finding solutions. liz: you are watching getting answers. we are asking experts to get answers for you in real time. we have breaking news. a u.s. official says the cia has carried out to counterterrorism operation that took out an al qaeda target and afghanistan. we're going to speak with the abc news political director about this attack as well as other news that nancy pelosi is expected to visit taiwan. despite warnings from china. we will talk about what that means. a fire burning near the oregon border has become the largest so far this year, a climate

scientist joins us to explore how fires are changing and what we can expect. bay area health officials are trying to get monkeypox vaccines. the virus is showing no signs of slowing down, and experts say new cases could rise in the coming weeks. joining us now to talk about that is an infectious disease specialist. good to see. >> thanks for having me on. liz: san francisco has declared a state of emergency over monkeypox. has that made a difference so far? >> that has not made a huge difference yet, but symbolically and emotionally, it probably is raising the specter on the national level to thinking about this as a national issue. we love that the state would come on board formally as well, and what i'm hoping for is a

domino effect with jurisdictions in other areas tend nationwide. liz: i was going to ask you about the state. they are not quite ready to declare a state of emergency across california. what would that mean if the state did do that? does that mean more resources? >> the state gets money from the government for emergencies, they have received money for covid. it allows flexibility of moving dollars around. it's like having hands tied behind her back and it allows flexibility. that is the first thing. secondly, it allows diversion of priorities from the state. it's a little bit dicey right now, because we have another pandemic at the same time. when you think about diversion

of resources, it can get political. that might be some of what is going on. liz: we will see if they make that call. a lot of people are hoping for that. we are now hearing that spain and brazil are reporting the first deaths from monkeypox. it sounds concerning to hear. are you concerned? >> no, i am not concerned. as we see more cases, it will be inevitable. not a lot of people. there have not been any deaths in the united states of the more them 20,000 cases around the world, outside of west and central africa, it's incredible there have only been the brazil cases so far. when people die from monkeypox, they do not die of monkeypox.

the open sores allows the entry of other bacteria, that can get into the bloodstream and cause you to get septic and ill. that is what happens. hopefully with an infrastructure like the u.s., there will be a lower chance of that happening. another reason why we need to act now so cases don't continue to rise. liz: we are hearing at the same time about more cases in monkeypox in children. why do you think that is? >> the kids in the u.s. have gotten infected because they were a household contact in the household with an active patient. for the general population, i am not worried. i am hoping it will be easier to give kids the available vaccines , because right now, it's

possible. i'm hoping there is a lower barrier. around the world, there have been a few dozen cases of kids infected as well, also in a similar situation of household contacts. not a lot of kids so far, and i'm hoping it remains that way. liz: kids are going back to school. oakland goes back next week. parents might be concerned. we know how kids touch everything and can spread things like that easier. do you think it spreads more rapidly among children? >> all of the data that might be more serious in kids comes from another strain which is not the string currently circulating. the strain currently circulating is not as serious, there is another variety common in central africa.

that is where kids could have a problem. in this one, in terms of transition -- transmission, don't think of it as being a big problem. in terms of transmission within the area, not a very high probability. most of the kids around the world have been in households. there are two ways to deal with kids if they have been exposed. long period of time. within two weeks, the lower the chance of getting seriously ill. even if the kid gets the disease , they are mild. liz: i am getting a question.

will the meat loaf pox turn into a major outbreak? why is there a shortage? >> there is a shortage because it's a perfect storm. there is one factory that makes them in the world. that factory planned to do renovations. another barrier was the fda inspection of the facilities. in terms of outbreak and human anxiety, taking a month to inspect the facility before releasing the 700,000 plus vaccines was probably -- we wish it could have been faster.

those are all of the reasons why i think all of this came true, we still continue to have a trickle. the other thing that happened, prioritizing vaccines. they started doing that in the u.k.. new york and san francisco -- you want to do it with the first shot as possible to cut the chain. liz: should people be cutting plans? >> i do not think events should be canceled at all.

i think what people need to do is be aware and weigh the risks and benefits. it's a very low chance, close to zero, might still be important to someone who may decide not to go but to someone else, it may be ok in a general setting, there are ways to lower risk even further, if you wear long sleeves or don't have skin to skin contact. there is no active lesion, it's going to be a quick transition. it's only when there is an open sore, a break in the skin, that is why intimate contact is so efficient because you make the break in the skin, the more you

are with someone in an intimate setting. you give someone a high five, you are more likely to get covid then monkeypox. liz: we did not even get to covid. thank you for joining us and breaking it all down. coming up, we will dive into politics with a look at speaker pelosi's visit to taiwan and why it's causing some controversy. rick klein is going t every search you make, every click you take,

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headlines today. she is expected to visit taiwan. china has warned its military would never sit idly by if pelosi were to visit taiwan. joining us live to talk about that is rick klein. good to see you. i want to ask about some breaking news from the white house. president biden will address the nation in just over an hour from now to talk about a counterterrorism operation. >> abc news is reporting a person has been taken up by u.s. counterterrorism forces. drone operation in a residential neighborhood. a victory for president biden.

