happening now, breaking news. a new protective order just issued 8020 20 election interference case against donald trump. the judge, barring the former president and his lawyers from publicly disclosing sensitive information. also tonight, as the flames ease and the death toll is expected to keep rising, we are getting up-to-the-minute accounts of the damage from the wildfire disaster in hawaii. cnn is of course on the scene. and the hawaii governor will join us live with all the latest developments. and the top prosecutor in the hunter biden probe is elevated to special counsel as the president son now appears headed to trial. we are breaking down the legal implications and the political fallout. welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i am wolf blitzer and you are in "the situation room" . >> ♪ >> this is cnn breaking news . let's get right to it. coming out of the first hearing before the judge in the trump election interference case. cnn justice correspondent is on the story. first, jessica, tell us about this newly released protective order and what else happened in today's hearing? >> this is the first we have seen of judge chutkan in this case. she took charge immediately. she did not give prosecutors the broad protective order that she wanted, but she was firm with trump and his team that they were not to disclose sensitive information, including material about the grand jury or search warrants. that is part of this protective order that she issued just a little while ago. during the hearing itself, she gave several warnings to trump and his team. she said this. the fact that he is running a political campaign currently has to yield to the administration of justice. and if that means he cannot say exactly what he wants to say in a political speech, that is just how it is going to have to be. because of that, she says she's going to be carefully scrutinizing any statements from trump and his team. she basically said that anything that could be interpreted as intimidating witnesses or prejudicial to potential jurors could really threaten this entire judicial process in this case as we move toward trial. so what is under these terms that prosecutors are having in this protective order? under the terms, they are beginning to hand over material today. what that material includes is 11.6 million documents, hundreds of recordings of witness interviews, and it is those recordings part of which trump is prohibited from disclosing publicly. wolf, we will see how quickly this case could go to trial. the prosecution wants to start on january 2nd. trump's legal team, starting next week, will propose their start date. it is likely they will propose it after the 2024 election. but at the rate that judge chutkan is moving now, she will likely want to queue closer to the prosecution's proposed january date. we will see how this ultimately moves forward to a trial. wolf? >> jessica, thank you. jessica schneider reporting. let's give more these development, including george conway and carl racine. and cnn political analyst maggie haberman is with us as well. you know judge chutkan well, how do you think she's going to deal with this? >> i think she is dealing with this entire case and exceptionally well reasonable and balanced manner. what you saw today was a split decision. she did not give the government all that it wanted. the government actually sought to restrict the ability of mr. trump to analyze the evidence without his lawyers. and she struck that down. she permits president trump to access this evidence. it is really important that he has access to the evidence anytime he wants without a lawyer present, yet, she is going to make sure that witness intimidation, obstruction of justice, or any terference of the ministration of justice is not going to occur on her watch. >> what you think, george, is this a five-page protective order, as it is called, a reasonable document? do you think trump will actually abide by what is written in this? >> i do not know if he will abide by it. if he has trouble abiding by the rules and laws as we all know. the protective order should not be that big of a deal. we have them in civil cases and criminal cases all the time when one side is producing sensitive information pretrial to the other. i can't imagine that judge chutkan wouldn't approve so that was perfectly within that realm of possibility. it is understandable that the justice department would seek as much as they could, given who the defendant is. it is important to remember, sam freeman was ordered by a judge in new york. he is going to be ordered to go back to jail because he gave some materials to the new york times. this is a very serious stuff, to violate a protective order. and it was good that judge chutkan warned trump today about that. >> very significant development. and a fascinating reading, once you read these five pages indeed. maggie, in court today, the judge also warned trump to be careful what he says publicly about this case on the heels of this truth social post saying, and i'm quoting him now, if you go after me, i am coming after you. all in caps. but can trump really contain himself? >> i do not think we have ever seen any evidence that trump is eager to contain himself. there are morning moments, when his back is been against the wall, when he has been better than others. but he likes testing the bounds and seeing what he can get away with. it would not surprise me. again, we do not know what he is going to do. the things he says upset his lawyers and are frustrating to his lawyers because