Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Fredricka Whitfield 20161204

Of the victims on the second floor. So far the recovery has been pain staking. In the last 12 hour, only 20 of the building has been searched. Stephanie elim is in oakland for us. Stephanie, as we wait for the update, we are hearing from one of the survivors. What is he saying . Reporter yes, definitely. We were just listening because they were telling us they were going to have a press run and just delayed it. But they gave us more information, joe. And what they are saying is that it is really painstaking. They are using buckets and shovels to go through the space to look for people. Some of the people are easily identifiable. And some of the people who lost their lives, it is much harder for them to identify them. And that is part of the reason why its taking so long. But when you take a look at the stories coming out of the people who did survive the fire, theres one man, bob malay, he did not go to the party and was in his space preparing to paint when the fire broke out. Listen to his recount of what happened. When i ran back to get my camera, i saw pete who is a larger fellow. I guess as he was climbing down from the loft in his space, he had fallen and broken his ankle and was calling out to me. And hes like, i broke my ankle, i need you to pull me out. I need you to pull me out. So i just immediately took his arm and was pulling him out. And i just got to a certain point where it was there was all this stuff blocking my path with him. And i wasnt able to just, like, pull him out. And the fire was just getting too hot. And the smoke was getting too bad. And i had to i had to leave him there. And i wasnt able to get him t out. Just a harrowing detail there for him on getting out of the building. At this point, we know they have only made it 20 of the way through this building. So still a lot more to go, but because the roof collapsed onto the second floor and all of the debris that is there, it is slowing this process down. Were hoping to learn more. They say they potentially could have some names of the victims after they notify the next of kin. We may learn some of the names today, joe. Stephanie, looking at those pictures, it looks like a very large space. And the authorities have always been very specific about the number of people they think were inside that space. Do you have any idea how they come up with estimating about 50 people inside . I think a lot has to do with the people that were in there that got out. They have been looking for people and trying to did certain how the people were there. But just knowing people who were using the space and were frequenting the space. And then on top of it, the fact that had a party. Someone that they know was at the party, thats how they are figuring out who was inside at the time. Just a horrific story developing there in oakland, california. Well be checking back with you, stephanie elam. Joining me on the phone is james mcmullen. Chief, only 20 of the burned building has been searched. 80 to go. Request you tell us what the crews are facing as they try to search for victims in this fire . Well, as you search a building that has been burned such as that, you have to move very slowly and cautiously for several reasons. One is falling debris. One is building collapse. One is the fact that you dont want to disturb evidence thats critical for the fire investigation. You want to ascertain that you dont miss bodies or critical matters that could be used as evidence. So the key thing is, you have to move slowly and you have to preserve the scene at the same time so that the fire investigators can, in fact, determine the area of origin and subsequently the point of origin. And then determine the cause. Its critical to know that before you determine what caused the fire, you have to find out where the fire started. And so once you determine generally where the fire started, called the area of origin, you hone that down to the point of origin where the fire precisely started. And at that point, then you determine what are the causative factors within that point of origin and go through the process of elimination to determine the cause. And in addition they are still searching for bodies. They still have hot spots. And they have a real task and are moving cautiously and slowly, which is what they should be doing. So lets back up a little bit as we look at some of the pictures of the smoke and the fire and the flames from overnight. Look, one of the things we know is after the fire was out, it was not safe enough for emergency workers to enter. Does that in and of itself tell you something about the structure they were dealing with . Quell, theres no question that the fire will always damage structural supports. So whether the building is sound is something we have to make sure that investigators know before we make entry. Because we certainly wouldnt want a building to collapse that had a fire on the workers trying to solve the crime or rescue the people. Also, there have been past concerns raised about this space, the warehouse building. Among them, there have been reports of the tip call thing like trash, which i think is understood and pretty clear. But there are also reports out there about internal illegal structures. Apparently that sounds like things