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The Lead with Jake Tapper

L.A. Officials: "Get Prepared Now To Evacuate"; Hegseth Grilled On Qualifications, Views On Women In Combat; FBI Rushes To Complete Background Checks For Trump Cabinet Nominee; Blinken Outlines Postwar Plan For Gaza. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired January 14, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST: I am, however, looking forward to a fulfilling year ahead. There is much to look forward to.

Kate first shared her cancer diagnosis last year.

Thank you so much for joining us for this very long afternoon. Appreciate you being here.

"THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right now.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Those Santa Ana winds are spelling new trouble for southern California today.

THE LEAD starts right now.

The new danger zones in the L.A. area amid fears the dangerous winds are going to pick back up. The lingering questions also about the water supply to fight these fires. Plus, the new video appearing to show the moment the destructive Eaton fire ignited.

And the back and forth between tough questions and a warm embrace for Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense. How he defended his experience, or lack thereof, and all those questions about excessive drinking, financial mismanagement and sexual assault, which of course, Hegseth adamantly denies.

Plus, could Elon Musk really take over TikTok? The chatter in the tech world just days before the app, as you know it, is banned and the possibility of a pushback.

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TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

We begin with our breaking news on the L.A. wildfires. If you live in the Los Angeles area, stop what you're doing right now. Get prepared to evacuate. That's the message from officials today as strong, extreme winds are expected over the next 24 hours, the weather threatening to spark new wildfires and undo all the progress made by firefighters in containing the existing wildfires that have already killed at least 24 people and have burned an area larger than the size of Paris, France.

In fact, a new fire broke out last night in Ventura County, prompting evacuations. This is the auto fire and burned through about 56 acres, though as of now, this fire is mostly knocked down. The Palisades Fire, which ignited a week ago, remains the largest of them all. More than 23,000 acres, and its only 17 percent contained, meaning firefighters have established barriers around 17 percent of its perimeter.

The Eaton Fire is now 14,000 acres, 35 percent contained. And as these winds begin to pick up, another threat is emerging for those all across Los Angeles County. County health officials says people in areas impacted by ash from the wildfires should now wear proper respiratory masks, such as N95 masks, to help protect against potential health problems.

CNN's Veronica Miracle went to Ventura County, where that auto fire is now out.

And, Veronica, you're back in Altadena now. But that auto fire is a perfect example of the fragile situation across the entire region.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. That's right. When we showed up, firefighters had really jumped on top of it. They actually had been roaming around the county just waiting for a situation like that, knowing that if a fire were to spark at any point, they would need to get on top of it for the winds could spread it.

Now, the good news that we have today is that the winds that were forecasted by the National Weather Service, they didn't really come to fruition this morning. And so in the case of Ventura County, they were able to tackle that river bottom fire very quickly. But they are concerned that that could pick up in the afternoon. These winds are just so precarious.

So take a listen to what firefighters had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. TONY MCHALE, VENTURA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: The way I like to describe it to people, it's kind of like a blowtorch, a really powerful blowtorch, and trying to put it out with a squirt gun. So the conditions are extreme. So when we face those extreme conditions, you know, it's -- for firefighters, it's the ultimate challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: And as you can imagine, tensions are just everyone is so tense here. And how could they not be? We're just across the street from a National Guard checkpoint in Altadena, and then right across the street. This beautiful donation center has emerged here. The person who lives here said that his house is still standing, and he couldn't just be here doing nothing. So he asked for a few donations on Friday, and it has now blossomed into this. So many people have dropped off donations, including clothing, food,

shoes. Now, they're saying, please, no more clothes donations, clothing donations. They have too many. Now they're asking people who've lost everything to come by and take whatever it is that they need the community really coming together in this time of crisis, as -- at the same time, so many people still on edge -- Jake.

TAPPER: Veronica Miracle, thanks so much.

Let's go to Derek Van Dam now. He's in the CNN extreme weather center for the latest forecast.

Derek, how bad are these winds going to get?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Jake, the winds already gusted over 50 and 60 miles per hour. And some of the localized mountain ridge tops across Santa Susana Mountains, the Santa Monica Mountains. You can see that over 50, 60, even 72 mile per hour wind gusts at the top of some of the San Gabriel Mountains.

