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Death Toll Rises To 24 As Crews Race To Contain L.A. Wildfires; Biden To Deliver Final Foreign Policy Speech At State Department; Air Quality Alerts Blanket Southern California, Include Los Angeles. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 13, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:20]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: The Los Angeles fire threat is again extremely critical because of more strong winds. The fires have been burning now for almost an entire week. The physical destruction is the worst the state has ever seen but the emotional loss for many will linger for a lifetime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIORGI ANTINORI, LOST HOME IN PACIFIC PALISADES: We had a daughter 15 years ago -- she'd be 15 -- and she passed away when she was one. And her ashes were in our home, and they're gone. Like, every memory, every piece of physical evidence of her life is just gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: That's so disturbing. Our thoughts are with the Antinori family and the thousands of other Californians who have had their lives irreparably damaged in this last week.

The destruction now clear and growing. More than 40,000 acres in Southern California have been scorched. Officials are now confirming 24 people have died. There are hundreds of others who are missing.

Strong winds slowed a shift direction over the weekend giving firefighters a bit of a chance to try to make some progress in containing the Palisades and Eaton and Hurst fires. But dangerous wind gusts upwards of 70-miles-per-hour are expected to return this week complicating the already astronomical task of putting out some of the largest fires California has seen in its history.

CNN national correspondent Michael Yoshida is live in the Pacific Palisades. What are you seeing there this morning? The fires still continuing to burn there.

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Sara.

And when you talk about those fires still burning and the return potentially of those strong winds over the weekend we've seen those fire crews -- their vehicles start to stage further east of me up into the mountains to be ready for whatever potential challenges those winds could bring in the coming hours and coming days here in the Pacific Palisades.

It's sites like this that we've been seeing over the last few days. You go street-by-street. These neighborhoods just unrecognizable. You talk about that emotional -- those damaged -- the memories. You can't even tell really where the homes once were except by the few chimneys -- those brick chimneys we see every so often that differentiate where one home started and another one ended and the began. It's sites like this that neighborhoods -- communities are dealing with.

We know over the weekend as well those search and rescue crews, those cadaver dogs have started to make their way through neighborhoods like this navigating all of this debris, all of this metal, trying that process of getting answers. As you mentioned, hundreds still reporting missing. Officials warning that death toll unfortunately is likely going to keep rising.

And all of these different efforts ongoing as those two main fires, the Eaton and the Palisades, still largely uncontained at this point. Just a monumental effort ahead in the coming hours, days, and obviously for many months to come in this area.

SIDNER: Michael, when do officials say that fire victims can get back into the area to try to see what's happened and assess the damage themselves? I know that just getting in and out of the area has been extremely controlled because of worry of people looting.

YOSHIDA: For sure. So we've seen roadblocks even in our own travels getting into these different locations. Officials saying over the weekend that at this point they're thinking potentially Thursday as a target date maybe for those families to start getting back into these neighborhoods. All of this really dependent on Mother Nature. They need to get through the return of these strong winds, this fire threat, and obviously still need to contain those two major fires.

But the hope is potentially maybe Thursday they can start letting people back in to see for themselves. Obviously, you can see on TV and on the internet the damage but wanting to get that answer -- that closure for yourself is so, so important. But beyond that this is just such a long road ahead.

California's Gov. Newsom saying over the weekend maybe 14 days ideally to be able to assess the damaged buildings. But after that some six to nine months potentially to clear this debris -- all of these toxic materials. And then, of course, the potential questions of do you rebuild? How do you rebuild? Just so much ahead for these communities devastated by this fire.

SIDNER: Yeah. And worse, whether or not what insurance is going to do throughout all of this.

[07:35:00]

Michael Yoshida, thank you so much -- live there for us from Pacific --

YOSHIDA: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- Palisades. Appreciate it -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's also -- let's get an update also from David Acuna, the battalion chief with CAL FIRE. Thank you so much for getting on with us once again.

What is the latest on the fire fight from your perspective? Where is the biggest focus of resources for CAL FIRE today?

