cnn correspondent dan simon is live with an exclusive interview with one of russell's former coworkersdan, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, victor and christi. we are beginning to get a clearer picture of what richard russell was like as a friend, as a coworker, as an employee. i spoke to jeremy kaelin who worked closely alongside russell for eight solid months. they worked the p.m. shift together. he says this is somebody who had a lot of integrity, somebody who worked really hard, and somebody who also had a great sense of humor. he is also not surprised that russell was able to learn some basic aspects of aviation, given certain aspects of his job. take a look. when you learned it was your friend and corporaler coworker, what did you think? >> he was super funny and always go out and help others to his flights that he wasn't assigned to help out with and when he was working with you on your flight, he will world as hard as he could. >> you saw the home video of him doing those maneuvers. >> yes. >> reporter: he seemed like, to a certain degree, he knew what he was doi

. >> cnn's dan simon is live in western washington. as close as we can get to the crash site. dan, fill us in on what's the latest. >> reporter: well, hi, ana, the details we heard thus far really sound like they are from the realm of fiction. here you have a ground support worker at the airport. they load and unload luggage. sometimes they get in troorkts and tow aircraft. that's what this 29-year-old worker did yesterday. got in the tractor pointed the airplane in the right direction and got in the cockpit, fired up the engines, had a successful tax y and took off and perform the incredible maneuvers as acknowledged by airline officials. in terms of trying to understand what happened, part of that process involves what is happening ten miles from where i'm standing right now at kitron island, a 10-minute ferry ride where investigators are combing through the scene, looking through the debris, trying to recover the remains of the 29-year-old and trying to look for the cockpit voice recorder, looking for the flight data recorder. ultimately what those things could yield we don'

let's go to cnn's dan simon on the scene. dan, one fire scorched a staggering area, what?ng? >> reporter: well, hi, wolf. the california wildfires seem to keep getting bigger and bigger. this fire a massive inferno. the mendocino complex fire doubled in size in the past few days and bigger than the five boroughs of new york combined. let's show you where we are. this is one of 75 houses destroyed but the real story of this fire is what you see behind me. that burnt landscape. this fire burning in steep, rugged terrain. very difficult to access and very difficult for firefighters to gain an upper hand on this blaze because of where it is burning. while this fire is certainly biggest in the history of california, it is not the most destructive in terms of overall property damage, wolf, because overall burning away from populated communities. wolf? >> dan, as you know, president trump tweeting about the fires in california apparently making an inaccurate claim that the white house today declined to back up or clarify. here's the president's tweet. let me read it to the viewer

cnn court dan simon is live with one of russell's former coworkers. the family is shocked and stunned and heartbroken. did this coworker see any potential signs? >> well, gm. we are getting a clearer sense of what richard russell was like as a friend, as an employee, as a coworker and some of what you're about to hear may surprise you. i can tell you that jeremy kaitlyn worked alongside russell to eight solid months. they primary handled the luggage there at the airport. he said this is somebody who had a lot of integrity, somebody who worked very hard and somebody who had great sense of humor. he is also not surprised that russell was able to learn a few things about aviation given certain aspects of his job. >> when you learn that it was your friend and former coworker richard russell who did this, what did you think? shock. he was really just super nice. always laid back but super nice and super funny. and he would always go out and help others with his flights that he wasn't even assigned to help out with, or -- when he was working with you on you

dan simon returned to santa rosa where entire neighborhoods were wind out.nts there are still working to rebuild their lives. >> reporter: the tubbs fire last october left an endless trail of destruction. the worst wildfire in california history, it destroyed more than 3,000 homes. >> i mean it's just like wow. >> devastating. >> you can't put words to it. >> we met john weber and his wife last year as they walked through the charred debris of the house they lived in for 30 years. what has been the most overwhelming aspect to all of this? >> everything is gone. everything is gone. >> it's unbelievable a fire can destroy a whole subdivision. >> reporter: but now ten months later, coffee park is on the rebound. the ashes and twisted metal have been removed and one by one the houses are being rebuilt. hundreds of homes are currently under construction with hundreds more slated to begin over the next few months. no one really knows how long it will take for the community to fully recover but the quiet scenes of wreckage have been replaced. by heavy equipment. >>

