Borderline bar and grill. This all took place in the middle of the night in thousand oaks. That is just northwest of los angeles. 10 to 15 other people wounded at this hour, being treated in the hospital, badly hurt from the melee as investigators are scrambling to identify the gunman and figure out a motive. It was college night. The place was packed. Students were line dancing, enjoying their favorite country songs. The Police Response was immediate and the first officer through the door, there he is. Sergeant ron helus. He was shot himself. He died of his wounds at a hospital shortly after. Hes being called a hero this morning. Ron was a hardworking, dedicated sheriffs sergeant. He was totally committed. He gave his all. And tonight, as i told his wife, he died a hero because he went he went in to save lives, to save other people. He took an enormous risk and gave the ultimate sacrifice. The scene inside that club is horrific. And the gunman also dead. Nick, i know you have been talking to witnesses this morning. They tell a harrowing tale. They do. We heard the sheriff there breaking up talking about Sergeant Ron Helus who within minutes was with a california highway patrolman. They were first on the scene and tried to get into the club because they could still here gunfire and they knew people needed help. They were met with a hail of bullets. The highway patrolman tried to drag him to safety, but it was too late and he died later of his injuries. Now, there is more pain to come. Medical exam iners are trying t identify those who died. We have been talking to eye witnesses all morning. Many of them describe this gunman coming in, wearing black, short barrel handgun. Many people saying they hid under tables. There was a short pause in the firing and they managed to smash windows and escape. I want to talk to one of those people who managed to get out. You were in the club. You were standing near the bar. What did you see first . At first i didnt see anything. All i heard was the gunshots. And thats not a sound that you ever want to hear in a crowded place where it is not supposed to be happening. I just followed the sound and i saw, just like you said, a tall, dark figure with a handgun opening fire on one of my Close Friends, actually. Reporter hang on. You saw him fire and hit one of your friends . Yes, i did. One of my Close Friends was working the front desk at this bar. And i saw that. And i knew that we had to act immediately if peoples lives were going to be saved. Reporter do you know if shes okay . I do not. Reporter and you managed to smash a window with a stool and get out . We saw him and we dropped down immediately. The group of five or six guys i was with, and we just covered. We covered all the girls and then when there was a pause in the bullets and the shot sounds, we actually got up, and i watched one of my friends throw a stool through the window. And then a couple more of us threw stools through the windows, and we got everyone together and pushed as many people out of that window as we could until there was just three or four of us left. While we were jumping out, we heard the next round of shots coming. We jumped down to the lower level and we just basically pushed and moved as many people as we could down as far away as we could. Reporter thank you very much for sharing your story. Guys, back to you in new york. Nick watt, people desperatery trying to save their lives. Two weeks ago we talked about a w scene inside a synagogue. Sergeant, thank you for taking the time. I know this has been a difficult morning for you. You lost a colleague this morning, Sergeant Ron Helus. Do you believe, sergeant, that his quick action and the risk that he took helped save lives . I think so. I dont think there is anything more heroic than what he did. He went in there to save lives. He took decisive action, and its just a tragic loss for us. It is also tragic the gentleman who was just speaking about the things that went on inside the club. People inside took heroic action as well. This is just a horrific situation for them to face. Sergeant, i think we all wish that we would respond the way that your brave, heroic college did. But you never know. What would you really do . Would you run in . Would you risk your life . Can you take a moment to tell us about him, the man, the people he leavines behind. We came on right around the same time 29 years ago, and hes also a really enthusiastic, very energetic man. A true cop. I mean, he worked narcotics, investigative assignments, he was on the swat team for many years. He had a natural instinct for going after crooks. He did it with enthusiasm, with a great deal of intelligence, and he loved spending time with his son. They would go fishing up in the sierras together. My heart goes out to his family. Sergeant, i know it is early, but do we know anything about the shooter who carried out this attack . We heard a witness there describing him dressed in black. Do we know who he is or why he targeted this location . We dont have those details yet. Our investigators are still working to determine what led this person to come here last night and commit this act. We just dont know. And this investigation is going to take a long time. We all have to be patient. We have got a lot of folks in there working. It is a horrific scene. There is a lot of evidence. And its going to take time to identify the bodies, identify the suspect and then take the actions that we need to look at his history and find out what was going on in his life and what led him to this place at this time to do the horrible things he did. Thank you so much for helping us answer some of those questions and help remember a true hero and the family, his son that he loved to fish with that he left behind. Joining us now is trish, who was at the bar when this happened. Thank you for joining us. Talk to us about what you