Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Hegseth Grilled On Qualifications, Views On Women In Combat; Sen. Eric Schmitt, (R-MO), Is Interviewed About Pete Hegseth Nomination; Michelle Obama To Skip Trump's Second Inauguration; Gusty Winds May Slow Progress Containing L.A. Fires; Musk, Bezos & Zuckerberg Expected To Attend Inauguration. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 14, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Firefighters who are already working around the clock as wildfires blaze. Wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour are possible tonight. Gusts that could potentially both further fuel the flames and even start new fires. Our teams are spread out across the region with all the latest details for you. Plus, with a TikTok ban just days away, a new possible solution may have emerged. What officials at TikTok are saying today about possibly selling the app to Elon Musk.

And leading this hour, one of President-elect Trump's most contentious cabinet picks testifying on Capitol Hill today in front of a very divided Senate committee. There were a number of tense moments during the hearing, including when Democrats pressed Hegseth about his prior comments suggesting that women should not serve in combat roles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KRISTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: You cannot denigrate women in general, and your statements do that. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Despite their objections, Democrats will not control the fate of Pete Hegseth's nomination. That is up to the Republicans who now control the Senate, and nearly all of them seem to be supporting Trump's pick. Let's get right to CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill.

Manu, what are you hearing from senators now that the Hegseth hearing is done?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Expectation that he will get confirmed. In fact, I just asked Senator John Thune, who is the Republican leader, the majority leader, decides the schedule of the United States Senate. I asked him about Hegseth's nomination. Thune has not said a ton about this nomination. I said, does he have any concerns about these allegations of sexual assault that Hegseth has denied but came up in today's hearing about these allegations of misconduct and the like?

And he indicated he does not, according to Thune. He said that Hegseth acquitted himself extremely well and that he plans to move very quickly on this nomination and is moving quickly. We expect the Senate Armed Services Committee to have a vote as soon as Monday, Inauguration Day. That is according to the chairman of the committee, Roger Wicker, who told me that he believes that he'll get the support of all Republicans and be able to push this through.

Now, coming out of the hearing, Wicker was effusive in his praise of Hegseth, but Democrats obviously sharply critical of this nomination, indicating that this vote could go down along party lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS), CHAIRMAN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: This was a tour de force, a takedown, a triumph.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: His answers about marital infidelity, alcohol abuse, but most important, financial mismanagement show that the United States Senate ought to disapprove his confirmation.

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: His answers to my questions, you know, makes me feel that he wasn't being entirely transparent.

GILLIBRAND: What disturbed me so much about his answers and his previous public statements is there just seems to be a lack of respect and a lack of appreciation and a lack of support for men and women who are serving the military if they are not in line with his vision of what he wants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And one of the many points of contention in this hearing was the FBI background check into Pete Hegseth that looked into his past. Now, the only people who have been able to review that are the top two members of committees, Senator Jack Reed, who's the top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, as well as Roger Wicker, the chairman of the committee. Wicker defended the decision not to allow the rest of the committee to do this, saying that's consistent with some past practice, although there have been instances when the full committee has been able to access that. Democrats sharply critical of that and also critical of the investigation itself, saying there were gaps in the investigation. Certain people were not interviewed, including the accuser of that sexual assault allegation from 2017.

But Wicker defended that investigation, Jake, told me it was a thorough probe and he had no issue with how it was conducted.

TAPPER: Jake, Manu, I can't help but notice you're standing outside the office of Republican Senator Joni Ernst. She's a key member of the committee. She is a veteran of combat in our armed forces. She's also a survivor of sexual assault. Where is she on the Hegseth nomination? RAJU: You know, she has not said, Jake. There is an expectation, though, that she will back this nomination, even though she has not commented yet. Coming out of the hearing, she decline to comment. We'll see if what she has to say coming out of her office where she's having meetings this afternoon.

But she did have a very friendly exchange with Hegseth in that hearing. She has had numerous conversations with him in the run up today's hearing, called them productive during the hearing. Also, he entered into the record an article defending Pete Hegseth as well. So that is a clear sign that she is moving in the direction of supporting him. And Roger Wicker did tell me that he does believe all Republicans would support him his nomination, which means that Ernst would get there.

