if it's wednesday, an urgent plea from the nation's top health experts wear a mask. it might protect you more than a vaccine ever could plus, president trump keeps repeating his false claims about coronavirus as the death toll keeps rising and the battleground polls keep staying the same, showing biden in the

lead. sally makes landfall as a category two hurricane dumping feet of rain on communities along the gulf coast welcome to wednesday i am chuck todd. 48 days to go until the election, we're losing shy of a thousand people a day in this country to coronavirus we told you last week, we haven't had a week we didn't equal the 9/11 death toll since end of march we are approaching a staggering 200,000 deaths with projected 400,000 deaths through year end. if you see the spikes now and new case numbers, it's clear the labor day surge happened it's all a hard pill to swallow. many deaths could be avoided if the president continues to undermine the country's efforts to fight the virus late this morning two of the health experts testified on

capitol hill hill, making comments that forcefully, if politely, rebuked the president's efforts to down play the effectiveness of face masks. >> wearing the mask when you can't physically distance is critical. >> i think you directly contradict the president's behavior and the president's comments,even though you've done it politely. >> i am not commenting directly about the president, i am going to comment as the cdc director that face masks, these face masks are the most important powerful public health tool we have, and i will continue to appeal for all americans, all individuals in our country to embrace the face coverings we have clear scientific evidence they work and they are our best defense i might even go so far as to say this fake mask is more guaranteed to protect me against covid than when i take a covid vaccine.

>> think about that. what a plea. what a remarkable plea from the current cdc chief. we're going to dive into more in a moment hard not to first note how his comments were so starkly contradicted by the president when he spoke to undecided voters in an abc news town hall. >> a lot of people don't want to wear masks a lot of people think they're not good >> who are those people? >> i'll tell you who those people are, waiters, they come over, serve you, they have a mask saw it the other day when they were serving me, they're playing with a mask, i am not blaming them, just saying what happens they're playing with the mask. the mask is over, and they're touching it, then they're touching the plate that can't be good >> we assume he must be referring to a waiter at the trump hotel, that's the only place he seems to go outside of the white house. another stark contrast by the way. last night, the president made it seem like a vaccine could be

widely available within a matter of weeks, said three or four weeks. the cdc chief, well, he testified a few hours ago that even if there were a breakthrough in the next few weeks, the vaccine would not be widely available until mid to late next year, which means the pandemic life-style we are living now is not going away anytime soon, despite the president every few weeks trying to make it seem as if it might as we approach the election, the constant efforts to spin away the reality of the pandemic was on full display. fact checkers at "the washington post" four pinocchios over and over again take a listen. >> all through january and february you were downplaying by your own admission the severity of the crisis. >> not downplaying. >> let me finish the question first. >> not downplaying i didn't down plplay in many ways i up played it in terms of action. >> we're getting 195,000 deaths

in the united states now when you see that, when you think about that, does that give you any pause, make you think is there anything i could have done difr differently? >> we could have had 2 million deaths if we didn't close the country. it would go away without the vaccine. >> go away without the vaccine >> sure, over a period of time, with time. >> how many deaths >> you'll develop a herd mentality, it will be herd developed, that's going to happen that will all happen >> again, the president's own cdc chief less than 12 hours later couldn't have been more clear when it comes to masks and severity joining me, monicaal about alb.

today when it comes to vaccine results, the briefing put out there about operation warp speed, it is clear the president is trying desperately to make the public think a vaccine is around the corner, yet there's no evidence a vaccine is around the corner >> exactly the only consistency we've seen here in the last six months is the inconsistency on these subjects such as face masks or vaccines as you point out. the president continues to suggest that october could be the time frame for development of a vaccine whereas his own health officials think january, 2021 is far more likely a target, especially when it comes to distribution. but the president is the one that consistently makes this political saying he wants to have this available potentially before the election, but on the call you mentioned with federal officials, they said they will be ready to mobilize once the fda processes the emergency authorization, once the vaccine

