he had a quote in the piece today i'm sure something not asked of the white candidates is america ready for another white candidate. >> stan herndon, thank you for writing about it. thanks for being with me. i'm brooke baldwin. "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. welcome to the lead, i'm jake tapper. and we begin with breaking news. two sources present at the tuesday deposition of white house national security counsel staffer lieutenant colonel vindman tell me that he told congressional investigators that he became convinced that president trump personally was ordering the with holding of $400 million in aid for ukraine as a way of forcing ukrainian president zelensky to publicly announce an investigation into the bidens. he said the existence of a quid pro quo had been clear to him by july 10th when the ambassador to

the european union, gordon sondland, a point mant on ukraine situation, told ukrainian officials they need to deliver, quote, specific investigations in order to secure the white house meeting they so desired with president trump. that is according to vindman's opening start reported yesterday. but the fact that the $400 million in aid including the desperately needed military assistance to beat back the russians, that was also being used by the president, that didn't become clear until the next month, vindman testified yesterday. after that john bolton told vindman to prepare a decision memo by august 15th for bolton and other senior administration officials to present as a trump administration wide interagency argument to president trump to release the assist answer funds to ukraine as soon as possible. vindman wrote that memo or that argument and a day later bolton, secretary of state mike pompeo,

secretary of defense mike he s and others met with the president in bed minister and learned that the president was still refusing to allow the funds to go to ukraine and that convinced the lieutenant colonel vindman president trump was still waiting for the quote, deliverable, as bill taylor the top diplomat in ukraine referred to in his deposition. the deliverable. the announcement of the investigation into the bidens that ukrainian officials need to deliver to get the money so they so despratly needed. we have more breaking news now. john bolton has been asked to testify for the impeachment inquiry. kaitlan collins tell us about that. >> he's been asked to testify next week on november 7th. house impeachment investigators have invited the former national security adviser who has been famously silent as all of this ramped up so the issues surrounding this call, a call

that john bolton was not on but that his deputy was on instead. someone in kind of a bind of his own deciding whether or not he's going to appear. so right now we don't know if john bolton will appear. they have not issued a subpoena for him to appear yet but right now that is an invitation made and the question is is he going to take them up on it and if does he, what does he say? that is incredibly significant for all of this because of course we've seen all of the people going and testifying on capitol hill and not a lot of them had interactions directly with president trump. john bolton, of course, someone in the oval office almost every day and while he and the president soured in their relationship at the end, he knows a lot because he was at the center of this fight over this military aid with mick mulvaney. he's not the only one though. there are two other big invitations for john eisenberg the lawyer for the national security counsel also in the middle of this because he was someone who several staffers who had issues with the president's july phone call went and spoke with him about. he's also another person that he

and the national security counsel legal team, the white house pinned the blame on for moving that transcript of the president's call to that highly-secure system. >> rough transcript. >> yes. rough transcript and not exact as we learned from the testimony yesterday and one more, michael ellis, that is his deputy there who has come under the spotlight of his own at times because he used to work for the house intelligence committee in nunes was in charge he was facing accusations of letting the white house see information. and we're waiting to see what they say. >> and bolton has a lot to contribute. i suspect he won't testify unless he's subpoenaed. but let's talk about what vindman said. because vindman said yesterday many his deposition, cnn just broke this news, that he became convinced that this aid, $400 million, much of which was military aid for ukraine, that president trump was with holding it until the ukrainians publicly announced that the bidens were going to be investigated and a lot of this is wrapped up in this august memo. you have more reporting on that august memo.

