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Wildfire in Mountains North of Los Angeles Now 25 Percent Contained; Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell Dies at 97; Former Top Biden Aide Testifies that Biden's Inner Circle Decided He Should Not Take Cognitive Test. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 08, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, some progress today in the battle against a wildfire raging in the mountains north of Los Angeles. Officials now say the fire is 25 percent contained. Thousands of residents remain under evacuation orders.

After the fast-moving canyon fire grew to about 5,000 acres yesterday in a matter of hours, at one point scorching an area bigger than a football field every two seconds.

CNN's Nick Watt is in Los Angeles County. Nick, what is the latest from there?

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, as you say, Fred, this fire just exploded overnight. But there were hundreds of firefighters on the ground and in the air trying to contain it. And it looks like they did a pretty good job because the latest we heard, this fire, there are others in California, this fire 25 percent contained.

I want to show you how they did that. Mike, if you pan over here. So you see, this is where the fire burned down. Down here is Hasley Canyon. These houses are what these firefighters were trying to save. How they did it, they did it from the air.

This pink stuff here is Phos-Chek, fire retardant dropped from the air. Then these people here have chainsaws, hoes, shovels, and they're digging a line around the fire. That's what containment means, to dig a line around the fire to keep it contained.

They also dropped a lot of water from the air. We've seen in the past half hour little hot spots popping up and firefighters there to douse them down. There are some guys down here working. They still are. You see there's still a little bit of smoke coming out here and you don't want to leave any of these hot spots because an ember could get picked up by the wind, which will pick up during the day, and moved elsewhere.

[14:35:00]

So they are going through meticulously, making sure there is nothing still burning in here that could get picked up by the wind, reignited, and cause another problem. So far, there is some optimism. But it's going to be hot all day. It's going to be low humidity all day. There is going to be some wind. So cautious optimism, I'd say, to the atmosphere around here -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, indeed. Thank you so much, Nick Watt -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We do have some sad news to report. Jim Lovell, the legendary astronaut, the commander of the United States Air Force, of the Apollo 13 space mission has died. NASA confirming Lovell's death, saying, quote, His courage under pressure helped forge our path to the moon and beyond a journey that continues today.

Lovell oversaw the nearly disastrous Apollo 13 mission to the moon during the flight. And while more than 200,000 miles from Earth, an oxygen tank exploded, forcing Lovell to abandon a lunar landing and instead swing around the moon and return to Earth.

I want to bring in Kristin Fisher. And Kristin, those who may not know Lovell definitely know the iconic phrase associated with him. Houston, we've had a problem. I think a lot of people know about this story.

It was really his cool composure that I think can be attributed to that survival of that mission.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Yes. And Brianna, I mean, Jim Lovell was already an American hero and well- known. And that the role, being commander of Apollo 13, you know, that just made him all the more famous when Tom Hanks played him in the famous movie Apollo 13. And that really gave even more Americans some insight into the kind of man and astronaut that he was.

You know, one thing that people forget is he was one of the original Apollo astronauts, but he is the only Apollo astronaut to fly to the moon twice without landing. He was on Apollo 8 in 1968, which was one of the -- he was one of the first three humans in the history of the world to fly to the moon and orbit the moon, but didn't land. Right.

And then Apollo 13 happened. He was supposed to land on the moon during that mission. And we all know what happened there. That oxygen tank exploded and he wasn't able to make it to the moon, but he did make it back safe to earth along with his other two crewmates. And that really became -- what he became best known for. He famously reframed Apollo 13, Brianna, as a successful failure, right?

Because of the incredible ingenuity that he and all the other NASA astronauts and engineers were able to come up with to bring those astronauts safely home. So, gosh, you know, it is just -- it's, it's really a sad day for the entire NASA astronaut office, for the Apollo astronauts. He was one of the, you know, one of the few still alive today and just a sad day for his family as well.

KEILAR: Certainly a sad day, a nice long life that he lived passing away at 97. It was such an accomplishment, Kristin. I'm glad that you talk about how he reframed that because even though the mission itself was not fulfilled the challenge that he and his two fellow astronauts faced and were able to overcome.

I mean, I think that must've been a learning experience the likes of which NASA is still learning from today.

FISHER: It is one of the greatest things that NASA had ever done because it really showcased what you can do when your back is against the wall and you've got to figure out what can I do? What can I make happen with these very limited tools at my disposal when I'm dealing with some of the most difficult things that you can imagine, like trying to survive in the vacuum of space with an exploded oxygen tank.

Had it not been for Jim Lovell and his coolness and calmness under pressure and some of the ideas that he was able to come up with to help bring that spacecraft safely home, it could have been a very different outcome.

And so, you know, I think a lot of us think of Jim Lovell as, you know, the very serious commander of Apollo 13 because that is what he's most well known for. But the other side of him -- and this is something that the acting NASA administrator John Duffy alluded to in his remarks right after Jim Lovell's passing was announced is that he was also a really funny guy. His nickname was Smiling Jim because he was -- he was witty and he had these great comebacks.

[14:40:00]

And so, you know, a lot of astronauts get this rep for being very serious, you know, the stoic engineers, but Jim really had a funny side that a lot of people probably didn't get to see quite as much.

KEILAR: You know, and Kristin, thank you so much for sharing that with us. If you could stand by for us, we are following this breaking news. Apollo 13 Commander Jim Lovell passing away at 97, famed and beloved.

We are going to speak with astronaut Leroy Chiao, former space shuttle commander. After a quick break about the legacy of Jim Lovell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:00]

KEILAR: Back now to our breaking news. Jim Lovell, the legendary astronaut, has died. Lovell oversaw that nearly disastrous Apollo 13 mission to the moon. During the flight, an oxygen tank exploded, forcing Lovell to abandon a lunar landing and instead swing around the moon to return amazingly surviving back to Earth.

