>> always preeappreciate your i. thanks for joining us today. the lead with jake tapper starts right now. thanks, erica. so you're telling me that president trump is tweeting anjali about potential conflicts of interest on a presidential trip to his own golf course. the lead starts right now. fury raging inside the president, spilling out all over twitter. new attacks targeting mueller. rudy giuliani still talking. now, he's float iing the idea oa meeting before the meeting with the russians at trump tower. where did that come from? plus, a fire half the size of new york city burning so hot it's creating its own weather patterns, destroying almost 1,000 buildings, taking more lives. the scene in kcalifornia. as thousands go through hell to get out.

welcome, everyone. we begin this afternoon with the politics lead. the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, chuck grassley, was minutes ago asked whether the president's son, donald trump jr., may have misled members of congress. as you know, the president's former lawyer, michael cohen, sources say, claims that president trump knew about the trump tower meeting with the russian lawyer promising dirt on hillary clinton ahead of time. they have strongly denied that. quote, if he misled the committee, he's lying to congress. a crime. grassley said about donald trump jr. and that would be up to the prosecutors. not me. a remarkable statement by the chairman of the senate judiciary committee about the president's son. this as president trump comes close to breaking his own monthly record for twitter attacks on special counsel mueller's investigation. that was a presidential twitter weekend that was known for its harshness and vitriol, claiming the investigation is rigged and quote, illegal scam, which

according to director of national intelligence, it is not. but even as the president denies wrong doing, there has been a note bable change in strategy and what critics call a moving of the goal post for trump allies on his legal team and in congress and the media. with many proceeding from having suggested that any possible suggestion of collusion is an unhundred hinge theory that fwld no big deal. take a listen to darrell issa and rudy giuliani. >> if he's proven to have not told the whole truth and the fact that campaigns look for dirt fand someone offers it, you listen to them, nobody's going to be surprised. >> i don't know if a crime. colluding about russians. >> jeff zellany joins me now. he did not address mueller, but his feelings on the b subject are quite clear and he seems to

be getting angrier. >> no question about it. one thing that is happening this week that's different, it is the first time that one of truch's associates, the former campaign chairman, is beginning to have th charges heard this week. paul manafort will be standing trial in alexandria, virginia. the president trying to discredit bob mueller. he didn't talk ab it today, but it's clear mueller is on his mind. >> president trump taking new aim at the russia investigation. as the fraud trial paul manafort opens this week. the president has robert mueller on his mind. personally calling out the special counsel in one weekend tweet after another. he often rails against the investigation, but seldom mentioned mueller by name like this. >> thank you very much. thank you. >> with the italian prime minister visiting today, the president taking questions, but

not calling on reporters trying to get his take on what rudy giuliani has hours talking about. >> do you feel betray ed by cohen? the president said he would meet with iran without preconditions in what could be the latest chapter in his ongoing feud with the regime. >> i'd ready to meet anytime they want to. i don't do that from strength or from witness. >> do you have preconditions for that meet somethiing? >> no, they want to meet, i'll meet. >> thank you very much, everybody. thank you. >> if the president and his allies are trying to discredit mueller just as manafort stands trial on financial fraud charges. giuliani insist iing that he haa conflict with the president. >> stand up and be a man. >> on cnn's new day, giuliani saying he's not sure collusion with russia would be considered a crime. >> they're not going to be colluding about russians. which i don't know if that's a

crime. colluding about russians. you start analyzing the crime, the hacking is the crime. the hacking is the crime. >> the president -- it's a sign the president's legal team is is trying move the goal posts on the probe as the investigation moves closer to president trump's inner circle, he's trying to distance him from manafort. >> he was never involved in intimate business relationship with donald trump. >> the president's lawyer is doing the talking for the president on all things russia. all things michael chone and he's doing quite a lot of talk ing. jake. >> jeff, thanks so much. let's talk to our experts. laura coates, our former federal prosecutor, i want you to listen about what the crime might have been. >> i don't know if that's a crime. colluding about russians. start analyzing the crime, the hacking is the crime. >> the president didn't hack. >> before we get to the moving of the goal posts going on here,

what could be the crime? he's right in the fact that collusion not a crime. but what might be a crime? >> he's the c word, collusion, but there are other ones that fall under the actual umbrella like conspiracy or campaign finance violation tss or general crimes of that nature. what you're suggesting is that collusion is a crime in the antitrust world, it's being used here to show the term of the concerted activity between two or more people to try to plan for a crime or other nefarious behavior. so if there is some indication they are doing that, it could fall under that. this is a game of semantics, not of substance. i think mueller wants the arguments out there. ron wants to play the tomato tomato. >> what might you be looking for if you were e investigating this? sfl certainly nothing rudy giuliani says, he's a mouthpiece. not a lawyer.