remember most, what strikes you from those minutes. It was really peaceful. Everyone was enjoying themselves. And the fact that it all happened so fast and the sudden turn of events. People were looking around, you know. Everyone saw this gunman come in all dressed in black. Sorry. A little bit of a bad connection there, but you were saying you saw the gunman come in all dressed in black. Did you see him fire shots . So, yes, i saw at least 12 to 15 shots go off. It was happening so fast. And, i mean, he shot the Security Guard first and then he moved on to people who were actually laying down on the ground who were innocent and just not moving at all and he just shot them point blank. You say there was a Security Guard at the club and he shot him. Was the guard, could you tell, was the guard armed . Did the guard was the guard attempting to respond . No. Thank you. And again some of that was breaking up there, but you did hear him. He was inside the club. He saw the shooter fire 12 to 15 shots, including targeting people on the ground after they fell. Thank you very much. We do have some other breaking news into cnn. Supreme Court Justice ruth baiter ginsburg has fallen and fractured three ribs. She is 85 years old, the sitting supreme Court Justice. Lets go to our Supreme Court reporter. What can you tell us about rbg . What happened and her condition right now. Reporter we just got the press release. Justice ruth baiter ginsburg fell in her office at the court last evening. She went home, but after experiencing discomfort overnight she went to George WashingtonUniversity Hospital early this morning. Test showed that she fractured three ribs on her left side and she was admitted for observation and treatment. Updates will be provided. As you know, shes 85 years old. She has had two bouts of cancer, never missed a day on the bench. She was on the bench yesterday and this week. And were all gathered here today because it is the formal induction of brett kavanaugh, but all eyes will be thinking about ruth baiter ginsburg. She is the most senior liberal on this court. And shes very active. I mean, if you havent seen rbg, she exercises. But just very clearly here, so shes being treated. No evidence this is life threatening . No. Is the prognosis she will recover . Give us what we know about how serious this injury is. Reporter all we know is the statement she has fractured three ribs. She has broken a rib before. She went home, right. But then she felt discomfort. So out of abundance of caution, she did go to George Washington hospital here, so she wont be at the court. Were just waiting for updates. We know you will stay on top of the news. We at cnn will stay on top of that news and all the news on the shooting Going Forward, plus the fate of the Mueller Investigation. Unclear this morning. Now that a strong critic of the probe is overseeing it. What the acting attorney general Matthew Whittaker has said in the past that is currently sparking concerns. Also, it is not over yet. Major races still undecided. Where things stand straight ahead. Alexa, play weekend mix. The new lincoln mkc. Connecting the world inside, with the world outside. So you can move through both a little easier. Introducing the wellconnected 2019 lincoln mkc. In just minutes, President Trump to head to the Supreme Court for a formal welcoming ceremony for Justice Brett kavanaugh. Also there matt whittaker, his first day on the job. Whittaker will speak at the event in place of Jeff Sessions. Meanwhile, calls continue for whittaker to recuse himself from over seeing the special counsel, Robert Muellers russia probe. He has made critical remarks about the probe, the scope of it in the past. Joining us now, our justice reporter who broke all of the news yesterday as it was happening. Remarkable reporting by you and the entire team as this was going down yesterday, laura. What should everyone this morning waking up know about the man that will now oversee the entire russia probe. He has fiercely defended the president in the past, appearing regularly on tv, talking almost as a surrogate for him. I want to read a piece he wrote for cnn back in august of 2017 before he was sessions chief of staff where he talked about how he agreed with the president , that there would be a limit, perhaps a bridge too far that mueller shouldnt cross if he tried to go after the president s personal financial information. He says this, quote, the president is absolutely correct. Mueller has come up to a red line in the russia 2016 election meddling investigation, that he is dangerously close to rossing. He goes on to say, quote, if he were to continue to investigate the financial relationships, he would raise serious concerns that the special counsels investigation was a mere witch hunt, echoing there, of course, the president s catch phrase that we hear all the time about a witch hunt. Again, something that we would hear from a surrogate. But now of course hes the Top Justice Department official as the acting attorney general supervising the mueller probe. I want to play for you a little bit of sound to give you color with our cnn don lemon. Take a listen. I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment and that attorney general doesnt fire bob mueller but reduces the budget so low that his investigation reduces almost to a halt. In the meantime, democrats on the house and over sight committees, the democrats who plan to take the lead in these investigations in january have already sent preservation letters over to the Justice Department and the fbi asking that officials maintain and preserve all documents related to sessions firing and the Mueller Investigation. Guys . And before you go, lets just make people aware of the checks here, though, right . Yes, he has the power to fire mueller if he wanted to, but he would have to have good cause to do so, conflict of interest. He