Face a real grim reality. Hundreds left homeless, many have even camped out in parking lots. Cnn is in chico, where people have taken shelter in a parking lot there. What are they dealing with . Reporter well, fred, theyre dealing with a lot because theyve been asked if they can voluntarily move out of this parking lot and get themselves to safety. I have to say, im seeing a very organized departure and shifting here. Look behind me. These people are still continuing to cook for these other people who are homeless. Then off in the distance where they erected this tent city, they have told me theyre going to stay. I just spoke with not only a walmart spokeswoman and some security guards who declined to go on camera, but they told me in no way shape or form are they going to make anybody leave the grassy area. So thats good news for all of them. Its rather heartening to see these people be so organized. Also heartening to me, i want to tell the story of a school bus that left ponderosa elementary school. It left in the middle of the inferno. Not everyone could pick up their children. 22 children, 2 teachers, and a bus driver got on a bus, took a trek through raging flames all around them, smoke as well. Lets listen to some of their accounts. It was very scary. It was like felt like armageddon. I dont know another word to say. I was seeing smoke everywhere. I couldnt see hardly anything. I saw, like, houses burning and animals and cars whining. And i love animals. It was so crazy. There were like fires left and right, everywhere you look. There was smoke everywhere and people trying to get out. It was really hard. Reporter thats charlotte, one of the most articulate fourth graders you would ever want to meet. The bus ride, as they call it in chico, down the hill from paradise. It should usually take about 20 minutes. It took five hours, fred. But theyre all glad theyre living to tell about it. Wow. And sharing those horrific stories. All right. Thank you so much, paul. Appreciate it. The president of finland says he did discuss the California Wildfires with President Trump, but he doesnt quite recall the conversation the same way. Not about raking leaves, which is the way President Trump seems to have heard. President trump made the comment saturday while looking at californias devastation. You look at other countries where they do it differently, and its a whole different story. I was with the president of finland, and he said we have a much different were a forest nation. He called it a forest nation. They spend a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things. They dont have any problem. When it is, its a very small problem. So i know everybodys looking at that, to that end. To finish, the president responded to that, telling a local newspaper that he only sees raking in his own yard and that President Trump might have brought up raking after seeing firefighters raking some burntout areas in california. Lets bring in Democrat California congressman john garamendi. Okay. This is weird. It was pretty impactful for the president to be in california, to see firsthand. There were so many people looking forward to seeing the president , so he could see for himself the reality of it. Then when the president talked about, you know, controlling the forest and other countries do it and the raking, i mean, that just open ted the flood gates o stuff. Now you have the finish preside finnish president saying that wasnt quite the conversation. What are your thoughts on this . My thoughts are, first of all, its a horrible, horrific situation in paradise. Over 9,000 homes destroyed and 73 or more deaths now. It just couldnt be more horrible. So the first thing is that this has just been a tragedy for thousands, a town of 26,000 wiped out. Now, there is an issue of how are we going to survive in thor the era of Climate Change. This is a very Real National and frankly worldwide crisis of Climate Change and a very rapidly changing environment in which all of us are living. For california, we do get rains in the winter, even though we did have a fiveyear drought. We got winter rains, and the vegetation grew. The issue is things got very, very hot and the vegetation got very, very dry in the forest, both private as well as the national forest. Millions upon millions, perhaps hundreds of millions of trees are dead as a result of Climate Change and beetles and other stre stressors. We have a Forest Management problem, and the president is correct about a management issue that we must deal with. Mismanagement is the wrong word. Smokey the bear, no fires in the forest, logging has been curtailed. Fortunately, we have a new piece of legislation that passed last spring that gives the Forest Services two budgets. One digit for fighting fires and other Forest Management. However, keep this in mind. The fire in the paradise area was not in the national forest. It was on private lands that swept into the town. And it still isnt clear exactly what sparked that. Theyre looking into it. But its a very complicated issue. It is. And governor jerry brown was standing along sooifd tside thet when he made those comments, as was the governorelect. Neither decided to correct at the time, but governor jerry brown did get on cbs earlier today and tried to spell out just how complicated it is. Listen. Where paradise is, of course, is surrounded by federally managed land. These are national