DAVID ACUNA, BATTALION CHIEF, CAL FIRE (via Webex by Cisco): Hi, Kate. Thank you for having me on.

So the focus right now is the entire region from Ventura all the way down to San Diego. With the red flag warning imminent, every one of our fires that's currently active, the containment lines that are not fully contained yet are still a challenge and it's possible that wind could blow an ember over.

With cooperation from the entire state and eight-plus surrounding states, as well as Canada and Mexico, it's really helping bolster our group.

BOLDUAN: And that's the big fear, right? I mean, the winds are forecast to gust I think I saw between 45 and 55 miles an hour today, but then they pick back up. Mother Nature is not giving you all a break quite yet, that's for sure.

What does that mean if you're looking at 70-mile-an-hour wind gusts yet again comes Tuesday-Wednesday in terms of your efforts to contain the major fires? Could it go from 13 percent and 27 percent contained now -- you know, like slipping back and being -- with them growing?

ACUNA: Well, while I would never want to say never, our goal is to only point containment that we are fairly certain we'll be able to hold. However, as you mentioned, 70-mile-per-hour winds are an issue.

Now, I want to address something that the reporter just read before me. So, part of the reason we're keeping evacuation orders in place is not only because of fire risk but it's also because we have downed power lines, which are potentially live, unknown status of gas lines, and every bit of that ash that is out there is toxic with petroleum products from the houses that burned. So it is an unsafe place for families to be.

BOLDUAN: Do you think then Thursday -- people going back in Thursday seems overly optimistic?

ACUNA: You know, I'm not in the command center and able to tell you what the exact thoughts are. However, I would ask the public for patience because we are protecting you from toxic ash, toxic gases. And for those buildings that are still half-standing -- those buildings could easily collapse at any moment leading to additional risk of death. BOLDUAN: The governor is calling for an independent review into problems specifically with the water supply early on. I want to play for you what the governor says are the questions that he wants answered now about the water supply. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, (D) CALIFORNIA: It wasn't pipes. It wasn't electricity. It was a combination of pipes, electricity, and pumps. Did it contribute in any way to our inability to fight the fire or were 99-mile-an-hour winds determinative and there was really no firefight that could have been more meaningful?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And look, Chief, I think everyone can appreciate what CAL FIRE is worried about right now is just getting the fire out, not about any maybe issues leading up to it.

But has CAL FIRE established its water issues, especially in the Pacific Palisades, hampered or hurt your ability to fight the fire early on?

ACUNA: Well, you're right. That's going to take some time to figure out.

But from the point of view of physics, right -- so if they have a number of million-gallon tanks up there that's going to last for a while. Imagine your garden hose. If you get two or three pinholes in your garden hose, let's say from structure fires in the area, it's going to hold up. But with 5,000 or 10,000 structures destroyed, if you have 5,000 or 10,000 holes in your garden hose, you're not going to be able to maintain pressure.

BOLDUAN: When you -- I mean, your crews are out there now and you're not going to stop obviously until you can have full containment. Does CAL FIRE have everything it needs to contain these fires and to continue to bring these fires under control?

ACUNA: Well, as we begin looking at containment -- and let's not forget the fact that the entire region needs to be prepared to evacuate. We need to get everyone from Ventura to San Diego to understand that evacuation orders are still a possibility and to go to readyforwildfire.org for those evacuation resources.

However, once that fire effect is removed, we still have weeks of work to do in order to repair the runoff and the areas where the water will go so that when we do get rain, we don't face another problem issue with mudslides.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, that's -- and that can be equally or even more deadly, as we've unfortunately seen in the past.

Battalion Chief David Acuna, thank you so much for coming on. Appreciate your time -- John.

[07:40:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Today, President Biden will deliver what is expected to be his final foreign policy speech as president. A senior administration official says the president will argue he is giving President-elect Donald Trump a stronger hand than he inherited.

With us now is principal deputy national security adviser Jon Finer. John, thanks so much for being with us.