inside the building that enforcers deemed a potential problem. What does that mean . Well, it means illegal occupancy. It means use of the building according to the building and fire code. What you do inside the building is its occupancy. And when you have an illegal occupancy, it means you have occupied it without the proper permits from the agencies that issued the permits, such as the building department, the fire department. When you have people that are living inside, that becomes a residential occupancy. When you have a business, that becomes a different kind of occupancy. And then when you go in and you have an assembly such as this gathering people, thats an assembly occupancy, which is a third type of occupancy. So ive heard im sorry, i was just going to say, that ive heard that they were in there occupying, living there. Thats what the news accounts so far have said. And it wasnt clear that it was a residential occupancy. It sounds like they had a lot going on there in that building. At the News Conference earlier today, heres what the battalion chief had to say. Take a listen. And i would like you to weigh in. Our goal was to work collaboratively with public works to breach the b side, the left side of the warehouse building, the fire building, in order to gain access for our firefighters and sheriffs. To be able to remove debris systemically from the building to the vacant lot next to the building, literally, bucket by bucket in a methodical, thoughtful, mindful and compassionate way. We had firefighters with basically coveralls and buckets and shovels taking bits of debris out into the vacant lot to then be loaded into dump trucks and removed to the offsite location. So you listen to that and its a picture of rubble being taken out bucket by bucket. There are also reports that the stairs were incinerated. And it sort of begs the question, how is it that you can have so much fire without people discovering it and starting to try to get out of there, any idea . What is important to remember is all fires, no matter how big, such as this one, that became a gigantic fire. No matter how big they become, they start very small. Short of a molatav cocktail, you will always have a fire in the incipient stage, which is the beginning of the fire when it is very small. At some point in that area, if you see the fire and you can get to it soon enough, you can put it out with a fire extinguisher. And i understand that one of the witnesses had attempted to use a fire extinguisher and he couldnt get the extension wisher to operate. And that is also potentially a violation of the code. And need for maybe improving what we do in the way of fire extinguishers. But as soon as you can get the fire extinguisher on a fire in the fire service, putting the wet stuff on the red stuff, the sooner you can do that, the sooner you can put the fire out. Once it begins to extend, it burns in what is combustible loading. And this, i understand, the building had a lot of combustible loading. Where people brought in combustibles and had artist displays and so forth. And it will move very rapidly. The code also requires that you have interior finished materials that mitigates fire spread. And you have probably heard about the fire in east warwick,rwarwick, rhode island, make it west warwick, rhode island, where we had materials that burned very rapidly. Polyurethane is one of those. Stay with us, we want to get more information. Turning to politics in just a little while and keeping our eye on oakland, donald trump is expanding his list of potential secretary of state picks. Well tell you who he is now considering and perhaps why. Stay with us. Every day starts better with a healthy smile. Start yours with Philips Sonicare, the no. 1 choice of dentists. Compared to oralb 7000, Philips Sonicare flexcare platinum removes significantly more plaque. This is the sound of Sonic Technology cleaning deep between teeth. Hear the difference . Get healthier gums in just 2 weeks vs a manual toothbrush and experience an amazing feel of clean. Innovation and you. Philips sonicare. Save now when you buy Philips Sonicare. Trumps top aides are telling cnn they will interview more candidates this week. Meanwhile, the president elect is announcing more proposals, which he hopes will save american jobs, doubling down on that threat hes made against companies that move operations abroad. In a series of tweets, trump writes, quote, any business that leaves our country for another country, fires its employees, builds a new factory or plant in the other country, and then thinks it will sell its product back into the u. S. Without retribution or consequence is wrong also, this morning, Vice President elect pence is revealing more details about trumps controversial phone call with the president of taiwan. Well go to cnns ryan noble live in new york outside transition headquarters of trump tower. Ryan, what is the latest . Reporter yeah, joe. Vice president elect mike pence spent the morning defending the president elects decision to take the call from the president of taiwan. He said it was no different than the 50 other heads of state that the president elect has talked to across the world. And he also said that to a certain extent the media is driving this question of whether or not it was a major Foreign Policy blunder. He said, its Standard