brianna keilar picks up the coverage right now. have a good day. i'm brianna keilar and welcome viewers here in the united states and around the world. there are three urgent crises engulfing the nation, a pandemic, out of control wild foo wildfires and a hurricane naming aim at the gulf coast. joe biden will speak about the climate crisis as they square off over science. the president himself will be in california in the next hour where the state is being ravaged by deadly wildfires. these fires killed at least 30 people and decimating many western states and hurricane sally one of five storm systems is advancing and the coronavirus of course spreading across college campuses in all 50 states. the new case rate stuck at about 35,000 new infections a day but

fully man-made is assault on science and altering cdc reports to fall in line with trump's rhetoric on the pandemic. incorrect rhetoric. trump putting supporters at risk with indoor rallies and now learning that "the washington post" that the president's new choice to lead is a known skeptic of climate crisis. we have much measure on all of this and we begin with the hurricane threat. the gulf coast is once again on edge bracing for a powerful storm. tropical storm sally strengthened into a hurricane. mississippi and alabama's entire coasts are under a hurricane warning. we have meteorologist jennifer gray who's tracking sally in the cnn severe weather center. tell us about this path. it appears that it is shifting

east. >> yeah. a little bit east. expected to make landfall between southeast louisiana and the alabama coastline. the biggest thing with this storm is going to be how long it's going to sit over this coast. it is going to slow down tremendously before making landfall and dump rain along the gulf coast and winds of 90 miles per hour and gusts of 115, nothing will stop this from strengthening more until it makes landfall and could see a high end category 2 at landfall. west/northwest is the movement at about 7 miles per hour so the outer bands already reaching the coastline despite the storm continuing to strengthen and more throughout the day today and even into the overnight hours. you can see a category 2 by tomorrow morning. it could become a category 2 adds early as this evening

before making landfall anywhere say from southeast louisiana all the way over to the alabama coast. anywhere in the cone could be the potential for landfall but look how long it basically sits over this area. wednesday morning at 7:00 it's still right on the coast before it starts to pick up some more forward speed to thursday and forecasting one to two feet of rain along the gulf coast and could see 10 to 20 inches of rain from the mississippi coastline through the alabama coastline so that's a lot of rain, a very different storm from laura where it was the wind and the storm surge. this will be a lot of storm surge but the rain in days to come, produces a lot of rain in a short amount of time. we still could see more than ten feet of storm surge along the

southeast louisiana coast, five to eight feet and the storm surge will be significant, also significant will be the levee system. new orleans is incredibly vulnerability, the levees will be definitely something to watch and the pumping system, they rely on the levees and this much rain and possibly water from lake pontchartrain the levees will definitely be something to watch over the coming days and the wind is also a concern. 74 to 110-mile-per-hour winds and new orleans, biloxi. areas just to the north of that could get winds up to 74 miles per hour and significant with the wind. here are the current watches and warnings. including new orleans, mobile and then in the blue and yellow the tropical storm warnings and watches so as this storm already approaching the coastline we'll

still see strengthening in the next 12 to 24 hours before its official landfall. >> we know you'll be watching for that. thank you so much. now the deadly wildfires raging out of control on the west coast, the president will soon arrive in california to meet with officials. there are nearly 100 fires burning out west, millions of acres scorched mostly in california also seen the highest death toll. 24 people there lost their lives. ten people died in oregon where fires burned nearly a million acres. some residents are asked to restrict water use. this is the governors blaming climate change for the intensity of the wildfires. cnn's martin savidge is live on the ground in estacada, oregon. >> reporter: the fires are burning in the western part of

the state california border to the outskirts of portland. this is within of the small cities on the way to portland, 3,000 people and they've been dealing with the riverside fire here since last week. this is their fire department here where in circumstances like this it becomes a major staging area for the fire crews coming in, quiet now because the crews are out on the fire line. the fire is burning fortunately it's not burned into this community and trying to make it stay that way and the conditions are helping somewhat. winds have died down significantly. humidity levels have gone up. if you look at the other counties, say impacted by the beachy creek fire, an hour and a half south of portland, oregon, devastation and loss of life. ten lives lost so far in this state but authorities are warning the public trying to get them ready that this could become a mass casualty incident