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But these winds are fine as long as there's no spark that it's pushing around, right. So that's the key here. The wind warnings that were in place earlier this morning, they have been lifted temporarily. We do believe in some of the hyper localized weather models that we look at, that they could potentially pick up overnight tonight.

So they're considering reissuing that later tonight closer to 3:00 a.m. local time through 3:00 p.m. afternoon on Wednesday into southern California.

So as it stands, we still have ripe conditions for this rapid fire growth. That is why we still have the particularly dangerous situations outlined within these two locations. Much of Ventura County into the San Fernando Valley. This area is on high alert and as they should be, because even though the winds are relaxed now, I was watching closely and veronicas live shot just a moment ago. Very, very light.

But we could see that pick up as we go through the overnight period and into Wednesday morning. That is the concern. So we still have our extremely critical fire danger today. But notice how that lessens through the day tomorrow as winds start to back off into the afternoon. And in terms of rainfall, Jake, nothing in the foreseeable future to help the firefighting efforts on the ground. Back to you.

TAPPER: Derek Van Dam, thanks.

With us, Captain Adam Van Gerpen of the Los Angeles City Fire Department.

Captain Van Gerpen, thanks for joining us.

Last week when the Palisades Fire broke out amid a wind storm, many fire hydrants went dry as the water system was overloaded due to the unprecedented demand for water. Are fire hydrants still at risk of running dry?

CAPT. ADAM VAN GERPEN, LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: So, they're always at risk of running dry. Whenever we have a large scale brush fire, large scale wind event like this, our fire, they're always at risk of that happening. So our fire fighters have to learn how to improvise, adapt, overcome. If they can't find water in a hydrant, then they get it from a pool. They get it from water tenders. Or sometimes we have to do a relay, what we call a shuttle operation to get water.

TAPPER: A board member at a southern California water supplier for parts of Altadena told CNN that when the Eaton Fire broke out, problems with dry fire hydrants were traced back to a lack of electricity. Obviously, sometimes officials deliberately shut off power to lessen the risk of fire spreading, and the city warned it might do so again this week. As these strong winds are moving in. But how do you ensure or how does the city ensure that doing that doesn't impact your and your firefighters access to water?

VAN GERPEN: Well, firefighters, having water is always our number one priority. So when firefighters arrive on scene, I'm an engine captain myself. I expect and depend on there to be water inside that hydrant.

Now, when we have a large scale fire, this is over 23,700 acres, so it's spread over approximately 30 miles. So when you have that wide scale of a fire, you can have hydrants that are -- you could all these gas lines -- these water lines will start to break and we can have some water issues. So we do expect to have water in there when we get there. But if not, then we have to over overcome that.

TAPPER: I want to show you and our viewers some video captured by residents of Pasadena. It shows what appeared to be the moment that flames from the Eaton Fire began last Tuesday. Flames can be seen at the base of an electrical transmission tower. This is at 6:24 p.m. local time, and by 6:41 p.m., the person who took this video had to evacuate.

Do you believe -- do firefighters believe this tower is the origin of the Eaton Fire?

VAN GERPEN: Well, right now, I'm at the Palisades fire and I do know that even with our -- with the Palisades Fire, this is going to be a united investigation. So we're going to be there. We have ATF, we have FBI, there's L.A. City, L.A. County fire, arson investigators on scene so that they're doing a lot of the cause determination. But right now, we still have an active fire fighting on the ground and life safety and saving property is our primary focus right now.

So the investigation is ongoing. But that's -- there's many different agencies who are involved in that investigation.

TAPPER: As the winds pick up, what area are you most concerned about right now and what is your message to residents?

VAN GERPEN: So right now we are in Pacific Palisades. So we are looking at the hills of Brentwood, pushing over and making sure that it doesn't spread into the valley. We have a burn scar that goes into the Los Angeles Valley, up on we call it Dirt Mulholland.

So we have -- we have hand crews who are out there. We have dozers who are putting in line. I talked to one hand crew company, they said they had about 10,000 feet of hose there. So we're -- right now, we're not having active fire, but we have over 5,300 firefighters who are standing by, along with over 40 aircraft, fixed wing and helicopters who are standing by, if we do have any spark in this upcoming wind event.

