Still continue find 25 victims. Up to 40 could be dead from this fire. Oaklands mayor talked to reporters just a short time ago. Were trying to be as transparent as possible with you. Such a short amount of time after this incredible tragedy, but we again remind you that our efforts right now are focused on the humane and compassionate greats of the victims, as well as securing the sight, and caring for those families. Thats what were focused on right now. Our dan simon is in oakland, still no word yet on what could have sparked this. Is that right . Thats right, poppy. This is really beyond horrific. The main task at this point is trying to recover the bodies, but that is proving to be very difficult for firefighters. The warehouse is said to be structurally unsound. Trying to make that building safe so they can go in there and remove the bodies. And dan, at this point, what do we know about those missing. We heard an official say about an hour ago we dont have an answer for how many there are right now, but we expect the number of deceased to go up. Theyre expecting them to go way up. Nine confirmed dead. About 25 reported missing. The problem is they cant really get a firm number because they cant get inside of the building to get a glimpse and to see how many victims were talking about. So that is really the main task. As a side note to all of this unfolding, you have the investigation, that is, of course, taking a back seat to what theyre doing behind me at the moment. They dont know what started this fire. But we have learned, as you talked about earlier, this building was just permitted to be a warehouse. Certainly not to have people live there or to have a party either. We also heard the fire chief say he didnt see any evidence of sprinklers in the building. Can you tell us what exactly was going on there . I know it was an artist collective, were People Living there as well . Thats what we have been lead to believe. But crews have not been totally certain in their answers. They believe people were living there, but that is still part of the investigation. This is said to be what is called an artist collective, so you go inside there, and we have seen some of the pictures, and you know you have mannequins and different tables, and workstations, and a lot of people were said to be working there, and working on their various projects. And then on the top floor it seemed to be more of an open spa space. That is where the party was taking place. Live music going on. What caused the fire to start i dont know. Sometimes at live music shows you have pyro technics going on. I asked if that was a factor and at this point they told me no. Dan simon in oakland, thank you very much. Joining me now is congresswoman barbara lee. Oakland is your district. Im so terribly sorry about all of this. What can you tell us about the communication you had with the mayor and the different city officials there about their efforts. Sure, i have spoken with the majyor and were about to have another call. This is a tragedy beyond proportions. Its horrific. It is something that we cant even imagine. So right now i think everyone is praying and offering our condolences, and addressing the real grief and mourning that is taking place in the city. It is so important that families of loved ones and friends call the phone number, and im pleased that you have the number posted, the 5102833000. We dont know what has taken place. Our First Responders are doing a phenomenal job but they still cant enter the building. We have to focus on the Compassionate Care and humanitarian concerns of the people grieving and the community that is grieving, and well bring in all of the federal resources once we know what is appropriate and needed. Congresswoman im so sorry to interrupt, congresswoman, stay with me. I just learned we have another press conference updating everyone on the situation. Sergeant kelly. That slowed things down and we continue to have our system up now. It is functioning very well now. We just talking to the mayor who is coming back over there to meet with the families again. The Oakland PoliceDepartment Says what will go on here for the next 48 hours. We will anticipate that we will be here at least through sunday, maybe early monday morning. We would like to get that get this place back functioning as quickly as possible. Offer watson will talk about that. Thank you sergeant kelly. So far this evening until monday morning. This will be our media staging area. We will not change the location. If you anticipate coming here, the location is 30th Street International entrance from 30th. On to international. And it will be the egress and ingress. Well assess then. Additionally at tomorrow morning we will give a media availability if will provide any information that occurred over the evening, over this evening. If there is a Significant Development tonight we will continue to monitor this press conference. They dont seem to have any updates on victim numbers at this point. Lets talk about the victims. I spoke with a freelance journalist earlier. He said a lot of people at the party were key members of oaklands music community. We dont have their why tidenti at this point in time. Tell us about this musician community. Respecting the family and loved ones of the victim website it is very difficult to really talk about anything as it