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California Wildfires Continue Burning; Story of Escaping Wildfire; Freshman Orientation for Congress; Turning Points Story of Seamus Mullen; Wake-Up Call for GOP. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired November 14, 2018 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:30:00] DR. ANDY BENTON, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: Expression of misunderstanding and maybe even fear. We did not lock students in.

BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Andy Benton is the president of Pepperdine. In full disclosure, my alma mater. And in his 35 years here, he has seen six major firestorms.

BENTON: In 1985, I was here, we noticed that everybody just dropped everything, got in their cars and left. And we had no idea where they were. We had no idea if they were being cared for. So we decided thereafter that we could do better. And the do better was that we have equipped this campus to withstand fire to the best of our ability. We have 4.6 million gallons of water. We have 15 days of food. We have counselors, medical doctors and a caring community to take care of those students and calm them. We relocate them into one of two facilities. And even now we've got a fire -- we've got a helicopter landing and withdrawing --

WEIR: As you're speaking. Look at this.

BENTON: Withdrawing water from our lakes. Twenty-five hundred gallons in about 60 seconds. And they're probably fighting the fire up in Malibu Canyon right now.

WEIR (voice over): And up in Lake Sherwood, the air attack works. No structures are lost.

WEIR (on camera): I'm Bill Weir from CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tyler Akin (ph). Nice to meet you, sir.

WEIR: Thank you for your service, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what we're here for.

WEIR: You guys getting any sleep or --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Intermittently.

WEIR (voice over): But they can't relax until the Santa Ana winds given southern California a break.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to be picking up some (INAUDIBLE).

WEIR: And until then, they just get ready to do it all over again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEIR: And we're here live in Malibu. We actually have some live aerials of the Woolsey Fire right now in the pre-dawn darkness as well. Red flag warnings still up today. High winds expected. There is hope that the forecast could shift and they could contain this thing by the weekend. Forty percent contained right now. Almost 100,000 burned. Two dead in this fire.

But, John, Alisyn, imagine how much worse it would be if not for those heroes in the sky and on the ground.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my gosh, Bill, thank you so much for showing us their work and giving us that up close report on what's happening there. Thank you very much.

So one survivor from the now devastated town of Paradise, California, is sharing her story of escape. Video of her harrowing ride through the flames has been watched almost four million times on FaceBook. So watch a portion of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYNN CHATFIELD, ESCAPED WILDFIRE: Heavenly Father, please help us. Please help us to be safe. I am thankful for Jeremy and his willingness to be brave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Brynn Parrott Chatfield took that video from inside that car and she joins us now.

Good morning, Brynn.

BRYNN PARROTT CHATFIELD, HOME BURNED DOWN IN PARADISE TRUCKEE, CALIFORNIA (via telephone): Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Brynn, that is terrifying. Looking at your video is so scary. What were you thinking inside the car as you made this escape?

CHATFIELD: Well, I was devastated that my hometown of Paradise was on fire. We were -- we were totally unexpectedly going through flames. I didn't realize that Paradise was on fire at that part of town. And we were scared for our lives.

CAMEROTA: Yes. What I can't understand, Brynn, is when I look at this video of your harrowing ride, did you -- there are parts, to me, like this part right here, that look like there's flames across the street, as though you're not going to be able to get out. Did you know that this road was clear?

CHATFIELD: We had heard that that road was clear. We were actually going the wrong direction in traffic. And we had heard that that was the best route out. And so that's why we chose to take that route.

But thousands and thousands of people took that drive, or a drive similar, or a drive worse. This was not just our story, this is everyone's experience.

CAMEROTA: Yes, we've seen some of the other videos, but you just never know when the fire's going to jump the road. And, I mean, obviously, you have a gas tank. It's just all so terrifying to think about.

CHATFIELD: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Yet you're -- I mean we hear you, I guess, in the car. That's your voice. You're praying rather calmly. And so, I mean, did you think you were going to be able to make it out?