they cannot control him. donald trump has a history of testing the boundaries. i think you could see a scenario where he will continue to sapor.say provocative things online to see if the judge will turn away from it. there are defendants, if they were in similar cases, obviously, there is no parallel to this with the former president, but other people have been connected to january 6th related cases have not gotten as much leeway in certain aspects as trump has. the it is very likely will test the bounds and we will see what the judge does. >> carl, judge chutkan says that trump is a criminal defendant before he is a political candidate. is that true? >> i think in this courtroom, it is true. what judge chutkan is focused on is making sure that the evidence in this case, particularly the sensitive evidence in this case, is tried in the courtroom, not on the campaign trail. that is an important distinction , and you better believe that the judge is going to be quite observant of mr. trump's conduct after this protective warrant has been entered. >> we will see how he behaves and how he response. maggie, i understand you have new reporting that drives just how much trump's political and legal futures are intertwined right now. what can you tell us about the impact these cases are having on the former president? >> wolf, my colleague and i took a look at his financial situation and how impacted his political orbit -- his super pack, the campaign, save america, the political action committee has been putting his legal bills or the bulk of them -- have been strained by these trials. as a criminal defendant, he will be required, if these trials go ahead for election day and after election day, same thing. he has to physically be present. he will not be able to be on the campaign trail for those days. these cases are consuming a lot of resources and a lot of time and he is facing a potential cash crunch. he is facing a likely prospect they want to stop start putting his own legal bills to some extent. he said publicly that he is willing to put in whatever campaign money that he has to toward the actual political race. he did do that a bit in 2016, but with the overall amount he spent, it was relatively small. we will see what happens here. >> george, do today's event suggest to you that the judge might rule for a very speedy trial? maybe along the lines of january 2024, the timeline imposed by the government? >> i do think she is going to move expeditiously. i think the way she handled this protective order dispute this week, by getting the parties and really very fast and then denying a motion to extend the briefing time, i think she's going to move this case pretty fast. i do not know that she will grant january 2024. i think sometimes when you're litigating, prosecutors will do this. they will ask for more than they probably will get from the judge and hope that the judge was the difference and give them something. not so bad, but pretty good. >> carl, how do you think the judge will react or rule eventually on a trial date? >> to be sure, no one knows, of course. january 2nd seems a little early to me, giving that we are talking about 11.6 million documents that will be given over to the defense right now. i think it is interesting to look at that march date that d.a. bragg has. he is indicated recently that he would be open to talking to other prosecutors and perhaps rearranging that date. march '24 sound like a good date on the january 6 trial to me. >> all right, we shall see. thank you. maggie, final thoughts from you? what should we be looking for next? >> next we are going to see again whether trump does something that the judge considers violative of this order on social media. we will look for what trump said this weekend when he is in iowa. we will look at the next debate and the first debate, and whether trump actually goes. wolf, we have never seen anything like this. this is a series of legal actions wrapped around political campaign. this is not a normal political season. trump, obviously, is using this campaign is something of a shield. we have been talking about that long before he actually got in the race. it's part of why he got in the race as early as he did antifreeze the fields. we are looking at everything he says about this. any change in language, anyway he handled it differently, and what the judges in the cases do. >> good point. thank you to all of our experts. just ahead, we will go live to hawaii for an update on the devastating and deadly wildfires. the state's governor joins me live in "the situation r room" right after a quick break. yeah, everything's taken care of. -hey, jamie. -oh, what am i up to? 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>> it is absolutely crushing, wolf. is the worst thing i've seen since paradise, california. the deadly fire u.s. history, most the town, but we flattened and completely caught by surprise. that's the thing, lahaina was once the capital of the kingdom of hawaii. going back to the ancient settlers, they knew that the cost of this paradise was living with wind and surf, and occasional volcanic lava. but no one ever imagined a firestorm moving with such speed that it force people into the ocean for refuge or some of them either passed away due to the waves, breathing in the water, or breathing in the smoke. and if we think people are just now coming to grips with just how devastating this is there is much for that the casualty count, the fatality count, could get into the hundreds. i heard that thing going back to the florida keys after