[Dana Bash:] First this hour, fire consumes an apartment building in Minneapolis, raging for hours and forcing some terrified residents to escape through windows on the third floor. At least 13 were hospitalized, six in critical condition. The cause of the blaze is a mystery. CNN's Ted Rowlands is following this developing story for us Ted.
[Ted Rowlands, Cnn Correspondent:] Dana, this fire was so hot, fire officials were able to get into the building only for a few minutes, then they had to retreat. And at this hour, there are still people missing.
[Rowlands:] The report of a fire and possible explosion came in at 8:16 a.m.. Within minutes, this three story building in Minneapolis was engulfed in flames. The first floor is a grocery store. Above are 10 apartments.
[Chief John Fruetel, Minneapolis Fire Department:] Crews initially arrived on scene and they reported flames shooting as far as 20 feet out of the windows on the second and third floor.
[Rowlands:] Officials don't know whether people jumped out, fell or were pushed out by the explosion. Some were helped out by firefighters who then quickly had to retreat.
[Fruetel:] They did the best they could making entry onto the first floor. They got in as far as they could, until the conditions were so poor and it became very, very unsafe and we removed all the firefighters from the structure.
[Rowlands:] Frigid weather made the difficult job of fighting the fire even harder. Temperatures, with the wind chill, were near 20 degrees below zero. The building is in a predominantly Somali neighborhood. Next door to the grocery store is a mosque, which prompted concerns of the possibility of a hate crime from the local Islamic Society. At this point, there is no evidence of foul play.
[Abdi Warsame, Minneapolis City Council Member:] This whole area is very significant to the community. But our area has the mosque. It has Palmer's Bar, as well as the grocery store. But what we're worried about right now is are the victims.
[Rowlands:] And, Dana, the fire chief had an update about an hour ago. Still no cause. They also say it's still too dangerous for them to go into the building to try to find those unidentified people who, according to family members on the scene, they say there are three people that are still missing. This is according to community members there, telling our local affiliates, three people missing. But fire officials say they can't get in there, at least right now, it's still too dangerous.
[Bash:] What a horrible way to start the new year. Ted, thank you very much for that report. And now to New York, where a Democrat is running the city for the first time in 20 years. Mayor Bill de Blasio was formally sworn in today by former president, Bill Clinton. And the new mayor unapologetic about his progressive agenda, signaling change in New York politics, changes that could affect the entire country. CNN national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, joins us live from New York hi, Susan.
[Susan Candiotti, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Dana. Happy New Year!
[Bash:] You, too.
[Candiotti:] You know, as New York City goes, so goes the country? Maybe, maybe not. But a lot of liberals and progressive Democrats will be watching very closely, because if de Blasio's social reform policies work, it might help their party on a national level. New York's populist new mayor, Bill de Blasio, and his family, got to his inauguration ceremony the way millions of New Yorkers get to work every day on the subway. Before emerging, even running into his predecessor, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In his speech, signaling a reversal of policies that saw business boom under Bloomberg, some say at the expense of the poor and working class. [Begin Video Clip, Courtesy Nyc Tv]
[Mayor Bill De Blasio , Ny:] When I said I would take dead aim at the tale of two cities, I meant it.
[Candiotti:] Citing liberal leaders of the past century, de Blasio promising to even the economic playing field, including taxing those who make more than a half million dollars a year to pay for universal pre-K and after school programs, telling the wealthy, don't worry.
[De Blasio:] See their taxes increase by an average of $973 a year. That's less than three bucks a day, about the cost of a small soy latte at your local Starbucks. We do not ask more of the wealthy to punish success, we do it to create more success stories.
[Candiotti:] With Bloomberg at times looking grim, in apparent disagreement, other speakers attacked his administration. Also invited on stage, a little girl named Dasani, who has become the face of one of more than 22,000 homeless children, a record in New York since the Great Depression. [Begin Video Clip, Courtesy Nyc Tv]
[Letitia James, New York City Public Advocate:] We live in a gilded age of inequality, with decrepit homeless shelters and housing developments stand in neglected shadow of gleaming, multi-million dollar condos.
[Candiotti:] Some light moments a son of the new comptroller fidgeting while daddy was being sworn in; New York's governor greeting activist actress, Susan Sarandon; and former president Bill Clinton embracing de Blasio's popular interracial family, a real-life modern family, as he called it. And his plan to change the city's economic landscape.
[Bill Clinton, Former President Of The United States:] That we have to have a city of shared opportunities, shared prosperity, shared responsibilities.
[Candiotti:] And with that, a synchronized kiss to the crowd from the city's first Democratic mayor in 20 years. A family who will live in Gracie Mansion, the city's first family to live there since the days of Rudy Giuliani Dana.
[Bash:] A lot of changes. Thank you very much, Susan. And let's bring in veteran New York reporter Hunter Walker. He is the national affairs reporter for "Talking Points Memo." And also with us is senior political analyst CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, who is also the editorial director of the "National Journal." And I want to start with you, Hunter Walker in New York. Obviously, this is a very, very different kind of leader that we are seeing, to put it mildly, in Bill de Blasio. I want to play one other clip that was not in Susan's piece to give people a sense of just how different he is going to make things in New York City. [Begin Video Clip, Courtesy Nyc Tv]
[De Blasio:] We will reform a broken stop and frisk policy, both to protect dignity and rights of young men of color, and to give our brave police officers the partnership they need to continue their success in driving down crime.
[Bash:] So the stopping the frisk policy, taxing the really blatantly saying that he wants to tax the wealthy to give to the poor, I mean this is unabashed liberal policy that he is putting forward. How do you think that is going to go over, now that he's actually the mayor?