the issue here is if you bothered to read the indictments, michael flynn, paul manafort, going on trial this week. that was money and lying, it's not cooperation with the russians. if i'm don jr., jared kushner, i'm worried about money. michael cohen talking about dirty money. not necessarily worried about collusion. but the story that we're hearing now is correct. collusion is not a crime. that said f, if you sit down wi a russian and they offer you something of value, for example, interfering in social media -- >> let's make it, just for the sake of -- >> apologize. >> it would never happen in pennsylvania. >> something of value from a foreign power. i wouldn't call that collusion. i'd call it conspiracy. >> let's think about this. so the first case we have up out of the blocks. paul manafort. paul manafort's case, mueller has said, he's presenting no evidence of any interaction with the russians whatsoever.

this is a case about bank fraud. and money laundering. that's the first case out of the block. >> but there are plenty of other cases involved that have to deal with it. there are 12 russian military processors. >> what is the connection between -- >> papadopoulos. >> papadopoulos was so far in the orbit of this campaign. i can tell you, i was involved in this campaign in a more than just passing way. and papadopoulos and carter page were no longer to be seen. >> i think what people are having a hard time with with is last february of 2017, donald trump said we knew nothing about russia. there was nothing going on there. now five americans have been charged with criminal charges. you have multiple russians charged. a dutch official charged. there's more and r more coming out. this investigation is ongoing. i know it's a favorite talking point of people who support trump that nothing has been found. it hasn't been concluded.

mueller has not concluded the investigation. >> if you're going to open, open big. you don't open, you're not going to open -- this has been going on for how many monmonth many m. >> the phrase i would use is go big or go home and in this case, mueller has not gone home and he's gotten over 300 different charnls that have been filed. i wouldn't conflate the issue of saying because there has not be a direct connection to donald trump, and by robert mueller's team, does not mean there has not been clus between members of the campaign including people like paul manafort and rick gates and michael flynn and you have that con flags to say that nothing has happened. >> paul manafort -- of the 35 witnesses, i mean, sure you look ed at them. not one are are from the campaign. >> in that one case. you see this shifting of goal posts, you are still talking about how there was no collusion. but there are a number people,

jurudy giuliani, darrell issa saying even if tlrks , there wa, i don't care, it's no big deal. >> i believe it didn't happen. >> there is no, the russians meddled. absolutely. did the russians meddle in conjunction with somebody on the campaign? maybe carter page was out in la la land some place. right? but there was no orchestrated effort by the campaign which included the russians. >> i agree with a point you've raised. the idea of paul manafort, there's a great deal to lose. if it's an unsuccessful trial, not because there's nothing there, but because people have hinged everything on somebody who was the campaign chairman or donald trump's campaign when they should, but doesn't mean there's nothing there. just means so far -- >> jen, lease take another crack at giuliani talk iing about mueller's investigation. >> isn't done yet. you know how long these things take. >> of course it's done.

if they're looking at his tweets, it's done. obstruction by tweet on a president of the united states? >> i mean, first of all, the white house's official position is that tweets from president trump who uses twitter like no one else in presidential history, that they are official statements and we have talked about this before. potentially and official statement can be obstruction of justice. not saying it is in this case, but it can be. >> well look, i think this is always a battle the bhous has internationally about what president trump's tweets mean and what they don't mean. giuliani is like a bombastic surrogate. he's clearly has no idea what's happening. is not really speaking for the white house. isn't really speaking for the investigation. so whether trump's tweets should be part of the obstruction case, i guess that's for mueller to decide. but they're presidential statements. >> as an fbi official, do you think a tweet or a presidential

