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Red Flag Warnings in California; Ashely Scott is Interviewed about California Fires; Newsom Faces Criticism; Mark Esper is Interviewed about Hegseth. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired January 15, 2025 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:32:23]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome back.
The winds picking up this morning and fire-ravaged Los Angeles. Red flag warnings now in effect from central California to the border with Mexico until late this afternoon. Expected wind gusts nearing 70 miles an hour, leading to dire warnings that no one there is out of the woods yet. Twenty-five lives, thousands of structures have been lost. Pasadena Firefighter Chen Yu was helping his neighbor evacuate when his own home and everything in it went up in flames. Well, almost everything.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that? Yeah, baby. There we go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my, God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: That was Chen's wedding band.
Let's get to meteorologist Allison Chinchar.
Allison, the next 12 to 24 hours critical here, right?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. And the good news is, there is light at the end of the tunnel. When we get closer to the weekend, we are going to see much more favorable conditions. It's really just getting through the rest of the day today. And you can see those red flag warnings valid from now all the way until 6:00 p.m. local time today, where we do anticipate some of those wind gusts up around 60 to 70 miles per hour, especially in these two locations here. This is the particularly dangerous situation area that's been highlighted, and that's valid until 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. And it does include three of the fires that we've been tracking are
within that embedded area there. When you look at some of the wind gusts that have come in, in just the last 24 hours, these are impressive 74, 61, 60, 50. This is why these - these forecasters and firefighters have been so concerned because if you have some kind of spark, if you have a new fire that develops, these winds are what's going to carry that fire rapidly through these areas.
Right now you can see we've got a 37 on the map. We've got several in the teens and even the 20s for the gusts that we're having. Those are going to kick up as we go through the morning hours today. That's why you have this wind advisory, those sustained winds, about 20 to 35 miles per hour, and then those wind gusts up around 50 to 70 miles per hour.
And you can see that here as we go through the rest of the day, they're still - they still remain relatively high all the way through the afternoon. But then once we get into tonight and especially into Thursday, now you start to see almost all of those finally back down into single digits, making it extremely helpful for the firefighters to really be able to get the rest of those containment numbers back up to 100 percent, which is exactly what they want to hear.
And you can see that on this. Again, for today we still have that critical fire threat level two out of three. But once we get to Thursday, we start to see that lower back down to category one. Again, noticing there that the improvement that you can physically see on the map.
Now, when we talk about these fires, again, two of them specifically have been incredibly destructive. Looking at the top ten most destructive California wildfires, you can see the Eaton and the Pacific Palisades are both on this list at number two and number four, respectively.
[06:35:06]
But anyone that you see, that little red star on the side, that means we have half of these, five of the top ten have occurred just since 2018. So again, just putting that in perspective of the last five years.
The unfortunate part still, though, Kasie, is we have no rain in the immediate forecast.
HUNT: All right, Allison Chinchar for us this morning.
Allison, thanks very much for that.
So, when most people were running from the flames in Los Angeles, some people ran toward the fires. One of them was the actress, Ashley Scott. She and her friend helped friends in Topanga County retrieve medicine from their homes and hosed down their properties ahead of the flames. And they stood side by side with firefighters.
And Ashley Scott joins us now from Los Angeles. Ashley, good morning. I'm so grateful to have you with us.
Tell us a little bit about what you've been experiencing.
ASHLEY SCOTT, ACTRESS: Well, thank you for having us. This is my husband, Forrest. More than just a friend.
HUNT: Very nice to have you as well.
SCOTT: Yes. Yes, we, at this point in - in this journey, we are exhausted. I think all of our firefighters are exhausted.
We evacuated to another part of the canyon, got us out of dangers way with his mom, who has dementia. On Tuesday evening up - and we got to - we were able to kind of have a bird's eye view of the canyon. And the winds were out of control, as you all know. And the fires were just burning everywhere. It was like a perfect - actually, a perfect firestorm. I mean the conditions, the weather conditions, everything were just - it was horrific.
