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an extraordinary effort for what we know is an extraordinary time. these first 100 days, looking very much forward to spending it here with you. all right. now it's time for the last word with the great lawrence o'donnell. good evening lawrence. >> good evening rachel. and so let me get this straight. so you doing five nights a week? doesn't that mean i can do one night a week now wouldn't that. oh, no it doesn't. okay. yeah. next question. i kind of had that feeling. i kind of had the feeling. rachel, i'm in the washington studio where i will be all week because on thursday night, my guest will be the president of the united states, joe biden. >> you're kidding me. you are kidding me. you've got a biden interview this week. >> it may very well be his last interview as president of the united states. i think probably definitely his last television interview as president of the united states. wow. and there's. and the challenge, rachel, is how do we do that in an hour of television programing? how can we possibly fit in everything that would need to fit in? and,

you know, my curiosity goes far beyond the presidency because this is the end of the biden career. this is the exit interview for the 36 years in the senate, the eight years as vice president, the four years as president. i have questions for all of that. i can't possibly get to everything that's on my mind. >> i can't. i am so amazed and fascinated that this is i'm so happy for you. you've got this. i'm nervous on your behalf. is there anything that i can do to support you or help you in this? this is fantastic. >> just take over and do the interview, okay? it's just it's too it's too much pressure. it's just, you know, the very first guest on this program was, i don't know, 14 years ago, whenever that was, was vice president joe biden very first guest on the show. >> wow. >> yeah, that is amazing. there's a bookend of sorts here. >> well, lawrence, this is fantastic news. honestly, if there is anything that i can do to help with the prep or to support you or make it any

easier, i'm at your service. this is a huge deal. >> congratulations and send me questions, please. >> okay, i will do. >> all right. thanks, rachel. >> thanks, lawrence. thank you. congratulations. >> thank you. well, today to an audience at the state department. secretary of state anthony blinken introduced the president of the united states for the last time. >> simply put, it's been the privilege of my lifetime to work for you, to work with you, to work with this extraordinary team that you've assembled. and it's the honor of a lifetime to be able to introduce one more time, the 46th president of the united states, joe biden.

>> thank you, thank you, thank you. thank you. thank you, thank you. please. >> thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. it's good to be back at the state department. >> president biden gave a 28 minute speech today. that was a foreign policy assessment of where the united states stands now in the world at the end of the biden presidency. but because it was a biden speech, it began with domestic policy, because more than any other president of our lifetimes, joe biden has always presented foreign policy and domestic policy as related as two sides of the same coin. >> during my presidency, i have increased america's power at every dimension. we increased our diplomatic power. creating more allies in the united states

has ever had in the history of our nation. we've increased our military power, making the most significant investments in the defense industrial base in decades. we've increased the technology power, taking the lead in artificial intelligence and other technologies of the future. and we've increased the economic power, building the most dynamic economy in the world from the bottom up, in the middle out, not the top down. in short, kamala and i took office. our nation had become stronger at home, are stronger in the world, and now america is more capable, and, i would argue, better prepared than we've been in a long, long time. >> that was the essence of the assessment that president biden then went on to deliver with more detail. >> we have made the most significant investments in america and the american workers since the new deal to rebuild our roads and bridges, our ports and airports, clean water

systems, affordable high speed internet, and so much more to build american manufacturing, to make advanced semiconductors, which we invented here at home. we made the largest investment in climate and clean energy eve, anywhere on earth. in the history of the world, spurring nearly $500 billion in private sector investment. today, i can report to the american people our alliances are stronger than they've been in decades. nato is more capable than it's ever been, and many more of our allies are paying their fair share. before i took office, nine nato allies were spending 2% of their gdp on defense. now, 23 are spending 2%. >> that's right, joe biden, the president who did not threaten our nato allies to increase their defense spending, got many

