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Fierce Winds Expected To Stoke Fires Over Next Two Days; Dead Toll Rises To 24, Likely To Keep Climbing; Newsom: Just Want Facts, "Not About Finger-Pointing"; Tomorrow: Pete Hegseth Faces Grilling From Armed Services Cmte; Sen. Duckworth: "Mr. Hegseth Is Not Qualified For The Position"; This Week: Confirmation Hearings Scheduled For 13 Cabinet Picks. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired January 13, 2025 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Today on Inside Politics, critical hours. Firefighters in Southern California are rushing to make progress, fighting the flames as forecasters predict dangerous winds will blow through the region again today and tomorrow, and it could put new neighborhoods in the danger zone.

Plus, a pivotal week for president-elect Trump and his would-be cabinet. His embattled pick will -- to run the Pentagon will make his case to senators that will happen tomorrow. But the question is whether Pete Hegseth is already a sure bet for confirmation.

And a Cuomo comeback. Three years ago, he left the New York governor's mansion in disgrace. We have new reporting about the big new job Andrew Cuomo is now eyeing.

I'm Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics.

It's hard to believe that we are closing in on one week since Los Angeles fires started to spread and ravage countless homes and invaluable memorabilia that tells stories of generations of families. It's even harder to believe that right now we are approaching critical hours in the fight to contain new fires.

The winds are picking up, and they're threatening to spread the flames into new areas and reverse the progress firefighters made over the weekend to contain the Palisades and Eaton fires. The area could see sustained winds of 50 miles per hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KAREN BASS, (D) Los Angeles: We're making urgent preparations. My top priority, and the priority of everyone else, is to do everything we can to protect lives. As these winds approach L.A. city firefighters and firefighters from across the county, state and nation and even overseas are in a proactive and strategic posture to save lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: At least 24 people are dead, and officials warn that is likely to climb. Now, at this hour, the Palisades had Eaton fires have burned nearly 40,000 acres of land, and there's still a very, very long way to go to get them under control.

I want to get straight to CNN's Veronica Miracle. She is in Altadena, California. We have seen over the past week how hard it has been hit. We can see it over your shoulder there. What's the status there now?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dana, well, right now, it's really a situation of cleanup and investigation and still searching for missing people. That's what's happening here. We are in a mandatory evacuation zone, so people still have not been able to come back and see if their home is the one that was spared, like the ones across the street, or if they have burned to the ground.

I mean, you see behind me, this home is really just foundation. We're seeing a lot of fireplaces and cars or the remnants of cars, and that's pretty much it for blocks and blocks and blocks absolutely devastating.

You know, authorities, they just had a press conference. And one of the main things they talked about is they understand that people want to get back inside. They want to see what's going on here, but it's just not safe for a number of reasons.

First, because there's toxic ash in the air. There are also potential gas lines that they haven't been able to take care of. And then they've got people who are working on the power lines. Here, you can see crews are working furiously all up and down this area and all of these neighborhoods to just make sure that things are safe. There are downed power lines everywhere, and you can see they're actually reinstalling a pole right here. So that's one concern.

And then there's the issue of making sure that there are no other people who have died here. They are finding remains. Take a listen to what authorities had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF ROBERT LUNA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: We are in the third day of grid searching. It is a very grim task, and we unfortunately, every day we're doing this. We're running across the remains of individual community members. That is not easy work, very sad to report, and I believe that work is not only going to continue, but I believe we'll continue to find remains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:05:00]

MIRACLE: So, in addition to all of that, now FEMA administrators are saying that it is going to take at least six months to clean up all of this debris. That is going to be a herculean task. Not only is it because the toxic ash that is now seeping into the soil, they're going to have to remove entire foundations of homes. And that is going to be an incredible task.

So, there is the question of, what is going to happen to those people who have lost their homes? Where are they going to be able to stay? How are they going to rebuild? How do you rebuild an entire community?

Just to give you kind of a scope of how much has burned between the Hurst Fire, which is a little north of us, the Eaton Fire here in the Altadena area, and the Palisades fire, the amount that is burned is bigger than the size of Paris, bigger than the city of Paris.

So here in Altadena, a lot of clean up. A lot of work is happening. Investigations are happening. Authorities are working around the clock to try and make sure that people can get back. And there's also the concern of the wind event that is coming this week. Back to you, Dana.