So, once we got mom settled the next morning, we kind of came up to the - to the center and went to see our property. And Forrest had sprinklers going and everything. And fire was going up the ridge to our neighbors house, who was an elderly woman that we love very much. And we went to her house and watered her house down and just, you know, I felt the spray from the -
FORREST MORROW, ASHLEY SCOTT'S HUBAND: From the helicopter.
SCOTT: From the helicopter. I was, like, OK, it's time to go. But they didn't have the reserves then, you know, like they do now. Thank goodness.
HUNT: Can you talk a little bit about - I mean we obviously are - the days are stretching here. They're -
SCOTT: Yes.
HUNT: Obviously, the firefighters have been, you know, working day in, day out. There has to be a sense of exhaustion in some ways setting in as you wait for this. Talk a little bit about what that feels like.
SCOTT: I think our nervous systems are shot. Truly. I think everybody just - the roller coaster of - and there's been so many times that we've packed up and - and - and got ready to leave and, you know, you're seeing fire on the ridge and it just - I - I think we've all - we're in a house with four other kids and then our parents and I - I think we've all had these kind of moments of just, we feel frazzled. We're just - it doesn't - we haven't regulated as - and we keep trying, right, wouldn't you say?
MORROW: Yes.
SCOTT: It's stressful. And then trying to keep the kids cool and the parents cool and the, you know, I think we're glad that things are hopefully settling down. MORROW: Wrapping up a little bit.
SCOTT: Yes.
HUNT: Yes. No, I mean, as a mom of two young kids myself, that's - I can't - I cannot stop thinking about all the little children who have lost everything. You know, my - my son's teddy bear.
SCOTT: Absolutely.
HUNT: I - it's really just difficult to think about.
SCOTT: Yes. Yes. I talked to -
HUNT: Let me ask you. You are - yes, go ahead. Go ahead.
SCOTT: I was going to say, I talked to this - a little boy in - that was here and his - his dad lost grandfather's house, everything in the Palisades. And, you know, his dad was a real - he grew up in the Palisades his whole life. And I said, you know, the thing is, these are just things. And I know that's hard to say. I have my home. And I know that so many people have nothing right now. But they are just things. And I said, your grandfather will always live right here. No one's ever going to take him away.
You know, and it's something collectively as a community that we - this is what this has done. It's decimated all the things.
HUNT: Yes.
SCOTT: And - and what's really showing up for us is, like, people really like supporting one another and opening their homes and giving their food, and we're running out of food, you know. It's really - it's - it's - there's beauty in the disaster I - you know.
HUNT: Yes.
Ashley, briefly -
SCOTT: Yes.
HUNT: Obviously Hollywood, the industry, the film and television industry is a huge part of Los Angeles, and we're entering a season where there's a lot of celebration of all of the accomplishments that everyone has. But, obviously, confronting that now, we've got Grammy's coming up and the Oscars.
SCOTT: Right.
HUNT: What tone do you think at this point, Hollywood, should strike, and what can those celebrations do to try to help what's going on in this terrible moment?
[06:40:00]
SCOTT: Yes, I mean, it's finding - finding the voice. I mean, I don't know, I think read the room. I don't think it's a great time for celebration right now, you know? I think it's a - it's - I don't know. I don't know if they're - if they are moving forward. We haven't been on the news. We haven't had - you know, we didn't have electricity for five days.
HUNT: Yes.
SCOTT: So, are they continuing?
HUNT: I think that yet the plan is - I think the idea being that, of course, so many people who are in the industry have, you know, resources. Obviously, there are many under-resourced people in the Los Angeles area.
SCOTT: Sure.
HUNT: And if the celebrations - what typically would be celebrations can instead be used as an opportunity to try to help the communities.
SCOTT: Raise some money. Yes.
HUNT: That would be the way forward.
SCOTT: (INAUDIBLE). Yes, absolutely. And, I mean, maybe that's the - that's a - that's a good way to funnel, you know, some resources. And, um, you know, there's going to be so many people out there. I saw your piece with the - the realtor about, you know, just the other -
MORROW: Right.
