even as the details are preliminary the implications are intense i federal search warrant shoot and executed at the home of the former president of the united states fbi agents on a judge's already, by definition, on a judges authority searching mar-a-lago john berman in france and the news broke shortly before

airtime we have assembled a team of correspondents and experts to tell you what is known, but it could mean, and where it may lead. cnn's kaitlan collins starts us off. caitlin what are you learning about this fbi operation? >> john, it's a remarkable development with the former president himself confirming that the fbi has executed a search warrant on his home in palm beach, florida today. he said in a statement that his beautiful home, mar-a-lago in palm beach, which became's primary residence after he left the white house is, quote, currently under siege, rated and not occupied by a large number of fbi agents. he says after working in cooperating with the relevant government agencies, the sun announced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. he adds, quote, they even broke into my safe and he compared it to water gate or worse than water gain and maintains it's an effort to stop him from running for president in 2024. we should note we have now learned this search warrant had to do with that investigation into how the former president handled a potentially classified information, certainly sensitive information. when he left the white house. that is something

we knew had happen. he had taken about 15 boxes with him tamara largo when he left the white house and -- they delayed returning those boxes back to the national archive. we knew this had been under investigation, because there had actually been a subpoena issued to the national archives itself for what was included in these documents. they wanted to know what was in, them who boxed them, up who personally took them tomorrow legault, there were questions surrounding, this but this is a dramatic escalation for these fbi agents to execute a search warrant. i will know that the justice department is not commenting, the biden white house was also unaware that this was being conducted and said they found out with the rest of us did, which is with the former president confirmed, i also want to note trump was not present at mar-a-lago when it happened. he was in the trump tower at new york, he was not in palm beach. clearly, the president is very unhappy about

this. he is saying it was billet it clearly motivated as we are willing to learn more about what exactly was behind this. >> all right, kaitlan collins stay with us as we know the former president is not at mar-a-lago when this happened. he was a new york. and before bringing in our nascar as, this happened a couple weeks after after merrick garland made a care to lester holt, no one is above the law not even a former president. not even if he happens to be running for office. joining us now cnn senior law enforcement allison, former fbi deputy director -- he's a cnn legal analyst, former counsel to house democrats in the first impeachment. and we want to start with you. just the basics here, for the fbi to get a warrant, go to mar-a-lago, what needs to happen? >> the world needs to move. i can't over and the size but how big of a deal this would have been of the department just as an fbi. this is not a couple of

agents showing up on the judges during the middle of the night to get a warrant this is something that would have been planned out. and reevaluated, and legally examined for every possible -- the entirety of the leadership structure in both organizations. so, let's remember that to get a search warrant in any case, whether it's you, i are the former president we need to go before the federal judge and convince that judge that there's probable cause to believe both that echo federal crimes been committed, and that evidence of that crime is contained within the >> -- warrant request. so, we have in this situation federal judge made that determination giving agents authority to enter that promises, and search every part of the promises that might contain, the items that are specifically described in the warrant. for instance, document classified documents

things like that, we don't know if that's just a guess and you can see why they would have the authority to search every space, every drawer, every safe, every closet, every desk. that might contain those documents. >> norm eisen, the reporting from kaitlan here that this fbi operation is in relation to handling the presidential documents, including possibly classified documents. why might that merit an fbi operation like this at the home of the former president? >> well, john, in america, nobody is above the law. the federal laws are very clear. that anybody who removes, mutilates, or destroys records, 18 usc 2071, is subject to penalties including criminal penalties. there's even more strict rules for classified documents being removed from official premises. because of the damage that could do to

national security. when i was the white house ethics arm. this was one of the first things that we trained everybody in the white house and the administration on. starting with the president. and the vice president. because, the rules are the same for everybody. very serious for a search warrant to be served on a former president. it doesn't get any more promising than that. >> presumably, andy, secret service at mar-a-lago how would that work with the fbi shows up, would they be given that the former president wasn't there at the time? >> there's probably some contingent of secret service that's there, to protect to maintain consistency in terms of their security presence at mar-a-lago. though, it's not the full detail that would be present, with the former president wherever he is in new york or wherever that might be.

