Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Hegseth Confirmation Hearing Tomorrow; Deanna Criswell is Interviewed about Wildfires; L.A. Facing Extremely Critical Fire Weather; Polls on How Americans Feed About Climate Change. Aired 8:30- 9a ET

Aired January 13, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:49]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, President-elect Trump's pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, is preparing for what is likely to be a contentious confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow. He is expected to be grilled on his qualifications to lead the Pentagon, as well as actions from his past, like an alleged sexual assault in 2017.

With us now is CNN political commentator Karen Finney, also Republican strategist and former RNC communications director Doug Heye.

Democratic senators on the Armed Services Committee complained they're not being given access to the FBI background check on Pete Hegseth.

So, Karen, what do you anticipate from Democrats tomorrow, who I'm told are only going to get five minutes each to question Hegseth?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think they're going to try to make very good use of their time. And, you know, Hegseth has written five books and they're all out there. And some of what's been written about what he wrote about is troubling with regard to how he might lead. And I think they're going to focus on questions about how he would lead the Department of Defense.

For example, he said things like, you know, lefties should be purged. Well, what does that mean for people who may be center left, who serve in the Department of Defense? Does that mean they should be purged? How will you lead women? What do you see as their role? In addition to the things that you just mentioned, I think you'll hear a range of questions.

Lastly, the most important question, are you willing to use American troops on American soil against American citizens, as President Trump has said he would like to do?

BERMAN: Doug, you have to believe that Hegseth has been practicing for this. He spent the last several years on television. He knows how to present things. How do you anticipate this hearing will go? DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, look, people who do television

all the time tend to be pretty good at that stuff, present company obviously excluded.

BERMAN: Right.

HEYE: So, I think he'll be well rehearsed. He'll have - he'll have prepared for specific questions. A lot of those being ones that Karen has - has outlined.

And we know that this is going to be a back and forth, like a ferocious tennis match.

But the reality is, I think also most senators' minds are well made up. And, you know, regardless of - unless there are very real, new allegations or things that come out of an FBI report, which I think we should see, I think Pete and most of the Trump nominees will be confirmed.

And, ultimately, because that's true when Joe Biden nominates people, Donald Trump in his first administration, Barack Obama, presidential - president - new presidents coming into power tend to get an overwhelming majority of their nominees through.

BERMAN: It doesn't look like certainly we will get to see the FBI background check or the members of that committee. The chair and the ranking member, understandably, are, I'm told, are getting briefed on it. But whether the full details of it ever come out, that remains to be seen.

Doug, based on what you're saying there, on where these confirmations are going, if I set the over under at one, in other words, do you think that - that the number of Trump nominees who will not get confirmed is lower than one or one or higher?

HEYE: Man, you're making me feel like I'm watching football yesterday and doing over and under. But I think one is probably that number. And if you're a Republican, you have to figure out which one that's going to be, because you're probably not voting against two or even three.

BERMAN: So, Karen, I want to talk briefly about what Vice President- elect J.D. Vance said on television. One of the great unknowns for what happens, and what day is it right now, in - in seven days is who exactly will Donald Trump pardon in regards to January 6th? This is what Senator Vance said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: I think it's very simple. Look, if you protested peacefully on January the 6th and you've had Merrick Garland's Department of Justice treat you like a gang member, you should be pardoned. If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn't be pardoned. And there's a little bit of a gray area there, but we're very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law. And there are a lot of people we think in the wake of January the 6th who were prosecuted unfairly. We need to rectify that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Does that clear things up, Karen?

[08:35:02]

FINNEY: Sure. So, here's the thing. We - in seven days we re-enter the realm of alternate facts and alternate reality. So, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance and all those in his administration are going to decide, what does it mean in terms of who may have acted more aggressively than others, right? We're - you're going to hear, and you can sort of hear it already in the way Trump has talked about it, in terms of whether or not they've acknowledged some of the behaviors in terms of attacking police. When Trump was asked, he pivoted to talk about Ashli Babbitt. So, I think, unfortunately, he doesn't care what any of us think. And he's going to pardon whoever he wants to pardon. And the political reality is, you know, he's got - it's going to be hard for him not to pardon even some of those who may have committed some of the most heinous crimes.

