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Special Counsel Report: Enough Evidence To Conviction Trump In Election Case; Highest-Level Red Flag Warning Issued For Parts Of Los Angeles; Sen. Angus King (I-ME) On Pete Hegseth's Confirmation Hearing. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 14, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:31:05]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight the newly resigned special counsel Jack Smith has just put out his final report and what it amounts to is an historic condemnation of the president-elect and his efforts in 2020 to stay in power just days before he's about to reclaim that power now.

In the 130-page report Smith writes that "Donald Trump has not been exonerated. In fact," Smith writes, "but for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial."

Let's talk about this. Joining us right now is CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams. Thank you so much Elliot for coming in.

Can we -- let's start there with that statement. What is Jack Smith trying to get at? Explain that for us.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: What -- yeah, what Jack Smith is getting at is there -- the standards for conspiracy against the United States or conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, which are the things that they said they could have convicted Donald Trump on. The legal standard was met based on the facts they had.

Now, what they're saying is that we just can't charge a president with a crime through longstanding Justice Department policy and some reading of century -- decades if not centuries of existing law it is -- it's just not -- probably not possible to charge a president with a crime.

Now, the question is why is someone above the law or whatever else, and that's not really it. The simple fact is under the Constitution only one person can be president at a time. If that person -- and this is the Justice Department's reasoning. If that person is tied up in court, they cannot fulfill their duties. It's not a practical argument; it's a basically functional one. The -- you -- nobody else can be president so you can't charge them with a crime. BOLDUAN: Now broaden it out. What is your bigger takeaway -- broader takeaway --

WILLIAMS: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- from this report?

WILLIAMS: I think my broader takeaway from the report is that Jack Smith's biggest problem was Fani Willis, Tish James, and Alvin Bragg. Those were all other prosecutors in different jurisdictions -- state and local prosecutors. By -- because of the fact that there were several things happening at once at the state and federal level it provided an opening for Donald Trump and his team to claim that there was just one massive conspiracy to take him down. I think everything muddied Jack Smith's charges.

And some of these here -- and particularly other charges that he has been investigating or did investigate in Florida for obstruction of justice and retention of documents were far more compelling cases with more serious penalties than the ones that he would have faced in Georgia or the state of New York. But I think it all got smooshed together in this sort of mess of prosecutions and really provided a strong political argument to the president.

BOLDUAN: So to ask the obvious, which just treat me as unintelligent in the law, as I am.

WILLIAMS: I would never do such a thing, but yes.

BOLDUAN: With the classified documents -- this is volume one of Jack Smith's -- the special counsel's investigation.

WILLIAMS: Right.

BOLDUAN: Volume two is caught up in court -- what you're getting at. Like, mishandling of classified documents against Donald Trump maybe, maybe not will ever see the light of day.

Does the release of this impact that?

WILLIAMS: No. I don't think one releases the other.

The bigger thing of why the public has not seen that report is that two of the other people who were at the center of the report, Oliveira and Walt Nauta -- they were two co-defendants of the former president. They were still being investigated, and the Justice Department will not or opts not to release information about people who have been investigated but not charged with crimes while their -- or charged with crimes -- they're defendants. While they -- their cases are pending you really can't or shouldn't release a report into their conduct.

And a judge has said that they should not, and the Justice Department has agreed with that. They're just not going to release that for now.

BOLDUAN: It's great to see you, Elliot. Thank you so much. WILLIAMS: Great, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

WILLIAMS: Take care.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. A last ditch effort to keep TikTok ticking. Several lawmakers are urging Congress and President Biden to extend Sunday's deadline for TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the app in the U.S. or face a ban.

Democratic Sen. Edward Markey plans to introduce the "Extend the TikTok Deadline Act" which would give an additional 270 days. Markey stressed the platform's importance as a one of a -- one of a kind information hub and a business builder for thousands of Americans.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna say the ban would violate the First Amendment.

All right, before kickoff against the Minnesota Vikings in last night's final wildcard game, the Los Angeles Rams paid tribute to first responders and those affected by Southern California's deadly wildfires.

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NFL ANNOUNCER: At this time please stand and join us in a moment of silent reflection for the victims of the entire Southern California community.

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SIDNER: The game was supposed to be played in Los Angeles County, but the game was moved to State Farm Stadium in Arizona due to the fires.

The hometown Arizona Cardinals painted the field and end zone in the Rams' blue and yellow colors. Forty-five thousand Rams fans made the trip to watch their team win 27-9, baby, to advance.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: They look good.

SIDNER: You said that with surprise, friend.

BERMAN: No. I mean, they just -- they played better last night than they really did all season.

SIDNER: They actually did.

BERMAN: I'm serious, they did.

SIDNER: They actually played very, very well. It was nice to see them. And I think, to be honest, what's happening in California --

BERMAN: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- now really bolstered them and made them want to fight even harder, and they did it.