cnn dan simon returned to santa rosa where entire neighborhoods were wiped out by last year's tux fi>> reporter: the tubbs fire, the worst wildfire in california history, it destroyed more than 3,000 homes, almost half of them in one neighborhood, coffee park. >> it's like, wow. just -- >> devastating. >> you can't put words to it. >> reporter: we met john weber and his wife jody last fall as they walked through the charred remains of the house they lived in for the last 30 years. >> what's the most devastating aspects. >> everything is gone. it's unbelievable that a fire could destroy a whole subdivisi subdivision. >> reporter: but now 10 months later, coffee park is on the rebound. the ashes and twisted metal have been removed and one by one the houses are being rebuilt. hundreds of homes are currently under construction, with hundreds more slated to begin with the next few months. no one knows how long it will take for the community to fully recover. but the wreckage has been r replaced with power tools and equipment. >> i prefer this to the dead silence, it was like eerie, surrea

joining me now, live from lakeport, california, correspondent dan simon with more. t really seems like these fires, you take all 16, they will not quit. what are you seeing there? >> reporter: hi, kate. yeah, the california wildfires keep getting bigger and bigger. this one is massive. we're not seeing any abatement. this is one of the hometown that's been -- one of the homes that's been destroyed. 75 homes in total. and you have about 34% containment, and thousands of people who have been evacuated. at this point about 11,000 homes still being talented. we have some of the structures like i said, destroyed. for the most part, you see what the fire has done. it has charred a tremendous amount of landscape. we're talking about fire that is in a steep area, very rugged terrain. so that is the place where the helicopters really need to focus their efforts to try to get those flames under control. for the most part, again, the fire is burning,a b -- burning from populated communities. with the weather, wind, heat, and bone-dry brush, there's a concern that the fire could

dan simon in seattle. dan, thank you.cutors in paul manafort's tax fraud trial expect to wrap up the case against the former campaign chair. so far 26 witnesses have been called to the stand. the only remained scheduled witness is an executive at the bank manafort is accused of defrauding for millions. manafort's team then will have its turn in court. >> democratic congressman keith i willy son denying allegations he abused a woman he was romantically involved with. karen monohan he drag her off the bed by her feet and berated her with foul language. running for minnesota attorney general in tomorrow's primary. >> a unicorn float and weeds don't mix. police drove by a lake this weekend and spotted the unicorn and his pals struggling. turns out they were stuck in a patch of weeds and an officer was able to reel them in. the women made it back safely to sure. i had to read this carefully, unicorn float in weeds. >> with an s. >> unicorn weed -- that would not be news. unicorn flowed at in weeds. >> i don't know -- i don't n

dan simon is in lake port, california, with all of the breaking details. this is horrible, dan. what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, alisyn, this fire pretty much sums up california's wild fire season. this is the mendocino complex fire. it's actually two fires, but they're treating this fire basically as one fire. as you said, scorching 284,000 acres. that's about the size of the city of los angeles. at this point, it's just 30% contained. you got thousands of people who have been evacuated. about 11,000 homes are currently being threatened. but the way this fire is being fought, we should keep in mind, for the most part, the flames are in the forestland. so at this point, they're not too concerned about homes going up. as you're talk about hot, windy and dry weather, there is a concern that the fire could push into some of the populated communities. john, we'll send it back to you. >> dan simon for us again the worst fire california has ever seen. >>> just released transcript reveals more about the killer who carries out the high school massacre in parkland, florida, and th