BERMAN: You know, Doug, J.D. Vance said, a little gray area in terms of those who committed acts of violence. What do you think that gray area could be? And do you think that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are on the same page here, or that Trump is likely to do really whatever he wants?

HEYE: Yes, I don't know, and I don't know. But when you hear that there's a gray area, that tells you that's where you should be focused on. The parts that are white and the parts that are black are pretty easy to figure out. That gray area and how expansive that may be is ultimately what's going to come into fruition one way or another. And that's where, if there are divisions, not divisions per se, but disagreements between J.D. Vance and Donald Trump, ultimately Donald Trump is the president. Ultimately, he's the decider.

BERMAN: Karen Finney, Doug Heye, great to see both of you this morning. Thanks so much.

HEYE: You too. Thank you.

FINNEY: Thanks.

BERMAN: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, fire crews continue to battle the flames, but they are now also racing against the clock once again as the winds are forecast to kick back up in southern California.

And coming up for us, the head of FEMA will be joining us with an update.

And a sacred treasure found buried in the ashes. The heirloom that firefighters found and returned to one family while searching through the debris.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I would invite him, as I did Donald Trump, to - to visit with the community, express empathy of the scale of this tragedy, and - and be here for the American people that happen to reside here in southern California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: That was California Governor Gavin Newsom responding to Vice President-Elect J.D. Vance's criticism, saying there's a serious lack of competent governance in California.

California's governor has invited Vance and Donald Trump to California to see the destruction caused by the wildfires. Both have politically blamed the governor for the devastation. With just a week left before Trump assumes office, questions are arising as to how his administration will respond to the tragedy, which continues.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is with me now.

Let's talk about what's happening right now. Winds are whipping up again. Dangerously, potentially 70 mile per hour winds. The largest of the fires only partially contained. FEMA has promised to pay for 100 percent of the recovery process for six months.

What will that pay for during those 180 days? What should people expect?

DEANNA CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Sara, I just want to start by just emphasizing that last point that you made, that this is such a dangerous situation still. And I just want to make sure that everybody is listening to their local officials so they can keep themselves safe, and the firefighters are able to do the critical work that they need to continue to do to suppress this fire.

The 100 percent is a really great tool for California because we know that it's going to take a long time for these communities to get the debris removal out. And that's the biggest thing that this pays for. It's going to cover 180 days at 100 percent for the debris removal. And it is widespread. I mean the debris removal there is neighborhood after neighborhood after neighborhood. There's hazardous materials that have to be removed first. And then there's removing the slabs from the homes. And so, this is going to take some time, but it's so critical because that's what's going to start the recovery.

And it's going to also cover the costs that the California firefighters, the county and the city are incurring as a part of responding to this disaster.

SIDNER: When you see a disaster like this, how long might this take just to remove the debris, the rubble that is left behind by these fires in several places from the sort of valleys and foothills to the hills of - of the Palisades?

CRISWELL: Yes, I mean, the - the complexity of removing the debris from this fire is going to be significant. And it's going to take a long time. It's going to take more than six months to remove this debris. We'll get the majority out. California will get the majority of out in that time frame, but it's going to take some time to be able to get everything out so they can start rebuilding and make sure that it is safe for people to come back in and start rebuilding those homes.

SIDNER: Right.

CRISWELL: It's just catastrophic, the amount of destruction that I saw when I was there.

SIDNER: Yes, it's super - it's really disturbing. And - and this is not over yet. The crisis still continues with these fires.

Speaking of which, homeowners insurance companies have dropped nearly 3 million people in California before this historic fire because of past fires. This being the most costly and worst fire damage the state has ever seen. Is this insurance crisis going to explode? And what can FEMA do to try and help people that are caught in this?

CRISWELL: I am really concerned about the insurance crisis that not just California is experiencing but we're seeing it in other places. You know, with climate change, we are seeing an increase in severe weather events and catastrophic impacts as a result of those events. And so, our programs are going to help jumpstart the recovery, but we're not going to rebuild somebody's home.

And so, I think what we need to focus on, as we're trying to help communities rebuild, helping California rebuild after this, that we do it in a way that's going to make them more resilient, reducing the impact from these events, making it more tenable for the insurance industry to want to cover the risk, right?

[08:45:10]

If we can reduce the potential risk, then maybe they'll stay. And so I think we need to have conversations with them about what does that look like so we can encourage them and incentivize them to stay in these communities.