statement can be obstruction of justice or intimidation of witnesses or anything along those lines? >> i suppose so, but i think it's unlikely. i think david hit the nail on the head. this is where i think the president is successful. he keeps talk iing about obstruction of justice. i don't think there will be a charge. if i had to bet in vegas, i don't think there will be charge about cooperation or conspiracy, the charges i suspect, the continued charges if there are more, will be related to money and the answer from and we're see iing this in the strategy fm giuliani and the president, the answer is to going to a bunch of middle class americans which i find stunning, financial fraud is sort of second rated. if you avoid tens of millions in taxes, not a big dealment financial fraud ought to be dusted off as insignificant. if you find that during the investigation, what do you say in paul manafort, it's okay if you hid a bufshlg of money from the irs? i can't do that. why can paul manafort do it. >> i'm really surprised by that,

phil. you know of course that an obstruction charge is never an end game for an investigating unit. they'ir dwoel is not to try to charge somebody what they're looking for. it would be adoykin to giving ya speeding ticket and ignoring what you were fleeing from. doesn't mean they're not going to find charges if there are out there to do so. i wouldn't be so dismissive. i'm wondering why you are. >> take a break. come back and after the break, you'll answer that question. robert mueller not the only target of president trump's ir ere and could getting a gun be as simple as downloading a document and hitting a print? the new guns will be available this week. stay with us. -we're in a small room. what?! -welcome. -[ gasps ] a bigger room?! -how many of you use car insurance?

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stepped up his twitter attacks. 20 in may, 26 in june. 18 this month. he can beat his record, one more day. i want to before the break, laura was challenging you, phil. you said a this you don't think there will be ultimately obstruction or conspiracy charges. >> she didn't challenge me. she asked me a question. >> i like a challenge. >> i think there's some rules of the game that i would apply. that is that special counsel knows he's going to into shark pit, snake pit, shark tank, whatever it is. he's not going to charge 57 in a 55 zone. if you want to git get toefr bar, i want to see something that is significant and i want to see intent behind it. i think the likelihood that he can show that somebody in the campaign, don jr., jared kushner, received something substantial from the russians and that they intended to receive it, there might be snippets of that, but i think to get over par where he's standing in front of the american people saying i'm confident we can win

this in court, not sure about that. >> there are a lot of observers, sport supporters of the president even who say if he's innocent, why does he act the way he does. why is he constantly attacking the special counsel. he's acting in their view, like somebody who has something to hide. >> again, i think the president conflates two things. the investigation, russian meddling with attack on his legitimacy as president. i think he sees it as a front. the president was dually elected by the american people and he sees this by democrats and others to understood mine that. >> the president repeated wup of his talking point that is all of mueller's investigators are angry. he's a long time registered republican. he has asemibabled a team of 17 lawyers and dozens of fbi agents to help with this investigation. nine of the lawyers donated to democratic candidates before 2017. eight gave only the democrats what one has donated to democrats an republicans before. as we know, you're not allowed

when you're hiring people to ask them what their politics are or to look into who they've given money to. >> i think the ultimate question here is is it impact how they're doing their jobs. if not, it doesn't matter. just like it doesn't matter if they had given to republican candidates in the past. this is about one thing. it's about questioning and delegitimizing the mueller investigation, which is an ongoing campaign by trump and his team. they know at some point, this is going to come to a conclusion. they need their supporters and people to rally behind them as this being a witch hunt, which is they they keep saying that and why they keep throwing mud into the pit here about whether or not this is a legitimate process. >> does the fact there are prosecutors here who have made political donations, does that pother you, b troeuble you? >> i know some of thome them and my friends have been named in the press. these guys are serious as heart attack. so i think my experience, personal experience with them is great investigators.

