Attorney general does not plan to recuse himself. And savings muellers work. As he writes his final report, wittics fear he could be fire. Does mueller have a plan to save the results of his investigation. Youre in washing washing youre in the situation room. Another American Community is ripped apart by sudden violence after a gunman opens fire inside a crowded bar before taking his own life. The night spot in Thousand Oaks, california was full of College Students enjoying Country Music when the shooter burst in firing a handgun with what authorities now say was an legally obtained firearm. The suspect is a 29yearold former marine and ill speak with leon panetta and our correspondents and experts are all standing by. Cnns scott mclean is on the scene for us. Whats the very latest . Reporter hey, waumt is still on the scene. They are also searching the suspects home and and trying to figure out what a motivation has been here. They have not yet found any evidence of any atitional threats to the area and they still have no idea what was going through this guys mind. Tonight authorities are learning more about the shooter as the borderline bar identified as 28yearold ian david long. Long, a United States marine corps vet, served as a machine gunner and was honorably discharged in 2013. A neighbor says long was intensely private and not social, and his mother worried about what he might do. You know, she lived in near. She told you that . Yeah. What did she tell you exactly . Oh, i dont want to go into it. She just worried. She was worried about her son. Weve got multiple people down. We need a lot of ambulances. Reporter police say long walked into the bar just after 11 00 p. M. Dressed in all black and armed with a glock. Many students were shot. Sergeant ron helus ent earth during the shooting and he was shot several times. He was married with a grown son, and as ive said several times, he went in there to save people and made the ultimate sacrifice. Helus and oveners to were killed and more wounded. Police say long who died at the scene shot himself what did it look like in. Im very emotional right now. Jason coffmans 22yearold bold was at the bar. Jason said he will tracked his phone afterwards and waited agonizingly on his seasons where the. Before he headed out the door, the thirst thing i said dont drink and dive and th drink a drive and that i loved him. My first born son. Only him and i know how much i love how much i miss oh, god. This is so hard. Oh, son, i love you so much. Some of those inside the bar when the shots rang out have survived a mass shooting before. I was at the las vegas route 91 mass shooting as well as probably 50 or 60 others in the building at the same time as me tonight. Its a big thing for us. Were all a big family and, unfortunately, this family got hit twice. Reporter and, wolf, were also learning the newspapers of two more victims. Alaina housley was young person dine student and justin meek was 23 years old and recent hi graduated from california. Police in april were called out for a disturbance. Police ended up being released because he was determined not to be a danger to himself or the public. He is demeanor seemed to change after a trip in europe. Lost touch and still his friends say they cannot imagine nothinging in like this. He froekted this far he frequented this bar. Lets bring in one of our experts. They are searching the shooters home. What are they looking for now . Two potential gold mines for evidence. They still dont know what that is. They still want to go through the house and the vehicle. Again, looking for any type of evidence, a lighter left behind, a manifesto is this a cell phone . We were told initially when the subject went into the building behind us and conducted this mass shooting he didnt have a phone with him so thats something that officers want to look for. We learned from fbi and the sheriffs county office and atf, the Sheriffs Office is prosecuting the case. They will be going through the and identifying all the vic times and were learning resourced are going to help us look for you tloo you the potential crime scenes. His vehicle, talking to oh, the and the like, bol. His mother feared what he was capable of doing, so what are you learning about his past . I have, wolf. As scott mentioned, thats been the area of most interest here to Law Enforcement officers as they try to look back into the shooters history to determine were there warning signs . We learned of the stlaemt he had contact with Law Enforcement. There law in until called 45150. If lawmakers officers determine someone to be a threat to themselves or theres some type of democratic process, they can be put under review to term their meant rall health state. They didnt deem him to actually reach the refresh hold her they had to be committed and that will be interesting and the last thing we know is he was a former United States department of ma scenes, they will be riding and in order to paint that picture of this this guy was. Were learning more about the dramatic details of what Law Enforcement first encountered when you gut to the. Now, weve been paulking about the fact that lumb bliss has beorganized himself and going into the sound of gun pier in order to stone a threat or stave lose. The call in and they were made within a matter of minutes. One officer went in. One was engaged by the subject and succumbed to his wounds and there was another officer who dragged him out to a position of safety so he could be treated. Sadly, as weve been reporting, he lost his life, a story of heroism, people inside going in and rushing in to save lives. Wolf . Josh, thanks very much. Josh campbell reporting to us from the scene. Joining us