CHATFIELD: We didn't. I know that there's power in prayer, but we were scared for our lives. We thought maybe our tires would melt. We didn't know what was coming next in those big, dark things. We didn't know what was in front of us. It was scary. It was scary for the whole town.

CAMEROTA: We can tell. I mean, we can tell. You -- there are times that there's just -- it looks like there's just zero visibility. And then there's times where all you can see are the flames in front of you.

[08:35:06] You have three children?

CHATFIELD: I do, yes.

CAMEROTA: And they were not with you as you made this drive?

CHATFIELD: No, they were not with us. They had evacuated about a half an hour earlier with their grandmother.

CAMEROTA: And so was that the difference in just a space of a half an hour? Did it get much worse?

CHATFIELD: Yes. Their experience was not this, which I'm so thankful for. But -- so, yes, just in the small space of time, that -- those fires had started and there were still thousands of people that needed to evacuate.

CAMEROTA: And what has happened with those thousands of people?

CHATFIELD: Thankfully, a lot of people have gotten out. They're being housed in Chico. They're trying to find places to stay. But there are hundreds of missing people. We know that there is -- the death toll is high. It's really devastating to see such a beautiful place with beautiful people so devastated.

CAMEROTA: And did you worry at these points that you were trying to evacuate that you might not see your kids again?

CHATFIELD: Yes. And that drive was only about two to three minutes. But people experienced that for hours. And we were definitely scared for our lives. And the only thing that we could do was pray, which we know works, and to have my husband just keep driving.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh.

You survived. Your husband survived. Your children survived. But your house did not. And your husband's dental office did not. So what will you and your three children do now?

CHATFIELD: We're kind of living hour by hour or day by day just trying to decide what we want to do next. We're looking into using some space in Chico for my husband to work. We're not really quite sure where we're going to stay. There's just so many unknowns right now for everybody.

CAMEROTA: I mean you're two -- and as I understand it, you're in a rental home two and a half hours away. Do you think you'll ever be able to go back to Paradise?

CHATFIELD: To rebuild and live there?

CAMEROTA: I guess.

CHATFIELD: We haven't made our decision. It's -- and that would be -- that's a really hard decision for us to make. I was born and raised there. We chose to bring my family back there and raise our children. Paradise has strong people and a lot of people want to rebuild, but we know it's going to take time. Just to clean up the destruction is going to take a long time.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

Well, Brynn Parrott Chatfield, we're thinking of you and your family and all of the people there who had to evacuate, as well as those families who have lost loved ones. Thank you very much for sharing your video and your story with us.

CHATFIELD: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: John.

BERMAN: What amazing images, but terrifying images.

CAMEROTA: Terrifying. I mean you just don't know what lies ahead. And so you're driving, hoping that you're going to see that clearing, as she did, at some point.

BERMAN: She still doesn't know what lies ahead.

All right, a record-breaking new era about to begin in Washington. The freshman orientation for the new class of women headed to Congress, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:42:15] CAMEROTA: OK, it's freshman orientation for those newly elected to Congress. The new class features a record number of women ready to usher in a new era to Capitol Hill. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT: Oh, my gosh!

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From the victory stage, to the halls of the U.S. Capitol.

SERFATY (on camera): Do you know your way around?

JENNIFER WEXTON (D), VIRGINIA REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT: Not quite yet. It's a very big building.

SERFATY (voice over): The new class of women elected into Congress have arrived in Washington.

WEXTON: I guess we're members-elect now.

SERFATY (on camera): How does it feel to say that?

WEXTON: Still it's a mouthful. It's strange. But I'm sure I'll get used to it.

SERFATY: Or the squad, as one of them put it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're all ready to buckle down and get to work.

SERFATY: The women who ran, who won, and will now usher in the new record-breaking makeup of Capitol Hill with at least 125 women in Congress, at least 40 of them newly elected, and 15 of those women of color.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are some incredibly talented people coming in, in the freshman class.

SERFATY: The class includes Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the first Muslim-American women, Sharice Davids and Deb Haaland, the first Native American women.