SIDNER: We spoke about this at the very top with Gavin Newsom being criticized heavily from President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Vance. Do you or you - have you heard any worry on the part of people who are concerned he is taking office in - on Monday, next Monday, concerned about the response and whether or not politics will play a role in the response, in the help that is afforded to California from the federal government?

CRISWELL: Well, I've certainly been asked that question, Sara. And what I, you know, continue to tell people is, we have had major catastrophic events during presidential transitions before. We've never had an issue with continuing to provide the resources and the services to help these communities rebuild. So, the women and men of FEMA, they are going to continue to stay dedicated to helping the people of California that have been impacted, just like we're helping the people of Florida and Georgia and North Carolina after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

SIDNER: Deanne Criswell, thank you so much for taking the time this morning to talk us through that as people are really suffering there in California. Appreciate it.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, that good weather window that fire crews have tried to capitalize on, it is about to close. The wind forecast once again is showing that mother nature is not yet giving southern California a break for sure.

Let's get the very latest on that from CNN's Allison Chinchar. She's tracking this one for us.

What is the latest wind forecast that you're seeing for today?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. So, when you take a look at these numbers, it's kind of astonishing how high we still expect to get, even knowing how high they were last week. You've got wind advisories already in place. That's the orange color you see here on the map. And I want to emphasize, it's underneath this darker red color here as well, it's just buried underneath it. You have gusts of 55 miles per hour, up to that point at some point today.

Then starting tomorrow, beginning at 4:00 a.m. Tuesday, we transition to the high wind warning. That is the dark red color. Because Tuesday and Wednesday, those wind gusts could be 60, even 70 miles per hour. And in some cases, it's going to be impacting other areas that did not have those high of winds last week, say for Ventura, for example, that was largely kind of a little bit away from some of those strongest winds of the 80 to 100 miles per hour last week.

So, you'll see, looking not only today, but also tomorrow, we have several areas under the extreme fire weather concern. That is a level three of three. It does not get any higher than that. And it's all due to those winds that are expected to tick up as we go through the day today. You'll gradually start to see them get up around 20, 30 miles per hour, eventually up to 40 and 50, and then 60 miles per hour once we transition into Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

Now, you mentioned, we were finally able to make some really big advancements on the containment numbers, the firefighters were, over the weekend as those winds calmed back down. Specifically on Saturday. But one of the biggest things that's been really hurting them is the drought. Everything that those fires are running across, it's all just dry vegetation, dry brush, and that is fuel for these fires.

When you look at the numbers going all the way back to October 1st, that is the start of the water year. They have only had 3/100th of an inch of rain. The L.A. area would normally have at least 4.5 inches of rain by now. Even if we had half of that, it would certainly help in some regard.

But what these areas really need, yes, we need those winds to calm back down, but we also just need rain and we need widespread rain to really help. But when you look at the forecast over the next seven days, there is not a rain chance, at least not a significant one, certainly not in the next few days.

We do finally get a little bit of a break towards the end of the week and early weekend. Day six and day seven where we'll start to see the temperatures at least coming back down and humidity levels are expected to go back up. Also, more of an onshore wind, which helps a little bit. It's got some higher humidities. Again, at this point, that's really the only hope we have, at least in the next seven days.

BOLDUAN: Allison, thank you so much for the update.

John.

BERMAN: So, this morning, amid all that unimaginable loss, a glimmer of hope. While battling the flames, firefighters with the Orange City Fire Department received a message about a family forced to evacuate without their belongings. So, the crew went back to where the house once was and they searched through the rubble. And they did find a family heirloom, a ring that had been handed down through three generations. You can see it right there. The family says it was a miraculous moment and thanked the firefighters who they say helped them believe that all was not lost.

Sara.

SIDNER: Wow. Often even metal melts in these fires because they burn so hot. That's pretty incredible.

All right, the catastrophic natures of these wildfires, undeniable.

[08:50:03]

This is a historic event. But there is a debate about how much climate change had to do with this latest billion dollar disaster. We are going to run the numbers for you coming up.

Also, before you send your money, how to spot the scams that are trying to prey on people in wake of this disaster. Awful. We'll talk about it, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:55:15]

BERMAN: All right, just a few minutes ago, you heard FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell talking about the role that climate change has in helping create the conditions for these wildfires burning out of control. The most destructive in some ways that we have ever seen in and around Los Angeles.

