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Trump's Pentagon Pick Grilled About Qualifications, Alleged Misconduct; L.A. Warned Weeks Ago It Has Most Understaffed Fire Department In U.S.; L.A. Officials Urge Mask Wearing To Protect Against Ash And Smoke; Michelle Obama To Skip Trump Inauguration Next Week; Officials: Israel And Hamas Nearing Gaza Ceasefire & Hostage Deal. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired January 14, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news. We're getting a read on Senate support for Pete Hegseth after President-elect Trump's choice to leave the Pentagon was grilled about his qualifications, allegations of misconduct and more. I'll talk to a Democrat and war veteran who took part of the confirmation hearing. Senator Tammy Duckworth joins us live.
Also this hour, just weeks before the infernos in Los Angeles, local firefighters publicly warned they were at a breaking point. CNN is looking into concerns that L.A. has one of the most understaffed fire departments in America.
Plus, a new public health alert in the fire zone, urging people to wear masks to protect themselves from ash and smoke. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will show us why the air in parts of Southern California is so very dangerous right now.
Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.
We begin with breaking news, the Trump cabinet confirmation hearings kick off with very high tension and very tough questions. One of Trump's most controversial picks, Pete Hegseth, up first in the hot seat. As CNN's Brian Todd reports, Democrats zeroed in on the former Fox News host and whether he has the experience and the character to lead the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): Good morning. The hearing will come to order.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tonight, the man who is perhaps Donald Trump's most controversial cabinet pick is likely on track for confirmation after his, at times, contentious hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host and Army vet, who the president-elect has tapped to be his defense secretary, faced hours of grilling from lawmakers. SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): You have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two after you just had fathered a child by wife three. You've admitted that. Now, if it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn't it?
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: It was a false claim then and a false claim now.
KAINE: If it had been a sexual assault, that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn't it?
HEGSETH: That was a false claim.
TODD: That exchange relating to a sexual assault investigation of Hegseth stemming from a 2017 incident in a Monterey, California hotel room, Hegseth denies the allegations and says the encounter was consensual. There were no charges brought but Hegseth lawyers have confirmed he entered into a nondisclosure agreement with his accuser as part of a settlement.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine came back at Hegseth on allegations of excessive drinking.
KAINE: Many of your work colleagues have said that you show up for work under the influence of alcohol or drunk. I know you've denied that, but you would agree with me, right, that if that was the case, that would be disqualifying for somebody to be secretary of defense?
HEGSETH: Senator, those are all anonymous false claims. And the totality --
KAINE: They're not anonymous.
HEGSETH: The letters on the record here --
KAINE: They're not anonymous.
TODD: The 44-year-old, characterized those allegations as a, quote, coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media. Hegseth's past comments that women should not be allowed to serve in combat roles became a contentious subject at the hearing.
SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): What a terrible statement. So, please, do not deny that you've made those statements, you have.
TODD: Hegseth countered that he would be fine with women in combat if they measured up to the same standards as men.
GILLIBRAND: You're making these generalized statements.
HEGSETH: Commanders meet quotas to have a certain number of female infantry officers or infantry enlisted, and that disparages those women who are incredibly capable of meeting that standard.
GILLIBRAND: Commanders do not have to have a quota for women in the infantry. That does not exist. It does not exist. TODD: Republican Senator Joni Ernst, an Army veteran and sexual assault survivor, had initially been skeptical of Hegseth as a nominee.
SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): We have had very frank conversations.
TODD: But today, there were no fireworks between the two, as other Republicans sought to portray the president-elect's unorthodox pick as a positive.
WICKER: The nominee is unconventional. That may be what makes Mr. Hegseth an excellent choice to improve this unacceptable status quo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): During the hearing, Pete Hegseth repeatedly sidestepped questions from Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin on whether he would ever stand up to President-elect Trump if Trump were to ever give any illegal orders.
[18:05:02]
Hegseth said he rejects the premise that Trump would ever give any illegal orders.