which was making the argument that we need to release the funds. >> one of the issues is that the administration has said there are legitimate reasons for why the president was not releasing the money and you are reporting and kylie has done great reporting there was a push to get the president to sign on the dotted line and release the money in august and it came from some of the top administration officials that since then the white house has pinned the blame on for holding back this money. so we've seen witnes after witness goes before the impeachment investigators this nair fif that the white house and office of management and budget tried to create around this freeze has begun to crumble and it seems more and more the decision to freeze and release the money rested solely on the whims of president trump. >> and kylie, you cover the state department for us. you're reporting that president's decision in june to freeze these funds unnerved a lot of senior administration officials. >> yes. so we're hearing today from one of the state department officials involved in the u.s./ukraine policy directly,

one of the assist a-- assistant to kurt volker and she's saying she was on that july 18th inter-agency discussion in which the announcement was made that there was going to be a hold on this security assistance and during that phone call they said that it was at the direction of president trump. this gets back to the heart of what sarah was just saying, is that omb was announcing there was the hold. we're told it was omb doing the review. that the pentagon was doing the review but ultimately day one they were told that it was president trump who was directing the hold. and catherine croft is someone who knees ukraine well. she knew that rudy giuliani was intimately involved in this smear campaign against ambassador yovanovitch, the former u.s. ambassador there. so u.s. sta-- state department officials were concerned about the hold and had questions about the legitimate massey of it.

>> and sarah, rob portman of ohio made one last pitch to president trump in the september 11th phone call urging him to release the funds. >> that is right. this is a point where everyone else in the administration is saying okay it is time to release this money. the president still won't budge. rob portman decides to take one more go at it and he calls the president and said if you don't get this money out of the door now it will go away because the fiscal year is ending and then you have a problem on your hands and they hung up the call and the president surprised everyone around him and in washington in and ukraine and decided after that call he would release the money. now we don't know if rob portman's pitch is the one that put the president over the edge or this mountaining pressure from lawmakers and even within his own administration but he released the money after that and this is something impeachment investigators want the answer to. >> it is possible that.president, correct me if i'm wrong, kaitlan, heard about the whistle-blower and the fact

that he was -- he or she lodged a complaint and expressing concerns about the rogue ukraine policy and the fact that military aid and other aid was being held up to force the investigation of the bidens. we don't know when president trump learned about this. >> we don't know. there is mystery surrounding the timeline but we know this person before going and filing this complaint went to an attorney beforehand and talked about this, talked about their concern and the concern that they heard from people before they went and filed this complaint. so there is a chance that the white house was more aware than we have initially believed. whether the president was aware, that is the question. but also this is really been something that has kind of consumed the president so far. he talks about it constantly. all of the time wanting to know the identity of the whistle-blower because he believes it is just someone who has essentially a bone to pick with him and that is the questions to focus on the identity of the whistle-blower. >> and let me just ask you, briefly there is this huge

campaign to smear alexander vindman and has shrapnel still in his body because he was hit by an ied in combat in iraq, going after him as a dual citizen or a covert agent for ukraine, et cetera, et cetera, is there anybody in the white house concerned, boy this looks bad. even liz cheney is saying this is shameful. >> that is something everyone was paying attention to in the white house. it wasn't just liz cheney, she was the first and people were surprised she came out so forcefully about that and john thune and mitch mcconnell talking about the criticism of someone who was just simply, they believe, telling what happened in his position in that role. of course he is incredibly sensitive for the white house because the first person to testify that was on the call. that is why you saw people trying to discredit him even though he is someone who has served in the military and wounded and essentially people in the white house said they didn't think that was a great idea. >> my sources say he reported to work today at the national security council after all of

this. and thank you for being here. a ton going on today. another foreign service officer is testifying before house investigators. this is as lawmakers are right now debating impeachment inquiry rule as head of a full house vote tomorrow. a lot of debate about that. and then on the other side of the countries, winds more than 70 miles per hour fuelling multiple fires across california. we'll go there as well. stay with us. if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with... ...an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla

reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. ♪ my moderate to severe i ulcerative colitis.ing but i realized something was missing... me. the thought of my symptoms returning was keeping me from being there for the people and things i love most. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira can help get, and keep, uc under control when other medications haven't worked well enough. and it helps people achieve control that lasts so you could experience few or no symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas

where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, control is possible. can match the power of energizer. because energizer ultimate lithium is the longest lasting aa battery in the world. [confetti cannon popping] energizer. backed by science. matched by no one. full of tasty, good for you ingredients. fresh and filling. so that you too will be full of good. try our new warm grain bowls today. order now on grubhub.