as has been described as the fire and rescue crews get back boo the communities to figure out who was able to get out and who was not. 500,000 people under evacuation orders at one point and like 10% of the population. so people have managed to get back and see what little is left. here's one woman's reaction. >> it's just, you know, devastating. devastating devastating and then to think that our neighbors back here, their house is totally untouched which is crazy. lynn, of course, our neighbor there, nothing is left of the place but yeah. never in a million years you think this would happen. just totally surreal. i don't know how many tears i cried. you know? before all this happened. i don't know whether to cry anymore. >> reporter: and that is the beachy creek fire. this is the riverside fire and worry they could merge. they're a mile apart right now

and if they did it could be a mega fire burning on the outskirts again of portland. so you can see the thick smoke that is just shrouded this area and it's just so toxic and acrid and the impact on health is significant. for some people with certain health conditions could be fatal. this is considered to be the worst air pollution in the world that is going on right now in and around the portland area and parts of oregon. brianna? >> martin, thank you so much. bringing us that report. actually, martin, as you were talking a little bit about some of the just this visibility that we are seeing, this is -- i mean, behind you, we can hardly see it appears about 100 yards behind you but this is what they're reporting up into washington, canada, down into northern california so you have almost the entire west coast

there shrouded in this and like you said it is toxic so what does that mean going forward where people are -- they can hardly go outside. >> reporter: yeah. there's two effects immediately. one is of course visibility issues which is a real problem for the fire fighting crews. they need to see to drive in darkness almost impossible to see and in daylight it's not a lot better and takes away a great attribute which is the aviation assets. can't fly when you can't see and then there's the other long-term health issue. what is that on a general public? potentially millions of people. school is canceled in the portland area and other areas here in the state. and it was thought that this was going to start clearing out yesterday. its's not happened. it is unclear when it will clear off and if people breathe this in for a long time it can damage and weaken the lungs and more susceptible to the coronavirus.

so this whole thing will have a death toll that will continue to climb in ways you may not see. >> all right. martin, thank you so much with that report. any moment now joe biden will be speaking from his home state of delaware, expected to address the wildfires and the storm that's impacting the u.s. and highlight his views on why we are seeing such extreme weather e vervents and what his plans are to contrast it. president trump visiting california today and not pointing to climate change as the problem but denying science and blaming mismanagement for the wildfires. just listen to what he told a rally in nevada over the weekend. >> also praying for everyone throughout the west affected by the devastating wildfires. we want really farrest management. we want forest management. >> cnn's jessica dean is following this for us.

obviously drastically different views on the disasters. what more are we expecting to hear from the former vice president? >> reporter: this race between joe biden and president trump has really been a study in extreme contrast and this issue is a prime example of that. we are expecting former vice president joe biden today to talk about the threat that these extreme weather events like the ones we are seeing, the fires on the west coast, are posing to americans and people all across the world. we're also expecting vice president biden to talk about how this is caused by climate change. and how climate change must be addressed, what his plan is to do so and hand in hand with that is talking about the economic plan which would heavily invest in clean energy and both attack the climate crisis and also create millions of jobs in investing in that clean energy and zero car bbon emissions.

this is a statement from over the weekend. here's what he said over the weekend. the science is clear. climate change is a threat to our way of life. president trump can try to deny that reality but the facts are undeniable. so again, a very different message than the one we have been hearing from president trump and will hear more from joe biden any moment now. >> thank you for that. more than 194,000 american lives lost so far, the country is now averaging about 35,000 new cases a day. but hospitalizations for covid dropping below 30,000 for the first time since late june. and then just look at all of the green there. that is nearly half of the

states trending doing downward and the good news of course is not xerexpected to last. the institute of health metrics is noting that mask use is down and the american mobility is up. they are predicting more than 200,000 additional american deaths by the first day of 2021. and the pandemic is here to stay through the winter. the macy's day parade will not be live. today the mayor teasing viewers to expect a reinvernted parade and a region holds promising news for schools after adults and children were tested in italy researchers discovered that adults were likely to be asymptomatic carriers. get details on this now from cnn health reporter jaclyn howard. >> reporter: what the researchers did for this study is took a close look at covid

test results from 83 children and 131 adults. these children and adults were tested for covid-19 because they're admitted to a hospital in italy for reasons not relatted to the coronavirus. they showed no signs or symptoms of covid-19. here's what the researchers found. 1% of those children tested positive whereas 9% of the adults tested positie and they say based on that finding children appear to carry the virus less frequently than adults who are asymptomatic. this suggests reconsidering the role of children who are not showing symptoms as potential spreaders but more research is needed to determine whether similar findings would emerge among a similar group of patients. brianna? >> thank you. the president said he didn't believe nevada rules applied to

him as the rally goers tell cnn why they risk their health. another tape of the president talking to bob woodward appearing to not understand that the economy and coronavirus are connected. and the manhunt is under way in the ambush of deputies just sitting in their car. what this video is telling investigators. i give to shriners hospitals for children because i want to be a part of something amazing. - i know my gift to shriners hospitals for children makes a difference in the lives of children.