is developed and approved, within 24 hours. once you do have that, we will be seeing that very quickly, but it isn't likely until the end of the year that's what you also repeatedly hear from dr. anthony fauci. he says in his diplomatic way it is conceivable you could have a vaccine developed in the month of october, but highly unlikely. what you also have to remember, it seems to be two different things here. the president is conflating having a vaccine ready to go, what it would mean to millions of americans in terms of distribution those things will take more time that's something the president continues to say is around the corner, also language he has used, on the pandemic as a whole, saying we're rounding the corner, the vaccine is weeks away his own health officials today not just on capitol hill and not just in testimony but repeatedly, dr. deborah berks says we can't get complacent

the very fleeting increase and significant developments we have seen and gained over the summer will all be erased when the flu come pounds the virus, chuck >> what is it they believe, what gains have been made in the summer this is one of the things i think is very hard to comprehend coming out of the white house. they'll say things like that not make the gains what gains, considering we're treading water. >> they would argue that hospitalization rates are down, that you've seen positivity rates in certain places go down. they feel they have somewhat of a better strategy on testing they point to all those things that in the first three or four months were completely out of control and wasn't a significant coordinated strategy on any of that that's what administration officials and task force would say, but of korcourse cases skyrocket. amount of lives lost you have the president not acknowledging that

you don't have him talking about nearly 200,000 lives that have been lost to the coronavirus trying to again dismiss it, and repeating last night that dubious claim that somehow the virus could disappear on its own without a vaccine. there aren't any health officials that believe that. you have him mentioning herd mentality, presumably meant herd immunity that's not something that the white house or coronavirus task force embraced as a strategy we asked mark meadows earlier why he suggested that would be something, he said no, we're not considering herd immunity as a strategy, even though the president was misspeaking, perhaps revealing something about what he is thinking on herd mentality when it comes to his own supporters that don't wear masks at his rallies that fully resumed with hundreds of people, sometimes more, shoulder to shoulder, not social distancing the campaign suggesting that's what we're seeing in the final stretch in the final weeks,

chuck. >> peter baker, i wonder, we sit here, we'll make note of the official folks say x, and folks that work for the president say y, and the president flouts all of it. this is what he does it is what he always does. is this just somebody desperate to find some way out of this virus, some way to re-election message? the one thing he doesn't seem to be willing to do is admit mistakes, which to me would be the easiest way to pivot, but he won't take that road. >> no, he will never add military mistakes, even if he were convinced he made them, not sure he is hard to say. he made a career now in business and now in politics, making mistakes is a sign of weakness, he won't do it you're right he wants to tell us we're turning the corner, desperately wants that to be the case, and he has a gift for making reality

out of something by repetition he says the same thing over and over again, certain percentage of the country then tends to believe it or repeat it as if true no matter how many times you say we're rounding the corner, almost near the end, if you have a thousand people dying a day, that's a whole lot of tragedy, a whole lot of real places in america with real people, real families they're not seeing this any more they're seeing continued crisis in their lives and in the lives of most americans. >> you know, it is interesting i want to play another, we are focused on the virus and vaccine, the other major issue this campaign season is the issue of race relations, social justice. here's an excerpt from the president last night i want to ask you about it >> in light of ongoing protests surrounding the deaths of george floyd, breonna taylor or, and recent shooting of jacob blake,

do you feel racial injustices are occurring in this nation and if so, what can be done to address them >> well, i think they were tragic events and i do feel that we have to also take into consideration if you look at our police, they do a phenomenal job. >> you have yet to address and acknowledge there's a race problem in america. >> so if you go, i hope there's not a race problem, i can tell you, there's none with me. i have great respect for all races, this country is great because of it. >> peter, it is not surprising that i feel this president doesn't have this in his tool box, doesn't know how to speak of race, racial reconciliation obviously his own track record speaks for itself. but i continue to think both on the virus and on this issue he has not figured, he keeps trying to bend the two issues to his will and they're not bending. >> exactly right how much deexpress sympathy or