We'll see what she has to say. But if she's a yes, Jake, that would go a long ways into ensuring he gets the votes. He can't afford to lose three Republican votes if this goes down on party lines on the Senate floor, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much.

[17:05:01]

Joining us now, Republican senator from Missouri and Armed Services Committee member Eric Schmitt.

Senator Schmitt, good to see you. As we just mentioned, Republican Senator Joni Ernst, all eyes on her. Do you know how she's going to vote?

SEN. ERIC SCHMITT (R-MO), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I've not asked her directly, but I also haven't heard of any no votes on the committee or otherwise. I think Pete Hegseth did a great job today. I think he's sailing towards a confirmation. I think we're going to do it quickly. I think for all the national security picks we want to move expeditiously.

And I don't think anything that happened in that committee today changed anything. The reality that President Trump won on a reform agenda. Pete Hegseth wants to go do that in the Pentagon that sorely needs reform. I think he answered those questions today. And like I said, I think he's going to win the committee vote and win the -- and have the votes on the floor.

TAPPER: So Hegseth repeatedly said that specific allegations raised about his drinking or other allegations were, quote, "anonymous smears." I want to play some of the exchange that he had with Democratic Senator Mark Kelly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: Summer of 2014 in Cleveland, drunk in public with the CVA team.

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINNEE: Anonymous smears. KELLY: I'm just asking for true or false question -- true or false answers. December of 2014 at the CVA Christmas party at the Grand Hyatt at Washington, D.C., you were noticeably intoxicated and had to be carried up to your room. Is that true or false?

HEGSETH: Anonymous smears.

KELLY: Another time a CVA staffer stated that you passed out in the back of a party bus. Is that true or false?

HEGSETH: Anonymous smears.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Here's another one with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Another colleague, not anonymous, we have this, said that you took coworkers to a strip club. You were drunk, you tried to dance with strippers. You had to be held off the stage.

HEGSETH: Senator, anonymous false charges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Right. Well, so that last one wasn't anonymous. But I guess my question is just to translate for us, when he said anonymous smears and your colleague Senator Kelly was saying just say true or false and he wouldn't do -- he wouldn't say true or false, he would say anonymous smears. Did anonymous smears mean false? Is that what he meant?

SCHMITT: That's what smear means to me. Somebody's making a false accusation. And so I think again, he addressed all those. That's why we have this hearing. The Democrats came loaded for bear to try to bloody him up today.

Nothing changed. He denied any of those allegations that are all anonymous except for I don't know the one Senator Kaine is referring to. But then also the more salacious one about the charges that were never brought by a prosecutor, a female prosecutor --

TAPPER: Right.

SCHMITT: -- who looked at all the evidence and never brought the charges. So again, I think they want to make it all about these anonymous accusations that he's denied. And ultimately, I think his nomination stands on its own merit. He's going to do a good job. He's going to reform the Pentagon, and it sorely needs it.

TAPPER: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the chairman of your committee, Roger Wicker, because he didn't allow all committee members to review Hegseth's FBI background check. He suggested, Schumer, that means he has something to hide. What's your response to that?

SCHMITT: I mean, it's pretty desperate. I mean, Chuck Schumer is covered for some pretty ridiculous things over the last few years. But look, we've done a deep dive on this, and there's just nothing there. I know they want them to be there. And when they say the FBI they need to do a further investigation, it means they didn't find what they wanted them to find, which is something that's disqualifying, and I think it's just sour grapes.

And I will also point out, Jake, in addition to the fact that there have only been three negative votes, not confirmations tanked, but three negative votes since Bill Clinton on any nominee that's been put forth by the president's party, if that party controls the Senate, it'd be very unusual to not move forward. But the Democrats have succeeded today in breaking another norm on the Armed Services Committee. It's typically a bipartisan committee for good reason, and they've made this a totally partisan enterprise. So, like they did on the Supreme Court and other efforts on their part, they've sort of broken the seal.

TAPPER: I want to get your response to something said by your colleague, Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen of Oklahoma, defending Hegseth when it comes to the allegations. Again, Hegseth denies that he was sometimes drunk at work events or on the job. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? How many senators do you know have got a divorce before cheating on their wives? Did you ask them to step down?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Sounds like Caligula's palace over there. What kind of drinking and cheating is going on over there?