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we have breaking news, world east largest vaccine manufacturer saying if the doser is two doses the world won't have enough until 2024. they estimate that the world would need about 15 billion doses. several of the current vaccines

in the u.s. given the volunteers two doses of vaccine during at least one phase of the children call trials. bring in dr. rodriguez to talk about this. okay. urge, this is twice the work, twice the resources that would be needed. what do you think about -- and also putt into context who are getting the information from and why that's important, doctor. >> first of all, it looks like almost any vaccine coming out will require two doses. all the studies show an adequate immune response it requires two doses, probably spaced a month apart. that being said, let's take what they said very carefully. they said for the whole world, for everyone in the whole world may take that much time to create the vaccine doses and may be very accurate. i'm not sure who the center is in india but what we need to

keep in mind is that it may not require first and foremost everyone in the world to get vaccinated to slow down or even stop this spread. it is estimated for a type of herd immunity you need to vaccinate 60% to 70% of the people so the most important thing is strategy. when the vaccine comes out, who's going to get vaccinated? people that are at highest risk of getting it, people who are at highest risk of contracting it and highest risk of spreading and then we have to look at it as a worldwide problem. what countries and areas to get it? i don't think we need to immediately worry about vaccinating the whole world. smallpox was not eradicated in a day. we need a plan to accomplish the goal of hopefully controlling and hopefully e rad kating

coronavirus. >> this is involved in the production process, right? so they're raising this concern and that's an important part of this to point out. >> absolutely. this is someone obviously who knows who is doing the mathematics behind it and why we need to be careful in not saying that studies are going too quickly, a lot of the manufacturers that are behind these studies are already manufacturing hundreds of thousands of doses to be ready to go at any minute so there's 30-something vaccines in the world studied right now and very likely that what's going to happen is in multiple areas and countries the vaccine available there is the one that's used if found to be effective but yeah, gere again, to think this is a short range fix for this huge problem is not realistic. we'll live with coronavirus in

one form or another for probably many years. >> wow. in the midst of this, what really is the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic we are in in this country the president headlined the first indoor rally, thousands of people jammed into this event in henderson, nevada, last night. a few people wore masks not many and certainly there was no social distancing. but people aren't worried. let's listen. >> this is not a dictatorship. this is a republic. and we have a right to be who we are and take whatever risks we so desire. i could cross the street and get hit by a bus tomorrow. why do i have to wear a mask i know, i know without a doubt is not helping? >> i feel like that's my freedom as an american. if i catch covid -- my apologies. the consequences of my actions and i'm willing to have a good

time today. >> thousands of people together, already tightly packed in line. do you feel comfortable with that? >> 100% because i don't buy into the [ bleep ]. >> i'm not afraid of the health risk and we make smart decisions, we have people that we know that are higher risk and we will not be visiting them and absolutely make sure that we stay away from them. >> i'm not a sensationalistic. i think people who are forced to wa wears a mask are sensationalistic. you want to give off the vibe of something right, being here and being patriotic rooting for my president. >> i have'm 60 with beautiful skin tone. i have lungs, i was just singing "god bless america" there's nothing wrong with my breathing. i can smile a mile away and i love your cologne. i don't have any of the symptoms and neither do they.

