Hospital. At least one possible offender shot. Please avoid the area around 26th street and michigan. This is a little bit south of downtown chicago, near the shores of lake michigan. This same Communications Officer tweeted there were reports of multiple victims from a possible shooting. So its clear that the police dont quite have a handle on this situation yet. Unclear whether this one possible offender really was the offender. Unclear what happened to that person. And the numbers. We dont have the number of how many people have been shot, how badly they were injured. That is something that were still waiting for. But they have a heavy Police Presence there, as you can see. Are advising everyone in the area to avoid the area as they do this methodical search. Thats the last update we have from chicago pd, from about ten minutes ago. So were staying on this to see what develops. Athena, im just getting this information in from the chicago tribune, quoting a Fire Department spokesperson in chicago saying fire officials are sending at least ten ambulances to the scene. Theyre calling for an Emergency Medical Service plan two, a serious operation right now thats unfolding in chicago. And authorities, according to this report, are warning all people to stay away from the area right now. Once again, as you say, reports of multiple victims in the attack. That according to the Police Spokesman, anthony gugliemi. I want to bring in phil mudd, who once worked at the fbi. These are official reports, phil. And clearly, only sporadic information is coming in. Were probably going to be learning a lot more fairly soon. But whats your initial assessment of this . It sounds obviously very, very bad. Yeah, theres a couple questions you would have from the outset and i would judge that the Police Department might have answers already. First of all, for example, is the individual if the individual, the shooter, has been injured, is he speaking . Does he have identification on that would allow you not only to determine who he or she is, but to reach out to things like family and associates to say who is this person, and what might be the motivation for this event . The other thing obviously you have is targets. Can you determine why this person was shooting at these targets . Is there a broader conspiracy afoot . Was this an individual who was simply deranged . We should know those pretty quickly with the access, obviously, the officers have to the individual. Right now the first question is whether hes alone and how do you clear the area, wolf. Yeah, because as they say, the police are saying, there are reports of multiple victims right now. And theyre also suggesting at least one of the shooters, if there is more than one, we dont know. One of the shooters may have been shot as a result of the initial police activity. But theyre sending a lot of police to this area, maybe in part, phil, out of an abundance of caution. Sure. You have to act out of as you say, an abundance of caution in this situation. Remember, too, when youre dealing with a hospital, the amount of rooms in that place, the difficulty, especially, with people who are ill to clear the area, you might have a 99 judgment that this individual is acting alone. But you still have to clear the hospital and provide assurances that nobody else is there who might have been acting in concert with this individual. So all these officers dont necessarily indicate that they expect to find somebody else. But they really have to be cautious, especially in these first few minutes or hour. Yeah, its a very, very early as ive been reporting. Athena, youre getting some more information. What else are you learning . Reporter hi, wolf. Thats right. This is coming from the same spokesperson for the chicago pd who is tweeting that a Chicago Police officer has been shot in this active shooter incident there at Mercy Hospital. He is in Critical Condition, but receiving excellent care. Please send prayers, this coming from anthony gugliemi. So we have been getting frequent updates from this spokesperson and continue to get updates. Were still waiting to find out who else has been shot and how badly. We dont know if there is one shooter involved in this incident or multiple shooters, right, athena . Reporter thats right. So far we dont. Even in the earlier tweet, you had the spokesperson referring to a possible offender. So theres still a lot of questions about that possible offender. As we heard someone else say, how badly was that person injured, were they really one of the an offender . Is there another one . How many are there . So still a whole lot of questions as the Police Officers youve seen the very, very heavy Police Presence doing a methodical search of this hospital. Im not sure how many stories it is, but this is something that is going to take some time before we get a fuller picture of what is going on and who has been injured and how badly. The key right now, phil mudd, and youve worked these kinds of situations during your career. The key right now is to find out how many shooters may have been involved and to clear the area right now, because potentially there could be more shootings under way. Sure. I mentioned access to obviously, access to the shooter. And my first question would be whether hes speaking to Law Enforcement at this moment. Theres a couple other questions that might help answer that issue of whether hes acting alone. The first i would want to know, whether hes carrying identification. Even if hes not speaking. If hes carrying identification, that allows me immediately to get up on things like what his address is, and what his social media is to see if there is any indications hes not acting alone. The second question youre going to have, very quickly in a case like this, is whether hes carrying a phone. As soon as hes carrying a phone, youre going to telephone carriers to say i want to see his record of phone calls, including even potentially whether he was communicating during the event. So i would expect that Law Enforcement working quickly with those kind of indicators should be able to give us an answer as they clear the building about whether this individual was acting alone or not. What does it say to you, if anything, phil, that this incident is occurring near a Major Hospital in chicago . Well, ill give you