SCHMITT: Well, I don't know. I mean, I think that -- I've only been here two years, Jake. Maybe I haven't seen enough. But I think he's pointing out the hypocrisy that the Democrats, again, the party of Bill Clinton here, somehow have this moral outrage about these accusations. And so, I think we're looking at this nomination for who can come in and take on the very important role of running the Pentagon.

Who can root out DEI? Part of my questioning was to talk about the recruitment crisis we have because of this woke ideology that divides the room by oppressor and oppressed. It's race essentialism. It's killing recruiting. Focusing on China.

[17:10:02]

We need to be able to do that. And then procurement reform, the stuff that the Pentagon needs to do better, more efficiently. China has a bigger navy than we have. Not a better navy, but they have a bigger navy. China's in space for real. They're building islands off the South China Sea. So I think it's time we get somebody like Pete Hegseth in place who's not part of the typical Washington -- permanent Washington cocktail party class, but somebody who's going to shake things up. I think we need that.

TAPPER: Yes. I mean, I don't take issue with the premise that the Pentagon needs shaking up and that outsiders are good. I think there were some questions that I think are reasonable about the ability of anybody who's only really been in charge of an organization of a couple dozen people. This isn't personal against Pete Hegseth, but the military, 3 million people, $900 billion budget, I mean, that is a big managerial challenge.

SCHMITT: Well, let's just put it this way. We're at where we're at right now with Lloyd Austin, OK. Who I guess the Democrats would have said is overtly qualified. Meanwhile, we had a disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan. He went MIA without informing the President of the United States for surgery.

So there's a lot of problems that we've had in the military the last four years. A lot of these systemic issues with procurement have not been solved by these so called experts. And so I think Pete's going to come in and put it -- you know, he's going to hire people to do some of these important jobs too. It's not like, you know, the Secretary of Defense is actually writing all the procurement documents. I think it's time for more innovation.

It's time for reform. Let's get more competition. Things are just too expensive. They're not delivered on time and we need to be much more nimble, Jake.

I think everybody agrees that it's a bipartisan issue. It's just sad the Democrats made it such a partisan display today.

TAPPER: All right. Well, speaking of cocktail parties, it sounds like you need to talk to Senator Mullin because there sounds like some fun ones that you're not getting invites to.

SCHMITT: I'm not getting the invite, I guess. That's right.

TAPPER: All right. Good to see you, Senator. Thanks so much for joining us.

SCHMITT: See you.

TAPPER: Really appreciate it.

Despite the confidence that we're hearing from Republicans and the Trump transition team, there are still a few Republicans who have not yet said publicly whether they will vote to confirm Pete Hegseth. One of those Republicans said when pushed about this today. That's coming up next.

Plus, first Twitter, now TikTok. What TikTok is saying about reports that it might sell the app to Elon Musk to avoid a shutdown in the U.S. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:16:25]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: As secretary of defense, will you appoint a senior level official dedicated to sexual assault prevention and response?

HEGSETH: Senator, as we have discussed, yes, I will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Back in our politics lead, Republican Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, considered a crucial Republican vote for or against Pete Hegseth's confirmation as defense secretary. Senator Ernst began her questioning by entering into the record positive endorsements about Hegseth service, running various veterans groups, which CNN reports, quote, pleasantly surprised members of Trump's transition team who are concerned about Ernst's support and were worried that this might not have been such an amicable exchange. So, does Hegseth have the confirmation locked? Let's bring in the panel.

First of all, let's start with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance weighing in saying, quote, "I find this grandstanding from Senate Democrats over the Hegseth confirmation perplexing. We haven't won a war in three decades and we have a major recruitment challenge. Hegseth is assuredly not more of the same, and that's good."

Mike, do you think Hegseth is going to get all Republican confirmation votes?

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I don't know if he's going to get all of the Republican confirmation votes, but I do think Joni Ernst today sent a signal that is really important for those who support the nomination and want him to succeed. That was -- I think that was a really important exchange, if not the most important exchange today.