more of our nato allies to increase defense spending than donald trump ever did. >> we've made partnership stronger and created new partnerships to challenge china's aggressive behavior and to rebalance power in the region. today, i can report to the american people our adversaries are weaker than they were when we came into this job four years ago. just consider russia. when putin invaded ukraine, he thought he'd conquer kyiv in a matter of days. but the truth is, since that war began, i'm the only one that stood in the center of kyiv. not him who never had. think about it. it was a long train ride. but i'm the only commander in chief to visit a war zone not controlled by u.s. forces. we help ukrainians stop putin. and

now, nearly three years later, putin has failed to achieve any of his strategic objectives. he has failed thus far to subjugate ukraine, fail to break the break the unity of nato, and failed to make large territorial gains. as i saw it when putin launched his invasion. i had two jobs, one to rally the world to defend ukraine, and the other is to avoid war between two nuclear powers. we did both those things, and today ukraine is still free, independent country with the potential, the potential for a bright future. >> president biden described how much weaker iran is in the middle east now, and how the alliances of the dictator states prove their weakness. >> now, major authoritarian states are aligning more closely with one another. iran, russia,

china, north korea. but that's more out of weakness than out of strength. so as the new administration begins, the united states is in a fundamentally stronger position with respect to these countries than we were four years ago. >> the president made a definitive prediction about china's economic competition with the united states. >> today, i can report to the american people we're in a better strategic position in the long term competition with china. and we were when i took office. you all recall any experts believe were predicting it was inevitable that china's economy would surpass ours. according to many predictions, that would happen by the year 2030 or shortly thereafter. but we in this room said no. if we make the investments in ourselves, we protect our workers and technologies. that

will not happen. now, according to the latest predictions on china's current course, they will never surpass us. period. >> on afghanistan, president biden said this in my view, it was time to end the war and bring our troops home. >> and we did. i commend the courage of all those who served in afghanistan. we grieve all 2461 americans who made the ultimate sacrifice and the longest war in american history. and i grieve those brave service members whose lives were lost during the withdrawal. we also thank those inside and outside of government who have done so much to help thousands of afghan families resettled in the united states. remember, critics said, if we ended the war, it would damage our alliances and create threats to our homeland from foreign direct to terrorism out of a safe haven in afghanistan.

neither has occurred. neither has occurred. and our alliances have stayed strong. there is nothing that i can tell you from my conversations with both xi and putin. nothing. our adversaries and competitors like russia and china would have liked more than seeing us to continue to be tied down in afghanistan for another decade. for all those reasons, ending the war was the right thing to do, and i believe history will reflect that. >> president biden described his efforts to counter china's influence in the world, particularly in africa, as an example. >> i was recently in angola to see a major project being built with the help of american public. funding was brought in even more private investment. we're building the first ever transcontinental railroad across africa will significantly improve the economies of the

region, will help farmers transport crops and new global markets, will transport critical minerals that would that need that are needed for electric vehicles and semiconductors. china used to control the supply chains and these materials, but not for long. >> the president suggested that a ceasefire and return the hostages deal that he has been trying to broker for months might finally be coming together on the war between israel and hamas were in the brink of a proposal that i laid out in detail months ago, finally coming to fruition. >> i have learned in many years of public service to never, never, never, ever give up. so i spoke to prime minister of israel yesterday. i spoke to the emir of qatar today, and i look

forward to speaking with president sisi soon. we're pressing hard to close this. the deal we have a structure would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the palestinians who have suffered terribly in this war that hamas started. the palestinian people deserve peace and the right to determine their own futures. israel deserves peace and real security. and the hostages and their families deserve to be reunited. and so we're working urgently to close this deal. >> president biden summarized his foreign policy record and america's posture in the world this way. >> it's clear my administration is leaving the next administration with a very strong hand to play, and we're leaving them and america with

more friends and stronger alliances whose adversaries are weaker and under pressure, and america that once again is leading, uniting countries, setting the agenda, bringing others together behind our plans and visions. and america, which is no longer at war, which has made historic investments in american workers, american energy and american factories, generating the strongest economy in the world, which is now in a much better position to win the future against any competitor. >> leading off our discussion tonight here in washington is ambassador wendy sherman, former deputy secretary of state in the biden administration. thank you very much for joining us tonight. after this important speech, there was one line i want to go to right away, because it's one of those images that is so vivid when talking about ukraine and kyiv. he said