Before I get to this speech, I do want to ask you about the negotiations for a hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. There are officials with Hamas saying they're close. So what's the status this morning?

JON FINER, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF AND DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: So while this has fallen out of the headlines a bit, the United States has remained deeply engaged in trying to seek a deal that would first and foremost bring the hostages home but also halt the fighting and enable a massive influx of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. We have been focused on that deal for months, including day in and day out in recent weeks.

There has been significant progress made. I am not going to sit here and make predictions. This has been a long time coming. We think a deal has been on the table that the parties should be able to agree to for quite some time. Hamas, up until now, has been resistant and reluctant to actually take that deal. Some of the gaps have narrowed and we very much hope that this does come together and we're going to stay on top of it. But I'm not going to sit here and predict exactly when or where it'll come together.

BERMAN: No predictions, but are these talks in a different place today than they were a few days ago?

FINER: Fundamentally we believe there is progress being made. There is a deal on the table that Hamas should accept that could do all the things I just laid out. Again, bring the hostages home. Halt the fighting. Increase humanitarian assistance.

And some of the outstanding issues that were present in recent weeks have been resolved or narrowed and we will see what happens over the course of the coming days.

BERMAN: The flip side of that, CNN does have some reporting from someone familiar with these talks who says that the incentive for Israel right now -- specifically, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- is Trump. Our reporting is that Netanyahu wants to get this done because of Trump. Wants to curry favor with Donald Trump.

How accurate is that assessment?

FINER: You know, to be honest, we're not focused on the politics of this. We are actually gratified by the fact that everybody who is speaking out on this topic is saying that they want a deal in the near term. Fundamentally, that's our position, and that's a good thing.

We believe the sooner that this could happen the better, first and foremost because these hostages have been in a situation of just extreme peril now for well over a year and it's overdue for them to come home and be reunited with their families. It is overdue for the fighting in Gaza to be halted. And the people there who are facing just an egregious humanitarian situation to get more relief.

This has been our position for quite some time, and we are not focused on exactly who or why this may be coming together. We just want to make sure that it does come together if we can bring that about.

BERMAN: Talk to us about the speech today from President Biden. What is the chief message?

FINER: Well, I think you'll hear the president say that through the work of this administration the United States is now stronger at home than we were when he took office. Stronger economically. A stronger industrial base. A greater lead over the rest of the world in the development of the sensitive technologies that will define the future of the global economy and of our national security.

And that's because of the investments the president and, frankly, the Congress made early in this administration to strengthen our hand.

Second, he will say that we inherited, in addition to a flagging economy, relationships around the world that were in tatters. And that we went about not only repairing those relationships but enhancing them to historic levels, particularly in strategically consequential parts of the world like the Indo-Pacific and like Europe.

And so when these crises came, they got all of the attention in foreign affairs. Obviously, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which was unconscionable. The Hamas attack on Israel, which was outrageous.

The United States was able with our partners and allies to address those crises from a position of much greater strength. And as a result, our adversaries in those crises -- the Russians and the Iranians, first and foremost -- are on the back foot and weaker than they were when this president took office.

The Chinese, who the United States has declared as our key strategic competitor -- people were saying that they were ascendant when President Biden took office. They would surpass the U.S. economically. That they would outpace us technologically.

Nobody is saying those things with the same degree of confidence anymore, if they're saying them at all, in part because of the performance of this administration led by the president. And so we believe that he is leaving a very strong hand, as you say, to our successors. A strong hand in Europe. A strong hand in the Indo- Pacific. A strong hand in the Middle East. And it will be up to them to take that work forward.

BERMAN: One of the things you mentioned was NATO -- a stronger NATO.

What are you hearing from your counterparts in Europe about how they feel the U.S. commitment will be to NATO in the months ahead?

[07:45:00]

FINER: Well, I'll let them speak for their own predictions, their own relationships.

But I think one of the things that is undeniable is that when this administration took office, if you had asked analysts -- experts on NATO if there's a major security crisis in Europe, how well is the alliance likely to hold together, will it end up more divided or strengthened and unified as a result of that crisis, I think you would have had predictions all over the map.