forests. Theyre not state parks, and theyre not private property by californians. So it is the federal government. The fact is that managing the forest is part of it. Theyre a lot denser than they were 200 years ago. On top of that, we have this fiveyear drought. We have reduced rainfall. We have the dryness that turns vegetation and bushes and houses and trees literally into timber so its ready to explode. Theres an atmospheric element, which is part of the natural cycle, and then theres an increasing effect of Climate Change. In fact, i have read specifically peerreviewed scientific articles that say that the amount of land burnt in california over the last 15 years has doubled because of Climate Change. Did you make that case to President Trump . I certainly raised it, but i didnt feel that was where we needed to go. We need the money. So you really are echoing one another in terms of, you know, all the proponents here, what makes this fire as bad as it is. Go ahead. Well, this is another piece to that, in that the president has in his mind that the forest can be managed like his golf courses. Thats just not the case. But we need to better manage the forests. We call it forest health. It needs to be done. Well need federal money for that. At the same time, and i think this is why Governor Brown didnt really drive the Climate Change issue with the president , was that were going to need federal money, probably in the range of 500 million to 700 million to rebuild the Public Infrastructure thats been destroyed in all of these fires down in malibu, as well as here in northern california. So we do need the federal government involvement in this. Were going to have to get that done in the next two weeks in the final lame duck session. Right. Trying to prioritize the immediate needs. Exactly. So let me switch gears, if i could, and talk about midterms. Democrats dominated across the state of california, your state, including winning all the seats up for grabs in Orange County. In your view, what was the momentum behind this . How did this happen . Well, i think theres a couple reasons. First of all, i will be going to Orange County here in a couple hours. Theres a big celebration down there, and rightly so. Years and years ago, democrats would simply skip over Orange County. Theyd go to Los Angeles County then try to get as far south in san diego countyi as you could. Right now Orange County is a blue county. All the seats are in democratic control. So why did it happen . Well, the democrats have always been for the people. Our issues, whether its health care or infrastructure or tax policy, is to make sure that the middle class and the lower class has an opportunity, whether its education, health care, on and on. I think people are beginning to realize that, particularly after this last session in which the tax cut, 2 trillion, 87 of the benefits go to major corporations and to the super wealthy. People said, whoa, wait a minute. Then there was the health care issue. Finally, President Trump. All of those things came together and gave an opportunity for, finally, after threequarters of a century, for Orange County to turn blue. All right. Congressman john garamendi, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it. Thank you. Still ahead, a giant in Florida Politics has fallen. Senator bill nelson conceding the race to governor rick scott. His outgoing message for voters, ne next. All right. This developing political story out of florida. Democratic senator bill nelson concedes the u. S. Senate race to republican governor rick scott. This follows a statewide recount showing scott with a little more than a 10,000vote lead. Nelson says he was proud of his campaign and will always fight for whats right. Our ryan nobles is in tallahassee. So ryan, explain what happened. Reporter yeah, fredricka, there wasnt really much doubt that rick scott had won this election, as we went through the hand recount. The automatic hand recount went into place on thursday. We could tell from canvassing boards across the state that there were not enough votes to flip the race from rick scott to bill nelson. The question we had today, would bill nelson concede or continue the legal fight in challenging this election . But nelson said in a statement its time for him to step away, and he conceded the race to rick scott. Take a listen. I want to say thanks to all of you who rallied to our cause. You walked the precincts, knocked on the doors, made phone calls, and contributed your time and your resources. With an optimistic heart, i wish to sma somethi to Say Something else. We may have been heavily outspent in this campaign, but we were never outworked. To all floridians, whether you voted for me or for my opponent or you didnt vote at all, i ask you to never give up this fight. Reporter and this was often a bitter, sometimes contentious recount between both rick scott and bill nelson, both sides calling each other names, but were told today that bill nelson did, in fact, call rick scott and congratulate him on his win, that they did exchange pleasantries. Rick scott did release a Statement Today thanking bill nelson for his lengthy career in Public Service here in the state of florida. The question now is how does this impact things in florida going forward. There were two very dramatic finishes here, both in the governors race and in the u. S. Senate race. Republicans did prevail, but democrats