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Four Major Fires Burning Out Of Control In Los Angeles County; Tonight, Trump Gaming Out First Moves With Senate Republicans; Deadly California Fires Exploding In Size, Still Zero Percent Contained; Biden: I Still Believe I Could Have Beaten Trump. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired January 08, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, we're following two major breaking stories tonight. In Southern California catastrophic wildfires, are ripping through the Los Angeles area, forcing thousands to evacuate, scorching entire neighborhoods and killing at least two people so far. CNN's journalists are live inside the fire zone with all the late breaking information.

Plus, here in Washington, Donald Trump is making final preparations before he takes the oath of office. Tonight, the president-elect is huddling with Senate Republicans as he games out his first moves once he begins his second term in the White House. We'll bring you details from inside these critically important meetings.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Will Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

Our coverage begins tonight with the breaking news in California as truly historic wildfires are tearing across Los Angeles County. Right now, four fires are burning out of control, fueled by extremely strong dry winds, including one gust of a hundred miles an hour. The damage already apocalyptic, with officials now calling this the most destructive wildfire outbreak in Los Angeles' history.

CNN's team of journalists is on the ground covering the disaster from every angle. Let's go first to CNN's Anderson Cooper. He's in Altadena, California. That's just northeast of Los Angeles. Anderson, give us the latest. What are you seeing? What are you hearing?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the fire here obviously is not contained. It's not contained anywhere. They ran out of water here in this street. I'm on Mariposa and Glenn. They ran out of water about two hours or so ago. Well, a little bit lost track of time. But this fire, we were on the previous corner. It had burned all the houses down there pretty much. It has now spread up, moving uphill. This house has ignited. The house next door also, and now the attic, the roof is burning. Firefighters say that that's one of the things they look for. Once smoke starts billowing out of that attic window in a situation like this where there's no water, that house is going to be gone. So, that house is on fire. This one is almost gone.

There's a number of vehicles we're watching closely in this area that you know, will very likely ignite into flames. There will also be secondary explosions with that. So, that's something you have to be mindful for. But it is very frustrating, obviously, for firefighters in these uphill areas and these hilly and mountainous areas, the situation with the hydrants not having water. Not sure -- there were more firefighters arrived here just recently. It looks like they may have moved on because maybe they have realized that the water situation here.

But writ large, they say there's not a shortage of water. It's just an issue in these places that are uphill. More than a million people without power, as you know, in Southern California right now, they're asking firefighters from all western -- many western states to come here. These firefighters have been working for, you know, 26, 27 hours. A lot of them haven't been told when they may actually get a break. They could go another 12, 24 hours without sleeping.

It is a very fast-moving situation. This Eaton fire is now -- last I heard, the official estimate was about 10,000 acres burning. The winds have died down, Wolf. So, that is certainly helping the situation somewhat, but there's still are wind gusts coming and this fire is still moving. I mean, a fire like this, Wolf, which is, you know, the flames, this tree -- there's two trees here, beautiful trees, very easily -- it's very likely the fire will get into these trees.

What we've seen happen on tree after tree is it explodes with embers and those embers then are catapulted into the sky to go wherever they may go. Many of them burn out, but they can travel as much as two miles away and start a fire somewhere else.

So, the challenge -- this is still very much active, you know, no containment here and, you know, they're short staffed. It's a really difficult situation. As you said, this is a historic fire that they are seeing. And, yes, it's -- you know, we're seeing also people driving up in their vehicles. You know, they've been able to get through the checkpoints to try to check on their houses, see if they just have time to run in and get a little bit more out, people who left earlier, and in some cases, they can.

[18:05:01]

Some people we have seen doing it. A lot of people, you just can't get through though. One woman who we saw earlier who got some things out of her house, she left probably about 30 minutes ago. Her house now has just caught fire. And that house is going to be destroyed.

