[Unidentified Male:] There's our house. Is that yours? That's mine. That's ours. Gone. Gone? She's gone.
[Dave Briggs, Cnn Anchor:] Wildfires in California now claiming 44 lives, the deadliest and most destructive in the state's history.
[Gov. Rick Scott , Florida:] He's just a pure sore loser trying to steal election.
[Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] The recount in Florida becomes heated as the judge calls on both sides to ramp down the rhetoric.
[Briggs:] "The Washington Post" reporting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen could be fired as soon as this week. Why the president wants her out.
[Romans:] And the Dow dropping more than 600 points on Monday. President Trump blaming Democrats for the drop. We will breakdown what's really behind the big move on Wall Street. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
[Briggs:] I'm Dave Briggs. Four thirty Eastern Time, 1:30 in California, and another high wind warning there, not what they need to hear. We start in California where the death toll keeps rising. Forty-four people now killed in wildfires statewide. In northern California, 42 people have died in the Camp Fire, making it the deadliest wildfire in state history. More than 7,000 buildings destroyed. Fire officials say the Camp Fire has burned 117,000 acres. Officials estimate it is 30 percent contained.
[Romans:] In Southern California, 57,000 structures threatened by the Woolsey Fire, which has grown to more than 93,000 acres. Also 30 percent contained, two fatalities there. CNN's Nick Watt has more from Malibu, Malibu has been just devastated by the Woolsey fire.
[Nick Watt, Cnn Correspondent:] Dave and Christine, the death toll at the Camp Fire in northern California has risen to 42. Thirteen more bodies were found on Monday. Now, ten of the bodies that were found on Monday were found in the little town of Paradise, once home to 26,000 people, almost completely blown, burned off the map by that fire. And sadly, the death toll up there could rise even further. The sheriff has called for more search and rescue teams to come in Tuesday, along with cadaver dogs to try to find more of the missing. The last we heard, there are 100 people are still missing. But that doesn't mean they're all dead. A lot of people go missing because of cell service drops. So, we are waiting, hoping that figure doesn't rise, but fearing the worst. Now, the winds up there in northern California have died down a little bit, down where we are in Malibu in southern California, the so-called Woolsey Fire, the winds here are still whipping and they will continue those Santa Ana winds through Tuesday and Wednesday into places, but on Friday, they're going to change direction and bring some much needed humidity in from the ocean. Dave and Christine, back to you.
[Briggs:] Nick Watt, thank you. As he mentioned there, the weather expected to make things very difficult for firefighters for at least the next of couple days. Here's meteorologist Pedram Javaheri.
[Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] Good morning, Dave and Christine. Yes, these conditions here are going to begin to improve actually over the next couple of days. So, at least some good news to tell you across this region of California in particular, to the north initially. But here is how we get here. We have, of course, the hottest July on record this summer. We had the hottest single month on record for California's state history. So, plenty of fuel, plenty of dry conditions across the region. But going into Tuesday, now, notice the elevated concern in place. We dropped it down from extreme to critical. The winds will be 5 to 15 miles per hour across the north. To the south, it's an entirely different story. Still looking at critical to extreme conditions for fire weather behavior. And a lot of concerns is due to spot fires. In fact, guts are picking up embers carrying downstream and essentially creating smaller fires across the same vicinity of these wildfires. So, firefighters have had their work cut out for them tracking those. Winds peaking across southern California as high as 70 miles an hour. We do expect calmer conditions by Wednesday across southern California. So, containment numbers could begin to go up as well guys.
[Romans:] All right. Certainly hope so. Thanks, Pedram. To Florida where the lawsuits are mounting and the accusations flying in the chaotic election recount, officials now are scrambling to count every vote by Thursday's deadline as the race for Senate become uglier by the hour. Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Bill Nelson blasting one another.
[Scott:] What Bill Nelson needs to do now is what he would be asking me to do if I have lost an election is say, look, you know, the election happened. Let's go forward. But he is not. He is a pure sore loser trying to steal an election.
