Transcripts For CNNW Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20180227

Im wolf blitzer, youre in the situation room. The president s soninlaw Jared Kushner has been stripped of his topsecret security clearance and access to the most important u. S. Intelligence report, the president s daily briefing. Hes still failed to qualify for security clearances. Kushners troubles mounting as the Washington Post reports officials in at least four countries have been privately discussing ways to manipulate kushner. Ill get reaction from senator chris coons, a democrat, on the judiciary and Foreign Relations committees. And our correspondents and analysts are standing by first. Lets go to jim acosta. Jim, this is a significant loss for kushner. It is, wolf. The president we should point out ignored questions about his soninlaw Jared Kushner losing his top secret security clearance at the white house earlier today. The questions are coming in response to a change made here at the white house by chief of staff john kelly that will affect white house staffers who are operating on interim top secret security clearances. As a result, those employees, including kushner, will have their access to sensitive materials limited. Earlier this month we first reported that more than 100 white house staffers were working with interim security clearances. Last friday the president said he would leave it up to the chief of staff john kelly to clean up that security clearance process in the wake of the rob porter scandal. Heres what the president had to say last friday. General kelly respects jared a lot and general kelly make l make that call. I wont make that call. Ill let the general make that call. I will let general kelly make that decision and hes going to do whats right for the country and i have no doubt hell make the right decision. As for Jared Kushners security clearance being reduced, white house sources are saying that john kellys move undercuts the president s soninlaw in his role as an envoy to the middle east peace process. One source telling us, wolf, this keeps kushner out of key meetings at the white house and as you know, wolf, at the white house access equals influence and power, even if you are the president s soninlaw we should also point out kushners attorney released a statement on the president s soninlaw in a security clearance issue. We can put this up on screen, just a portion of this from abby lowell, who is kushners security clearance. As to his security clearance, mr. Kushner has done more than what is expected of him in this process. We should point out, wolf, that the Washington Post report says foreign governments, including israel, were looking at ways to manipulate kushner by taking advantage of his business dealings, a spokesperson for kushners lawyer put out a statement saying theyre not going to respond to that but as you can see, wolf, just an avalanche of negative information coming out about the president s soninlaw and his security clearance issue at the white house this evening. The Washington Post citing four countries that supposedly had ways they thought they could influence kushner israel, united arab emirates, china and mexico. Well stay on top of this and work our sources. Jim acosta at the white house, thanks very much. Now to the russia investigation. Were waiting to hear from members of the House Intelligence Committee. Theyve been behind closed doors now for hours trying and sometimes failing to get answers from the White House Communications director hope hicks. Lets go to manu raju up mono manu, were told hicks has refused to answer some questions. Whats going on . She first came to the House Intelligence Committee at 10 00 and there was a backandforth after she initially refused to answer questions about her time during the transition and her time at the white house under the direction of the white house, that generated significant pushback from members of both sides of the aisle, particularly after she answered questions about the transition period in a separate meeting with the Senate Intelligence committee. So late in the day wolf we are told she started to answer some questions about topics in the transition but she still is not answering questions but a time at the white house. Tonight white house communication Communications Director hope hicks refused to answer question, frustrating democrats. I have less hope we will get to the answers. Reporter was there a subpoena issued for her . No. Reporter should there beb . Yes, i why . Anyone who doesnt answer questions, they ought to be subpoenaed. Reporter but late in the day a shift as hicks began to answer questions about the transition period after she did before the Senate Intelligence committee. Shes answering questions for the transition, too. Reporter she is starting to answer questions . Yes. Reporter but she was unwilling to answer questions about her time at the white house and that follows former white house chief strategist steve bannon who previously told the committee he was instructed by the white house to invoke executive privilege on behalf of President Trump over matters that occurred after the campaign. And former Trump Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski who also wouldnt discuss topics after he left the campaign in june, 2016. In the case of bannon it was an insupportable and overbroad claim and he needs to be held in contempt and were still pushing and were committed to doing that. With Corey Lewandowski, we need to subpoena him to bring him back because hes refusing to cooperate further. Reporter the House Intelligence Committee has been fighting over the