24/7 News: The Latest
The Latest: 01/24/2025 04:59pm ET
This is your 24/7 news update, the latest views this hour in just four minutes. President Trump is suggesting he may shut down FEMA while in North Carolina during the first trip of his second term today. He said he'll sign an executive order to either fundamentally change or flat out get rid of the agency. Trump is now on his way to California to review the damage from the recent Los Angeles area wildfires. Trump is threatening to halt federal wildfire aid to Los Angeles unless his unrelated demands are met. While speaking in North Carolina, Trump said California must pass a voter ID law. He also said California must transport more water from Northern California to Southern California. While sharing water has been a debate in California for decades, it did not impact the recent LA fires. That's because most LA reservoirs are full. It will take 10 to 40 years for people who lost everything to rebuild their homes in Pacific Palisades. That's the opinion of a mortgage loan expert, Stephen Katz with Edge Home Finance in Atlanta, Georgia. He says there are a host of new regulations and permits that were not around when many of the destroyed homes were built in the mid 20th century. Everything from soil erosion, you know, all that stuff that is checked out today that we didn't have back then. Katz says the number of permits required to build a home in a coastal zone and environmental approvals can be overwhelming and that will cause building delays. This week's snowstorm that hit the South broke records that stood for more than a century. At least 11 people were killed because of the cold and wintery conditions that stretched from Alabama to North Carolina. In Florida, nine inches of snow fell earlier this week in parts of the panhandle, beating out Anchorage, Alaska's total snowfall this winter. Two giant pandas are making their American debut. Michael Kessner has details. Giant pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao can now be seen at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. The zoo is celebrating the pandas with a series of special events and programs through February 9th, including a Lunar New Year event. The zoo is also relaunching its giant panda cam, which includes 40 cameras in the panda habitat recording live from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. I'm Lisa Taylor. The Gulf of Mexico is now called the Gulf of America. The federal government is implementing name changes under a directive from President Trump that includes reversing an Obama era decision to rename Mount McKinley in Alaska to Denali. Denali is the name that local natives used. Meanwhile, former President McKinley never visited Alaska. The Interior Department says the name changes are effective immediately for federal use. New York, New Jersey's mayor is lashing out after immigration customs and enforcement agents raided a business Thursday. Scott Pringle has details. Mayor Baraka says he's upset and angry after hearing ICE agents raided ocean seafood depot Thursday and then detained illegal immigrants, U.S. citizens and questioned a military vet after he showed ID. The problem with this is that none of these people were rapists or murderers or criminals. The problem with it, ICE went in there without a warrant. Baraka says he got nasty emails as well, including one saying they should have arrested the store owner. ICE would not comment on the raids itself, but says agents may encounter citizens while conducting field work as was the case in Newark. Scott Pringle, New Jersey. Costco is rejecting any efforts to reduce diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. More from Michael Kastner. A conservative activist group recently sent Costco a proposal saying they should conduct an evaluation to see if DEI policies pose any risk to the company. On Thursday, Costco's board of directors voted it down, saying the company will defend respect and inclusion as there are nationwide efforts to strike DEI practices. I'm Michael Kastner. Target is the latest big company to end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The Minneapolis-based retailer announced the decision in a memo to employees on Friday. According to CNBC, the memo cited the importance of staying in step with the evolving landscape to help drive growth and serve its millions of customers. I'm Lisa Taylor.