SCOTT: There are some elements of, you know, we have to be very careful with scammers and things like that. And so these - if these people can organize themselves, I mean, there's a - my friend Michael Capponi has Global Empowerment Mission, and they're partnering with Be Strong and they're raising big, big money. They've already got semi trucks with generators and all - all the things, you know? You just have to -
HUNT: Yes.
SCOTT: I guess we just focus on companies we trust and - and people that can - that can really help us in a - in a large scale for a long time.
HUNT: Yes, and, of course, we just had up on the screen some ways that people can help specifically in Topanga, where you all have been affected.
SCOTT: Thank you.
HUNT: Ashley Scott, Forrest Morrow, I'm' so grateful for you - to you for spending some time. We're thinking about you and everything that you have - have been doing and the losses out in California. So, thanks very much for your time.
SCOTT: Thank you. Thanks for having us on. MORROW: Thank you, Kasie.
HUNT: All right, as the California wildfire disaster has unfolded, the criticism over the response of state and local leaders has been growing. Governor Gavin Newsom has come in for some of it, a lot of it, defending his handling of the fires, including in a weekend interview with "Pod Save America."
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GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I want to know the answers. So, I'm the governor of California. I want to know the answer. I get - I've got that question I can't tell you by how many people, what happened? On my own team saying, what happened? And I want to get the answers. And I'll be candid with you. I want to get straight answers.
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HUNT: That interview not sitting well with one Los Angeles resident, the longtime political reporter and writer Amy Chozick. She wrote this in an op-ed for "The New York Times." Quote, "in a viral video, Gavin Newsom of California, in aviator sunglasses, looked to me as if he couldn't wait to get back in his idling SUV as an anguished Angeleno told him her community had been destroyed and implored him for help. He did make time to do a lengthy interview with 'Pod Save America' in which he defended his record and response to the crisis, explaining that he wasn't getting straight answers from local officials. How about we pod save Los Angeles first?"
And this is the exchange that Chozick wrote about at the top there, caught last week by Sky News cameras.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone who went to school there, they lost their homes.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They lost two homes because they were living in one building and not a -
NEWSOM: I know. I know.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor, please tell me - tell me, what are you going to do with the president right now?
NEWSOM: We're doing - we're getting - we're getting the resources to help rebuild. We're getting the resources to deal with this issue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why was there no water in the hydrants? Governor -
NEWSOM: That's all being - that's all literally (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it going to be different next time? NEWSOM: It has to be. It has to be.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
NEWSOM: Of course.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you going to do?
NEWSOM: I'm doing everything I can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, fill the hydrants. I would fill them up personally. You know that.
NEWSOM: I (INAUDIBLE). I literally have (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would fill up the hydrants myself.
NEWSOM: I know. I understand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But would you do that?
NEWSOM: I would do whatever I can.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you're not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: OK. Our panel is back.
Meghan Hays, Matt Gorman.
MATT GORMAN, FORMER TIM SCOTT PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: The hand on the - the hand on the door is what caught me. He wanted to get the hell out of there by any means necessary.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Yes, I mean, I think that there is definitely a - as we're looking here, there's a lack of leadership, right? Like, this is a - people are looking for leadership. I think that doesn't show the best leadership.
HUNT: I don't have "The Post" cover from yesterday, but it was "bonfire of the vanity," and it was Gavin Newsom.
HAYS: Yes. And I also think, you know, look, I think this is the second time that "Pod Save" has now burned Democrats in the last month or so. So, I think maybe Dems should take a lesson and maybe stay off of it. But - for at least the time being.
But, you know, being serious here, there is a lack of leadership here. There is a lack of people understanding what - what is being done and what can be done.
Look, that woman has obviously lost her home, lost everything in their communities. You have to understand the emotion. There was no empathy from Gavin Newsom in that. He - he is - he is not going to fill up fire hydrants, but you can show empathy. You can give that woman a hug.
