pushing back the flames and stopping forward progress.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The concern we have now, though, is that we are in a red flag situation right now.

DAVID ACUNA, BATTALION CHIEF AND PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, CAL FIRE: Imagine if you're driving down the freeway at 70 miles an hour, you stick your hand out flat and have the wind press against, that's the wind that's happening from Ventura to northern L.A.

MIRACLE: The wind not only fanning the flames, but potentially grounding the fight from the air.

ACUNA: Over 30 miles per hour is unsafe to fly. It's unsafe for the aircraft, for the personnel and of course, for the people on the ground.

MIRACLE: Fire teams across the region in a ready stance to respond to any new flare ups.

CROWLEY: We are carefully managing our operations to ensure that we can quickly respond to any new fires.

MIRACLE: Residents in the Palisades Fire area and across the fire zone told to be ready at a moment's notice to flee again as more than 5,000 fire personnel work to bring that blaze under control.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are giving this fire everything we've got.

MIRACLE: And as work continues on the front lines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no.

MIRACLE: New videos from residents near the Eaton Fire in Altadena appeared to show the moments just after it sparked up. Pedro Rojas captured this, showing the huge flames engulfing the base of an electrical tower. Just a few minutes earlier Jeffrey and Cheryll Ku recorded this.

JEFFREY KU, ALTADENA, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: As she got closer to the house, sure enough it was burning bright and it was the base of the tower on fire.

MIRACLE: As residents across L.A. wait to learn when they may return to what's left of their homes --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cry and get up and keep crying. No more tears left for crying.

MIRACLE: Those who have lost everything seek the barest essentials and supplies and, empathy as shelters set up across the county fill up.

Veronica Miracle, CNN, Altadena.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: To Los Angeles now and Captain Sheila Kelliher Berkoh, spokesperson for the L.A. County Fire Department.

[00:10:01] Captain, thank you for being with us.

CAPT. SHEILA KELLIHER BERKOH, SPOKESPERSON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: My pleasure.

VAUSE: So in terms of good news, it seems the Santa Ana Winds were not as powerful as forecast Monday into Tuesday. What are you expecting as we head into Wednesday? What are conditions like right now and is there a best-case scenario here, and is there a worst-case scenario here over the next couple of hours?

KELLIHER BERKOH: Well, the winds are actually starting to pick up. I live just west, northwest over the hill where the fire was over that canyon, and the winds are strong over here right now, and it has been nice and calm most of the day. So what they're predicting is true. The winds are coming. They're going to be strong. Gust wards up to 50 miles an hour or more. So residents have to be on alert and pay attention in case any evacuation warnings or orders do come out, especially if you're in those wind prone areas.

So best-case scenario is that these winds die down quickly and not much happens and no new fires are started. Obviously, the worst-case scenario is these winds whip a lot higher and harder than that and really start, you know, putting off more embers and flames or start a new fire.

VAUSE: It's just so tense and nervous time there for everybody in Los Angeles. And the Palisades Fire, which has been burning for more than a week now, it's 18 percent contained. Is there any timeframe on when firefighters will start making some significant progress, or can we just expect this slow containment over the next week or so?

KELLIHER BERKOH: Yes, the slow containment definitely will happen and pick up actually as the winds die down. Over this weekend, we definitely had some lower winds and the fire behavior is much more moderate, but it still has the potential to be extremely volatile and dangerous if those winds kick up. So to answer your question, we did make some great progress when the winds were a little bit low.

And if we can get through tonight and into midday tomorrow and those winds start to settle down for good, we'll really make great progress and get our arms around this fire.

VAUSE: From your lips to God's ears. The Scout Fire in Riverside County is a new outbreak early on Tuesday. So what's the latest information we have on that?

KELLIHER BERKOH: It looks like they've really got their arms around that one. And they're ready for it. Everybody's on high alert. All teams are deployed in the proper positions and resources are, you know, spread across the different areas, especially the high wind prone areas. So they've definitely got that Scout Fire under control.

VAUSE: And in general right now, how many residents are under evacuation orders? And is there a specific scenario or timeframe which you would see the evacuation orders either increased significantly or decreased?

KELLIHER BERKOH: So we start off with a warning that just says, hey, there's a potential if the wind really starts kicking and fire behavior becomes extreme, you're going to have to leave. So right now evacuation warnings mean just that. Get ready. Something might happen. And if we're at, what, 97,000 people are under warning. So everybody needs to pay attention tonight. Again, if you're in those areas, we have apps that kind of alert us.

Genesis Protect will really send out those signals if you're in one of those areas that gets the warning or the notice so you have time to get out. And please listen to the officials when they say it's time to go.