[Hunter Walker, National Affairs Reporter, "talking Points Memo":] Right. Well, you know, I went through his speech. And he used the word "progressive" six times in the copy there. And he was sworn in on a bible that was once owned by FDR. So there's really no question that he's very much trying to brand himself as a new kind of progressive leader. And I think the implementation of this bar that he's set for himself is the big question here. For example, his police commissioner actually formerly worked for Rudy Giuliani. And there's a distinction on his stop and frisk policy, which is, he doesn't want to end the practice completely, he wants to reform it. And I think some people might be dismayed when they realize it's not going to completely end. And as far as his tax plan, the goal of that is to have universal pre-K. But one hitch here is it requires approval from Albany. And Andrew Cuomo has said he does not want to raise taxes. It's an election year for him next year. So it may be tough to get that approval.
[Bash:] And on that point, Ron...
[Ron Brownstein, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Yes?
[Bash:] liberals all over the country are looking to Bill de Blasio as sort of their hero now, the man who is in the position to make their policies and their ideals become realities.
[Brownstein:] Right.
[Bash:] It's not going to be that easy...
[Brownstein:] Right. No.
[Bash:] for the reasons that Hunter just talked about.
[Brownstein:] I grew up in New York and I've watched a lot of mayors.
[Bash:] Yes.
[Brownstein:] And it is a great platform, as Bill de Blasio is showing, as Michael Bloomberg showed, on issues like greenhouse gases and gun control and obesity. But it is also a nuts and bolts job. And as Hunter was saying, you ultimately have to deliver. I find it kind of wonderfully ironic that there may be a snowstorm tomorrow in New York...
[Bash:] Yes.
[Brownstein:] because I'm old enough to remember John Lindsey, who was a great liberal hope as a liberal Republican, who was kind of flattened and never recovered from his inability to clear the streets.
[Bash:] And not that long ago...
[Brownstein:] On this...
[Bash:] Michael Bloomberg
[Brownstein:] And so right. So it's you know, there is and there are real constraints here, not only Albany, but he's got a whole range of union contracts that he has to negotiate. He has fiscal realities. But it is still a big platform. And I think the focus on pre-K in particular is worth noting, because I you get the sense that is the next big crusade for the Democratic Party. And Hillary Clinton, what is the one domestic issue she's working on during this period? Her zero to five project, which is about early childhood.
[Bash:] I...
[Brownstein:] And he may be he may be kind of leading the way here
[Bash:] I'm glad you brought up the Clinton word, because Bill Clinton took the stage today, of course. He was part of the swearing- in ceremony. And he also gave a little bit of a speech. He can't help himself, he's Bill Clinton. Listen to what he said. [Begin Video Clip, Courtesy Nyc Tv]
[Clinton:] I strongly endorse Bill de Blasio's core campaign commitment that we have to have a city of shared opportunities, shared prosperity, shared responsibilities. We are interdependent.
[Bash:] Hello?
[Walker:] Yes.
[Bash:] Ron Brownstein, this is the man you covered.
[Brownstein:] Yes. Right.
[Bash:] You know so well.
[Brownstein:] Right.
[Bash:] The conservative DLC Democrat, who, you know...
[Brownstein:] Right.
[Bash:] enraged liberals by bringing conservative Democrats in, by triangulating. Now he's endorsing progressive ideas?
[Brownstein:] Well, I mean he...
[Bash:] Hmmm, Hillary, 2016?
[Brownstein:] No, no. He well, he was always a complex figure in this way.
[Bash:] That's true.
[Brownstein:] I mean he did raise taxes on the top in 1993 without a single Republican vote in his initial budget. And his mantra throughout was opportunity, responsibility and community. And that was kind of the way he brought to you that was, he argued, was the essence of the new Democratic ideas. But there's no question that the tone of the de Blasio campaign, the kind of the overt kind of populism was something that Clinton shied away from. And, in fact, you know, the biggest argument one of the biggest arguments against Hillary Clinton in 2016 might be from the left and the argument that she is not conducive enough or receptive enough to that kind of line of argument. And it's what fueled the talk about Elizabeth Warren in 2016.
[Bash:] Absolutely. And, Hunter, how much do you think you understand this relationship, that this is not new? The reason Bill Clinton was there is because Bill de Blasio was such a part of Hillary Clinton's campaigns going back to her days running for Senate. How much do you think that will factor in, this relationship, on a national stage?
[Walker:] Well, you know, as you pointed out, Bill de Blasio was Hillary Clinton's campaign manager in 2000. He also worked in President Clinton's Department of Housing and Urban Development. So this is a long-standing relationship. They campaigned for him. They hosted a fundraiser. But, you know, I think going forward, as Ron was sort of pointing out, Bill de Blasio could be a big asset for Hillary if she's flanked on the left by a Brian Schweitzer or an Elizabeth Warren type. And so if his first term gets off to a successful start, she may be calling on him as much as he called on them in his campaign.
[Bash:] Absolutely. Hunter, thank you very much.
[Walker:] Happy New Year.
[Bash:] Thank you. Happy New Year.
[Brownstein:] Happy New Year.
[Bash:] Happy New Year. We'll be looking to New York a lot in the next year, for sure. And up next, while the president is on vacation, ObamaCare hits a new rough patch. We have White House reaction to an emergency Supreme Court ruling. And a popular TV sitcom star has died. The actor who played Uncle Phil on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." I'll talk to one of his co-stars who played the family butler. [Begin Video Clip From "the Fresh Prince Of Bel-air," Courtesy Youtube/warner Brothers]
[Unidentified Male:] Madam, I went to boarding school.