but dad, you've got allstate. with accident forgiveness they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. indeed. are you in good hands? > we're back with the politics

lead. right now the house rules committee is debating the house resolution the democrats introduced to be voted on tomorrow to outline the process of the impeachment inquiry going forward as a source tells cnn that a star witness for house democrats is willing to return to capitol hill to testify in public, that is bill taylor the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine and as did alexander vindman and as sun land serfaty reports their testimony could back up damning depositions already on the record. >> reporter: two new witnesses testifying on capitol hill in the house democrats' intensifying impeachment probe. christopher anderson aide for ukraine kurt volker spoking to lawmakers behind closed doors.

telling lawmakers about the concerns voiced by former national security adviser john bolton over rudy giuliani's shad yes ukraine operation. anderson, according to his opening statement, obtained by cnn saying bolton cautioned mr. giuliani as a key voice with the president on ukraine and could collide with increased white house. and today corroborating the testimony the committees have heard from other witnesses about the oust the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine marie yovanovitch. meantime the fallout continues from the explosive testimony on capitol hill tuesday of lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, national security council top expert and he was on the july 25th call between president trump and the ukrainian president the same one the president referred to as

perfect. but vindman's testimony directly contradicting the public description of the transcript released by the white house. >> they had a transcript done by very, very talented people. word-for-word. comma for comma. done by people that do it for a living. we had an exact transcript. >> reporter: president trump touting over and over again that it was an exact transcript of the phone call. the white house in september sayingel ipsiys did not represent missing words or phrases but not so said vindman that what the white house released was not exact and had two partso mitted, a reference to a joe biden tape and a mention of burisma where hunter was aboard. burisma according to vindman appearing in the transcript as just the company. back on bill taylor being willing to publicly testify up here on capitol hill, sources say that an official request has

not yet been made by the committees but certainly, jake, many democrats up there on capitol hill will think he would make an ideal first witness as this iengent -- as the inquiry enters the next phase. >> sunlen serfaty, thank you so much. let's chew over this. democrats believe that .is unavailable witness and jackie speier on the house intelligence committee said, quote, he's rock solid. detailed note taker, unimpeachable and 50 years to his country and doesn't get much more top gun than that. but mary katharine, we might think it is unassailable but the white house and the president has been assailing him. president trump called him a never trumper and said they are human scum. >> they will attempt to assail him. the democrats have the advantage at the moment of the fact that both taylor and vindman as far as i could tell, a., seem to have solid background and

reputation but b., trump has anybody who steps up against them act as insane and erratic as he does. these two have yet to shift and act openly partisan and mess up in public so that is giving them credibility and if they continue to do that it will be a problem for trump. >> so my theory on this and i've talked to folks on the hill and they verified that the whole strategy here is schiff as a former forward prosecutor is building this case brick by brick and as we've gotten more damning and more evidence and more -- and the goal was when we get to the public part, it is intentionally going to see like this is the worst of the worst for the president. so they can keep trying to assail but the point is the evidence is building and building. and even though we haven't heard from the republicans sitting in the same hearings, they know what the people have said in private. they know the damage that could be done when they get a chance to talk in public. and so at some point i would suspect they'll have to figure out are they really going to

take this public? the republicans, or will they try to do a deal with trump? >> one of the things that vindman testified to yesterday was there were parts of the conversation that were not included in the rough transcript. take a listen to president trump earlier this month talking about the rough transcript and how it exonerates him. >> this is an exact word-for-word transcript of the conversation. taken by very talented stenographers. >> so that is not true. we knew it at the time it was not true and now we know that parts were left out and parts that vindman said were not left out nefariously and tried to put back in but not able to do. >> he tried to make key corrections and on multiple times they were -- some got inserts and then some didn't. but one of the big key pieces of moving forward for democrats and back to the whole element of public testimony and taylor is that they feel as though they don't necessarily need everyone to testify publicly.