VAUSE: Captain Sheila Kelliher Berkoh, thank you so much for being with us, and best of luck to you and everyone there fighting the fires across Los Angeles and Southern California. Thank you.

KELLIHER BERKOH: We appreciate all the prayers and the love and the support. We hear it. And it's very appreciated, especially by all the people working on the front lines so hard.

VAUSE: Thank you.

Now to Doha in Qatar where negotiations are ironing out final details of the hostage ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The militant group Islamic Jihad, which also holds hostages in Gaza, says a senior delegation will be in Doha to take part in final arrangements. Israel's foreign minister says the majority of Israel's government will support the deal.

The first phase of the potential agreement could see 33 hostages freed, including children, women, the elderly and the sick, and a 42- day ceasefire implemented. The Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released in six rounds.

On Tuesday, former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant attended demonstrations in Tel Aviv held by the families of the hostages, who say they are fearful still about the fate of their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERUT NIMRODI, MOTHER OF HOSTAGE TAMIR NIMRODI: As a mother of a young boy, I'm scared. I'm scared that he won't be back home and it will take time until we get another deal done, and I don't know if there will be anyone to bring back home. And it scares me.

YAIR KESEHT, UNCLE OF HOSTAGE YARDEN BIBAS: Actually, actually, I'm afraid right now because right now the deal is not sealed. I'm waiting for the deal to be sealed. I mean, from Israel and from the Hamas. And I'm afraid that each minute that is passing it might ruin this deal. And I hope that it's not going to be ruined.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:15:00] VAUSE: Janine Zacharia is the former Jerusalem bureau chief and Middle East correspondent for "The Washington Post."

Thank you for being with us.

JANINE ZACHARIA, FORMER JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF, THE WASHINGTON POST: My pleasure, John.

VAUSE: So a deal is not a deal until the deal is done, or put another way, here's the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry in Qatar where the negotiations have been taking place. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL-ANSARI: Until there is an announcement, there will be no announcement. And therefore we shouldn't be overexcited about what's happening right now. But certainly we are hopeful that this would lead very soon to an agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And that's pretty much the rub here, isn't it? Right now everything seems set, but is it a reflection of just how tenuous any agreement will be that it could be easily derailed by so many factors here?

ZACHARIA: Yes, absolutely. I mean, even if a deal is achieved, then they have to actually keep it in place. And there's questions about who would make sure that that happens.

I've been thinking a lot today, John, about a ceasefire deal that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice negotiated between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. I remember covering her when she did that. And after that you had UNIFIL, you had U.N. forces who were, you know, right on the ground in South Lebanon to enforce that.

So should a deal be achieved here, and there's a lot of -- it does seem different than past almost deals, I would say, given the focus and the statements coming from Arab leaders in particular over the last 24 hours, it's like who's going to make sure its enforced?

We're at a moment of transition, of course, in the United States. And you had a very interesting arrangement where you had President Biden's team working with Steve Witkoff, the new negotiator for President Trump, to say that, hey, we're going to -- the Trump administration will support any deal that's achieved, meaning we will continue to, I guess, at least lean on Israel to make sure that they uphold their side. It's less clear to me how much leverage President Trump has with Hamas.

VAUSE: Yes. And you know what happens once the fighting stops? It remains obviously the big question in all of this. And here's the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: For many months, we've been working intensively with our partners to develop a detailed post- conflict plan that would allow Israel to fully withdraw from Gaza, prevent Hamas from filling back in, and provide for Gaza's governance, security and reconstruction. Drawing on the principles that I originally set out in Tokyo. We will hand off that plan to the Trump administration to carry forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: If there is no enforcement mechanism, if there's nothing like UNIFIL that ended in 2006 with Hezbollah and Israel, does that essentially create a power vacuum in Gaza, which Hamas, being the only force on the ground, is likely to fill?

ZACHARIA: Well, it's interesting what Secretary Blinken said about some sort of new ruling coalition or whatnot in Gaza. To me, that's the big thing I'm watching for to see because, you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that he will not allow Hamas to continue to rule there. There are still Hamas leaders there. They did, the Israelis did kill Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7th attacks.

But who's going to lead? Israel says they're not going to allow Hamas to lead, and they're not going to allow the Palestinian Authority to lead. It could end up being some sort of coalition of unaffiliated, let's say, Palestinian officials or something like that. I've heard former prime minister Salam Fayyad suggest that. But yes, that's going to be an issue.

I think if the deal is achieved in the next couple of days, either now, today or before the inauguration or right after the inauguration, and it gets started. What I'm worried about is that past ceasefires have been interrupted, say, there's a Hamas attack in Israel or something like that, and Israel retaliates. Those are some of the issues that are going to have to contend with.