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TAPPER: Captain Adam Van Gerpen of the Los Angeles City Fire Department, thank you so much for what you and your firefighters do. We appreciate it.

VAN GERPEN: Thank you.

TAPPER: In Washington, D.C. today, a heated hearing on Capitol Hill. Pete Hegseth in the chair, fielding questions about his past, about his views. See the tense exchanges with Democrats.

Plus, Hegseth's moment with Senator Joni Ernst, a key Republican who is also a combat veteran and a survivor of sexual assault. Where is she inclined to go with her vote? Also ahead, with just six days before Donald Trump sworn in as president, brand new details about the FBI and its scramble to finish background checks on nominees.

Stay with us.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Can you so casually cheat on a second wife and cheat on the mother of a child that had been born two months before and you tell us you were completely cleared? How was that a complete clear?

I assume that in each of your weddings, you've pledged to be faithful to your wife. You've taken an oath to do that, haven't you?

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: Senator, as I've acknowledged to everyone in this committee, not a perfect person.

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I'm not claiming to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That intense exchange, one of the many about Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's personal life, along with allegations of excessive drinking, which he has denied, and other tough questions from Democrats about Hegseth's past comments about women in combat roles. But it is Republicans, of course, not Democrats, who are in control of

the Senate, and a Trump transition official says that Republicans are feeling good about his chances for confirmation.

CNN's Oren Liebermann reports now on the tense hearing for President- elect Trump's unorthodox pick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): You lack the character and composure and competence to hold the position of secretary of defense.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Pete Hegseth's past took over the present, especially his comments that women should not serve in combat roles.

HEGSETH: I would be honored to have the opportunity to serve alongside you shoulder to shoulder, men and women, black, white, all backgrounds with a shared purpose.

LIEBERMANN: Democrats on the Armed Services Committee attacked Hegseth over past comments demanding more than contrition and clarity on his policy view of women in the ranks if confirmed.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): We don't want women in the military, especially in combat. What a terrible statement. So please, do not deny that you've made those statements you have.

LIEBERMANN: Hegseth tried to explain that he was referring to military standards for combat roles, but couldn't give a concrete example of how they'd been lowered.

GILLIBRAND: These generalized statements.

HEGSETH: The gender quotas to have a certain number of female infantry officers or infantry enlisted, and that disparages those women who are incredibly capable of leading that standard.

GILLIBRAND: Commanders do not have to be quotas for the infantry -- commanders do not have to have a quota for women in the infantry. That does not exist.

LIEBERMANN: Hegseth denied the allegations of sexual assault he faces, saying they come from anonymous sources and that the sexual encounter was consensual.

KAINE: You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two, after you just had fathered a child by wife three. You've admitted that. Now if it had been a sexual assault that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn't it?

HEGSETH: It was a false claim then, and a false claim now.

LIEBERMANN: Hegseth also denied allegations of excessive drinking while a host at Fox News. He has vowed to quit drinking if confirmed. By his own admission, Hegseth is an unorthodox pick. A Fox News host

and combat veteran with little management experience, picked to run an organization with an $850 billion budget and millions of service members and civilians.

Republicans tried to portray that as a strength.

SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): The nominee is unconventional. That may be what makes Mr. Hegseth an excellent choice to improve this unacceptable status quo.

LIEBERMANN: Hegseth tried to keep his confirmation hearing focused on what he called the warrior ethos.

HEGSETH: War fighting and lethality, and the readiness of the troops and their families will be our only focus.

LIEBERMANN: But his lack of experience at large organizations and within the Pentagon itself was laid bare. Like when he was asked about international security arrangements.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): Can you name one of the three main ones that the secretary of defense signs?

HEGSETH: You're talking about the defense arrangements. I mean, NATO might be one of them -- one that you're referring to.

DUCKWORTH: Status of forces agreement would be one of them.

HEGSETH: Status of force -- status of forces agreement, I've been a part of teaching about status of forces agreement.

DUCKWORTH: But you don't remember to mention it? You're not qualified, Mr. Hegseth.

LIEBERMANN: One of the key members of the committee is Republican Senator Joni Ernst, a combat veteran and victim of sexual assault. She has promised to support Hegseth through the confirmation process. But so far, little else.