So, it is a very active situation, still a very dangerous situation and just -- it's devastating for so many people here, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, active, dangerous, and extremely heartbreaking. Anderson, we're just learning right now from our affiliate out in Los Angeles, KABC, that the death toll from the Eaton fire is now five, that according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff. I know you've been on the scene now for several hours. How have things changed in just the time that you've been there?

COOPER: Yes. So, this is part of the Eaton fire. As you know, the Eaton fire, you know, started up a wildfire and then it jumped into these residential areas. I mean, it hasn't changed much. I kind of thought it would have died down by now. But what you see is that, yes, the buildings that have destroyed, eventually, there's nothing left to burn and it's just smoke coming out of them, but these fires keep jumping.

So, these are fresh fires. This is brand new. This is not something -- that house there, that now, just in the time we've been talking, those flames now, you see them pouring out of that attic window. They're soon going to spread to the entire roof. There's a Prius parked in the driveway that authorities are concerned about. You know, it seems like when the cars catch fire, it's the tires first, then it spreads to the rest of the vehicle, and then the gas explodes.

You know, you think it's dying down, the wind dies down and you think, okay, now it seems like it's less, and then you suddenly look and you realize, oh, wait a minute, it's jumped a block away. And you go up to that block, which we just did, we just came here and this is the situation. There wasn't a fire here an hour ago, two hours ago. The fire was down there. But that neighborhood is -- I mean, most of the houses are gone on that corner, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's such an awful situation, horrible indeed. Anderson, thank you very much. Stay safe over there. We'll stay in close touch with you.

Anderson, of course, will be back later tonight for his show, AC360, 8:00 P.M. Eastern, later tonight. We'll be watching.

I want to go to CNN's Nick Watt. He's standing by near the largest fire out in the Los Angeles area. It's raging out of control in the Palisades area of L.A. Nick, update our viewers from what you're seeing in the area.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, go ahead.

WATT: Hello?

BLITZER: Yes, we hear you.

WATT: So, Wolf, we came here to broadcast from Pacific Palisades, from Palisades Village, as a sort of aftermath story, and then this. As Anderson was talking about, the issue here is these embers. An hour ago, this was a hair salon, looked fine. Suddenly, it burst into flames. Now, the dry cleaners behind, it is also in flames. It's like, if you look over here, Gelson's (ph), that went last night.

But, you know, this is the problem that they're dealing with. And, you know, firefighters have come by this hair salon a couple of times. They've stopped and they've had to just move on. They've got to prioritize. I mean, if you look down the street, I don't know if you can see right now, cause the smoke is so thick, but we got down there, we've got a church on fire. We've got an apartment building on fire. We've got the fire truck passing through right now. They have to prioritize. They just can't contain everything.

And, you know, you mentioned loss of life. I mean, I just heard from a friend of mine whose neighbors way up top of Topanga, elderly couple, are still in their house, have not been able to evacuate and the fire is now approaching and he's -- my friend is trying to work out how to get to them. I also went to this neighborhood over here just to see another friend's house and just to check the devastation. The entire neighborhood has gone apart from maybe two houses. We're talking over a hundred homes, well over a hundred homes. It is a wasteland. This looks just like a war zone.

You know, this, Wolf, this is Downtown Pacific Palisades. This is what an urban wildfire looks like. It has destroyed thousands of homes. It has destroyed the infrastructure of this community, the schools, both grocery stores, the theater, the library, the main street, it's unbelievably shocking. And as Anderson was saying as well, over where he is, the wind's still high here. We're still getting these gusts. We're still getting this Sta. Monica about three or four miles that way is the crow flies. They have just extended their evacuation orders, again, as the fear is that these flames are going to be moving down that way.

Listen, the Palisades is already just a ghost town. The destruction is almost beyond comprehension for somebody like me who lives around here, who eats lunch around here, who shops around here.

[18:10:05]

It is stunning. And if this moves further down towards Sta. Monica, more densely populated, it's only going to get worse.

So, Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: All right, Nick Watt on the scene for a stay safe over there as well. Nick, we'll be back in touch with you soon.