let me flip the question for you. in the united states of america, we want to go into an investigation saying mr. mueller, i'd like to determine who everybody voted for on your team and who they contributed to because we are going eliminate people, vowhoever voted. the only people who shacan participate in a political investigation are people who voted for the candidate? doesn't sound like america to me. >> doesn't matter whether mueller or rosenstein are affiliated. unlike other countries, perhaps, you can't charge a crime baseded on a prosecutor. it has to go through a grand jury. they have to determine there are charges to bring back. if that's the case, their partisanship is not an issue and should not be held over everything else. >> there's prosecutorial direction. >> the flip side is there has to be some republicans in the

department of justice. there are going to be some good lawyers! should we be taking issue tot fact mueller is a republican? >> i think if you're director mueller, when you put your team together knowing it's going to be under incredible scrutiny, you might not pick some folks that donated 100,000 buck to a democratic caucus. this isn't somebody writing a check for 500 bucks in the case for one of these lawyers. if you're look tog tracing to track -- >> don't you want to best lawyers? >> i would think you want to make sure there are folks who aren't hyper partisan. not bothered by someone who 2500 bucks, but there are a few who are substantial donors and that trouble message a bit. >> i do recall when ken castarr was going after bill clinton. he was a conservative republican and i think that's born out in his subsequent appearances. he also stuck to the letter of the law. >> true.

look and that was sort of mueller himself was a prominent democratic donor and somebody who had given hundred of thousands of dollars, that would be a big story. >> stick around. more to talk about. president trump's lawyer raising a possibility of another meeting before the famous trump tower meeting. only to say that first meeting never happened, what is giuliani getting at here? stay with us. ordinary stains say they can do the job, but behr premium stain can weather any weather. overall #1 rated, weathers it all. find our most advanced formula exclusively at the home depot. new laptop with 24/7 tech support. yep, thanks guys. i think he might need some support. yes start them off right. with the school supplies they need

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in politics lead, rudy giuliani going after his old lawyer. this morning comparing cohen to some of the most notorious traitors in history, suggesting cohen a kin to benedict arnold and julius ceaser. not to mention diago, but amid this, giuliani seemed to stumble a bit, mentioning something we had not heard about before. cohen is alleging that two days before the meeing with russians, some on team trump held a planning meeting. what's this? jessica schneider has more. >> tonight, giuliani on the attack, going after cohen personally. >> the guy is unethical, a scum bag, a horrible person. >> and pushing back against the revelation that accord ting to sources, cohen claims he is p

prepared to tell the special counsel the president knew in advance about donald trump's meeting at trump tower on june 16 and approved of it. >> when you're lying, tlas track for you. there was a one on bun me-on-oi that donald trump came in. there are two witnesses to say it didn't happen. >> the president and his son. >> right. >> they have a self-interest in saying. >> actually and cohen has a much bigger self-interest in saying the opposite. >> even at giuliani denied any knowledge, he seemed to muddy the waters about what meetings may have taken place. he brought up for the first time, another meeting without the president three days before the russians met at trump tower. giuliani said report es had been asking about its occurrence and giuliani is trying make clear it didn't happen. >> there wasn't another meeting that has been leaked, but hasn't been public yet. that was a meeting and alleged

meeting. three days before. he says it was a meeting with donald trump jr. with jared kushner. with paul manafort. and possibly two others. to discuss the meet wg the president. we checked with their lawyers before the stakes. that meeting never took place. didn't happen. it's a figment of his imagination. >> giuliani has been all over the air waves in recent days on the offensive. the discourse has been a complete 108 180. >> i do not expect cohen is going to lie. i think he's going to tell the truth. how did i know he was a lawyer taping his client?

i got to say r sorry, made a mistake. >> when asked if the president would ever f pardon cohen if he was charge wd a crime, rudy giuliani said that was the president's prerogative, but that obviously the president would never pardon anyone during an ongoing vest dpags. jake. >> thanks, jessica. >> and we have just received a brand-new statement from donald trump jr.'s lawyer. about michael cohen claims that president trump knew about that trump tower meeting ahead of time. quote, we have investigating this matter for over a year. we are fully confident of the accuracy and liability of the information that has been provided by donald trump jr. in the various investigations. unquote. whether he told the committees investigating this. because michael cohen, whatever you think about his crede bability, he is saying something dimpb.