Several people close to President-elect Trump told CNN that Trump's team was in good spirits after the hearing, pointing to the warm reception that he got from Republican senators on the Armed Services Committee. Wolf?
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting, Brian, thank you very much.
I want to go to Capitol Hill right now, where CNN's Manu Raju is getting reaction to the Hegseth hearing. Manu, what are you hearing from senators?
MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very clear, Wolf, that this could go down along party lines. You're hearing Democratic senators sharply critical of this nomination. It's uncertain likely any Democrat will actually vote to confirm Pete Hegseth. But he does not need Democratic support. He needs Republican support. He needs to limit defections in the full Senate to three at most in order to get confirmed along party lines.
And the Senate Majority leader, John Thune, told me that Hegseth, quote, acquitted himself well over allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, and he wants to move quickly on this nomination. Senator Roger Wicker, who's a chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, indicated that he plans to move as early as Monday, as early as next week, to have a vote in his committee. Wicker, coming out of that hearing, told me that he believes that Hegseth is on his way to confirmation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WICKER: This was a tour de force, a takedown, a triumph. I think it was a magnificent display of his knowledge and his ability to communicate his leadership abilities, and I feel very good about this hearing today.
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): Nothing he said convinces me that he is up to doing this job. And, in fact, what I'm hearing is him saying all the things he thinks he needs to say in order to get this job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, Wicker also told me, Wolf, that he expects all Republicans on his committee to vote to advance this nomination. That would include Senator Joni Ernst, who has not yet taken a position on this nomination. I'm waiting outside her office, Wolf, in case she has something to say about her position. So far, she has not commented, but she did have a very friendly exchange with Hegseth, which leads many to believe that ultimately she'll fall in line, Wolf.
BLITZER: If she says something, Manu, let us know. Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.
Joining us now, a Democrat who questioned Pete Hegseth today, Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois is a key member of the Armed Services Committee. She's also an Iraq War veteran. Senator, thanks so much for joining us.
Let's listen to this exchange you had with Hegseth about his knowledge of a key alliance in Southeast Asia. Listen to this.
(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 them to step down and resign from their job?
SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): How many nations are in ASEAN, by the way?
HEGSETH: I couldn't tell you the exact amount of nations in that, but I know we have allies in South Korea, in Japan, and in AUKUS, with Australia, and trying to work on submarines with them, and data transfers with them.
DUCKWORTH: Mr. Hegseth, none of those countries are in ASEAN. None of those three countries that you've mentioned are in ASEAN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right. So, we just heard that exchange you had, that little exchange you had with Hegseth. Were you surprised he wasn't able to answer your question?
DUCKWORTH: I'm flabbergasted that he was not able to answer a very simple question as that, especially since he actually mentioned the importance of the Indo-Pacific in his opening statement. But, you know, he also couldn't tell me what are some of the ways that a secretary of defense would lead international negotiations with our allies either, so, I mean, some very basic things that anybody who wants to be secretary of defense should be able to answer. For him to not even know a single nation out of the ten in ASEAN speaks very loudly to his lack of qualifications for the job.
BLITZER: Hegseth was also repeatedly pressed on his views about whether he thinks women should be allowed to serve in combat. As an Iraq War veteran yourself and a Purple Heart recipient, what did you make of his answers?
DUCKWORTH: Well, he kept trying to put women on the stand. It was almost like this was a hearing about whether or not women are qualified to serve in combat as opposed to -- this was supposed to be a hearing about whether or not Pete Hegseth is qualified to be secretary of defense.
So, he did everything that he could to denigrate women when, you know, he wouldn't come out and say that women are equally qualified. He talked a lot about not wanting to lower the standards and he wanted the highest standards, which is ironic since he wants us to lower the standards for what it takes to be secretary of defense so that he can have the job.