Right now, I want to bring in a Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua. Brent, thanks very much for joining us. Thanks for all you're doing.

How much progress are you making containing these truly fast-moving and very dangerous fires?

BRENT PASCUA, BATTALION CHIEF, CAL FIRE: Right now, as far as containment, we're not making very much progress. We're still making sure that we get everyone's lives, all the people out of the way, and protect whatever we can of their property, their structures, things of that sort. When the wind dies down, that's when we'll be able to anchor in, dig in our heels, and get some containment. But right now, it's just too tricky with these gusts that we want to make sure everyone gets out alive.

BLITZER: What's your biggest challenge right now, Brent, and are you receiving all the support you need?

PASCUA: We are. We have more crews coming in, as we speak. Our biggest challenge again is these winds, just like they were saying, it does seem to die down and then all of a sudden you get hit with these 60, 70-mile-an-hour gusts and it changes everything again.

So, we're using all our crews on all sides of this fire. It's so unpredictable. It moves so fast. It's so frustrating because they'll put out a spot, they think they got it, and all of a sudden you come back, that spot's roaring again. It's throwing embers. It's casting embers farther than you can imagine with this wind.

BLITZER: Many fire hydrants, we're told, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles have actually gone dry. What is the situation like right now? Do you have adequate supplies of water to fight this fire?

PASCUA: Yes. I've been up in that area since about 3:00 this morning. I've seen no, no sign of a water deficit up there. There's been water coming out of all the hoses that I've seen just by driving by, driving through. Again, I haven't heard any news of that on myself.

BLITZER: Do you have any idea, Brent, how long your current water supply in the area will last?

PASCUA: I'm sorry, Wolf. I just don't know where this source is coming from, so I don't.

BLITZER: Local officials are saying at least five people have now died because of the fires. From what you are seeing, Brent, how much more could that number potentially, God forbid, rise?

PASCUA: Yes. It could be a lot more if people don't heed the advice of evacuate. Evacuate early, grab your things, grab your belongings, grab your family, and get out.

That road that was easy to get out, in and out on a normal day might be gridlocked traffic when you try and leave too late. So, if you're close to the evacuation zone, I really recommend you leave.

BLITZER: Where should people in this danger zone, and it's a huge danger zone L.A. area, where should they evacuate to?

PASCUA: Yes, evacuate to anywhere where there's hotel rooms available, anywhere just out of this area, not in front, not in the path. That would mean go east. Go north. I know there's other fires burning around this area. Maybe up over the Grapevine and take a vacation if you will until these winds subside.

BLITZER: Brent Pascua, thanks for all you're doing. Please thank all the men and women who are working with you. We really appreciate it. And just stay safe over there. I know this is an extremely dangerous situation. Thanks for joining us.

PASCUA: Will do. Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: And just ahead, we'll have more breaking news coverage of these fires are with our CNN teams live on the ground in Southern California. We'll also talk live with the head of the L.A. school district. And we're following other breaking news as well, news that's unfolding right now up on Capitol Hill, Donald Trump meeting with Republican lawmakers. Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales is on Capitol Hill and he's standing by live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

BLITZER: Let's get back to the breaking news, the wildfire disaster, and it is a disaster, in Los Angeles County.

I want to go straight to CNN's Julia Vargas Jones. She's live on the scene for us. Huge fires in Altadena, California, just northeast of downtown Los Angeles. Julia, give us the latest on the conditions where you are.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Wolf, just moments ago, we just felt winds starting to pick up back again. We've had a lull throughout the day. That's allowed some helicopters to fly and help with the fighting. You might be able to hear some of them now help with the fighting with dumping water from the sky. So far, it's only been firefighters going into every single one of these streets.

But this is the main drag. This is Lake Avenue in Altadena, all of these businesses completely destroyed. It's been like this up and down the street. I just spoke to a resident. He said he's lived in this neighborhood for 30 years. He just came back now to see if his house was maybe had a little chance of having survived this. Up this block, there's absolutely no chance. He said he took one look at it and it was completely gone, completely destroyed.

