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Israel Delays Cabinet Vote on Ceasefire Deal; Senate Republicans Signal Support for Pam Bondi's Confirmation; Officials: Winds Dying But 'Not Out of the Woods Yet' with Wildfires. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired January 16, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, January 16. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

[05:59:34]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For now, we are optimistic that this is going to get the 98 home finally, after all these months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Hope mixed with fear. After 15 months of war, Israel and Hamas reach a deal. But new this morning, the agreement may be under threat.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Can you say no to the president of the United States when he asks you to do something unethical or illegal?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Loyalty test. Democrats trying to find out just how loyal Donald Trump's pick for attorney general will be to the president-elect.

And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: A parting message after half a century of public service. President Biden bids farewell in his final days in the Oval Office with some cautionary advice.

And winds die down, red-flag warnings expire, but officials still warning people in the L.A. area are not out of the woods quite yet. All right. It's 6 a.m. Here on the East Coast of the United States. This is a live look at Khan Younis in Southern Gaza at this hour. It is 1 p.m. there as everyone waits anxiously for news here and the ceasefire to begin.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

A historic deal facing a last-minute hurdle. This morning, Israel announced it had delayed a cabinet vote on the ceasefire and hostage deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- Netanyahu's office accusing Hamas of, quote, "attempting to extort last-minute concessions," end quote.

In response, Hamas saying it remains committed to the agreement that was announced yesterday.

After more than 15 months of war, this deal could bring an end to the deadliest period in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Set to begin on Sunday, phase one would see the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages. Seven Americans are believed to be among those still held in Gaza, and sources tell CNN that two are expected to be included in the first release.

And with just days before the transfer of power here in America, the deal is a significant accomplishment for both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump.

A senior White House official telling CNN the cooperation between the outgoing and incoming administrations was, quote, "almost unprecedented."

Nevertheless, Trump posting on Truth Social, quote, "This EPIC ceasefire agreement could only happen -- could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November. We have achieved so much without even being in the White House," end quote.

And just a couple hours after Trump's post, Biden argued that this was his deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: This is the exact framework of the deal I proposed back in May. Exact. And -- and we got the world to endorse it.

I told my team to coordinate closely with the incoming team to make sure we're all speaking with the same voice, because that's what American presidents do.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who gets more credit for this, Mr. President? You or Trump?

BIDEN: Is that a joke?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

BIDEN: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: "Is that a joke?"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu releasing this image of his call to the president-elect, to Trump, following the deal's announcement.

In a statement, Netanyahu's office said the prime minister thanked Trump for his role and announced that the two had agreed to meet soon in Washington. That statement later noting that after his conversation with Trump, Netanyahu called Biden to thank him.

All right. Our panel is here to discuss: Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor; David Sanger, CNN political and national security analyst, White House correspondent for "The New York Times"; Hyma Moore, former chief of staff to the chair of the Democratic National Committee; and Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director.

Welcome to all of you. Thank you so much for being here.

David Sanger, let me start with you. You, of course, have been covering this deal closely. Is there anything to this last-minute hiccup with the Israeli cabinet? How serious is that here?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: It could be. We don't know yet. I do know that, up to the last few hours before they announced the agreement yesterday, Kasie, Hamas was coming up with sort of last-minute things they were putting on the table. It's a very unusual technique on their part.

And the question is, can that be put down?

But the bigger question is who's right under -- in this dispute between the two? And the answer is really both.

So, the deal is essentially what President Biden laid out in May. It also, you may notice, this is January. So, you know, that deal did not happen.

And I think the fact that they did link up so well and that Steve Witkoff, who was President Trump's incoming Mideast adviser, was out there in lockstep with Brett McGurk, who was President Biden's equivalent for that and has worked for Republican presidents, as well. I think that made the difference.

Because they were able to go to Netanyahu, send Witkoff and say, this is the deal that Trump wants. And I think that sort of helped put it over the -- the marker. HUNT: David, Tom Malinowski, who's a former Democratic congressman, he

put out a very interesting thread on Twitter, the first of which says that "This was Biden's deal. But as much as I hate to say it, he couldn't have done it without Trump. Not so much Trump's performative threats to Hamas, but his willingness to tell Bibi bluntly that the war had to end by January 20."

And he essentially goes on to say that, while Biden did a great job working with European leaders, he did not bring the sort of thuggery to the table that is required in the Middle East. Do you think Malinowski is right about this?

SANGER: I think he's absolutely right. And the reason that I would say that is, first of all, the relationship between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu is -- "poisonous" would be a polite phrase for the for the term. OK?

And second, the fact that they were able to send Witkoff -- not Brett McGurk, but Witkoff -- on Saturday to see Netanyahu and say President Trump wants this resolved before inauguration day, in part so that it's not on him to go -- you know, be the one who is squeezing the Israelis.