BLITZER: You called Hegseth, Senator, wholly unprepared to become the U.S. defense secretary. He looks to be headed towards confirmation. He just needs the Republicans to support him. Why do you say the country would be at risk with him as defense secretary?
[18:10:00]
DUCKWORTH: Well, the secretary of defense leads the greatest nation on the face of the Earth. We are the leader in our alliance all around the world. Our adversaries are watching to see, you know, especially during a time of transition is when we are most vulnerable to attack. And then, frankly, Mr. Hegseth is that very weak incoming leader, should he be confirmed. They can exploit his weaknesses. They can exploit potentially his personal weaknesses.
The fact of the matter is, we have all of these allegations that have not been completely dealt with of him having, you know, sexually assaulted women. You know, these are the ways that our adversaries could actually blackmail him. He's already had to pay off an accuser in order to keep a previous job that he had. So, to have a secretary of defense who is potentially blackmailable is something that we certainly do not want as the United States of America.
BLITZER: What do you say, Senator, to your Republican colleagues who appear willing to confirm Hegseth despite serious questions about his qualifications and allegations of drunkenness and sexual assault?
DUCKWORTH: I am deeply, deeply disappointed should any of my Republican colleagues vote to confirm this man, especially those who are on the Armed Services Committee, because we are a very bipartisan committee. I respect my colleagues, but the fact of the matter is, they can't, on one hand, talk about upholding standards, and then on the other hand, talk about lowering the standards to confirm someone who's not qualified to be secretary of defense.
Basically, what I would say to my colleagues is stop praying at the altar of MAGA, and let's put the country above self and your personal political ambitions.
BLITZER: I want to play that clip from Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin during the hearing. We mistakenly played it a little bit earlier, but I want to play it again. Listen and watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MULLIN: 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 them to step down and resign for their job?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Senator, how do you respond to that?
DUCKWORTH: Well, again, the Republicans kept trying to put other people on the stand to see -- make them say that they're qualified to do their jobs. And Senator Mullin actually said that there were no qualifications necessary to be secretary of defense, and I would disagree with him. Because one of the qualifications to be secretary of defense is actually to be confirmed by the United States Senate and to convince the members of the United States Senate that he's qualified to do the job. And certainly he did not convince me today that he's capable of doing the job.
And that's just like saying, oh, well, somebody else is drunk at their job. So, it's okay for me to be drunk at my job. I mean, what kind of an -- I mean, I would accept that type of argument from my six-year- old, you know, she says, oh, well, you know, he pushed me, so I pushed him. I certainly don't want that to be the argument for why we confirm somebody to be secretary of defense.
BLITZER: Senator Tammy Duckworth, thanks so much for joining us.
DUCKWORTH: Thanks for having me on.
BLITZER: And just ahead, as dangerous fire weather returns to Southern California right now, a new CNN analysis finds major staffing shortfalls inside the Los Angeles City Fire Department.
Plus, our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta shares tips for protecting yourself from smoke exposure as officials in L.A. are warning of serious health risks.
Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:15:00] BLITZER: Not long before deadly wildfires broke out in Los Angeles, firefighters were sounding the alarm about major staffing shortfalls inside the city's fire department.
Our Senior Investigative Correspondent Kyung Lah digging into the story for us. Kyung, a new CNN analysis backs up those concerns about staffing. Tell us more.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: You know, we've heard sort of the back and forth about fire budgets involving the current mayor. But this is an issue that precedes this mayor. This is years in the making. The fire department has warned of dire consequences, saying that they need more money. They need more firefighters. And they warned of this as recently as last month.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: At that commission meeting, you said it's dire, someone will die.
FREDDY ESCOBAR, PRESIDENT, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS OF LOS ANGELES CITY: It's eerie listening to your words because that's what occurred.
So, it's -- let me just take a minute. Sorry.
LAH (voice over): Fire Captain Freddy Escobar.
ESCOBAR: You're not supposed to make me cry.
LAH: 35-year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department wishes he'd been wrong and this had not happened. For years, the LAFD union president warned that a disaster like the Palisades fire could happen.