in this case, we know that the white house had no former knowledge that this search was gonna take place. it is likely, that those agents reached out to their counterparts. who provide security at that location at the absolute last-minute possible. i'm sure everything that they could possibly do, to keep this quiet, to keep it confidential before it happens, i'm sure they want to every line they possibly could. you can imagine some tense phone calls being made, when there's local police are secret service, whoever is protecting property. and essence, immediately before agent showed up and executed the. warrant >> caitlin, just remind us again the issues and the questions surrounding these documents. 15 boxes, potentially of what? and who wants them and why? >> we were told, it's fake

still what exactly was in these documents it's a big question that investigators have, as well as how this was handled will turn to the time was documents, some gifts as well included in this and then the charges are really broad, and a mishandling of classified information situation. of course, we don't fully know the story or what exactly is going to happen this is a dramatic escalation, we do know that. we also know from people who worked in the trump, white house in the trump west wing, that the former president and have a pension for not handling documents in the way that they believe that they were supposed to be handled, we heard from stephanie grisham, former president trump's press secretary. for a time who said that she witnessed it herself in this mishandling these documents. very certainly, they store them put them in -- you don't just throw them away the

path -- it pertains to any document inside the white house because of this thing known as the presidential records act. because it is a federal law about how you deal with these things. stephanie grisham said she witnessed trump sometimes take them and throw them away, rectum up, of course maggie abrams the new york times reported several times, that there are documents clearly the former president's handwriting that have been ripped up, attempted to be flushed on a toilet and stephanie grisham also added that she sometimes watch trump but some of them in his pocket. so, those have been the big question surrounding, i don't think any that works with the west wing would be surprised by this. the way he handled, i think a lot of people in the former presidents orbit are shocked by the fact that this raid, this rate is the former presidents referred into it, a surge woman that was executed has happened. it does seem to be a dramatic escalation. i will know, interim statement he basically is implying that because he had spoken to the government about this, his attorneys i should jay. he believes this raid was conducted unfairly. a search warrant was conducted -- after working in cooperating with the relevant government agencies this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. we should note, they had about 15 documents, 15

boxes of documents. we were told that they were delayed and extending them back to the national archive. it still became clear that action could be taken, and those documents were sent back. still a lot of details we don't know, it's quite remarkable. >> norm, what kaitlan just said there, according to trump there have been discussions about his people and investigators about the archives. what's step, or what line would have been crossed in your mind, again there's so much we don't know when people need to know that were any perfectly transparent but we don't know here. in your mind, what would it be lying to cross for the fbi or eric garland merrick garland, for this raid to have taken place? >> well, you always have to have the probable cause to believe that a crime or crimes were committed. you always have to have judicial approval. when

it comes to a former president, that hurdle is he even higher, i think that there would be, a showing of probable cause that not only were documents removed, that it happened repeatedly. that not only were they removed, but they may have been mutilated or destroyed. we all saw those pictures of documents in the toilet. the issue of classified documents, there have been reporting that some of those 15 boxes, included classified materials. when the materials were returned, was their information that jeopardize our national security and then finally, it's important to remember, although this search warrant according to what we know now, seems to be focused on on the presidential documents that are removed. any evidence of crime that is found, during a properly executed search warrant, can be utilized by the government. if there is evidence there of the allegations of obstruction of congress, the conspiracy to defraud the united states, the false electors schemes. we know

there's been raids. the lawyers, jeffrey car, john eastman, every evidence of that that was gathered by the government today, doj can use that as well. >> andy, i need to ask because you've been in the fbi during these politically-charged, in perilous moments, when you saw this today, how did it strike you, i can't think of a precedent for this where the fbi raids, or searches the homes of a former president, what struck you when you saw this? >> you know, john, it's both amazement, along the lines of what you just described. has this ever happened in the history of our public, a former president, thata federal judge apparently made a decision,

