Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Hegseth Faces Off With Democratic Senators In Confirmation Hearing; 6 Million People Under Critical Fire Threat In California; Hostage Deal: The Final Stages; Tonight: Biden Delivers His Farewell Address. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired January 15, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:34]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, January 15th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Pete Hegseth did a great job today. I think he's sailing towards a confirmation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Confirmation fight. Donald Trump's choice to lead the Pentagon gets grilled by Democrats, but has picked up critical support.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTIN CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES FIRE CHIEF: Life threatening and destructive and widespread winds are already here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Dangerous conditions. Six million people under a critical fire threat in southern California as powerful winds provoke new concerns for firefighters.
Plus, final steps. Israel and Hamas, the closest they've been in months to agreeing on a hostage release and ceasefire deal.
(MUSIC)
HUNT: All right. It is 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at Capitol Hill on this Wednesday morning. More drama unfolding there today.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us.
Donald Trump's nominees to join his cabinet, of course, facing their Senate confirmation hearings this week. Pete Hegseth the president- elect's pick to be defense secretary, kicked off those proceedings before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
Republicans on the panel were mostly deferential to Hegseth, while Democrats went on offense, drilling down on Hegseth's biography and past allegations of sexual misconduct and drinking on the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Are you saying that you would stand in the breach and push back if you were given an illegal order?
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: I start by saying I reject the premise that president Trump you'll be giving any illegal orders at all.
SLOTKIN: I understand. You've done your genuflecting to him.
But, my -- this isn't a hypothetical.
SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): You cant seem to grasp that there is no U.S. military as we know it without the incredible women that we serve, women who've earned their place in their units. You have not earned your place as secretary of defense.
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): One of your colleagues said that you got drunk at an event at a bar and chanted, "kill all Muslims". 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 and one of your employees, in that event, filed a sexual harassment charge, as a result of it.
Now, I know you denied these things, but isn't that the kind of behavior that, if true, would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense?
HEGSETH: Senator, anonymous false charges.
KAINE: They're not anonymous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Ultimately, Senate Democrats opposition isn't going to matter much. The GOP majority seems ready to push back against those attacks on Trumps nominees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): Senator Kaine, or I guess I better use the senator from Virginia, starts bringing up the fact that what if you showed up drunk to your job? How many senators have showed up drunk to vote at night? Have any of you guys asked him to step down and resign from their job?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The man may have a point.
One key Republican senator on the Armed Services Committee, Joni Ernst of Iowa, had been on the fence about supporting Hegseth late last year. That view apparently now changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOST: Does he have your vote?
SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): I am breaking news, Simon. I figured you would ask this. So, yes, I will be supporting President Trump's pick for secretary of defense.
MULLIN: I know there was a couple other Republicans that was looking at the way she was going to go, that they were going to follow her lead. I think, with her saying, absolutely yes, she's going to support him now all but confirms his ability to -- to be the next secretary of defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Joining us now to discuss, Mychael Schnell. She is congressional reporter for "The Hill".
Mychael, good morning. Nice to see you.
MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Hey, good morning.
HUNT: So yesterday's hearing as I was sitting on this set watching it yesterday afternoon, it seemed to me it struck me that this was basically decided last month when Pete Hegseth basically mounted a very public defense of himself to try to save a nomination that had been a little bit imperiled.
What were your top takeaways from the hearing yesterday?
SCHNELL: Yeah, last month, it looked like he was doomed to be pulled from this nomination. Folks were waiting as a matter of hours how quickly that would happen.
Pete Hegseth stuck with it, and it appears to have paid off. I think one thing that stuck out, of course, is Democrats brought the fire. We knew that this would happen. They went very deep on those 2017 allegations against him, those allegations of excessive drinking and his previous comments that women should not serve in combat roles.
[05:05:03]
But really the main key moment was Joni Ernst questioning. Yes, she did dig into some of those details, particularly this issue of sexual assault in the military and women serving in combat roles. But she didn't she wasn't -- it wasn't a fiery, contentious exchange. And at many moments, she referred to -- that pair of meetings that she had with Pete Hegseth last month.
So no real fireworks, nothing unexpected. And I think it underscores that he is likely to sail to confirmation. Now, there are, of course, a few outstanding Republican senators who have not yet said where they stand, Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski.
But again, it's going to take more than three. Right now, he looks like he's in a good spot.