And while the cataclysmic weather conditions were historic, Escobar also blamed something predictable that hurt the firefight, money.
ESCOBAR: This is a woefully understaffed fire department. We're either going to have a fire department that's going to reflect 2025 or we're going to have a fire department that's going to reflect the 1960s.
LAH: A CNN analysis shows out of the ten biggest cities in the nation, Los Angeles ranks ninth when it comes to the number of firefighters per resident. And it shows. Millions of dollars in rescue equipment is just sitting in a lot unused because the fire department can't afford to hire the mechanics to repair it.
L.A.'s fire chief said in a recent memo, the fire department staffing levels were half the size of what they should be.
[18:20:02]
ESCOBAR: If we cut one position, if we close one station, if we close one resource, the residents of Los Angeles are going to pay the ultimate sacrifice and someone will die.
LAH: Just last month, fire personnel packed an L.A. fire commission meeting begging the city to rethink the budget. CHUONG HO, UNITED FIREFIGHTERS OF LOS ANGELES CITY, LOCAL 112: These cuts came in exactly the wrong time with calls for services at an all- time high and our firefighters at their breaking point.
TRACI PARK, LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: We are straining our department's resources beyond the brink and we cannot continue on this path.
LAH: City Councilwoman Traci Park was there too.
PARK: There are large swaths of the city with no emergency response resources available.
LAH: Are we going to be having the same conversation next year and the year after?
PARK: We can't. We can't. I think that people are rightly upset. Not only that this happened, but there is a sense that we as local leaders needed to do more for them. I feel like I let them down. And I've been screaming about it from the day I came in.
And so I think there is an obligation of us to not let this be for nothing. I think this has to be the wakeup call.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (on camera): Now, Los Angeles' Mayor Karen Bass said at a recent press conference that the budget didn't have a major impact in battling these fires, mainly because of the unprecedented nature of these fires, the wind and the dry conditions. The union, though, says that there was a city council meeting today. They do detect some strong support now from the mayor, as well as other members of the council. And they do believe now that these fires and all of this surrounding Los Angeles, that things may change. Wolf?
BLITZER: All right. Kyung Lah reporting, excellent work, thank you very much.
Let's go to CNN's Erin Burnett right now. She's out in Altadena. Erin, right now, you're in the center of that very high wind warning in Los Angeles. Give us the latest.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. So, Wolf, it's what they call the PDS, the particularly dangerous winds situation, as they call it. Obviously, not feeling it at this moment, at this location, but this is the area that they have that warning out for that they're very concerned about. And, you know, through the day here, the mountains behind me, they've actually in some areas, you can actually see the red line of fire retardant where they're trying to establish a defensive line of where they anticipate some of these winds funneling through.
The time that they're most concerned about is about 3:00 to 3:30 in the morning. I was just with firefighters who are prepared for that. That's what they're being told and warned about in these mountains, that it could come down through obviously parts of Altadena, not destroyed behind the Rose Bowl, other areas. So much uncertainty about what will happen, Wolf, but that's the fear that they have.
And I did spend a part of the day with some firefighters who were there during the fire working these 16, 18-hour shifts and are now on call ready to go. They believe tonight for that next round of Santa Ana winds. But one of them, Engineer Chien Yu (ph), he was out on that night went to work because there was soft fire in the distance from Altadena, went to work, Wolf, 16-hour shift trying to save people's homes, those firefighters and with young's reporting, it is interesting their view. They said that there is nothing in the world that they would have been able to do that would have been able to save what they saw, that it was the most overwhelming thing that they experienced in 2.5 decades of being firefighters.
But Engineer Yu, he lost his home. So, when all of that finished, he finds out after 16 hours, his home's gone, completely gone to rubble. He had driven by it one time, but he actually went into it for the first time with us today and talked about what it's like as a firefighter when every day you see destruction and loss and trauma to actually have it happen to you. Today was his first day back at the firehouse, getting ready for that battle tonight. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, you see fire every day, right? You see destroy destruction every day, but how is it different now that it's your own life?