liz: we will look forward to that. abc news will have a special report when that happens. back to nancy pelosi. there has been speculation over whether she will make this trip to taiwan. we are learning she will visit the island. why is this trip so significant? >> this has long been an area of contention. this is something that is being applauded. the biden administration was very skeptical, any claims of taiwan sovereignty, the chinese view that -- there has not been any u.s. leader in about a quarter-century. this is something that has always left u.s. diplomatic's on

eggshells. speaker pelosi feels like it's an important statement to make. it's going to be seen as a victory for taiwan and a blow to the chinese and something they are not going to sit down for. liz: what has been the response from china? >> they are not happy about it. they are watching carefully how the administration is handling this. it's been clear the biden white house is not a fan of this. the department of state has been clear they did not want this visit to happen. it is an interesting moment for speaker pelosi to step out and make this statement. prohibitions, edex. speaker pelosi is likely to cast it as a statement of human

rights. liz: that was going to be my next question. what is she hoping to get out of this? there have been protests outside of her office. >> speaker pelosi knows her district, the community, clamoring for more action. there is probably nothing she can do to elevate the issue quite like this. clearly, it was done deliberately with planning and advance notice. the white house claiming they did not know about this specifically. they were trying to discourage this. liz: we will see what happens. let's talk about some other politics. 100 days away from the midterms.

the countdown is on. what are you anticipating nationally, how hard will it be for democrats to keep control of the house? >> the house is a long shot or gone. despite some good economic news, maybe they find a way to fight it out, i don't see it. the senate is another story. another primary tomorrow where republicans will find out who their candidate is in arizona. primaries tomorrow in five states. the senate is a much different animal. donald trump has gotten involved with a bunch of primaries. it might even put missouri back on the map. when you look at it district by district, democrats feel a little the better but i think

pretty realistic. liz: a lot of people with inflation, the president will have good news tonight. people feel like it's bleak for biden and the democrats. what is the strategy in the coming months? >> they are on getting this climate bill full. it's -- through. something to celebrate. they want to talk about what they did, rather than what they didn't do. democrats are so focused on what they have not been able to do, they have not given joe biden an opportunity to provide an clinician of that. their anticipation is he can get out more, members are able to go out and say look at we delivered, look at the contrast. they want to make this into a

choice versus a referendum. it's not just us in the abstract as democrats, it's also the other party. liz: roe v. wade as well. >> yes, indeed. liz: i can keep going with you, thank you so much for joining us. up next. is this the season for mega-fires in california? a climate export -- expert joins us and gives us a look i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. the three what? the three ps? what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget.

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a climate scientist at san jose state university. thanks for joining us. fire officials have said this is going to burn for a while. why is that? >> it ignited during a situation that was extremely hot and dry. our research has shown that as it gets warmer, everyone has an intuitive understanding that fuels mean fires burn more readily. especially when they create their own weather because they are able to suck in their own oxygen which can be self-perpetuating. this is going to be a difficult

fire to contain. liz: each year, it feels like the fires are getting bigger and bigger and bigger. do you see any scenario where that changes? >> in the long-term, it's driven by climate change. we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so global temperatures stop rising. greenhouse gas emissions need to come down to zero so you have temperatures study. that is the long-term climate portion of this. the other contributor has been the fire suppression which allows fuels to build up to unnatural levels. we have the situation of warming and drying on top of more fuels

that would be there naturally. we need to deal with the excess fuel. that means prescribed burns are literally going in and taking material out so when a fire does reach the area. the mega drought, if you look over the past 20 years, it's been as dry as any 20 year period in the last thousand years.

we call that a meteorological drive. what you care about how much moisture, how much vegetation, fuels to the fire. you not only consider the precipitation, but the evaporation. with climate change, it's able to pull water out of fuel easier. we have not seen a huge increase in that 20 year period, more than we have more evaporation out which is causing the entire west to be drier than it would be otherwise. we think it's about 30% to 40% worse due to human caused climate change than otherwise. that's good news in some way, because it means we can expect that to go back to atypical

state. -- a typical state. liz: is there a way to predict how bad a fire season might be? do you have a sense of what the rest of this year might look like? >> there are statistical relationships between how warm and dry it is in the winter and spring, how bad the fire season is in the summer and fall. we don't have any reason to expect this season to be a lot better than it has. it's been relatively warm and dry. there is a natural variability for any given fire season, a lot of the nested do if you get

lucky with big rain events in october. making a lot less likely to have major fires. it's difficult to predict. we don't see any reason to believe it's going to be more wet or dry than usual. there is not a strong signal there. liz: thank you so much for joining us. we are coming into some of the toughest liz: thank you for join.

president biden expected to address the nation. breaking news as we come on the air. the leader off al qaeda killed n a drone strike. the white house says the president is coming before the cameras to announce ayman al zawahiri has been killed. the successor to blosama bin laden. the new comes nearly 21 years after 9/11. late word coming in at this hour. martha raddatz and cecilia vega standing by. also tonight, catastrophic flooding. the death toll rising to at least 37 in kentucky. the governor warning that number could climb even higher. hundreds of people still unaccounted for. dramatic video is emerging of rescues in the rising water.