>> i wonder, doctor, listening to that, what -- >> wow. >> yeah. what do you think? >> i think that there is a sort of an accumulation of ignorance and misplaced bravado with people. everybody that spoke somehow related this to patriotism which means that this virus has sort of been weaponized into us against them and what a shame that is. another thing that is absolutely incorrect, if people were saying, hey, this is just me and it is my actions that matter, that's all that matters, i could almost respect that but it's not just about them. these people are going to spread it to other people. at the end of the day their righ rights end where mine begin. they have no right to endanger

people why we have speed limits and safety belt laws and helmet laws and don't let people scream fire in a crowded theater. because their rights end where other people's rights begin. and this is a contagious disease. so to say it is just about them is not only erroneous but dangerous and for the president to sort of represent the fact that everything is fine when we know he knows that it is not is almost criminal in my opinion. >> yeah. we now know how soon he knew it was not. right? months and months he is aware of this. listen to what he the president told a reporter for "the love love journal review" worried to get the virus at this rally. >> aren't you concerned about getting covid in an enclosed -- >> no. i'm more concerned about how close you are. >> sorry about that. >> you know why? i'm on a stage and very far

away. so i'm not at all concerned. >> so she kept her distance just to be clear. and she was wearing a mask so we know that she is certainly protecting him because that's how it works. what did you think about what his reaction was considering this is an enclosed space with a lot of people in it? >> his response that he's more concerned about her shows that he knows that this is a dangerous contagious disease. we cannot compare ourselves to the president of the united states who is being checked at least once a day and everybody around him. he is different than you and i. all right? we don't have that luxury so of course he's not that scared or doesn't appear to be because he's different. all right? he does not have the fear or the concerns that we do. so i think it's kind of bs. if he was not afraid he woubldnt have asked her to stay away.

its's dangerous, callous. et cetera. et cetera. >> yeah. fears can be allayed by testing around him and he has that entire system around him to protect him. dr. rodriguez, as always, thank you. >> thank you. have a good day. >> you, too. cnn obtains new audio of the president saying the handling of the pandemic should be considered a success because the stock market is booming. we will have the tape ahead. and. an army family who is always at the ready. so when they got a little surprise... two!? ...they didn't panic. they got a bigger car for their soon-to-be-bigger family. after shopping around for insurance, they called usaa - who helped find the right coverage for them and even some much-needed savings. that was the easy part. usaa insurance is made the way liz and mike need it- easy.

welcome to the natural history museum. you know, as a nation, we face one of the most difficult moments in our history in my view. four historic crises all at the same time. the worst pandemic in 100 years.

that's already killed nearly 200,000 people and counting. the worst economic crisis since the great depression. that's cost tens of millions of american jobs and counting. emboldened white supremacy unseen since the '60s and a reckoning on race that's long overdue. and undeniable acceleration of the punishing reality of climate change on our planet and our people, on the lives and livelihoods which i'd like to talk about now. jill and i continue as i suspect all of you do is pray for everyone in california, oregon and washington and across the west as these devastating wildfires rage on, just as we hold them in our hearts, those who have faced the hurricanes, tropical storms off our coast of florida and north carolina.

or like parts of new orleans that, in fact, have just been issued an emergency evacuation order for hurricane sally. floods and droughts across the midwest, the fury of climate change everywhere. all this year and right now. we stand with our families who have lost everything, the firefighters, the first responders, risking everything to save others. and the millions of americans caught between relocating during a pandemic or staying put as ashes and smoke pollute the air they breathe. just think about that. people not just worried about raging fires, worried about the air they breathe, the damage to their lungs. parents are already worried about covid-19 for their children when they're indoors and now worried about asthma attacks if their kids are

outside. over the past two years, the total damage from wildfires has reached nearly $50 billion. in california alone. 50 billion. this year alone, nearly 5 million acres have burned across 10 states. more acre and than the entire state of connecticut. and it's only september. california's wildfire season typically runs through october. fires are ablazing so brightly, smoke racing so far nasa satellites can see them 1 million miles away in space. the cost of this year's damage will again be astronomically high. but think of it from the view on the ground in the smoldering ashes, loved ones lost, along with the photos, the keepsakes, all the memories.

spouses and kids praying each night for their firefighter husband, father, wife and mother. will they come home? entire communities destroyed. we have to act as a nation. it shouldn't be so bad that millions of americans live in the shadow of an orange sky and left asking is doomsday here? and i know, i know this feeling of dread and anxiety extends well beyond the fires. we have seen record hurricane season. costing billions of dollars, as well. last month hurricane laura intensified at a near record rate just before the landfall along louisiana and gulf coast. it's a troubling marker, not just for the increased storms but more powerful.

they cause record damage after record damage to people's homes, lives and livelihoods. and before it intensified and hit the gulf coast laura ravaged puerto rico where three years ago hurricane maria our fellow americans there are still recovering from its damage and devastation. think about that reality. our fellow americans are still putting things back together from the last big storm as they face the next one. hi his tore ek flooding in the midwest compounding the damage that cost billions of dollars in damage. many of you traveled through the midwest with me on that bus tour and you saw it. this past spring in mid land, michigan, experienced a flood so devastating with deadly flash flooding overrunning dams and roadways, that it displaced