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): We have had very frank conversations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN (on camera): Despite the numerous Democratic attacks on Pete Hegseth, Republicans are absolutely expressing confidence that he'll have the votes.

Senator Tommy Tuberville said he passed this with flying colors, and Senator Kevin Cramer said he cemented the support of all of the Republicans on that committee. It seems he's including Senator Joni Ernst there. And if that's the case, then he likely has the support of the Republicans on the committee and will get confirmed by the Republicans in the full Senate there. And that perhaps where that confidence right now is coming from, as well as from President-elect Donald Trump's team. TAPPER: All right. CNN's Oren Liebermann, thanks so much.

Joining us now, the current Republican congressman from Florida, Mike Waltz, who will be President Trump's national security advisor.

First of all, Congressman, congratulations on the new gig.

I hope you will come on the show and talk about the president's foreign policy and the days, weeks and years ahead.

So you introduced Pete Hegseth in today's hearing. You sang his praises. Are you confident there will be no Republican defections? He will get the support of all the Republicans on the committee and on the floor of the Senate.

REP. MIKE WALTZ (R-FL), INCOMING NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I am confident, Jake. I think Pete Hegseth is going to be a great defense secretary. It is time for change. The status quo, as I said in my opening today, it isn't working, hasn't been working. And needs -- we need to move on and move forward.

When you have a situation where we've had the worst recruiting crisis since Vietnam, when you have our major defense systems like the Joint Strike Fighter have a readiness rate in the 30s, despite being the most expensive system ever.

[16:20:13]

When we have a shipbuilding crisis, our Navy is going backwards and getting smaller, while Chinas is now the largest in the world. And I can go on and on. When it seems like you have an acquisition system, despite the hundreds of billion dollars being spent that every single system costs too much, delivers too little, and takes too long.

And this committee, the Armed Services Committee in the Senate, has had hearing after hearing for years, if not decades, decrying all of these problems. I have as well in the House. And yet we have someone with an unconventional background who's not a defense industry executive, who's not a former general -- I say, good, that's a good thing.

It's time for reform in the Pentagon. The American people, I think, know it instinctively. And President Trump has a mandate to put the person he wants in charge of the Defense Department.

TAPPER: Just to be clear, though, you have the support of Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa? She's going to vote to confirm him?

WALTZ: Well, I haven't talked to her specifically, but my understanding is she said today and got the commitment from -- from Pete to put a very senior official in there looking over the sexual assault prevention programs, and many of which we just reformed in the last couple of defense bills with a lot of bipartisan support. I think with that support, Pete will be just fine.

TAPPER: One of the big arguments against Hegseth from Democrats on the committee today is that he has not run an organization larger than a few dozen people, and there's reporting that he may not have run those organizations particularly well.

What is it in his background that managerially that makes you think he can supervise and manage an organization with more than 3 million employees and $850 billion budget?

WALTZ: Yeah. Well, you know, Chairman Wicker pointed out that no senator on there manages more than 50, 60 people either. So I think that's a little bit rich in terms of a criticism.

But the thing that excites me about his background is the overwhelming support. You saw it in the room today. Ive heard from veterans groups across the board that our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, the veterans that especially from our generations war, the war on terror are not only support him, they're excited for him. They're excited to have him there.

And they identify with him that, you know, he is someone that will lead. He is someone that will lead by example and that we need, again, someone who isn't going to say, this is the way we've always done it with the defense industry or the way the generals are saying it's always got to be done.

And by the way, I like the fact that he pointed out, I pointed out we have more generals per capita now than we had in World War Two, despite a military that's fourth, as fourth as large. There's too much overhead, there's too much cost. And the soldiers, the military members aren't getting what they deserve.

TAPPER: Having watched the hearing, I just wonder if you could clarify something for me. Am I correct in the assessment that Pete Hegseth thinks that the only reason women are currently serving in combat roles such as pilots or vehicle drivers, or in the infantry is because standards were lowered for them, and that he's going to, as secretary of defense, raise the standards, and once he becomes defense secretary? Is that accurate? And can you point to evidence?

WALTZ: No, I don't --

TAPPER: That's not true?

WALTZ: I don't think that's -- I don't think that's an accurate characterization at all, Jake.

TAPPER: OK.