BASH: Yeah, a big concern. And that scope is so important to impress upon people, because it's really hard to fathom, of course, when it's your home or, God forbid, your loved one, the scope and how big it is doesn't matter. It's about what memorabilia was lost, and more importantly, God forbid, again, what people were lost.

Thank you, Veronica. Appreciate that reporting. I've got three terrific reporters here with me at the table, Catherine Lucey of The Wall Street Journal, CNN's Jeff Zeleny and Manu Raju.

You know, as we get into all things new here in Washington, and that is, of course, the new Congress, which is already underway. We are going to have new members of the Trump cabinet and have their confirmation hearings this week, and of course, Donald Trump himself will take his oath a week from today.

What swept them into office, Republicans in charge is frustration, anger, just a feeling of not feeling good about this country. This is something that officials cannot control, and yet, it is no question going to add to that feeling and continue to make people in this country, particularly in California, feel incredibly unsettled.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And look, it's a crisis is going to have to confront immediately, even if this fire is contained, hopefully it is contained over the next couple of days. The rebuilding is going to take years. It's going to cost tens of billions of dollars to rebuild. It's going to require a significant federal partner.

You've heard local officials over the last couple of days saying they need Donald Trump and his administration to be fully supportive of the federal rebuilding effort, and they pushing him to actually come and visit as well. They believe that maybe they're making some progress in getting him there, but that will be the big question.

There's going to be -- they have to figure out how much money that will be needed for California. What conditions of any to place on that money? There's some suggestions among Republicans that there would be conditions, and whether Democrats would agree to that. And typically, these things are done. There's bipartisan support, and there's lots of money that goes into places that are hit by natural disasters. Will that happen this time? That's going to be a big question for the new administration. Will they put past grievances aside and come together? That's uncertain.

BASH: Yeah. And that's -- and before we even get there, what's going on inside California state and more local politics is, unsurprisingly, a lot of, again, anger among the residents of Los Angeles County frustration. And it's being aimed at everybody from the Democratic governor to the Democratic mayor to other officials. Let's listen to what Gavin Newsom said over the weekend about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We just want the adjudication of the facts. As I say, it's not about finger pointing, it's about answering the questions. You and everybody wants answered. We're all better off. We're working together to take care of people and to make sure people are supported.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, I mean, this is going to be a test of his leadership. I mean, there's no surprise or mystery the fact that he has national ambitions. All of that is put on hold right now, and I think he would agree with it. I mean, solving the or being on top of the catastrophe and the crisis, which is very much in its very beginning stages is going to determine his political future, if there is one.

But a politics aside, what I think is different about sort of this crisis or tragedy from Katrina, and obviously it's different in its entirety, like who is in charge. And I think that obviously, he's the governor, but the mayor, obviously started this crisis. She was absent. She was on a trip outside of Los Angeles.

[12:10:00]

The Los Angeles Times has been doing incredible reporting on this. They had a story, as did the New York. Times as saying she was on her fifth trip internationally and said that she would stop traveling internationally. All those questions will be resolved later.

But it does seem to me, as we approach a new moment here in Washington with the president-elect, we have heard what he has said before about California. He has specifically said back in 2017 and 2018, I believe it was.

He was wondering how many people voted for him, and that was even last year when he voted for him in California before he gives a disaster aid. So, my guess is that he also assumes this leadership role. But it is probably not the best time for there to be a change of hands here, when there's a deep political crisis in California.

BASH: Yeah. I mean, we'll see about the leadership role. He is, by definition, going to be in that role starting -- ZELENY: Regardless of how he plays it.

BASH: -- starting next week. And how he's playing it now is, is not that, just continuing what he did last week, for example, on Saturday, he put on his social media platform. The fires are still raging in L.A. the incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone. Many of them more soon will be lost. There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our country. They just can't put out the fires. What's wrong with them?

You kind of alluded to this, but I want to play what Gavin Newsom told our colleague Kyung Lah. He was specifically responding to something that J. D. Vance, the soon to be vice president said on Sunday, but he incorporated a renewed invitation to both of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWSOM: I would invite him, as I did Donald Trump to visit with the community express empathy of the scale of this tragedy and be here for the American people that happen to reside here in Southern California.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE LUCEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yeah. I mean, Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump have clashed in the past. They've clashed over how to handle disasters in the past, so this isn't a new fight, but clearly the governor is trying to take the temperature down here. He knows -- as Manu said, this is going to be a massive rebuilding effort. The amount of federal money that's going to be needed is going to be huge.