Practice for the president elect to talk to foreign leaders. Listen to the argument he made on nbc. I think the conversation that happened this week with the president of taiwan was a courtesy call. She reached out to the president elect and he took the call from the democraticallyelected leader of taiwan. It is more than one of 50 telephone calls. The president elect has taken from and made two World Leaders in the midst of a historic pace and cabinet appointments and senior appointments, building a legislative agenda. Even traveling the country and saving a thousand jobs in the state of indiana. Its a reflection of the Tremendous Energy and the kind of approach that youre going to see him bring to challenge his at home and abroad. Reporter of course, that phone call a little bit different than the more than 50 phone calls made to other foreign heads of state because its the first time a phone call like that has occurred since 1979. And thats when or why so many people are concerned in washington. The Chinese Government is also alarmed by it and filed a formal complaint with the white house and the Obama Administration has responded by saying theres been no change in that policy where the United States recognizes the one china policy, essentially, that taiwan is part of the Chinese Government. But joe, this shouldnt be that big of a surprise because, of course, donald trump was very tough on china on the campaign trail during this election. And that relationship with china is going to be something to watch very closely in the early days of the trump administration. Joe . He sure is Getting Started out of the blocks on that. Lets switch gears here a lit bit, ryan. Team trump is still looking for obviously one of his most important cabinet positions, secretary of state. And theres actually a new name being floated and a name a lot of us have heard before. Want to talk about that . Reporter yes, its an interesting name in light of what has happened over the past 24 hours in japan and taiwan. Its the former ambassador to china, john huntsman. A candidate for president not too long ago and the former governor of utah. Huntsman is different than many Establishment Republicans in that he was not critical of donald trump during the campaign. And is someone that trump could tap for secretary of state. Now, even though huntsman is being considered for secretary of state, this is not to say hes emerged as a frontrunner. We do know this morning that trumps top aide Kellyanne Conway said the list expanded. Essentialy they were down to four finalist, mitt romney, rudy giuliani, David Petraeus and others. Now the field has expanded. We thought the appointment would come soon. Trumps transition saying the president elect is going to take his time because it is such an important decision. Reading the tea leaves, that could be important. Some talk about it being up to two weeks. It doesnt sound like they are very close. Well be checking back with you. If you think about it, huntsman may not be the only new candidate for trumps secretary of state. With interviews for the allimportant role coming this week, well ask our panel of experts who can best help the president elect build on u. S. Relationships abroad. Coming up. Cu roducer at. Marvel studios. If my office becomes a plane or an airport the. Surface pros perfect. Fast and portable but also light. You dont do this 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you dont feel it in your heart. Since we started shopping at way bfingerhut. Com. First down thats because with fingerhut. Com we can shop over 700,000 items go to fingerhut. Com to get low Monthly Payments and the credit you deserve. Thats a touchdown, buttercup oww generosity is its oyou can handle being a mom for half an hour. Im in all the way. Is that understood . I dont know what shes up to, but its not good. Cant the world be my noodles and butter . Get your mind out of the gutter. Mornings are for coffee and contemplation. That was a really profound observation. You got a mean case of the detox blues. Dont start a war you know youre going to lose. Finally you can now find all of netflix in the same place as all your other entertainment. On xfinity x1. Okay. You probably heard his name before, hes the former ambassador to china, he speaks chinese and is floated as a possible nominee for secretary of state. The trump transition source tells cnn republican jon huntsman is the newest name being considered for the job. So lets get some insight into this with julian sulitzer. And you have tim notali, the former director of the nixon president ial library. Julian, starting with you, is it a coincidence . Are we supposed to read something into the fact that Jon Huntsmans name is being floated one day after the controversial donald trump phone call with the taiwanese president . No, i dont think its a coincidence. Obviously, this was a phone call that although some conservatives are defending and almost making the argument it was strategic decision, has also elicited a lot of criticism. So to float what might be the person with the most expertise and the most confidence in the competence in a pick, its the decision by the president elects team to give confidence in what is going on in this area of policy. And so weve talked a little about this, and now im going to play the sound, the trump