fbis surveillance of former Trump Campaign Foreign Policy adviser carter page leading to a war of memos over why he was targeted. The memo from the committees ranking democrat adam schiff released over the weekend states the fbi was concerned page was being recruited by the russians. A claim page denied in an interview with cnns chris cuomo. No one in russia has ever tried to work me. All the evidence ive seen so far, chris, indicates that the there is much more interference by the u. S. Government compared to the russian government. Reporter the president this morning tweeting again, calling the Russian Investigation a witchhunt. But on capitol hill today, National Security Agency Director mike rogers warned congress he has not been granted the authority by President Trump to disrupt Russian Election hacking operations where they originate. We have not taken on the russians yet. Were were watching them intrude in our elections, spread misinformation, become more sophisticat sophisticated, try to achieve strategic views and were sitting back and waiting. I dont know if i would characterize it as were sitting back and waiting. Its probably fair to say that we have not opted to engage in some of the same behaviors that we are seeing, if i could just keep it like that. Reporter the white house is pushing back on rogers claim. Nobody is denying him the authority. Were looking at a number of different ways that we can put pressure. Look, this president , as i told you last week, has been much tougher on russia than his predecessor. Reporter yet a new cnn poll say six in ten americans is not taking the investigation into russian efforts to influence the u. S. Elections seriously enough and they also lack confidence the president is doing enough to prevent foreign interference in future elections. So, wolf, as hope hicks is not answering questions before the House Intelligence Committee, there are questions about what the committee will do to enforce a subpoena over steve bannon and his refusal to answer questions about the transition period and during the Campaign Season and about whether the time in his white house when whether he will be held in contempt. The republicans are not committing to that. Several republican members on the committee today saying they dont know yet whether or not bannon will be held in contempt. Mike conway who is the republican leading the russia investigation says he needs to speak to Speaker Paul Ryan first before making a decision about whether or not to hold bannon in contempt as democrats in particular are pushing and questions, too, about Corey Lewandowski. Democrats have demanded a subpoena for him to reappear before the committee and answer those questions. He refused to answer them before but he has refused to come back and the republicans are not willing to subpoena him. Uncertain what they will do about hope hicks now that she is not answering questions about her time in the white house even though shes answering some questions. Manu raju, thank you very much. Lets turn back to the news on Jared Kushners security clearance downgraded were joined by senator chris coons. Hes a democrat on the judiciary and Foreign Relations committee. Thank you very much for joining us. Whats your reaction to this Washington Post report and the headline was kushners overseas context raised concerns and foreign officials seek leverage. He had on an interim bases top secret security clearances now just secret security clearances and as you know theres a significant difference. There is. This is a striking development and long overdue. Ive just returned from a bipartisan trip to the middle east. One of the issues raised in a number of meetings we attended was expectations, hopes and concerns about the administrations longawaited peace plan for the middle east, something Jared Kushner has had a central role in crafting. The fact that hes been deprived of his top secret clearance, hes been downgraded because of his failure to be fully forthcoming about his entanglements in his business side and previous contacts suggests he is not in a position to continue to Carry Forward the significant role in this white house that hes been entrusted with. For him to be the person carrying forward, an important peace plan in the middle east that he lacks a top security clearance, i dont think thats workable going forward. Hes dealing with mexico, china, a bunch of countries is what do you want the president to do . I think the president should approach someone else with relevant senior experience with diplomacy and International Affairs and i think he should find another opportunity for Jared Kushner to serve either in the administration or to pursue his private business interests. The president does have the authority if hie wants to on hi own to say he does have access to top secret information. The president could do that if he wanted to but the other day he said hed leave it up to general kelly to decide. He made the right choice in having his chief of staff having made the right decision rather than clouding his judgment about whether his soninlaw should have access. What if the president were to overturn this decision . That would be a bad step by the president. I think it would show continued conflation of personal and family interests with national interests. So youre deeply worried about this right now . Im concerned this shows an ongoing pattern of failure to take seriously the protection of National Security concerns by the very inner circle in the Trump Administration be because there are overlapping personal and professional and national concerns. Let me get your thoughts on hope