Across the street, it's the same picture. This used to be a church right here next to the Bank of America. That used to be a church. We just saw a helicopter circled the next block over that Chase Bank and dump some water over there.

But we are feeling a little bit of wind coming up. I'm not sure if we should be optimistic about it, if they will be able to continue with aerial help coming from the skies now.

[18:20:02]

There it is. But firefighters have been having to make some really tough choices. Where we are now, moments ago, we saw engines just booking up the street, going to clearly something that was a lot more important than this, and this was a large fire raging. Look, it's the same situation with houses. This means that people, Wolf, have been left to help each other. I spoke to a group of neighbors that was using buckets and garden hoses to try to stop an apartment building fire from spreading into another one of their neighbors' house. People were really helping each other, trying to clear the brush, trying to contain this fire. But it is really difficult.

And firefighters are saying, please be careful. Please turn around when it gets too hot, when it gets too difficult. But I believe that's just human nature. We have to help each other. That's what people have been doing. But they are scared and they're pleading and they're asking firefighters to come in and help them rescue their dogs, help find their sisters, their mothers. People are asking for help from each other, Wolf, and it's heartbreaking.

And the scale of the street after street looks like this in Altadena. It is absolutely -- I've never seen anything like this. It is devastating. The scale is gigantic and it is apocalyptic. That's what it feels like right here, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Authorities are saying this is the worst wildfire to hit the L.A. area ever, ever. That's what they're saying. Are you hearing anything, Julia, about a water supply shortage?

JONES: Yes, we are. We heard this. And now I'll say we haven't heard this from authorities, but we have heard anecdotally and other of our colleagues have heard this from firefighters here on the ground and from residents saying there's no water. How are we going to help all of these blocks going up? That's the Angeles National Forest up this way, right? All of these blocks up here, I've been told from the residents, that there was no water here. I'm not sure if we can see it from here. I don't want to get too far into the street, Wolf. But this area up here, we've been told no water, fire hydrants were not working.

We'd love to get more information from authorities on that and to know what is the scale of these water shortages and to understand, you know, how much that is impacting the way that they are fighting and trying to contain this fire, which at this point, I believe, it's still at 0 percent.

BLITZER: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, go back on the sidewalk. I don't want you standing in the street over there. Stay safe and we'll stay in close touch with you as well.

JONES: I'm not sure this is much better.

BLITZER: Yes, please stay on the sidewalk. Don't go on the street.

Coming up, our live breaking coverage of the California fire emergency will continue. We'll go back to the scene and get an update on the forecast on when firefighters might, I repeat, might catch a break

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BLITZER: The breaking news tonight in California, truly historic wildfires ravaging Los Angeles County. The damage already breaking records, breaking records as officials warn the blazes are, quote, 0 percent contained.

CNN's Nick Watt has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just have one bag to pick.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's fine mom, just get out of the house.

WATT (voice over): Just look at that view out her window, and this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, let's get out of here. We tried. We tried, bro.

WATT: Approximately 155,000 people have been ordered or advised to evacuate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That makes the difference between living and not.

WATT: Flames hopped major roads, including the fabled Pacific Coast Highway.

CHIEF KRISTIN M. CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: We are absolutely not out of danger yet. With the strong winds that continue to push through the city and the county today.

WATT: Those strong Sta. Ana winds were forecast. We knew something was coming, just not this. Officials say they prepped for maybe one or two fires.

CHIEF ANTHONY MARRONE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: There are not enough firefighters in L.A. County to address four separate fires of this magnitude.

WATT: Four major fires are now burning in L.A. County, the most heavily populated county in the entire country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm acting home and I'm really very upset inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This year, we knew with zero rain that one big windstorm and we were toast. It seems like a lot of the homes here, they're burning because of embers that have landed in bushes and are lighting.