And if Trump makes it harder for that money to get out the door. Does he start putting conditions on it? Does he politicize it? Those are real worries. Well --

BASH: That's talking to that ship his sail.

LUCEY: Yeah. I mean, so a lot of the -- you know, I talked to some House members in L.A. last week who are really worried about this, and how this is going to unfold, and what he might -- what he might do?

BASH: And you were talking about the funding, of course, that's what you're following on a minute-by-minute basis. Listen to what John Barrasso, who of course, is a member of the Senate Republican leadership said about federal funding to go to help rebuild.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): People want to make sure that as rebuilding occurs, as things go on in California, they have to be resilient, so that these sorts of things can't happen again. In the policies of the liberal administration out there, I believe have made these fires worse. I expect that there will be strings attached to money that is ultimately approved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, I just want to throw in here, and you can certainly add to this, because you know the nitty gritty, there were not significant strings attached when the Congress gave money to states that were affected by Hurricane Helene and Milton, states that are run largely by Republicans. These are red states.

RAJU: Yeah. There was roughly $100 billion in that a, that was rolled into a larger bill to keep the government open. You know, you've heard some conservatives in the past say that they need to cut spending to offset the amount of money that goes to federal aid efforts. But usually that's a small portion of the House Republican conference or Senate Republican conference.

This is a Republican leader, the number two, Republican John Barrasso, saying there will be some strings attached. It's unclear exactly what that means, but the process will work like this. The White House Budget office, which would be run by Russ Vought, who is a conservative, can't nominee to run that office assuming that he has confirmed.

They'll put out a request for how much money they want. They don't go through the Senate and the House to figure out what they want. Now if vote and Trump are demanding certain conditions, then that's where the Republican leadership ultimately is going to be, and that would be a shift, considerable shift than we've seen in the past, which is bipartisan support behind a lot of money that's needed for places that desperately are hit hard.

BASH: Particularly, red states.

RAJU: Yeah.

BASH: No strings attached, that we certainly in recent history, and now it's a very democratic state. They're singing a different tune. All right. Stand by coming up next, the Trump cabinet hearings begin -- starting with Pete Hegseth. A month ago, his nomination was teetering, but now his confirmation looks like a very, very different situation. We'll give you a reporting on that after the break.

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BASH: 13 of president-elect Trump's cabinet nominees will face Senate confirmation hearings this week. Tomorrow will be a big one. Donald Trump's pick to run the Pentagon. Pete Hegseth will answer questions before the Senate Armed Services Committee. He can expect some pretty tough questions from Democrats, especially from someone like Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, a combat veteran who lost both her legs in Iraq.

[12:20:00]

My panel is back now. It is kind of remarkable, Manu, that we were watching you run through the hallways. You were talking to senators. We were talking to our sources. And at the beginning of this process, this transition process, several of Donald Trump's nominees, including and especially the one we'll see tomorrow, Pete Hegseth, were in trouble.

RAJU: Yeah.

BASH: Doesn't seem like that way.

RAJU: It doesn't seem that way, because a lot of Republicans have been convincing, saying, let the process move forward. Hold your concerns, don't -- you don't draw any red lines, don't take any positions and we've not heard any opposition whatsoever.

And remember, in order to get confirmed, they need to make sure that they can limit Republican defections to three. And at the moment, we have not heard anyone say they're opposed to Pete Hegseth, even very notably, Joni Ernst, who are going to be watching very closely at that Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

They worked very hard to win her over. She was a subject of a pressure campaign too. She's up for reelection in 2026 of course, that primary always looms large over any Republican or Democratic candidate, and we'll see how she ultimately comes down.

But look, this is still going to be a very important moment for Hegseth. How did he answer these questions about his past, the excessive drinking allegations, sexual assault allegations, have denied all that. How does he deal with that publicly? Will there be more that emerge in the days ahead? All big questions. But if you're betting, you probably bet on all these nominations at the moment, getting through.

BASH: And what people don't necessarily think through is that, generally speaking -- historically speaking, if somebody makes it to the point of a hearing, and if they're problematic, they get that far. Generally speaking, they push their way through.

Jeff Zeleny, just gives some examples of Cabinet nominees who were rejected, actually got a vote and rejected. John Tower, of course, the most famous, Lewis Strauss, and you remember good old Charles Warren from the Calvin Coolidge administration.