hicks, white house top adviser, aide to the president , close to the president. Hope hicks appearing for more than seven or eight hours behind closed doors before the House Intelligence Committee answering questions about the campaign and answering questions about the transition but refusing to answer questions what about has gone in the white house over the past 13 months of the Trump Administration, whats your reaction . Previously both steve bannon and Corey Lewandowski refused to answer questions claiming executive privilege and was seen in a clip from adam schiff on this show, thats an executive privilege thats not there to exert. Hope hicks may also find yourself in some trouble with the committee about why shes refusing to answer questions about her role in the trump white house. If the white house were to announce they were exerting executive privilege right now they havent done that but if they were to do that, then what . That might shield her from questions from congress about activities within the white house but it depends what exact matter theyre going after. I do think you cant shield illegal action behind executive privilege. Thats an arguable proposition and Robert Muellers investigation, which is looking into potential obstruction of justice may also have questions for ms. Hicks, depending on how this goes in frosnt of the hous intelligence committee. Does it bother you that hope hicks is the White House Communications director but she doesnt communicate publicly with the American Public . She doesnt answer questions publicly, most people wouldnt recognize her voice. Youre smiling. Its funny because earlier today as i was getting some briefings from my own Communications People they said hope hicks has been testifying for hours and i said whats her role . And they said shes the Communications Director. I was unclear she was the White House Communications director for that reason. Shes not frequently seen publicly commenting on behalf of the white house. In fact, i dont think ive ever seen her play the role that is typical for a White House Communications director. A big picture, what are these latebreaking developments . Hope hicks refusing to testify, refusing to answer questions behind closed doors from members of the House Intelligence Committee about her time in the white house. Shes answering questions about the campaign and transition and this Jared Kushner development. What does it tell you about accountability or developments at the white house right now . What im more broadly concerned about is that the president continues to tweet that the investigation by Robert Mueller is a witch hunt. We had testimony by admiral rogers in front of the Senate Armed Services committee that the president is failing to take seriously the threat from russian interference in our last election and most likely our next election. Theres a broader theme about lack of action on our national interests, our National Security interests, interests in protecting our next election and to have people in the highest levels in the white house who are transparent and accountable. Senator coons, thank you for joining us. Thank you, wolf. We have an update on the story that is happening on a military base just outside of washington, d. C. Were told 11 people are being treated after falling ill after a suspicious letter came to a military base in arlington, virginia. Lets go to barbara starr, shes been working her sources. What are you hearing now . Wolf, we are hearing 11 people felt in after some type of letter was opened at an administrative base. At this hour, the local Fire Department is saying all three of those people are in stable condition even as you can see there, Emergency Personnel continue to remain on the scene, trying to determine exactly what happened at joint base fort Meyer Henderson hall. This is a local military installation in washington, d. C. This is a major location here in the area. There are a number of military units and personnel that serve there for local reasons in the area. These are not combat forces in washington, d. C. They perform local functions in the area and some type of letter was opened and people began to feel ill. What we dont know is exactly what transpired here. Theyll have to test it, see what substance may have been involved and what is causing the symptoms, the initial information we had was that three people had symptoms, including burning hands and one bloody nose so taken to the hospital for medical attention. Local fire is on the scene. We were told fbi personnel also monitoring it because of course as they would in any case but this is happening tonight in the metropolitan washington, d. C. Area so obviously a lot of concern. People go in and out of this military base all day long. Theyll have to figure out exactly what transpired here. Normally at a base like this wouldnt letters go through some sort of security before theyre disseminat disseminated. Thats right. We see so Many Companies these days at military installations and especially here in washington, d. C. , mail is screened and treated if you will, before it is delivered to its final destination on a base or at a facility. Were being told initially this was opened at an administrative type facility on the base so we dont know yet whether it was screened. It probably should have been and whether the substance, of course, was hazardous, what type of substance it may have been that caused all of this, would it have been even caught by the kind of screening there is . These are questions we dont know the answers to and its why in every one of these instances you see law inforcenforcement a