so being able to land someone like taylor in a public testimony, they will be pretty happy with that. and then maybe one or two others, because they don't want this to drag out longer than it needs to and they do want to start getting to those as well as having private depositions at the same clk. >> and kaitlan a source said it is some portion where president trump mentions the tapes of biden where stuff was left out about burisma and investigations, biden went around -- this is trump in the part of the rough transcript released, biden went around bragging he stopped the prosecution so if you could look into it, dot dot dot. and it sounds horrible to me. the white house said that was just because the conversation had trailed off but that is apparently not true. >> and this is the contradiction that needs to be explained. because when this transcript came out you saw the dot dot dots and people asked was something there or what happened and they said no there was a pause in the conversation. someone trailed off.

if there were words left out there would have been brackets in place. that is the white house who put that out and in the transcript said this is not a verbatim transcript and while our reporting so far showed that vindman did not testify there was a sinister motive -- >> that he didn't know of one. >> exactly. there were questions. and some people speculate because it is the transcript moved so quickly to the secure system and it took about a matter of days based on what sources have told us so those are the questions for the white house to explain why did they say that if there were words -- >> but that is not how the process works. >> but the idea there is no nev air yu motive, the rough transcript as it existed was damning, yes. >> the president didn't think so. >> but the cover-up did not succeed. >> stick around. we have more to talk about. we have to sneak in a quick break. the powder keg before the call. new details today about the explosive ukraine meeting at white house and why it could be the key moment to the impeachment probe. stay with us. this is a jimmy john's sandwich,

made with all-natural meats, hand-sliced veggies, and fresh-baked bread. and this is the new little john, available for only $3. they're almost identical. almost. ♪ good job. okay. gimme one minute... and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80% - medicare will pay for. what's left is on you. that's where an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company comes in. this type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesn't. these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement

for meeting their high standards of quality and service. so call unitedhealthcare insurance company today and ask for your free decision guide. with this type of plan, you'll have the freedom to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. and when you travel, your plan will go with you - anywhere in the country. whew! call unitedhealthcare today and ask for your free decision guide. corrupt president in our today nation's history. when i called for his impeachment two years ago, washington insiders and every candidate for president said it was too soon. but i believed then, as i do now, that doing the right thing was more important than political calculations. and over eight million people agreed. we proved that there is no challenge that americans can't meet when we work together. i'm tom steyer, and i approve this message.

annoepidemic fueled by juul use with their kid-friendly flavors. san francisco voters stopped the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. but then juul, backed by big tobacco, wrote prop c to weaken e-cigarette protections. the san francisco chronicle reports prop c is an audacious overreach, threatening to overturn the ban on flavored

products approved by voters. prop c means more kids vaping. that's a dangerous idea. vote no on juul. no on big tobacco. no on prop c. while much of the impeachment inquiry has been focused on president trump's nowin famous july 25th call with president

zelensky we're getting a much clearer picture about the fight within the trump administration about ukraine policy. cnn's sara murray explains it all stems from a july 10th meeting where top national security advisers to president trump confronted one another about their disagreements in front of ukrainian officials visiting the white house. >> reporter: week as head of president trump's controversial july 25th phone call with the ukrainian president that sparked the impeachment inquiry, the rift spilled out in a series of white house meetings. on july 10th ukraine secretary of national security and defense counsel travelled to washington to meet with then adviser john bolton and kurt volker and ambassador to the e.u. gordon sondland and energy secretary rick perry. u.s. career national subaru officials who are experts on ukraine and russia, fiona hill and alexander vindman were also there. in public it was all smiled.