WATT: Wind gusts in SoCal hit 100 miles per hour, driving flames through bone dry brush and homes. Utter devastation in the desirable neighborhood of Pacific Palisades.

This is Palisades Village, the now barely recognizable Shishi (ph) Downtown. We were here last night as those winds were picking up.

In the early hours, the fire hydrants here ran dry.

JANISSE QUINONES, CEO, LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND POWER: We were not able to fill the cans fast enough. So, the consumption of water was faster than we can provide water.

WATT: The Palisades fire already among the 20 worst in California's recorded history. And 15 of those have hit in just the past decade as our climate changes and our planet warms.

CHIEF JIM MCDONNELL, LOS ANGELES POLICE: This is a tragic time in our history here in Los Angeles, but a time where we're really tested and see who we really are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): So, Wolf, about a half hour ago, I was telling you about an elderly couple stuck in their home up Topanga Canyon as the flames approached.

[18:30:05]

I've heard that the fire department has managed to rescue them before the fire reached their home, a small, tiny sliver of good news amongst a lot of terrible news.

Wolf, this is an urban wildfire. This is downtown Palisades Village. This community, they've lost thousands of homes. They've lost stores, they've lost offices, restaurants, schools, library. They have lost the soul of their community. This is what's left. This is like a war zone, but it's a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Wolf?

BLITZER: It was a wonderful neighborhood. I've been to Palisades, Pacific Palisades, on several occasions. It was always exciting, so beautiful. It was nice to just walk around. And I see those pictures, and it's so heartbreaking to see that. And you don't live that far away, right?

WATT: No. I live about three miles that way. I mean, we evacuated last night. My family has gone back in, but now we might have to evacuate again, as there seems to be some concern that the fire might be spreading sort of nearer along the coast. So, Sta. Monica towards the ocean, there are now evacuation orders there. It's just a very fluid situation, Wolf. With these embers, with these winds, it's minute by minute, it's hour by hour, and you cannot be sure of anything.

This place was fine an hour ago. Hair salon, look at it, nothing left. Dry cleaners is going to be next. Wolf?

BLITZER: Awful situation, horrible indeed. Stay safe over there. Nick Watt reporting for us, thank you.

Right now I want to go to our Meteorologist Chad Myers. He's over at the CNN Weather Center with the latest fire forecast. Chad, update our viewers on the winds, first of all, fueling these horrible fires.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The winds will be half of what they were last night. And that seems like it's good, but that just means that it's going to be 30 and 40, not 60 to 80. And that's certainly still enough to push those embers, as you can see in all of those pictures. 1.5 million now customers without power in Los Angeles. The morning load tonight will be 53. So 93 point something thousand just in L.A. Northeast County proper, but 935,000 people out of about 4 million in L.A. will not have power tonight, will not have heat tonight likely. The winds did gust to 100 miles per hour. They were well over certainly hurricane strength.

How did it happen and why did it happen at night? Because 95 percent of the globe when the sun sets, the winds die off. It doesn't happen like that. All of a sudden here in the Great Basin, which is the desert, when the desert cools off, it exhales all of that air comes down, hits the ground and can't go any farther down because there's dirt there.

Where does it go? It goes out through the canyon walls, over the canyon hills and down into where this fire was already burning. So, yes, more than 25,000 acres have already burned. So, many people are still on the way of 20, 30, 40 miles per hour. And on a given fire day that's still a bad number. Relative to 80, it may not seem so bad, but to the firefighters, they don't want 40.

BLITZER: No, they certainly don't. Chad Myers reporting for us, thanks very much.

Just ahead, there's more breaking news. We're following much more on the fires coming up, but there's other news we're following as well, including Donald Trump meeting with the Republican senators right now here in Washington, as CNN learns of a phone call just yesterday between the president-elect and a key member of the United States Supreme Court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

BLITZER: We'll get back to our coverage of the Los Angeles wildfires in just a moment. But, first, some other breaking news we're following right now, Donald Trump's strategy meeting with Republican lawmakers here in Washington just getting underway.