my initial thought. Its sort of a gut thought. But ill lay it out for you. And that is as soon as i see an event like this, the first question i have in the event is whether its an iconic target. A target like what we saw in terror attacks in the past that might be associated with things like a military facility, an intelligence facility. U. S. Infrastructure. I dont associate any of those things with a hospital. So my gut, when im seeing this after a lot of time doing these kind of incidents is that were going to see somebody who has some kind of personal problem with an individual in the hospital or with the hospital itself. Maybe hospital personnel. I dont think i would draw a conclusion further than that at this time, though. And just to repeat what the Police Spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi is saying in various tweets, reports of multiple victims in the attack, at least ten ambulances have been sent to the scene. Lots of police on the way or already there, fire crews on the scene, as well. Authorities are Warning Police to stay out of the area. And according to the chief Communications Officer for the chicago Police Department, at least and these are specific words, phil, i want you to react. At least one offender shot in the incident in Mercy Hospital. Police are searching the hospital, according to the press spokesman for the chicago Police Department. So if theyre already searching the hospital, presumably thats good news. I would agree with that. I mean, the fact that the offender is down, obviously suggests that hes clearly not a threat any more. I mentioned earlier, if hes down, theres a prospect theyre speaking with him. I would say, on the other hand, there are facts here as well that are deeply concerning as we go potentially to look at the investigation through the evening and tomorrow morning. The first would be the number of victims in this incident would suggest to you that the individual didnt go in looking for a specific target. Maybe he had an issue with the hospital itself. The second is if youre dealing with that many injured people, youre talking about six, eight, ten people. I heard something about ten ambulances. That suggests to me hes carrying a weapon or weapons, where he intended to shoot a lot of people at once and didnt have a specific target in mind. Boy, its the same thing we keep seeing again and again in this country, wolf. What we just saw in california recently. Unfortunately, we see a lot of this unfolding. Josh campbell is with us, as well, our Law Enforcement analyst, former fbi special supervisory agent. So josh, what are your initial thoughts . And i want to just caution everyone. This is preliminary information were getting from the chicago Police Department. Yeah, you nailed it, wolf. We have to keep that in mind. These initial reports and you have to think about what happened. Witnesses, bystanders, will be calling in to 911, reporting what theyre seeing, first officers reporting back. So a chaotic situation, so its up to dispatchers to try to make sense of what theyre dealing with. So whenever we start hearing numbers come out, its very early. I assume well start getting some of that information in short order. We did hear from the chicago Police Department there was a large Police Presence, this is a facility that would have had security onsite. These lawyers, hospitals, usually do have some type of security presence. Whether theyre armed or not, we dont know. I also have to tell you, looking at this building, a 10, 11story building, there is a lot of work ahead of Police Officers as they go through this facility. We heard the initial reports that possibly one offender is down. Again, the officers wont give that allclear, wolf, until they go floor to floor, room by room, and you can imagine a chaotic situation. This isnt a typical facility like a mall or a school, where, you know, people everyone inside can get up and evacuate. Obviously, you have people that are in the hospital that are in these rooms, that they have to be cared for. So, again, very chaotic and its up to officers to work through that facility floor to floor and ensure there is no threat before they send out that allclear, wolf. And what is obviously so disturbing, josh, is that the Police Spokesman suggesting that there are multiple victims right now in this shooting incident. And once again, we dont know if there is one shooter involved or multiple shooters, right . Yeah, exactly, wolf. And, again, theyre trying to get information out to the public as best they can initially. Thats something we have seen Police Officers come out and try to gather information and to disseminate it. Not to wait. But, again, a lot of these numbers are reports we have to really work through and wait for. Officers to really give us a firm grasp, a firm handling on what it is theyre dealing with when we Start Talking about the numbers. I can tell you again, wolf, you see officers responding, just based on some of the footage we see there, you dont see that influx of officers coming in that you would expect if that scene was still hot, if they were expecting that, okay, this is, you know, possibly an active situation. Again, an active shooter is active until its not. But we do see Police Officers arrive but dont appear to be in the posture where theyre rushing in. So that may be one indicator for us to understand at least they have the building surrounded and secure enough to go through. And the next question, obviously, wolf, who is this person, and why did they do what they did . Again, we have seen shootings where suspects will not have any type of identification and thats a very Herculean Task for officers to identify the person. Well find out in short order who this person was if the person down is the person responsible. And then we get into the weaponry. What was the person using . Again, a lot of details that we dont have yet that well start getting and continue to work our sources as well, wolf, with Law Enforcement officials to gather that information. I just want to be precise, josh. The chicago Police Department chief Communications Officer says in a statement, and i want to be specific, at least one offender shot in incident at Mercy Hospital. Police are searching the hospital right now. So what does that say to you, at least one offender