it's tuesday, september 8th, 2020. this is the "cbs morning news". western wildfires. more than 2 million acres in california now burned. plus the small town in washington state that lost 80% of its homes. eight weeks away. president trump and joe biden hit battleground states with their eyes on election day. who has the edge when it comes to the economy? novak's no-no. how much money the top male tennis player will have to pay up after accidentally injuring a line judge. good morning, everyone.

really good to see you again. i hope you had a pretty good long weekend. i'm anne-marie green. we are going to begin with the raging wildfires out west. california is getting hit especially with a record 2 million acres burned. it's not over yet. one of the newest wildfires is the bobcat wildfire northeast of los angeles. it's scorched 5,000 acres forcing some evacuations in the angeles national forest. today santa ana winds are expected to fuel this fire even more. the el dorado fire remains a problem. allegedly sparked by a gender reveal party. in fact, it's gotten so bad the national forest is closing all forests in the southern half of california with no re-opening date. elise, the power was turned off in california as well to deal with these wildfires. >> reporter: yeah.

those outages will impact more than 170,000 customers. but the utility says they will help improve safety. 80 miles east of los angeles officials believe the el dorado fire started during a gender reveal party. >> they used two pyrotechnic devices. they burn on the inside and emit colored smoke and that device also emits high gas which ignited the seasonal grass that's behind us. >> reporter: the fire has since burned more than 9600 acres and destroyed several homes. >> that's gone. >> reporter: this woman lost her home and a petting zoo but thankful to the firefighters who helped protect the rest. >> they did a good job. >> reporter: a welcome 2 million acres have burned in california and peak wildfire season is just getting started. >> it's horrible and getting worse every year. >> reporter: expected to complicate wildfire fighting winds up to 50 miles per hour. >> strongest winds tuesday

morning through tuesday afternoon. >> reporter: pg and e said they cut power to 170,000 of customers. it complicates working from home and virtual learning. >> with zoom and everything for online classes, it could be a real big huge hassle. >> reporter: wildfires are burning in more than a dozen states including washington where a fire destroyed about 80% of the homes in one town. >> it tore right through here. >> reporter: parts of colorado deal with wildfires, today's forecast in denver calls for snow. now the west coast did see record high temperatures that helped fuel wildfires over the holiday weekend. thankfully those temperatures have dropped. >> thank you so much. we are eight weeks away from election day and we are in the homestretch of the presidential race.

president trump along with his democratic challenger joe biden will be hitting those battleground states all week long. and they sparred on labor day. >> reporter: president trump held a labor day news conference to tout the economy. >> we're witnessing the fastest labor market recovery from an economic crisis in history. >> reporter: democratic presidential joe biden met with labor leaders in pennsylvania. the information vice president also attended a virtual afl-cio meeting. >> wall street did not build this country you did. >> reporter: the latest poll shows the president has the edge over biden on who voters think would handle the economy best. overall registered voters see the economy as the biggest factor in the upcoming election even as the coronavirus pandemic continues. >> if the president announced tomorrow we had a vaccine would you take it? only if we knew what all went into it.

so far nothing he has told us has been true. >> they are politicizing it. they will say anything. the vaccine will be very safe and very effective and be delivered very soon. >> reporter: registered voters are expressing skepticism about a vaccine. they believe one available this year will be rushed through. the contenders were both in wisconsin this labor day. the president's narrow victory there in 2016 was key to his white house win. vice president mike pence carried the president's economic message to an energy company in lacrosse. >> other ropg -- opening up america again. >> reporter: democratic vice presidential candidate kamala harris traveled to milwaukee to meet with union leaders and black community leaders. >> we see the benefit to the entire country to invest in our small businesses. >> reporter: the california senator spoke on the phone with jacob blake. during the conversation, harris she expressed her concern and support.

overnight there was a standoff between protesters and police in rochester, new york as demonstrators demanded justice for daniel prude a black man who died after an encounter with police who used a spit hood on him. for a sixth night demonstrators took to the streets calling for the officers linked to prude's death to be fired and prosecuted. they also demanded resignations of the city's mayor and police chief. standoff lasted until 1:00 this morning when protesters began to voluntarily leave. no arrests were reported. and a german hospital caring for alexei navalny says he's out of a medically induced coma.