empathy for african-american families that suffered and african americans in general that look at the police with suspicion. he couldn't go an entire sentence without pivoting to defense of law enforcement rather than trying to find balance, rather than trying to say there's a lot of people with legitimate concern that we have to find a way to address, even if he were to defend the police, he can't do that he has to take one side rather than try to address concerns of americans across the board, and one side he has chosen is law and order. there's no allowance for the idea there's an issue there. police are phenomenal, 99% of them are good, anybody talking about reform is trying to prevent them from doing their jobs and stopping crime. that's a message but it is a very one-sided message and doesn't address people you showed that were concerned and asking him to show concern himself. >> monica, very quickly, michael

caputo, is he still in his job at hhs and if he is, why? >> reporter: that's what we understand, chuck, he is currently in his role after offering apology for the comments about is sedition and insurrection, and you have the democrats calling for the ouster of the health and human services secretary, alex azar, over all this, saying how can you have people involved that aren't even experts in any cdc data that was handled. he is currently in this role in any other administration, a senior officials making those comments likely wouldn't be in their post as we understand it today. >> it was a strange hire when it was made given his checkered professional background. here we are, not surprising to see us in this situation monica, peter, thank you both. more on the michael caputo conspiracy story coming up. i want to bring in a doctor,

dr. patel, former obama white house policy director and msnbc medical contributor. dr. patel, start with what dr. redfield said about wearing a mask versus vaccine. a vaccine that might be 70% protective, a lot of research i read, that might be the first vaccine, i think you've said that before. the first vaccine may be, you know, not quite as comprehensive as we want it to be like the flu, maybe 60 or 70% is wearing a mask that powerful? >> well, i think, chuck, what you're seeing is that he is trying desperately to refute the message that the president is sending every day that masks don't matter what we know from research that's been done is that when you have mask mandates, majority of people are wearing masks, you can reduce infections by as much as half. i don't want people to think a mask alone, that's unfortunately

potentially the way some people might have interpreted that moment, albeit important, is just a mask enough, it is the combination of things we talked about. i think you saw an exasperated dr. redfield who is trying as peter and others said to be diplomatic while sending a clear signal unfortunately, chuck, it feels like, you know, where was that kind of real clear signaling and language months ago, and you saw that the senators questioned and said why did you then make this recommendation about how you might not need to test people, even if they have been in contact with covid patients. so you still saw some mixed messages in that hearing >> i guess at this point how damaged do you think, let me ask you this way, how damaged is the cdc's credibility to you, dr. patel? >> you know, it makes me, in

short, it has been damaged i say that with a lot of deep regret because a lot of those people at the career level, chuck, are people i've known, people working on these issues for decades, very credible scientists, public health officials. is it beyond repair? no but i think we've got to start with the heart of the problem. look, when we're treating patients, if we just treat symptoms, put bandaids on it, don't understand the driving cause of the illness, then we're not going to be able to make progress as you pointed out, we need to understand, you know, it is not just redfield, it goes to the secretary and ultimately to the president, and to people that supported those decisions, so it is not beyond repair, but chuck, i'm getting dizzy reading page after page of reports where there's conflicting messages >> because we have you here and your medical expertise, i want

to play a clip of the president and his use of herd mentality. i want you to debunk it after we listen. >> it would go away without the vaccine, it will go away faster. >> it will go away >> sure, with time you'll develop like a herd mentality, it will be herd developed and that will happen that will all happen but with the vaccine, i think it will go away very quickly. i believe we're rounding the corner >> dr. patel, obviously he decided to use the word herd in front of a few words, none of them were the words immunity there. explain what the president was trying to say and if we followed that, where would we be? >> yeah. so herd immunity in short is when a majority of the

population, at least 70 to 80 persian 80% of the population received immunization to protect from the infection or themselves had the infection. you can achieve herd i mmunity with a comprehensive vaccine program like we do for measles, mumps, rubells, or you can have herd immunity like in sweden, you let people infected. unfortunately with a 4 to 6% chance of someone dying if they have an infection, maybe higher, maybe lower, but there are serious deaths that come along with the infection it is irresponsible when we know we have preventive measures. herd immunity, if this was a virus that didn't have death associated with it, or candidly, in clinics, we're seeing chronic or long haulers with symptoms beyond weeks and months. if that were not the case, even

i would say sure, a common cold, let's go ahead and see it is not too detrimental. herd immunity, he said that came from dr. atlas who is neither an immunologist or epidemiologist it is befuddling >> dr. patel, i appreciate your expertise. watch msnbc tomorrow as we take an in depth look at the upcoming flu season and answering questions. email us at talk @msnbc.com. health and human services announced michael caputo, the high level administration official is taking a leave of absence after a series of