hurricane irma or puerto rico. even after paradise. a lot of people ended up being okay because the communication was just cut off. but that is where he is are right now. a lot of frustration. >> bill, what does the relief effort look like where you are? >> reporter: right now, we are actually at a checkpoint here where the harbor is sort of closer to lahaina to the south. all day, there is a convoy of trucks coming up. actually, it was broken now. it was really a logjam that we saw of aid trucks, food trucks, people able to go in and check on their homes and bring supplies to people. people on the north side of lahaina were really begging for help. they been struggling for a while. no electricity, no? location, they need fresh water in these places and a cell tower to get people proof of life. you are hearing complaints now, look, we are next to basically the pacific capital of the u.s. military. the resources are right here in the islands. they would like to see them now here. >> will bill, thank you, very very much. was can update from the governor of hawaii, josh green. thank you for joining us. i know you are incredibly busy and we are thankful to you. what are the latest numbers on those killed and those unaccounted for? >> thank you, wolf. 59 fatalities. that is up from 55 earlier today. that, we can confirm. it is heartbreaking, of course, the loss of life. the corm came on the storm came on fast, with wins for our. the people we are still connecting with, we are not searching for them, per se, with several hundred homes that did burn, and those houses will be assessed in the coming days starting tomorrow morning, with the fema team and people that can tragically identify whether someone has perished in their home. these 59 fatalities this that have occurred did occur out the streets or on the open as people were trying to escape the fire. that is where we are numerically right now. there is a lot of things going on. we're really just into the third and a half day of this response. a lot of things are going on simultaneously. most of what we are trying to do is get relief for the people. we opened up 15 minutes ago to allow people to travel back to their properties to assess them. that is where we are at the moment. >> is that number, the 59 deaths confirmed, expected to go higher later tonight? >> yes, it is. i do not know if we will update the number again this evening. without a doubt, there will be more fatalities. we do not know ultimately how many will have occurred. i will say this. the largest natural disaster in state history occurred in 1960, when 61 individuals perished as a result of a tsunami on the big island. so this will exceed that. it is a product, in my estimation, of certainly global warming combined with drought, combined with a super storm, where we had a hurricane offshore several hundred miles, still generating large winds. as everyone knows, the islands are very prone to natural disasters, whether it is a volcanic eruption, which you guys have witnessed on many occasions, or a tsunami, or an earthquake, or in this case, a fire. >> do you have a sense, governor, of how long it will be until you have a full picture of the death toll? >> i think actually over the course of the next week, we will get as close to a complete assessment as possible. as you know, sometimes natural disasters or essentially wartime disasters -- and it does look like a war zone where lahaina is concerned -- you will sometimes discover later that someone has perished because it was burned to the ground. when i say that, i do not see it lightly. as you know, we were on the phone together when i was watching the walking the district with the mayor and senator. it was rubble and ashes. but i think next week, starting tomorrow, we will see a lot more, i guess, certainty, about how many individuals have perished. i will also say, we are grateful to have so much support. the fema director will be with you tomorrow, i believe with senator geraldo, down again at ground zero. we have all the support that you could imagine. president biden called me again this morning, and has been extremely generous, approving our emergency request. we're going to be launching programs in the coming days. one of them will be called the hawaii fire relief housing program. in other words, we're going to take short-term rentals and purpose than to house people will be willing to the shelter and getting them signed up. our expectation is that the state will cover all of the cost of the release release process. we are discussing those details with fema. we will bring hundreds if not thousands of units online quite quickly. meanwhile, people will know whether or not there house is habitable, even some of the other individuals that are out beyond the perimeter of the fire, they do not have power. i really do want to remind people what hawaii is like. it is a spectacularly beautiful place. it is also rural and be most isolated landmass on the planet, which means you do not have access immediately to polls when you want to get electricity fixed. you do not have access to all the workforce that you would expect. if you could say, bring it from another state line. this is not to make an excuse, this is just to clean the reality of the islands, especially in the cup post- covid era. some of this will take time. in our hearts break every moment someone is in a shelter or when someone shares the be a motel then shares will be on the telephone of their lost aunt or uncle. millions and millions of dollars have already been donated through hawaii community