shot in incident at Mercy Hospital raises the possibility there could be more out there. Thats right. And so that either means the person took his or her own life or came into contact with Law Enforcement. There was an exchange of gunfire. Those are details that well continue to sort through. But again, i have to tell you, wolf, in these situations, you know and i remember this being in the fbi and now obviously covering for the American People and the press, there is almost always never more than one person involved in these things. But Law Enforcement officers cant be sure of that until they actually go through. We think about san bernardino, for example, where you did have more than one person responsible. So, again, almost always you have one lone individual that is conducting these types of incidents. But until the officers go through and until they go through every single floor in that hospital, theyre not going to send out that allclear. And youre going to continue to see resources assisting in that effort. Also tell you, wolf, working some of these cases, hospitals are now obviously a pivotal part of a response to an active shooting. So if an incident like this happens somewhere out in public at a shopping mall, a school, that alert will go out to hospitals. Theyll send out a code alerting their personnel there s a possibility theyre going to be having victims inbound to be treated. You know, once that happens in a hospital, as we see here, obviously, you know, their first goal is to not only protect the patients that are also in the hospital but also to respond and try to save lives. So very chaotic situation at the early stages as these happen. And the last thing these facilities are fused together, so this alert is no doubt going out to other medical facilities as well. So if they do have to evacuate this hospital, at least there are other medical facilities in the vicinity prepared to receive patients. And we see some of the ambulances moving. So it looks as though they might be moving people to different facilities. Again, well gather a lot of information as the hour unfolds here, wolf. But a very long investigation, a long task ahead for Law Enforcement officers. That is a very large building there, 10, 11 stories they have to work through, wolf. Yeah. Its obviously a huge, huge operation thats unfolding right now. Even as were reporting the initial information were getting. Phil mudd, this incident as its unfolding right now, a key will be to determine if there is more than one shooter and what kind of weapon or weapons were involved, right . Sure. And i suspect they have answers to that. Think of some of the questions already answered. Is there anybody killed or injured in a vicinity that does not include the downed shooter . Already you can be speaking to people in the vicinity saying, did you see anybody else beyond the one shooter . Within i would say minutes or maybe an hour or two, youre going to get identification of who the individual is, and youre going to have somebody swarm on his house or apartment. Did he live with anybody . Did he speak about doing Something Like this that involved a conversation that might suggest somebody else participated . So im with josh. I would look at this and say in most of these incidences, its going to be a single individual. But ive still got to apply the 1 ruled, wolf. And that is if there is a 1 or less chance were wrong on that judgment, youve got to spend a few hours making sure youre right. Absolutely. Youve got to err totally on the side of caution. Athena, youre getting more information. Reporter thats right. Were getting this via adam collins, the Communications Director for chicago mayor, rahm emanuel. This is something that chicago pd spokesperson just retweeted, saying that mayor emanuel is currently at the Public Safety headquarters with the superintendent of the Chicago Police, eddie johnson, where they are monitoring the events unfolding at Mercy Hospital. So as you would expect, the mayor of chicago is now together with the superintendent for Chicago Police watching closely as things unfold here. We dont have any more updates on this search, but we would imagine that the search of a building this size would take some time. Theres rooms, theres closets. So that is still ongoing. And as you have been talking about, we still dont know exactly how many people were injured. Or shot, potentially and how badly they were injured. We do know about this Chicago Police officer who was shot, and he is in Critical Condition but receiving care there at Mercy Hospital. So that is the very latest we have on the situation there. Very early in all of this. Were getting more information. Lets take a quick break. Well update our viewers on the breaking news right after this. You always pay your insurance on time. Tap one little bumper and up go your rates. What good is having insurance if you get punished for using it . News flash nobodys perfect. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Whoa presenting the iwhats he doing . Come on, lets check it out nice. Hes pretty good at this. Hm its like a game gasps woohoo got it which car should we get . All of em ooh, yeah that one this one looks nice. Yes, and yes. I like this game. I think were winning delivery . Where . doorbell rings man its here what . announcer save 1,000 from carvana black friday through cyber monday. Then go see ralph breaks the internet, in theatres november 21st. Were following multiple breaking stories right now, including reports of multiple people shot at chicagos Mercy Hospital or just outside the hospital. Chicago police say at least one Police Officer has been shot and is in Critical Condition right now. Additionally, at least one offender shooter has been shot, and there are reports of multiple victims in the incident. Were going to continue to follow the breaking news, update you on the latest situation in chicago. But theres other breaking news were following here in washington. The white house now dropping a threat to revoke jim acostas press credentials again, fully restoring his press pass after a cnn warning of further court action. Jim acosta is over at the white house with more on what the president is saying and not necessarily doing as far as the special Counsel Robert Mueller is concerned. Were going to get to jim acosta