BERMAN: Look, it's nice that Los Angeles has this to glom onto and to watch for the next week.

SIDNER: Yeah.

BERMAN: I wouldn't want to play the Rams next weekend.

SIDNER: Yeah.

BERMAN: All right, to breaking news out of Southern California. The highest level wind warning is now in effect for parts of Los Angeles as fire crews race to contain a new fire that erupted overnight.

Let's get right to meteorologist Allison Chinchar for a look at the forecast and the winds, Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, right. I think that's kind of the point is we don't just have the three fires that we had yesterday; we now have a brand new fire on top of it. And all four of them are going to face these dangerous winds. That's why you have this red flag warning in effect. That takes into account not just the very strong winds that could be gusting 60 to 70 miles per hour but also the very dry conditions that are out there.

And then embedded within this red flag warning you have two particular areas -- these darker shaded ones here. Those are considered particularly dangerous situations. And you have to note that three of the four fires are located within one of the PDSs as well as communities like Oxnard, Ventura, Thousand Oaks, San Fernando. So again, this is going to be a big concern going through the day today and into tomorrow.

We talked about the new additional fire. Here is the three that we had yesterday. Now we also have the Auto Fire to add into the mix, which is over towards the Oxnard-Ventura area. All of these locations are looking at those winds to pick up today. Some of them, yes, could be 50-60-mile-per-hour gusts. Even in some isolated spots as high as 70 miles per hour at times.

That is going to make it tremendously difficult for these firefighters to fight a lot of those fires because you have not only the wind advisories but the high wind warnings in effect. And some of these will continue through the early hours Wednesday, so it's not just today. This is likely to be a 36-plus-hour event for these areas.

The one thing we desperately need in the forecast is rain, and we just simply don't have it.

Now, one bit of good news, however, though is towards the end of the week and into the weekend you'll notice the humidity levels -- 70 percent, 75, 60 -- that is up tremendously from the 10 to 20 percent that we are at now. And a little bit of a shift of winds, John, will also help these firefighters out. We just kind of have to get through the next couple of days before we get to those better conditions.

BERMAN: That is key. Let's get through these 24 hours.

Allison Chinchar, thank you very much for that -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. For another look at the conditions in Southern California let's get to CNN's Michael Yoshida in Altadena. That are obviously significantly impacted by fire which is still just 33 percent contained.

Michael, give us a sense of what you're seeing this morning as firefighters brace for these really powerful winds returning.

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Sara.

When we talk about those winds returning and about that new fire about an hour west of me that popped up overnight, that's the perfect example of what officials have been concerned about and why over the last 24 hours, whether our crew has been in the Palisades, in the Brentwood area, or now here in Altadena, we've seen so many crews, whether it's fire trucks, CAL FIRE, local departments prepositioning -- setting up in different neighborhoods to be ready for if one of these existing fires -- if there's a flareup, if some of those embers get moved, or if there is an entirely new fire that gets going. They want to be ready to get as good a handle on it as quickly as they can.

[07:40:00]

And all of this happening, of course, as we have neighborhoods that have just been completely destroyed in some instances. Officials at this point urging everyone to not let their guard down.

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CHIEF KRISTIN CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: We urge the public to stay diligent. To stay ready as the danger has absolutely not passed. Please adhere to any evacuation warning and orders immediately and prioritize your safety.

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YOSHIDA: And amidst the ongoing fires here, we're also getting new information about the investigations into how these L.A. fires started. And we have some video showing a fire at the base of a tower in Eaton Canyon. We know, according to officials, that they are investigating an electrical transmission tower in Eaton Canyon as a possible origin site of the Eaton Fire. That according to the L.A. Times.

We also know that ATF personnel are now on the ground here in L.A. looking into the potential cause of the deadly Palisades Fire. Of course, all of this just in the very beginning stages. We know they will be speaking with local first responders and those who may have been in the area right as these fires were starting.

Just so much work ahead as they try and figure out how these fires started and, of course, work to continue to contain them -- Sara.

SIDNER: Yeah. Multiple fires to fight and multiple investigations going on to try to figure out how they were started.

Michael Yoshida, thank you so much, live there in Altadena, California -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, animal shelters in Southern California are running out of space, now relying on shelters and volunteers across the country for help. We have an update on those efforts for you.

And Pete Hegseth is about to face the most important moment of his career, that's for sure, with Donald Trump's cabinet on the line. Trump's defense secretary nominee heading in for confirmation hearings this morning. One of the senators who will be questioning Pete Hegseth joins us next.

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[07:47:00]

SIDNER: All right. President-elect Donald Trump's treasury secretary pick Scott Bessent is promising to sell dozens of investments to avoid conflicts of interest if he is confirmed by the Senate. Ahead of Thursday's confirmation hearing, Bessent disclosed a wide array of assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

CNN's Matt Egan is joining us now. Explain what these -- some of these conflicts of interest are. And this is the normal course that people normally have to take when they are going into government.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: That's exactly right, Sara.

