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Strong Winds Likely to Pick Up Again in Southern California Prompting Worries of Increasing Wildfire Damage; President-Elect Trump's Cabinet Picks to Testify before Senate in Confirmation Hearings; Wildfires Spotlight Insurance Issues in California. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired January 13, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Next up, the Bills will have the Ravens and Lamar Jackson for an MVP candidate showdown. Buffalo still undefeated at home this season.

Wild card round wraps up tonight. Vikings and Rams in Glendale, Arizona. The NFL moving the game from Inglewood, California amid the days of devastating wildfires and air quality concerns across L.A. A kickoff is set for 8:00 eastern.

Finally, your Patriots, John, hiring former player of theirs Mike Vrabel as their new head coach. Vrabel was the Browns consultant this season. He was head coach of the Titans for six seasons before that, coach of the year there in 2021. John, I can just tell you, your Patriots, they're going to be tough as nails.

I had to play against Vrabel. And we're in Buffalo. He's on punt team because Belichick always played their defensive starters. I'm blocking him. He can't get off the block. Good job, Coy. Next thing I know, he reaches up under my facemask, starts choking me in the middle of the play. I started like laughing and smiling. He starts laughing and smiling. He is a beast, and I think you are going to love the product that he puts out onto that field with their terms of their emotion. It's going to be awesome.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm not sure I could love it as much as that story, because that story was awesome. It was a friendly choke from Mike Vrabel, who now holds the most important job in all of New England. Coy Wire, thank you very much.

A brand-new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. Red flag warnings are back as firefighters race to contain the catastrophic wildfires still raging across southern California. More powerful winds expected to pick back up as the death toll has now climbed to 24 with dozens more missing.

And fire ravaged communities look like war zones in the face of the devastation. Wildfire victims who have lost everything are now facing another question, what does their insurance cover, or are they even covered? We'll speak with one homeowner facing uncertainty over what to do next.

And on Capitol Hill, President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks will face scrutiny as critical confirmation hearings kick off tomorrow.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news, the last thing residents in and around Los Angeles want to hear this morning. Overnight, officials raised the fire threat level to the highest level, extremely critical in some places. That is a three out of three in terms of danger, and it could stay that way for days. Shortly, the wind speeds could be near hurricane level gusts again. The fear is the conditions will soon become explosive. Just moments ago, a fire battalion chief shared this update.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ACUNA, BATTALION CHIEF, CAL FIRE: 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 --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right, more than 100,000 people are in the evacuation zones this morning. The death toll stands at 24, but that number could rise. There are dozens of people said to be missing. Let's get right to Malibu. CNN's Stephanie Elam is there. Stephanie, we can see you standing in front of just the destruction.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So much destruction. And you were talking about those winds, John. They are really starting to kick up now. I don't know if you can tell as well. Yes, I guess this guy is flapping up here, so you can see this. It is really windy, and this is part of the concern because right now it is cooler, it is a little chilly out here. And that usually happens during wildfires where we see the flames kind of simper down into the earth and we don't really see them. But then as daylight comes, things start to heat up and we start to see these blazes come back.

But this is the overall effect of what we've been seeing here. Take a look at this. This was an inn right on the Pacific Coast Highway just decimated by the blaze, the Palisades fire coming through here. And you think about it, the Palisades fire has burned through more than 23,000 acres. The Eaton fire over on the east side, burning through 14,000 acres. And according to data released by CAL FIRE, they're saying that the amount of land burned between the Eaton fire, the Palisades fire, and the Hurst fire is more than the size, the total area of Paris, larger. I mean, just phenomenal numbers to actually try to compute and digest of just how large these fires are.

The other concern, though, with these winds is that while they have had some containment come together for some of these fires, and some of them, they've knocked down, the issue is with these winds, those containment numbers could go back down. And I know a lot of people just want to get back into their homes if they're in those evacuation areas.