that there might be evidence of a crime, in the residence of a former president, it's just astounding. on the other hand, as with so many things, with the former administration it's also not that surprising. the former president, currently finds himself in the crosshairs of so many varied and different criminal investigations. that honestly, the first thing that i thought of when i heard notice of the search warrant, was which investigation might this be a part of. there's so many options here, it's literally head spinning. but i think, the one that we've zeroed in on and people from the scene have allegedly reported, makes the most sense. to follow on norms comments from before, this is not the time nothing that would happen in the event that the folks at the national archive, fbi, have thought well, maybe some classified by accident ended up in the presidents personal boxes. that went to mar-a-lago. the fbi would not have taken a step as drastic and serious as this. unless they had good information to indicate that this was the result of some. knowing, willful, intentional

acts of removing classified documents or sensitive documents. so it's in violation of some further law. i think what we're gonna see, is a very serious allegation when it's ultimately uncovered. >> andrew mccabe, norm eisen, thank you both for your help in your experience. caitlin, will you go back to reporting, please if you learn anything more let us know right away. as these developments are coming in fast and furious. next, more on the political repercussions, especially the former president on the campaign trail for others and dropping more hints about another run in 2024.

vo: as families struggle with inflation... congress and president biden are doing something about it. the inflation reduction act will reduce costs for millions of families. it lowers the cost of drugs and ramps up production of american-made clean energy. that means lower energy bills for families, jobs for our communities, and the boldest plan to take on climate change we've ever seen. the inflation reduction act will “bring relief to millions of people” congress: let's pass it.

i'm a performing artist. so a healthy diet is one of the most important things. i also feel the same way about my dog. we were feeding her dry, triangle shaped ingredients long as the yellow brick road. we didn't know how bad it was for her until we actually got the good food. we got her the farmer's dog sent in the mail. it was all fresh, when she started eating healthier, she started being more active and smiling more, running more, playing more. i want my dog to have a healthy and long life. the farmer's dog really helps that out. see the benefits of fresh food at betterforthem.com we're talking tonight about the fbi's search this morning at mar-a-lago, when they were looking for when they took. sarah murray has been working her sources over the last hour and joins us now.

what have you learned? >> we've been told by a number of sources that the presidential records had to do with these documents that the former president took with him to mar-a-lago, including classified documents. we're also hearing more from my colleague, aaron perez said part of this had to do with wet where documents were kept and trying to determine if anything was kept behind. kaitlan collins explained it earlier that trump took 15 boxes of documents with him in and the national archives arranged for much of those to be transported back. the fact that the search continued is an indication that there's more they were looking for. >> sarah murray, thank you very much for that. for more on the implications, especially in the middle of a primary season, we are joined now by dana bash, also cnn senior political commentator, former obama cnn --

david axel roth, and former special assistant president george w. bush, scott jennings. dana, you've got new reporting. we've learned about this from a statement from the former president himself. what have you heard? >> that that was intentional. it may seem obvious, but it's important to point out why the former president did what he did. the lengthy statement. this could have been done and we could have gone for weeks and months without knowing about this search warrant, and the fact that the fbi went tamara largo. the former president wanted people to know, he wanted to stir the political pot, because what is happening right now in trump world and among those who are kind of wanting to see, particularly in the republican party, those who may have been drifting away from the former president, what's happening is they are rallying around him.

i don't know how long it's going to last. if he isn't real legal jeopardy, which is a big if, which seems like this is narrowly focused on the national archives and what they wanted those 15 boxes. what matters for him and his mine i'm told by people close to him is having a political bump out of this unprecedented legal matter. >> david axle rod, to you on this. for the fbi, for the department of justice, wet are the political possible perils? excuse alliteration? >> huge. this is never been done before in the history of this country, and so the idea that they would read the home of a former president and search the home of the former president is obviously the biggest stakes you can have. merrick garland is notoriously cautious. he would not have authorized it unless they believed they had significant evidence that a crime had been committed, and a federal judge would not have signed off on. they were aware of the stakes

as well. i just want to say one word about what dana just said. by coincidence, i was speaking to a former trump administration official this morning. i asked, would he be more or less likely to run if these prosecutions move forward? he said without hesitation, more, because he wants to make -- the victim. we saw this when he lost the election, around january 6th, and you can see it in his statement today. this is not just an electoral strategy, this is a legal strategy on his part. he wants to rouse the american people. perhaps he feels he can prolong this legal in dangle meant until he is president of the united states again. >> scott, a judge had to sign off on this. the fbi believed it to be necessary still. which is the view you are hearing tonight from those in the republican party? >> i've talked to a few people