VAUSE: It seems that everyone sort of agrees that this international coalition of peacekeepers or some kind of enforcement in Gaza is a great idea, but everyone else should be doing it. I mean, no one wants to actually get involved in Gaza here, right?

ZACHARIA: Well, I mean, I don't know that. Israel has always been a little bit reluctant to have any kind of international peacekeepers involved on the ground there. Yes, I don't know that I would see them inside Gaza. The key thing is going to be also, what's Egypt's role along the border? There was one of the things that torpedoed past negotiations was who's going to control that border between Gaza and Egypt?

Israel wanted to retain control of something called the Philadelphi Corridor. It looks like Netanyahu has given up on that. I think another thing I'm very curious about right now is what did President Trump's envoy say to Bibi Netanyahu to get him to move on this because he's been -- because of his coalition pressures, because he wants to continue to perpetuate the war for various reasons, including his own political future, you know, he's been reluctant to go ahead with this.

So something was said there that moved him. So we'll see. Maybe it will get off to a good start. I mean, the Palestinians do have an incentive.

[00:20:02]

They want to have their prisoners released just as much as the Israelis want to have their hostages released. So that could be enough to sustain a deal on a positive front.

VAUSE: Yes. There are so many moving parts of this. Sort of one attack away from all falling apart, and not just by Hamas, there are other militant groups here as well, which makes it all very complicated.

You made great sense of everything for us. So, Janine, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate your time.

ZACHARIA: My pleasure.

VAUSE: With that, we'll take a short break. When we come back, Russia responding with outrage after Ukraine targeted its industrial infrastructure with a massive aerial attack. Those details in a moment. Also, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: I'm not a perfect person, as is being acknowledged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Oh, yes indeed. Pete Hegseth in the hot seat. Donald Trump's embattled choice for defense secretary gets a major boost at his confirmation hearing. Now it looks like a lock to be confirmed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Ukraine has launched one of its largest ever missile and drone attacks on Russia since the war began. Russia's Defense Ministry says it shot down 12 Western made missiles and 146 drones on Tuesday. The Ukrainians say it successfully struck military and industrial targets as deep as 1100 kilometers inside Russian territory.

These images show a fire raging close to an industrial site in the city of Kazan. More images posted on social media apparently show huge flames coming from an oil refinery in the city of Saratov.

In Washington, where Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary, a nomination which seemed doomed from the get-go, now looks like a certainty for confirmation. Pete Hegseth appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday for his confirmation hearing. He had a big boost from Republican Senator Joni Ernst, who has been skeptical of Hegseth but now says he has her support.

Hegseth has faced allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking, as well as pushback over his stance against women serving in military combat. These are key issues for Ernst, an army veteran and sexual assault survivor. But now, with her support, Hegseth's nomination should have enough votes to advance to the full Senate, where he is likely to be confirmed.

There were some tough questions, though, from Democrats at the hearing, but from Republican officials, softballs.

Here's CNN's Oren Liebermann.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): You lack the character and composure and competence to hold the position of secretary of defense.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pete Hegseth's past took over the present, especially his comments that women should not serve in combat roles.

HEGSETH: I would be honored to have the opportunity to serve alongside you shoulder to shoulder, men and women, black, white, all backgrounds with a shared purpose.

LIEBERMANN: Democrats on the Armed Services Committee attacked Hegseth over past comments demanding more than contrition and clarity on his policy view of women in the ranks if confirmed.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): We don't want women in the military, especially in combat. What a terrible statement. So please, do not deny that you've made those statements you have.

[00:25:01]

LIEBERMANN: Hegseth tried to explain that he was referring to military standards for combat roles, but couldn't give a concrete example of how they'd been lowered.

GILLIBRAND: These generalized statements.

HEGSETH: Commanders meet quotas to have a certain number of female infantry officers or infantry enlisted, and that disparages those women who are incredibly capable of leading that standard.

GILLIBRAND: Commanders do not have to meet quotas for the infantry. Commanders do not have to have a quota for women in the infantry. That does not exist.

LIEBERMANN: Hegseth denied the allegations of sexual assault he faces, saying they come from anonymous sources and that the sexual encounter was consensual.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two after you just had fathered a child by wife three. You've admitted that. Now if it had been a sexual assault that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn't it?

HEGSETH: It was a false claim then and a false claim now.

LIEBERMANN: Hegseth also denied allegations of excessive drinking while a host at FOX News. He has vowed to quit drinking if confirmed.