Now, Scott Bessent -- he could soon be managing the Trump economy and that obviously creates at least the potential for conflicts of interest because Bessent -- he has a complex web of investments. Financial disclosure forms show that he has amassed a fortune worth at least $500 million over the last four decades.

Now, ahead of that confirmation hearing he has released this ethics agreement that's designed to try to avoid any actual or even the appearance of a conflict --

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: -- of interest. He's promised to take a number of steps, including selling off assets such as funds that own Bitcoin, gold, stock in Verizon, ag giant ADM. Also, various currency positions. And perhaps most importantly, he's going to divest his partnership in Key Square Partners. That is the hedge fund that he founded.

Now, Bessent really made his name in the early '90s working with -- under George Soros, famously helping Soros break the Bank of England by successfully betting against the British pound. It was a very lucrative trade.

Now Bessent is on the verge of becoming the top U.S. economic official. He would basically be quarterbacking the Trump economy. No small task given how laser-focused the president-elect is on the economy.

And this is a very important job. It would include managing the financial markets, right? Trying to address any market stress before it spreads. Of course, guiding the economic agenda, and also diffusing the ticking time bomb that is the debt ceiling.

This is a very important job, Sara, and we're going to learn a lot more about Bessent's views on the confirmation hearing on Thursday.

SIDNER: It is interesting. I just have to point out George Soros is, like, the devil to many Republicans and this is how he made a bulk of his money. It's just an interesting scenario.

EGAN: Yeah, that's how he made his name.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you so much --

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: -- Matt Egan -- appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: This morning Fox News host Pete Hegseth is in the hotseat. One of Donald Trump's more controversial cabinet picks is about to sit before the Senate Armed Services Committee and about to face likely hours of grueling questions.

The post that Hegseth is nominated for is a huge one, hence all of the attention. The defense secretary oversees the largest agency in the federal government -- an agency with an $800 billion budget.

And last night Democrats on the committee huddled with the Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to go over strategy for today -- some laying out their concerns as they left that closed-door meeting.

[07:50:00]

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SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): On the public record that we have right now put aside all the charges of sexual impropriety and alcohol abuse. There has never been a nominee for an office of such serious consequence who is so unqualified and unprepared in recent American history.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: If there's any cabinet position it ought to have a steady and drama-free individual it is certainly secretary of defense. Unfortunately Mr. Hegseth's background is deeply troubling to put it generously.

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BOLDUAN: Joining us now is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who will be questioning Pete Hegseth today. Independent senator who caucuses with the Democrats, Maine Sen. Angus King. Senator, it's really good to see you again. Thanks for coming in. Blumenthal also said when he --

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: -- said at the meeting he's -- he has been told that there were significant gaps in the FBI background check on Hegseth. He says he's been told because other than the chair and ranking you guys haven't seen the background check.

Do you think there are gaps, and is that a problem?

KING: I don't know because I haven't seen it. I think it should be made available to at least the members of the committee. We have a constitutional responsibility to advise and consent, and that means to analyze these candidates and to understand their backgrounds and all the issues that may be associated with their -- with their conduct, and particularly for this job.

I mean, the standard, it has to be very high for secretary of defense. He's in the chain of command. He's in the chain of nuclear weapons use. This is a critically important national security position.

So I haven't seen the report. I probably won't. That's up to the -- to the chair of the committee. But I think the members of the committee should see the report and then we can assess whether there's adequate information there. We've got lots of other information though as well. This fellow has a very clear public record.

BOLDUAN: Democrats -- as I mentioned, you gathered together last night with Sen. Schumer to talk strategy headed -- heading into today.

What is the strategy, Senator?

KING: Well, first, I don't talk about the strategy. I mean, in my case, I'm a former governor and I believe the executive should have the opportunity to build the team that they want -- the people that they want around them. That's sort of where I start.

The qualifications of that, however, are the person has to be qualified and not hostile to the mission of the agency to which they've been appointed. But qualification is a very important standard. And I don't mean resume necessarily, but I mean policy views and the background to take on a job of this responsibility.

So I'm going to be focusing on a number of those kinds of issues. That's my standard.

In the first Trump administration I voted for three-quarters of his nominees. I'm not reflexively anti-Trump in this situation. But I take them one at a time and I think this one demands really close attention because of the importance of this job.

BOLDUAN: What aspect of his record do you -- for you do you need -- do you want to delve into the most? A lot -- as you said, there's been a lot known in public. Alleged sexual assault, excessive drinking, allegations of financial mismanagement of the veterans' organizations that he ran.

Is there one area of that record that you care most about?