Our Kaitlan Collins is joining us from Capitol Hill. She's got some new details. Kaitlan, Trump will take office in less than two weeks. What is he hoping to accomplish with this meeting? And could we hear directly from the president-elect?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Wolf, he's got a lot that he wants to accomplish. The question is how Republicans are going to get that done, and that is why the president right now is inside meeting with not only Senate Republican leadership but all Senate Republicans in that meeting right now.

We're told he entered the room to applause. He's there with top aides and the first lady, Melania Trump, the incoming first lady, I should note. And this is actually Trump's first time inside the Capitol since he won reelection in November. And so, really, the question coming out of this is what this is going to look like as far as a strategy, because right now Senate Republicans and House Republicans largely are divided on how to achieve what Trump wants to get done legislatively.

And he's got big things that he wants to get done, including relating to the tax cuts that he passed the first time he was in office and whether or not they're going to do that again, of course, as well to the promises that he's made about what he's going to do for the southern border inside the United States, and there's a divide over how to get that done. And some mixed signals coming from the president-elect himself to Republicans. Listen, Wolf, to what he said as you just saw him there going into this meeting about his view of where that stands right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: We're looking at the one bill versus two bills, and whatever it is, it doesn't matter. We're going to get the result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, we've heard from Senate Republican leadership, they think two bills seems to be more doable, essentially, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has been aiming for one bill. Of course, passing one giant bill with a lot of priorities in it is going to be quite difficult, especially with the razor thin majorities that Republicans have. And so, that is something to watch when they're coming out of this meeting, what they say.

And, Wolf, I should note, this is with Senate Republicans. He's going to be meeting with House Republicans this weekend, a key thing to keep an eye on, Wolf.

BLITZER: And we're also just learning, Kaitlan, of a phone call between President-elect Trump and a sitting member of the United States Supreme Court. Tell us about that.

COLLINS: Yes. This is almost unheard of, Wolf, for an incoming president, but what we are learning and what CNN has just confirmed is that President-elect Trump did speak with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in recent days.

[18:40:07]

And we are getting a statement from Justice Alito himself saying that it was at the recommendation of a former law clerk of his who wanted him to call the president-elect on his behalf and recommend him for a job in the Trump administration, in his government.

Now, it is not unusual for Supreme Court justices to call and make recommendations on behalf of their former clerks. That's why half of them go and clerk in the first place, so it can help them, of course, with job placement. But what makes all of this so unusual, Wolf, is, of course, that call came one day before Trump's legal team filed that emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to delay his sentencing that is scheduled in the New York Manhattan hush money case this Friday. So far, his appeals there have been unsuccessful, Wolf.

And I should note that in a statement from Alito, he said that they did not discuss that emergency application that Trump's attorneys filed today. And he said, I was not even aware at the time that such an application would be filed.

I should note, Wolf, we did have an idea generally that Trump's team was going to try to file something to the Supreme Court if they did not succeed with New York courts, but Alito is saying right now that that was not discussed despite the fact that they did have this unusual phone call this week. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Kaitlan Collins, thank you very much. Kaitlan, of course, will be back later tonight, 9:00 P.M. Eastern, for her excellent program, The Source. Kaitlan, we'll be watching.

Let's get reaction to all of these developments. Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales of Texas is joining us right now. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

You heard the president-elect say it doesn't matter to him how his legislative agenda is passed. Speaker Johnson wants one massive bill, while the Senate GOP leaders want to divide the priorities into separate bills. I'm curious, how do you see it?

REP. TONY GONZALES (R-TX): Yes, good evening, Wolf. Thanks for having me on. I think at the end of the day, what you're seeing is Republicans are -- we just want to get the job done, one, two, three, whatever it takes. And we're taking our lead from President Trump, essentially saying, you know, and we made all these commitments to the American people and we have to deliver in a timely manner.

