Stopped because the building is so unstable. Just after midnight, we had some crews doing some surveilling and reconnaissance on the next door roof and noticed a slight lean in the parapit at the top of the exterior wall. For us as firefighters working under a wobbly potentially collapsing exterior wall is extremely dangerous. Nbcs Steve Patterson is outside of the warehouse. Reporter the death toll increasing from 33 to 36 people. This was already one of the worst fires if not the worst fire in oakland history in a place thats known for fires. The 1991 Oakland Hills fire killed 25 people and that number already 36 and the most heartbreaking thing to hear on scene is they certainly almost assuredly expect that number to increase as they continue to comb through the building. The next, combing through the building. Nobody getting into the building from the Recovery Team to the Investigation Team until Structural Engineers deem that once again safe. This process was going to take maybe 24 hours and could be six hurs before the Structural Engineers get on scene and make sure that the structure is once again safe to do the hard work of recovery. And then number three, officials think theyve identified a point of origin, emanating in the first floor near the back of the warehouse in the back wall and may have spread up to the second floor and then the roof but again, thats work to be done when they determine if this structure is safe. Weve been hearing harrowing tales about survivors inside at the time the fire broke. I spoke yesterday to two women who called this place home. There was a residential colony and two women who were there when the fire broke out. You have to listen to their tale of survival. Listen to this. We lost one of our own in the fire and we all knew right away, one of our other members tried to save him and wasnt able to and we all knew right away and i think hes still officially listed as missing because they havent recovered his body yet. Reporter i just had a conversation with the police chief after that latest news update, the chief is saying, again, there is a criminal Investigation Team that has been activated from the d. A. s office. That does not mean theres an open criminal investigation. Thats preliminary work thats being done. She also said they expected some sort of closure today but because of this work stoppage, likely not going to have that. So were waiting until the next update to see when those engineers get back in there to deem this safe so the work can continue. Chris . Thank you so much for that update. Lets get to politics now. A lot happening this morning in Donald Trumps transition to the white house. More than half of the cabinet positions now filled. Ben carson, the renowned neurosurgeon and the only africanamerican in the 2016 race is lead housing and urban development. Simultaneously expanding the search for the key ones, secretary of state. In the meantime, new details in the phone call between trump and taiwan. China isnt happy about it and the president elect isnt happy at china as evidenced from his tweets. Trying to keep criticism at bay saying he called him, the not the other way around but planned the call before the election. I would say to our counterparts in china that this was a moment of courtesy. The president elect talked to president ji two weeks ago that was not a matter of discussion but policy. You and i covered ben carson on the campaign trail and has no experience running an agency but looking to go to hud. Why this choice now . Its an interesting choice too. Given, chris, where these two men were when you look at like the end of 2015 when you and i were out on the campaign trail. A lot of bad blood between dr. Ben carson and donald trump. Calling him pathological, talking about his temper, making a comparison to child molestati molestation, seemed to be forgiven when dr. Carson endorsed donald trump at the time and saying he had guts, energy. Theyve been interacting in an advisory role ever since then. It is coming under fire from some and out with a statement calling dr. Carson, as she puts it, disturbingly unqualified but Lindsey Graham said, hes an agent of change in a department that could use change. Youre seeing reaction from both sides of the aisle there. I think a confidant of dr. Carson told me previously when dr. Carson was sort of considering this position and had gotten the offer right before thanksgiving, took the thanksgiving holiday to think about it, sees himself being transformational, a lot see jack kemp, for example. Look at his upbringing in inner city detroit and could in fact implement some change and improve housing and urban development. Well see how the choice develops. Weve got some movement possibly on the state department as some point as Reince Priebus said in the next two weeks. I have a feeling energy and interior are two other cabinet positions they look at pretty seriously with possible movement coming soon. I think a lot of movement up and down in the secretary of state position between now and then but in the meantime while we wait for the nations next top diplomat, the president elect seems to be doing it himself and getting attention for the phone call with taiwan. Teams been down playing it but trump is tweeting. Whats behind this strategy . Why did he take this call . It was intentional. Thats what im told by people familiar with this discussion, with this decision. It was not a willynilly phone call. This was put in place after the election or at least thought about in a deliberate and serious way. You see them say, its no big deal. Vice president elect speaking about this