CHIEN YU, PASADENA FIRE DEPARTMENT, LOST HOME IN FIRE: Yes, it's -- I don't know. It's just indescribable. I mean, you know, when we go to a house fire, you kind of detach, you know, and you just try to do what's best for the homeowner and you put their fire out and we kind of salvage what we can, we pull what we can from them. And, hopefully, some of their stuff make it, but this is just gone.
BURNETT: You can't attach?
YU: Yes, you know?
BURNETT: It's your life.
YU: Yes, it's not going away. And, I mean, I've noticed myself not wanting to do anything, but I also know I have a lot of things to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:25:00]
BURNETT: And yet, Wolf, he's back on the job today for the first time with that trauma.
And I will tell you, Wolf, we're going to show you something on the show tonight. One of the most small moments of joy I've seen in a long time happened at that house with Engineer Chien Yu. And we'll share it coming up.
Wolf, back to you. BLITZER: I will be watching, Erin, thank you very much, Erin Burnett, on the scene for us.
Coming up, much more on the fires ravaging Southern California as a new blaze breaks out and strong winds return to the region, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta reporting tonight on the urgent new health warnings.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
BLITZER: More now on the wildfire disaster in Southern California, firefighters battling a new blaze tonight, as officials warn more than 2 million residents, the hours ahead pose an extremely critical fire threat.
CNN's Veronica Miracle has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Seven days into the fight and concerns along the fire lines remain high.
CHIEF KRISTIN CROWLEY, LOS ANGELES CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Life threatening and destructive and widespread winds are already here.
MIRACLE: Another round of Santa Ana winds and red flag warnings across already fire weary areas. The extremely critical fire warning affecting more than 2 million people.
CHIEF ANTHONY MARRONE, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Severe fire weather conditions will continue through tomorrow. The worst winds are predicted today for the late afternoon and into Wednesday.
MIRACLE: This is their concern, another wildfire sparking overnight Monday and burning more than 55 acres by dawn, this time to the west of L.A. in Ventura County. Firefighters pushing back the flames and stopping forward progress.
CAPT. TONY MCHALE, VENTURA COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: The concern we have now though is that we are in a red flag situation right now.
DAVID ACUNA, BATTALION CHIEF, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY AND FIRE PROTECTION: Imagine if you're driving down the freeway at 70 miles an hour, you stick your hand out flat and have the wind pressed against that is the wind that's happening from Ventura to Northern L.A.
MIRACLE: The wind not only fanning the flames but potentially grounding the fight from the air.
ACUNA: Over 30 miles per hour, it is unsafe to fly. It's unsafe for the aircraft, for the personnel, and, of course, for the people on the ground.
MIRACLE: Fire teams across the region in a ready stance to respond to any new flare ups.
CROWLEY: We are carefully managing our operations to ensure that we can quickly respond to any new fires.
MIRACLE: Residents in the Palisades fire area and across the fire zone told to be ready at a moment's notice to flee again as more than 5,000 fire personnel work to bring that blaze now only 17 percent contained under control.
LINDSEY P. HORVATH, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERVISOR: We are giving this fire everything we've got.
MIRACLE: And as work continues on the frontlines tonight, new videos from residents near the Eaton fire in Altadena appeared to show the moments just after it sparked up. Pedro Rojas captured this showing the huge flames engulfing the base of an electrical tower. Just a few minutes earlier, Jeffrey and Cheryll Ku recorded this
JEFFREY KU, ALTADENA RESIDENT: As she got closer to the house, sure enough, it was burning bright and it was the base of the tower on fire.
MIRACLE: As residents across L.A. wait to learn when they may return to what's left of their homes --
KANDA SAMY, PACIFIC PALISADES RESIDENT: I cry and get up and keep crying. No more tears left for crying.