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welcome back we do have breaking news michael caputo is taking a leave of absence to focus on his health, after accusing government scientists of plotting against president trump during a facebook live rant. he warned that leftwing hit squads were preparing for november's election. >> partisan democrats, conjugal media, and scientists, the deep state scientists want america sick through november. they cannot afford for us to have any good news before november because they're already losing there are scientists working for this government who do not want

america to get better. did you hear me? there are scientists who work for this government who do not want america to get well, not until after joe biden is president. it's a fact. i know it because i've heard it. >> today, cdc director robert redfield testified his comments were not only untrue but also deeply troubling okay that's a start with me, clint watts, former fbi agent, now a msnbc national security analyst, how misinformation spreads this is my concern clint, there's a couple of facts that are still operable. he hasn't been fired, he is put on leave the trump administration has yet to condemn anything he said, yet to rebuke anything he said we've heard the only person so far of government capacity to denounce what he said in the administration is dr. redfield

first thing we thought of us how this becomes misinformation that spreads considering it is facebook, land of misinformation how concerned are you about this michael caputo video >> it brings together two strings, chuck, both how we defend against covid-19 and how we conduct our election. it is a double line of misinformation that really drives people totheir polls. if you believe in masks, if you don't believe in masks, if you believe in covid, you don't. if you believe the election is rigged or don't believe it is rigt rigged he is undermining institutions he represents. saying don't listen to the institutions i guarantee with this leave of absence, you watch how this will spin into a conspiracy he was forced by scientists, you know, into a situation he had to take leave had to be pushed away. the deep state is pushing him out. you'll see the conspiracies unfold in coming days. when you look forward, doesn't

matter who wins election 2020, how would you bring the country together to protect them against covid, to work out a law enforcement solution along with racial justice how would you get the economy back up onits feet in an organized way as the pandemic unfolds. we have a myriad of problems the perpetrators of disinformation this go around are at home, not even from abroad. >> right so what is in a perfect world, whose job is it to police this >> first thing i look at now is elected officials. we have government data, government institutions. you have to reinforce them that's what taxpayers are paying for. these institutions represent constituents, not politicians, constituents they should be serving the public we saw that in the hearing you showed just in the last block. they're trying to say this is the most effective tool, a mask is the most effective tool to

stop the spread. vaccine may be coming online, might be ready in three to four weeks. whenever it doesn't happen, society is disheartened. six months into the pandemic, election coming up, we're looking at mobilizations, people under false pretenses showing up maybe to protest, counter protest, maybe bringing weapons, maybe inciting violence. the most dangerous scenario we have in the next quarter of the year >> and so what should facebook and twitter be doing that you fear they won't do >> i think the social media companies and tech companies across the board have mobilized incredibly compared to 2016. but it is too slow for example, that video that went up there, it goes viral we have seen it with plandemic once it takes off, people

believe that which happens first and happens most so to stop that, the tech companies across the board need to be working in concert to come up with standards about what they'll put down about covid-19 conspiracies, what they put down because of protests and mobilizations, i think is the biggest thing, this can happen quickly. this causes law enforcement, public confrontation where you see bad things happen like kenosha. the third one which they've done a good job with, misinformation on voting. mail in ballots, electoral fraud, election rigging, putting conspiracies down, removing them from the platform. big thing is, they have to work in unison. i don't see that at this point all companies are taking actions. but at different times once it is out there in the wild, it can spread across all platforms quickly. they have to work in a unified manner. >> be blunt here what's your level of concern that some of the conspiracy stuff leads to violence in and around the election? >> i think it depends on what we