Hazardous Materials specialists to test it to see what they are dealing with, how many people touched it, what symptoms and what substance it might have been, wolf. Well, of course, stay on top of this story, very disturbing story. As you reported, 11 people started feeling ill after the suspicious letter was opened at joint base fort myerhenderson hall. Three have been taken to hospital and you are reporting theyre in stable condition. Very Disturbing Development indeed, barbara, thank you. Meanwhile, serious questioning about whether Jared Kushner can do his job after losing top secret security clearance. And some foreign officials were reportedly looking for ways to manipulate him. And what is hope hicks telling lawmakers and what is she holding back. Well talk about her marathon testimony today. Liberty mutual saved us almost 800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. Liberty did what . Yeah, they saved us a ton, which gave us a little wiggle room in our budget. I wish our insurance did that. Then we could get a real babysitter instead of your brother. Hey, welcome back. This guy, right . laughs yes. Ellen. Thats my robe. You could save 782 when liberty stands with you. Liberty mutual insurance. Were following breaking news on the president s soninlaw and Senior Adviser. Jared kushner denied access to top secret access in a new crackdown on white house officials with temporary or interim security clearances in the Washington Post. Now reporting that officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways to manipulate kushner by taking advantage of his Financial Difficulties and lack of Foreign Policy experience. Lets bring in Shimon Prokupecz and legal analyst jeffrey toobin. Shimon, i know youre working your sources on this about the concerns about his foreign context. What have you learned . Weve known for some time that a special counsel has been asking questions of people who have appeared before him about Jared Kushners contacts with china, with the uae, with other countries out of concern that perhaps maybe they were looking to exploit Jared Kushner and some of his business concerns, some of his businesses to see ways in perhaps they can inject their help, to see if he would bite any of their attempts to help him with his business and we know the fbi is has been spending a great deal of time. Its now in the hands of the special counsel. Last week we did our story about questions concerning anbang, a Chinese Insurance Company that offered help with 666. That bank, that insurance company, the chinese insurance, has been on the fbis radar for quite some time out of concern for counterintelligence issues. They own the waldorfastoria, former president obama no longer stayed at that hotel because there was concern the chinese could be spying on the president so certainly all those concerns have been with the u. S. Government, have been with the fbi, theyve been asking questions of other people who appear there before mueller about other countries and its not necessarily as we now know that he has done anything wrong. It appears theyre focusing on counterintelligence, how these countries were trying to influence Jared Kushner and were they trying to in a way hold something over him in their future so that in the white house or future dealings just to hold something over them with their offers of help. Thats one of the reasons individuals dont get security clearances, if a Foreign Company could manipulate them they had that could undermine that persons ability. Exactly. Jared kushner is the definition of a security risk. His family, his Family Business owns this building 666 fifth avenue. Its in desperatable e financia trouble. He needs investors. He has gone to apparently the sovereign funds of these countries with whom the United States has complicated financial relationships. So no one can know whether when Jared Kushner is negotiating with china or u ae or qatar, is he trying to get investors or advance american policy . For most officials thats not a question because they dont have these investments but kushner does and whats remarkable is he is a i parentally not stopping having contact about his Financial Investments while he was either in the transition or the presidency. Thats at least one reason why he doesnt have a security clearance. Its similar to what happened to Michael Flynn. Michael flynn the former National Security advisor to the president . This was the concern with sally yates, the former attorney general who went in to complain because she was concern Michael Flynn could be compromised. This is perhaps a similar situation here that there are these conferences, theres intelligence indicating that something may have been going on, whether its the chinese, other countries they were talking amongst each other about conversations with Jared Kushner and all of this certainly has had the fbi concern, has had intelligence officials concern for quite some time. It would be hard for Jared Kushner at this point to ever get security clearance. Its also whats been holding this up because the fbi is still investigating this. Mueller is still investigating all of this. All of the counterintelligence issues that exist with Jared Kushner live with the mueller team and its that investigation is nowhere near complete. Because the president said he would leave it up to his white house chief of staff. But if he changes his mind, and hes been known to, he could intervene and reverse this decision. The law is clear that the president alone at his own discretion can share classified information, can give security clearances but yet again this is an example of why