would have to defend the decision before congress, right . Thats exactly. Under the justice didnt regulations, whittaker cant just fire mueller because he wants to. These are not normal times, but the rules contemplate oversight. It is not just the firing of mueller. It is also if he curtails the probe in any significant way. If he says, mueller, you have gone too far, he actually has to report that to congress, poppy. Thanks very much. Joining us is Jeffrey Tubin as well as former mayor of cincinnati, ken blackwell, who happens to be a longtime friend of Jeff Sessions. Just on the power that whittaker now has over the russia investigation, and there are limits and laura laid some of those out, is the issue less him outright firing mueller ending the investigation and more limits barriers that he could put around it. Brain stanc for instance, mueller would have to okay indictments with the attorney general before he goes forward . Yes, thats right. I wouldnt say it is one or the other. I would say its both. I mean, yes, of course the new attorney general has the power to fire him, but he also has the power to restrict the investigation, limit his budget, reject indictments, reject requests for travel and investigative options for muellers office. Thats thats what hes advocated in the past. That, it appears, is the reason the president named him in the first place. And, you know, the checks that you and laura were talking about, theyre not really big checks. All they are they make up the senate. Because they are simply requirements to testify and explain to congress. But no teeth. Yeah. Congress cant really do anything about it except impeach him or impeach the president , which theyre not going to do. Look, you said when this news broke yesterday, this is a president in charge of the Mueller Investigation. The president is going to do nothing about it. But i kept asking myself, jeffrey, what about senators lindsey graham. You had members of congress who had proposed back legislation to protect mueller. Never happened. Never happened in a million years. Mitch mcconnell, given the republicans gratitude to the president for what he did for them, which was a lot during this campaign, they are never going to pass legislation that restricts or protects mueller in any way. Yes, it is true tom tillis has this piece of legislation with chris koonz, the democrat, that is going exactly nowhere. Ken, you knew Jeff Sessions. Im curious. Does he believe that he was wronged here . Look, there were those of us who thought that he had earned a more graceful exit. He had been in the forefront of advancing the president s agenda. But in the final analysis, it was the president s call. You know, one of the things that i think is important to underscore here is that he and now attorney general whittaker got along. They, in fact, are friends. I happen to know mr. Whittaker, and i actually think that he will color within the lines. He will understood what he can do and what the president can do. But he will advise the president as to what he should do that stays within the framework of constitutional governance and common sense. To you both, whittaker also wrote this last summer on cnn opinion piece. If he, meaning mueller, were to continue the investigate the financial relationship without a broadened scope in his appointment, meaning of the president , then this would raise serious concerns that the special counsels investigation were a mere witch hunt. The fact that he used the word witch hunt, which is president has used over and over with the probe, compare that with this. This really struck me this morning reading it with our jake tapper. I dont see any current reason or good reason that bob mueller shouldnt stay in that special counsel role. There is no honest person that sits in the world of politics and the world of law that can find anything wrong with bob mueller. So Jeffrey Tubin, to you first, which do we believe . The first not the second. I mean, why was he appointed . There is only one reason. I mean, you know, with all respect to mr. Whittaker, he is a person not with the stature, nor with the experience to be attorney general of the united states. He was briefly u. S. Attorney in des moines, whiposition, but it not the kind of position that leads to this usually. He was appointed to limit the Mueller Investigation. Whether he will, how he will, i dont know. But, i mean, who is kidding whom here . What do you think, mayor . Well, look, i think heres the fact that gets passed by. Mr. Rosenstein actually is conflicted. So the issue is can mr. Whittaker now provide oversight, stay within the lines of constitutional governance and, in fact, you know, keep keep mr. Mueller on the straight and narrow . The fact of the matter is that he didnt get a blank check. He didnt get a license to go into a whole variety of areas. It was a very, very precise course of action that he was supposed to be pursuing. So, look, there are no free lunches for anybody in this. I think we are lucky that folks will, in fact, stay within the lines and act within constitutional governance norms. Jeffrey, just quickly. Comeys firing sparked the Mueller Investigation. Correct. Can sessions firing spark another special counsel investigation . I dont think so. It could be evidence in the existing Mueller Investigation. For obstruction of justice. For obstruction of justice. Our colleagues have reported that even while he was attorney general, Jeff Sessions gave interviews to mueller about his own involvement in this case. I assume that the Mueller Office will interview him again. Right. Because it is all part of the same maybe it will turn out to be a selfinflicted wound. We know the Top Democrats are asking to preserve the documents for their investigation as well. Thank you very much. Also, were getting new details right now about the shooter in this horrific mass sho