relaces to them other than the fact that our condolences and prayers go out to the victims. Oakland is a communicate of artists, of creative people, of people who have visions, and who understand the importance of culture and art. And so once again, to really hone in on this, we have to just make sure the family and victors make sure that the mourning and grieving process move forward in a way that its hard to imagine for people for what im feeling, its something that i cant even begin to explain in terms of emotional reaction. So as we move forward, and as our First Responders attempt to get into the building, really focus on supporting them, lifting them up, and finding every we have to really address the humanitarian and the Compassionate Care for those who are suffering as a result of this tremendous loss. And our thoughts with those families and our thanks and deepest gratitude to the First Responders working throughout the day and the night on this. Trying to get access in that building. And, you know, and properly treat the remains of the victims. Congresswoman barbara lee, thank you so much. The most critical information to share at this time is a phone number where victims families can get information, 5103823000. For ways to help people affected by the horrific fire go to cnn. Com impact. We have a lot coming up this hour. How the president elect broke International Protocol by answering the phone. That is next. The ashes of fidel castro arr e arriving in the town now where his funeral will take place. Live in cuba this hour. Businesses and careers. Eir this windows 10 device, you can configure it in so many. Different ways it feels like a much more robust. Computer than the old mac that i used to use. Since we started shopping at way bfingerhut. Com. First down as close as two friends trying to annihilate each other can be. Ahh, interception thats because with fingerhut. Com we can shop over 700,000 items from brand names like samsung, keurig and sony. Go to fingerhut. Com to get low Monthly Payments and the credit you deserve. 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Give our viewers a sense of the magnitude of this. What does it signal to the international community. We know that president elect trump was elected as a disrupter and he seems to be doing that. This is a very delicately calibrated piece of diplomacy. Also trying to sell lots of weapons to taiwan. But there is a way of being able to do both of those things at once and not risking an escalation of tensions. It has already responded by also seeking to down play the magnitude of this. And pointing out the one china policy is a corner stone of the relations between the u. S. And china. It is a rising super power. There is obviously tension between the United States and china when it comes to issues, but at the same time, the u. S. And china are really partners, obviously, in global trade. Obviously when it comes to china having a seat on the u. N. Security council, and the United States needing china in line on sanctions and such. China is pointing their finger at taiwan and not the president elect, why do you think that is . They didnt want this particular lead tore win ter to elections in taiwan, so they put some of the blame on taiwan. They played a trick. This was not quite good. Some of the chinese voices out there in the state media are suggesting this might have been a test by president elect trump. Others saying maybe he just didnt know because he is not really familiar with foreign policy. Which his team says thats not the case. This is not happening in a vacuum. He had a controversial call this week with the president of pakistan. On top of that, trump this week had a phone call with the president of the philippines, d dutarte. And he said that president obama could go to hell. Here is what he said, i think we had it. He wishes me well. And he said that we are doing it the right way. It is significant that he says that donald trump said he is doing the war on drugs the right way. Thats a very aggressive war on drugs in his country that lead to thousands of people being killed. Whats the significance there. I covered some of this. There have been apply Police Figures more than 2,000 People Killed by philippines cops in five months as part of the war on drugs. You like a dozen or more bodies showing up a night. Handguns next to the corpses, and all seemingly killed by police in self defense after they pull their guns. Its very bloody, and the Obama Administration has been criticized as have a number of human rights organizations. Duturte hates that. He seems to have an antiamerican feeling. And what is remarkable is while he doesnt get along with president obama, soon after president elect trump was elected, he said we both like to swear, were the same guy. He seems to recognize a similar sentiment or temperament in president elect trump and he appointed before the election trumps Business Partner to be the Philippines Special economic envoy to the u. S. Ivan watson, a lot to digest there. Thank you for the reporting. Appreciate it. Lets bring in ben ferguson, a cnn political commentator. Mark lamont hill. A professor at moorehouse college. Just digesting what ivan just said. This is not being done in a vacuum. It is in the span of a week. The president having controversial conversations with the leaders of pakistan and the