perry tweeted a picture. the americans heap praise on the counter parts tweeting great discussion. good team work. we stand with ukraine. privately things were going sour. the ukrainians were angling for an in-person meeting between president zelensky and trump a sign of solidary between the u.s. and ukraine as the country continued to face threats from russia. ambassador sondland spoke about ukraine delivering specific investigations in order to secure the meeting with the president. at which time ambassador bolton cut the meeting short. vindman, the white house expert on ukraine, testified tuesday. >> i want to thank colonel vindman for his courage in coming forward. >> reporter: after bolton cut off the meeting there was another pete meeting where he pressed for the political investigations. he testified ambassador sondland emphasized the importance that they deliver the investigations into the 2016 election, the

bidens and burisma and then vnd and hill confronted sondland saying the statements were inappropriate and the request to investigate biden and his son had nothing to do with national security and such investigations were not something the nsc was going to get involved in or push, vindman testified. dr. hill entered the room and asserted to ambassador sondland that the statements were inappropriate. >> he heard ambassador sondland tell the ukrainians to get a white house meeting they needed to deliver on investigations into vice president biden. that, anderson, is a this for that. in other words a quid pro quo. >> reporter: but sondland offers a different version of events testifying if ambassador bolton dr. hill or others harbored any misgivings about the propriety of what we were doing, they never shared the misgivings with me then or later. and he was not aware that burisma was connected to the bidens until much later.

after this went down john bolton told fiona hill he didn't want to be part of whatever drug deal they were cooking up. now impeachment committees are ready to hear from john bolton. they want to speak to him last week. >> i'm guessing he didn't mean drug deal as a compliment. and katlyn, fired national security adviser john bolton and he said he resigned, he holds a lot of cards and been invited to testify. >> scorned might be the more appropriate word for him. and people are watching. because he played a direct role in this, at the center of the fight pushing for the aid to be released and locked in a feud with mick mulvaney which we didn't understand at time. as far as whether or not he will show up, keep in mind he's the same attorney as his deputy charlie kupperman who took over when he was fired/resigned and that attorney filed this lawsuit asking the court to rule whether or not he has to show up, ignores the white house mandate that they defy and don't show up and we're waiting on a ruling so

maybe bolt will follow that path. >> and the fact this meeting took place in july according to vindman where we know the ukrainians were told, according to sondland, if you go back vindman's testimony, if you want this meeting at the white house, you have to do these investigations. that is pretty much a direct assertion of a quid pro quo or alleged extortion even right to the ukrainians. >> and there is distance between those two i assume and we'll hear from sondland again and get more questions for him. and who knows what will happen with bolton. hell has no fury like a power stash scorned. >> i haven't heard that one before. >> so karen here is how "the washington post" described. the west wing meeting marked the moment of detonation of the ukraine crisis in the white house by then bolton and vindman and fiona hill and others had become suspicious that trump was pursuing a secret agenda. and then maybe it is entirely unrelated but fiona hill and

john bolton didn't last that much longer in the administration. >> i'm sure that was totally a coincidence. >> here is what is important about "the washington post" story in addition to the details from the story and we're hearing today. again this narrative is starting to lay itself out. we now know july 25th, which we always knew wasn't the only time this conversation was had. now we know that there were other meetings and know what was happening on july 10th. it is reasonable to assume there was potentially prior to that there were more conversation. it didn't just occur to someone one day, hey, let's do this. you have to suspect that he would have trump -- i mean would have had this idea in his head right from the time they got a new prime minister in ukraine. >> and what is the defense of this? what are people -- republicans on the hill and republicans in the white house saying other than attacking those who are making these allegations in depositions and impugning patriotism, et cetera.

how do you defend the fact that gordon sondland, the point man on ukraine, the shadow ukraine policy is stating according to vindman, there needs to me a quid pro quo. >> whenever faced with that question or asked, look, there is evidence piling up that is showing there were quid pro quos, multiple ones, that is what taylor testified to and then republicans say that is not a quid pro quo. i don't see a quid pro quo in that. or they just continue to attack the democratic process, the process that democrats are using. they don't really dive into the substance and they say that they believe that the president has -- hasn't done anything wrong and they deflect consistently. or they say that democrats need to bring this out into the public. and we'll see whether or not their arguments hold once this moves into the -- >> the process argument becomes moot. it is an easier argument to make for a while and it was sort of a place-holder so you don't deal with the substance as much.