MIRACLE: Those who have lost everything seek the barest essentials and supplies and empathy as shelters set up across the county fill up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MIRACLE (on camera): And, Wolf, the outpouring of support here has been so great. In fact, from as far away as Indiana, they're actually no longer taking any more clothing donations. They just have too many. And this is just one of actually four along this street, one on every block. You will see all of these piles of donations for people who have lost everything.
Now, this is just right across the street from a National Guard checkpoint. We've seen people coming here trying to get back in, checking to see if it's open. It is not, this as firefighters are still on high alert because of this wind event. Wolf?
BLITZER: What a horrible situation. Veronica Miracle, thank you very much for that report.
Meanwhile, with many people still missing, search crews are combing the fire wreckage for human remains.
CNN's Anderson Cooper joined a team in hard hit Altadena, California. Anderson?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, I'm in the Altadena neighborhood of Los Angeles, and this is a regional task force of search and rescue personnel from a number of different departments, but they are all working together. And they are going block-by-block, street-by-street, house-by-house, and literally sifting through the rubble of every destroyed structure, residential and commercial, to try to see if there are any human remains. That's the priority right now for them. In some cases they are -- you can see there's a firefighter over there who's literally using his hand to just push through debris. They want to be very sensitive on the areas that they're working, but they do cover every inch. There's an abandoned -- there's a car over there that's completely burned out. They look in the car.
If they do, Wolf, detect the smell of anything that may be human, then they bring in some cadaver dogs, which are nearby. There are two Belgian Malinois that we saw just a few blocks from here a short time ago looking at another structure, and that structure turned out not to be human remains.
[18:35:07]
It was some rotted food, some rotted meats and chicken.
But these crews have been working this house just for several minutes. They'll take as much time as they need and then they will move down the block to the next house and then the next one, and the next one. And this work will go on for days until all of these neighborhoods, Wolf, have been gone through.
BLITZER: All right. Anderson Cooper on the scene for us, thank you very much, Anderson.
Officials in Los Angeles are also urging residents right now to wear proper respiratory masks to reduce exposure to both ash and smoke. Our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is taking a closer look at the health risks and how you can protect yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Wildfire smoke, it's impacting the air all over Southern California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had to evacuate. We couldn't breathe anymore. And we had all the filters going in the house.
GUPTA: It's different than a standard forest fire. It's what firefighters call the wildland urban interface.
PARKER WILBOURN, SACRAMENTO METRO FIRE: We're not just fighting grass fires. These fires are moving from the grasses and the terrains into homes.
GUPTA: Everything is burning, plastics, metals, cars, electronics, carpets, drapes, even certain metals in the soil are becoming unearthed. Just about anything you might imagine is going to be inside the smoke.
Aldehyde acid, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and then various volatile organic compounds as well. These are chemicals that are found in paints and plastics and cleaning supplies. They are dangerous to breathe in by themselves. People who do breathe it in may not have the classic symptoms of smoke inhalation injury. It may be more burning eyes and scratchy throat, even more vague symptoms, like headaches. But eventually they could develop breathing difficulties and even chest pain.
That's in part because some of the particles in this smoke are as small as 1/20 the width of a human hair. They get into your bloodstream and can eventually affect just about every organ in the body.
WILBOURN: Absorbing all of those toxins through your skin, through your respiratory drive and realizing that potentially has a long-term effect when it comes to cardiac, stroke, dementia.
GUPTA: And keep in mind, these toxins can also travel.
HORVATH: Fine particulates are airborne even in areas not impacted by the fires. Especially children and older adults, especially those with serious health complications, are particularly at risk.
GUPTA: A windblown dust and ash advisory has now been extended until Wednesday evening for parts of Southern California. That's due to the strong Santa Ana winds near recently burned areas. And there are things residents should be doing to protect themselves.