and a lot of reactions. most people have reacted this way, that is, if you don't convey donald trump now you have murdered donald trump, you have martyr donald trump, you basically guaranteed him a nomination for the republican party in 2024. you're going to get him a big weapon to go after joe biden or whatever democrat emerges in 2024 if they don't convict him. they've rated the guys house. one person told me there is no one going back now and this is total -- there is no reconciliation here when you read somebody's house. so because of the political implications of that, i'm curious to know about whether the white house know? there was some reporting from jonathan martin from the new york times, not cnn, but the new york times saying senior political figures in the biden white house did not know. they were blindsided by the news on twitter. i want to know if joe biden knew. frankly, given the implications of this, the former president probable candidate, i think the current president ought to say

whether he knew about it by the in advance from the attorney general and i think a lot of republicans are going to want to know the answer to that question. >> dana, we do have the answer to that question. >> no. the white house didn't know. keep my collins was just on earlier in this hour saying she heard as well as i, that the biden white house outside the actual white house, not in the justice department, they did not know and they were blindsided. they found out when the former president put out that press release. there will be more reporting to be done, but especially given wet david was just saying and how buttoned up and cautious merrick garland's. it specially with something a sticky is this. it's hard to imagine they give the white house the heads up. >> you know, with scott just said, david, it's possible that they have murdered donald trump there. not language is so interesting. and mary garland, at least from outward use, has been so careful up until this point. don't you think all of this would've been taken into

account? >> 100%. i think that garland understands. he has crossed the rubicon here. if you're going to prosecute the former president of the united states, you better be pretty darn sure that you have an open and shut case. i'm sure that a lot of discussion among the prosecutors took place. i do agree. i would be stunned if anybody in the white house, including the president knew. think of all of the criticism that the president laid against donald trump for his intervening and trying to shape with the department of justice did. i mean that was really an essential part of his campaign. the ethics of the meddling in these kinds of investigations. i would be stunned, but you're original question, absolutely, a must feel very sure that they have something here.

i don't think this is a fishing expedition. i think they know what fish they're looking for here. >> if i may, john, i think we have to be -- >> this is really -- i don't know if he did it intentionally or not. we have to be careful not to adopt the term rate. that was an intentional use of a word, and we haven't done it all night, and i know scott, you were saying that the

republicans are saying that this is a rate and he will be murdered, but the use of the word raid was clearly very intentional, as was the rest of the language and the former presidents press release in order to do just what you are describing to make himself a martyr to get -- to put the lexicon out there and the terminology. the branding, which he is a master at before other people get. >> the judge approved search operation with a warrant. i will let you jump in, i know republicans, many of them are weighing in now and talking about this. oh, this is just about the archives. why did they do this? but you'll remember there were a lot of -- about hillary's emails when issue was classified information and records and the like. republicans have had an issue with this type of thing before. >> yes. obviously they will have to fight that out and deal with their own past statements. but i was going to say is i think the 2024 ramifications here that i'm also looking for tonight or whether the other possible presidential candidates -- christy nolan, governor gnome, come out and slim with the fbi did here. i suspect more people will do that, and so it will be interesting for me to see who in the republican party adopts an aggressive posture, attacking what has happened here. lays off.

who lets it settle for a day. i'll be sort of watching the positioning of. that because obviously, there's several people circling trump here about 2024, and look, if he gets convicted of a crime here, he may not be able to run in 2024. the people that are circling him now, it's obviously going to be part of the republican primary -- >> we should point out, john, that a lot of americans believe today that the last election was stolen. that last election was rigged based on new evidence. based on the insistence of the president of the united states, or the then president of the united states. they are going to be a fair number of people, particularly in the republican party who believe that he is a victim here. that he used the language of the kind of extreme right, and not swipe to dana's point about the rate, he used the language

that implied an overweening government. the fbi, and so this is the stuff you hear from the extreme right. he knows what he's doing. he knows what he's doing. >> right now, he is waging a when cited pr campaign. he is running a political campaign in regards to this judge approved search of mar-a-lago. it's not typical for the department of justice. or the fbi to comment on how long will they be able to maintain their silence, do you think? >> we don't know the answer to that, because what has happened is unprecedented. the person they're dealing with and the fact that he is so aggressively trying to own a narrative, and wet the 2 hours since this happened, not even, has been successful, and the way that that is going to change is by hearing from the people who thought it was appropriate.