but once it comes out in public, you'll have to -- republicans will have to deal with that and the talking points have to change. >> with no help from trump. because there is no -- unlike in the clinton administration where we did have a war room and proud of it and we had a message that went out, they will have to survive by tweet. so they are not even going to have a strategy. they have to make sense of what they are going to say not with any coordination with the white house because who knows what is in trump's head. >> so jonah goldberg who writes for the dispatch and also written for national review wrote a piece saying what president trump needs to do is what president clinton did which is apologize and then that -- well that is -- [ laughter ] >> you're way ahead of me. if he said look, i made a mistake and i shouldn't have done it and i'm not saying this is -- this is jonah's argument. but the reason you're making these expressions that we're -- we see on tv because he doesn't do that, president trump. >> he doesn't apologize and he is famously proud of the fact that he doesn't apologize.

you could count on one hand since he entered the political arena before he became president he does not apologize. the one time he did was over the access hollywood tape and then said he didn't believe it as his voice on that tape. so essentially this is not how the president operates. so the idea that he would do that is just -- it is not his mentality. he thinks that apologizing is a sign of weakness and if you do in a sense is an admission of guilt and i think republican view and the white house view even if he did apologize, it wouldn't change things. the dynamic with the democrats wouldn't see the point -- >> why not change public opinion? >> potentially. although it appears as though a lot of the public feels that this investigation should go on whether or not he should be impeached. so democrats have the wind at backs. and the train has left the station and nothing will stop them from pulling on the threads. stick around. cnn feet from the flames as

hurricane-force winds fuel multiple fires erupting across california. stay with us. people, our sales now apply to only 10 frames. a new low. at visionworks, our sales are good on over 500 frames. why are you so weird? for a limited time, get two complete pairs for $49. really. visionworks. see the difference. ♪ at progressive park! insurance themed fun ♪ children: yeah! announcer: ride the totally realistic traffic jam. ♪ beep, beep, beep, beep children: traffic jam! announcer: and the world's first never bump bumper cars. children: never bump! announcer: it's a real savings hootenanny with options that fit your budget. that's fun for the whole family. announcer: only at progressive par... maybe an insurance park was a bad idea. yeah. yep. ...i felt awful.... ...because of my psoriasis. i was covered from... ...head to toe with it.

i was afraid... ...to show my skin. every time i moved my arm... ...my skin cracked and bled. it really hurt. then i started... ...cosentyx. that was four years ago. how are you? now, i don't really think about it. see me. cosentyx works fast to give you clear skin that can last. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting... get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections... ...and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. see me. i look... ...and feel better. ask your dermatologist if cosentyx could help you move past the pain of psoriasis. ♪ ♪ ♪ born to be wild...

♪ (amber jagger) if we don't give students from an underserved background the technology that they need in school, they're not going to be competitive in the workforce that's waiting for them. since verizon innovative learning, students have hardware, connectivity, and quality curriculum. the jobs of tomorrow will involve technology. now students are truly hopeful for what they may achieve.

breaking news. in our national lead. hurricane-force winds ravaging the state of california spreading wildfires. one getting stunningly close to the reagan presidential library. more than 26 million people are under red flag warnings today. bill weir joins me live. and what is happening on the ground where you are? >> reporter: well, if we use war as a metaphor for fighting this fire it is maddening. there are skirmishings and

surprise attacks and lulls and we have to play defense. this is where we are. on the other side of the hill is the reagan library and museum. i think we have some film from this morning. we got there maybe an hour after the fire had started near easy road in simi valley. that is the easy fire. and it was stunning to see the speed of this thing. you could not outrun this fire if you tried. fortunately that building was built specifically to survive earthquake and fire and got the closest test. there was smoke in the atrium where the jet was and they are taping shut every crease and door to try to save that stuff but luckily all of the precious memoirs are safe. but what a metaphor for the new california since reagan was governor of this state, wildfire season has expanded by 2 1/2 months. the hots are getting hotter and we're seeing it in realtime and it feels like there is a sea change in the conversation the way people are talking about the fact this is not going to get