I don't think the Israelis would have made the deal. I think they would have just said, well, let's just see what we get out of Trump.

HUNT: Interesting. Mike Dubke.

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, first, on a serious matter, what's -- what's amazing to me is America matters.

I mean, that's the -- at the end of the day, what other country -- we can have this argument about Trump or Biden, but what other country can step into an international conflict and really have the level of influence that we did in this?

So, to -- to David's point, I mean, America matters.

On that -- more of a lighthearted side, I'm sick and tired of these two arguing about golf scores. I'm sick and tired of these two arguing about who mattered. The fact that these two gentlemen got together, told their people to get this done. That's what's important here. I wish they would just both take the victory and -- and be happy that we have a ceasefire after all these months.

HUNT: Yes. Hyma, what do you make of it? I mean, obviously, President Biden, we have seen clearly, doesn't -- is not ready to exit, especially, the world stage. You know, it's -- it's a place that he has always really -- you know, he's valued his role as, even when he was in the Senate, and he was on the Foreign Relations Committee. He clearly doesn't want to give all of the credit to Donald Trump.

But I will say the people that work for him have been willing to do it. HYMA MOORE, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE DNC CHAIR: Yes. Look, I agree

with Mike. I think people across the country are sick of the back and forth. I think people want to see some bipartisanship.

And so, for the start of this new administration, I think this is a good sign that there could be some glimmers of hope for bipartisanship.

But secondly, look, I think President Biden and Vice President Harris have been clear about their stance on this, and they've worked very hard to get here. And so, yes, I do think Donald Trump helped push this over, but I don't want to take the credit away from the president and the vice president.

They were very clear about this deal. They were very dogged about it. They wish this would have happened in May, but it did not.

But I think you're right. President Biden is having a hard time this week. He has a couple of days left in office. He's enjoyed being president. It was not his choice to not be president. Let's just be honest about that.

But it's going to be tough for him as he watches Donald Trump take office again. Remember when he took office a couple of years ago, he wanted to save this -- save this country's soul. He doesn't really feel like he's done that.

So, I think -- I do think there are some things that he's grappling with over the next couple of days that are going to be tough for him.

HUNT: David, one thing that has hung over this deal is, of course, if -- assuming that that this stays on track and we see these hostage releases on Sunday, is going to be the imagery and the parallels for an outgoing President Biden with an outgoing President Carter.

Let's -- Jimmy Carter reflected a little bit on this dynamic back in an interview he did in 2015. I want to watch that, and then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hadn't been to bed for three days and three nights.

I had just been negotiating with the Iranians and with 12 other countries to get the release of our hostages, who had been in prison for more than a year. And at 9 that morning, they were already in the airplane, ready to take off from Tehran.

But the Ayatollah Khomeini kept him there until after I was no longer president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: And your colleague Peter Baker, in his analysis, mentioned that this was -- has been hanging over. I mean, this is something the White House is very aware of; the president's aides have been very aware.

How does this kind of echo today?

SANGER: Well, first of all, this could well spill into Monday. It could spill beyond.

Hamas at various moments, made the argument that they weren't certain where all of the hostages were.

The second reason that this may hang over is the great thing about the Jimmy Carter tape that you showed there is all the hostages walked off the plane.

HUNT: Right.

SANGER: And here, we know that, of the numbers that we're hearing, not everyone is alive. And some of those hostages are going to, you know, come back as remains. And so, this is going to be both joyous and soul crushing at the same moment.

And it's also going to make you wonder: had the deal been able to come together earlier, how many of those lives could have been saved?

[06:10:04]

HUNT: Yes, absolutely. All right. David, thank you so much for being with us --

SANGER: Thank you.

HUNT: -- starting us off today. Really appreciate it.

Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, as the clock ticks on. TikTok, the president-elect weighs a delay for a potential ban on the app. We're going to ask the congressmen from both sides of the aisle, Republican Zach Nunn, Democrat Greg Landsman, about the fate of the social media app.

Plus, another round of strong winds may be coming to L.A. next week. What that could mean for firefighters battling the flames.

And would Pam Bondi, who is on track to be the next attorney general, stand up to Donald Trump? That's what Democrats want to know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Are you prepared to say today, under oath, without reservation, that Donald Trump lost the presidential contest to Joe Biden in 2020?

PAM BONDI, NOMINEE FOR U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Ranking Member Durbin, President Biden is the president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [06:15:13]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONDI: They targeted Donald Trump. They went after him.