TAPPER: So, another important exchange comes from a brand new Republican Senator, John Curtis of Utah. He has not yet said how he's going to vote on Hegseth's nomination. And he was asked about the importance of personal character, giving all of the infidelities in Hegseth's background. I think he cheated on wife number one with wife number two, cheated on wife number two with wife number three. There are some kids out of wedlock in there. Whatever. Here's what Senator Curtis had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CURTIS (R-UT): It is a big deal. Now, we're all flawed. And the question is, at what point do you cross that line, right? Because none of us are perfect. And I'm the first to tell you know, that I have things in my past that if I were a nominee would be coming up. And so that's the burden, I think, on us, is to decide where that line is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I'm trying to think what Senator Curtis.

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I know. That makes you wonder, right?

TAPPER: Way too many Oreos one night. I think something like that.

Maria, after today's hearing, do you think any Republicans think Senator Hegseth crossed any lines?

CARDONA: I do, but they will never, ever say that. And I think that's the problem. What we have seen today is mostly all Republican senators, and you're right, we don't know if all of them are going to vote for him. But I -- if I had to bet on it today, I would say they will all vote for him. They will all bend the knee, they will all kiss the ring.

And today, what we saw is the one person who could have changed the course of this is Joni Ernst. And we already saw that she is genuflecting at the altar of Donald Trump when she put in that positive piece about Hegseth at the very beginning. And let's not forget that when she started really bringing up issues that she was concerned that she, you know, because of her background, right, she's a huge advocate for protecting women against sexual abuse in the military and she was not shy about bringing it up when Hegseth was nominated, at the very beginning, Republicans started a campaign against her, a paid campaign. Right wing, extreme media were going after her personally, telling her that they were going to run people against her. It scared the bejesus out of her.

[17:20:00]

And we can see it now. And so that's very disappointing for, you know, a lot of women who were hoping that she would be the one to stand up to somebody like Hegseth, which is absolutely unqualified. And look, it's not that people don't deserve a second chance, but, yes, go do something else. You don't have to be secretary of defense, which is one of the most important positions in government.

TAPPER: What do you think? Do you think his confirmation is assured?

AYESHA RASCOE, HOST, NPR'S WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY: I think that it's looking pretty smooth. And I think part of it is because there will be other fish to fry, like, there are other nominations like Tulsi Gabbard and, you know, RFK Jr. and other kind of hard votes that may have to happen. And so I think that people have looked at it and looked at the board and said, we have to, you know, get in line where we can and, you know, maybe draw a line with others. And so I think that he has benefited from that. He's also benefited from going and talking to the senators and making his case.

No more bad things have come out about him. And I think that also helps, right? DUBKE: I just have to take one step back. I have a much higher level of respect for Joni Ernst, I guess, because she had her private meetings, she had the ability to have these conversations. She came to the decision. I don't think it was a worry about a Republican primary in Iowa. I don't.

CARDONA: Come on, Mike.

DUBKE: I don't. I really do think that she had her conversations. She got the commitments she needed from Hegseth, and that's where we are today. So, I don't --

CARDONA: You don't think the campaign --

DUBKE: -- I need to take issue with that one part of it.

CARDONA: That's fine. You can take issue with it. But you know that the campaign that they launched against her absolutely had something to do with this.

DUBKE: I really don't. It was pathetically small amount of money.

CARDONA: You know better, Mike, come on.

DUBKE: It was a relatively small amount of money.

CARDONA: Yes. But clearly it was enough to scare her and to say, you can't -- don't go against Donald Trump or you're going to pay politically.

DUBKE: As a former army veteran, I don't think she scares that easily.

CARDONA: Well, this is different.

TAPPER: We're gearing up for Monday's -- we're gearing up for Monday's special coverage of Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th President of the United States. Today we're learning about a notable guest who will not be attending the ceremony. A statement by the office of Barack and Michelle Obama says, quote, "Former President Barack Obama is confirmed to attend the 60th inaugural ceremonies. Former first lady Michelle Obama will not be attending the upcoming inauguration." She was also not at the state funeral for President Carter.

You covered the Obamas during their final year in office. What's going on here?