it's really unclear. david, you worked in the white house when you had to deal with that. he knows better than i, but it's really unclear. maybe this is such an unprecedented situation where they will feel the need to explain why they thought they had it buttoned up enough that they went to the judge to get the search warrant. >> you know, knowing garland, my guess is that they're going to play this out in the 4 corners of the courthouse. i don't think they're going to play it out on television. they're going to play it out in the courthouse and do everything by the book. there are a lot of particularly -- complaining that he is moving too slowly on these matters. he should be more aggressive on these matters. he took his time for a reason. he's going to do everything by the book. the book says, you don't talk about these things until you have to in a courtroom. >> it raises a lot of questions. we have a whole lot of questions going forward. dana bash, david ascot, scott

jennings, really appreciate you coming and working through this with us tonight. coming up, the former secret service agent joins us for his take on what happened. and only 24-hour steroid free spray. while other allergy sprays take hours astepro starts working in 30 minutes. so you can... astepro and go. yes, i'm a believer. always have been, and i tell my granddaughters, take care of yourselves you never know. but it takes all sorts to make a world. and it's not my place to tell a women if she can have an abortion or not. that is a decision between her, her doctor, and god. and that is why i am voting for democrats. ff pac is responsible for the content of this ad ever get a sign the universe is trying to tell you something? the clues are all around us... not that one... that's the one. at university of phoenix, you could earn your master's degree

in less than a year for under $11k. learn more at phoenix.edu

breaking news tonight a search warrant at the former president 's mar-a-lago resort in florida. we touched on this earlier, how

delicate it must have been for the fbi and justice department to plan, organize a surge of a former presidents home. which is protected by other federal offices. namely the secret service, and do it all in as much secrecy as possible to protect all concerned, while safeguarding the investigation as well. more perspective, joined by cnn law enforcement allies and former secret service agent, jonathan -- jonathan, i was talking to aid in earlier, there, was a small contingency of secret service and still at mar-a-lago, even when the president isn't there. but still, this is so unprecedented. how do you imagine it all went down? >> well good evening, let me make sure i make this point to everyone. we keep referring to this to the mar-a-lago resort. this is actually the primary residence of the former president of the united states.

just like chappaqua is for the clintons, just like the crawford ranches for former president bush. this is the private residence of the president. so, it's protected by the u. s. secret service, the detail does maintain 24/7 presence at that property. the reason is, to protect it and make sure that the residents remain safe and secure, that the former president can return at anytime. their duty bound to do. that now, more reporting today is really unprecedented. we never heard of any type of action by a law enforcement entity becoming to a former president residents to execute a search warrant. what this was not, it was a raid. i think the segment is prior to this, that outlined the discussion around a raid, the phrase that was used by the former president, that's actually not with this is. this is a very well planned, calculated search, execution of a search and seizure moment. that required, federal agents to go before a federal magistrate, and swear out under oath that they were items of evidentiary value, located at

that location. upon that, i'm sure and i hope this to be true. that coordination between that federal agency, department of justice, fbi and the secret service was made to make sure that this process was a seamless as possible. >> coordination when the? was it a phone call beforehand or do the coordination happen when the fbi showed up with the signed warrant? >> i would hope that at the highest levels, information was given between the federal bureau of investigation and the secret service, director to director again we want to do is make sure that we deconflict any issues. the secret service has a mission, they have a job, but they're also federal agents in their sworn to uphold the constitution. they're not gonna stand in the way of the fbi or delay any part of their duty to execute the search and seizure warrant. again, things go much better when this coordination in advance. how far in advance, john? that remains to be seen. hopefully we'll hear a little