WHITFIELD: His heroic actions were portrayed by Tom Hanks in the movie Apollo 13.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Houston. Say again, please.

TOM HANKS, ACTOR, APOLLO 13: Houston, we have a problem.

We have a main bus be under volt. We've got a lot of thruster activity here, Houston. It just went offline.

There's another master alarm, Houston. I'm checking the clock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I want to bring in now former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao. Leroy, glad you'll be with us. I mean, you were just 10 years old when the Apollo 13 mission took place.

Were you watching it? Did it in any way impact you and your desire to become an astronaut?

LEROY CHIAO, FORMER INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION COMMANDER: Well, sure, I was inspired by Apollo 11 to, you know, to want to become an astronaut myself. I'd always loved airplanes and rockets even before. And I followed all those missions with a lot of interest.

And so certainly Apollo 13 was riveting to me. And, you know, it was a real pleasure and honor many, many years later to actually get to meet Jim Lovell, just my second week into being an astronaut here at NASA. And it was just a wonderful experience to meet all of those folks that I had grown up with admiring.

KEILAR: What was that like? I mean, they say never meet your heroes, but I imagine from what we've heard about Jim Lovell, that is one you really do want to meet.

CHIAO: Oh, absolutely. It was about my second week as a new NASA astronaut. There was a reunion and I got to meet all the, you know, like I said, my heroes, including Jim Lovell.

And Lovell couldn't have been a nicer guy. He took the time to talk to some of the new guys like me and ask us about ourselves and allowed us to ask him questions and just struck me as one of the nicest guys. And it's really pretty cool. I, you know, I really treasured those times when I did get to meet some of my heroes.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I mean, this is a really tight community, this astronaut community for you to been able to interact with him. I wonder, you know, what is the chatter? What are the discussions right now amongst all of your colleagues about, you know, the loss of this great hero?

CHIAO: Well, it's, you know, I just saw the news myself just moments before you guys called me. And so I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone else, but all of us really looked up to, especially the Apollo astronauts. They were, you know, people like Jim were pioneers.

They were out there hanging it out, taking pretty big risks at the time, you know, to go achieve things that we have not been able to recreate since 1972. So hopefully with, you know, the help of some of our technologies and other things, we are able to go back to the moon sooner rather than later and honor Jim and the other folks who went to the moon.

KEILAR: Leroy, there's a reason why people are chosen to be commanders, right? It's because they have the leadership, not just to deal with the course of a successful mission, but if something goes wrong, you are a commander of the space station. Jim Lovell's leadership during the Apollo 13 mission is largely credited with why those astronauts were able to work together and work with the folks on the ground to come back.

What is it, you know, I suspect, and you tell me, is that something that astronauts look at? Are they looking at these kinds of leadership examples for when they're making contingency plans and thinking about what they might be up against?

CHIAO: Sure. Of course, NASA is very deliberate in crew assignments and responsibilities of each crew member, so they don't make assignments for a commander lightly. And in the case of Jim Lovell, as you said, it's just, you know, goes to show you what a good leader can do.

And as you mentioned before this segment, when your back's against the wall, is how do you react under pressure, right? And so there's no real training for that, for that, except for experience, right? And so, you know, people like Jim and people around that era and people in my era, you know, I think it's something that you develop, something that, you know, maybe you've got a little bit of a knack for, but it's calm under pressure, and that's what makes a good pilot.

That much, that's what makes a great pilot is someone who can stay calm in the face of an emergency and then do the necessary things that you've been trained to do to try to save yourself and your crew and your vehicle.

WHITFIELD: What an extraordinary individual. I mean, what a hero and what a legacy, right?

What a beautiful life. Leroy Chiao, thank you so much.

CHIAO: Oh, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

[14:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: CNN has learned that a former senior Biden aide discussed with the House Oversight Committee on Thursday the decision to not give the former president a cognitive test.

KEILAR: That's right. A source familiar with the interview says Anita Dunn, a former top Biden communications advisor, testified that Biden's inner circle came to a consensus that he should not take the test, concluding that it would offer no political benefit.

CNN's Annie Grayer is with us now. Annie, this is really interesting testimony. We're getting some information out of this.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That's right. So Anita Dunn came to The Hill yesterday to testify behind closed doors to the House Oversight Committee. She sat voluntarily for around five hours, and I'm learning from sources familiar with her testimony, some new information that's coming out.

So she discussed in her interview that there was a discussion among the president -- former president's inner circle, to not give Biden a cognitive test. Now, different sources have different views on what that may mean.

[14:55:00]

But one source close to Dunn said that even though there was this discussion that Biden's aides all believe that he could pass the test if that were taken, but there was just a political calculation there of if it would be worth doing.

There was also a discussion in Dunn's interview about the decision to not have Biden sit for an interview around the Super Bowl last year, because around that time, if you remember, there was so much going on with the Justice Department's special counsel investigation into Biden's handling of classified documents, and there was concern that that interview would be too focused on that investigation.

Now, that probe closed. Biden was not charged with anything, but former special counsel Robert Herr did say that Biden was seemingly an old man with a poor memory, which really was a political blow for Biden and his team.

So Dunn is just the latest in a series of Biden's closest aides and inner circle to sit for this Republican-led investigation. Some have appeared voluntarily. Others have needed a subpoena to show up. Some have not even wanted to answer any questions and have pled the fifth against incrimination.

So this is an ongoing investigation. It's a top priority for Republicans as they continue to see what was known about Biden's decline and when.

KEILAR: All right, Annie, thank you so much for the reporting. We appreciate it.

Great to have you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. It's been fun being with you.

KEILAR: It's been very fun.

And "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts after a quick break.

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