Obviously, stay inside as much as possible, but when you are outside, think about wearing a high quality N95 mask. Use portable air cleaners to keep your indoor environment as clean as possible. Make sure the filters on your HVAC system are up-to-date. And if you're driving around, hit that button to recirculate the air inside your car rather than drawing air in from the outside. And, finally, remember, this is a dangerous, evolving situation.
KATHY ELDON, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: There's no Palisades. I couldn't breathe the air. I went back for, for a couple of hours and I came back coughing and my eyes were burning.
It's heartbreaking.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Our thanks to Dr. Sanjay Gupta for that report, very important information. And for more information about how you can help the wildfire victims, go to cnn.com/impact or text wildfires to 707070, 7-0-7-0-7-0, to donate. Very important.
Just ahead, the powerful conclusion in the special counsel's final report on Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
BLITZER: Tonight, the final report on the special counsel's 2020 presidential election subversion case against Donald Trump is public and Jack Smith makes it clear he believes there was enough evidence to win a criminal conviction if his prosecution hadn't been derailed by Trump's reelection.
CNN's Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid is here with me in The Situation Room. What are the key takeaways from this report?
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Smith was required by regulation to write this report, and the fact that it was even released over objections from the Trump team, I mean, that is one final victory Smith was able to eke out over this very successful campaign by the Trump lawyers to delay pretty much every aspect of this case.
So, in this report, Smith lays out the allegations and the evidence against Trump, much of which we already know because there have been multiple indictments, court filings, a committee investigation on the Hill and a report, but this was also an opportunity for Smith to defend his team and defend their work.
He also noted that, of course, he had to dismiss this case because Trump was reelected and you can't prosecute a sitting president. But he was careful to point out that even though the Constitution prohibits Mr. Trump's indictment and prosecution while he is in office, that does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government's proof, or the merits of the prosecution, all of which the office stands fully behind.
So, he's saying that the evidence was there. He just never had the opportunity to bring his case to trial. And he talked a little in this report about the roadblocks that he faced. The biggest one before the election was the Supreme Court. It took seven months to answer a critical question about whether Trump had immunity to shield him from this case.
[18:45:05]
And he also talked about how, once he was reelected, once Trump was reelected, that was the ballgame. He knew his case was over.
Well, this is something we also heard a judge talk about in New York last week. Both of these officials talked about the fact that voters saw the allegations in New York. They saw a conviction, and they still sent Trump back to the White House. And the reelection is something both of these men considered in terms of how they handled these cases. After Trump was elected, and this was really Smith's last opportunity to make his case in the court of public opinion.
BLITZER: Paula Reid, thank you very much. Excellent analysis. Appreciate it very much.
Coming up, the former White House occupant who says that they will not attend Donald Trump's inauguration.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're learning there will be a very prominent no show at President-elect Trump's inauguration next week.
[18:50:06]
The former first lady, Michelle Obama, revealing her plan to skip the event in a break with tradition.
I want to bring in CNN's senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak and CNN's political commentator Karen Finney.
Kevin, a lot of us remember that Trump didn't attend Biden's inauguration four years ago. But what are you learning about the former first lady and her decision to skip the event on Monday?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and it wasn't just Donald Trump who skipped that inauguration. Melania Trump skipped it as well, Michelle Obama's counterpart.
So when you talk about inauguration tradition, kind of has to start there. But, you know, I think a lot of people were wondering last week when we didn't see Michelle Obama sitting in the pews at the funeral for Jimmy Carter, whether she would actually attend the inauguration this week, both of those events would have brought her face to face with Donald Trump. They said last week that scheduling conflicts prevented her from attending that event. They're not actually elaborating on why she won't be attending next weeks inauguration, which I think probably tells you everything you need to know.
You know, Michelle Obama has made no secret about her feelings towards Donald Trump. She has actually said that she believes that Trump could have put her family's safety at risk with some of his rhetoric, including the birther lies that he was spewing about a decade ago. She also has talked about how difficult it was for her to sit through Trumps first inauguration in 2017.