KING: Well, I'm sure Mr. Hegseth and his -- and his folks would love to -- for me to broadcast what questions I'm going to ask this morning. I'm not going to do it. Let's just say I'm going to examine a number of areas, again, going to sort of the underlying qualifications and readiness for taking on this responsibility. And that's where I'm going to be focusing.

So you'll have to excuse me but I'm not going to -- I'm not going to broadcast what I'm going to -- what I'm thinking in a couple of hours. He'll find out.

BOLDUAN: Don't worry. We'll be taking it live. We will hear those questions when they -- when you -- when you decide to reveal them.

You also sit on another very critical committee when it comes to -- well, everything -- which is the Senate Intel Committee, which also means you're going to be vetting the nominees for CIA director and director of national intelligence.

You've met with Tulsi Gabbard. She's also seen as controversial of a choice as Pete Hegseth is. Do you think you could support her nomination with what you know?

KING: I want to wait until the hearing. She has some questions to ask.

One of the questions is how come you've converted suddenly on a number of important issues? She's taken some very firm stands in the past on some important intelligence issues and now she's softened those positions. I want to try to get to the bottom of exactly where she is.

But the other question there is also qualifications. Does she have any real background in intelligence? We're talking about a job that supervises or oversees 18 different intelligence agencies. It's very complex. It's a very important, critical part of our national security apparatus.

[07:55:13]

And again, the question for her is what has prepared you for this job? And then secondarily, what are the positions you've taken with regard to intelligence that are of concern or at least need to be examined?

BOLDUAN: You have been one of the driving forces in the Senate pushing to ban TikTok in the United States. That ban is set to take effect in just days. There's a new effort in Congress to extend that deadline -- give it another 200-plus days for it to get figured out if it can be sold.

Bloomberg is now reporting that Chinese officials have reportedly held preliminary talks to sell TikTok -- to U.S. operations to Elon Musk to avoid the ban.

KING: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: What's your reaction to that?

KING: Well, first, the reason that this was passed by the Congress and signed by the president is that TikTok is a straight-up national security threat. Everything that you do on TikTok is cognizable and available to the Chinese Communist government. That's the problem.

And so we didn't ban TikTok. We didn't vote to ban TikTok. We voted to say it needs to be conveyed to a non-Chinese entity so that the Chinese don't have that access to all that data and information. And also, they don't have the platform of TikTok to manipulate the population of America through misinformation and disinformation. So that's the reason.

Now, selling to Elon Musk, I just heard that last night. You know, he's not the Chinese government -- I understand that -- but I think that's a very interesting development.

My concern, again, is the national security implications and getting it out of Chinese -- the hands of the Chinese Communist Party is the primary goal. Who it's sold to, that's something we're going to have to examine when the time comes.

BOLDUAN: Calling it interesting. That word "interesting" is doing a lot of work this morning, Senator.

Thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate your time as always. Looking forward to hearing your questioning during the Senate committee this morning. Thank you very much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Dozens of animals have become victims in California's catastrophic fires. The animal shelters are now preparing for a huge influx of animals. One animal rescue organization has swooped in and flown out dozens of dogs and cats to safety in Utah.

Joining me now is the CEO of Best Friends Animal Society, Julie Castle. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Look, we've never seen a fire disaster of this scale in Southern California. So what do -- typically what happens to animals in disasters like this?

JULIE CASTLE, CEO, BEST FRIENDS ANIMAL SOCIETY (via Webex by Cisco): Well usually what happens is the animals get surrendered or there is temporary housing that's needed. And so our strategy is to relieve the current shelter system of animals that are there. And so what we've done is moved as many animals out of the Los Angeles shelter system and the Pasadena Humane Society as we possibly can. And right now that's about 600 animals.

So --

SIDNER: Just --

CASTLE: -- that frees up space in that community for animals that are found as strays or maybe need temporary housing for the victims of the fire.

SIDNER: Describe the scene -- we're seeing some of the pictures there -- of taking all of these animals -- up to 100 -- on a flight to Utah from Los Angeles County.

CASTLE: Yeah. It's -- you know, it's one of those moments where you realize this is the best of humanity coming out. The best of Angelenos, the best of Americans. Everyone is pitching in. They want to know what they can do to help.

Hundreds and hundreds of volunteers came out for that flight. We had regular people and we had celebrities that raised their hand and said, "Look, this is my moment to step up and help. I care about the animals in this community. I want to see them safe. I want them to find a new home." And we had just so much support at the airport and tons of foster homes.

All of the animals got loaded up onto the plane and it was quite a sight to see. You know, you've got nearly 100 animals there all at once being loaded up. The community coming together. Everybody lending a hand. The animals flew to Utah where we accepted them into our sanctuary.

And again, at the receiving end we saw the same scene. It was incredible. And it's so heartwarming to see us be able to assist and help in this kind of way.