HUNT: Right. And I think there's also some question about, you know, whether Ernst was -- she seemed to be have been looking for support. She didn't want to be the fourth person there. And she didn't really get any when she was, you know, talking about this back in December.
You mentioned women in the military. And that was an issue where Ernst decided to press Hegseth as opposed to she could have pressed him on the sexual assault allegations, the NDA that was signed.
But let's look at what some of the women senators on the committee had to say. The questions they had for Pete Hegseth about women in combat. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): Why should women in our military, if you were the secretary of defense, believe that they would have a fair shot and an equal opportunity to rise through the ranks?
SEN. KRISTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): We have hundreds, hundreds of women who are currently in the infantry, lethal members of our military, serving in the infantry, but you degrade them.
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): You previously have made a series of inflammatory statements about women in combat.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): About your views of women in the military, and I just want to know what changed in the 32 days that the song you sang is not the song you come in here today to sing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So Hegseth himself, how would you evaluate how he answered the pushback, answered some of these questions because what they're -- what they're referring to is the opening of some of these ground combat roles to women and basically saying, we haven't changed the standards for this. If they meet the standards, they should be able to do it.
SCHNELL: That's exactly what he said. And remember, this was -- he sent me these comments as recently as November, as folks had pointed out that women should not serve in these combat roles. As you mentioned, he referred to those standards, saying.
And this was in the exchange with Joni Ernst saying that if women are up to the standards that are needed to serve in these combat roles, then they will be able to not really explaining what changed on his view, not really explaining why he said what he said back in November. But again, it gets to your point. It seemed like Joni Ernst was looking for ways to support Pete Hegseth, right? It's tough for Republican in this climate to go against President-
elect Donald Trump, especially to tank one of his cabinet nominees, one of the people who have been most foremost and most forefront and center. So it looked like Joni Ernst was looking for a way out of the box. And she appeared to get it, at least in her view, with these comments from Hegseth that it had to do with standards.
But again, and as Democratic senators noted, A, it doesn't explain why his thinking changed. And B, as we heard folks say, why should they believe him? He said this as recently as November. What is there to show that he is actually changed in this view, and that he won't change his mind once he's actually secretary of defense?
HUNT: Eleventh hour nomination conversion I think some refer to it as.
Mychael, what are you watching for today as these hearings continue on the Hill?
SCHNELL: Pam Bondi is going to be a big one today. She kicks off, I believe, at 9:30 this morning, still a very important role like Donald Trump has obviously levied a lot of threats against folks who prosecute him and some of his political opponents over the past four years. That would fall under the purview of the attorney general.
So I'm interested to see how Pam Bondi fields those questions. You know, she may not be a Matt Gaetz, and I think folks may be thinking, well, Pam Bondi for AG is not as bad as Matt Gaetz, but folks are still going to want to dig into her background, into her qualifications and how she would handle some of those issues.
And then, you know, beyond that, also looking to see when Tulsi Gabbard's hearing is actually scheduled. It's been said that that was that has been delayed because of paperwork issues. She's seen among a lot of folks on Capitol Hill as the most in danger of being denied for the DNI position.
Interesting to see, A, when does that get scheduled? And B, what does that hearing look like? Because there are a lot of folks on both sides of the aisle who are concerned about her.
HUNT: Yeah, really interesting.
All right, Mychael Schnell, thanks for getting us started today. We appreciate it.
All right. To join CNN as President-elect Trump's cabinet choices face the Senate in public hearings. Who will get the votes to be confirmed? The Trump confirmation hearings, live coverage continues today.
And coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, powerful winds starting back up in the L.A. area as firefighters try desperately to save what they can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We worked all night. We worked really hard and we tried.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: When will crews see a break in the conditions?
Plus, hope for a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, where those talks stand this morning.
And after half a century in politics, President Biden preparing to give his farewell address to the nation tonight.
[05:10:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THEN-SENATOR JOE BIDEN (D-DE): I said my name is Biden, Senator Biden. He said, who in the hell is he? So I'm not at all offended that none of you have any idea who I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HUNT: All right. More than 6 million people under a critical fire threat this morning in the L.A. area. The next 24 hours will be critical as firefighters try to get an upper hand against the flames, 25 people have died since the wildfires started.
The Eaton and Palisades Fires, now the most destructive in southern California history. So many people have lost their homes and businesses. But this morning, a story of something found.