So, how do Americans feel about climate change and the danger it poses? Do they feel the same way that they used to? He knows the answer.

CNN's senior data reporter Harry Enten is here.

Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Hey, John.

Yes, I mean, look, I don't think Americans are making this connection. And the way we can see this in - right here and now, take a look at the monthly change in Google searches. Look at the searches for wildfire, up 2,400 percent. My goodness gracious. This is the most amount of people searching for wildfires ever. Ever. Going back since Google (INAUDIBLE).

But look at (INAUDIBLE) climate change. Look at the change. It doesn't go hand in hand with wildfires. It's actually down. It's down 9 percent. And I also looked in California. There has been no increase in the number of searches for climate change.

So, the bottom line is this, Americans are definitely interested in learning about these wildfires. They're interested in following the news about the wildfires. But they are not making that connection with climate change. That's the bottom line here, Mr. Berman.

BERMAN: That's a really key metric you're looking at there, the connection.

Overall, Americans being worried about climate change, what have we seen over time?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, we have seen a lot of extreme weather events over the last few decades, right? Hurricanes, heat waves, wildfires. You might expect that Americans' worry about climate change would climb. Climate change worry a lot. You go back to 1991, it was 35 percent. Now, it was a little bit higher in 2007, a little bit higher in 2022. But look at this, in 2023, the last time - that is (INAUDIBLE) statistically significantly different from this 35 percent back in 1991. So, despite all these extreme weather events, Americans are really no more worried about climate change than they were, what is that, now nearly 35 years ago. I mean there's just no real trend line here, Mr. Berman.

BERMAN: So, the question is, why?

ENTEN: Why? Why are they not really worried (INAUDIBLE) because they feel like there's (INAUDIBLE) not a whole heck of a lot they can do. (INAUDIBLE) humans continue a (INAUDIBLE) great deal.

BERMAN: Wow.

ENTEN: Again, (INAUDIBLE), 2019, 49 percent, 2020, 49 percent, 2023, 46 percent, 2024, 45 percent. That's actually down four points from where we were back in 2019. And so less than a majority of Americans believe that humans contribute a great deal to (INAUDIBLE). IT's a big reason why they (INAUDIBLE) don't worry a lot. They just don't feel like they can do anything about it. BERMAN: So, the trend line's going down, even as scientists say that

the intensity of these storms and these conditions are getting worse.

ENTEN: Even as the extreme weather goes up, humans are not exactly as worried about climate change as they necessarily once were.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Cautious optimism. That is how sources close to the Israel- Hamas ceasefire talks are describing this moment. And everyone from outgoing President Joe Biden to incoming President Donald Trump are pushing to secure a firm hostage deal in the matter of days. A statement from the Israeli prime minister's office confirms Netanyahu and Biden spoke Sunday about progress in those talks. Biden's national security advisor saying it's still possible to lock in a deal in their final days in office. But another source familiar with the Gaza ceasefire talks tells CNN it's now the president-elect who's the current incentive for Israel to wrap this up. Specifically, the source says, because Netanyahu wants to remain (INAUDIBLE) to the White House. (INAUDIBLE).

And technically (INAUDIBLE) those focused on (INAUDIBLE) artificial intelligence are the fastest growing jobs in the United States. That is according to a new report from LinkedIn that looked at millions of jobs based on user information from 2022 to 2024. The top two jobs were artificial intelligence engineer and artificial intelligence consultant. Following that, physical therapists, I can attest to that, workforce development manager and travel advisor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kick is up. It sails on the way. Hits the upright. (INAUDIBLE). He makes it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And the NFL wildcard weekend capped off with a wild win for the Washington Commanders. The Commanders beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a last minute - I - they're - I didn't know you could call it a walk off field goal. I thought that only applied to baseball.

Anyway, bounced off the uprights. I think John called it a dink or a doink, whichever one you want.

BERMAN: Doink. Doink.

BOLDUAN: Doink apparently he says from over there.

[09:00:00]

BERMAN: Doink. BOLDUAN: It's the Commanders first winning season since 2015. The first playoff win since 2005. There you have it. The Lions are still going to take it all, but good luck to all of you.