[08:05:04]

But take a listen to CAL FIRE official here explain why they don't want people to go back prematurely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID ACUNA, BATTALION CHIEF, CAL FIRE: 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, an 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: That's very true. And even here, standing here by this end, even though I'm not in it, I can smell that metallic smell that you smell after wildfires that goes through not just brush and trees, but through buildings like this. And that is part of the concern, along with the fact that we have these wind warnings. So they're saying if things go the way they hope they go over the next couple of days, the earliest that we may see people going back into their homes is on Thursday, John.

BERMAN: This has been going on for so long now. In days, more of it to come. It's got to be overwhelming for so many of the people who have lost their homes. It's got to be exhausting for you, too. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much for being there. Appreciate it. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And tens of thousands of people have evacuated their homes under threat from these deadly wildfires in the area. In areas like Altadena, entire neighborhoods burned to the ground, leaving many people with little or no information about what's left of their home after they evacuated. Some, though, never left.

Kevin Lyman, now a USC professor, best known for being one of the founders of the Vans Warped Tour, he stayed. His home survived. But that's not the case of many of his neighbors. And now he is providing near constant updates for everyone in his community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN LYMAN, FOUNDER, VANS WARPED TOUR: Hey guys, the best way I thought I could do this was to send a little update from Calaveras. At this point, our house is still standing. There's houses on both sides of the street down Mar Vista, as well, as at the end of Calaveras, both ends on fire, but were making a stand. Thank you for everyone's well wishes, and we'll hit you on the backside.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BOLDUAN: And Kevin Lyman joins me right now. Kevin, it's really good to speak with you. I mean, you've become something of a lifeline really for people in your community, giving updates on how things are progressing, what you're seeing, your home survived, you've been staying in, I think you're in your van right now outside of your house in the days since. What has the day to day been like?

KEVIN LYMAN, FOUNDER, VANS WARPED TOUR: Well, we've been cleaning up the neighborhood, doing the best we can, just keeping an eye on each other's homes. Like you said, letting our friends know that things are OK. We're seeing a lot of utility vehicles. Totally understand when you say they don't want people up in these neighborhoods because they're doing a lot of work. First responders have been fantastic. You're seeing the best in people. The people, there are people back here that are keeping people. I spoke to one person yesterday who went around and checked on 70 homes for people, and you see the best in people right now.

BOLDUAN: Kevin, what was it like living through this and what has it been like seeing what's happened to your community?

LYMAN: Well, you know, you have this feeling of a survivor's guilt because it is little islands of homes. Like, if you were on right in our little central point, you'd think it was a regular day. And then you walk by these homes and you remember people's gatherings there, there in the front yard of a home, people got together. And then you see those bright spots where two goats survived down the street. And though the family lost their home, they were able to get in and come and get the goats and see the joy in their eyes that their goats survived. I mean, simple things like that.

I'm starting to look at this as maybe these are our survivor islands that will bring hope to the community and be strong. The few neighbors that are right here, there's about six or seven of us on the street, three homes are here. And maybe we're going to be the anchor, I hope. You know, I know we're going to go through our own things, and we give people hope. And it's been inspiring seeing the way people have pulled together.

BOLDUAN: Well, your resilience has been something that I know a lot of people have been leaning on in these days. The fire chief said that if the conditions are OK, that people may start to be able to return to evacuation areas come Thursday. Do you think people are prepared for what they are going to see when they return?

LYMAN: No. I'm hoping the mental health community can be here and that we give them support. I think, you can see the videos, you can see the films, but when they walk up and see what they have, I hope we have a strong rally of the mental health community to be there to support them, because they're going to need it.

BOLDUAN: Youve talked about seeing the best in people in the aftermath of this and the midst of this.

[08:10:00] But we have seen and have heard people being frustrated and angry about how this disaster has unfolded, how it was able to become as bad as it has, lots of questions about the water supply at the height of the fight last week. How are you feeling? How are you feeling about all of this?

LYMAN: I think it's a little early. Of course, those emotions are raw. Everyone's nerves are raw right now, but I think it's going to take some deep view of our, I mean, climate and how it has changed. These wind events are becoming more prevalent. We see it around the country in all these disasters that we're seeing happen. Things, the way we live is, is going to have to change.