By his own admission, Hegseth is an unorthodox pick. A FOX News host and combat veteran with little management experience, picked to run an organization with an $850 billion budget and millions of service members and civilians.

Republicans tried to portray that as a strength.

SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): The nominee is unconventional. That may be what makes Mr. Hegseth an excellent choice to improve this unacceptable status quo.

LIEBERMANN: Hegseth tried to keep his confirmation hearing focused on what he called the warrior ethos.

HEGSETH: War fighting and lethality, and the readiness of the troops and their families will be our only focus.

LIEBERMANN: But his lack of experience at large organizations and within the Pentagon itself was laid bare like when he was asked about international security arrangements.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): Can you name one of the three main ones that the secretary of defense signs?

HEGSETH: You're talking about the defense arrangements. I mean, NATO might be one -- one that you're referring to.

DUCKWORTH: Status of Forces Agreement would be one of them.

HEGSETH: Status force -- Status of Forces Agreement? I've been a part of teaching about Status of Forces Agreement inside Afghanistan.

DUCKWORTH: So -- but you don't remember to mention it? You're not qualified, Mr. Hegseth.

LIEBERMANN (on-camera): Despite the numerous attacks from Democratic senators on Pete Hegseth, Republicans are very much expressing confidence that he'll have the votes he needs. Senator Tommy Tuberville says he passed with flying colors, and Senator Kevin Cramer says he cemented the support of all of the Republicans on the committee. In the end, that's likely all he needs for confirmation, especially if it falls on partisan lines.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: U.S. regulators are suing Elon Musk for an alleged failure to disclose his ownership stake in Twitter while attempting to buy the social media platform outright in 2022. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says his failure to disclose in mid-March of that year allowed the tech billionaire to buy shares at, quote, "artificially low prices" for several weeks before his eventual takeover.

Musk's lawyer says he has done nothing wrong, downplayed the lawsuit as, quote, "single count, ticky-tacky complaint." It's unclear whether incoming officials will pursue the case as Musk, as we all know, is a close ally and friend of Donald Trump, said to be part of the incoming Trump administration.

Still to come here, L.A. firefighters warned officials that people would die unless there was more funding for the department. We'll show you just how understaffed it really is.

Also ahead, civilians in Gaza hoping for a ceasefire as negotiators come down to the final details. We'll hear from some of them in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

[00:30:53]

Now to the deadly wildfires in Los Angeles, which have killed at least 25 people, according to the L.A. County's medical examiner.

The National Weather Service has warned local residents to remain on high alert, with winds expected to strengthen once again overnight.

Strong seasonal winds have been a primary factor fueling the spread of the multiple fires. Although high winds were forecast for Tuesday, they were not as powerful as predicted. No official changes have been made to the red-flag warning across the Los Angeles area.

Less than a month before these destructive fires began, a group of longtime firefighters in Los Angeles raised warnings about a lack of resources, funding and personnel, and a CNN investigation reveals L.A.'s fire department is one of the most understaffed in the United States.

CNN's Kyung Lah has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At that commission meeting, you said it's dire. Someone will die.

FREDDY ESCOBAR, PRESIDENT, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS OF LOS ANGELES CITY: It's eerie listening to your words, because that's what occurred.

So -- it's -- Let me just take a minute. Sorry.

LAH (voice-over): Fire Captain Freddy Escobar --

ESCOBAR: You're not supposed to make me cry.

LAH (voice-over): -- 35-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department, wishes he'd been wrong, and this had not happened.

For years, the LAFD union president warned that a disaster like the Palisades Fire could happen. And while the cataclysmic weather conditions were historic, Escobar also blames something predictable that hurt the firefight: money.

ESCOBAR: This is a woefully understaffed fire department. We're either going to have a fire department that's going to reflect 2025, or we're going to have a fire department that's going to reflect the 1960s.

LAH (voice-over): A CNN analysis shows that of the ten biggest cities in the nation, Los Angeles ranks ninth when it comes to the number of firefighters per resident.

And it shows millions of dollars of rescue equipment is just sitting in a lot unused, because the fire department can't afford to hire the mechanics to repair it.

L.A.'s fire chief said in a recent memo the fire department staffing levels were half the size of what they should be.

ESCOBAR: If we cut one position, if we close one station, if we close one resource, the residents of Los Angeles are going to pay the ultimate sacrifice, and someone will die.

LAH (voice-over): Just last month, fire personnel packed an L.A. Fire Commission meeting, begging the city to rethink the budget.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These cuts came at exactly the wrong time, with calls for services at an all-time high, and our firefighters at their breaking point.

TRACI PARK, LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, DISTRICT 11: We are straining our department's resources beyond the brink, and we cannot continue on this path.