foundation. that is amazing. we will never forget the support of the mainland. but some of this response is going to linger into the weeks and months ahead. >> as you know, governor, hawaii's emergency management says that nobody turned on maui's warning sirens when the fire ants broke out in lahaina on tuesday. did that put people's lives in even more danger? >> let me tell you that i authorize a comprehensive review this morning. to make sure that we know exactly what happened and when. what we understand is that when those fires reignited in lahaina in the late afternoon or early evening, they were focusing on fires elsewhere on the island. and the tell us medications were destroyed very rapidly. that is why, normally, we would phone call one another and then through what is often called the coconut wireless, where everyone speaks to everyone else in their community, we would know right away that there was danger. that communication was cut off by the destruction of essentially 1000 degree heat that was coming down the mountain. that is not again to make any excuse for anyone. we're going to check and be very safe and sure that we did what we could. but i have to tell you, this was a very fluid situation across the islands with the storm. we were unable to get helicopters up in the air, for example, to drop water that night because you cannot fly helicopters with gusts of 89- mile-per-hour winds. you will crash your helicopters and kill your pilots. these are the considerations and the consideration that occurred in the island setting on the back end of a hurricane but we will do all that we can to make sure to find out how to protect our people more going forward. we have just not seen populations like this in the last 30, 40, 50 years ever threatened in an era of global warning. it's of deep concern. >> a deep concern indeed and everyone is going to learn lessons from what did and did not happen to deal with this enormous crisis. you noted the drought and the winds that maui was facing. the state records show the hawaii underprepared for wildfires for years, even as the threat grew worse. how much of this disaster you believe, looking back now, was actually preventable? >> i think that one could safely say we do have wildfires every year, we have always been able to contain them. whether the variables were different this time or not, all i can tell you is that i have been in hawaii for 23 years. i have never see the convergence of a fire and a hurricane and gale force winds at the same time anywhere near one of our towns. it is just not something i've ever experienced. i actually wrote out roll out a wildfire in the footage of hole in honolulu when i was working in the core back in 2003 or 2002, i believe. when more than 1000 acres burned out my property. we have experienced these things. they do occur. but that was in a very rural, dry area, where it was mostly grass. as to placing responsibility, all responsibility is on all of us. and that is, we do what we can with the resources that we have. here, far away from the mainland. this is the first time we've ever experienced this. >> hawaii governor josh green. thank you so much for joining us. good luck to you and all the people of hawaii. we hope to have you back next week to continue this conversation. >> absolutely. thank you for sharing with the people across the country. >> thank you. and for more information about how you, our viewers, can help hawaii wildfire victims, no to cnn.com/impact. or you can scan the qr code for details. this is really important, people need help, and you can helplp. coming up, the new appointed of a special counsel in the hunter biden case and the legal peril for the president anand his son as he now w seems likely to go trial. 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>> the justice department said that on tuesday, david weiss asked to change his designation. is a trump appointed u.s. attorney who has been overseeing the hunter biden investigation for approximately five years. and there is no official explanation for why on tuesday he asked to officially become a special counsel. we do have some clues from court filings about what might be going on here. court filings today reveal that the plea deal that have been negotiated between hunter biden's lawyers and the u.s. attorney appears to be at an impasse. it has fallen apart. they went to court, the judge overseeing the case had some questions and push back on the plea deal. but at this point, according to court filings, it appears that this case is headed to trial. i want to read a statement from one of hunter biden's lawyers, chris clark. he says it is hard to see why weiss would've proposed such a resolution, the plea deal, if there were other offenses that he could have successfully prosecuted. and we are aware of none. they say they are confident that when all of this is over, their client will go on and live his life successfully. but in addition to a possible trial, wolf, now weiss have to compile a report about his investigation and his filings. he says he will make the report public. i've also learned that the white house and hunter biden's legal team did not get a heads up about this announcement. >> there had been plans in the works, as you noted, for weiss to actually testify before congress. now does how taste how does today's development -- >> that is the question, wolf. now the justice department is reporting appointed to the point that he has make a report that will offer transparency. i do not know for publicans are going to see it that way. it does