WALTZ: What he's saying is we can't have artificial percentages. It's actually illegal to have quotas. So the Pentagon often calls them goals, and a little sleight of hand. Heck, the secretary of the air force put out a memo that said the Air Force will have certain percentages of African American females, certain percentages of Hispanic men, certain percentages of this or that.

And -- but yet we have a pilot shortage of thousands and thousands of pilots. What Pete is saying is we need the best of the best, and there's actually no evidence. Take a submarine crew that is more diverse, less diverse, this percentage, that percentage that is therefore more lethal.

That's what there's no evidence of. We have these taglines out there. And look, the -- I've talked to many, many people who said they were displaced because of their race, that says they were moved aside in order of merit list. Heck, you had a lecturer at West Point understanding your whiteness and your white rage. How do you think that makes a lot of cadets feel?

Or you had an orientation class in the Air Force Academy that said, don't say mom and dad, don't say boyfriend, girlfriend yet. I had conservative, Jewish and Christian cadets bringing that information to us, saying we don't feel welcome here.

[16:20:00]

So this is about equal opportunity and this is about standards, not race, religion, socioeconomic background or anything else. And there have been -- I mean, we have the documentation, there have been efforts under these DEI programs to move us in the wrong direction.

TAPPER: But does --

WALTZ: That's what he's speaking to.

TAPPER: But does he think that the only reason that women are serving in combat roles is because standards have been lowered? That's --

WALTZ: No. He's saying that the standards are the standards, and whether you're male or female, black, white, brown or anything else, you need to hit the standard.

TAPPER: Right.

WALTZ: Now, there has been an argument, different standards for different jobs. It's probably a different physical standard to be a cyber warrior than it is to be a U.S. Army Ranger. I think that's a fair debate and one that we've had in these committees.

TAPPER: Yeah, I -- the reason I ask is because, as you know, I've done a lot of reporting on veterans in the military, and I have encountered women who were in combat, whether they -- I mean, mainly, as you know, a lot of them are military police. And they get --

WALTZ: Sure.

TAPPER: -- and they get deployed and they serve in those roles. And I have yet to hear of one example of any of those women. And these, you know, when I do these interviews, people are pretty, pretty candid of them not meeting the standards, right.

WALTZ: But, Jake, there's a different -- there's a different physical standard for men and women in the military. Why is that? Well, I mean, I think that's a fair question to ask of the current leadership. And you actually had the first female to go through Ranger School who I applaud. She hit all the standards, then say, don't let me then have a different standard when I'm going to lead my platoon. When I go into when I go into the forces.

So, I mean, you know, I think there's a lot of questions around standards, whether they're fair and then who hits them, hits them because in combat, the enemy's bullets, they don't care whether you're male or female.

TAPPER: Right.

WALTZ: They don't care whether you're black or white or brown. So you hit the standard to do the job or you don't, and you don't make it. That's it.

TAPPER: Right.

WALTZ: You don't have these quotas or goals being -- being --

TAPPER: It just seems a little contradictory to talk about the recruiting crisis and then also talking about, like, we have too many women in combat. I mean, it just -- it seems like --

WALTZ: I don't think -- I don't -- I didn't hear him say, we have too many women in combat.

TAPPER: Well --

WALTZ: I heard him say, we have -- we should hit the standards and we shouldn't be forcing different groups by the color of their skin.

TAPPER: I mean, throughout his career, throughout his career, he said that women shouldn't be serving in combat roles.

WALTZ: But I'm going to go by what he said under oath today and how he'll perform as President Trump's next secretary of defense.

TAPPER: All right, Congressman, come back soon. We appreciate you being on right now.

WALTZ: All right. Thank you.

TAPPER: We're getting some brand new information on FBI background checks. What sources say about a rush happening now, six days out from Donald Trump's presidential inauguration -- what they say caused the problem in the first place.

Stay with us.

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[16:31:39]

TAPPER: In our law and justice lead right now, the FBI is rushing to complete background checks for Donald Trump's cabinet nominees, all as the hearings for these very nominees are already getting underway. Let's bring in CNN's Evan Perez, also our senior legal analyst, Elie

Honig, and CNN's Alayna Treene somehow got the West Palm Beach assignment in this. I don't know how that happened.