bit more about, this but i want to put one note on this as well. when we had the search and seizure moment, they described in the first page, the front page of that war meant in the half a they describe specifically what they're talking about, they're talking about a second part of that weren't, the return. those agents that participated in that search of that property. they need to clearly list out exactly what was seized during the search process. they need to return that, certify that back to the court. we'll know exactly overtime, when exactly was taken from mar-a-lago. again, in the presidents home. . >> eventually will know, but john just to throw this out there, the secret service obviously they're present, there may see things overtime. do they have any obligation to report, if they saw anything on that in terms of document retention, and the records, and boxes that may be under conflict here?

>> yeah, if they see criminal activity afoot, if they no criminal activities taking place, yes, there are duty bound, their sworn law enforcement officers for the u. s. federal government, they will do their duty to uphold the oath they took. they're not going to investigate, if they see boxes, it's not for them to go look through and rummage and make a determination whether that was something that was taken from white house, whether that was an item of evidentiary value. they're not investigating crimes against the president, unless they were asked to join an investigation. right now there is nothing that is leading us to believe that. however, if there is clear evidence that the criminal activity is taking place, of course they would a race that. in coordinate with the other authorities to make sure that criminal activity ceases immediately. >> all right, really unique perspective, jonathan white grab, thank you so much for being with us tonight. coming up, we'll check in with randi kaye, outside mar-a-lago.

also today, nick peyton watch takes us into the gang ridden violence of haiti. a disturbing look at a country that's become unlivable. as democracy disintegrates. difference out there kid. next big american. pressure, pressure? pressure, pressure. so where do you think this pressure's coming from? everyone. i'm just here for the mints. [ cheering crowd ] so much pressure. pressure makes diamonds. true. pulisic! he scores! incredible!

millions have made the switch from the big three to xfinity mobile. that means millions are saving hundreds a year on their wireless bill. and all of those millions are on the nation's most reliable 5g network, with the carrier rated #1 in customer satisfaction. that's a whole lot of happy campers out there. and it's never too late to join them. get unlimited data with 5g included for just $30 a line per month when you get 4 lines. switch to xfinity mobile today.

even by the standards of haiti 's violent history the current is desperate and bloody. gangs once again roam the streets leading to unimaginable death tolls, including children, that violence is also once again led to images such as this. hundreds of haitians, desperately trying to escape into the united states, taking

into custody over the weekend. last week unicef that thousands of children at risk from malnutrition. over the weekend the national post summarize the crisis there in an editorial quote, haiti has no functional government, no democracy, no peace, no hope. despite the obvious danger cnn 's nick paton walsh, during the reports on the that has been unleashed. >> the descent into the abyss in haiti's fastest. here among certainty, the police swat team we are with cross into gang territory, they will take fire. [noise] >> it is now a blunt war. for control of the capitol. the police need to prove they can be here, gangs and police cannot. it's ordinary citizens who are caught in between. here, a passenger of civilian

bus that was hit in the street. [noise] the days before, police would rescue people from this hostage is in the same area, they killed the leader of the 400 mawozo gang. the police struggle to hold ground. the gangs, whose currencies kidnapping and drugs, are gaining far too much. especially, right here. [noise] rounds hit the armed vehicle. they think, they see where the gunmen are. [speaking foreign language] >> they run, but not like it's

the first time under fire. perhaps even this day. [speaking foreign language] [noise] >> they slide back, perhaps the gang has fled. it's this intense violence, so many when they talk about -- the spiral towards collapse. the firepower they bring, isn't it of itself change who's in control. gangs are the block main roads that will with trucks. it requires a major operation to clear them gangs now offense match or outgunned the police. they have a bulldozer to,

demolishing rivals houses in when area. locals fled at night during 10 days of -- in july, that left over 470 dead injured or missing, said the un. if the g 9 gang expanded control, burning, demolishing, those who survived, fled tonight here where a mix of flies and rain stop them from even sleeping. [speaking foreign language] to see where acute desperation can lead, we traveled to where what's left of the government really treads. don't be fooled by the beauty. there is no paradise here.