Senior Adviser Kellyanne Conway weighed in on the secretary of state selection. Listen. The secretary of state is an incredibly important position to fill. And hes very fortunate to have interest among serious men and women who all of whom need to understand their first responsibility as secretary of state would be to implement and adhere to the president elects America First Foreign Policy and be loyal to his view of the world. So he continues to talk to different people. I think you have seen the list before that already existed. This week hell have additional interviews with other candidates for secretary of state and other cabinet positions and deputy cabinet positions as well. Tim notali, they continue to mull around on this, and it sounds like they are no closer to making their pick for national diplomacy. Who do you think is number one, the best choice for this role among the names we have known out there, and what does this project, the idea that this administration tobe is taking time with this selection . Well, first of all, to be fair to the administration tobe, they are doing this recently and reasonably fast. This whole process continues for two weeks well into december, but what is interesting is that the trump administration, the trump team is a lot more unified on what military policies should be Going Forward than what on diplomacy is Going Forward. A lot of president s or president select coming in to think they could be their own secretary of state. Thats not going to be the case of donald trump. He doesnt really know much about Foreign Policy. So this key decision, the choice of the secretary of state, looms larger for him than for a lot of president select that we have had in history. Who will be the best . We have two candidates that have real experience in interacting with foreign leaders, in representing the United States on a world stage. Jon huntsman would be superb. Hes fluent in mandarin and has lived abroad. He understands one of americas important trade partners. And mitt romney did a remarkable job in pulling together the Salt Lake City olympics of 20002. Hes respected overseas and he, too, would be an excellent representative of our country. So either of the men has the skillset required to be secretary of state. The real question is whether donald j. Trump will be comfortable having a secretary of state who might outshine him. Got it. Julian, lets talk about Donald Trumps renewed threat against job outsourcing. 35 penalty to those who send jobs abroad. Do you think he can actually do that . No, im not convinced he even wants to do that. I think we have to separate some of the populist anticorporate rhetoric that weve heard from president elect trump from what he actually plans to do. So far the big announcement was the carrier jobs, which obviously is terrific to the family who will have jobs, but it is a small piece of the whole employment sector. And its going to be very hard for him, whether he wants to or not, take this kind of an abroach to keeping corporate jobs here in the United States. Hes not going to get a lot of support for doing this within his own party. And from some people within the potential cabinet hes putting together. So this is a case where theres a lot of bluster coming out from the contributor feed of trump. Where im not sure that is going to be the policy, but that doesnt bother him. He wants to send a message and make the claim he will defend the worker against corporations that are not going well by them. And i have to talk about this a lot more in the coming days, julian and tim. Thank you so much for coming in. Pleasure. Thank you. Coming up, dissecting the most Bitter Campaign many of us have ever seen. Both Campaign Managers analyze what went wrong and what went right. And whether donald trump expressed any regret behind closed doors for his controversial comments about women and muslims. vo its the holidays at verizon, and the best deals are on the best network. both yes vo with no surprise overages, you can use your data worry free and even carry over the data you dont use. And right now get four lines and 20 gigs for only 40 per line. And, just for the holidays, get a Samsung Galaxy s7 edge for only 15 per month. No tradein required. I love you in that, no, i love you in that. No, i love you in that vo hurry, these offers end soon. Get the best deals and the best network, only on verizon. Can you believe it already . Its been nearly a month after the election and theres proof we are still livg in a very divided country. Campaign managers from both sides in that campaign sat down to decide one of the most bitter and divisive campaigns of our lifetime. So at the end of the day, what was it that went wrong for Hillary Clinton and, by the way, who are those undercover voters who propelled a billionaire with no political experience to the highest office in the country . Heres cnns jake tapper. What happened . What went wrong . Obviously, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and won more votes than president than any white man in history, but this is obviously a race to 270, and she came up short and traditionally in democratic states like pennsylvania, michigan, wyomiisconsin. She told voters that she thought the letter from james comey was really the nail in her coffin. Do you agree that is what went wrong . We