RASCOE: You know, I mean, look, this will just be speculation because we -- they did not give a reason why she won't be there, but it will be looked at, right? So I can talk about it from how the optics of it is that, you know, look, Michelle Obama never said that she does not love politics. She had -- she has talked about how hard a time she had at the inauguration of Trump the first time, but she was there. She had on her little bun and she was there. She looked like she might have been, you know, only there so she wouldn't get fined, but she was there. I think this time what you are seeing now is that a lot of the norms that have been in place that Trump himself has not respected, that you see other people going, well, maybe I will not go and be a part of this if they don't feel like they're respected.

TAPPER: But I thought when they go low, we go high.

RASCOE: That's why it's a big deal, because she is so when they go low, we go high. But now she's staying in Hawaii. So, you know?

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to all.

CARDONA: She went in Hawaii.

TAPPER: Well, let me just say, like that's a good context also, if you're in Hawaii.

RASCOE: Yes. Yes.

CARDONA: There you go.

TAPPER: Dangerous winds are threatening to spark new wildfires in California tonight as firefighters are scrambling to contain the blazes that are already burning out of control. So what is the plan to try and avoid even more devastation? Well, CNN's teams are live on the ground next, and I'm going to be joined by the Los Angeles county supervisor. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:28:07]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our national lead, dangerous Santa Ana winds are threatening to disrupt the progress made containing several wildfires across the Los Angeles area. This is a new fire called the Auto fire broke out Monday in Ventura County, roughly 70 miles west of the Palisades fire. The Auto fire is mostly under control we're told. Fire crews are still working to contain the Palisades and Eaton fires, which are described by Cal fire as the most deadly and destructive in the history of the state of California.

Cal fire also says that humans cause 95 percent of the wildfires in California. And for those who had to evacuate because of the Palisades and Eaton fires and want to know whether their homes or property are still standing, you can now access an interactive virtual map on LA County's website called recovery.lacounty.gov. That's recovery.lacounty.gov. Let's bring in CNN's Nick Watt who is live for us in the Palisades area.

And Nick, are there any early indications in the investigation over how the Palisades fire started?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, there are theories, but the how is going to take some time. The where they could be zeroing in on that because right now behind me that hillside is what they call the general area of origin and -- on the specific area of origin. They will be aiming to zero into a piece of roughly. So, they'll not let us because this is crime scene. We've seen some ATF agents up there.

What these investigators will be doing is they will be hands and knees points, single pebble grasp to see which direction the fire approach that pebble or blade of grass then they can narrow down and zero in on the origin. They've also had sniffer dogs up here sniffing for accelerant.

[17:30:00]

And here's an interesting little theory, there was another fire in this area early morning New Year's Day. And this is, I'm going to quote you some of the radio traffic from the firefighters, the firefighters said the foot of the fire started real close to where the last fire was on New Year's Eve.

So the footprint of that fire for New Year's Day and the footprint of the Palisades fire overlap. Those two points of origin are very close. So that, of course, is something under consideration.

Now, one thing that might have happened is that New Year's Day fire got put down, but there were still undetectable embers burning inside a piece of wood, which then when the wind picked up, that got reinvigorated and spread and caused that fire. So it's going to be a while. It's going to be a few months, but they're working on it right now. There are also two power poles up there which are also --

TAPPER Manu Raju,: Nick, you've been based out of Los Angeles for a while now. When you look at the scale of destruction in this, you know, intensely hugely populated city, I can't even imagine the process of rebuilding and how daunting that is.

WATT: I can't either. Sixty square miles, you know, I just drove along Sunset Boulevard and the utility trucks are already out. And you -- you kind of wonder where they -- where they begin, you know, 17,000 -- 12,000 structures already confirmed. I mean, there is a determination, though, to get this started. Take a listen to what Mayor Karen Bass of L.A. had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KAREN BASS, LOS ANGELES: We want to begin to think about how we rebuild the massive destruction that I saw from the air. We don't want people burdened by red tape and bureaucracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATT: So between the mayor and the governor of California, they are trying to cut down that red tape, get, you know, permit applications approved within 30 days, stuff like that. Also allow schools to use temporary structures. They are really going to do all they can, they say, to get this going as fast as possible. It is daunting.

