From CNN, I'm a foam at EK, with the five things you need to know for Wednesday, January 22nd. President Donald Trump's pick for Transportation Secretary is one step closer to being confirmed. Today, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee unanimously approved Shonda of these nominations, which advances to the Senate floor. The former Congressman and Fox Business co-host has little to no experience in the transportation field, but if confirmed, he would oversee projects that involve companies run by Elon Musk.
This comes as Trump destroying to pull back state and federal support for electric vehicles. Enough his executive orders includes removing a $7,500 tax credit for EV buyers and rolling back federal support for vehicle charging stations and low interest loans for traditional automakers building new plans for EVs and the batteries they need. But those changes may require congressional approval because the provisions were part of a 2022 law. Musk, who owns Tesla, has said EV subsidies should end.
Although some analysts believe subsidies help create more competition and some car makers argue they need help to compete with China, which makes far more electric vehicles than any other country. Police say a 17-year-old male shooter killed a female student and injured another at Antioch High School in Nashville. It happened just after 11 this morning and police say the gunman took his own life. Here's Nashville Police Chief John Drake.
This individual arrived at school on a bus, went into the restroom, I guess to retrieve his weapon and then went into the cafeteria. I would say if there's anything as we progress, to always, if you see something, say something. Law enforcement agencies are investigating. Residents in the immediate vicinity of Castaic Lake in the northern part of LA County are under mandatory evacuations.
That's according to the LA County Fire Department, which said crews are battling ablaze there that began at 10.53 AM and is burning a football field-sized area every two to three seconds. CNN's Josh Campbell has the latest. We were in this period of somewhat of a lull after those deadly fires and palisades and near Ulta D-net. What they're really concerned about is the direction that this is headed southwest, where it is moving towards an area that is heavily populated, which is why we see those evacuation orders that have been sent out.
At the where you tell K-Cal, they've requested up to 10 aircraft trying to bring this thing to a slow. As I mentioned, it's already ballooned over to 5,000 acres right now. That number just keeps increasing. Meanwhile, local officials are calling for an independent investigation to review their emergency alert system used during the recent Eaton and Palisades fire to warn residents to evacuate.
At least 28 people died in the outbreak, and a recent report by the Los Angeles Times has raised questions about whether any of those deaths were preventable. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement has released the crew of a cargo ship in the Red Sea more than a year after its fighters hijacked the ship. A Houthi-owned TV channel says the crew of 17 Filipinos, 3 Ukrainians, 2 Bulgarians, 2 Mexicans and a Romanian has been handed to mediators from Oman. They had been held hostage since November 2023, when armed Houthis stormed the ship off the coast of Yemen.
The Houthi attacks forced some of the world's biggest shipping and oil companies to suspend transit through the Red Sea. The Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization called the crew's release a quote, profound relief. The news comes amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The Houthis had long said they'd only wind down their campaign of the Red Sea once Israel stops its offensive in Gaza.
Coming up, sharp criticism from Trump's inner circle. Hey, welcome back. Elon Musk has bashed the $500 billion AI project President Trump announced Tuesday. The leaders of SoftBank open AI in Oracle stood alongside Trump during the announcement.
The President said the investment will create a new company called Stargate to grow AI infrastructure in the U.S. Their respective companies will invest $100 billion in total for the project to start, but plans to pour up to $500 billion in the Stargate in the coming years. But shortly after the announcement, Musk wrote on his social media platform, X-quilt, they don't actually have the money. The source familiar with Stargate said Musk's assertion isn't true.
Alright, that is it for us. Our next episode drops at 6 AM Eastern.