not prevent him from being able to testify, but historically, special counsel have testified. but after they had committed their report. it is clear that republicans are not terribly happy about this and it will continue to be a politically fraught issue. >> it interesting, david weiss has been investigating hunter biden since 2018. what is he going to be able to do now that he has not necessarily been able to do over the past five years? >> it is not clear that he is going to be able to do more than he has done in the past five years. but i think it is very constructive that he will be required to write a report. i think it is good for the appearance of justice for there to be a real, under the regulation, special counsel. i think that is a good move. >> interesting. earlier this year, i think this is interesting, your analysis. weiss actually sent a letter to lawmakers saying that he had the ability to charge hunter in any venue and did not necessarily need to be a special counsel. what changed? because earlier this week, he said he wanted to be special counsel? >> i think what is changed is, after that dramatic court hearing in delaware where the judge said, you call this an agreement? you do not agree on whether hunter biden has immunity or not . they have tried to put it back together. it has not worked, clearly. so now, david weiss is going to have to try the case. and in this kind of a political season, one of the most extraordinary in the history of our country, and one that was already dominated by trials and legal matters, he wants the absolute independence, the transparency, the ability to try this case anywhere in the country. he got that in the order. that is the big change here. he has been forced to go to trial now. hunter's lawyers are probably signaling that they are going to try to enforce this deal. they're going to say it is a binding contract and the dispute will be, how can it be a binding contract if you do not agree on immunity? >> good point. gloria, republicans, all day, having slamming this appointment today. this announcement. but many were saying something very different not that long ago. i want you to listen to what the house judiciary chairman said back in june. >> do you think it is time for a special counsel in the hunter biden investigation? >> that was the biggest take away, right? the biggest take away is the u.s. attorney, weiss, asked for special counsel status. and garland and the justice department said no. the special counsel is not warranted here. when is it? >> it's interesting, because now a spokesman for congressman, he says, weiss cannot be trusted as special counsel. what you make of that? >> be careful what you ask for. sometimes you are going to get it. they say weiss cannot be trusted because they did not like the deal that he was cutting. and they're saying, well, he will just do it again. of course, now, he has got more accountability to congress. they have asked for accountability. now they're going to get more accountability because they are going to get a report. so they're going to get more of what they wanted and they are likely to get a trial, which is also something they want because that goes into the political year, as norm was pointing out. so i do not really understand what it is they're complaining about since they are getting what they want. >> they just want the money. there is no good faith. >> sometimes people just want to complain. >> that's right. if the justice department had appointed a special counsel, making a special counsel early on, they would have said, well, you should have wanted a different special counsel. if they appointed a different special counsel, they would say, you are delaying the investigation. it will never stop. whatever they do -- >> as we all know, having cover the stories over the years, special counsel investigations normally take a long time. but given the fact that weiss has been investigating this for the past five years, we expect this time it will go much more quickly? >> i do not think they are starting from scratch. it's not just the beginning or if you stepped in. he has been investigating this for five years. unless there is some development of which we are unaware, assuming this trial will go forward on the tax charges, possibly the gun charges, this should move relatively quickly into trial over the next year. a lot of questions about how hunter biden would afford a federal trial, but it is our understanding that the same attorney who helped him pay off the taxes that he owed would also help fund this trial. they're pretty confident that they have a strong case and they will win. >> you get your thoughts on this, george. last month, these irs whistleblowers, as they call them, testified before congress that david weiss did not have full authority over the hunter biden case. listen and watch this. >> it appeared to me, based on what i experienced, that the u.s. attorney in delaware in our investigation was constantly hamstrung, limited, and marginalized by doj officials as well as other u.s. attorneys. >> do you think this move today give some credence to what those whistleblowers were suggesting? >> not at all. we have not seen any evidence that weiss was hamstrung in any way. and he says he was not. we will see. now that he has a full rain, he's got a longer leash now, ostensibly, we will see. we will see if there is any other charges coming. >> and maybe this is his way of showing that he was not hamstrung, because he could not come to the same conclusion without being hamstrung as the whistleblower said he was. >> it is going to be dramatic and important. we will watch closely in the coming weeks and months. just ahead, as deadly fires burn, we are getting harrowing stories of survival and escape being reported from maui. a "perfectly delicious" daday.. - mm. 