now. Thanks so much for joining us, captain, and our hearts go out. Our deepest condolences to you and all your colleagues and, first of all, can you give us the latest on the stress. The. Well, this is still an active chafgs going only we have deputies and detectives both at the location prod hind me processing the scene with our pause courtth sunshine. Were looking for any information that will help us identify what the time line was before, during and after the tobin bridgic events last night. Gators as the cuss spent it will help us identify what the motive was for this sick,y is deprave individual, and the harm he caused to our residents in in Thousand Oaks yesterday. We do know, and as you well know, captain, that the sheriff that the shooter, i should say, had prior runins with Law Enforcement. Do you think some red flags were perhaps missed . At this point theres no idea that. There was an under dent where we had specialized personnel to evaluate to determine whether hes specially trained individuals that evaluated him and made a determination that he in fact was not. That is several another flamed could more have been done to stop him . Thats certainly something that well be looking at. One of the things we look at in this type of investigation are preincident indicators, things that we could have done better or in some cases the motivation for these things. Both of those are very, very important for us. At this point its way too early to tell if there were any preincident indicators that may have affected this outcome, but the context that we have documented were were were extremely thorough and and they were followed up on just by the book. Tell us a little bit more while i have you, captain, about Sergeant Ron Helus who was killed during the response to this massacre. Sergeant ron helus was a cops cop. A 29yearold veteran with the Sheriffs Office. He was he has been here for several years, a trainer, a mentor and a leader ore. Technically extremely spot that bepont the to heroically and when you hear peoples gunfire. I did not. He went in to face and neutralize that threat. Weve been out here all day, and ive met a survivor of that tragic event who came um and told me, you know, Sergeant Helus saved peoples lives. He went in and diverted the suspects attention and he engaged, and that saved others, and i have no doubt that his his actions contributed to the the lower number of people injured or killed. A real hero and our deepest deepest cone dolenses to his friends, family and the entire community. Captain, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. Up next, theres more breaking news were following. The latest on the massacre in that california night spot as investigators now are trying to learn what caused a u. S. Marine corps veteran to gun down a dozen people before taking his own life. And other news, new questions remerging about the fate of the investigation and a new acting attorney general does not step away from the probe. Will he let mueller continue his job . Your insurance rates skyrocket after a scratch so small you could fix it with a pen. How about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead . For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise their rates because of their first accident. Switch and you could save 782 on home and auto insurance. Call for a free quote today. Liberty mutual insurance. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Swrurks more breaking news, the sudden the firing of the attorney general of the United StatesJeff Sessions has left a cloud hang over special counsel Robert Muellers probe. Lets go to our senior White House Correspondent pamela brown. Will the acting attorney general let mueller do his job . Well, wolf, the fate of the Mueller Investigation remains unclear tonight with the appointment of acting attorney general Matt Whitaker. Now, even though hes been pubically critical of the probe in the past sources say he has no plans to recuse himself like his predecessor. A day after Jeff Sessions was ousted as attorney general, questions surround the future of the russia investigation. Cnn has learned that his replacement acting attorney Matthew Whitaker has no intention of recusing himself from the russia probe according to a source familiar with his thinking. Despite being openly critical of the investigation as a cnn commentator. You can see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recession appointment and that attorney general doesnt fire bob mueller but just reduces the budget so low his investigation grinds to an absolute halt. During a radio interview last august before his appointment to the department of justice. I think it smells a little fishy, but i hope it doesnt turn into a fishing expedition because ill be one of the ones jumping up and down. Good for you. Making sure theres limitations on this investigation because thats the way its supposed to be. Whitaker would likely reject a mueller request to interview the president and this morning trump spent the morning with whitaker where he gave offcamera remarks to new Supreme CourtJustice Brett kavanaugh and then returned to the white house and trump himself claiming he could get rid everyone involved in the Mueller Investigation. Could i fire right now because i dont want to stop t. Politically i dont want to stop it. Its a disgrace. It should never have been started because there was no crime. Critics say its not just whitakers comments on mueller, they point to his qualifications, too. Its a unique design. Reporter whitakers resume includes a stint on the Advisory Board of worth patent marketing, a company that had to pay a multimillion Dollar Settlement for scamming its customers and