sense the results to be on opening night and what the president and his team does, meaning if it is a close election and there's a battle around what in person voting shows versus mail-in voting might result in, i think we're looking at a dangerous period in that first seven to ten days if the vote can't be substantiated, if one of the two candidates doesn't essentially cede victory to the other i don't think that will happen it is highly likely we'll have protests at ballot boxes, you can see it on social media now, see it with election officials, and i think when electors go to show up, if it is contested. this is going into november and december you're going to see some extreme events where people will try to intimidate people to not vote or vote a certain way >> clint watts, one of our

important national security analysts, former fbi agent as always, thanks for your expertise. we should add before we go to break, hhs announced an aide to michael caputo, paul alexander is also leaving the department he was the one that was trying to essentially muzzle or insert language for anthony fauci to use in interviews. up next, slow moving hurricane sally slamming the gulf with heavy rain we go live to the florida/alabama border next. look limu! someone out there needs help customizing their car insurance with liberty mutual, so they only pay for what they need. false alarm. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ start your day with secret. secret stops sweat 3x more than ordinary antiperspirants. with secret, you're unstoppable. no sweat! try it and love it or get your money back.

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the network more people rely on gives you more. welcome back hurricane sally made landfall very early this morning near gulf shores, alabama, reaching the coast as a category two hurricane. stronger than what was originally predicted wind and rain continue to batter communities across alabama and the florida panhandle, officials raise the alarm about the potential for dangerous flooding in sally's wake. it is a slow moving storm. rainfall is already being measured in feet let's go to ali velshi on the ground in orange beach, alabama, not far from where sally made landfall this morning. ali, it is clear, we have so much incoming water with the storm, it got into your equipment. we're not protecting your identity this is what happens when cameras are waterlogged.

ali velshi, what a 12 hours. >> reporter: you can tell it is me because of the hairline a satellite dish is bringing the signal hard to keep the dish up given the wind this is 24 hours after the wind started. 7 hours from when it made landfall a few miles west of here, and we're still seeing this kind of wind, still bracing myself as i stand here the thing is still a hurricane it is 25 miles north, northeast of here, and still actually a hurricane. kind of remarkable thought it would come on shore late last night about midnight to 2:00 a.m., ended upcoming at 6:00 a.m. as a category two, not a category one i spent the night listening to this i have been doing hurricanes about 15 years i was thinking this sounds strong and relentless. gulf shores is where it made landfall, the mayor said they felt like they were sucker punched. got two feet of rain pensacola is to my east. there's a span of a bridge

missing in pensacola last night about midnight, i did a report with brian williams, standing on a deck, it is gone the deck is gone there are boats that are supposed to be in the gulf of mexico that are now inland in where i am in orange beach we cannot get power repaired more than a half million are without power. the number hasn't been updated in a few hours, leads me to believe there are more they can't start restoring power because of the wind. can't get trucks to go up, fixing the lines not only that, when you have wind like this and rain for 24 hours, you're not sure all of the trees are done falling and poles are done falling the bottom line, it continues to be a dangerous, dangerous storm, taking out a lot of roads, widespread power outages i heard emergency services an hour ago which i hadn't heard all morning, tells me they can get on the roads, a good start it hasn't stopped being a hurricane yet.

it is so far up. i am starting to see in the distance, you can see how heavy surf is. i am seeing in the distance stuff that looks like potentially clearer skies, but this is a big hurricane that's moving about as fast as you can walk and has not changed chuck? >> ali velshi, that's quite an experience there that you're having in orange beach, alabama. ali, thanks very much. please stay safe the entire crew as well. later this hour, we're going out west and check in on the other natural disaster devastating a huge part of the country, wildfires. you should be mad your neighbor always wants to hang out. and you should be mad your smart fridge is unnecessarily complicated. make ice. making ice. but you're not mad because you have e*trade