better. the predictions are it will get much worse so the systems, power systems, first responders, alert systems, all of those things will have to move into this new normal. but right now we're sort of watching as these teams leap frog each other. over here you have a citrus grove where they're using irrigation tanks to try to safe as much of those fruit trees there. all of the iconic symbols from the oranges in the south to the wine grapes up in the north, from the getty center museum to lebron james' house signals more than anywhere else it seems like this climate crisis is touching people of all classes, jake. >> and bill, when are the winds expected to die down? >> reporter: we have some -- probably by tomorrow morning. maybe late tonight. but this is like a super-charged red flag warning they have because it is not just the winds, it is not just the 60-mile-per-hour winds but the humidity is so low and this fuel

is just -- it is just tinder dry and unless it is all hands on deck in addition to the cal fire team and guys from other counties and fire and rescue. we've seen big brigades of prisoners, a controversial thing they've been doing it here since world war ii where the inmates make $2 a day to come out and set fire lines and get an extra $1 if they are fighting active flames, jake. >> bill weir, thank you so much. stay safe, my friend. the u.s. government promising to take care of gold star families after loved ones are killed fighting for the country but we'll talk to one widow who says they could be doing a lot more. stay with us. ♪ things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free ♪ ♪ to bare my skin ♪ yeah that's all me. ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin ♪ that's my new plan. ♪ nothing is everything. keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved

90% clearer skin at 4 months. of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪ i see nothing in a different way ♪ ♪ and it's my moment so i just gotta say ♪ ♪ nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. ♪ panera's new warm grain full of flavor, color,. full of- woo! full of good. so you can be too. try our new warm grain bowls today. panera. food as it should be.

in our national lead, when a u.s. service member is killed in the line of duty the u.s. government promised to take care of their family with a monthly payment. that gold star family is also then eligible to receive part of an insurance plan if they have been paying into it. but there is a catch. for every dollar that the grieving family receives from one plan, the u.s. government holds back a dollar from the other. it is called the widows' tax and right now congress could end it. though it is not clear if they will. joining me now to talk about it senator doug jones of alabama, a lead sponsor of legislation to repeal the widows' tax and with us an old friend, gold star wife christian fenti whose joseph

fepti w fept -- fenti was killed in afghanistan in 2006. explain how this affected your family, you and your daughter? >> okay. my husband served 20 years in the u.s. military and had earned a retirement but was not retired. he was killed in afghanistan. and in the days following his death, in fact before he was buried, i was asked to make a selection about how i would receive my daughter's benefit -- receive the survivor benefit attached to his retirement and it was rather confusing to me. in fact when they said we're here to discuss survivor issues and i thought there were survivors and no, there were survivor's benefit and it is offset by $1,319 a month. i had the choice to take the benefit in my name, for my life,

with an off-set or take it in my daughter's name until she reached the age of majority or graduated from college. i actually did a break-even analysis and the break-even for me because he had been in for so long is age 72 but the vso said, there is strong legislation on the hill, it is going to pass in this session. take the benefit in your daughter's name and it will revert to your name and you'll have it for life. >> you were told this in 2006. >> in 2006. >> and here is the thing. for 18 years people have been trying to get legislation like the kind you have introduced passed into law and it hasn't happened. why do you think this time it might? >> i think this time because we've got overwhelming bipartisan support. there are 76 co-sponsors in the senate. three-fourths of the united states senate, 381 in the house. it was passed and put in as part of the house national defense authorization. it is in conference now. last week -- a couple of weeks ago we passed a resolution in the senate that passed 94-0