That will not be the case if I am attorney general. I will not politicize that office. I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation. Justice will be administered evenhandedly throughout this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Donald Trump's choice to lead the Department of Justice, Pam Bondi, pledging she will not politicize the agency [SIC] if she's confirmed as attorney general. The department.

Democrats on the committee were ready to go on offense with their chance to get a Trump cabinet nominee on the record for everything from leadership at the FBI to the results of the 2020 election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): Would you have hired someone into the Florida attorney general's office who you knew had an enemies list?

BONDI: Senator, to cut to the chase, you're clearly talking about Kash Patel. I don't believe he has an enemies list.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who won the 2020 presidential election?

BONDI: Joe Biden is the president of the United States.

SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): Miss Bondi, you know that there is a difference between acknowledging it -- and, you know, I can say that Donald Trump won the 2024 election. I may not like it, but I can say it. You cannot say who won the 2020 presidential election. OK, it's disturbing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Senate Republicans signaling approval of a Trump nominee's hearing performance, all but assuring her confirmation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why don't you think that she can say flatly that, say, Biden won, or that there was no election fraud.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): She's smart enough not to take the bait and have people mince her words. I think she's answered the questions appropriately.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): She said she accepted the result.

Nobody cares. Trump won. Let it go.

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-IA): I think she answered every question appropriately. She had some of the toughest questions you could have, and I think she's going to be a darn good attorney general.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. Elliot Williams, how do you evaluate how she performed yesterday? It does seem like she is absolutely on track --

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right.

HUNT: -- to get this job. And Kash Patel clearly was looming as the incoming FBI director - -or the nominated, I should say, FBI director, loomed over the hearing.

WILLIAMS: Right. The question is, does she have 50 people in the United States Senate who are going to vote for her after tomorrow? And that is a resounding yes. And we sort of knew that going into the hearing.

Now, the question was, was this nominee going to say something tragic or cataclysmic that got her in trouble? Obviously not.

You know, the really interesting thing on the Kash Patel question of would you hire somebody whom you knew to have an enemies list? She really gave the bare minimum answer that we would have -- we ought to expect of any political leader, which is, no, I would not hire someone who had an enemies list.

All of this is setting a predicate for Democrats six months or a year from now, to call her -- even have her back at another hearing. You know, there will be oversight hearings. And really ask her the question of, OK, what is happening within the Justice Department and the FBI?

So, it remains to be seen. She gave the right -- except on the elections question, which was sort of posed to an audience of one. And her answer, which was to Donald Trump and nobody else, she really gave all the right answers.

DUBKE: Well, that's assuming -- first of all, now Kash Patel knows what questions he needs to answer when he comes.

WILLIAMS: He got the study guide.

DUBKE: He got the study guide. Yes, he got the Cliff's Notes for it.

You -- that's assuming, Elliot, that the Trump administration uses the Justice Department in the way that they feel the Biden administration and Merrick Garland used the Justice Department, in going after political enemies.

I mean, the undercurrent of all of this yesterday, at least for Pam Bondi and the Republicans, is there is a very strong belief amongst Republicans that the DOJ was politicized. And -- and those questions asking, are you going to do the -- are you going to politicize it coming from the Democrats.

I mean, most Republicans are going to internalize it and say, well, maybe they should. Because, you know, that's what you did. Biden.

WILLIAMS: There's a little bit of a Rorschach test, sort of the inkblot test.

DUBKE: Yes.

WILLIAMS: You know, you look at it, and I just see my mother whenever I look at one. But -- but no -- but the word --

DUBKE: We'll do that in the next segment.

WILLIAMS: Thank you. Kasie. And she's watching this. I'm not going to hear the end of that.

But the --

DUBKE: So early.

WILLIAMS: So early. But the word "politicized" is a little bit of an inkblot test to many people.

And I think different people hear different things when they hear it.

DUBKE: Yes.

WILLIAMS: And I think there are a lot of Republicans who hear, well, now, you know, we are your retribution.

I think there are a lot of people on the left who hear that and probably think, they're speaking about something different than bringing the Justice Department to the middle. And it remains to be seen what exactly Pam Bondi and, by extension, Donald Trump mean by that.

DUBKE: Yes.

MOORE: And I think -- I think you had a good point. I think this is going to be something Democrats are going to plan for, for six months down the road.

[06:20:05]

This is not about Pam Bondi. It's not about Donald Trump right now. And this is about politics of the future. And I'm not sure they've built the case.

HUNT: All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, the fight against those deadly wildfires in Los Angeles, it could ease up over the next few critical days.

Plus, Biden and Trump working together on the Gaza ceasefire deal. Is bipartisanship back? Republican congressman Zach Nunn, Democratic Greg Landsman, they're going to appear together. So, we will have some here on CNN THIS MORNING. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNT: Weather conditions in Southern California are improving this morning, thank goodness. But officials say that people in the L.A. area are not out of the woods just yet.