Evan, you helped break this story. Why is there such a backlog? Backlog now?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, part of the problem, Jake, is that the incoming Trump transition waited until December, a month after the election, before they signed these agreements, these memorandums of understanding, which allowed and paved the way for the FBI to begin doing background checks on their nominees.

And so what you have is this real time crunch. You have dozens of agents around the country who are working overtime to try to get these things. They have 14 days to complete these -- these -- these background checks.

In some cases, the Republican Senate is putting the -- on the calendar. They're putting hearings on the calendar before the FBI even gets these SF-86. It's the form that everybody has to fill out, which provides all of the detail, your background, biographical detail, you know, which is key for what the FBI has to do to investigate the backgrounds.

TAPPER: Alayna, what's the reaction from the Trump team about this rushed process? And forgive me for being skeptical, but is it possible that they didn't really want a thorough FBI background check process, and that's why they did it so late?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: I mean, I haven't heard of that, but what I am hearing from Trump's advisers and transition officials is essentially they're trying to characterize these complaints, particularly those from Democrats on this as partisan bluster. They're arguing that this is a way to try and slow down the confirmation process and try to prevent some of Donald Trump's nominees, particularly those as important as Department of Defense, the leader of the Department of Defense, from going through as quickly as possible. Of course, that is not what you know others are saying as well.

But I want to break this down because honestly, this is something that we've heard from Donald Trump and all of his allies repeatedly. One is that, of course, they have a large distrust of the FBI overall. We actually heard Jason Miller, one of Donald Trump's advisors, on Kasie Hunt show this morning, saying as much, saying that he finds these complaints about the FBI background check process as rich coming from Democrats and that essentially they want to try and reform this overall and try to move politics out of it.

But I'd also remind you that Donald Trump has long been very skeptical of this. Back during his first administration, there was a lot of different picks that also had troubles getting through with their FBI background checks in a timely manner, and he ended up just having them do these different referrals to have them go through. So this is a problem he has had before.

Really, though, Trump's team is trying to brush this off and arguing that this is all just complaints that Democrats are cooking up, Jake.

TAPPER: And, Eli, you have actually gone through a federal background check before. What kind of interaction does somebody have with the FBI?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It's everything. It is a full body MRI. If you're a line level prosecutor beginner like I was, they want to know everything about your family, your finances, your foreign travel, drug use, alcohol use, bad habits, you name it. And what's absurd about this is what I went through is way more than what Evans reporting these cabinet nominees are going through.

First of all, mine took six-ish months. This is taking 14 days. And second of all, I didn't have any choice in the matter. If I didn't give them everything they wanted, if people didn't give them information, I wouldn't have got the job in the first place.

[16:35:04]

Here, the only thing they really need is the 50 votes in the Senate.

PEREZ: You'll remember, of course, you know, during the first term, his first term, he gave waivers to about 25 people, including Jared Kushner. There were a number of people who never finished their completing their SF-86. And the -- and the information that the FBI needed, and they were given clearances by Donald Trump.

TAPPER: Evan Perez, Alayna Treene, Elie Honig, thanks so much.

Coming up, the political firestorm in the wake of the California wildfires, should federal aid for the state of California come with conditions at this time of crisis, how should California leaders respond to the criticism? A Democratic governor who confronted disaster in his state will join us next.

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[16:40:09]

TAPPER: Back with our breaking news on the national lead. We're covering, of course, the Los Angeles wildfires.

Let's go to CNN's Marybel Gonzalez in Altadena, California, where the Eaton Fire has caused horrific damage.

Marybel, give us a sense of what residents may be returning to.

MARYBEL GONZALEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake, this is just a complete war zone here in Altadena. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by these fires that we now know have collectively burned through an area about the size of Miami.

Now, for those people under evacuation orders, they're not able to return to their neighborhoods. But when they do, this is the scene that so many of them will be facing. Their homes burned to the ground, reduced to rubble, ash and debris, their cars parked on their driveways that they left behind as they were frantically trying to flee to safety. Those now completely charred.

But we also want to show you how these neighborhoods have been impacted here in Altadena. As you can see, right across the street from the one that burned down, there's a house that is seemingly intact from the outside, looking like it was untouched by the flames.