now the president is looking for a possible replacement, senator lindy graham who was once critical of firing Jeff Sessions. If Jeff Sessions is fired there will be holy hell to pay. Also on the list, new Jersey Governor Chris Christie who was spotted at the white house today for a Prison Reform roundtable and Florida Attorney general pam bondi f. Nominated, christie who was a prominent campaign surrogate for trump, could face similar calls to recuse himself like sessions did, but unlike sessions theres no evidence that he had contact with Trump Officials during the campaign or transition. Letters were sent to to anyone who has had an involvement in the Mueller Investigation in an effort to protect the mueller evidence in case theres any interference. Joining us now, someone who has worn just with every hat here in washington. Leon panetta served as defense secretary, white house chief of staff, congressman, i could go on and on. Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us. Good to be with you, wolf. Do you believe the acting attorney general can do his job fairly given his previous comments about the Mueller Investigation . Frankly i think the bigger question is whether or not this individual can be appointed acting attorney general, i think our constitution requires that when someone takes over a department and it responsible for that president , that had a has to be subject to the advice and concept of the senate. To have a chief of staff who has not been confirmed by the senate take that passion in my view violates the constitution so there had a question as to whether mr. Whitaker can assume the position of chief law professors officer without having been confirmed by the president. Theres one clause in that achesy act that who open up door, be a lets see he can door did. Is he is he qualified for all practical purposes to be in charge of the russia Mueller Investigation given the previous comments that hes made going against that entire investigation . Well, i dont think theres any question that the comments hes made about the investigation would clearly affect his ability to be objective in judging what the suspicion prosecutor does or does not do and for that reason its very important for the conditioning, and i would think for administration, to ask the question whether or not this is the right person to put into that position because it will raise legal questions. It will raise concerns, and frankly if you listen to the majority leader in the senate yesterday, mr. Mcconnell, he made very clear that this. Lets say theres an appointment to run the department of justice, the acting attorney general, that its unconstitutional. Hes running it right now. Hes in charge and you saw him deal with all the activities today. How do you stop him . I i think what what that means is everything that that individual does in that capacity, i think its subject to legal question. It just raises serious legal concerns that somebody like this would suddenly take over the department of Justice Without having been confirmed by the senate. I mean, this is a huge responsibility to have somebody act as attorney general. The chief Law Enforcement officer for this country, responsible for endorsing the laws across this country, that individual has not been subject to review by the subject a to his rul quieted. The helpity, mr. Rosenstein has been, and normally when a deputy steps down, its the deputy that assumes the responsibilities for making the appointment to the top position and that hasnt happened here and i think they are making a mistake by doing that. He certainly wasnt confirmed by the senate during the Trump Administration, and this looks like a real slap at Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney general, who is who has not who has not moved up to the top job as a result of this. Presumably they dont like over at the white house the way Rod Rosenstein is taking and reviewing everything that mueller is doing and they would previous Matt Whittaker to be responsible for what mueller is doing. Heres the question. Is Robert Muellers job in jeopardy right now . Well, i i think the the real question is what Robert Mueller does as special prosecutor. With his recommendations for possible future indictments and future steps that have tab taken, is that going to be jeopardized by now having this individual now have oversight over that prosecution . I think it raises some very serious legal questions hearing. I think under the president and others feel about that investigation, but if they cart that game with how that sessioning proceeds, they will cause problems for themselves. If they want to raise additional issues with regards to the obstruction of justice, let them play this game because its a dangerous game to be played. I guess the bottom line is you know the white house chief of staff, its often been recordy. Are you worried that the president is ready to fire more people now that the midterm elections are over . Well, you know you know, president s certainly have the right to fire who they want. Thats not the issue. But normally what would happen here is that when you fire somebody, you have somebody else so youve got of thought through the consequences can of kind of taking that kind of action. If the president is sump police going to fire people at will and then appoint whoever to take their place, i think thats just going to result in more trouble for the strarks soy would any theres going to be it would behoove them for general kelly and others think this through. One thing this country is a little tired of is instability when it comes to the administration and how they perform their duties in washington. Mr. Secretary, remember an inte