So the fact that when the crisis came -- when Russia invaded Ukraine in an unprecedented way -- which, by the way, we predicted and went around the world saying it was going to happen -- when NATO emerged not only larger because of the addition of Finland and Sweden which gives an extra 1,000 miles to NATO's border with Russia that Russia has to worry about -- but also stronger with many more countries. Almost three times as many countries spending at least two percent of the GDP on defense. And also more unified despite this incredibly divisive action that Russia took.

That came about because of hard work and frankly, because of leadership by the president.

So NATO is in a strong place. What the next administration does vis-a- vis its NATO policy, I'm not going to predict. How the other countries are viewing the incoming administration is best left to them. But the hand that is being dealt to the new administration puts them in a position to press the advantage should they choose to.

BERMAN: Jon Finer, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Best of luck -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right -- thank you, John.

Ahead, the late-night doink that is letting Washington fans do something they haven't been able to do for 20 years. The NFL Playoffs saving some of the best drama for the final play of the night.

All right, ahead, Jeff Bezos inside Mission Control this morning after his 30-story rocket failed to launch. What we're expecting and what happened. That's ahead.

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[07:51:32]

BOLDUAN: So it isn't just the flames that people in Southern California have to worry about. Air quality in the region is becoming a growing concern. New alerts continue to be issued. Air quality around Los Angeles remains right now at moderate levels this morning -- specifically, a level two out of six on the Air Quality Index scale. Last week, though, air quality plummeted. Thursday, places like

Altadena reached a hazardous level six out of six on that scale exceeding some of the worst air quality in the world seen in New Delhi, a city notorious for air pollution.

So all of this raising new concerns for everyone in Southern California of what the health impacts could be long after the fires are out.

Joining us right is pulmonologist Dr. Gustavo Ferrer to help us understand this a little bit more. Doctor, thank you for coming in this morning.

We're talking ash, soot, and smoke that people have now been surrounded by going on a week now. What are the health concerns that you have with this and the prolonged exposure that people are having to this?

DR. GUSTAVO FERRER, PULMONOLOGIST, FERRER PRIMARY CARE AND PULMONARY INSTITUTE (via Webex by Cisco): It puts us at a significant health risk. In the short term, all these gases and fine particles are going to create local irritation of the eyes, the nose, and it can exacerbate chronic conditions like asthma, COPD, and severe allergies.

But in the long term the consequences could be more serious, you know. We can see people developing chronic respiratory problems, cardiovascular problems. We can see also certain cancers have been described after this exposure of these kind of particles for a long time.

BOLDUAN: You know, officials are telling people that it's best to either stay indoors, and if you have to be outside to wear an N-95 mask.

How effective do you think those masks are for protecting people if they have to be out?

FERRER: I think the masks are effective and it is the most important measure that we can quickly take. However, it is exceedingly important to remain indoors and avoid exposure. Even the best mask, N95 -- they can still miss those fine particles that are less than parts per million in getting to the deepest part of the lungs.

BOLDUAN: We also heard that using HEPA filter air purifiers is another good precaution that people can take if they can get their hands on them. Some residents though have been speaking out saying that what they've experienced is that even with HEPA filters going it's just not enough.

Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY ESPINOZA, PASADENA EVACUEE: We only had a few hours to pack and there were still -- my neighbors were still in their houses. We couldn't breathe anymore, and we had -- we had all the filters going in the house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And that person from Pasadena -- they had to evacuate. They just couldn't take it. They had all the filters running in their house and they just couldn't deal with it though.

Can air purifiers, like, only work so much?

FERRER: Absolutely. You know, when you are exposed to a large volume of these fine particles, they can plug the filters and they can become non-functional. But even more, the filters can actually attract other particles of water making the air drier and difficult to breathe.

[07:55:00]

If you are in an area where you are close to the big volumes of particles and fire, the filters may not work. So evacuation should be the answer at that point.