10,000 residents. it was considered once in a 500-year weather event. but those once in many generation events are now happening every year. the past ten years were the hottest decade ever recorded. the arctic is literally melting. parts are actually on fire. what we're seeing in america and our communities is connected to all of this. with every bout with nature's fury caused by our own inaction on climate change more americans see and feel the devastation. whether they're in a big city, small towns, on coastlines or on farmlands. it is happening everywhere and happening now. and it affects us all. nearly 200 cities, not republican or democratic cities,

200 cities are experienced the longest stretches of deadly heat waves in 50 years. requires them to help their poor and elderly residents adapt to the extreme heat to simply stay alive. especially in the homes without air conditioning which many don't have. our family farmers in the midwest are facing historic drought. those following record floods and hurricanes, sped by wind storms, all this year the speed of those wind storms has been incredible when you saw it on television or saw it in person. it is ravages millions of acres of corn, soybeans and other crops. the very livelihoods which sustain their families and our economy is now in jeopardy. how do they pay their bills this

year? what will be left to pass on to their kids and not happening in a vacuum. recent study showed air pollution is linked with increased risk of death from covid-19. our economy can't recover if it can't build back. with more resiliency, more ability to withstand the extreme weather, extreme weather that will only come with greater frequency and intensity. the unrelenting impact of climate change affects every single solitary one of us but too often the brunt falls on communities of color exacerbating the need for environmental justice. sorry. that was a bug. speaking of the environment. the interlocking crises of our time requires action not denial. requires leadership, not sca

scapegoescap scapegoating and a president to care, to care for everyone. to defend us from every attack, seen and unseen. always and without exception. because here's the deal. hurricanes don't swerve to avoid red states or blue states. wildfires don't skip towns that voted a certain way. the m pacts of climate change don't pick and choose. that's because it's not a partisan phenomenon. it's science. and our response should be the same, grounded in science. acting together all of us. but like with our federal response to covid-19, a lack of a national strategy on climate, on climate change overall, leaves us with a patchwork of solutions and made worse by the changes this administration has made. i'm speaking from delaware.

we're the lowest lying state in the nation relative to sea level where just last week delaware attorney general skewed 31, 31 big fossil fuel companies alerching they knowingly wrecked harm and damage on our environment, damage that's plain for everyone to see but the president. and as he flies to california today we know he has no interest in meeting this moment. we know he won't listen to the experts. or treat this disaster with the urgency it demands. as any president should do during a national emergency. he's already said he wanted to withhold aid to california. to punish the people of california. because they didn't vote for him. this is another crisis. another crisis he won't take

responsibility for. the west is literally on fire. and he blames the people whose homes and communities are burning. he says,ote, you got to clean your floors, you got to cle your forest. this is a same president who threw paper towels on the people of puerto rico instead of helping them recover and rebuild. we know his disdain our military leaders and veterans. just last year the defense department reported that climate change is a direct threat to more than two thirds of the military's operationally critical installations. that's what the military warned him. and this could well be -- this well could be a conservative estimate. donald trump's climate denial may not have caused these fires

and record floods and record hurricanes but if he gets a second term these hellish events will continue to be more common, more devastating and deadly. and meanwhile donald trump warned that integration is threatening the suburbs. it's ridiculous. but you know what is actually threatening our suburbs? wildfires in the west, floods are wiping out suburban neighborhoods in the west. hurricanes along the coast. if we have four more years of trump's climate denial how many suburbs will be burned in wildfires? how many suburban neighborhoods will have been flooded out? how many suburbs blown away in superstorms? if you give a climate arsonist four more years in the white house why would anyone be surprised if we have more

america ablaze? if you give a climate denier four more years in the white house why would anyone be surprised when more of america is under water? we need a president that respects science, who understands that the damage from climate change is already here. and unless we take urgent action we'll soon be more catastrophic. the president who recognizes, understands and cares that americans are dying which makes president trump's climate denialism, his disdain for science and facts all the more unconscionable. once again he fails the most basic duty to a nation, failing to protect us from the pandemic, from an economic freefall, from racial unrest, from the ravages of climate change. it's clear that we're not safe in donald trump's america.