in just a moment. But first, lets go to our chief media correspondent, brian stelter. Brian, first of all, whats the very latest on the white house backing down . Reporter while jim is over there doing his job, im covering jim today, wolf. Strange situation. But all of this has been strange the past two weeks. After all, the white house has never tried to kick a reporter out, wattthe way they tried to out jim almost two weeks ago. Last friday, the judge ruled in cnns favor. The press pass was returned to acosta for a twoweek temporary period of time. Over the weekend, the white house moved once again, making a new threat against acostas press pass. So cnn fired back in court this morning, and lo and behold, 3 00 p. M. Today, the white house seemed to back down. The new statement from bill shine and Sarah Sanders is the press pass will be restored, no more threat of revoking it in the future. Heres cnns statement about this. Essentially saying the legal battle is over. Quote, today the white house fully restored jim acostas press pass. As a result, our lawsuit is no longer necessary. We look forward to continuing to cover the white house. Thats the message from cnn today. This legal battle over for now, at least. But there is still this cloud hanging in the air about whether trump might try to do this in the future to somebody else. Why did the white house back down in the face of these latest Legal Developments . Reporter yeah, one of the theories is lawyers all along thought cnn had a strong case and department of justice may have advised the white house that further defeats were likely. After all, the judge last friday said he thought cnn was likely to prevail if this became a fulfull Lengthy Court case. So the doj may have given the advice to the white house. But we know how the Trump Administration is, never like to admit defeat. So in this letter today to jim acosta, sanders and shine outline new rules, being you can only ask one question at a president ial press conference and you can only ask a followup at the president s discretion. So what doing is putting down in writing the idea of these rules they could then potentially use to punish reporters in the future. Heres the thing, though, wolf. The president rarely has press conferences and white house reporters havent agreed to these rules. So it remains to be seen if this is just a fig leaf to give the white house an excuse to drop this case and give the press pass back or if in the future there is going to be a Chilling Effect. And frankly, thats the concern going forward, there is going to be a Chilling Effect in the White House Press corps if you try to ask too many questions in a row, the white house may try to revoke your press pass. We can all agree, americans deserve more questions, more answers, not fewer wefrom the administration. Thats where things stand as of tonight. And reporters ask questions and if they dont get answers theyre going to ask followups. Thats the nature of the job. Youve got to do both. Ask the question, if you dont get an answer, you ask a followup or two, if necessary. Brian, thank you very much. All of this comes as the special counsels probe closes in and the president lashes out. I want to go live to our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta, working over at the white house right now. Jim, the president is attacking seemingly in all sorts of directions. Thats right, wolf. President trump is setting the stage for some bruising fights this week, sending the message that he wont be sitting down with a special counsel, robert mueller, and the russia investigation, and he is starting a war of words over, of all things, something most americans have cheered. The killing of Osama Bin Laden. Welcoming the National Christmas tree to the white house, the president is warning special Counsel Robert Mueller there is one gift he shouldnt count on. A sitdown interview with mr. Trump in the russia investigation. I think no energy. I think weve wasted enough time on this witch hunt. And the answer is probably. Were finished. Reporter and the president is far from finished with fights hes picking on a number of fronts, still battling with retired admiral william mcraven, who oversaw the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden. Hillary clinton backer. And an obama backer. And frankly hes a navy s. E. A. L. Wouldnt it be nice if we got Osama Bin Laden a lot sooner than that . Reporter mcraven, who has been sharply critical, fired back with a statement of his own, saying, quote, i stand by my comment that the president s attack on the media is the greatest threat to our democracy in my lifetime. The president s criticism of the bin laden raid runs counter to statements he made at the time of the mission, when he told politico, i want to personally congratulate president obama and the men and women of the armed forces for a job well done. The witch hunt reporter the president isnt holding back when it comes to his own team, openly criticizing Homeland Security secretary kirsten nielson. I want her to get much tougher and well see what happens there. But i want to be extremely tough. Reporter and white house chief of staff, john kelly. Look, we get along well. There are certain things i love what he does, and there are certain things that i dont like that he does. Reporter the president reserved his nastiest attack for house democrat, adam schiff, whose name he intentionally misspelled. Contrast that with the president s softer touch with saudi arabia. In response to reports that the administration has the audio of the killing of journalist jamal khashoggi, a murder the cia says was ordered by crown prince mohamed bin salman. The president says he doesnt want to hear the tape. Its a suffering tape. Its a terrible tape. Ive been fully briefed on it. There is no reason for me to hear it. So were going to spend the money necessary. Reporter perhaps the strangest battle has been over the cause of the wildfires in california. The European Union reporter President Trump said the president of finland told him his country rakes its forests. I was with the president of finland, and he said we have a much different were a forest nation. He called it a forest nation. And they spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things. And they dont have any problem. Reporter