GORMAN: Yes.
HAYS: You can do something to relate to her and to show her that we care and we are trying. And that just didn't come across in that video.
GORMAN: Leaders, when they try and solve this as a political issue always screw it up.
HAYS: Yes.
GORMAN: Like, they - look, we talked about Romney a little earlier. In the waning days of Romney, with Christie and Hurricane Sandy, there's a lot of people critiquing him, saying he should have gone - he shouldn't have appeared with Obama, giving him hugs. I thought all of that was BS, right? Like, you - if you try and manage this politically when natural disasters happen, major crises happen, you always look like an idiot.
[06:45:04]
And you have to just act like a leader.
And the poll numbers follow. That - that comes downstream. Be normal, be a human and come out there.
HUNT: Well, and, you know, to that point, Amy also wrote this, and she raises an eyebrow about Rudy Giuliani's current situation.
GORMAN: Yes. Yes.
HUNT: But she says, "after September 11th, America's mayor stood at ground zero and assured a broken city that the terrorist attacks would only make us stronger. Will someone, anyone, stand in the detritus of the Pacific Palisades or Pasadena and say the same about Los Angeles?
GORMAN: Where - where are these press conferences happening that Karen Bass is speaking (INAUDIBLE) and saying nothing inspiring. In a conference room in downtown L.A. Like, go out there to Altadena, go to Palisades, have the backdrop be this area. Like, stop walling yourself off in a conference room. You look so, like, detached. Even like more so than when you were in Ghana when this thing started.
HAYS: Also, stop having press conferences that aren't saying anything.
GORMAN: Yes.
HAYS: Go talk to people and show empathy. Go show up at - where they're handing out supplies to people.
GORMAN: Yes.
HAYS: I mean, like Joe Biden was very -
GORMAN: Do it yourself. HAYS: Very good at this. And we - he showed empathy in all these crises. And that is something that these leaders can learn from.
GORMAN: Yes, no, no.
HAYS: And he can get ripped for a lot of things, but showing empathy is something that these leaders should take a lesson from.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there's soon also going to be another leader that has a role in this as well.
HAYS: Yes.
KANNO-YOUNGS: When President-elect Trump also takes office. And when he was last in office, during times of crisis, natural disasters, what have you, we did see it become a political issue as well. So, yes, the California representatives absolutely being held accountable and are facing the pressure now. But there's going to be questions for the federal government to move forward, including who the FEMA pick is going to be.
HUNT: Right. Right.
KANNO-YOUNGS: We still don't have a pick for FEMA.
HUNT: And, Annie, she also says at the end of this, "I want people to step in who care more about saving the city than saving their careers. We need someone to stand with authority in front of a whiteboard and tell us the plan. I'd take Arnold Schwarzenegger appearing in front of the Eaton blaze and taking over. He did tell us he'd be back. And at this point I'd even take a Cuomo," she says.
ANNIE LINSKEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Yes, you want some strength. And I think one of the things that gets lost here is there's still a crisis going on while there's a recovery going on. And it's a very - it's a confusing issue for these leaders as - we just haven't had this type of thing before where usually the crisis happens and then you go - move to the recovery.
HUNT: (INAUDIBLE).
LINSKEY: So, there are a lot of moving parts, but there's clearly a failure in leadership as -
HUNT: Unfolding as we speak.
LINSKEY: Yes, unfolding.
HUNT: Yes. All right, up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, heated moments on The Hill as Donald Trump's pick for secretary of defense gets grilled. Trump's former head of the Pentagon, Secretary Mark Esper, joins us next to weigh in.
Plus, will we see the famous Trump dance at the inauguration next week? The special guest set to perform.
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STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": The Village People will perform at one of Trump's inaugural balls, leading many to ask, why?
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[06:50:48]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two, after you just had fathered a child by wife three.
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): Do you know that being drunk at work is prohibited for service members under the UCMJ?
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): While in Louisiana, on official business for CVA, did you take your staff, including young female staff members, to a strip club?