DEB HAALAND (D), NEW MEXICO REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT: Tonight we made history!

SERFATY: Lucy McBath, who lost her son Jordan Davis to gun violence. Former Cabinet Secretary Donna Shalala.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't been a freshman for a long time.

SERFATY: The youngest member to be elected in Congress, 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex.

SERFATY (on camera): Do you feel like this is the first day of school?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Oh, totally.

SERFATY: What are your emotions? Are you nervous?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: You know, I have butterflies, but I'm excited.

SERFATY (voice over): And Air Force veteran Chrissy Houlahan, among others.

CHRISSY HOULAHAN (D), PENNSYLVANIA REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT: Congress camp, Congress school. It does feel a little bit like that. You get a backpack and school supplies, and it feels a little bit like everything's new.

SERFATY: New members did get something of that new backpack, which some showed off on social media as they checked in for new member orientation in Washington this week.

MADELEINE DEAN (D), PENNSYLVANIA REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT: Seeing a bank of cameras is kind of ridiculous. I've never had that happen to me.

SERFATY: Meeting their colleagues. Finding their sea legs.

WEXTON: I came through the regular entrance. And when I was getting wanded, a Capitol Police Officer was like, no, you need to go through the member's entrance, but I didn't know that.

SERFATY: And then hoping to move forward.

ILHAN OMAR (D), MINNESOTA REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT: I hope we are never continuously talking about the firsts. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And that's the same sentiment that we heard from so many new members up here on Capitol Hill that, yes, there have been many firsts and, yes, many records broken and all of that, of course, indeed does need to be celebrated. But then they need to move past that and start actually doing the work of which there is many up here on Capitol Hill.

First up, though, today, there will be that group class photo taken on the steps of the U.S. Congress. And later this week what could very well be the first hard vote many of these new members will have to take, elected their new leadership.

[08:45:11] Back to you, John and Alisyn.

BERMAN: All right, Sunlen Serfaty for us on Capitol Hill. Congratulations to all of those new members.

Now to a chef who took back his career and his health after mysterious pains almost forced him out of the kitchen. His story in today's "Turning Points."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Seamus Mullen heated up the kitchen on shows like "The Next Iron Chef," but the whiz with a knife once felt like he was getting sliced.

SEAMUS MULLEN: Initially I just felt like my whole body was achy. And I went from that to acute attacks. And that was like having a knife stabbed in my shoulder. And then I would get a pain that felt like there was a nail going through the joint.

I kind of just ignored the pain as best as I could. And one morning I woke up with an excruciating pain in my left hip. I could barely get out of bed.

GUPTA: The diagnosis, rheumatoid arthritis.

MULLEN: To learn that it was a debilitating disease was really scary. I kind of had to make a choice about my life, whether I was going to crawl my way out of this somehow.

GUPTA: He began cooking up ways to improve his health, starting with his diet.

MULLEN: For me it started by taking out all of the foods that are known to be inflammatory and create a life with food that really worked for me.

GUPTA: Or what Mullen calls his hero foods.

MULLEN: For me it might be avocados. For someone else it might be almonds. It's really important for everyone to understand the foods that really make them feel really, really good.

My life today is completely different. I'm glad that I got sick because I came out of it with a greater sense of purpose.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:51:01] BERMAN: A wake up call for the GOP. Those are the words of a long-time Republican politician from South Carolina. Congressman Mark Sanford, who also served as that state's governor, his district went to the Democrats for the first time in 40 years. A new op-ed -- in a new op-ed Sanford writes, the Republican Party that so many of us care deeply about continues to be held hostage these days. And what I saw last week in a district that I grew up in and know well is that there is a half-life to insults, bullying and embrace of post -- of a post truth world.

We're joined now by Republican Congressman Mark Sanford.

Thank you so much for being with us, congressman.

In this op-ed, which is really an interesting read, you list three things that you think the Republicans need to do to get back on track. I want to focus on the first two first because it's interesting. The first one you talk about its environmental conservation, which is something we don't often hear from Republicans. And the second one is something we don't hear from Republicans anymore, which is spending and the deficit.