but the finnish president told a news outlet in finland he could not recall any conversation with mr. Trump about raking forests. The president wont give up the raking idea. That should have been all raked out and cleaned up. You wouldnt have the fires. Reporter the president is holding out the idea with the that he could still sit down with robert mueller, but it appears for now the president s legal team will instead release written answers to the special counsel and its questions in the russia investigation. The question, of course, after that, is whether muellers team will keep pushing for an inperson, sitdown interview with the president , wolf. It is possible that muellers team wont be satisfied with the answers coming from President Trump, coming from the white house, and theyll want more. Wolf . Our white house correspondent, jim acosta, thank you very much. Reporting from the north lawn of the white house. And joining us now, democratic senator, ben carden of maryland, a member of the Foreign Relations committee. Thank you very much for joining us. The president says he didnt know about Matt Whitakers views on the Mueller Investigation before he appointed him to become the acting attorney general. Do you believe the president . Wolf, thats very difficult to believe. No, i think the president understood that by appointing mr. Whitaker, he was appointing someone who would be sympathetic to his position in regards to the Mueller Investigation. The logical choice was rod rosenstein. He was the deputy, he had been confirmed by the United States senate. This appointment was clearly one that influenced the Mueller Investigation. Three of your democratic colleagues, senators mazie hirono, and whitehouse filed a lawsuit arguing that whitakers appointment is unconstitutional. Do you think they will prevail in court . I think it is a very serious constitutional issue that the president has brought to the United States, to the public now. And that is by appointing someone who is not confirmed by the United States senate, where the next person in line was confirmed by the United States senate, that, i believe, can create a constitutional crisis. So im pleased that my colleagues have filed this lawsuit. I hope to, of course, clarify this. But i do think this is a serious constitutional issue. The president has said he believes the Mueller Investigation is now coming to an end. If matt whitaker, the acting attorney general, decides to bury muellers final report, mueller has to submit his report to whitaker before it goes any place else that congress or the courts or any place else. What are you prepared to do if whitaker buries muellers final report . I can tell you this. Ive heard from my colleagues in the senate and the house. Everyone has said were going to protect the Mueller Investigation. Its time for congress to take action. Theres Bipartisan Legislation thats been recommended by the Senate Judiciary committee. Its been sitting on the docket now for six months. Congress should pass this bill to protect the Mueller Investigation so that it can reach its conclusions without interference from the president of the United States. Let me ask you about the president s decision to go ahead and insult the retired u. S. Admiral, mcraven, who he shamed publicly for not killing Osama Bin Laden sooner. The president was lashing out because mcraven has sounded the alarm, and the president s attacks on the free press. I want your reaction to that. It was outrageous. The general pointed out that he serves the commanderinchief, whether that commanderinchief is a democrat or republican. And what he did was patriotic on behalf of america. A Successful Mission to get Osama Bin Laden. Now for President Trump to challenge his political beliefs because he was working for a democratic president . Now hes working now the generals are working for a republican president. Theyre not partisan. These are generals. Theyre serving our nation. And should be honored. Not ridiculed by the president of the United States. Yeah, spent 35 years in the u. S. Navy, becoming a navy s. E. A. L. , head of the u. S. Militarys special Operations Command and led the operation that eventually resulted in the killing of bin laden. Lets turn to the president s comments on the saudi journalist working for the washington post, jamal khashoggi. The president seems to believe the denials of the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman. Do you think the president is being lied to . First of all, wolf, here we go again. We had the same problem with the u. S. Intelligence community informing the president of the United States about russias interference in our elections. President trump refused to accept the Intelligence Communitys findings. Once again, we had the Intelligence Community telling us that the royal family, the crown prince, was very much directly involved in this murder, and that here the president is saying, well, i believe the crown prince. So the president very clearly is trying to dodge what he needs to do. And that is to take action and hold the crown prince accountable for ordering this murder. He says the saudis are a great ally of the United States. But the cia has concluded with a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered the killing of khashoggi. Why do you think the president doesnt necessarily trust that Intelligence Community conclusion . Im not sure the president doesnt trust it. The president just doesnt want to act on it. The president wants to maintain relationships with these strongmen around the world that do horrible things. I mean, we saw that when he first embraced mr. Putin. We see that now with kim jongun. We now see it with the crown prince. These are individuals that you need to stand up. Americas strength is our value. And our Foreign Policy needs to be wrapped in american values. Do you want and the president is doing a disservice. Do you want the socalled magnitsky sanctions to be imposed on the crown prince himself . I think they need to go higher than they have been already applied. I applaud the administration for using the magnitsky sanctions. We sent a letter urging him to do that under the law. But i think he needs to go higher than they have gone so far. Senator cardin, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you, wolf. Lets bring in