>> of course. i have been a part of writing a lot of statements with lawyers. this is a very lawyered statement. it didn't say anything or reconfirm anything ab and it's not in clear english. what it doesn't say the meeting never happened, doesn't say there was no meeting ever. it doesn't say we never met with russians. this leaves a lot of questions. out there and certainly, i think trump jr.'s vulnerability is what we keep coming back to. what donald trump jr. has said is that he has told the truth to whole time. his dad was not at the meeting and he didn't tell him about meeting afterwards. trump said he didn't find out until before it break last summer. this is information you believe. upg it's all true. you've worked in this town long enough.

if someone's told somebody on capitol hill, we'd know it. we'd know it five minutes after it happened. so yeah, i believe it. actually happened the way don jr. said it happened. if they did get help, no big deal. people close to president trump and team trump are now seem tog acknowledge that maybe he was told after the fact despite the fact president trump said the opposite. i want you to listen to sound from anthony scaramucci and sam nunburg. >> could he have known after the fact? i think possible. >> i would be surprised when you have paul manafort, jared kushner and don jr. in this meeting if the president was made aware about it sometime after tfact if not before.

>> do you think they are also kind of moving the goal post and preparing people for the revelation that maybe president trump was told before this story was about to break in 2017? >> yes, i think they're hedging. i'm wearing mustard. reasonable doubt is a mustard seed. they're trying to plant it. in case this comes out against our favor, let me plant the seeds that we were being truthful, we avoid things like perjury traps. or we could avoid things like being called liars or conspirators or everything else and just trying to get ahead of it. in this statement to me, along with statements you just heard, it alluded to me they learn add lesson about being held account bable by their own words and they'll be used before them and against them in a court of public opinion. >> june of 2016 is when this meeting happened. >> trump tower meeting. >> context yully, no one even

mentioned the word russia on the campaign in june of 201. 6. >> you were in pennsylvania. >> i wasn't working in trump tower, absolutely ch but during the campaign, the great concern was yum coming convention. russia was nowhere on the election. how did the president know? this wasn't anywhere. it was a media -- >> obviously wasn't happening. rudy giuliani introduceded this morning the idea of this premeeting two days before. now he says it didn't happen. he was just trying to get ahead of the story. >> this man, giuliani, about

mar-a-lago is out there say federal government the president ever speaks or if there are further indictments, imt to get all the dirt out on daniels. he sort of paid for this. >> on the one, i think you could drive a truck through this statement. i think he's saying yeah, maybe there's an e-mail, maybe someone was in an interview, b i think he's trying lay out all the dirt so if the president ever does get questioned or mueller does make a statement about donald trump's knowledge, giuliani could say well we acknowledged this already. what's the big deal. >> all right. >> same way with waving the privilege. to say i'll put it out there is is going to say -- just trying get ahead of it and hedge. >> stick around. more to talk about. president trump make ago threat that could have an impact on thousand of american lives. that's next. stay with us. so what can you do?. she's saying a whole lotta people want to buy this house. but you got this! rocket mortgage by quicken loans makes the complex simple.

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a book that you're ready to share with the world? get published now, call for your free publisher kit today! president trump is ramping up his threat of a government shount. demanding funding for the border wall which he promised mexico would pay for. zwl zbl i would have no problem doing a shutdown. it's time we had proper border security. we're the laughing stock of world. >> let's go to phil on capitol hill and phil, the president clearly not on the same page as republican leaders who sound like they have, had a plan to avoid a shutdown! had plan, one that was agreed upon and is the exact opposite of what the president was outlining today. i don't just mean by paul ryan and mitch mcconnell. the president was also a party

to that agreement. it was move through as many spending bills as possible and leave the wall until after the election. don't believe me, take a listen to those leaders. >> we've gotten funding underway and the president is willing to make sure we get what we need to get that tone. >> the is the funding going to wait until after the midterm elections? >> probably. >> so you're not worry about a shutdown! that's not going to happen. >> when i talked to rp aide, theb their strategy isn't going to change. their main concern is the election. not something any leader b wants. a big show que now is would the president sign this.

i was told he agreed stepping on the kavanagh nomination was a bad idea. one thing they are sure of, they're still moving forwarden hope the president just joining them at the end of september. >> thanks so much. my expert rs here. we're joined by perry. zwl that's march, he talked ant this. about not signing a bill a few times now. on some level, he's the president we cover him, but in terms of legislation, he signs stuff. >> so one of the things that president trump talk ed about today seemed mindful of the fact in 99 days are the midterm elections. in terms of why he was elected. take a listen.