Most red-flag warnings are expiring today as crews work to extinguish the major fires there. But hotspots do remain.

[06:25:07]

Plus, another round of strong winds is expected next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: There is a chance that the Santa Anas might spike up again next week, but I think that we have to -- while we're still being vigilant, while we're still in this emergency, we also have to begin the process of recovery and rebuilding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right. CNN's Michael Yoshida joins us live now from Altadena, California.

Michael, good morning. What are you seeing there?

MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kasie.

As we've been showing you for the past week, the devastation here in Altadena just clearly in your face.

But in talking with those who live here, they're worried not just about the loss of their homes, but about the loss of the fabric of what made Altadena and makes Altadena so unique.

Talking about how these neighborhoods, filled with working-class people for generations, a racially, socially diverse community. A place where generations of black families have lived and owned their own homes.

And while the immediate needs, they say, are being met, there's a lot of concern about the long-term impact here and the pressures that these families are going to be facing as they have years of recovery and rebuilding ahead of them.

This is something we spent yesterday at some of the local churches that are trying to address this, and spoke to a pastor about the programs that are coming up to -- to try and help these families.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN DECUIR, LEAD PASTOR, VICTORY BIBLE CHURCH: There are already developers that have been talking to folks, hey, saying, hey, I can -- I can purchase this. We want you to be able to maintain that legacy, like, keep the -- the

blood of your parents and your grandparents is -- in the foundation of that land.

The hope is that these tragedies provide them with direct financial relief, to be able to go back to their -- their land.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOSHIDA: And Pastor DeCuir tells me, just in his congregation, he has at least 42 families who have sites like this; that they lost everything in the Eaton Fire.

He acknowledges that this work, this long-term relief, that it's going to be hard and that he's hopeful they'll be able to come together with other churches, other community members to keep on providing the needs for his residents and his congregation members.

Because, again, he says, it's so important to try and hold on to what was built here. Not just the homes, but that culture, as well.

HUNT: For sure.

All right. Michael Yoshida for us, reporting. Michael, thanks very much. I really appreciate it.

And those firefighters will feel some cooler temperatures over the next several days, which could help with all of this. Our meteorologist, Derek van Dam, tracking all of it.

Derek, welcome back to the mornings. I know you've been burning the midnight oil.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

HUNT: What are they looking at in L.A. next?

VAN DAM: Happy to report, Kasie, that all of the red-flag warnings have been discontinued and allowed to expire in the city of Los Angeles.

However, they still remain across the mountainous regions of both Los Angeles and Ventura counties through 3 p.m. today.

Look at the wind map. The change in the direction is so critical, because we're going to notice more of an onshore component to the wind. So, what that will do is increase the relative humidity of value. That's a major factor in fighting fires here.

So, it's low now. But notice by this afternoon, a lot of green entering the equation. Those numbers go up. That is a measure of the moisture in the atmosphere. We need that to help contain fires. And it looks like the atmosphere will deliver.

No significant rain in this forecast, though. So, we're not going to have raindrops falling from the sky over the next seven days. It looks very, very dry. In fact, early next week already, the mayor of Los Angeles, noting that Monday and Tuesday has the potential for another Santa Ana event.

And heads up: the other big story we are monitoring -- 20 to 30 degrees below average, the coldest air in a year, will be felt across the Midwest by early next week. This could be the coldest inauguration weather forecast since the Reagan era back in the '80s.

Look, I'm not a fortune teller. I'm not a future teller. But Kasie, I can imagine exactly how you'll be dressing next Monday to cover the inauguration.

HUNT: I'm sure you can see how happy I am about this forecast on my face, Derek.

The coldest I have ever been as a working journalist was at Obama's inauguration in 2008. So, if you're telling me -- and in fact, one of our previous guests in the break was saying that they actually moved the Reagan inauguration in 1985 inside, because it was so cold.

VAN DAM: Wonder why?

HUNT: Anyway, yes. Derek van Dam, thank you. Much appreciated.

Still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, Hamas says it's still committed to the ceasefire deal with Israel. And both Republicans and Democrats are taking credit for it.

Up next, we are joined by Republican Congressman Zach Nunn and Democratic Congressman Greg Landsman. They're actually going to sit down next to each other at the same time and talk to us about it.

Plus, we'll talk with former Donald Trump adviser and ambassador John Bolton about how the president's new national security team could reshape foreign policy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), NOMINEE FOR SECRETARY OF STATE: There's no way Ukraine is also going to push these people all the way back to where they were on the eve of the invasion, just given the size dynamic. What Vladimir Putin has done is unacceptable. There's no doubt about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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