this is donald trump's america. he's in charge. what he doesn't get is that even in a crisis there's nothing beyond the capacity of the american people when we stand up and act together. while so many of you are hurting right now i want you to know that if you give me the honor of serving as your president we can and will meet this moment with urgency and purpose. we can and we will solve the climate crisis and build back better than we were before. you know, when donald trump thinks about climate change he thinks hoax. when i think about it i think jobs. good paying union jobs that putt americans to work building a stronger, more climate resilient nation. a nation modernized, water and transportation systems. an energy infrastructure to withstand the impacts of extreme

weather and changing climate. when drmonald trumps thinks abo renewable energy he sees windmills is causing cancer. i see american manufacturing, american workers racing to lead the global market. i see farmers making agriculture the first in the world to achieve net zero emissions and in the process gaining new sources of income. when donald trump thinks about led light bulbs he says he doesn't like them because the lights are no good, they always make him look orange. i see small businesses and master electricians designing and installing measures, rebuilding buildings in the country. this is going to reduce consumption and save businesses hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

in energy costs. while he turns against our allies, i'll bring us back into the paris agreement. i'll put us back into business of leading the world on climate change. and i'll challenge every other country to up the ante on climate commitments. he reverses the obama/biden energy standards. he'll not only -- i'll not only bring the standards back i'll set new ambitious one that is our workers are ready to meet. i'll see american workers billing and installing 500,000 electrical vehicle charging stations along the newly engaged infrastructure programs and highways across the country.

i see american consumers switching to electric vehicles through initiatives and rebates. the united states owns one of the -- and maintains enormous fleet of vehicles and we're going to harness the purchasing power of our federal government to make sure we're buying electric vehicles that are made and sourced by union workers right here in the united states of america. and together this will mean more than a million new jobs in the american auto industry. you know, we'll do another big thing. we'll put us on a path to achieving a carbon pollution free electric sector by 2035. that no future president can come along and turn back. transforming the electical

sector power for power without pollution, a greatest spur to economic competitiveness in the 21st century. not to mention the positive benefits to our health and our environment. we need to get to work right away. we'll need scientists at the national labs and land grant universities, historic black colleges and universities to improve and innovative technologies. we need engineers to design and workers to manufacture these new products. we'll need ironworkers and welders to install them. we'll need to become the world's largest exporter of these technologies, create more jobs, sourced in america. we know how to do this. the obama/biden administration rescued the auto industry and

helped them retool. we made solar energy cost competitive and weatherized more than a million homes. that is just the beginning if we're re-elected. we'll do it bigger and faster and better than before and build 1.5 million energy efficient homes and public housing units to benefit the communities by eliminating affordable housing crisis, by reducing the racial wealth gap linked to home ownership. there are thousands of oil and natural gas wells that oil companies and gas companies have abandoned. many of which are leaking toxins. we can create 250,000 jobs now by just plugging those wells right away. good union jobs for energy workers. this will help sustain communities and protect them from the environmental damage,

as well. we'll also create new markets for family farmers and ranchers. we'll heal our push lands and make us much less vulnerable i believe every american has a fundamental right to breathe clean air and drink clean water. i know we haven't fulfilled that right yet. that's true of the millions of families struggling with the smoke-filled devastation of the wildfires right now. and it's been true for a generation or more in places like cancer alley in louisiana. or right here in delaware, along the route 9 corridor. here in delaware. fulfilling the basic obligations, especially in low

income, white, brown, black native american communities who don't see clean air and water. and they're committing to it. these aren't pie-in-the-sky dreams. they create jobs and mitigate climate change and put us on the road to net zero emissions by no latern that 2050. you know, some say we can't afford to fix this. here's the thing. look around at the crushing consequences of the extreme weather events i've been describing. we've already been paying for it. so, we have sachoice. we can invest in infrastructure. make a stronger, more resilient and creating millions of good-paying jobs, while at the

same time tackling the root causes of climate change or the path donald trump has us on, costing 10s of billions to rebuild. and the human costs of the lives and livelihoods and communities destroyed are immeasurable. we have a choices. we commit to doing this together because you know that climate change is the existential challenge that's going to determine our future as a country, for our children, ourground chour grandchildren and great grandchildren or we can ignore the facts, deny reality, which amounts to fult surrending to the failure to lead. it's backward looking policy that's going to harm the environment, make communities less healthy. hold back economic progress while other countries race ahead. it's a mindset that doesn't have

any faith in the capacity of the american people to compete to innovate and to win. like the pandemic, dealing with climate change is a global crisis. and that requires american leadership. it requires a president for all americans. so, as the fires rage out west on this day, our prayers remain with everyone under the ash. i know it's hard to see the sunrise. believing today will be a better day than yesterday. americans face this historic inflection point, a time of real peril and a time of extraordinary possibilities. i'm confident. i know we can do this. we will do this. this is the united states of america. we've seen the light through the dark smoke.

