--:-- Tracy Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, January 9th. Here's what we're covering.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It's as bad as you can imagine. It's worse than what you can imagine. All of this. In Los Angeles, four major fires are now burning in and around the city. At least five people have died, and more than 100,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Sir, the flames are right across the street. What is going to mean that it's dangerous enough for you to go?
--:-- Tracy Mumford: I have a 1 in 100 chance to put out one ember that might burn my house down. I'll take the risk on 1 in 100.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Despite the orders, some homeowners have stayed behind, using garden hoses to spray down their houses.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Others have come back to their neighborhoods where the fire's already swept through to find whole blocks turned to ash. It's all gone. No.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The Pacific Palisades fire has destroyed over 1,000 buildings, making it the most destructive in Los Angeles history. And a new fire broke out last night, the Sunset Fire in the Hollywood Hills.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The evacuation zone for that now includes parts of Beverly Hills and some of the city's most iconic landmarks, the Hollywood Bowl, and the theater where the Oscars are held.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Last night, people were standing near the Walk of Fame, looking up to watch helicopters drop water in the hills.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But in some of the areas that have been hardest hit, firefighters faced water shortages. We saw four times the demands of water that we've ever seen in the system.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: We opened every valve available to push as much water into the Palisades area. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power acknowledged that the system was not built for this level of disaster, which left some people standing by watching their homes burn while firefighters tried to draw from empty hydrants
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Fire hydrants are not made to fight multiple houses hundreds of houses at a time. They're made to fight one or two houses when they come in. So you're fighting a wildfire with a fire hydrant system.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: For more about the wildfires, including what's made them so fast and so destructive, listen to today's episode of The Daily.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Donald Trump's legal team has filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court asking the justices to shut down the New York hush money case.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Trump's supposed to be sentenced in the case tomorrow. He was convicted on 34 felony counts for falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: He's not expected to get jail time or even probation, but sentencing will formalize his status as a felon.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Trump's legal team is arguing that that could complicate his presidential duties, if there were to be any restrictions on travel, for example.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: They're also arguing that the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity should apply to this case, though lower courts have disagreed.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: After Trump's filing, the Supreme Court asked prosecutors to respond by this morning, signaling that the justices could act quickly before sentencing.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Meanwhile, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito talked with Trump on the phone not long before Trump's lawyers filed the emergency application.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Alito, who is part of the court's conservative majority, said in a statement that it was a routine reference check call for one of his former law clerks, who Trump is considering hiring for a government position.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It's not clear, however, why Trump would be doing reference check calls himself, generally a task for his aides.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Alito said that he and Trump did not discuss the hush money case or any other matter related to the president-elect that might come in front of the court.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But the call adds to ethics questions that have been swirling around the justices, including about undisclosed gifts and about a flag flown outside of Alito's home that was the same design carried by rioters on January 6th
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Today is officially a national day of mourning as Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, is laid to rest.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The New York Stock Exchange and many federal offices are closed. So are post offices.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: There won't be any mail today.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In Washington, D.C. this morning, Presidents Biden, Trump, Obama, Bush, and Clinton are all expected to attend Carter's funeral service at the National Cathedral.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Biden will deliver a eulogy.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In the afternoon, Carter's casket will be flown to Plains, Georgia, his longtime home, for a private service and burial.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: It will mark the end of several days of ceremonies across multiple cities that have given Americans the chance to pay their respects to the former president.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: What is something that stood out to you about President Carter and what brought you here today?
--:-- Tracy Mumford: His faith. His faith and how that led him and guided him.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: My colleague Maya Miller spoke with people as they filed through the U.S. Capitol building this week, where Carter was lying in state.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: From what I've read about him, you know, he was a peanut farmer from Georgia, which is just like me, a regular man, regular person who did a lot of right things and put his country first.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Just like just a kind man. Very simple and just down to earth.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Role model for us? Yeah, role model for us.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: We've tried to live our lives that way.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: When I went in the Navy at 18 years old, President Carter was at the end of his term.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And even then, at a young age, he inspired me to go into the service because I thought he was the most decent public figure that I'd ever seen.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And to this day, he remains the most decent person that I think many of us have ever known.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The Israeli military announced yesterday that it's recovered the body of another hostage in Gaza.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Officials say they found Yusuf Azeedna, a man in his 50s, dead in an underground tunnel along with what they believe are the bodies of his Hamas guards.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: They did not say how any of them were killed.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Azayedna and three of his children were abducted during the October 7th attacks from a kibbutz where they'd been working.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The youngest two, who were teenagers, were later released.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But Azayedna and his son Hamza, who was in his early 20s, remained in captivity.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: The Israeli military said they have serious concerns about Hamza's well-being, too.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Of the hostages who were originally taken, about 100 are still in Gaza, though a third are believed to be dead.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: A deal to return them and put a ceasefire in place has seemed imminent several times over the last few months, only to fall apart.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In the latest talks, Israel demanded information from Hamas about which hostages are still alive, saying without that, there can be no deal.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: And finally, in the days after Christmas, the town of Ghent in Belgium put a post on its website offering residents a tip for an eco-friendly way to get rid of their Christmas trees.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Instead of just dragging them out to the curb, the city said people could turn their trees into a fragrant, festive snack.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Delicious spruce-needled butter was one suggestion, and they linked to a bunch of other spruce recipes.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: But the city's post prompted Belgian authorities to issue a clear, if unusual, warning.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Please do not eat your Christmas tree.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: In a statement, authorities said the trees are often coated with pesticides and flame retardants, a point the original post had acknowledged.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: They also reminded any amateur spruce chefs that if they were to misidentify their tree, they could end up eating a yew tree, which is poisonous.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Some safer ideas for once the ornaments come down? Zoos in Europe have given old Christmas trees to animals to play with.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: New York City grinds them up for mulch to nourish other trees in the city's parks.
--:-- Tracy Mumford: Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.