border security includes the wall and many other thing. >> this is not a strong topic for president trump. a recent quinnipiac poll say object 38% approve. 58% disapprove. so why push it? just to get the base out? >> gallup has some different numbers, right, so boarder security is pretty high. i think i agree with everybody. a bad time for the president to do this. steps on the kavanagh fom nation and a lot of things. i don't think it's a winner. anytime you shut down the government, the republicans seem to get blamed. >> the democrats took some heat. they won and had gotten concessions on the chip bill. then pushing for daca and didn't get it.

>> they got criticized from all sides. government shutdowns are not good politics. everybody probably agrees on that. this is classic trump though. a a tough week. manafort has his trial starting tomorrow. there's a lot of russia talk. he wants to change the subject. it's a comfortable place for him. for republicans who are vulnerable, this is a terrible topic. >> 4.1 gdp, that's what he should be talking about. he's doing a magnificent job in the economy. it's the economy stupid. i'd be talking about thisat unt you're blue in the face. >> he's saying when i was on the campaign fril, i talk ed about muslim ban. one of my first acts in office was to sign a war on immigration. there's 40% of the population that says i'm no. i adpree with david. i don't think there's going to be any government shutdown. this is not about the congress. this is about talking to people who like to hear him say i want

these people out and thyme person who represents you. and the wall was his biggest line. so this is like going back to his comfort place. of where he knows he can get support. come with the wall after the election. two years where they have lots of control of congress. >> it's to the people. >> nancy pelosi is -- >> might be. but let me ask you, the wall is good for him. for president trump. and for his base. forget the policy. talk about the politics for a second.

good for his base, but not every republican. you have dean heller running for election in nevada. to hold on to the majority in the house and the senate, there are a bunch of moderate or squishy republicans that don't want to talk about the wall. >> i'd talk about it dichb terms. border security, incredibly important. huge gdp increase. tons of money to back in taxpayers pockets. i'd be focusing on the economic issue. if you go to the shore, people are talking about the money they have to go on veyation. >> and the eagles. >> they're running on their own platform. not considering themselves trump republicans. just like vulnerable democrats are flot running as pelosi democrats none are going to be saying look what trump's done. they're going to say look what

i'm going to do in washington. >> go ahead. >> i would say if you look at the ads in states, i wrote this tax cut and now the economy is moving so, the candidates are run aung economy. the president should be targeting the economy. i'm sort of mystified. >> he should be. >> janet, just want to note since i covered obama back in 2007 and 2008 when you were working on the campaign, the president today said he would meet with the iranian without preconditions and i just wondered thoughts you might have. >> back if 2007 when obama said this, everyone attacked him including hillary clinton. but that's not the most important thing. right now, trump has pulled out of the iran deal. there's no alternative. he's not familiar with the facts, the details or the fact multiple countries are part of the deal. that should be a bigger concern. it was pretty significant. that's a huge policy shift. from a week aelg when he was

threatening war with hichlt and he's taken on the obama position. >> perhaps he'll say we should get back into the deal. >> that will not happen. >> all right, download and you hit print and you could make your own 3d printed gun, but is it going to be that easy? plus, a raging inferno that's creating its own weather system. live to california where entire neighborhoods have been reduced to ashes. stay with us. so you have, your headphones, chair, new laptop with 24/7 tech support. yep, thanks guys. i think he might need some support. yes start them off right. with the school supplies they need at low prices all summer long. save $200 on this dell laptop at office depot officemax. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient save $200 on this dell laptop originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown

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resources stretched thin in california as firefighters are trying to get the upper hand on at least 20 wildfires burn ng the state. one of the most intent, the carr fire.