the critic of vladimir putin has been in the hospital for several weeks after tests show he was poisoned with a soviet era nerve agent. the german government demanded russia investigate the case. the kremlin has denied playing a role in the incident. and the world's number one ranked men's tennis player is facing a $10,000 fine for unsportsman like conduct. novak djokovic hit a line judge with a ball. he was docked $7,500 for skipping the mandatory post-match news conference after being disqualified. he also lost $250,000 in prize money. djokovic has issued an apology. so, coming up on the "cbs morning news," police in hong kong face criticism over the rough arrest of a young girl during a protest. and a college football game without fans. byu takes on navy in a surreal

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force after she started running. the girl's family said she was buying school supplies and became scared when confronted by police. back at home college football was played in an empty stadium, and the president weighs in on investigating the post master general. those are some of the headlines on the morning newsstand. "the washington post" reports president trump says he's open to an investigation of post master general louis dejoy's past campaign fundraising. a recent post story contained accusations the former employees of dejoy -- dejoy's previous private company felt pressured to contribute to a republican candidate. they said they were later reimbursed through bonuses which would be illegal. >> yes, if something can be proven he did something wrong, always. let the investigations go. but he's a very respected man.

again, it was a bipartisan commission, post master general is appointed by a bipartisan commission. and we'll see how that goes. >> mr. trump said dejoy should lose his job if something can be proven. that he did something wrong. a spokesman for dejoy said dejoy believes he has always complied with campaign fundraising laws. the "los angeles times" says the summer of covid-19 ended with u.s. health officials worried about another coronavirus surge like the one that followed memorial day. while many big labor day events were cancelled across the country, in some places like los angeles crowds flocked to beaches. the u.s. had about 1.6 million coronavirus cases around memorial day but parties and other gatherings contributed to a summer time surge. the country has now more than 6 million cases. and utah's "desert news" says a surreal setting without

fans greeted bringham young university in its opener against navy in annapolis, maryland. the 34,000 seat stadium at the navy academy was largely empty due to pandemic restrictions ordered by the state of maryland. there was none of the pageantry that usually seen at a navy football game like a pre-game flyover or a fighter jet. byu won the game 55-3. and still ahead a treasure hunt inspired by willy wonka. the found engineer of jelly belly is offering one lucky person the key to one of his candy factories. but there is a catch. woah-oh, woah-oh-oh-oh

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today's the day to get to your toyota dealer. but hurry, they're going fast. toyota. let's go places here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. that is bob the alligator being wheeled in to get some help from vets at the university of florida. he's a resident of the st. augustine zoological park. the reptile was brought in on a gurney to get x-rays because his right rear leg was hurt. lots of people commented on the video wishing the 38-year-old alligator well. bob is on pain medication and

set to begin antibiotic therapy. on the "cbs money watch" why facebook will pay you to deactivate your account. and how would you like to own a jelly belly candy factory? diane king hall is in new york with more on this. >> reporter: good morning. trading resumes on wall street today after a three day weekend. today the federal reserve is out with a report looking at how much consumers are borrowing and investors are hoping for a better week ahead after significant back-to-back loss last week. all three major averages finished lower again on friday. social media users could be paid up to $120 to deactivate their facebook or instagram accounts. it's all part of a facebook study through election day. the social media giant said it's making the move to better understand the impact of facebook and instagram on key political attitudes and

behaviors during the 2020 ha elections. the company says it is using independent researchers and users will need to take a survey before reactivating their accounts. findings won't be published until the middle of next year. american airlines will support its employees wearing black lives matter pins while on duty. the air carrier is working with black professional network to create a company specific black lives matter pin that may be worn with the american uniform until a company spin designed employees are allowed to wear their own pins supporting the movement. jelly belly's founder is launching a series of treasure hunts across the company. david klein says the big winner will walk away with a key to one of his candy factories. thousands of dollars are also up for grabs if people find golden necklaces hidden in every state across the u.s.. it costs $50 to enter the hunt but many people are complaining. the company's website is down and is questioning whether it's real.