You know, there are 75,000 homeless people in Los Angeles County before this fire even started. It is going to be a huge task and could take years. Remember, the Olympics are going to be here in '28, but before that, people have got to live here. People need homes. It's going to be a tough fight. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. We'll be covering it every step of the way. Nick Watt in California, thanks so much.

Let's bring in Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who represents the 3rd District, which includes the Pacific Palisades and Malibu areas. And Lindsey, you were at today's news conference for the Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass reiterated the need to rebuild and restore the areas destroyed by those fires. What does that rebuilding process even begin to look like given the scale of destruction? And where do all those people go before these homes are rebuilt?

LINDSEY HORVATH, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERVISOR: Well, the first part is making sure that the area is safe. And as you highlighted, there are utility crews in addition to our first responders out there, making sure that we are addressing any remaining embers from the fire in all of these areas before we can bring -- even bring people back in.

We also know there's a lot of debris that has to be cleared. So we're already coordinating with our Department of Public Works on what that looks like. And then of course, given the destruction, the unimaginable destruction that we are facing, this is also a unique opportunity for us to think about how we build from the ground up in many areas for a 21st century reality, knowing that these climate risks continue to threaten this region.

How do we build upon the infrastructure we already have to ensure that as people come back to this community, they're supported with everything that they need and that we're encouraging them to use some of the best home hardening tools to make sure that as they're rebuilding, they're prepared as well too.

TAPPER: My cousin, David, and his wife, Jan, and their three kids are constituents of yours. They live in Palisades. They have not yet lost their home, but they might soon. They are staying with -- David is staying with his in laws in -- all the way down in Orange County. How many people have been made homeless by the fires so far? And what -- and what do they do?

HORVATH: I am sorry to hear that your family has been impacted, that they're evacuated, but I'm glad to hear that they are safe. They're -- we are still assessing the magnitude of the damage and that's why we have recovery centers set up for people to come and work with us in the county and the city to make sure that they're getting all of the support that they need and so that we understand all of the resources that they need.

We have developed a map of properties that are being -- that are being addressed and -- and you can go to that at recovery.lacounty.gov you can find that map. It zeroes in on people's property and tells them the percentage of what remains. And -- and it gives you sort of an -- an initial insight into the condition of what some of these properties are facing, long term we know that. [17:35:11]

FEMA -- the FEMA administrator has been here to assess the damage and they unfortunately have a lot of experience from the disasters that we've seen in the southeast states and Hawaii. They have that knowledge to bring to bear for this region on how we set up longer term housing and support services. And so we'll -- we'll be leaning on their help for sure.

TAPPER: One of my producers, Amber, her sister is a teacher there. And as you know, it's not just homes that are going up in flames, it's livelihoods, it's schools, it's businesses. What happens to all the people who are made unemployed because that school's no longer standing?

HORVATH: Well, we are working. We -- I just left our county board meeting where we affirmed and ratified our declaration of emergency, which will begin to address immediately some of the loss -- loss of livelihood that you reference. Something I'm particularly concerned about though, is our young people to know that there are children in their formative years who are experiencing this. We need to support them.

And -- and so our Department of Mental Health has resources specifically tailored to our -- to be able to speak to children about what we -- we are experiencing and to make sure that they're talking about it. We know that the impacts of this kind of tragedy can last for -- for a long time. And so we want to help them have language for it and begin the healing process.

There's a lot of complications. There's so much hurt and suffering that's happening right now. And L.A. County is here to help people begin that process of healing and rebuilding and -- and supporting people through this really difficult time.

TAPPER: Yes, I mean, you have a refugee crisis that's what's going on there as you know better than I. L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, thanky -- thank you so much.

Coming up next, the story of resilience and community amidst the devastation. How neighbors use their garden hoses as flames crept closer and closer to their homes. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:02]

TAPPER: Back in our National Lead, sticking with the story of the ongoing devastation, the California wildfires, in one Malibu community, a father and son joined forces with their neighbor, connecting their garden hoses to battle the blazes for nearly a week until the firefighters arrived. Let's bring in Dr. Chester Griffiths and his son, Chester. Doc -- Dr. Griffiths, what's --what's going through your mind as you come from -- from work and see this blaze springing up? DR. CHESTER GRIFFITHS, MALIBU RESIDENT: Well, Jake, we had actually --

I had actually prepared for almost 15 years for this eventuality. We -- we live in a fire zone. And I took advantage of the community emergency response team training in fire safety and disaster preparedness. And there's any takeaway from this, everyone should get that resource. It's free in their communities because disasters do happen and they will happen.