BOLDUAN: In addition to the two things we've talked about right here, what are your other suggestions for people if -- I mean, they're in Southern California. They need to be there. They have to be there while this emergency still is unfolding.

FERRER: You may have to use masks indoors. It is exceedingly important that we reduce the exposure of those particles to the lungs and to the upper parts of the respiratory system.

Also, do not vacuum. We have seen that in the past. We can actually aerosolize and increase the number of particles that people are going to inhale by vacuuming, burning candles, or trying to smoke indoors. Use masks. Limit exposure when you go outside by using N-95 if you've got to work or do something similar. Stay in touch with your doctors.

And also use nasal hygiene tools. There are plenty. Saline with water tool at the pharmacy that people can buy and rinse their nose.

And stay in touch with the news.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Doctor, thank you very much for your help and for your time -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, this morning launch scrubbed. Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos, pushed back the schedule for the huge 30-story Glenn rocket. It was supposed to lift off between 1:00 and 4:00 in the morning but engineers said there was a technical problem they could not address in time.

The billionaire businessman hoping his rocket can compete with billionaire competitor Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket in the future.

And let's take a look at this sweet face. Oh my goodness. A young gorilla rescued from a Turkish Airlines plane cargo hold and is seen there now recovering at an Istanbul zoo. The 5-month-old was discovered in a box on a flight from Nigeria to Thailand last month, but those photos were just shared -- oh, and video -- what a sweetie -- on Sunday.

Wildlife officers are certainly considering returning him to his natural habitat. The public though has weighed in and named the gorilla "Zeytin" which means olive in Turkish.

It's unclear how he ended up in that box, but customs officials warn they have increasingly intercepted illegally traded animals around Istanbul as it emerges as a major air hub between continents -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning the doink heard round the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NFL ANNOUNCER: The kick is up. It sails on the way. It hits the upright and goes through. He knocks it through and wins the game 23- 20. The Commanders win in the postseason for the first time in 19 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Yeah, I haven't been able to say that in a generation.

The Washington Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Bucs in a walk-off field goal -- you saw it -- bounce off the uprights -- a doink. But it fell through, which doesn't happen always.

Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was sensational. This was the first Commanders winning season since 2015 and the first playoff win since 2005.

Coy Wire -- what, five playoff games so far. Four of them kind of stunk, honestly, but that last one we had high drama.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, and the last one smelled like success for those Commanders.

And Jayden Daniels -- can we just talk about him, John? He's a rookie. The playoffs are supposed to be harder, they're louder, they're -- he's on the road and he's out there showing the poise of John Berman when Tom Brady had the ball in his hands in the fourth quarter game on the line.

A phenomenal shoutout to Coach Dan Quinn who took that team from four wins last season now to continuing in the playoffs.

Jalen Hurts and the Eagles -- they're flying high. They put an absolute beatdown on the Packers. They set the tone early too, John, recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff. And that would turn into the first of Jalen Hurts' two touchdown passes before two minutes had even run off the clock.

And on the other side of the ball, oh, oh, oh -- that Philly defense balling. They intercepted Jordan Love three times. They win 22-10. Receiver A.J. Brown -- he only had one catch, but he went viral. He was seen reading a book on the sidelines. He says he brings "Inner Excellence" by Jim Murphy to every game. He was surprised people just now noticed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

A.J. BROWN, WIDE RECEIVER, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: It's something like how I refresh every drive. Regardless of if I score a touchdown or I drop a pass, I always go back to that book every drive and just refocus and nothing matters, nothing happened, just read a lot (PH) back then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: And John, you know we have to talk about my Buffalo Bills. They steamrolled the Broncos 31-7. Josh Allen showing why he's a leading MVP candidate.

Look at this unreal touchdown pass fourth down. Ty Johnson makes an incredible catch. This is late in the third. And Allen would finish with two touchdown passes in the game. This was his fifth consecutive season with 40-plus TDs. No other QB in history has more than two straight.

Next up, the Bills -- they'll have the Ravens and Lamar Jackson for an MVP candidate showdown.