blamed for six deaths including those of two firefighters and it's damaged or destroyed more than 900 buildings. tens of thousands of people are under orders to evacuate. i want to go to nick watt live in redding, california. and nick, some heartbreaking stories as a result of this fire. >> absolutely. listen, jake, sadly, the conditions here right now are near perfect for a wildfire. it's hot. my phone just told me it's 96 degree, low humidity and still a lot of dead vegetation left from california's drought and that is perfect fuel. we are in redding. just outside redding. this just one of 700 homes. 700 plus homes destroyed in this area and behind each destroyed home, jake, this is a tale of loss and heartbreak. one of the most destructive fires to ever burn in california. 150 square miles, an area the size of denver, scorched. almost a thousand buildings

destroyed, 38,000 people forced to flee their homes and six lives lost. so far, among them, two firefighters, one person who refused to evacuate and three memberses of a family who were getting ready to flee the flames. ed bledsoe spoke to his wife and their great grandchildren, emily and james, moments before the fire reached them. >> it's going to get me. the fire's coming in the back door, come on, grandpa. come and get us. emily said, i love you. grandma says i love you, come and get us. come and get us, i said i'm on my way. >> the fire is so large and temperatures hot it is creating its own weather system that can be seen from space. gail force winds whipped towering flames as to what firefighters describe d as fire tornados and the fire actually downed in size overnight. this isn't just a back country

blaze. the fire burning part of redding, population more than 90,000. >> this fire is scary to us. this is something we haven't seen before in the city. >> some were given only 30 minutes to evacuate, not knowing if they would see their homes again. >> looked like an atomic bomb went off. we got a few picture rs from friends. but it was a fire storm. when we left. >> the lester family, their worst fears realized. they lost everything. there are now scattered reports of looting in those abandoned areas and on the fire lines, 17 helicopters, 300 engines and over 3,000 personnel continue to fight for control of this inferno. >> and today, we did get our first sliver of good news. this fire is now 20% contained. they've been concentrating alngk the line where the fire meets these house, but jake, the temperature is is set to go up above 100 again in the next few

hours and we have gusty winds forecast for here in central california. jake. >> thank you so much. in our lead today, these are stories we feel are not getting enough attention. criticsi critics are calling it downloadable death. plans for gun blueprints are b about to be legally available online in america due to state department decision and the battle to put this job on hold is urnway, but how concerned should americans really be about this move and about this technology? tom foreman filed this report. >> gun control advocates are howling over the sudden availability of instructions for producing a plastic single shot handgun on any 3d printing capable of the job, arguing it is a first shot towards criminals and terrorists getting undetectable guns on demand.

>> this is not just instructions. this is download, plug and play. >> even though such special iiz printers remain relatively costly and aren't common, a nationwide prosecutors group says the development undermines critical public safety laws and on capitol hill -- >> i asked the state department to please reconsidering this decision. i think it has long-term national security and domestic security considerations for our country. >> at the center of the controversy is defense distributed, a non-profit in texas that's been fighting the state department for several years over the firm's desire to release the gun plans, insisting this is a free speech case. these are instructions to build something. cody wilson has described himself as a crypto anarchist. >> given you the ability to make something to military speculation, but afford bly. >> kind of. a ghost gunner machine, a printer designed to make gun

components at home cost well over $1,000, beyond the range of some casual buyers -- >> the price point is not prohibitive for those who right now, have an interest in untraceable firearms. >> with that consumer friendly device and downloadable plans, the company invsists you can mae more advanced guns with metal parts in your garage or basement, no trouble. >> it's become edgy in the gun world to have your own gos gun. got one or two that nobody knows about. >> while the law prohibits firearms that be k not be prohibited by metal detector, make other guns for your own use at home, yes, that's fully legal. >> some states are having legal challenges of their own to these practice, but this is mainly a fight about the future. right now, full lly plastic guns remain extremely limited in their capability and reliability

and as for bigger, better guns involving metal, it's still cheaper and more effective for most criminals to buy them on the open or black market, but as technology advances, the worry about untrace bable guns emerging from garages is only going to grow, jake. >> all right, thank you so much. our coverage continues now with wolf blitzer in "the situation room." thanks for watching. happening now. breaking news. full mueller assault. president trump launches an vault on mueller. calling him out by name, even as he attack as the russia investigation in terms that suggest all out panic. but why won't the president say if he feels betrayed by michael cohen? rudy juliani attacks michael cohen, who may be prepared to tell investigators if the president had advanceded knowledge with the 2016 meeting with russians in