You know, we all saw her with kind of a strange look on her face, and she actually said in a podcast a couple of years ago that once she got on the aircraft and was flying out of Washington, she just broke down in tears from the weight of it all.
So I think all of that combined probably makes it not something of a surprise that she won't be at the inauguration next week. But I should mention we did hear from the other former first lady, Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton. They will both be at next week's event with their husband.
BLITZER: Interesting, indeed. Speaking of that, what she said about that first Trump inauguration -- Karen, I want you to listen to how she reacted to all of that. Listen to this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER U.S. FIRST LADY: There were tears. There was that emotion, but then to sit on that stage and watch the -- the opposite of what we represented on display, there was no diversity. There was no color on that stage. There was no reflection of the broader sense of America. (END AUDIO CLIP)
BLITZER: So what does that tell you, Karen, about why she decided to skip the upcoming inauguration?
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, let me just say good for her, because she kind of made clear at the DNC, she was -- she's doing what she wants to do, right? It was a big deal that she, you know, put her time in on the campaign trail.
And I think the most important thing to remember, she, along with President Obama immediately after the election, put forward a statement saying, look, this may not have been the outcome we want, but in support of the peaceful transfer of power.
So, in terms of tradition, unlike Melania Trump -- so in terms of tradition, she is honoring that transition. I think so -- look, I think she -- I obviously haven't talked to her. I don't speak for her.
But what Kevin said, I mean, he put her children's lives at -- lives in danger. And as she talked about again at the DNC, he also used them in a way, a very bigoted with racist comments and fear-mongering, right? And made them the targets.
And I can understand feeling like that's not somebody I want to sit next to.
BLITZER: That's interesting that sources are telling CNN, Karen, that the vice president, Kamala Harris, has not invited the incoming Vance family for a tour of the vice presidential residence here in Washington. Do you think that's a bad look for the vice president?
FINNEY: You know, look, there is a whole staff in the vice president's residence, just like in the White House that I'm sure is working with. You know, they work with the team going out and the team coming in. So it's not like they're not having access to all the things they need in order to be prepared to move in on inauguration day. I think that's the important thing.
BLITZER: All right. Karen Finney and Kevin Liptak to both of you -- thank you very much.
Coming up, discussions over a ceasefire and hostage deal in the Middle East, now said to be in the final stages.
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[18:58:32]
BLITZER: Officials here in the U.S. and in the Middle East say Israel and Hamas are getting very close to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.
CNN's MJ Lee is over at the White House with an update for us.
MJ, what are you hearing from the Biden administration about this potential deal? MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CO: Well, as you said, Wolf, every sign
that we are getting is that a deal is on the cusp of being reached. We've heard Israeli officials saying that they are ready for a ceasefire. Hamas has indicated that the talks are in the final stages.
Qatari officials have said that the talks have been at the closest that they have been in a number of months, and here in the U.S., too, officials have been expressing a level of optimism.
And I actually just asked President Biden here at the White House whether he believes that Hamas is about to agree to a ceasefire. He wouldn't verbally comment, but he did flash a fingers crossed sign. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: President, is Hamas about to say yes to the ceasefire?
Mr. President, what do you think? Is it going to happen?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: And one thing that is clear, Wolf, right now, is that all of the parties do appear to be in agreement that this deal is for Hamas to say yes to that, that final yes. And green light has to come from Hamas.
And as we have been reporting over the last 24 to 48 hours, we know that the Biden team and the Trump team have actually been working quite closely together to try to get this deal across the finish line, including, of course, the current and the incoming Middle East coordinators at the White House working together to hammer out details and even having joint conversations and joint calls.
That level of engagement from the incoming Trump team really is yet another reminder of how much the incoming president does not want to inherit this conflict when he is sworn in next week -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Let's hope there is a deal in those hostages can come back to Israel.
MJ Lee at the White House, thank you very, very much.
And to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