>> it would be an ever stopper gob stopper jelly bean. >> can you imagine turning blue like violet in willy wonka? >> yeah. we'll see, diane king hall in new york, thanks a lot. so up next a supermarket special at trader joe's. a couple celebrates their wedding in the grocery aisle. in the grocery aisle. these are real people, not actors, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country.

say hello to juanito, a dromedary camel born in a facility used to reproduce the camel in the desert of peru. also known as an arabian camel. it's different than other camel species because it only has one hump. its mother hails from the canary islands. the is a had a -- sahara conditions improve the conditions of the dromedary camel. and from the desert heat to an icy story in. austria. an extreme athlete beat his own record for the longest time spent in ice. he managed to remain in a glass box filled up to his shoulders filled with ice cubes for two and a half hours. he wore nothing but swim trunks. he plans to beat his next record in los angeles. which i think might be a better place to do that. a little warmer. a kentucky driver tried to fool police with a hand-drawn license plate, except he was

missing one key detail. officials in millersburg pulled the car over because the license plate seemed out of place. they noticed it didn't have a registration sticker. and they found out the driver didn't have insurance and driving with a suspended license and failed art class. no that part is just a joke. i don't know if he failed art class. a south carolina couple got to walk down the aisle during their wedding ceremony. nothing unusual about that except the aisle was in a supermarket. saturday's ceremony was held at the trader joe's where they met in 2018 while the bride was working there. they actually tied the knot in july but held a second celebration in the market. >> he is a very special part of that new start. >> i found a treasure here at trader joe's. i'm loving every minute.

>> oh, boy. the bride's co-workers put together the ceremony and they all walked through the doors straight to the wine section. how appropriate. coming up on "cbs this morning," in our school matters series, a look at the role of police officers inside schools. i'm anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news". anne-marie green. this is the "cbs morning news". hi sabrina! hi jen! hi. so you're the scientist here. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. really?! this prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. impressive! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature. for people with heart failure taking entresto, it may lead to a world of possibilities. entresto helped people stay alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema

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our top stories this morning, wildfires continue to ravage california. scorching a record 2 million acres. one of the newest wildfires is the bobcat fire northeast of los angeles which has burned more than 4800 acres. the forest service is closing all national forests in the southern half of california with no re-opening date. a standoff overnight between protesters and police ended peacefully in rochester, new york. demonstrators demanded justice

for daniel prude a black man who died after an encounter with police who used spit hood on him. protesters are calling for the officers linked to prude's death to be fired and prosecuted. they also demanded the resignation of the city's mayor and police chief. an airport may be one of the last places you would expect to find random acts of kindness but kris van cleave has the story of a frequent flyer who is lifting spirits and putting smiles on faces that are hidden under masks. >> reporter: holding a handful of home made happiness, catherine knight is hoping to change the world one kind word at a time. while traveling for work, she's handing out cards to strangers at the houston airport. each with a message meant to shine a bit of light into these

dark days. >> you have to wear a mask so you can't see somebody smile or if they are sad. so if you watch somebody's eyes you can determine maybe that person needs a little pick me up. >> perhaps now more than ever. >> people need to know there's still kindness in this world. >> reporter: in the age of covid you can't blame heidi for being a little skeptical until the message sunk in. >> i was stressed out with three kids. it was a nice pick me up. >> reporter: this random act of kindness project started three years ago. kathryn and her son writing uplifting messages for people they never met and may never see again. 25,000 so far, including one for pilot michael jones. >> everybody is having personal struggles. >> reporter: at a time when we have to stay apart a small reminder we're still all in this together.

kris van cleave, cbs news, washington. coming up on "cbs this morning" the political rhetoric over the safety of a coronavirus vaccine and how it could affect people's willingness to get vaccinated when one becomes ready. plus in our school matters series the role of police inside schools. and how an inner-city school district said students are doing better without a police presence. we talk with reed hastings, co-founder and ceo of netflix about his new book "no rules rules." that's "cbs this morning" this tuesday. thanks for watching. new book "no rules rules." that's "cbs this morning" this dues. thanks for watching.