to others. And interestingly, john huntsman, the former ambassador to china and utah governor considered for a possible position as someone a contender for secretary of state. I think youll continue to see the fallout for a little longer yet, chris. Thank you so much, hallie jackson, as always, keeping up whats going on in trump land. And author of the cothe coming of china. It is important if the trump team has a coherent policy. Taking on china is not a bad thing. It has to happen and i think if secretary clinton would do something similar except a year and a half down the road but you have to have a coherent policy and once you take on china, you cant walk it back. Trump walked it back with the tweet saying i merely picked up the phone and pence walked it back yesterday. You dont see this as potentially a change in decades of how weve approached taiwan. I think it could be. Weve got to see what theyre going to do. This is prearranged. The taiwan president would have never called if she thought it would be rejected because it would be extremely embarrassing. And unity in american actions. How extraordinary would it be if heres what were looking at doing . Because this isnt just u. S. Policy. Taiwan is not recognized by the united nations. Fewer than two dozen have any diplomatic relations. Athletes cant even march in the olympics under taiwan. So what kind of approach does this signal if this is a signal to how the Trump Foreign Policy Team is going to operate . Theyll operate in an unpredictable manner. Theyll take the initiative. China has always challenged new u. S. President s. Both bush and obama in dangerous ways so trump is saying, youre not going to cause a crisis because im going to set the tone and the agenda. Thats fine as long as hes determined because the chinese have a lot of political will. Weve got more cards, theyve got more political will. The question is how this turns out but your first question, this would be Ground Breaking if they upgrade relations with taiwan and sort of downgrade with beijing. I think that needs to happen, but i want it done well. Whats the advantage . I think we need to impose costs on china for unacceptable behavior. We said, lets bring in china to the international system. If were friendly, theyll help us. That hasnt worked especially over the last 16 years. China has really moved backwards, so we need a new approach and imposing costs on china i think is the way. I dont know if trump will do that but a lot of his advisors who set this call up do agree with that approach and might be a good thing if they, as i said, are willing to see this through. Reince priebus agrees there needs to be changes here. What kind of conversations are they having and what kind of reaction would you expect from them . I think they are stunned. They expected trump to actually take them on as president. But this is before the oath of office. Hes now sort of creating his own Foreign Policy in the absence of an nsc and in absence of the state department and i think they look at this and say, oh my god, what happened . And they supported him when he talked about that in march. Now i think they got buyers remorse. It will be fascinating to watch and consequential beyond our ability to express. Gordon chang, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Protesters celebrate after the Dakota Access pipeline route. Jill steins battle recount continues and shell hold a rally just moments from now and a live report on that. Missing california woman found on the side of the road 140 miles from her home. The ransom expert who said he was brought in to bring her home joins me. 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Opioids block pain signals, but can also block activity in the bowel. Which is why it can feel like your opioid pain med is slowing your insides to a crawl. Longing for a change . Have the conversation with your doctor about oic, and ask about prescription treatment options. Made on behalf of those living with chronic pain and struggling with oic. Protesters against the Dakota Access oil pipeline are celebrating the decision to look for an alternate route away from the native American Water source but their celebration may be shortlived. House Speaker Paul Ryan blasted the federal governments ruling in a tweet promising to continue the fight into next year. This is Big GovernmentDecision Making at its worst. I look bard to putting this antienergy presidency behind us. Said its an environmental and cultural threat and they said it will boost the economy. The project has now been halted at least for mow. Cal, wow, it looks very cold out there. Youve been with the protesters for days now. Whats their reaction at this point . Reporter theyre in a bit of shock. This camp is waking up to the news the Energy TransferPower Company in charge of building this pipeline has released the statement. Well put it up on the screen. The statement basically thumbs the finger at the administration saying this is politics at its worst and the company will continue the construction of the pipeline. Its not going to change the reality and word is spreading that was the case. You said there was jubilation. People thought this was a historic day or moment between native american tribes and the federal government and now it seems like the question is remaining. The veterans havent moved. Ill show you the vet tents. Kind of creating their own little city and many are here to protect the water protectors, put themselves between the authorities and the people on this camp. Add to that, you have the largest gathering of native americans in modern history here