only hunger, heat, trash and the business of leaving. traffickers both out to the bahamas, cuba and florida, if you're lucky. while these places a sending haitians back in record numbers, the u.s. coast guard is also stopping 4 times as many this year's last. these exits are wet johnny arranges. >> if we die, we die. if we make it, we make it. i am the one who buys the book. it can cost up to 15,000 dollars. we are hoping to get 250 people for the next trip, because the boat is big. not everyone made it on their last trip 3 months ago. >> the boat had an engine problem. we called for help, but it took too long. 29 people died on that trip. >> these are not people who usually share their trade secrets, but maybe now they're relaxed now that the

authorities are busy. the boat is aging, scraps and net plugging holes, engines not fixed yet. this is where johnny hopes 250 people will huddle. maybe as early as next week. >> i'm not someone you want to be in on dry land -- scene for days. >> when man tells us why he saved for a year to get into here? i graduated as a teacher. but it did not work out -- im driving a motorcycle everyday and it, already feels like drowning. --

first pitch, or such despair. nick paton walsh joins us now. nick, is there any police control on the streets of port-au-prince? how close is a city feel to the edge? >> it's clear the police have reached into some parts -- let me explain withstand what's roundest. the port of a, their key to aid coming into the country. that is controlled. mostly by the gang who run the road outside of it. the main road to the south of the country. mourners kate struck last year but that is also controlled by the gang there. the city's l.a. weather is this intense fighting, as you saw on july. greater gang controls the north, and to the east as well. one estimate hotly contested and can deny but the police chief that i spoke to from a security source suggest that perhaps three quarters of port-au-prince might be controlled or influence by the gangs. but there's a swarm of crises here, coming together. john, the political crisis says a fascination over a year ago,

of president -- there's merchants the interim government. it's supporters crumbling. frankly the idea of elections in this kind of violence is absurd idols reporting 30% inflation, and our miscues for gasoline here every day, fares about possible food or cash shortages. people simply going week by week, wondering when society here will tip over the edge. and of course, that gang of pilots that you heard the occasional crackle from where i'm stranded for the past day or so. it is clear that gangs are better equipped at times in the police, or frankly baking out for a better arm or. you saw on the port, the article we were in, haitian police have one of those in the whole country. the police are asking for better equipment because it banks are really well equipped and they seem pretty organize with the plan now to bring people into the capital city where frankly, as you mentioned earlier. there isn't much of a government to speak of. we are very nervous. week by week as to when things will substantially change here. beyond their penalty to support normal life.

john? >> nick paton walsh, do you in your team, thank you so much for going there to show us what's happening on the ground. please stay safe. new detail, the search warrant story and a live report from where it happened. mar-a-lago.

seen this ad? it's not paid for by california tribes. it's paid for by the out of state

gambling corporations that wrote prop 27. it doesn't tell you 90% of the profits go to the out of state corporations. a tiny share goes to the homeless, and even less to tribes. and a big loophole says, costs to promote betting reduce money for the tribes, so they get less. hidden agendas. fine print. loopholes. prop 27. they didn't write it for the tribes or the homeless. they wrote it for themselves. new detail, the search warrant story and a live report from where it happened. mar-a-lago. randy what's the latest of what we know about the result of the search? >> well john, we know this from our colleagues haven't bryson gaby or who are getting this to information for us. we are told that the fbi

searched did include march in the -- documents were kept. that is according to a person familiar with this investigation. telling our colleagues that there are boxes of items taken during the search. the source said also a separate source telling our gabby or that documents were seized from mar-a-lago. the national archive previously alleged that documents were -- they included classified information that had been taken from the white house to mar-a-lago. here in florida. the fbi also of course want to verify that nothing was at the height. the sources are telling our colleagues according to the person familiar with this investigation. the search started on monday morning, as you know i went on for hours here at mar-a-lago drought today. plans for the search america would've been reviewed by the top levels of the justice department. and the fbi. that is according to the source familiar with investigation telling our colleague seven prize and gabby or. >> a lot of new details and there. they took boxes out.