our dan simon talks with some people still rebuilding from california's most destructive wildfire. >>eporter: the tubs fire last october left an endless trail of destruction, the worst wildfire in california history, it destroyed more than 3,000 homes. almost half of them in one neighborhood, coffey park. >> it is like wow. just can't -- you can't put words to it. >> reporter: we met john weber and his wife jodie last fall as they walked through the charred debris of the house they lived in for 30 years. what has been the most overwhelming aspect to all of this? >> everything is gone. everything is gone. it is unbelievable that a fire could destroy a whole subdivision. >> reporter: but now ten months later, coffey park is on the rebound. the ashes and twisted metal have been removed and one by one the houses are being rebuilt. hundreds of homes are currently under construction, with hundreds more slated to begin over the next few months. no one really knows how long it will take for the community to fully recover, but the quiet scenes of wreckage have been replaced by power tools and

that is where we find dan simon live in lake port, california, with the latest. status, dan? >> this fire has slowed down considerably, but the numbers are staggering, 450 square miles. this is one of 75 homes that have been destroyed. they constantly cleared the area from brush. they had a wide defensible space, but this fire had another agenda, take a look. >> what is the hardest thing? >> i just want to go home. it was real untable. that was hard to see because you could tell where like the staircase and everything was, and it was like trying to picture what our home -- what our home like this. >> and people all across california dealing with similar major emotions. 13,000 fire igters assigned on these. you have firefighters here from as if far away as australia and new zealand. in the meantime, what a day for rick gates on the stand in the trial for paul manafort, high drama, forced to admit many things about his personal life and his own crimes, is he an effective witness for the government? what's in store today? we'll discuss, next. . but prevagen helps yo

. >> cnn's dan simon has been near this crash site all afternoon. what else do we know about russell? >> a law enforcement source tells cnn that 29-year-old horizon airline employee has been identified as richard russell. he's somebody that can can't very active online presence. talking about his job. he also had an online blog where he mens said a few years ago he and his wife operated a bakery in oregon. he did work in ground support at the seattle airport. we know he loaded and unloaded luggage and it involved riding a tractor or driving a tractor where he would put an airplane in the right place for take off. and then having a successful taxi and take off. that is very difficult to do because of the protocols in place. >> normally you would request clearance for push back from either your own tower or ground control they would turn you over to the tower who would then clear you for take off. and i believe in fact i know that he did communicate on the ground frequency and all of the communications for the entire flight were conducted on that freq

>> dan simon please keep us posted. the images are striking to say the least. >>> the u.s.e sanctions on iran, at midnight, just a few hours ago. the administration claims they are already working. here what the president of iran is saying. ...that's just my favorite boat. boom. (laughs) make summer go right with ford, america's best-selling brand. and get our best deal of the summer: zero percent financing for sixty months on f-150. right now, get this special offer on f-150: zero percent financing for 60 months - during the ford summer sales event. behr presents: ordinary versus overachiever. behr premium plus, "behr" through it all with a top-rated paint at a great price. find it exclusively at the home depot. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. your digestive system has billions of bacteria, but life can throw them off balance. re-align yourself, with align probiotic. and try new align gummies, with prebiot

dan simon is live in lake port, california, with the breaking details. the magnitude of this is stunning, dan. >> alisyn, this fire is so massive that it's about the size of the city of los angeles. it's actually two fires, the river fire and the ranch fire but firefighters are treating them basically as just one large fire. it's just about 30% contained. while it is considered the biggest wildfire in the state's history, it's not the most destructive because the fire is really burning in a remote area and firefighters are hoping it will stay in that area but as the weather continues to whip up the wind and you have hot bone dry brush they are concern that it could push into some of those populated communities. >> dan, i want to ask you about the president tweeting about this because his message was so different than what we've heard from firefighters. in his tweet he slammed environmental laws and hi tweeted the fires are "being magnified and made so much worse by bad environmental laws which are not allowing massive amounts of readily available water to