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: Absolutely not. Anonymous smears.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump's secretary of defense nominee Pete Hegseth grilled during his Senate confirmation hearing. Senate Democrats honing in on allegations of sexual assault and drinking on the job. But they also had other critical questions, hoping to understand how Hegseth would answer to a president who, in his first term, demanded unwavering loyalty from his underlings, even when they worried that his orders represented a misuse of military power.
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SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): President Trump directed former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper to shoot protesters in the legs in downtown D.C., an order Secretary Esper refused to comply with. Would you carry out such an order from President Trump?
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: Senator, I was in the Washington, D.C., National Guard unit that was in Lafayette Square during those events, holding a riot shield on behalf of my country.
HIRONO: Would you carry out an order to shoot protesters in the legs, as directed to Secretary Esper?
HEGSETH: I saw 50 Secret Service agents get - get injured by rioters.
For a statue. Chaos.
HIRONO: You know what, that sounds to me that you will comply with such an order. You will shoot protesters in the - in the leg.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Joining us now is former secretary of defense, Mark Esper, who served during the first Trump administration and is now a CNN global affairs analyst.
Sir, thanks very much for being with us this morning.
MARK ESPER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good morning, Kasie.
HUNT: Are you confident that Pete Hegseth, as secretary of defense, would stand up to an unlawful order if the incoming President Trump were to issue one?
ESPER: Well, look, I - the senators yesterday, the Democrats in particular, raised some important questions, some tough questions. And that's what they were trying to find out is, you know, where does - or how far does his loyalty lie? Clearly, he has the - the confidence of President Trump. And it looks like coming out of this hearing, particularly with the announcement by Joni Ernst yesterday that he'll get an affirmative vote from the committee and go to the floor sometime next week I assume.
HUNT: How likely is it, do you think, that Pete Hegseth would face, as secretary of defense, an order that you would view as against the law?
ESPER: Well, it's unknown. I mean another Democrat raised this issue yesterday as, you know, the - what would happen or would - would president or any president ask somebody to conduct a - something illegal? And I think, look, it's the duty of his cabinet, his advisors to - to inform the president if a duty - if an order is considered illegal. That was the role I played, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and others. And I think that's - that's the expectation.
And then the question is whether it would be carried out or not. And look, this is going to be raised in the context of the deportation question, which was raised yesterday as well, as to what extent will the U.S. military be used in deportation measures? And there are clear lines. I mean as was stated, there are ways in which DOD has - has aided and insisted in the past more in an administrative and a logistical role. But the posse comitatus law, which has been in effect since the 19th century, prohibits the use of the active-duty military in a law enforcement role.
So, there's - there's so many nuances to this, but that is one of the questions that was raised yesterday.
HUNT: Did you come away thinking that Pete Hegseth would feel comfortable with, as he talked about those deportation questions, would feel comfortable with using U.S. active-duty military troops to conduct some of that?
ESPER: You know, again, it's - it's unclear. He - he spoke very affirmatively about the Constitution, about his experience as a junior officer. He - he spoke about the importance of the Geneva Conventions more in an international context. But these are going to be important questions that he and the Pentagon may indeed wrestle with.
And - and, of course, he'll be advised by the uniformed military, will have - who will have clear views on the role of military in some type of operation such as this.
[06:55:09]
HUNT: There have been some questions about how much this particular conversation about the use of the U.S. military on U.S. soil in these different areas has actually begun to occur inside the Pentagon itself. Can you give us any insight into what - you know, I know you're deeply connected there as well, how much concern there is in the building about these questions and what plans, if any, people may be thinking about to try to deal with some of it?
ESPER: Yes, there is concern, of course, about what DOD will be asked to do. There was concern during my time. There was concern, of course, during previous eras (ph) under presidents from both parties. But I think the question gets more to the, you know, the - the point that Tom Homan, who is President Trump's nominee to go in and run I think CBP, he talked about using the military. Now Homan, I think. has said that there are clear lines about what DOD can and can't do. The Pentagon is trying to figure out what that may look like. And so, I think we'll have to find out those lines.