and a lot of these tribes are simply angry and when the jubilation broke out, some tribes said, listen, we havent been able to trust the federal government in over 150 years. Why would we trust this decision to stick . Theres a lot of questions here and ill tell you, the National Guard had pulled back from these ridges behind me and theyre back here this morning. Weve seen a number of humvees and up armored trucks. The bridges that separates from the authorities is reinforced. Its a wait and see situation here but certainly all of the elements for a clash are now back on, i think, chris. Thank you so much, cal perry. I want to bring in california congressman raul ruiz, an opponent of the pipeline. Good to see you, congressman, good morning. Good morning, nice to be here, chris. Whats your reaction . The Standing Rock sioux have the right to selfdetermination and have a say in matters that affect their health and cultural preservation. We all have that right and so do the tribes. This isnt just a matter of justice. This is the law. And the problem was that the army corps of engineers in their haste to fast track this process and permit did not heed the warnings and the severe warnings of the epa that said their assessment on the environmental risk was off. That it was too risky. They had to disregard two sacred sites and no meaningful consultation with the tribes. Thats where we have this conflict now and the fact that the army corps of engineer went back and reviewed their decisionmaking process and realized they were in violation of those recommendations that were offered by the other agencies are now deciding to do the right thing and not allow the pipeline to go over federal land that could put at risk clean Drinking Water of not only the tribes but millions of families that live down stream from that site. You know opponents of your position are ready for the next week. You saw that in the tweet from paul ryan. North Dakota Republican congressman kramer said, todays unfortunate decision sends a very chilling signal to others who want to build infrastructure in this country. So what are the chances this decision holds in your mind . Whats the next step . To make sure we hold the administration, the army corps of engineers accountable to their process and that they make sure that they follow the laws that are in the books right now. Thats the problem, you know, they say its Big Government at its worst when government doesnt follow their own laws or when it doesnt benefit their own political ambition. But im an emergency medical physician. Im a Public Health expert. I visited the site and saw that 16,000 gallons of oil could be transported in one minute and any leak could be devastating, catastrophic to the drinking wart. Thats just not my opinion. This was the opinion of the scientists and experts from the epa, department of interior and others, go back, do a full environmental statement and then make your decisions and this is what they did and realized it was too risky. So rerouting it is not an alternative. You want this stopped and a whole new review done. No, maam. I dont want them to build underneath lake oahe and they should determine where else they could transport this oil but keep it away from the tribes drinking sites. If it was too risky near bismarck, why would it be okay to build it over the waters that the gnnative americans use for their health . Im sure well talk again as this continues. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Up next, the latest on the president ial election recounts. Jill stein is holding a rally outside of trump tower this morning and is Donald Trumps selection to the highest position in the world having an impact on others around the world . New fallout overseas. This one is from Channel Islands national park. Coronado. Saguaro. Youll see theres one thats an eagle. My number one goal is getting more funds out to parks because some animals and plants are only found in one place in the world, and thats in some national parks. I find thats a great cause, and i want to support it. avo the subaru share the love event has donated over four Million Dollars to help the national parks. Get a new subaru, and well donate two hundred and fifty dollars more. Put a little love in your heart. Incr. Think it wouldotection in a pwork, but it does. Dnt. Its called always discreet for bladder leaks, the super. Absorbent core turns liquid to gel. I know im wearing it but no one else will. Always discreet for bladder leaks. Everything your family touches sticks with them. Make sure the germs they bring home dont stick around. Use clorox disinfecting products. Because no one kills germs better than clorox. The green partys 2016 president ial nominee jill stein out on their recount efforts. Michigan will be the second state to count their ballots again. Trump won that state. Wisconsin is already recounting votes. Anne thompson at trump tower for us. Can you get a sense outside of jill stein and her supporters . How big is the appetite for these recounts . Reporter the appetite, at least here on the corner of fifth and 56th, is not very big for these recounts. About 30 feet to my left, the green party is holding a News Conference. It is primarily attended by the media. There are some, i would say, 20 green Party Supporters there, people in favor of the recount. Theres also a number of Trump Supporters who are there telling the green Party Supporters, look, you lost, get over it. But the green party is not getting over it. The headline from this press conference is that this morning they are going to federal court in pennsylvania to seek an emergency