However, Jake, but even for those that live in the homes that are still standing, they are also not able to return at this time. We know right now, there are police barricades, national guards protecting these neighborhoods and preventing people from getting in because they say it is just not safe to do so.

Now, for now, Mayor Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, Mayor Karen Bass says they are focusing now on rebuilding. However, by the looks of this, as you can see, Jake, this will take years.

TAPPER: All right. Marybel Gonzalez in Altadena, California, thank you so much. As these fires burn around Los Angeles, political fights are also raging.

Donald Trump going after California Governor Gavin Newsom -- slamming Newsom again today over access to water. House Speaker Mike Johnson suggesting that any aid to California maybe should come with conditions because of the decisions of leaders made before and during the fires.

And joining me now is someone who knows the need for federal assistance after suffering a disaster. The Democratic Governor of Maryland, Wes Moore, who faced the tragic collapse of the Baltimore Key Bridge and the damage it did to his local economy.

And, Governor, while obviously a bridge collapse, however tragic, is not the same as the fires that we're seeing in southern California. There is a theme which is federal assistance.

Take a listen to what Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had to say to our own Manu Raju when it came to aid for California.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty, and in many respects. So that's something that has to be factored in. I think there should probably be conditions on that aid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you make of that -- of the federal government attaching conditions to aid at a time of crisis? GOV. WES MOORE (D), MARYLAND: Yeah. Well, I mean, the first thing I

say, I mean, our hearts still go out to the people of California because they have -- they have -- they've just gone through just an absolutely horrific experience. And for many of them, this is going to be a long standing experience for them.

And I think that the first and most important thing is to center on -- on the people, the people that they lost. I know we did the same thing with the six individuals that we lost. You know, in the state of Maryland.

But I also know that it is in times like this and in times of need that people look to their government at all levels, to be able to remember them, to be able to support them and to be able to help them to rebuild. And I do think in these kind of moments, it's incredibly necessary for all of us to remember the unified family that we find ourselves in, that California is going to need help and support to be able to get back on its feet.

And I just hope that Congress, as they're going through this process and through their own internal deliberations about what that looks like for reimbursement, that they don't forget the humanity, not just of the people that we lost, but frankly, for the -- for the Californians who -- who will need help and support in this moment.

TAPPER: So Speaker Johnson might say something along the lines of, we want to make sure this doesn't happen again. And the government of California, the government of Los Angeles, obviously was their -- their view, a derelict, and we want to make sure it doesn't happen again. And that's part of looking at the humanity.

MOORE: Yeah. And I would say that there are there are ways to make sure that there's accountability and make sure that were clear as to -- as to what happened and lessons learned, but also saying that the need to be able to help restore not just a sense of faith, but also a sense of hope in the people of California also is going to be imperative.

I mean, I know that after the key bridge tragedy, when we lost six Marylanders and we had 13 percent of our economy essentially shut down.

[16:45:03]

The thing that we had to do was center our work on our humanity and also make sure that we are working together.

And we had a complete unified front when it came to the Maryland delegation to include the mayor of Baltimore, to include our federal delegation, the Navy Sup Salv (ph), the Army Corps of Engineers, the Coast Guard, everybody was united in our work of being able to get that channel cleared faster than anyone expected, and also to make sure that were starting the rebuilding process. And I just think that same level of compassion and unity has to be applied to this California work. TAPPER: So President-elect Trump has been vocal with his criticism of

the governor of California. As Trump is poised to take office, we've seen different approaches to his presidency. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman went to Mar-a-Lago, try to find common ground, places they could work together.

Governor Newsom has called a special session of his legislature to prepare to fight the Trump administration in the courts.

What model are you taking?

MOORE: Well, I'm taking the Maryland model, which is I'm very clear, I'm not the leader of the resistance. I'm the governor of Maryland. My job is to make sure that the 6.5 million people who call the state of Maryland home are going to be supported and protected, that their freedoms and their rights are going to be honored, and also their hopes and their dreams and their aspirations are going to be invested in and supported.

And so, I have been -- been very clear that that I will -- I will work with anybody who wants to be a good partner in the work to make sure that Maryland is supported. But I am also prepared to make sure that we are -- that we will push back when we see those basic rights being violated.