I mean the other point you have to keep in mind too is, there is also a distinction between use of the active duty military, which has prohibitions on it, and the use of the National Guard, which has far less. And which, by the way, is also trained in law enforcement. So, you could see a pretty large role depending on the state and the governor when it comes to helping the Trump administration on its deportation procedures.
HUNT: Bottom line, sir, do you think Pete Hegseth is qualified for this job?
ESPER: Well, look, he comes into the job with far less experience and - and background than others. He's acknowledged this. Others have as well. I think it's going to be the job, of course, of the Armed Services Committee and - and the Senate writ large to - to assess that. That's the only qualification that's written out there in terms of what it takes.
I - look, he is right about the need to modernize the military, about making sure that we're ready for what's ahead with regard to China. That's what I took on as my priority when I assumed the role in 2019. So, there is a lot of - a lot of enthusiasm. A lot of people agree that we need to be focused on war fighting, and we need to modernize the military. And if he comes in and kind of puts an emphasis in those areas, I and others will fully support any effort to really modernize the United States military and make sure that we are as ready as possible for what lies ahead.
This is a - a dangerous century that we're in right now when we look at the Chinese and the Chinese Communist Party in the Indo-Pacific.
HUNT: Yes.
Briefly, sir, just as I'm - I'm thinking back to your own experience, and I remember covering what happened in Lafayette Square, what kind of - of mental strength, emotional strength, human strength does it take if you are a military leader, to resist the commander in chief?
ESPER: Well, look, this is the tension that the military - uniformed military officers face. On one hand, there are two principles, and sometimes they are in tension. One is that they are to remain apolitical. And the second is, and it's, you know, it's been part of our history for nearly 250 years, that there is civilian control of the military. So, they are duty bound to obey any lawful order of the president.
I would also argue they are duty bound first to give him their best military advice. So - and this whole question about wokeness in the military, clearly I've - I've said in the past publicly, the wokeness in the military thing, it's - it's - it's not as bad as some on the right will say, but it's far worse than what Democrats would acknowledge. This is an issue where if the military - where if there is wokeness and the military is being directed, they were following a legal order.
So, I think as - if Hegseth comes into office, and others, I think a simple direction to the military, they will obey the legal orders and - and follow the path that they direct, as long as, again, it's a legal order. And I think that's how we need to look at the uniformed military is balancing that tension between remaining apolitical, which we all want, the American people want, but at the same time, making sure that there's clear civilian control of the military, which means obeying all lawful orders.
HUNT: All right, former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, I'm very grateful to have you today. Thanks very much for being here.
ESPER: Thank you, Kasie.
HUNT: Let's talk about this issue for a second because, Matt Gorman, I - that moment than, what Esper had to confront, was pretty remarkable. And Pete Hegseth may confront something similar. We - we don't know.
GORMAN: He might. He might. And I think one thing that struck me, too, as Esper was talking, is, you know, we look back and Austin and Mattis were unique nominations in that, you know, they needed waivers to assume office, right? Normally there's the - I believe it's a law where you need to be out of military uniform essentially for ten years before taking that job. And I - one thing I am very heartened by is, you know, one thing that the United States prides itself is civilian control of the military. And I'm glad we're not having it continuing the trend of, however decorated, accomplished people they might be, having people that just left the military assume control as a civilian.
[07:00:02]
HUNT: Meghan, briefly. HAYS: Yes, no, I think that makes a lot of sense. I do think that we
have some serious concerns about Hegseth, and I think Esper raises them. And these are real legit concerns. And I mean, obviously, he's going to pass. There will be - or get confirmed, so it will be different. But I just - I mean it's really concerning to have him lead the DOD.
HUNT: All right, thanks to all of you guys for being here this morning. I really appreciate your time.
Thanks to all - thanks to you at home as well for joining us. I'm Kasie Hunt. Don't go anywhere. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.