we never give up. every time we succeed when we try. may god bless our firefighters and keep them safe and our first responders and may god protect our troops. thank you very much. >> i want to bring in chief political analyst, a professor of sciences at columbia as well. as we heard former vice president joe biden addressing this issue of climate change, which we're seeing play out before our eyes with these severe weather events that we have seen increasingly here in recent years. gloria, what did you think about this speech? >> i thought it was a very powerful speech on many levels. because what he did was he took the argument on how the president has handled can vid and the argument about how the president is denying climate

science and joined them together and said he's antiscience. and he also turned the president's campaign on its head by saying, you know, the president says your cities are going to burn. he said look, your suburbs are going to burn and they're going to burn from wildfires. so, what's so interesting to me. he started out this campaign saying he was going to bea transitional candidate. what he's talking about here in terms of climate science is transformational. and what he's proposing to do is very large and join more liberal ways in the democratic party and the more moderate wing of the republican party so they can see what he is proposing and convince him to vote for him and stay with him. >> he said it won't be easy but it's necessary. professor, what did you think about the proposals that you heard from the former vice

president? >> i very much support them. i was very encouraged by his speech. i think it's great that vice president has taken on board, not only climate science but the climate advocates from the youth movement. sunrise and others who have been connecting the climate problem to broader social justice agenda. i think it's the right way to go and he did that in his speech. >> and this -- he seemed to be emphasizing over and over, grounded in science. because you can't really -- you can't over state how, i guess, different the choice would be between joe biden or donald trump. i mean, president trump's plan, when it comes to climate are -- they're really nonexistent. they're based in fantasy. and what does it say about science? and there's this line he has to walk when it comes to jobs

because we're seeing the solution aversion many people have to admitting there is a problem because they are so concerned about the cost this would have of the economy. what did you think about him trying to make that pivot when it came to jobs? >> i think he's right to see climate as not an antijobs issue but a projobs one. we heard this line for a long time that it costs you much to address human-induced global warming. but it costs too much not to. we see that now. the most realistic process show that the damages outweigh the cost, considered realistically. new research shows air pollution health benefits of cleaning up carbon emissions, it's only the third covekt. that alone makes it worth

transitioning to a low carbon economy. so, i think he's right. the president's trying to prop up the fossil fuel industry. and he has no agenda that's worse. it's arbackward looking agenda and you're right, the choice couldn't be more stark. >> the rhetoric here. this is pretty poignant. he called president trump, not just a climate denier, he called him a climate arsonist. >> right what he's saying is by sitting back and doing nothing, he said got to clean your floors in your forest, he's denying what happened in front of him. and what he's saying is a failure to lead on the pandemic and you see that because of his refusal to listen to science and

he's refusing to lead in climate change because of his refusal to listen to science. he said i'm curious what the president is going to say today. when he said biden wants fracking. this is one of the lines joe biden has tawalk here. he is not opposed to fracking. it makes people who are more liberal in the party and this is really what's important. i think he's making this into a jobs program. the civilian climate core reminds you of roosevelt and he is saying this is going to bow a job creator for union jobs and that's what i want to turn it into. he's trying to turn the president's argument on its head and we'll have to see how the president responds this afternoon. >> gloria, adam, thank you so much. we'll be watching to see what

the president says and joe biden will join cnn for a special town hall with anderson cooper moderating. that will be thursday at 8:00 p.m. only on cnn. >> this is cnn breaking news. it is the top of the hour. i am brianna keilar. we are following three urgent crisis engulfing the nation. a pandemic, out of control wildfires and a hurricane taking aim at the gulf coast. moments ago we heard former vice president joe biden blasting the president for ignoring the science. and this as the president is being briefed on the wildfires that have killed add least 30 people and decimating california, oregon, colorado and other western states. and in the meantime, it's spreading across college campuses in all 50 states.