nepotism is a bad idea. He cant make an arms length decision about Jared Kushner, about ivanka because thats his daughter and soninlaw. Thats why all recent president s have not had their close relatives in Senior Adviser positions because you cant treat them like everyone else. And even President Trump who is not terribly sensitive to conflict of interest accusations as tried to stay out of this one so far and said its up to general kelly but who does general kelly report to. The idea that somehow President Trump is divorced from this is kind of silly but he is not at least explicitly about kushners security clearance. Thats a big change. Theyre the ones who deal the most classified information. You cant deal with the countries of the middle east if youre a u. S. Official. There are more developments to the one two punch against Jared Kushner tonight. His security clearance downgraded as some foreign officials reportedly seeking ways to manipulate him. Were standing by with hope hicks testimony before the House Intelligence Committee after lawmakers say she refused to answer some critical to answer some critical questions. Small business, internet providers promise you a lot. Lets see who delivers more. Comcast business offers fast gigspeeds across our network. At t doesnt. We offer more complete reliability with up to 8 hours of 4g Wireless Network backup. At t, no way. We offer 35 voice features and solutions that grow with your business. At t, not so much. Get internet on our gigspeed network and add voice and tv for 34. 90 more per month. Call 18005016000. 11 people are now being treated after falling ill after a suspicious letter came to joint base ft. Myersendmyerhe hall. Theyre said to be in stable condition. Well update you on that Disturbing Development. Also breaking, news about president ial soninlaw Senior Adviser Jared Kushner whose top secret security clearance has been downgraded to secret. Phil mudd, the Washington Post reporting american intelligence officials captured foreign officials discussing ways to manipula manipulate Jared Kushner, this came up in a National Security briefing, this came up when the National Security adviser had one of his daily briefings. What would intelligence look like . Theres only three ways to capture this stuff, intercepts, having sources or what we call informants, and number three having people tell you, hey, were talking to jared and we think hes vulnerable. The significance of this is not that mr. Kushner was talking to foreigners. I look at his access and the access of the trump team and i say thats an advantage in america. They have a relationship with people overseas like russia that is almost unique in the american government. The problem he has is not that he met with people but that he didnt report the meeting and those in the security business say when you dont report it that gives you vulnerability to countries as you see here saying maybe hes exploitable. You worked for the director of national intelligence, you served in the marine corps for 25 years, what are the potential risks that the u. S. Law enforcement or u. S. Intelligence community sees why theyre refusing to grant these top secret sei security clearances . There are a number of different risks. If we assume Jared Kushner does everything right with regard to his access to classified information, one of the biggest concerns here is that these other countries will do simply because Jared Kushner has influence and the position of authority in the white house so theres a question of whether or not for kushner who has one foot heavily in the Business World where he is dealing with these Major Business projects that that will enrich the trump empire and he has another food h foot in the world of Foreign Policy, theres a question of whether or not improprieties will arise and whether or not people will do things that will on one hand appear to show that they are looking for something at some place down the line. And if you believe these reports about the kushner empire as opposed to the trump empire, that was his family operation, a lot of real estate and business deals going on there. David, we know the president has his ups and downs with his National Security adviser general mcmaster and white house chief of staff general kelly so in the end he could reverse this decision if he wants. Even though he did say he was passing the buck to general kelly to make this decision. General kelly was in a position where his credibility was on the line with this. As my Washington Post colleagues and others are reporting today, general mcmaster, one of his concerns about Jared Kushner was that some of these meetings were unreport unreported. Theyre also reporting there are those in National Security who are saying this is the kind of thick that if you werent the president s son might hold up your clearance or prevent you from getting a clearance ever so these are the flags being raised. In terms of what the president will do, i think hes got to at the same time go through this process of saying, look, the top secret clearance has been reduced to secret. At the same time, wolf, lets face it, its his soninlaw. Hell have access to the president even if he doesnt have access to all of the top secret. And obviously theyre investigating, well get to this in a moment, whether he didnt report those meetings because he was naive, not experienced in the world, National Security, the Intelligence Community or if there was something else. Let me play the clip, rebecca, for you. This is what the president said the other day when he deferred on the future of his security clearances, Jared Kushner securi