TAPPER: You have an op-ed in "The Baltimore Sun" today before unveiling the Maryland state budget tomorrow. You say that your state is facing two storms. First, a deficit caused by overspending from the last administration, Republican Governor Larry Hogan.

And here's how you describe the second. Quote: The second storm is a stark new policy direction from the Trump-Vance administration that threatens to disrupt Maryland's economy, which is already deeply reliant on the federal government, unquote.

What specifically do you see from Trump that you think will threaten your state's economy?

MOORE: Well, we know that, for example, we have 170,000 federal employees inside of the state of Maryland, and that is just the federal employees. That does not include the contractors. And so, these are -- these are people who have worked for both Democratic and Republican administrations, just simply public servants who are doing their job every day on behalf of the people of this country.

And we know that when were hearing things about the closing of departments or the -- or the reshuffling of Schedule F's, which is the category that they are in that has a distinct impact on them and their livelihoods and their hopes and aspirations. When were hearing things about, you know, cutting infrastructure projects, things that we rely deeply on, about how we're dealing with our roads and our bridges, that -- that has a -- as a distinct impact on our state, because that's -- you cannot have economic mobility without physical mobility.

And so I do think it's important that we actually have an economic build that that makes sure that Maryland is going to be supported no matter what. And again, I'm prepared to work with anybody to ensure that the people of my state can thrive.

TAPPER: All right. Governor Wes Moore, Democrat of Maryland, thank you so much.

MOORE: Thank you so much, Jake.

TAPPER: Coming up, a big announcement today about the Obamas and next weeks inauguration of President-elect Trump. But first, we're going to go live to Tel Aviv with the very latest on a possible ceasefire and hostage deal described by mediators as in the final stages.

Stay with us.

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[16:52:25]

TAPPER: Right now, ceasefire negotiations continue in Qatar with Israeli and Hamas representatives both receiving a draft of an agreement. According to officials, this is the closest both sides have come to a deal which could begin with 33 hostages held by the terrorist group Hamas released over a six week period. In exchange, Israel would release hundreds of Palestinians who are prisoners.

Although Hamas has yet to respond, we're told, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said today there could be an answer any moment, and he believes there will be a ceasefire.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv following developments closely for us.

Jeremy, what is the mood like there waiting for a response to this deal?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, as Israel and Hamas are now in the final stages of this negotiation, and both sides seem to be quite optimistic about the prospects of crossing the finish line, I was at hostages square tonight, where thousands of Israelis flocked to hostages square, not only to show their support for this emerging deal, but also really to stand shoulder to shoulder in this moment in which many Israelis are finally allowing themselves to begin to hope that this time will be different, that this time they will actually get this deal across the finish line.

And that sentiment is especially, keenly -- keenly felt by the families of those hostages, in particular those 33 hostages whose identities we don't know exactly yet. But we have some general idea of the categories of individuals who would likely be released during that first six week ceasefire.

And they are finally allowing themselves at least some of those who I spoke to tonight to feel a sense of hope and a sense of optimism after experiencing so many times where things came close to the finish line and ultimately fell apart.

But again, Jake, a note of caution that all of my sources have been giving me today. There is no deal until that deal is actually finalized and announced.

TAPPER: And, Jeremy, in addition to the release of hostages, Secretary of State Blinken has long had a plan for what Gaza after the war might look like. Tell us about that.

DIAMOND: Yeah, that's right, Jake. This plan has been in the works for over a year now, and the secretary of state, just days before he steps down from his post and the Trump administration takes over, appearing to try and breathe some new life into this. He talks about this plan as if envisioning the Palestinian authority, in partnership with international partners, standing up an interim governing authority. Arab states like, for example, the United Arab Emirates, would provide troops to provide security inside of Gaza.

But all of this, of course, depends on Israel allowing the Palestinian Authority to go into Gaza, something that it has resisted, and ultimately allowing for a pathway to a Palestinian state -- Jake.

[16:55:08]

TAPPER: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thanks so much.

We're going to go back to Capitol Hill after today's dramatic confirmation hearing for Pete Hegseth. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of defense. That vote is set for next Monday, inauguration day.

What senators who will cast that vote, what are they telling Manu Raju? We'll tell you next.

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TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, fears of a frightening and challenging night ahead for California firefighters who are already working around the clock as wildfires blaze.