And there's no question that helped us prepare for this and get the correct equipment. We did have firefighting equipment, hoses, hookups that came from that training. So going through my mind, my neighbors, we had a neighborhood cohort that we're trained and whenever wildfire would pop up, we would pull out the equipment and -- and pre -- and practice.

And my -- my neighbor basically and I were the leads. And he was alone. And after surgery on Tuesday, I would not leave him alone. He's my scuba partner and I drove through the fire to get to him. And then the next five days we fought and my son joined us the following day and we -- we fought side by side together and luckily we've come out unscathed.

TAPPER: How -- Chester, how did you guys come -- come up with this plan? This -- this had all been in the works for a long time?

CHESTER GRIFFITHS, MALIBU RESIDENT: Yes, well, definitely it was something that was thought about preemptively and known across our community, and especially with our neighbor, Clay, who was with us the entire time and helping fight the fires. So I think it goes back to preparation and, you know, knowing each other and communicating. If something like this does go down, what's the strategy?

DR. CHESTER GRIFFITHS, MALIBU RESIDENT: And it was really fun for him when he was 10, 11, and 12 years old, holding fire hoses and spraying down the house. So it was -- it was really interactive, but it -- it -- it really was important for him to be able to be involved. And then he happened to be home from school break from Tulane, where he's studying architecture, and thank God, because he was instrumental in -- in helping us, Clay Colbert and me.

TAPPER: Chester, what's -- Chester, what's this about this escape plan that if -- if you -- if you weren't successful, you were going to paddle board into the ocean?

DR. CHESTER GRIFFITHS: Yes. So were right on the ocean, and if the house caught on fire, we had the paddle boards tied up on the seawall, and we were just going to hop on them and paddle out to safety and cry while our homes burned. But luckily, that did not become an eventuality.

TAPPER: Chester, how's the neighborhood doing now, young Chester?

CHESTER GRIFFITHS: You know, it's very much in repair. We are the last houses of what is a desolate area. But as far as our street -- our street is protected, five out of the six homes have survived. And so our neighbor, Clay, is actually there right now, and we've been aiding in the recovery process, and we're just taking it each day at a time.

[17:45:01]

DR. CHESTER GRIFFITHS: Jake, it's tragic. We --

TAPPER: Yes.

DR. CHESTER GRIFFITHS: -- we've lost all our neighbors.

TAPPER: It's awful. But I feel like, Dr. Griffiths, I feel like you should run for mayor or something, because, I mean, you anticipated and you prepared and you had a plan and it feels like that's more than a lot of people in charge of such things for Los Angeles had. Dr. Griffiths and Chester, thanks for sharing your story with us.

DR. CHESTER GRIFFITHS: Thank you so much, Jake.

CHESTER GRIFFITHS: Thank you.

TAPPER: With President-elect Trump's second inauguration just days away, what are we learning about who just scored some prime seating for one of the main events? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: Look, when you write $250 million worth of checks, when you've got -- when you're that involved, when you have actually backed a ground game, you're -- you're going to have a seat at the table. I've always argued it can't be at the head of the table, and that table shouldn't be the Cabinet Room in the West Wing. So I'm a realist. What's shocking to me is he doesn't have much power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:50:20]

TAPPER: In our Tech Lead meets Politics Lead. Today, former Donald Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, downplayed the influence he thinks that Tesla CEO Elon Musk actually has when it comes to President-elect Trump. This comes as CNN is reporting that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg not only will all attend Trump's inauguration next week, but they will be seated with other prominent guests on the inauguration platform. Here now are CNN's Alayna Treene and Hadas Gold. Alayna, why will these three tech leaders have such good seats?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, I think it's very clear that the, you know, prominent positioning that they have is related to some of the influence, particularly when it comes to Musk. I think there was no question that Elon Musk was going to be at the inauguration, that he was going to have kind of prime seating there.