You know, today, House Republicans met conference-wide and we had the discussion on reconciliation. These are all very big topics, very complicated topics. You have very thin margins both in the House and the Senate. I think regardless whether it's one bill or two bills, I think you're seeing very early on the commitment from Republicans, both on the Senate and the House side, to essentially get the job done and do it in a timely manner, very positive.

BLITZER: As you know, Congressman, some of your Republican colleagues have expressed concern that trying to pass one massive bill instead of separate pieces of legislation could actually delay action on border security. I know you represent a border district between Texas and Mexico. Do you share that concern?

GONZALES: Yes, it is. It's always tough and especially in the House. You know, we have a razor-thin margin. It's always tough to get any piece of legislation done. You know, taking multiple bites at the apple always makes it difficult. But at the end of the day, you want to get it right.

You know, I sit on the House Homeland Security Committee, and in the House Homeland Security Committee, we have worked very hard under Chairman Green's leadership to make sure that we do have some meaningful things in the reconciliation, like the border wall, like, you know, some of these things that are going to tackle this border crisis.

So, at the end of the day, the big part is we just have to get the job done. One, two, whatever it takes, the earlier, the better, so we can help all Americans.

BLITZER: We've just learned, as you heard in Kaitlan's report, that Supreme Court Justice Alito spoke with Trump just before the president-elect asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay his sentencing in his New York criminal case. Do you think it's appropriate for Trump to be speaking with someone who will actually be deciding a case against him?

GONZALES: I do think it's appropriate. He is the incoming president. He's a former president, and he's -- very soon he's going to be the current president. So, I think, to me, it's a positive I think that President Trump is meeting with the Senate, that he's meeting with the House, that he's willing to have conversations with the Supreme Court. To me, that's what I look for in a president. I want to have more of that dialogue. And the more openness and the more transparency that we can have, I think the better it is for all Americans. I think that's one of the issues that a lot of people were frustrated with the Biden administration, just transparency. Let's just talk about these things.

So, I think it's very positive that President Trump and his team are having conversations across the board throughout all aspects of government.

BLITZER: Well, do you think Justice Alito needs to recuse himself from this Trump case right now?

GONZALES: I mean, I don't think so. I mean, who knows what the conversation they had, but I doubt it was on something like that. There's so many things, so many important issues that need to be discussed, and I'm certain, you know, there's a lot of that. So, I wouldn't necessarily say that.

BLITZER: Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales, thanks so much for taking a few moments and joining us.

[18:45:01]

We appreciate it.

GONZALES: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Just ahead, we'll get back to California. We'll speak with the head of the Los Angeles School District about the damage to schools and the plan for the city's nearly half a million students.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: All right. This just in to CNN, Los Angeles officials are expected to give an update on the deadly fires at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. That's a little bit more than an hour from now.

The growing disaster has already shuttered more than 200 schools in the L.A. Unified School District and significantly damaged at least three of them.

Joining us now is the district superintendent, Alberto Carvalho.

Alberto, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for all the important work you're doing.

You run the country's second largest school district. That's more than 400,000 kids in your various schools.

Do you know how many have been directly impacted by these fires?

[18:50:01]

ALBERTO CARVALHO, SUPERINTENDENT, LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: Thanks for the opportunity, Wolf. Great to speak with you.

So, about one third of our students have been impacted by this unprecedented set of circumstances that have brought together powerful hurricane strength winds, four different fires within a geography that, quite frankly, funnels wind and dust, smoke clouds miles away from the fires themselves, making the conditions in our community very difficult.

You're absolutely right. We are a massive school system of 540,000 students across 1,000 schools, through 720 square miles. And as a result of going to bed last night, none of us slept.

But going to bed last night, around midnight, facing two fires, waking up this morning facing four fires with intensified winds surrounding these fires put us in a position of shutting down close to 300 schools and modifying the schedules of about an additional 100 schools.