dan simon is live in lakeport, california, with the latest. how are they getting hold of this, dan? >> well, good morning. the fire has slowed down significantly but the numbers are mind-boggling. we're talking about 450 square miles that continues to be fueled by dry vegetation and high temperatures. in the meantime, this is one of 75 homes that has been destroyed. this has been a dream house for the homeowners. they said they did everything they could to protect it from a wildfire. they cleared the area of brush, they had a defensible driveway with gravel and rocks, all the things you're supposed to do but in their words the fire had another agenda, take a look. >> i can't imagine what it's like to go through this, what's the hardest thing? >> i just want to go home. yesterday when i arrived all the stucco was standing. everything else had burned but it was the stucco up and it was unstable and that was hard to see because you could tell where the staircase and everything was and it was like trying to picture what our home was like. >> as you can imagine, there are so many people

let's go to dan simon who is with me from california. >> the fire has slowed down significantly but you'realking about a mind-boggling number. 450 scorched miles. the fire swept through this valley and came upon this house behind me, one of 75 homes destroyed. this was somebody's dream house and the homeowners say they did everything they could to protect their home from wildfires. they cleared the area of brush, set up this defensible barrier with the rocks and gravel but in their words, the fire had another agenda, take a look. >> i can't imagine what it's luke to go through this. what's the hardest thing? >> i just want to go home. yesterday when i arrived all the stucco was standing, everything else had burned but the stuck woe was up and it was real unstable and that was hard to see because you could tell where the staircase and everything was and it was like trying to picture what our home is like. >> and of course there are so many people throughout the state who are grappling with similar emotions. you have 17 major wildfires, 13,000 firefighters on the lines. more in than in any o

. >> dan simon, an incredible story. thank goodness no one else was hurt. as bizarre as this airplane theft and crash is it also reveals an enormous security issue. we're lucky that only that man at the controls was involved. imagine if this commercial plane had been full of passengers. juliette kayyem. and scott miller a commercial pilot for 30 years. if this ground worker is able to grab a plane and take off how far is a stretch is it for someone with more sinister intentions to do the same thing. >> there is always going to be a risk in aviation and particularly from what would be known as an insider threat, someone who has gone through security, that the company at least has sort of confidence in. by the time a passenger airline is being filled with people it already has a cockpit staff. it already has the security apparatus surrounding it. in some ways he took advantage of the vulnerabilities because the plane was in fact empty. >> scott, what crossed your mind when you heard about what happened. >> at first i thought he had to have some sort of flight

we get more from dan simon outside of seattle. >> reporter: a law enforcement source tells us that he has been identified as rich russell. russell is somebody who kept a very active online presence. he recorded youtube videos talking about his job. he also had an online blog where he talked about he and his wife operated a bakery somewhere in oregon. he did work ground support in seattle. we know that he load and unloaded luggage. he would also tidy up aircraft tanlsd involved riding a tractor or driving a tractor would he would put the plane in the right place for takeoff, getting in the sock pointe, firing up the engines and having a successful takeoff. that's very difficult do because of the protocols in place. listen now to the ceo of hor rye son airlines? >> norm you'll you would request permission from ground control. you'd then speak with ground control all the way out to the r runway. they would turn you out to the tower and they would clear you for takeoff. i know did he communicate on the ground frequency and all of the communications for the entire flight were conducted on

we got more now from cnn's dan simon. >> a law enforcement source tells cnn that the 29-year-old horizon airline employee has been identified as richard russell. we can tell you russ sell someone who kept an active online presence. he recorded youtube videos talking about his job. he also had an online blog where he mentioned a few years ago he and his wife operated a bakery somewhere in oregon. now he did work in ground support at the seattle airport, so what does that mean? we know that he load and unloaded luggage. he could also tidy up aircraft and it also involved riding a tractor or driving a tractor where he would put an airplane in the right place for takeoff. that is apparently what he did yesterday before getting in the cockpit, firing up the engines, and then having a successful taxi and takeoff. that's very difficult do under normal circumstances because of the protocols in place. i want you to listen now to the ceo of horizon airlines who spoke out earlier today. >> normally you would request clearance for push back from either your own tower or ground control. you'd then sp