clearances, to general kell kelly. General kelly respects jared a lot. I wont make that call, ill let the general, whos right here, make that call. Ill let general kelly make that decision and hes going do whats right for the country and i have no doubt hell make the right decision. Politically, how do you see this playing out . What the president said there, wolf, should be a good sign when youre looking at kelly. As we know, its a roller coaster, people are up, people are down but the president had the faith to let john kelly make this decision as regards his soninlaw suggests that john kelly is in a position of strength. That doesnt mean he will be into the future in the short term or in the long term and what well need to watch in terms of the john kelly Jared Kushner relationship is does jared start to feel confined by not having full security clearance . Does he complain to the president . Does he complain to ivanka trump and do they start to resent john kelly or try to alienate him . The difference between top secret sci security level which i have by the way, believe it or not. But thats one level. Top secret is one thing, secret is another thing and theres a vast difference. It looks like from outside the washington beltway this that this is a game for people outside washington, its not. Let me give you basic areas. Intercepted communication, thats top secret, he cant see it now. The most sensitive cia operations, he cant see them now. Let me make this even more basic. Our allies can see information frequently that he cant see. Those are allies including places in europe and the middle east. He cant see the stuff that people in western europe are seeing in allies. And he cant go to certain meetings that the president might be having at the white house. There are no circumstances, wolf, under which he will be able to do the job and deal with the issues in his portfolio with a secret security clearance and in a month when the fbi comes back and presents that fbi investigation, if everyone plays by the rules its very unlikely he will be able to get a top secret security clearance. At that point hell have to make a major decision. Stand by, theres more breaking news. The White House Communications director hope hicks talks to the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors as part of its russia investigation. What are the key questions shes still refusing to answer . The u. S. Cyber command chief Admiral Mike Rogers whos head of the National Security agency says he has not repeat not been granted authority by President Trump to disrupt Russian Election hacking operations. He said the russians, quote, have not paid a price sufficient to change their behavior. Lets get back to the panel. Phil, let me play an exchanged a mirl rog rogers had with senato elizabeth warren. What message does it send to Vladimir Putin that the United States is not fully implementing sanctions to counter known russian Cyber Attacks . More broadly not just the sanctions but more broadly, my concern is i believe that president putin has clearly come to the conclusion theres little price to play here. Bingo. What do you think. First time on the situation room im speechless. Let me make this clear. Lets make the situation room in the west wing. Ive been there, theres a simple conversation that includes the cia director, the secretary of defense, it includes the secretary of state. Heres the conversation. How are you going to go against the russians not only to stop them from interfering in the United States now conduct operations against russia . You need the white house to participate and you need them to authorize. What hes saying is they havent done that. Conversation two, secretary of state, are you prepared for the blowback when we go take a shot at the russians . All coordinated at the table, all under the National Security adviser with the direction of the president of the United States. What hes saying inside the beltway, the head of the National Security agency is, the president hasnt asked me to do anything. In my world, thats incredible. Just incredible. What does it say to you that he has not received the order to go ahead and prevent the russians from using cyber warfare or whatever way to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections or the 2020 president ial elections . I think the most obvious message is that the president still does not take what the russians did serious with regard to interfering in our election. I think to phils point we can make sure we understand how this process will work and phil explained it well, but its the president s responsibility to receive the intelligence, the finished intelligence, and to make a decision as to whether or not he wants to move forward with action and then he tells his National Security team to go back and to develop some courses of action, develop some options, some proposals in terms of what he should do. One of the questions i wish the admiral has been asked today is whether or not the white house had asked for any courses of action and made a decision based on other things we may not be privy to that now is not the right time but it looks like the president , the white house has not asked for courses of action and thats something we should be concerned about. Can i pivot to a political point and simply that exchange you just played if im a Democratic Campaign add maker you can cut that and print that and put the word bingo there. Admiral rogers says president putin doesnt think hes isnt going to pay a price and then senator warren says bingo, that is something democrats are going to seize on. You saw the tweet that he