[Sen. Bill Nelson , Florida:] Rick Scott isn't interested in making sure every lawful vote is counted. And the second is that he is using his power as governor to try to undermine the voting process.
[Romans:] A Florida judge is warning both sides to ramp down the rhetoric. Republicans, including Scott and President Trump, still alleging fraud in the election process without offering any evidence and despite repeated denials from the Florida Department of State. The president actually suggesting in a tweet an honest vote is no longer possible. Ballots massively infected. Must go with election night.
[Briggs:] In the Florida governor's race, Democrat Andrew Gillum continues to call for every vote to be counted. His rival, Republican Ron DeSantis, is staying under the radar. Ryan Nobles with more from Tallahassee.
[Ryan Nobles, Cnn Correspondent:] Dave and Christine, here in Leon County, which is where Tallahassee, the state capital resides, they expect to have the counting wrapped up on Tuesday. Now, each one of Florida's 75 counties operates just a little bit different. But most counties are confident they will have all 8.5 million ballots recounted at least in that U.S. Senate race. And that U.S. Senate race is the one getting the most attention. That's because the margin between Rick Scott and Bill Nelson is tight, 12,500 votes separate the two. And that's why there are so many people focused on it. Democrats believe they have the chance to flip the race from one hand to another. Now, while there is a lot of focus on the vote counting, there is another battle playing out in the courtroom. Lawsuits filed by both sides in the past couple days, including the lawsuit filed on Monday by the League of Women Voters. It's a lawsuit that's going to attempt to compel Rick Scott and his capacity as governor to step away from the recount process, recuse himself. And Scott has been very aggressive on that front. He has actually instructed the Attorney General Pam Bondi to get involved. He's also asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate any potential claims of fraud or criminal activity of which the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has said they have not found any as of yet. The next big thing we're waiting for, though, is Wednesday. That's when a significant court hearing takes place. The Democrat Bill Nelson filing a lawsuit to get clarification on how to handle the adjudication of some provisional and mail-in ballots. That has the potential to impact as many s 20,000 votes. So, that will be an important court hearing that will be waiting for on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the vote continues as we wait to figure out who the next U.S. senator and governor is from Florida Dave and Christine.
[Briggs:] OK, Ryan, thanks. Six days after the midterm election, a big win for Democrats. Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema defeating Martha McSally in the Arizona Senate race. Sinema, the state's first female senator flipping a seat that had been on GOP hands for more than two decades. She also becomes the first openly bisexual member of the U.S. Senate, period. McSally conceded the race Monday night, congratulating Sinema in a video message on Twitter. The victory means among the races settled, the Senate have 51 Republicans and 47 Democrats in the new Congress.
[Romans:] All right. After a year long search, Amazon has chosen two places to share duty as its second headquarters, HQ2. This is from "The Wall Street Journal". "The Journal" reporting late Monday that Amazon has picked New York's Long Island's City and the Washington, D.C. suburb of Crystal City as HQ2. The development projects promise to bring the city's big infusion of jobs and tax revenue. It is certain to draw fire against critics. The search for HQ2 drew interest from hundreds of cities and a number of states. Amazon outlined criteria for its second headquarters such proximity to a major airport, a suburban or urban area with more than a million people, access to mass transit. Amazon received more than 200 proposals for HQ2, spanning 54 states, provinces, districts and terrorists across the U.S. The Amazon says the new facility will create as many as 50,000 jobs and cost at least $5 billion to build and operate. Amazon has not explained how the money and jobs might be divvied up across these two different sites. There are this morning who are calling foul a little bit. Some of the cities spent a lot of money and had to turnover a lot of proprietary information about their labor markets and their tax bases. The idea being there was going to be one new headquarters. Now, it looks Amazon is going to divide that one headquarters and added two places that already exist.
[Briggs:] Yes, people are divided over the tax breaks are too generous to begin with. Ahead, special counsel Robert Mueller apparently inching closer to Trump adviser Roger Stone.
[Jerome Corsi, Roger Stone Associate:] I fully anticipate the next few days I will be indicted.
[Briggs:] Why one of Stone's associates says he's in real trouble.