our political and legal experts to talk about the breaking news. Lots to discuss. And kaitlan, lets begin with you. The president in that interview with fox news yesterday said hes not ready, and he has no plans to sit down with robert mueller. Hes going to submit his answers in writing, but thats it. He said the investigation has gone on long enough. Enough time, he says, has been wasted. But he has sounded a very different note in the past. Listen to this. Would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of 100 . Mr. President , would you like to testify to special Counsel Robert Mueller, sir . Thank you. Are you going to talk to mueller . Im looking forward to it, actually. I would love to speak. I would love to. Nobody wants to speak more than me. All right. Hes changed his mind. Quite so. And at one point, they were close to having the president do that interview, preparing for it at camp david one weekend. So we really do see how far we have come in the months of these negotiations going on between the president and the special counsel. And things really took a turn after Michael Cohens office home and hotel had a search warrant conducted on them by the fbi and agents which the president later said they had broken into. Thats how he described it. But thats when we saw things change with the president. But Something Interesting has happened in the past few days, the president s remarks on mueller. One being that he believes after he does submit these questions because hes completed the answers, but says he hasnt submitted them yet. He believes this is all winding down. Though its unclear why he thinks that. Because the special counsel has provided no time line, and what were told is they have not provided a time line to the president s legal team either. We heard Kellyanne Conway make a remark this morning that caught my attention. She said there was no collusion, but she specified among highranking officials in the trump campaign. Thats not what weve heard before. And before we heard them focus on no collusion, no collusion, no collusion. But it was interesting to hear her clarify it as among the highranking officials. And it does make you wonder if in those questions they got which were likely very specific from the special counsel, if it included any details that alluded to the fact that maybe they know something that other people in the campaign knew about, any contact with other officials. That raises a lot of questions for us. Because i heard what you said, too, which seemed to suggest, yes, there was some collusion among lowlevel officials. But there was no collusion among senior officials. Top officials. Chris, the president says this whole russia probe thats been going on now for a long time has been a waste of time. But look at the numbers. And ill put them up on the screen. Russia investigation. 191 criminal counts. 35 people or entities charged. Six guilty pleas. Three people already sentenced to prison. You cant argue with those numbers. No. And thats why i think im so glad we posted that. I think we should post it every time he says witch hunt or hoax. Because regardless of what you think and i think kaitlans astute analysis of the collusion and who it might be, regardless of what you think of that, this investigation has already done quite a bit. Already pretty far down the road. And in those numbers of people who pled guilty or sentenced, found guilty, paul manafort, who was the campaign chairman, effectively the campaign manager. Rick gates, the Deputy Campaign chairman. Michael cohen. Donald trumps guy. Michael flynn. Michael flynn. The National Security adviser. These are not lowlevel people, right . And i always people always say, well, you know, donald trump theres no collusion. Nothing is proven. I always say to them, look at the people who have pled guilty. Do you think that Michael Flynn pled guilty and is cooperating because the news media did something . Like they had things on him that he decided he needed to cut a deal. Same thing with manafort, gates, papadopoulos. These are guilty pleas in a court of law. This isnt the media reporting one way and the facts are something different. The facts are the facts and what you showed. The raw numbers are startling. Jeffrey, lets talk about the president. He seems to think that once in the coming days the written answers are submitted to mueller, thats going to indicate the probe is basically over. Is he right . Well, he might be. I mean, this is the thing. This is why people under investigation really like to delay. As kaitlan said, this interview was almost conducted in january at camp david. So now its almost thanksgiving. Thats how long this negotiation over these answers has gone on. You know that the president is going to be saying, okay, weve given their answers, wrap this thing up. We dont know if mueller is filing more charges. Yes, there is clearly an investigation surrounding roger stone and his relationship with wikileaks. But i dont know that there are going to be criminal charges filed there. This it may be that at this point the president the Mueller Investigation is wrapping up and reports will be filed soon. And i think, you know, this was a smart strategy on the part of the defense, to drag this thing out so long, that they could now say, well now its over. Now mueller may disagree, but certainly there is political pressure to wrap it up at this point. And laura, as you know, the president keeps saying that he personally wrote all the answers to those written questions that were submitted by mueller and his team, some legal experts have suggested that in and of itself opens up the president to possible legal action. Well, it would. I mean, you have lawyers, because you want them to be able to vet what you say, so youre not actually exposing yourself to greater legal liability or jeopardy. The president may be the head executive branch of government, but he doesnt know all of the laws that may be on the books as we have seen time and time again. So if he is allowing his lawyers to actually hand off what he has written himself without checking it, without verifying it, without actually confirming that he is not in greater legal peril, he would be a complete and total fool. So the fact hes taking credit for it is one thing he normally does, but the fact he did it in this