We have to -- and maybe that's going to come from the young people. The reports I'm getting from around, the young people are really rallying in southern California. They're being industrious, just like this community was. This community was in a transition. There was a lot of young people coming here with new ideas and new visions for the city of Altadena, as well as that old established family, that generational wealth that have lived in those homes for generations. And I really believe that there's going to be things, people are going to take it into their own hands and realize that we have to make a change at the smallest levels, because sometimes maybe we can't depend on the people that are supposed to be in charge. We can make changes ourselves.

BOLDUAN: You can lean on your community, which is what a lot of people are leaning on you for right now. Kevin, thank you very much for coming on, and thank you for your time. It's great to meet you.

Sara?

SIDNER: All right, now to Washington, where Senate confirmation hearings for President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks will kick off tomorrow. First up, Trump's Defense chief nominee Pete Hegseth, Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum, and Doug Collins, Trump's choice to lead Veterans Affairs.

Here now, CNN political director and Washington bureau chief, dual jobs, David Chalian, juggling everything. Good morning to you. Look, when you look at this trio here that is going to be coming up first, the most controversial? And is anyone at risk of potentially not being confirmed?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, clearly, that man in the middle, Pete Hegseth, is going to be where most of the attention is tomorrow when he goes before the Senate Armed Services Committee and kicks off this Trump confirmation hearing process. I think some 13 nominees are going to go before the Senate this week. So this is our first view this week into what a Trump administration will really look like, and to hear from the people who will be sitting atop these agencies and affecting policy across the board.

That national security team is the one that I think is going to have all the eyeballs on it. Certainly, Hegseth knowing obviously all the reporting that's out there about his past, alcohol issues, the allegations against him that he totally denies about sexual assault, the way in which he behaved while leading some veterans organizations, all of this has been publicly reported and clearly is the subject of the FBI background check that has been briefed to the top Republican and top Senate Democrat on the committee.

But now the American people are going to hear senators sort of probe Hegseth, and we will see how he performs under those bright lights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Well, the inauguration is less than a week away now. So does the Trump team really expect any of these picks to be in place by inauguration day?

CHALIAN: Well, because of the specifics here, the president has to become president first before he can even formally send the nomination to the Senate. So nobody will be confirmed before the president-elect takes the oath of office at noon next Monday.

But all eyes are on Marco Rubio, the secretary of state nominee, the Florida senator, to be one of the easiest confirmations to go through. And I would imagine you'll see him sworn in as secretary of state later in the day, next Monday, perhaps.

But not a lot here, Sara. And I would just note, for those sort of paying attention on this at home, the likelihood here is that Donald Trump is going to get the vast majority, if not 100 percent, of these nominees on board. Obviously, Senate Republicans are in control. They're extremely loyal to Donald Trump. But even we've seen in Pete Hegseth example, Joni Ernst, the Republican senator from Iowa, initially expressing skepticism, but has since expressed the ability to perhaps be on board with him. Same thing we heard this weekend from Senator Lankford of Oklahoma as it relates to Tulsi Gabbard in this administration. So you see Republican senators, even those that have expressed some potential concerns, now publicly saying they're ready to move ahead here with these confirmations.

SIDNER: Look, we know that phone calls have been made and that people are getting pressure to really go forward with the president-elect's agenda.

[08:15:00]

David Chalian, thank you so much, always a pleasure, appreciate it --

CHALIAN: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: -- John.

BERMAN: All right, no home, no insurance, and nowhere left to go. What is next for the thousands of people who were dropped by their insurance companies just before the catastrophic wildfires.

And overnight a "breakthrough," officials say a final draft of a ceasefire agreement has been presented to Israel and Hamas. The next 24 hours will be critical for a potential end, or at least a pause to this war.

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[08:20:10]

SIDNER: The California wildfires are placing a spotlight on the ongoing insurance crisis in the state. Some national carriers have declined to renew millions of homeowner policies. Others have cancelled tens of thousands of policies before this latest historic fire.

Many Californians turned to a state insurance program called the California FAIR Plan for coverage.