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across the capitol speaker pelosi's excuses and goldilocks games are even wearing thin on her fellow democrats

now bear in mind, the speaker had explained she will block any compromise for kids, jobs, and health care because, because passing anything short of multiple trillions of dollars would make her look like, quote, a cheap date a cheap date >> welcome back. that was senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, blaming house speaker nancy pelosi for the stalemate. she blames the republicans for gridlock, is adamant a passenger less than $2 trillion is unacceptable you heard senator mcconnell allude to, they're pushing for some relief package they can bring back to constituents ahead of the election. the old take a half loaf concept. the bipartisan problem solvers caucus released a $1.5 trillion proposal yesterday it has been rejected by leading democrats, the white house has

shown some interest in it. joined by the bipartisan chairs of congressional problem solvers caucus gentlemen, in a noncovid world, you would be doing this interview side by side, but we're putting you figuratively side by side congressman, the democrats, it is your party in charge of the house. so the democratic leadership rejected your proposal what's your push back, what's your counter >> well, i heard from so many members on both sides and frankly from a lot of chairs, too. if you look at our proposal, it meets every one of the priorities from state and local to unemployment to stimulus checks, to helping our schools and testing. we tried to find common ground for both sides i think when people look at it, that's why there's outpouring of

support from both sides of the aisle. it is a great framework to get negotiators back to the table and move forward we are hearing from both sides, there's an interest. speaker pelosi and senator schumer put out a statement saying we are eager to get back to the table finally getting the thought to get people back. >> congressman reed, the white house, mark meadows at least it sounds like, is open to this proposal i have not seen, mitch mcconnell is enjoying being able to note some democrats would like to cut a deal, he has not endorsed this deal do you think this could get through the senate without house support? >> yeah, i have seen some comments from mitch mcconnell that that's indicating a willingness to get back in the room, have a conversation based off some of the things we put forward here as josh indicated the framework, talks about all of the priorities we can find common ground on i think the interest in talking

to senators that we developed a relationship with, this is always going to be a bipartisan deal you need a majority of the minority to support it what we did is show it can be done now it is time for leadership to get into the room, work out the final details, do what's right for the american people. >> and frankly, both sides need to stop throwing mud at each other. just get back in the room and get this done. the american people need it. >> well, this is the question i have why is it, congressman, that you think the speaker believes she can't go below 2 trillion, that somehow you won't be able to go back and pass more legislation later? there seems to be an idea she thinks this is it, this is the last train that leaves the station. >> what we proposed to that point was a trillion and a half

dollars. most of what we proposed gets us through march, through the next inauguration and the next president can pick up and decide what's best next, the next congress we also put in what we call boosters and reducers so it goes from a trillion and a half to 2 trillion if the virus is still continuing to wreak havoc on the country, and vaccinations are not widespread in march if things are better, then the package will be reduced. we found a way that gets it up to 2 trillion, down to 1.3 if things are better, and i think we need to find a solution there. it is there. we're very close instead of fighting numbers, chuck. this is how we came to agreement, we talked about programs and said whether it is wicc, more resources for ppp, let's talk issues instead of top line numbers and shorten the time frame >> congressman reed, you said, i

will give you this, you said to me about three weeks ago i think there's someplace in the middle, we'll get to the middle, we'll get to the middle. at least you guys are talking and you instituted this. but in a perverse way, has speaker pelosi's strategy worked, it has gotten the white house up to 1.5 trillion, and it has gotten the senate to at least open their mind about it could she argue she's gotten to this point or no >> i would argue that look, where we're at, we were going to have no relief for the american people we've thought of the gridlock. now at least they're talking they're hopefully going to get into the room soon who wins in that is the american people and the gridlock has to end. we have to do our job as congress, what the problem solvers caucus did, cudos to the team that led.