instructing the folks in the senate to put it in the ndaa. it would have passed 100 to nothing but i got a few folks out running around in iowa and new hampshire. but it has overwhelming support. everybody i think, now, jake, recognizes that for 40 years we have neglected our duty and obligation to the very people that served us and gave us their all. >> and let's point out that one of the reasons you guys are here right now is because we want there to be awareness for people who are working behind closed doors on this national defense bill that this is an issue that could be resolved. for people out there who don't understand, what do you wish they understood about this? people don't know about the widows' tax, what do they need to know. >> it is an earned and purchase benefit. it is earned through years of service and contributions while on active duty. and post-retirement retirees could elect to participate in an

insurance plan where they pay a premium to ensure that the retirement benefit be provided survivor annuity to their families. >> in other words this isn't free goodies that you want from the federal government. this is stuff that you and your husband earned. >> it is earned and it is purchased. and it is being offset purely because our spouses died as the result of service. the benefit that is paid to survivors for the loss of their spouses in service is paid in order to hold the government harmless. it is an insult that we're being asked to forfeit a portion of our survivor benefit -- we're not asked or told that we will and in essence our dead spouses purchased their own indemnity payment. >> so people don't know your story unless they've read the outpost in which i tell your story but your late husband joe, he never even got to meet your daughter because he was so dedicated to serving and service.

he was going to come home. you were pregnant when he left and he never met your little girl. >> correct. >> senator jones critics say that the cost is the barrier forgetting this past. it has an estimated price tag of $5.7 billion over ten years. >> right. >> what is your response to that. >> this is thur money. this is money paid for. remember what kristin said is important. it is earned but also paid for. and then when they offset these two buckets, they're not getting the money that they paid into the department of defense. it is an absolute outrage. i'm hoping that finally congress will wake up. for years congress sits around and we talk about and go to memorial day celebrations and veterans day celebrations and talk about our devotion to service men and women but yet this is happening for 40 years. it is time, i think, that congress put its money where its mouth is. >> don't just say thank you for your service or sacrifice. >> let's put it into action and

do with this widows tax elimination. >> thank you so much. appreciate your time here today. let's hope the people were listening. any moment we could get the declassified video of the baghdadi raid. that is next. not even our competitor's best battery can match the power of energizer. because energizer ultimate lithium is the longest lasting aa battery in the world. [confetti cannon popping] energizer. backed by science. matched by no one. o♪ ozempic®! ♪ oh! oh! (announcer) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®.

in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7 and maintained it. oh! under 7? (announcer) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (announcer) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? (announcer) ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin

may increase the risk for low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i discovered the potential with ozempic®. ♪ oh! oh! oh! ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) if eligible, you may pay as little as $25 per prescription. ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. t-mobile's newest signal reaches farther than ever before... with more engineers, more towers, more coverage. it's a network that gives you... with coverage from big cities, to small towns. introducing t-mobile's 600mhz signal. no signal reaches farther or is more reliable. and it's built 5g ready. my hands are everything to me.

but i was diagnosed with dupuytren's contracture. and it got to the point where things i took for granted got tougher to do. thought surgery was my only option. turns out i was wrong. so when a hand specialist told me about nonsurgical treatments, it was a total game changer. like you, my hands have a lot more to do. learn more at factsonhand.com today.

like you, my hands have is just like our originalhn sandwiches...only littler...so we bought a little ad...on lil jon. little johns, yeah! $3, what?! any moment the pentagon is going to release new video of that raid that led to the death of isis leader abu backer al baghdadi. that is coming up follow me on

facebook instagram and twitter at jake tapper and tweet the show at the lead cnn and our coverage continues now. thank you so much for watching. we'll see you tomorrow. happening now, breaking news. bolton to testify. cnn learns that john bolton has been asked to appear before lawmakers conducting the impeachment inquiry next week. omission questions. the first white house official to testify in the meach said he was alarmed by omissions in the administration's rough transcript of the president's call with the ukraine leader. new raid video. the pentagon said to release images that led to the death of al baghdadi as they predict isis will announce a new leader within days. and raging wind and flames. new wind whipped wires erupt in california forces tens of thousands more to flee homes as