Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Ceasefire Talks Between Israel and Hamas Make Progress; Confirmation Hearings for Trump's Cabinet Picks Begins This Week; Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Calls Off Debut of New Glenn Launch Over Rocket Issue. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired January 13, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KASIE HUNT, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING: Inching closer. Negotiators cautiously optimistic about ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas. And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the rubber hits the road this week with all of these hearings on the cabinet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Confirming the cabinet. What will President-elect Donald Trump's hand-picked nominees face as they sit before senators this week? All right, it's 5:00 a.m. here on the east coast, a live look at Capitol Hill on this Monday morning, going to be a very busy week up on the Hill. Good morning everyone, I'm Kasie Hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us.
We do begin this morning with new information about the apocalyptic wildfires scorching southern California over the weekend. The death toll rising to at least, 24 confirmed fatalities. And the L.A. County sheriff says they have, quote, "dozens and dozens of reports of people missing." Thousands of people who had to evacuate are also left wondering if there's anything left to return to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOSI FAYNSOD, EVACUATED FROM WILDFIRES: We're just living day-by-day. There's no conversation we can have. Everything is gone.
TED LUX, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: There's hundreds of people wanting to know how their home is, how their neighbors home is, and everybody seems to be reaching out in the community -- and tragic situation. This is the worst of the worst is what it is. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Most of the deaths and missing person's reports coming from the Eaton and Palisades Fires. Those are some of the most destructive wildfires in California history. And fire crews are still working to get them under control, as both are still largely uncontained. All the fires have scorched more than 40,000 acres and counting.
That's an area bigger than the size of Paris, France. Winds are increasing today as wind-gusts could reach up to 70 miles an hour this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRICE BENNETT, DEPUTY CHIEF, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY & FIRE PROTECTION: Well, to be honest with you, it's horribly demoralizing for a firefighter to not to be able to stop something or to prevent this sort of damage. We were just built a different way that we feel like we should be able to have an answer for every problem that 9-1-1 presents us with.
And we do our darndest to make sure that we can. We need mother nature to give us a break. We have the firefighters. We have the water. We need the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, for more on what to expect in the hours and days ahead, let's bring in Todd Hall. He is the lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Los Angeles. Todd, good morning, thank you very much for spending some time with us. Obviously, you heard him there say they need mother nature to give him a break. Are they going to get one?
TODD HALL, LEAD METEOROLOGIST, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, LOS ANGELES/OXNARD: Unfortunately not, not yet. So, we're still looking at around a set of winds developing through today and into Tuesday and potentially with critical fire weather conditions lingering into Wednesday and Thursday across southern California.
HUNT: Todd, what does that mean in particular for the two fires that are largely uncontained, the Eaton Fire and the Palisades Fire? What additional neighborhoods may be threatened and what are the evacuation orders going to look like?
HALL: So, we already have -- we have established over the past week, we already have the dry vegetation in place. If we added very dry air and very windy conditions across those fires, that changes the fire weather conditions, those firefighters on the ground are fighting. So, that can actually make those fires flare up as they respond to those.
And if you get winds, wind-gusts in excess of 50 and 60 and 70 miles per hour, that can cause the spotting again. If there's -- if there's any glowing embers left over, those can start to spot again and potentially have new starts in if they hit areas that haven't burned. HUNT: So, of course, the Santa Ana winds have been, you know, a
central part of living in southern California for decades if not centuries. What would we typically expect in January from these winds? What's different about this year? And what does that mean for what you can tell us about the weeks ahead in terms of these winds ultimately dying down?
HALL: So, I've worked here for almost 20 years, and I've been a meteorologist for 25, I'm a native of southern California, so, I'm well -- I'm well aware of these winds. You know, normally our fire seasons run between May and October or November. What's different about this year is we had two prior years of plenty of rain for downtown Los Angeles, and then all of a sudden, we went dry.
[05:05:00]
So, we've actually had less than a quarter inch of rain at downtown Los Angeles. And normally by this time, we should have got 5 inches, which allows those native chaparral and sage plants to absorb some of that moisture and actually present -- prevent these wildfires from spreading.
What's different about this year, of course, is now we're running a fire season into January. In my career here, I've been here almost 20 years in Los Angeles office, and we had one other year where we ran or maybe two years that we ran into January just briefly. And one of those was the 2007, 2008 wildfire season.