circumstance would be malpractice for his lawyers to allow that to happen. The fact he has these questions come up, why hes so confident or secure about it wrapping up, guiliani said one of the questions posed greater legal questions than anticipated. If thats the case, that means the president of the United States has his own particular counsel advising himself on what to do next. We heard over the weekend he doesnt actually plan for his decision. So that would be a big mistake. And cutting off his nose to spite his face. He is his own worst enemy in lots of ways, but this is one. The reason hes so insistent, i wrote the answers, is because he doesnt like the idea being out there that hes not the decider, hes not the smartest guy in the room and doesnt know exactly whats happening. I dont need other people to write these things for me. But we, of course, all know thats why you have a legal team, to see and know things you dont know. And not get yourself into peril. Hes incapable maybe privately he lets that happen. But hes not capable publicly of saying, you know what, i dont know everything, every fact in the known universe. So, yes, im deferring sometimes to people who have greate expertise. You have the right to defend yourself in court. Everyone knows, you can be your own counsel. But i would advise against a seasoned prosecutor, let alone the team mueller has. Not because they have nefarious intent, but because you dont know how to navigate a case with this level of gravitas and severity. Also, hes getting the high. I can answer the questions as asked and be fine. He did clarify that he dictated the questions to his lawyers and they wrote them down, because initially last week in a few chances to speak with reporters, he said i wrote them myself. He said he dictated them, which is something he often does. But i do think it raises the question that he does say that lawyers are reviewing them before they submit them. Thats why they havent submitted them yet. But that is a concern amongst the legal team theyve had for over a year now, that the president could potentially perjurier himself with some of these answers. And that, of course, is the big thing that mueller has gotten, so many of the people youve just listed, because they have lied. And jeffrey, no potentially significant Legal Development today, three democratic senators, they filed a lawsuit in federal court, trying to block the acting attorney general, Matthew Whitakers appointment. Explain the case that they have, and whether or not you think it has merit. Well, the issue is that Matthew Whitaker has never been confirmed to any position in the Justice Department during the Trump Administration. And the question is, can someone who has never been confirmed act as the attorney general, even for the 210 days allowed under the statute . And i think its an unsettled question. I think the biggest problem with this lawsuit is that the three senators are very likely to have very unlikely to have standing, to have the right to sue. The courts are very reluctant to get involved in lawsuits between the other branches of government. They always say to congress, look, if you want to cut off funding to the Justice Department, help yourself. But we dont want to get in the business of litigating the fights between these two between these two branches. Thats why i think whitaker is in pretty good shape, because i dont know of anyone who would have standing legally to make this challenge. Hes deeply, as far as i can tell, unqualified for this job. But thats a political judgment, not a legal judgment. And i dont think this lawsuit is going to go very far. All right. Everybody stand by. Theres more news were following. Cnn is live amid the devastation left by californias wildfires, which continue burning. Also tonight, people who managed to get out alive are facing more problems. And theres troubling new satellite images that reveal kim jongun may not have given up his dreams of military conquest. There lots of people who are confused about which medicare plan is right for them. Hey, thats me. I barely know where to start. Well, start here with me, karen. Im a licensed humana sales agent. Well, its nice to meet you, karen. Im john smith. Hi, john. At humana, we know youre unique. So you have different needs from other john smiths. Yah, ive always thought so. And together, we can find a plan thats right for you. Great i go to the doctor a couple of times a year. And i have some prescriptions. But im never fully sure of whats covered and whats not. 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Get started with innovative Voice Solutions for a low price when you get fast, reliable internet. Comcast business. Beyond fast. In california firefighters are counting on a break in the weather this week as they continue battling the deadliest and most destructive outbreak of wildfires in the states history. At least 80 people are confirmed dead and hundreds remain unaccounted for. Cnns paul vercannon is amid the ruins of the small city that used to be called paradise in northern california. What is the situation there, paul . Reporter wolf, every day those destruction numbers go up, the loss of life goes up, and it is absolutely astounding. Tonight the death toll rising in the incinerated wreckage of paradise, and there are more than 15,000 structures obliterated. The search for remains is unlike any in california history. This is the largest the largest search and rescue operation in california ever. We have over 500 search and rescue volunteers from all over california, and thats just unprecedented. Reporter the number of people unaccounted for is down from more than 1,200 to under 1,000. Authorities are trying to whittle down that list as survivors are found. This is still raw data. My objective of finding progress or moving forward, overperfection is the better course of action even though the numbers in many cases seem quite daunting. Reporter those displaced and camping in area parking lots are now spreading out to shelters ahead of predicted rain. Unfortunately, believe it or not yes, unfortunately, we are having some rain come in. Reporter four to six inches of rain desperately needed before the fires that officials fear will now cause mudslides and debris flow. It will pretty much diminish a lot of the flames that are