[05:15:03]
The Eaton Fire destroyed Victoria DeSantis's home of 20 years. She was especially distraught about losing her rings until a firefighter found her wedding band beneath the rubble.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICTORIA DESANTIS, LOST HOME IN EATON FIRE: He said we accept hugs as payment, so I think I probably squeezed them so tight their heads popped off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Pasadena firefighter Chien Yu had evacuated his family and was helping others, unaware that his own house was burning to the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEN YU, PASADENA FIREFIGHTER: I promise you, all, the firemen did their best, even though it might look like we were walking. We worked all night. We worked really hard and we tried.
It's still surreal. We lost everything. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Let's bring in Todd Hall. He's the lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Los Angeles.
Todd, thank you very much for being here.
Can you talk a little bit about what the wind is like right now? We were expecting it to get worse overnight and to be tough for the next 24 hours. What are you expecting?
TODD HALL, LEAD METEOROLOGIST, NWS LOS ANGELES/OXNARD: So we are -- move along through the morning. We're looking at winds between potentially between 30 and 45 miles per hour across our coastal and valley areas out here, and wind gusts up to 55, maybe an isolated gusts to 65 up in our mountains. As we move through the morning hours.
So it's really critical we get through this, this -- this patch here this morning. We have critical fire weather conditions in place, continuing across much of southern California.
HUNT: Where would you say is the biggest concern right now? Is it one of the existing fires or are you more concerned about new fires popping up?
HALL: I would be more concerned about new fires right now. So a lot of our -- the latest model data that just arrived here within the past six to -- six to nine hours is suggesting that that probably -- the worst winds will be across Ventura County this morning.
And so there is some concern as far as this fire threat continues where, where these winds will probably pop up. And certainly, the Palisades and Eaton may still -- could still see some wind across it. And those dry conditions are still in place.
But really, the latest model solutions are pointing towards the strongest winds being across Ventura County this morning.
HUNT: What would you say to people who are under these evacuation orders right now, about when you think some of that might be able to lift if these winds do die down?
HALL: We're seeing a really improvement in fire weather conditions for Friday and Saturday. If -- if some of the latest model projections play out, we're going to end up and we could potentially have a very deep marine layer in place with -- with plenty of low clouds across southern California.
So we're -- we're hoping that that forecast comes to fruition. It's still early yet. We're just getting these -- these this data at this point, and we're trying to really hone in on, on, on the next, really the next 48 to 72 hours thereafter.
So we could see some local, uh, critical fire weather conditions continuing into Thursday. But by Friday and Saturday, it looks like fire weather conditions will really moderate allow for these -- these firefighters to get a good handle on these fires and really put an emphasis on putting building containment lines and establishing -- establishing some authority over these fires.
HUNT: All right. That's good to know. Todd Hall, thank you so much for spending some time with us this morning. We really appreciate it.
HALL: Thank you.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, president elect Trumps pick for attorney general going before the Senate in just a few hours. What do you expect when Pam Bondi appears?
Plus, could Elon Musk end up saving TikTok? We'll have more on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:23:39]
HUNT: All right. 23 minutes past the hour.
Here's your "Morning Roundup".
Officials in China reportedly weighing the idea of Elon Musk buying TikTok's U.S. operations, according to "Bloomberg" and "The Wall Street Journal". TikTok calling this pure fiction. Unless the Supreme Court steps in, the law that could ban the app in the U.S. will take effect Sunday.
Rescuers trying to reach miners who have been abandoned in a gold mine in South Africa for months. More than 100 have died. One estimate said that 500 people were down there. Police stopped food and water deliveries in November, saying they wanted to force them out because its illegal for them to be there.
Tonight, President Biden will deliver his farewell address from the Oval Office. And just this hour, he released a letter to the American people reflecting on the last four years. He once again called America the most powerful idea in history, a sentiment he shared in July when he announced he was dropping out of the presidential race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: It's the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident. We're all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights -- life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
We've never fully lived up to it, to this sacred idea, but we've never walked away from it either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:25:01]
HUNT: And do join CNN tonight for special live coverage of Biden's farewell address. It starts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
All right. Coming up next here, families anxiously waiting to see whether Israel and Hamas can agree on a deal that would bring some of the hostages home. Ahead, I'm going to speak to a relative of a young hostage who was taken when she was just three years old and was ultimately released.
Plus, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Justice Department set to face senators today. What we could see and hear from Pam Bondi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAM BONDI, PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP'S PICK TO LEAD THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