According to the most recent data from California's Department of Insurance, between 2020 and 2022, insurance companies declined to renew 2.8 million homeowner policies in the State of California. That includes more than 500,000 in Los Angeles County alone.

Joining me now is Peggy Holter. She lost her home in the Palisades Fire.

Peggy, I am so sorry to hear that you have lost the home that I think you've had since the late 70s in the Pacific Palisades. This is a lifetime of memories and home is always a comfort to all of us. What have you experienced because of this fire?

PEGGY HOLTER, LOST HOME IN PALISADES FIRE: Well, first of all, you're right. I lived there since January 1st of 1978, and it was just up about two miles up from Sunset Boulevard on Palisades Drive. And over the years, there have been little fires. And we knew there was a fire because the big one, the big Palisades Fire, started just up the street from us. And then when we started down, we got the evacuation notices. We started down the road, which is the only way in and out of that canyon was clogged with cars who had started down.

And so, we turned around and went back and waited and waited and finally we found that we could go out. And it was, you know, it was terrible. But at a certain level, I just assumed, oh, it'll be okay, you know. And then, it wasn't okay.

And our place -- our little condo survived for about 24 hours and then another burst came and just wiped them all out. I got up there for a few minutes the day after and just they were still smoking. Little fires were there.

SIDNER: Horrible to stand there and watch that. Since you've had that condo for so long, it is your home. What happened? When it comes to your individual condo insurance last year?

HOLTER: Well, for years we were -- the whole condo complex was covered by Farmers Insurance, and then they cancelled. And we all had individually homeowner's things in our own condo.

And then when Farmers quit, there wasn't any overall complex coverage. So, then we each got something that would cover both the inside and outside of our homes. And then that went away about a year and a half ago. And then I joined -- I tried to join State Farm, and after I think about six months ago, they said, were sorry, your roof isn't any good.

So, I don't know how they decided my roof wasn't any good, but in fact, they cancelled my coverage. And so, right now we have just a coverage of California FAIR Plan.

SIDNER: What are you going to do? What is that? Does that cover anything near what a State Farm or a private insurer would cover?

HOLTER: No, for a group of 36 units, there's $20 million, which is about a half million apiece. And the condos up there now are selling for 1.2, 1.3. And that's just the condo. It doesn't cover anything that you have inside. And of course, as you said, you know what I miss the most are all the photographs of all my children's lives and my, you know, trips and things like that and that's gone.

SIDNER: It's just like punishment on top of punishment, the situation with insurance there, and it has been a crisis obviously, before these fires, because of other fires. What is your message to, you know, the politicians in California and to the insurance companies, frankly, about this issue? What would you like to say to them?

HOLTER: Well, the insurance companies are not going to lose any money. They're not, because we know that they are fixed and they have reinsurance and all that sort of thing. And I feel that there should be -- that California should have laws that say that companies cannot just drop you when there are no alternatives. That's insane.

You know, because people think, oh, the Palisades, that's rich people. But it's not just rich people. It's older people who have lived in their homes since they cost, you know, $100,000.00.

So there are people who've lived there for 40 and 50 years, and now they've lost everything. My home was what I hoped to leave to my children and now that's gone.

[08:25:24]

SIDNER: Peggy Holter, I am so sorry. I'm sorry for your just --the crisis that has been caused in your life for the loss of your long- time home. And on top of that, for the fact that all of a sudden you don't have the insurance that you need to try and deal with this. It is a true punch in the gut for so many homeowners across California.

Peggy, thank you so much for sharing your story with us this morning.

HOLTER: Thank you.

SIDNER: And for more information about how you can help, go to cnn.com/impact or text wildfires to 707070 so that you can donate -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And the wildfire disaster clearly still not over. And also, now developing into a big political fight. The president- elect criticizing leaders in California. California's governor inviting Donald Trump to come see it all for himself.

But what this means for the residents of Southern California who may now get caught in the middle?

And it is a huge week ahead for Donald Trump's Cabinet, the Cabinet he is hoping that he gets. Aa closer look at what to expect when his nominees face senate confirmation starting tomorrow.

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