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(scream) here comes the choo-choo train of love! inspire. sleep apnea innovation. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com. david: as we start a new school year, there's something new happening in california's public schools. they're called community schools. leslie: it really is shared leadership with families, students, educators, and communities. jessie: i feel like we're really valued as partners. david: it's a more innovative, holistic approach. grant: in addition to academic services, we look at serving the whole family. narrator: wellness centers, food pantries, and parental education. jessie: they're already making a difference. david: california's community schools: reimagining public education. we were following the breaking news. the governor of hawaii, telling me just moments ago here in the situation room that at least 59 people were killed in the maui wildfires. and that number is expected to rise. meanwhile, we are hearing very dramatic accounts for people who escaped and survived the fires. cnn's brian, is covering a this. >> people running from their homes with bare feet to escape the flames with seconds to spare. stories of people jumping into the ocean to get away from the fires. and when people recalled these stories, their trauma and despair are evident. >> all the restaurant, everything that used to be here. they are no more. >> reporter: this footage of what looks like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion was taken by emerson as he roll a bike to the historic area of lahaina on maui. his video and narration, a horrifying account of how people try to escape burning cars. >> the cars that had gotten backed up on the road, they were trying to get out. they were trying to escape that fire. but all of the cars got trapped. and all the people were stuck in those cars, trying to get out, and they had to run for their lives. and not everybody could make it. . >> reporter: a tourist from fresno says that he, his wife, and five children were able to exit their vehicle, barely. >> myself, my wife and my five kids, we got out. we found a boogie board that we hung onto. we were out there floating. it was so surreal. everything was burning around us, explosions, cars blowing up . >> reporter: embers and degree debris were flying everywhere. he said they held onto each other for about three hours in the water. >> we stuck together. we held on . we are not going to die today . and we are here, we are alive. >> one resident says that she, her two children, and her dog were in a fight or flight situation for about 30 hours after barely escaping her house. >> we stepped out of my front door, and it was just hundreds of feet of black smoke engulfing the town. it was everything i could do to just gather my kids and gather whatever i could in two minutes to get out of the house. i mean, we ran out of the house with no shoes. it was just so much. it is hard. it is a lot.. >> reporter: this video is showing a completely leveled home. he said after he ran from his home, peeled out in his truck and got on the road -- >> there were people screaming in the streets. there was no one saying this is where you should go in this is what you should do. >> reporter: john said he thought his cart as he could to save his house. >> i sat up on top of the roof and i battled the fire for about three hours. i could not do it anymore. >> reporter: he then jumped into the ocean to save himself, he said, and he said when he turned to look back at his home -- >> devastation. everything gone. >> reporter: officials say the search for survivors has included teams of cadaver dogs sifting through the remains of neighborhoods. there are many residents still nowhere to be found. hawaii governor josh greene says that in lahaina alone, upwards of about 1700 buildings may have been destroyed. he said it appears about 80% of the town is gone. utter devastation in lahaina. >> heartbreaking and deep. brian, thank you for that report. coming up, a live report from the 2024 campaign trail in iowa where republican presidential candidates are descending upon the state fair. stay with us, you are in "the situation room". republican presidential candidates including the frontrunner donald trump are pouring into iowa this week as the state fair gets underway. it's a prime chance to meet with gop voters. cnn's jeff zeleny is joining us live from the fair in des moines right now. unlike other candidates, trump won't be sitting down with iowa governor kim reynolds. so what are we expecting from trump tomorrow? >> reporter: wolf, we are expecting the former president to spend a couple hours here at the iowa state fair, of course, talking to some of his big fans, of which he has a lot here in iowa. of course, he did not win the iowa caucuses back in 2016, came in second. but he went on to win the state and the general election both in 2016 and 2020. but now this is an entirely different race. he will be coming tomorrow with a group of florida members of congress who have endorsed his candidacy over florida governor ron desantis. why is he doing that? because desantis will also be here at the same time. so, call it a bit of a political trolling exercise, if you will. but the reality here is that trump's standing in the