We're looking at the data. The biggest concern at this point is air quality, which varies from location to location. And obviously, we're making decisions going into tomorrow based on the conditions as we see them today. In fact, we'll be joining the mayor's press event to make a joint announcement about conditions and what the day will be like tomorrow.

BLITZER: I assume a lot of those schools will be closed. I know you had a chance to visit some of those schools today in your district. I want to show our viewers right now, Alberto, some photos you sent us.

Do you have a count, first of all, on the number of schools in the L.A. area in your district that have actually been destroyed?

CARVALHO: Yes. So as I said, we have 1,000 schools. The ones most impacted are the schools in the palisades. We were able to evacuate school communities in collaboration with our remarkable first responders, yesterday. But two elementary schools burned completely to the ground.

These schools are attended by over 700 students. We're talking about Marquez Elementary and Palisades Elementary, and then a high school, Palisades Charter High School, you know, providing educational services to over 2,000 students, sustained serious damage.

In fact, when I visited, there was an ongoing fire consuming about 30 percent of the school. It is -- it is burning bungalows and portable classrooms, as well as athletic facilities. The old legacy building was still pretty intact, but we lost two schools valued at millions of dollars and about 30 percent of Palisades High is being threatened as we speak. That's why we are working with Sacramento, our state leaders, our

federal entities, utilizing our channels to FEMA to achieve the necessary reimbursements for the reconstruction of these sites.

BLITZER: Our hearts go out to all those kids and their parents.

Alberto Carvalho, thanks so much for joining us, and thanks for all the important work you're doing.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:40]

BLITZER: President Biden just sat down for an exit interview with "USA Today".

Brian Todd has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- reaching interview with "USA Today", Joe Biden when asked by Susan Page if he still believes he could have beaten Donald Trump in November, says, quote, it's presumptuous to say that, but I think yes.

But when asked if he thinks he'd have the vigor to serve another four years, Biden said, quote, I don't know.

Reflecting on his overall health, Biden said, I wasn't looking to be president when I was 85 years old, 86 years old. Who the hell knows? So far, so good. But who knows what I'm going to be when I'm 86 years old?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That message had he been running for reelection for a longer period of time, is presumably not what he would have been saying. Maybe I'll make it through my term in good health, maybe not. That's not the kind of message that most voters presumably would have been hoping to hear from a person looking to be their president for another four years.

TODD: Biden said he has not yet decided on whether he'll issue preemptive pardons to people who are at the top of Donald Trump's enemies list, who Trump could target for retribution. People like Liz Cheney, Dr. Anthony Fauci and others.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Former President --

TODD: He said when he met with Trump at the White House after Trump was elected, quote, I tried to make it clear that there was no need, and it was counterintuitive for his interest to go back and try to settle scores.

Congressman Bennie Thompson, who headed the House committee that investigated the January 6th attack on the Capitol and could be one of Trump's top targets for revenge, told Wolf this.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): If Donald Trump is hell-bent on extracting retribution, then I think if that pardon availability was there, it should be considered.

TODD: The president defended his pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted of lying on a gun purchase form and pleaded guilty to federal tax charges. Joe Biden saying, quote, he paid the back taxes. He was late. He should have paid it on time.

And he renewed his objection to the gun charges being brought.

How will the Hunter Biden pardon be viewed historically?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: I fear that the Hunter Biden pardon will also taint President Biden's legacy in the future. The blanket nature of the pardon, the fact that it was a contradiction of a promise he had made during the campaign.

TODD: On his overall legacy, Biden said, quote, I hope that history says that I had a plan on how to restore the economy and reestablish America's leadership in the world.

NAFTALI: At the moment, Joe Biden is remembered by most Americans as not having completed the job that he started. I think over time, Joe Biden will be remembered for a great first two years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): The president also seemed to half joke about his age at one point in the interview, saying the only advantage of being an old guy is that he's known every major world leader for a long time -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting -- Brian, thank you very much.

And to our viewers, thanks for watching.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.