they were part of the strike team got it done, god bless them, they're true americans that put america first >> congressman, i'm curious, it seems as if the democratic leadership never wants the look of working with donald trump is that why we're at this stalemate? >> i mean, i think we're at the stalemate because what happens if people just scream and yell and don't spend enough time getting to know each other, figure out where they can agree. if you don't ever build relationships, it is hard to use them in an emergency but remember, we did pass several covid packages in a bipartisan way, that were signed into law we have to remember again, get back to the fact that people are hurting, we have an economic crisis, a health crisis, we have to get something done. we can't go home without doing something to help people and businesses and state and local governments. once you realize that, it is easy to get back to the table. and also everybody can get

credit if you deliver for people that's the other thing we have to not forget. everybody looks good if we make progress >> very quickly, congressman reed, the white house, i mean, democrats have ample reason not to trust the white house, they have been burned before by him how does the white house make themselves a credible negotiating partner here to the democrats? >> go in the room, negotiate this deal, get it done, don't worry about anything else. and that will take care of itself >> i give you both credit. you're eternally optimistic when there's a lot of cynicism in washington, d.c. nothing wrong with a little optimism mixed in with cynicism. thank you for sharing your views here, gentlemen. i appreciate it. >> thanks, chuck. >> thanks. up next, western wildfires burning bigger, more destructive, hotter than ever before the impact being felt now coast

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don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. after using xiidra, wait 15 minutes before reinserting contacts. got any room in your eye? talk to an eye doctor about twice-daily xiidra. i prefer you didn't! xiidra. not today, dry eye. pas a child, we learn that trees are good for the environment. it's renewable. so we can keep this beneficial cycle continuing on for generations to come. welcome back out west, millions are still facing raging wildfires in california, oregon, and washington you're looking right now at drone footage of the complete devastation in oregon, just one example of the destruction across the state a turn in the weather did offer some relief for oregon and washington earlier this week, but oregon is still fighting to

contain over 20, 2-0, active fires. and in california, it's still hot and dry, and there seems to be now end in sight to those devastating fires. jerry brown stressed this is the grim new reality for this state. when he talked to my colleague, andrea mitchell in the last hour >> this is the new normal, and it's going to take very abnormal interventions. that is more than ever before. it's not business as usual it's a new business that we're going to have to deal with over the next several decades >> and joining me now from the fire zone in california is our own steve patterson. so steve, with the hot and dry weather, it doesn't seem like there's an end in sight, any hope on the horizon here >> no, in fact, some of these fires are getting even larger and protection and containment is getting smaller that's the case at the fire i'm at the fire zone right now is the side of a mountain this is the bobcat fire.

we're in l.a. county if you had a clear day, and there wasn't all this awful toxic smoke, you would be able to get a clear shot of the rose bowl, pasadena is just a few miles down this valley, but it is completely covered. the fire now burning 44,000 acres. we were here ten days ago, last week, it was less than 10,000. at that point, the end of the firefight, firefighters were getting the upper hand and containment because of how much this fire -- burning fuel. if you were to drive about 60 miles into the mountain, you would be at -- >> steve, we're going to have to we're going to have to wrap you here it looks like we have a little bit of an audio glitch coming from you

we're losing about every third or fourth word there, but we did get a big chunk of what you were trying to tell us there. and just, i mean, just an amazing lack of scenery as you pointed out there, where you were the fact you can't see some things that you're normally used to seeing there in l.a. county steve patterson, thank you stay safe out there, sir and thank you all for being with us this hour. we'll be back tomorrow with more "meet the press daily. msnbc's coverage continues with katy tur right after this break. .they fell head over heels in love with its irresistible scent. looks like their dog michelangelo did too. unfortunately for him, it's more of a forbidden love. gain ultra flings with two times oxi boost and febreze... the irresistible scent everyone loves.

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good afternoon i'm katy tur it is 11:00 a.m. out west and 2:00 p.m. in the east where we're following breaking news. this hour, we're expecting joe biden to address the covid-19 pandemic, biden will lay out his plan to safely and effectively distribute a vaccine for the virus. his remarks come the same day the cdc released its playbook for vaccine distribution across the united states. last night, the president was pressed by undecided voters about the coronavirus. he again questioned the use of masks, only to be forcefully contradicted by the head of the cdc today. >> a lot of people don't want to wear masks there are a lot of people who think that masks are not good. and there are a lot of people that as an example - >> who are those people? >> i'll tell you who those people are waiters. they come over and they serve you and they have mask i saw it the other day where

they were g