LAH (voice-over): City councilwoman Traci Park was there, too.

PARK: There are large swaths of the city with no emergency response resources available.

LAH: Are we going to be having the same conversation next year and the year after?

PARK: We can't. We can't.

I think that people are rightly upset. Not only that this happened, but there is a sense that we, as local leaders, needed to do more for them. I feel like I let them down, and I've been screaming about it from the day I came in.

And so, I think there is an obligation of us to not let this be for nothing. I think this has to be the wake-up call.

LAH: L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said at a recent press conference that the budget didn't have an impact on the fire fight here in the Pacific Palisades, mainly because of the unprecedented nature of these fires.

Now, there has since been a city council meeting. Mayor Bass, as well as members of the city council, according to the fire union, appeared to be much more on board about increased funding for the fire department. And the fire union says that they do feel that things may begin to change.

[00:35:07]

Kyung Lah, CNN, Pacific Palisades.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: While hopes for a hostage and ceasefire deal are higher than ever, the suffering and dying in Gaza goes from bad to worse, one day at a time.

And on Tuesday, Israeli air strikes killed at least 54 people across the territory. In Southern Gaza, many were digging with their hands, searching for loved ones under the rubble of this house.

According to eyewitnesses and Palestinian officials, nine people were killed there, including women and children.

Many Palestinians are praying a ceasefire deal will mean an end to the fear and chaos which has shaped their lives in Gaza for 15 months, but they're also aware of the massive challenges ahead.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has the details.

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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the closest these girls can get to going to school in Gaza. Trying to teach each other in this school building turned displacement center, desperate for an end to the war, which abruptly stopped their education, their safety, their normality 15 months ago.

Saba Ahmed Abu Huda (ph) remembers her friends, girls she says were killed in Beit Hanoun at the start of the war.

"We used to play together," she says. "Make lunch, do our homework and study. We did everything together. I'm sad I won't find them when I go home."

Noor (ph) is 12 years old and has been displaced, she says, seven times during this war. She wants to go home to see what happened to her school friend, who she hasn't heard from for a year after her home was destroyed.

"I just want to go home," she says. "I want my belongings, my toys, my memories."

Northern Gaza has been decimated by Israeli airstrikes in recent months. There's no guarantee Noor's (ph) family will have a home to go back to. Abdulrahman Salama (ph) digs through the rubble of his home in Khan

Younis, hoping to find a blanket or a mattress, anything to help his family living in a tent by the winter sea.

"There are no memories," he says. "Our life has vanished. There's no future."

He calls negotiations "lies," saying, "We celebrate a little until we see a drone strike, an artillery shell hit, or the quadcopter shoot at us."

Abu Samir (ph) walks through his neighborhood, a place he says residents no longer recognize. He asks about the day after.

"Let's say a truce happens," he says, "and the residents of this area return. Where do they go? Is this area fit for humans to live in?"

Ahmed Salama (ph) tries to repair one room in his destroyed home, mixing sand and water to make clay. He says he kept waiting to do this, thinking negotiations would work, but he now needs to move his family from a tent on the coast, which collapses every time it rains.

"They say the same thing every time," he says, "but nothing happens. We want anything. Anything is better than this."

With 90 percent of the population displaced, the dream of going home is prevalent, even when they know their home is likely just rubble.

Abuhamad Abu Ubayd (ph) knows her house is unlikely to have survived in the largely leveled city of Rafah in the South.

"I swear, when the ceasefire comes," she says, "I will celebrate and rejoice, and I will not sleep all night. We hope that this cloud of despair finally lifts."

Hope and despair go hand in hand in Gaza. A ceasefire has been close before, and yet the bombs still fell.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

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VAUSE: With that, we will pause for a short break, and we shall return.

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VAUSE: In South Africa, a rescue mission is underway to save miners trapped in an abandoned gold mine. According to a group representing the miners, at least 109 have died, possibly from hunger and dehydration.

This all began in November, when local authorities cut off the supply of water and food to the mine in a bid to crack down on the illegal mining trade.

It's unclear how many people remain trapped, but the mining group says it could be hundreds.

South Africa loses more than $1 billion each year to illegal mining. Believed up to 100,000 miners are part of the black-market industry.

Catherine, the Princess of Wales, says her cancer is now in remission in a social media post Tuesday, writing about her relief and continued efforts to stay focused on her recovery.

Kate also made an unannounced visit to the London hospital where she was treated last year. She met with medical teams and patients currently receiving treatment.

This was her first solo engagement of the year, while slowly resuming public duties.

I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But first, please stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after a short break. See you soon.

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