But it was interesting to learn that Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos were going to be seated in a similar place, just given their fraught history. Of course, this comes as one, both Zuckerberg and Bezos has -- have given a million each to the inaugural fund. That's a big part of this. But also they have really been working over the last several weeks to smooth relationships with Donald Trump.

We know that both of them have gone to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald Trump directly. They've also remained in close contact with Donald Trump's team. And they recognize really that now that Donald Trump is going to be president yet again, they want to have a better relationship with they -- that with him than they did during his first term. And so that's a key part of this.

I think the question of, you know, what power and influence they have, it's still a question. It's unclear what Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are going, you know, whether they're going to have this great relationship with Donald Trump moving forward. But I think this shows that they are very much well on their way to having that.

Musk, of course, is in a much stronger position as one of Donald Trump's closest allies, has been someone that he has really looked to for his opinion on a number of things. Including just this weekend, Donald Trump asked him to sit in on a meeting with House Republicans at Mar-a-Lago, asked for his opinion at times.

And so again, I think this is just a very different place where Donald Trump is with many of these, you know, big tech CEOs and leaders than he was the first time around.

TAPPER: And Hadas today "The Wall Street Journal" and "Bloomberg" are reporting that Chinese government officials are discussing the possibility of selling TikTok to Elon Musk as a way to let the video sharing app remain in the United States. It will otherwise be banned. What -- what is your reporting on this? Is -- is this something that Musk is open to buying?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, Elon Musk so far has not commented and in these reports it's not even clear that Elon Musk was made aware or is aware of these conversations amongst Chinese officials. It should be saved. This is even a conversation amongst TikTok's parent company, ByteDance. This is a conversation, according to "The Wall Street Journal," "Bloomberg," that's being had amongst Chinese officials who are trying to game plan what could happen to this increasing -- incredibly popular app if this ban is upheld by the Supreme Court.

All indications are, is that it will be upheld this ban or sale. Now TikTok is denying strenuously. They say that we cannot be expected to comment on pure fiction. That's a statement from TikTok today. But for Elon Musk in terms of would he actually do this? You know, he has spoken out against this ban and it does sort of make business sense to maybe marry X formerly Twitter with TikTok, especially when you think about all of those options, regulators might feel a little bit differently about that.

Now in terms of the Chinese, for them to have Musk owning this platform, that is helpful for them. Obviously Musk is within the inner -- inner circle for President-elect Donald Trump and he's also spoken favorably in favor of China and he has a lot of business interests in China. He has a major Tesla factory in Shanghai. And China represents something like 40 percent of Tesla sales.

So there could be an interesting merging there for the Chinese in terms of their interest. But again, we have not heard from Musk himself yet whether this would even be a possibility. And Trump himself has said that he is not necessarily in favor of this ban. And right now, according to this reporting, TikTok officials are sort of deciding to bide their time, let this ban take because they want to see what the Trump administration would do.

[17:54:26]

TAPPER: Hadas Gold and Alayna Treene, thanks to both you, appreciate it. We're back with our last leads, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Our last lead start in our Law and Justice Lead. Every New York City subway train soon could have a uniformed police officer on board from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. This is part of a new safety proposal being announced by New York Governor Kathy Hochul this afternoon. This also would include new protective barriers, new fare gates and strengthening mental health laws to make sure that those with severe mental illness are connected with care options.

In our Money Lead, Starbucks is ending its open door policy which allowed anyone inside to hang out in its cafes or use the restrooms without making a purchase. The new rules are part of the chain's larger plan to try and improve the environment inside Starbucks stores and deter non-paying customers and the homeless from using Starbucks solely for shelter or bathroom access.

In our Sports Lead, book sales are soaring after this moment caught during my beloved Philadelphia Eagles victorious playoff games against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, all-star wide receiver the great A.J. Brown seen on the sidelines reading a paperback copy of the book "Inner Excellence" by Jim Murphy. The book has since jumped up to number one on Amazon's bestsellers list. Brown says he brings his copy to ever -- every game. And he definitely demonstrates excellence, I might add.

[18:00:17]

If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show once you get your podcast. The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.