taking place right now. However, it is not going it is now going to pose a hazard to the firefighters because theyre back there on dirt roads, dirt trails, trying to fight this fire. Now it is going to turn into mud which will be another hazard for them to contend with. Reporter still, out of the devastation more dramatic rescue stories. A bus driver a few months on the drive shuttled two teachers and 22 Elementary School children to safety and rescued a third teacher along the way. A fivehour odyssey through walls of flame. There were like fires left and right. Everywhere you look there was smoke everywhere and people trying to get out. It was time to go. It was much worse than we had ever seen, so lets get the kids that are here left and lets get them out of here. Reporter and here live, look behind me. One of the many structures burned. As for that heroic bus driver, he lost his house and three cars. That extremely articulate fourth grader, she lost her house. One of the teachers, house completely gone. They estimate 80 to 90 of the people here in paradise lost their home. Just staggering. Wolf. Paul vercammon on the scene for us. Staggering indied. Also tonight, new satellite images are revealing what appears to be new provocation from kim jongun. Reporter wolf, we are getting new information about a training site for kims military which could be preparing to stage an assault on south koreas version of the pentagon. Even as north Koreas Kim Jongun is publicly embracing his south korean counterpart, behind the scenes newlyreleased satellite pictures show his military may be building a fullscale model of south koreas version of the pentagon, evidence, experts say, of kim continuing his aggressive military training. Voice of america says on the left is a south Korea Building and on the right is a north korean mockup of the building. Two satellite imaging experts we spoke to say it looks like the military headquarters seen here. I think they want to basically practice or at least study ways of attacking it or assaulting it or doing something in a military sense. Reporter the cia declined to comment on the new pictures, but a pentagon official tells cnn it would not be unusual to see north korean training mockup it of buildings like the south Korean Military headquarters. Two years ago north korea staged a simulated attack on a mockup of south koreas blue house, that countrys equivalent of the white house, with artillery barrages and camouflaged commandos parachuting in. Since that time kim jongun has made peace overtures to south korea and to President Trump. Is this mockup and a possible mock attack an indication that kim is about to give up on die plo ploem diplomacy . Theyre not going to reestablish training sites based on political initiatives that have taken place in the last year. They have to teach the basic private in their army how to conduct operations, so they use the mockups to do that. Reporter tonight we are getting insights on what it is like to be one of the north korean soldiers from someone who once was one. The member of the north korean army who made this dramatic dash across the border a year ago in order to defect is speaking out for the first time. He was pursued closely by his north korean comrades, shot five times, and was dragged to safety by south korean soldiers. In an interview with the japanese newspaper, he said he doesnt hold a grudge against his north korean pursuer it. Quote, if they dont shoot, they will be severely punished. If i were in their position, i would have shot me too. They incur discipline that is beyond belief. Intelligence community has said that it is one of the more draconian armies in the world in terms of punishment of soldiers for what they do and dont do with regard to their duties. Reporter the young former soldier who almost died from his wounds then was discovered to have parasites in his body. He said hunger is at Dangerous Levels in north korea, telling the newspaper, quote, if you dont have money or power, you die in a ditch. Experts who study the isolated country say life is the same for soldiers and civilians alike. You have to live on scraps. Ordinary people are left to fend for themselves. They must find means to survive. Reporter now, that former soldier said average north koreans have been left so desperate from widespread shortages of food and basic goods it has led to a general an tip agenty to the countrys leadership. He said 80 of people his age are so okay pieced with surviving theyre indifferent to kim jongun and dont feel loyal to him. Brian todd reporting for us. Thanks for the update. We are following breaking news. President trump says he will soon submit answers to questions posed by the special robert mueller, but he makes it clear he has no intentions of sitting down with mueller, declaring he is finished with the investigation. vo this is not a video game. This is not a screensaver. This is the destruction of a cancer cell by the bodys own immune system, thanks to medicine that didnt exist until now. And today can save your life. That grandpas nose i canis performing flight of the bumblebee . No, you goof. I cant believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my Car Insurance with geico. Nice. I know, right . [nose plays a jazzy saxophone tune] believe it. Geico could save you 15 or more on Car Insurance. Happening now, breaking news. Press pass turnaround. The Trump White House backs down and restores the press pass of our chief white house correspondent, jim acosta. But tonight a new threat to revoke reporters credentials. Were finished. The president flips on a sitdown interview with the specia Counsel Robert Muellers team. He now says he wont do it after saying he would. Not full disclosure. The Justice Department is refusing to release the public Financial Disclosures of acting attorney general Matthew Whitaker. Tonight, three senators are suing, calling the appointment unconstitutional. And death and despair. The loss of lives and homes growing right now in californias worst fire disaster on record, and the flames are forecast to burn for 11 more days. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. This is cnn breaking news. Were following breaking news. The white house now backing down from a new threat to bar cnns chief white house corresondent jim acosta. In respons