posted today, just two words witchhunt. There it investigation is a witch hunt. Right. So its not necessarily surprising, wolf, given the context president wouldnt have preventive action to try to keep russia from doing this again. He hasnt really directed any sort of preventive action. And its because he doesnt think its real. Yeah, i guess the question emerging after the White House Briefing today is whether he needs admiral rogue ers, head o the cyber command, Sarah Sanders says we didnt tell him not to do something, so its up to him, basically, but can he act on his own on a sensitive issue like that. He cannot. He needs confirmation. But needs it from a strictly diplomatic perspective. Let me give you an example. Lets say the National Security agency goes in and disrupts something in the kremlin, they dont advise the white house, the Vladimir Putin calls President Trump and says i thought we were trying to patch things up. And the president says what did the National Security agency do . You cannot do this. Thats the technical people dealing with this and not coordinate with the white house. Sarah sanders does not know what shes talking about. U. S. Will not counter Cyber Attacks against the russians unless he gets specific order from the commander in chief. It has to be. Would it be enough to get order from general mattis. If you are going to launch it, the president has to go all the way to the top, president has to give approval. We are still in the area toying with what exactly it means in terms of acts of war with regard to offensive Cyber Attacks, so this is not the kind of thing anyone below the president or Vice President will take it upon themselves to do. Major development that well continue to monitor, guys. Thanks very much. Just ahead chilling revelations about the Florida School masa kerks and how much higher the death toll could have been. And serve with confidence that its safe. This is a diamond you can follow from mine to finger, and trust it never fell into the wrong hands. This is a shipment transferred two hundred times, transparently tracked from port to port. 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Com pg i help customerss, how with their bills. Day . Theres different rates to fit different needs, so listening is a huge part of my job. Because customers want to know that you hear them. They have kids, they have families, they have priorities. I definitely understand that. I have three children, i was a stay at home mom, i didnt have money to pay the bills, and so i put myself in their shoes. And im going to do all that i can to lower their bills and to help their situation. To choose the rate plan that works best for your family, visit pge. Com rates. Together, were building a better california. Massa we are following multiple breaking stories, including this, very Disturbing Development, 11 people being treated after falling ill after suspicious came to joint base ft. Myerhenderson outside of washington d. C. Three of them taken to local hospital. Said to be in stable condition. Continue to update you. Also breaking tonight cnn is learning new information about the Florida School massacre that left 17 people dead. Now finding out the teeth todea toll could have been much higher. Kayly is in florida for us. We are told he had significant amount of ammunition when he stopped shooting, right . Reporter thats right, wolf. We are learning tonight the killer had 180 rounds remaining when he chose to stop shooting. This according to Law Enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. He fired off about 150 rounds on his way to killing 17 people. We are also learning that the magazines he carried with him, they had swat swaths particular ka edged on them. Also leading investigators to believe he wanted to be in a snipers position. Well, ive been told by people within stone maun douglas that window was overlooked the senior parking lot as well as open area walkway and common area that students would funnel through to get to the parking lots. There are now appears to be discrepancies in warning calls that local authorities received about this gunman in the years leading up to the shooting about nikolas cruz. What can you tell us about that. Reporter well, Broward County sheriff israel says he received no more than 23 about the killer and the family. But our records conflict. Records that cnn obtained at least 45 calls between 2008 and 2017 to the home that the killer lived in. We have asked the sheriff to clear up this discrepancy but gotten no response. One of the many calls from service came from gojoelle gree owe, lived down the street, over the years she saw him change and grow darker in his habits and actions. So the in february of 2016 she was pushed to call 911 when her son showed her an Instagram Post from kruz photo f an ar15 style rifle saying he couldnt wait until 18 to buy one. Another post who said he wanted to be a school shooter. Yet, wolf, when the california went into 911, investigators chose to do nothing. This one of two calls being investigated. They have to learn lessons make sure it does not happen again. Thank you very much. Thats it for me. For all of our viewers, thanks very much for watching. Erin Burnett Outfront begins right now. Ouft next breaking news, Jared Kushner security clear lance downgraded as we are learning firms in at least four countries reportedly discussed ways to manipulate curvenekushn. Plus what does this say about the chief of staff . Did kelly win yet . Plus breaking news, 11 people sick out of washington. Breaking news ahead, lets go outfront. Good evening to all im erin burnett. Outfront. President s