REP. MARK SANFORD (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Yes. I think that they're important, to state the obvious.

You know, the Republican Party actually has a remarkable conservation and environmental legacy. I mean the EPA was begun under Republican control. You know, Teddy Roosevelt really began the conservation movement, the national park system and wildlife refuge system in this country. There's a remarkable legacy there, and we've, to some degree, walked away from it. And I think that that comes at great political expense, particularly when you look at suburban districts.

As it relates to spending, historically we've been the party, not just of lower taxes, but of less spending as well. And if you don't do both, you end up with big deficits. There's plenty of blame to go around Washington as to who's not cutting on spending on both the Republican and Democratic sides. But I just think, from a branding standpoint, it's important for Republicans to be about less government and less spending because that's tied to this notion of conservativism, of limited government that has, I think, traditionally been an anchor of the Republican Party.

BERMAN: And the deficit was nowhere in this past election.

The third issue you bring up is the one that has received a lot of attention, and that's tone, particularly when you're dealing in some of these suburban districts. And you write, I heard it from young soccer moms and long-time Republican voters alike, they don't want to condone behavior that is counter to what they've taught their children. Sounds like you're talking about the president, congressman.

SANFORD: I am. And I've been long-standing since he came into office. Not only agreeing on a whole host of different policy elements, but strongly disagreeing with where he's come from, from the standpoint of tone. I think, again, it hurts the Republican Party. And we saw it in this election. You know, this wouldn't be my words, but if you look at, you know, somebody like Karl Rove, what he said emphatically was that we've been hurt in suburban districts based on tone alone. And so style, at some level, can be substance. And when you go again to the lengths that this president has on the stylistic change of really paving ground that we've never seen paved before, there is an electoral consequence. And so it's for that reason and sort of accessing the race back at home. I said, you know, here are three big contributing elements that we ought to use as a wake-up call as Republicans in looking about where we go forward.

BERMAN: If the Republican Party has become the party of Donald Trump, and there's evidence to that effect. I mean there are lots of people who campaigned as versions of Donald Trump. And he went out and got people elected in his own image. If that is where the party is going, is that a party you want to be part of?

SANFORD: No. I want to work, as I -- which is a reason I wrote the op- ed and which is the reason I've spoken out, as I have, over the last almost two years to say, no, you know, this is a temporary blip on a radar screen. The roots --

BERMAN: Is it?

SANFORD: I hope so. If not, we're in real trouble. The roots of the Republican Party run much deeper. You know, a lot of people work for years, generations even, in the traditional components of conservativism. And I'm simply saying, we've got to go back to our roots going forward. If not, we're going to find ourselves in something of a no man's land in political ground and in policy ground.

[08:55:15] BERMAN: Congressman, you're leaving the House, so you don't have to get re-elected at this point. Is that how you explain what you did on Halloween? Instead of giving out candy, you gave out mini Constitutions. What are you trying to do, congressman, to the children of America?

SANFORD: Well, in this case, it was just my neighborhood, so it's not that broad a reach across the country. We -- you know, I'm shutting down an office. We happened to have a lot of pocket Constitutions still laying around. I thought this might be fun. I don't know if the kids were wildly excited about it, but we had a good time.

BERMAN: I do. They weren't!

SANFORD: Yes, exactly right. Well, you entice them with a little bit of candy as well. It's a combination.

BERMAN: All right, Congressman Mark Sanford of South Carolina, thanks for being with us. We appreciate the conversation. Look forward to talking to you in the future.

SANFORD: As well.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Snickers or the Constitution.

BERMAN: I like the Constitution. It just doesn't taste good.

CAMEROTA: Great point.

All right, staff shakeups reportedly ahead in the White House.

CNN "NEWSROOM" with Poppy Harlow and Jim Sciutto, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Wednesday morning to you. I'm Jim Sciutto. Poppy is off today.

[08:59:59] The president is on edge. The West Wing on egg shells. The East Wing on the attack.