were very close. It has been some time since democrats won a statewide election here in florida, but this remains one of the most important states heading into the 2020 president ial election. Its a state that President Trump cares deeply about. He, of course, has a home here. You can bet theres going to be a special focus here in the Sunshine State over the next two years. Fred . All right. Ryan nobles, thanks so much in tallahassee. All right. Still ahead, President Trump leaves the door open on whether he might do a oneonone interview with the special counsel on possible collusion with russia in the 2016 election. This as he says the fate of the Mueller Probe will be left up to his new acting attorney general. A moment of joy. A source of inspiration. An act of kindness. An old friend. A new beginning. Some welcome relief. Or a cause for celebration. Whats inside . [laughter] possibilities. What we deliver by delivering. Billions of problems. Morning breath . Garlic breath . Stinky breath . Theres a therabreath for you. Therabreath fresh breath oral rinse instantly fights all types of bad breath and works for 24 hours. So you can. Breathe easy. Theres therabreath at walmart. I so many interesting details. 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Get started with innovative Voice Solutions for a low price when you get fast, reliable internet. Comcast business. Beyond fast. Comcast business. Ingenious space neat nest™ by fasaving design. All designed to stack and protect the lids, and the pan surface. Farberware neat nest™. Stacked intact™ all right. New today, President Trump now says he probably wont sit for an interview with special counsel robert mueller. Thats after telling reporters yesterday he had finished writing answers to muellers questions about possible collusion and saying those answers would be submitted this week, by thanksgiving. But in a new interview that aired on fox news today, the president says he has no plans to respond to questions about obstruction of justice in writing or in person. Lets bring in cnn White House Correspondent boris sanchez. Boris, what else . Reporter hey there, fred. Yeah, this was a wideranging interview by Chris Wallace on fox news with President Trump. A number of topics related to the russia probe came up. The president notably, as you mentioned, saying he probably would not sit down for a oneonone interview with robert mueller. This comes just months after the president actually said that he was looking forward to such an interview. It appears that the president has been listening to his attorneys, whom sources have told cnn, have informed the president that would be a bad idea. The president also opened up about his acting attorney general Matt Whitaker, who replaced outgoing attorney general Jeff Sessions. Whitaker in the past has made statements very critical of the russia probe, at one point even suggesting it could be stifled by cutting off its funding. The president in this interview said that he didnt know that Matt Whitaker held these strong positions in the past. He also said that he would not intervene if whitaker decided to interfere in the special counsels probe. Listen to this. If whitaker decides in any way to limit or curtail the Mueller Investigation, are you okay with that . Look, its going to be up to him. I think hes very well aware politically. I think hes astute politically. Hes a very smart person, a very respected person. Hes going to do whats right. I really believe hes going to do whats right. But you wont overrule him if he decides to curtail . I would not get involved. All these people that say im going to end the investigation, you know, theyve been saying that now for how long has this witch hunt gone on . Reporter now, fred, Chris Wallace pressed President Trump, asking specifically when he found out that whitaker held these views about the special counsel. The president didnt answer specifically, instead saying, quote, i dont think it had any effect. Fred . All right. Boris sanchez, thanks so much. All right. Lets talk more about this. Ron brownstein is with me, along with zachary wolf. Good to see you both. Ron, you first. The president says he probably wont sit for an interview with mueller. And he says he will leave it up to his acting attorney general to make decisions on whether to curtail, you know, the russia probe. Trump says he wouldnt get involved. So then why again was attorney general Jeff Sessions asked to resign . Yeah, right. So this is an extraordinary situation. You have the target in some ways of an investigation deciding the limits of what he will answer and constraining that, curtailing that in two very significant ways. First, signaling he would not sit down for an inperson interview. Second, that he will not answer questions having to do with after he took office and potential obstruction of justice. It is worth reminding everyone that ken starr in 1998 did subpoena bill clinton to testify in his inquiry and ultimately they negotiated terms under which he would do so on videotape. I think its a momentous decision facing the special counsel. Will he accept this limited form of cooperation that fences off both the inperson interview and some very potentially important areas of inquiry about what the president did after he took office . Right. And mueller has the power to issue that subpoena, but its will he . Thats the big question. So zach, today repub