So, we're looking at really the -- you know, we have to get through the next, at least the next week. We are seeing some reprievement of hope with fire weather conditions. Right now, we're in an offshore flow, what we term in southern California, where the flow is flowing from the desert to the -- to the ocean.
And so, that's bringing drier air in from the interior part of the -- of the nation. But as we switch in the afternoon or switch later in the week, we'll start to get a return of that onshore flow, which is -- which is flow coming from the ocean to the land, which actually brings in some of the moisture off the Pacific Ocean.
So, that will hopefully change that as we move forward in the coming months. We have to monitor this very closely, so, it's not only -- it's not only we need to get rain and hopefully we -- there might be something here on the horizon either somewhere between the 18th and 23rd of, you know, potentially for next week.
But even into February, we could -- you know, we could -- we could be delayed until -- and with any additional rain until February. So, we have to continue to monitor this closely. I will say this, and this is a caveat as we get into southern California's feast or famine, we learned there's a lot of our wildfires and the potential for flash- flooding and debris flows after fires.
And those tend to be the more deadly events across southern California. So, we need to be very aware as we move forward in the next couple of months of what's ahead for these wildfire areas. HUNT: All right, Todd Hall for us this morning. Sir, I'm very
grateful to you for taking some time with us. Thanks very much for being here.
HALL: Thank you, Kasie.
HUNT: All right, coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, cautious optimism in ongoing ceasefire talks. Why negotiators could be getting closer to a hostage deal this morning. Plus, mission scrubbed. Blue Origin calling off its attempt to launch their biggest rocket yet overnight. And California's governor calls for an independent review of the issues with some of the hydrants during the fight against the wildfires. But some want more to be done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): I support that independent review. I think we should go further and frankly, do an independent commission review of all of this. What went right in our response. What went wrong in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:10:00]
HUNT: All right, welcome back. Hamas claiming this morning they're very close to an agreement with Israel for a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. But there are still some sticking points. President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussing the negotiations by phone on Sunday.
It's their first publicly-confirmed conversation since October. Netanyahu has dispatched a high level delegation to Qatar for those talks, including the head of Israeli Intelligence. The Biden administration, hopeful that they can reach a deal in the coming days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We are very close, and yet being very close still means we're far because until you actually get across the finish line, we're not there. We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done. Can we get it done before the 20th? It is possible, but I certainly can't make any predictions that we will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: President-elect Donald Trump has been warning that there will be, quote, "hell to pay if Hamas does not agree to a deal before he takes office." Vice President-elect J.D. Vance believes that threat could be the deciding factor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAMES DAVID VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you
talk to world leaders, it's very clear that President Trump threatening Hamas and making it clear that there is going to be hell to pay is part of the reason why we've made progress on getting some hostages out.
We're hopeful there's going to be a deal that struck towards the very end of Biden's administration, maybe the last day or two. But regardless of when that deal is struck, it will be because people are terrified that there are going to be consequences for Hamas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, CNN's Max Foster joins us live from London with more on this. Max, good morning, wonderful to see you. We do have some new reporting just in here to CNN. A source familiar says the quote, "only Trump is the incentive for Israel to strike a deal with Hamas." What do you make of that, and what else do we know?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know quite what Hamas is thinking there, but they're incredibly strong words from Donald Trump, and his support for Israel is pretty clear. If he does come in and get much tougher, perhaps Hamas is better off taking what's on the table right now. That's the thinking at least.
Meanwhile, the Netanyahu government under huge pressure both from Biden and from Trump to reach some sort of deal. But you've got to think that, you know, Netanyahu also has opposition within his own country to deal with, particularly the far-right. They don't want a deal at all. So, he's having to ask the question, you know, what sort of deal can he reach without collapsing the government?
So, there are many dynamics playing in here, but certainly, the positivity comes from the fact that the head of Mossad is there at those talks. He would have to sign up to any deal. He's there, ready to go if a deal is signed.
[05:15:00]
And you know, hearing from Hamas that there is some progress to be made suggests that there is some agreement about which hostages to release in return for which Palestinian prisoners. But we always say this, don't we, Kasie? We've been here before.
HUNT: We have. Although, of course, the difference here, Donald Trump coming into office. This source telling us that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, wants to remain close to Trump. And so, he sees this as important in that way. What do you make of the dynamic between the Israeli Prime Minister and the incoming U.S. President?
