5 things to know for Jan. 8: California wildfires, Winter storm, Trump transition, Cybertruck explosion, Meta

CNN’s 5 Things AM brings you the news you need to know every morning.

Tesla is under investigation for a self-driving feature that allows owners to summon a car from a parking space without anyone being in the vehicle. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is launching a probe into around 2.6 million Tesla vehicles following “multiple crash allegations.” Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. Powerful winds are fueling dangerous wildfires in Los Angeles, where tens of thousands of residents in the Pacific Palisades and other seaside neighborhoods have been ordered to evacuate. The Palisades fire has burned over 3,000 acres and destroyed homes and businesses. Dozens of drivers abandoned their cars on Tuesday as some chose to flee the flames on foot. California’s governor is urging residents to heed the evacuation warnings that extend from Malibu to Santa Monica. Energy providers are also shutting off power in high-risk areas to prevent damaged infrastructure from igniting more blazes. Many southern California residents are evacuating from the Eaton fire as well — a 400-acre blaze that erupted in Altadena, in eastern LA County. While wildfires spread through parts of the West Coast, a winter storm is set to take an unusual path across the frigid South with heavy snow and ice. The storm will hit just days after the most impactful storm of the season so far killed at least four people, caused hundreds of crashes and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands. Spotty wintry weather will begin today in western Texas with snow and freezing drizzle as the storm organizes. Thursday will be a crucial day for much of the southern Plains as the storm hits its stride. A wide area of 3 to 6 inches of snow is possible from northern Texas to southeast Oklahoma and southwest Arkansas. President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said “all hell will break out” in the Middle East if the hostages still being held in Gaza are not returned by his inauguration on January 20. “It will not be good for Hamas and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone,” Trump said at a news conference. Also in his wide-ranging remarks, Trump did not rule out using the military to acquire control of the Panama Canal and Greenland as he discussed his second-term agenda. Additionally, Trump said he could use “economic force” to turn Canada into the United States’ 51st state and floated the idea of renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” A driver who authorities say exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas last week used artificial intelligence to plan the blast, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. The active-duty US Army Green Beret used ChatGPT to get information on how to conduct his plot, police said. Authorities did not say what answers the chatbot gave to his searches about explosives, firearms and how to buy a cell phone without providing personal information. The soldier fatally shot himself shortly before the truck exploded and seven other people were injured. OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, told CNN the company is “saddened by this incident and committed to seeing AI tools used responsibly.”