ZELENY: Dana, that was a fun --

(CROSSTALK)

ZELENY: Look, sometimes it feels like that. But you're right, if it makes the confirmation hearing and I'm thinking back, of course, to some famous ones in the Obama administration. Tom Daschle, first and foremost, didn't make it because of taxes not paid to a driver. I believe it was, but this is a whole different era obviously.

I do think the question is, how the nominees, not necessarily, if they're confirmed, because I agree with you, they probably will be. But how they sort of stand up to the scrutiny and how they take the questions largely coming from Democrats, but perhaps a few Republicans as well and how they handle it.

I mean, we've seen several sorts of hearings. I'm thinking back also to a Chuck Hagel during the Obama administration. He was not prepared of the former Nebraska senator. I'm from there, obviously. I've covered him a long time. He looked like he didn't prepare at all, just going in there to sit at the Senate.

So, I think that these nominees will be prepared, but the degree to which they're not. I think if it does expose their qualifications for these positions, that's probably the biggest damaging thing of all. But look, we've said this a lot. This is Donald Trump's Republican Party, totally different than 2017 and these are loyal nominees to him. So yes, they will largely get through.

BASH: And Catherine, it's the Republican Party, of course, but then the question that this is going to help to start to answer is how Democrats are going to approach a Republican rule, particularly the Trump years 2.0.

Chuck Schumer, it was reported that he said privately to Democrats, Republicans spent four years attacking the democratic brand, and we need to use these hearings to begin to return the favor. There are some notable just specifically looking at the headset hearing that we're going to watch tomorrow, some notable Democrats who we can probably expect to be extremely tough, not that all of them necessarily won't be.

Elizabeth Warren is on the committee. Elissa Slotkin, who was a new senator from Michigan. Her very first confirmation hearing. And then you have Tammy Duckworth, who I mentioned. Listen to what she told me, November 24 about Pete Hegseth. Tammy Duckworth

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): Our military could not go to war without its 223,000 women who serve in uniform. We would have an ineffective military that was not capable of deployment. If we were to pull out all the women and say, you cannot be in combat.

For those women who are in roles such as the infantry or Navy SEALs, those women have met the same standards as the men in order to be assigned to those positions. So again, this shows that Mr. Hegseth is not qualified for the position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So, I don't think anybody thought that Tammy Duckworth was going to necessarily vote for him, but she could be one of those who illuminates the questions and the answers that a lot of people have for him.

[12:25:00]

LUCEY: I think that's right. I think we expect to see very tough questioning, particularly from those senators. And it will be a test. We know Pete Hegseth has been practicing privately with Republicans in mock hearings to try and be ready for some of these questions. And so, this will be a testing moment for him. But more broadly, for Democrats, yes, we'll see some, I think, strong moments from them or tough moments from them in these hearings.

But they are really grappling with how to deal with Donald Trump's Washington and Trump's win. And we've seen a lot of Democrats, they nationally, sort of pull back a little bit, take a pause. We've heard from a lot of governors that they are trying to, you know, reach out, work across the aisle. And that they're hearing from voters that they don't want to see the kind of resistance that we saw in eight years ago.

And so, Democrats are trying to figure out how to walk that line, and what moments they should be pushing and fighting and what moments they have to try and collaborate work with Republican

RAJU: Sometimes they might just be sitting back and watch the Republicans, chip over themselves as they did right before Christmas to try to keep the government open, rather than coming out and taking a position and creating a partisan fight, make it -- look at the way they're governing.

But that's -- this will be interesting. It'll be instructed

LUCEY: John Fetterman who's meeting with Trump.

RAJU: Absolutely, that would trump yesterday. Others are, you know, sounding a little bit more open even Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, because they don't want to turn this into necessarily a partisan food fight. But undoubtedly, lot of this will become a partisan fight.

ZELENY: It's a different kind of resistance this time around. There's no doubt about it.

BASH: How so?

ZELENY: I think it is just a more strategic resistance. It's not necessarily a marching in the streets and opposing everything. I think it's just a acknowledging the election returns and just resisting in a slightly different way, but resistance it will be. I mean, the questions from Democratic senators will be fascinating to watch. That's why these confirmation hearings are one moment in an administration where we actually watch the proceedings play out. And I think they'll be enlightened.

LUCEY: I think what we'll see as people picking their spots more, and this is a spot they're going to pick.

ZELENY: Right.

BASH: All right, everybody standby. The question is, how much more can they take in Los Angeles? I'm going to talk to a Los Angeles County supervisor whose district is at the center of the devastation. Next.

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