are saying that this is about the Electoral College and we came up short. We felt very good about where we were going into the last 10, 20 days of the election. I think it is hard to imagine the kind of impact that that letter had. You know, most of the public polling shows a distinct drop. We saw that in our internal numbers. And particularly because the letter didnt really seem to have much of a purpose. He said he had some emails, he had not seen them, he didnt know what they were. So, look, when you look across the three states that you mentioned, youre talking 100,000 votes, anything could have made a difference with such small margins, less than 1 in each of the states, but we do think that was an incredibly powerful force in the race. You know, the other reality is, you know, we were hoping for stronger performance in some sectors. And a lot of the data was very off in this race. So we have to reflect on all the reasons. What sectors . Well, we were expecting the numbers to be a lot stronger on election day. We do think that was because of the comey letter. We saw a lot of young people go to thirdparty candidates. We think the letter had a lot to do with that as well. There were a number of reasons for that. Kellyanne, you said the shift toward donald trump among women voters and the key demographic moves became before the letter came out. Yes, the public polls showed what we reflected internally. For example, abc news released a poll on sunday that said 50 38. We really didnt believe that she was at 50. We knew we were not under 40. But then everybody had to live with the 12point poll because people held it up as evidence that the race was over. That there was no way Hillary Clinton could lose. No way donald trump could win. And by friday of that same week, it was a onepoint race. And that was before the comey letter. Also, secretary clinton herself, the night of the day the comey letter was released on october 28th, said at her rally that it didnt matter because americans had already decided what they thought about the emails. And that it was already baked in the cake. And this was a messaging point from her campaign. So at the time they said that, maybe it was wishful thinking, maybe they werent being completely truthful, and now its supposed to be the comey letter. I have to say, donald trump turned over 200 counties that went for president obama in 2012 to donald trump bennett worked the polls, our polling worked. We had five polls working including my firm. Those dont see the light of day. We are using those for strategic positioning. We are not trying to make headlines or call the race over one way or the other. I think a few things happened. One is presuming that the 2012 electorate would be the 2016 electorate. And that also presumed implicitly, jake, that secretary clinton would be able to attract and knit together and keep together what is called the obama coalition. So a Critical Mass of voters of color, of millenials, and maybe even her running up the totals among women since shes the first female candidate and running a decidedly reach out to women as an antitrump campaign until the very end. And the other failing is in presuming that people who had voted democratic in the past would do so here, which is slightly different than the obama coalition. We thought in our modeling that the 2016 electorate had a better chance of loosening the electorate in the counties, which was my obsession, the counties, than it would in the 2012 election. I talked very publicly very early on under a hail of criticism about the under cover trump voter. To put it all to rest, this is not somebody who is afraid to say they are voting for donald trump. Thats not what it is. It is somebody who just doesnt look like a trump voter. Its a union vote that has voted democratic for years. Its a single mom who couldnt dream of voting for donald trump. Why would she do that when she could vote for Hillary Clinton who is fighting for women and children. We took the approach that we are openminded about who the electorate may be and allowed them to tell us who they were. Look, turnout wasnt what we wanted it to be in some places. And there were different stories across different states. Philadelphia did turn out the way we would have liked. Other states werent. But one thing we did see across the country that kellyanne would agree with is we saw a Record Number of hispanic turnout in a number of communities. That was important to nevada and colorado. And thats why texas was a lot closer than many people anticipated. Obviously, that was not enough for us to win the election, but i think that is something to be celebrated and lifted up. That was unprecedented. And i hope that those voters continue to turn up. So were going to hear more from both Campaign Managers in the next hour, including whether donald trump expressed any regret behind closed doors for his controversial comments about women and muslims. Also ahead, the former director of the cia David Petraeus said he made a serious mistake when sharing classified information. Why hes trying to clear the air coming up next. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare . Thats a good thing, but it doesnt cover everything. Only about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. So consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like all standardized Medicare Supplement insurance plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesnt pay and could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about and which aarp Medicare Supplement plan works best for you. With these types of plans, youll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. Plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. Theres a range of plans to choose from, too, and they all travel with you anywhere in the country. Join the millions who have already enrolled in the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an Organization Serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. And provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. Call today. Remember, Medicare Supplement insurance helps cover some of what medicare doesnt pay. Expenses that could really add up. These kinds of plans could save you in outofpocket medical costs. Youll be able to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. And there are virtually no referrals needed. So dont wait. With all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. Call now to request your free decision guide. This easytounderstand guide will answer some of your questions and help you find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan thats right for you. Were expecting to get another update on the deadly oakland warehouse fire. The death toll is expected to rise. Firefighters say they are removing the debris bucket by bucket. The warehouse which had been converted to a loft and event space didnt have working fire detectors or sprinklers. Cnn spoke with one of the artists who lived there who survived the fire. Heres bob mollet talking with us through his experience as he tried to save a neighbor. I have, like, burns on my arms and my hand and on my shoulder. Im just really glad that i had my vest on. But when i ran back to get my camera, i saw pete. I guess as he was climbing down from the loft in his space, he had fallen and broken his ankle and was calling out to me. And he was like, i broke my ankle, i need you to pull me out. I need you to pull me out. I need you to pull me out. So i immediately took his arm and was pulling him out. I just got to a certain point where it was there was all this stuff, like, blocking my path with him. And i wasnt able to just pull him out. And the fire was just getting too hot. And the smoke was getting too bad and i had to i had to leave him there. And i wasnt able to get him out. I just ran outside and watched this warehouse burn. All of our stuff is in there. Our whole livelihood. All our belongings. Everything we used to create in our space, our most cherished things, all our clothes even. You know, everything that, like, this is literally all ive got. I am so grateful that i have such an amazing space of support through the communities that im involved in. And i have plenty of places to stay, you know, and so many people have reached out to me. They are like, what do you need . How can i help . I dont know what i need. Im just happy to be alive. And like, i have this, you know . This is more than enough for me right now. You know . Its like i dont know. Hugs and high fives. A horrific story. Our thoughts go out to those affected by the fire. You can go to cnn. Com impact. Well be right back. P is for permission to indulge. O is for out of this world. L is for loving the seasonal cuisine. A is for access to everything, including the aisle. R is for reclining in tailormade bedding. And i. Must be dreaming. S. So long, jet lag. Polaris, from united. Oh caroline. So corporate put you up in a roadside motel. But with directv from at t, you can download then binge watch your dvrd shows from anywhere. That makes you more powerful than whatever it is you just stepped in. Or that friendly dumpster diver outside. I wouldnt sit there. Its your tv, take it with you. Now you can watch your dvr anywhere, at no extra cost, with directv from at t. The list of candidates for the president elects cabinet continues to expand and the names of former generals are being discussed for several of the positions. Today David Petraeus made a lastditch effort apparently to show his guilty plea for disclosing classified information to his girlfriend and biographer should not prevent him from being secretary of state. Former general and cia director making a case to republican senators who could be hesitant to confirm a plan to plead guilty for exactly what they accused Hillary Clinton doing by way of email server. Listen. What i would say to them is what i have acknowledged for a number of years. Five years ago i made a serious mistake, i apologized and paid a heavy price for it. And i have learned from it. They will have two factor that in after 38 1 2 years of otherwise fairly and unique service to our country in uniform and at the cia. And then for years or so in the Business Community of which i have continued to travel the country, nearly 40 countries in that time as well. So well talk about general petraeus with the military analyst Major General james marsh. From your they aperspective, sh general petraeus be allowed to be secretary of state . I think general petraeus is a gifted man. Our nation would be wise to take advantage of those skillsets. I think the challenge that dave has right now, and ive known dave frankly for