FOSTER: Well, there was some, you know, beef between the two of them a while ago, if you remember, when Netanyahu congratulated Biden for becoming President. That didn't go down very well with the Trump team at all. So, as with many world leaders still trying to strengthen those bridges with the Trump administration, it would be great for Donald Trump to be able to say on his first day, a peace deal has been reached.
That is something that Netanyahu could arguably give Donald Trump. And also, you know, Biden wants to fight for his legacy, too, so he can keep both happy in a way by reaching some sort of deal to the end of the Biden administration, and have announced the beginning of the Trump administration.
But, of course, that huge support you get from Trump if Netanyahu can't reach a deal with Hamas, then, you know, he knows that Donald Trump is probably going to come in pretty hard as well. So, it depends how hard he wants to go back in on Hamas or whether he really does want a peace deal.
HUNT: And of course, the inauguration one week from today. Max Foster, thanks very much, really appreciate it, see you soon I hope. All right, coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, donations pouring in to Los Angeles following those devastating wildfires. Overnight, a very famous name has stepped up to share millions. Plus, why FBI Director Christopher Wray says stepping down from his job was one of the hardest decisions he's ever made.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:00]
HUNT: All right, 20 minutes past the hour, here's your morning roundup. FBI Director Christopher Wray addressing his decision to resign ahead of Donald Trump's return to the Oval Office, saying the President-elect was clear he was going to make a change before Wray's ten-year term expired.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. I care deeply about the FBI, about our mission, and in particular about our people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be the next FBI chief. Just a few hours ago, Jeff Bezo's Blue Origin called off the launch of one of the most powerful rockets in the world to troubleshoot an issue. If successful, the New Glenn rocket could help Blue Origin compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Hundreds in the L.A. area gathered for free food, water and other resources at the horse racing track at Santa Anita Park in California. And overnight, Beyonce's foundation announced they are donating more than $2 million to help families impacted by the wildfires. For more information about how you can help, go to cnn.com/impact, or you can text wildfires to 70-70-70 to donate.
All right, coming up next here, Donald Trump's cabinet picks set to head to confirmation hearings this week. They will be tested on their pitches, their vulnerabilities and possibly their loyalty to the President-elect. Plus, deadly fires, now false rumors, scams and millions accidentally told to evacuate people in the L.A. area already facing so much.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going through the stages of grief, there's no doubt about it. I think I finally went from denial into anger last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:25:00]
HUNT: All right, 5:27 a.m. here on the east coast. A live look at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, here in the east coast. Good morning, everyone, I'm Kasie Hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us. Fake GoFundMe accounts, phony job offers, just a couple of examples of scams that those affected by the deadly fires in and around Los Angeles are facing as they grapple with losing everything.
And now, some officials are having to spend precious time and resources debunking misinformation on social media. One baseless claim came from conspiracy theorist Alex Jones who falsely posted that President Biden's visit to L.A. last week closed down airspace essential to fire aircraft. As for the scammers, they have been targeting people through texts, phone calls, e-mails and in-person asking for donations or bank information, some even impersonating government officials.
Others offering up fake job opportunities that require victims to share valuable personal information. All right, joining us now to discuss, CNN's senior media analyst, "Axios" senior media reporter Sara Fischer. Sara, good morning, thanks so much for being here. Clearly, this kind of thing makes it harder for first responders to do their jobs.
How big has this problem been so far? And of course, there also was that alert that went out to tens of thousands of people that didn't actually need to be evacuated, that they had to kind of walk back, you know, pretty quickly, as you can see here, really scared a lot of people who were not actually in the fires path.
SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: That is really problematic, Kasie, because any time you have a false evacuation alert, you can cause panic. People will then get in their cars, try to drive out to evacuate, and then you're blocking the roads for first responders who desperately need to get in to fight the actual fires.
Now, the county officials say that they're investigating why that alert went out. They believe at this point, it's likely due to the cell towers being impacted by the fires. But you speak to a broader issue here, which is that this is a matter of life or death, whether it's misinformation about alerts and evacuations or where you can get help for access to food and water, all these problems around information are really critical in the wake of breaking news, in the wake of something unfolding. And that's why having either government websites that are authorized
where people can get accurate information is critical, or making sure social media platforms are doing their job of policing misinformation so that people can get.