philippines. Throughout the campaign, protect trump did have any understanding of the delicate balances that exist. Bold and the beautiful said he is goes to engage north korea. Although it had not been done, that was not a sufficient reason not to do it. It doesnt seem if he had a sophisticated nuanced, it was just the relationship. And so that lack of knowledge so Kellyanne Conway said that is not the case. He is aware of u. S. Policy, he is engaged and briefed. I want to read you something that he said in august, why he would not disavoi what some see as an embrace of russian president vladimir putin. They say putin likes trump, they said nice things about me. Thats good, thats not bad, thats good. Some of my opponents said we want you to disavoi statement. If we could get along with russia, wouldnt that be a good thing, not a bad thing . These calls that ivan was just speaking with us about seem to be a continuation of that. However, there are major issues in some of these country thats do not align with u. S. Policy, belief, or standing just like ivan described. So as a trump supporter, where do you want that line drawn. He says i would rather open up a dialogue later on. He is saying maybe that is long enough. It is the sage logic that barack obama used. But the difference is the difference is china. You dont worry about him infuriating china . That they need when it comes to north korea . China always acts like theyre infuriated. They always are overreacting to statements, and this is not as big of a deal as many are making it out to be. Were selling billions of dollars to use and defend themselves. So the idea that taiwan will be more outraged over accepting a phone call from taiwan than barack obama sending billions of dollars in sales donald trump took a phone call. He didnt sell any weapons to taiwan. Just to be clear from the readout from taiwan on this phone call, he did talk about things Like National defense. Let me get your take on this. Donald trump spoke with the president ofback stan, and according to a readout he told the Prime Minister youre a terrific guy, youre doing amazing work, that is visible in every way. There is a reason that no u. S. President has been in pakistan in a decade. What is your reaction to the serious of calls and pakistan specifically. I dont have a problem with phone calls per se. I wish they were open to untapped territories eight years ago. But it is not a question of engaging the countries, but asking what getting along means. Getting along at what cost . How do we think about the human rights. How do but think about the harboring of terrorism. Are we going to make a hard line and have a strategic purpose. I would love to talk to putin, but if were not talking about fundamental issues, there is no point in talking about them. I want to get this in to you, ben, i want your opinion on this. If it is someone like mitt romney, someone he has had very different views with, does it complicate things for mitt romney . Not if you know going in what youre going to be dealing with here. I think he made it clear that diplomats have not done a great job. We have been losing more than we have been winning on an international stage, so he is going to go direct. She a negotiator. And i think he understands one other thing. It is easy to have a rough and tough conversation with the leader. The same thing that Ronald Reagan did with gorbachov. Donald trump might be saying if i want to be very plublunt with china, i want to know who im negotiating with on the front lines. When you have a relationship, you usually get more done. Thank you very much. A lot coming up, moscow meddling. Theyre attempts to interfere with the u. S. Election. Well have more, next. Grand seafood feast,he new and the new wildcaught lobster shrimp trio, with a lobster macandcheese topped lobster tail. Come treat yourself to feast fit for the season before it ends. Its your tv, take it with you. With directv and at t, stream live tv anywhere, no extra monthly fees. At godaddy, our goal is to lets chat in football terms. This is the goal post. The end zone. The goal of every team. We know you have goals. Like getting exposure for your idea or business. With godaddy Website Builder, you can easily create an awesome mobilefriendly, get you more exposure website. We call that. A Website Builder touchdown. Get your free trial of Website Builder now. Breaking news we just learned that jill stein is dropping her lawsuit to pursue a recount in pennsylvania. The Campaign Says it is because of the cost ordered by a court ruling. They demand that a Million Dollars be paid, and they cannot afford to post the 1 million bond required by the court. Stein raids nearsed nearly 7 m for the recount effort. They are planning a major announcement tomorrow. Well see if they will refile in pennsylvania. This time, donald trump and Hillary ClintonsCampaign Managers shared the stage in Fake News Campaign coverage and talking about russias rumors of interfering in the election. As you can guess they had very different views. Congress has to investigate what happened with russia here. We cannot have foreign aggressors intervening in our elections. And we know they were propagating fake news. I think the biggest piece of fake news is that donald trump could not win. So there is that, and that was pedalled for weeks and months. If you loo