over 30plus years, and im a very big fan of his skillsets. The challenge is that as you mentioned in your front piece there, joe, the challenge he has is he released classified information to a mistress, that is two significant ouches right there. And he has to deal with that. And the former president ial candidate Hillary Clinton when as secretary of state was accused of what i would call essentially gross negligence in handling of classified information. And in the narrative, its too clear, it could be too contentious in the senate is dave was nomined and they were to obviously the senate would have to debate that. It would get personal on a nasty level and dave would have to muscle up and man up with that, and he would. Im confident he would. But it would have to be a decision of the president elect to go through the fight. But clearly, i think without question, David Petraeus is an immensually talented guy. In a way donald trump would end up embracing an issue that he kind of condemned on the campaign trail if he nominated them for that reason. But im going to move on. In an interview released today, the former nsa contractor Edward Snowden weigh in on petraeus. Lets listen in. Perhaps the best known case in recent history is general petraeus who shared information that was far more highly classified than i ever did with journalists. And he shared this information not with the public or the benefit, but with his biographer and lover for purchasing benefit, conversations that had access to classified programs, top secret conversations with the president and so on. When the government came after him, they charged him with a misdemeanor. He never spent a single day in jail despite the information he exposed. Okay, theres a lot of backstory going on there. But look, on the other side, you look at David Petraeus bio, he served 37 years in the army, fourstar general, former cia director and former centcom commander, nonetheless, do you think Edward Snowden has a point . Well, no, i wouldnt i would not give the credit to Edward Snowden who clearly was egregious in his actions and put a whole host of great americans and folks that were out there doing their very, very best on our nations behalf. And to compare the two is faulty and is a narrative i wouldnt try to honor with a response. What i find interesting is that now theres this, what i would call this just position of argumentation. Clearly what snowden is looking to get is a ticket back in the United States. Hes secondguessing his terrible mistake and the fact that he broke the law and now is in purgatory to live in russia the rest of his life. The second he steps on a friendly nation easter terror or comes back to the United States, the man is going to be put in handcuffs and will be arrested and charged and arrested. So i understand what hes trying to achieve, but lets not honor that comment. And try to make a comparison with David Petraeus or with someone else. General spider marks, thank you for joining us. Joe, thank you for your time. This political season has been called a lot of things. Its been called unprecedented and now van jones is calling it something else. Hes got a special called the messy truth this tuesday at 9 00 p. M. On cnn. Hell talk about the issues brought up during the campaign and well ask him about that coming up on cnn newsroom. Come on why doesnt verizon offer unlimited data like tmobile . Is it because their lte network was built six years ago . Six years ago . Thats like a hundred. In phone years their lte network is older, slower and they limit you. Switch to tmobile, the newer, faster and unlimited network. We cover 99 of the americans verizon covers. Switch your family of four to tmobile and well give you 800 to spend anywhere you want. My budget used toespecially downer. Around the holidays. But thanks to fingerhut. Com, we can shop over 700,000 items from brands like samsung, kitchenaid and lego. All with low Monthly Payments. I won this 55 inch tv for less than 30 on dealdash. Com. Visit dealdash. Com for great deals. And start bidding today as a supervisor at pg e, its my job to protect public safety, keeping the power lines clear, while also protecting the environment. The Natural World is a beautiful thing, the work that we do helps us protect it. Public education is definitely a big part of our job, to teach our customers about the best type of trees to plant around the power lines. We want to keep the power on for our customers. We want to keep our community safe. This is our community, this is where we live. We need to make sure that we have a beautiful place for our children to live. Together, were building a better california. Top of the hour now, this is cnn newsroom. Im joe johns in for fredericka whitfield. Officials in california are expected to give an update later this afternoon on Recovery Efforts following this weekends tragic fire called one of the deadliest in the citys history. Heres what we know right now, they found 24 people dead so far from the fire, but investigators fear the death toll could go much higher. The fire broke out as an Electronic Dance Party was getting underway in a converted warehouse space. Some of the victims were transgender and officials are working with the Transgender Community to identify those victims in a way in which they would want to be identified. So