so randy we do know that the president, former president, was not at mar-a-lago during the search today. he was up here in the northeast. can you remind us how he uses this property? >> sure. he changes residency back in 2019 from new york to florida. so this is home for him he bought mar-a-lago back in 1985. it was once owned by the serial company, harris marjory mary whether post. he bought it and use it as a private resident for quite some time before turning it into the mar-a-lago club. just give you 90 of what's there. 126 rooms, 62,000 square feet. 17 acres. he's hosted international world leaders. the prime minister of japan. shinzo abe also the president of china there are so many politicians will come here to kiss the ranks since he moved here full-time to mar-a-lago. including florida governor, ron desantis. marjorie taylor greene. the house republican leader kevin mccarthy. they've all come here to is the

former president mar-a-lago. randi kaye racing to the scene for us, thank you very much. in other news now a federal grand jury has indicted a russian national in accuses him of conspiring to use u.s. citizens as illegal agents of the russian government. the governor dresses claims after the seven years who work under the -- as you try to influence political peace in florida, georgia, court. the doj warns that the russian pageants threat continues with the goal of the stabilizing undermine interests and u.s. democracy. for now on cnn's donie o'sullivan. we talked with the accuse russian and an unindicted coconspirator. a >> my message is so easy. i am not evil. >> not doctor evil, but this man alexander enough has been charged and sanctioned by the u.s. government for working with the fsb russian intelligence to infiltrate the american political movements. >> he handles russian government coconspirators

engaged in a malign influence campaign to sow discord, spread propaganda, and interfere in elections in the united states. the federal indictment but -- one is being co-opted by him or the description of the group leads to a melee yet to tele-. >> are you an agent to russia? >> please. it's a really insulting question. >> he is a lifelong activist and the chairman of the african people socialist party and now in the eyes of the u.s. government is an uninvited cole conspirator and a russian -- undermining american democracy. >> for the zip tie on my wrist, and they wanted me to sit on the curb. >> he's not in charge, but it's home here in st. louis. he was rated by the fbi in late july. >> some people say it's a badge of honor to be attacked by the

united states of when you're struggling for freedom. amendola was a terrorist. martin luther king was -- >> funded a campaign from his groove in 2016. >> i can't even entertain about russians. interference. -- i've been doing this all my life. i've been doing it all my life. not russia. before i ever met a russian this is what it was doing. >> he strongly denies taking instructions from -- he did travel to russia in 2015 for a gathering of separatist groups i'm around the world. that event was organized by enough group, the anti globalization movement of russia. the u.s. justice department says that group receives funds from the russian government and is tied to the fsb, russian intelligence. >> this was a bull crap -- i'm the activist [inaudible] >> russia's alleged involvement

with american activist groups is nothing new. >> demonstrations by anti nuclear groups have been intensifying. president reagan has suggested that some of the demonstrations are encouraged, even supported by the soviet union. >> from the soviet era to today in 2018, special counsel robert mueller's investigation found that russian -- had been supporting groups on both sides of the u.s. political divide, true through social media. >> i've lived in america on my life. i don't need any russians to inform me of my conditions. i'm the leader of a remarkable revolutionary organization that is intent on having freedom. i don't yell russian. >> donny oh sullivan joins us now. donny, whatever political groups are movements have been targeted here? >> what we've known down through the years from the deal with jay and under u.s. agencies that has dug up, it's russia like a --

likes to play both. sides of seeing them after the 2016 election here, playing -- fire far left. you saw them targeting a liberation group in st. louis and florida. also according to the indictment. they say the russians were promoting a california succession movement. a group that is promoted for california to lead the united states. it's all very much typical of the russian playbook. but as you can see there has real impact, real effect in the united states. >> and to be clear, homeland security, fbi, everyone is warning that the russians still do want to get involved in the system in the united states. daniel sullivan, thank you so much for your reporting. terrific,. great analysis. a lot going on especially with the breaking news at the mar-a-lago, the fbi conducting a search operation there. the news continues, so let's hand it over to serve sidner. i'm sorry sign. this is cnn tonight out of a big news night. the former president, donald trump's, our live go home in