race, while he is no doubt the frontrunner, we sat down with the iowa governor kim reynolds today to ask her about if she believes that he is the far and away eventual inevitable nominee. this is what she said. do you think republicans are wrong to see him as the inevitable nominee? >> well, i just said i think it's early. our job is not to pick the winner necessarily but to start to narrow the field. and that's really what the caucus has done. >> reporter: and in that interview, she also did not rule out the possibility of choosing a favorite at the end of the iowa caucus campaign in january, wolf. so, she certainly is making the case that this race is a fluid one. >> fluid indeed. talking to voters there, and i know you are, is there a sense that the race is more fluid than the polls would necessarily suggest? >> reporter: wolf, certainly among many republicans, of course the former president has his true core supporters, and there are many of those. but there is at least, polls would suggest, at least half of the republican party, the field who are looking for someone else. and we caught up with one voter earlier today. she voted for the former president donald trump, but now she has her eye on two other candidates. >> my favorite two are ron desantis and mike pence. i am off of trump. >> reporter: why is that? >> i think, i like what he did for the country, but he just maybe, um, comes across too crass. yeah, i don't like -- i don't necessarily like the way he comes across. >> reporter: so she is at least looking at the florida governor and the former vice president. but, wolf, it does underscore the point that this is still a long time to go before the iowa caucuses open the presidential race. next week it hits the five-month mark. so much, of course, can happen. wolf? >> all right, jeff zeleny reporting from iowa, thank you. and we'll have more news right after this. grams of protein for muscle health veversus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakeryry-inspired flavor. learn more a at boost.com/tv your wyndham is waiting. whether it's for the bucket lists... the free breakfasts and wifi... or the... romantic getaways? with 24 trusted brds by wyndhamo choose from... your wyndham is waiting. get the lowest price at wyndhamhotels.com the minute you drive off the lot. or more. that's why farmers new car replacement pays to replace it with a new one of the same make and model. get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. ♪ farmers mnemonic ♪ you get roped in with phone offers, that bind you to a 3-year device contract. break free with t-mobile! introducing go5g plus, the first plan that always gives new and existing customers the same great device deals, and you're upgrade ready in two years versus three. right now, bring t-mobile your phone and get the amazing iphone 14 on us. trapped. free. get the amazing iphone 14 on us. trapped. free. tv: try tide power pods with 85% more tide in every pod. who needs that much more tide? (crashing sounds) everyone's gonna need more tide. it's a mess out there. that's why there's 85% more tide in every power pod. -see? -baby: ah. the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy announcing every official in charge of ukraine's regional military recruitment centers has been fired. cnn's nick paton walsh has the latest. >> reporter: wolf, a very strident decision by volodymyr zelenskyy to fire the heads of all regional military recruitments. that's after weeks, maybe months, perhaps, of scandals about corruption, about the personal enrichment of those serving in those places. here's what he had to say. >> translator: we are dismissing all regional military commissioners. this system should be managed by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery in times of war is high treason. >> reporter: he said that those who replaced them would essentially be veterans from the front, people who were amputees, who perhapsed experienced so much injury they couldn't return back to the front line. i think ukraine's bid to ensure those sending their young to the fight know what their fight truly entails. this comes after a lot of days of bad news to some degree. yes, ukraine says it's still on the front line moving forward, some good news in the southern offensive, they say that they are making important but small gains around the town -- but also the previous nights have been tough. we've seen awful video from zaporizhzhia where there was a children's playground hit by two ballistic missiles, but also, again, this night sirens in kyiv and news emerging that attacks in the west may have been focused upon a training center for pilots for the f-16 program. remember, it's so vital for ukraine to have some element of fight in the skies, their air force depleted over this war, and russia experiencing air superiority amongst a lot of the front line that we've seen in the south. that makes it very hard for ukraine to keep pushing forward. and the suggestion really is that these ballistic missile attacks were essentially one or four hypersonic missiles were intercepted by ukraine, that they're aimed at slowing this advance in ukrainian forces. >> nick paton walsh, stay safe. to our viewers, thanks for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "erin burnett outfront" starts "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "outfront" next, laying down the law. the judge in the january 6th case drawing red lines for former president trump in court, warning him about witness intimidation, saying his first amendment right to free speech is, quote, not