about vladimir putin, i'm the only one who stood in the center of kyiv, not him. putin never has. think about that. and when i did think about it, i was just thinking, who among us out here not knowing joe biden, not knowing all the details of the region, would have predicted that joe biden would stand in the center of kyiv and vladimir putin would never get there, say, in the first week of this war. >> absolutely. i was very fortunate to be at that speech today and be in the front row listening to the president. >> this was the moment where everyone both giggled and applauded because it was quite extraordinary. >> and as the president pointed out, he wasn't being secured by his own military because we don't have american troops there. >> first time in history, a war zone that was not controlled by american forces. >> yes. >> you know, lawrence, one of the most extraordinary meetings i got to attend was the

extraordinary nato meeting, where all 30 countries came together to listen to russia about how they weren't going into ukraine and how they had a right to create this fear. >> this was right right before about maybe two weeks before the invasion into ukraine and in january. >> so maybe a month, maybe a little bit more than that. >> but nonetheless, every one of those 30 nato countries said the same thing. >> and the president understood this sovereignty, territorial integrity, the right of a country to make its own political choices. >> the united states and 50 countries around the world have contributed to support ukraine. and i think one of the things that was clear today is president biden is handing president elect trump a very strong hand. vladimir zelensky, the president of ukraine, certainly wants peace. think of the destruction in that country. think of the communities that have been lost in that country.

he certainly wants peace, but he wants peace that preserves his country and a peace where putin can't come in two months later, a year later, five years later, that there are some security guarantees for him, there is a way forward. i think president biden was right today to putin is weaker, russia is weaker. >> iran is weaker, china is weaker, and america stands stronger today than when he came into office. >> i want to go to a place you know a lot about iran. you were part of john kerry's team when he was secretary of state. you were undersecretary of state negotiating that iran deal, which was one of the most extraordinary diplomatic breakthroughs of my lifetime. that was then junked by a donald trump. the president talked today about iran being weaker now at the end of his presidency than at the beginning. >> there's no doubt about that. >> look at what has happened. hamas has been pushed back. >> hezbollah has been pushed

back. >> assad had to flee syria. all of the proxies of iran, all of the proxies, quite frankly, are russia as well, because they had stakes in all of these areas are weaker today. and so iran is weaker. their economy is staggering. they try to attack israel. israel was well defended in thanks to the united states from all of our support for their defensive systems. and as a result, i think the negotiating table is set. if donald trump wants to use it, and ironically, the foreign minister of iran is abbas araqchi, who is my counterpart during those negotiations. he knows this deal quite well. he knows what is possible. he speaks perfect english, and he's a very tough negotiator. >> the president combines whenever he talks about it publicly to us domestic policy

with foreign policy. he never talks about foreign policy without, as i pointed out in this speech, beginning with domestic policy, more so than any president i've ever listened to in my lifetime. he he doesn't seem to compartmentalize these two things. >> he does not. he understood that if we didn't invest in america, if we didn't build our infrastructure, if we didn't build our own supply chain with ourselves and with our allies and partners, then we were going to be at the mercy of the chinas of the world. >> because china is the pacing challenge. it is the only country with the wherewithal to really counter what we want to do, the values we want to preserve. >> so he always moved forward in ensuring that we went there. you know, lawrence, i want to go to the end of his speech where he said there are two very big challenges climate and the clean energy future and a.i. artificial intelligence, which can change the economy dramatically and make people

very, very scared about the future. he's taken leadership in both of these areas and really profound ways with the help with a fantastic team and a lot of help from the congress, quite frankly. and it will be critical to our future. >> even that line that he tossed away at the beginning. it's good to be back at the state department. this respect for what the state department is, what it was when thomas jefferson was secretary of state to where it is now, is not something that continues in the next government, in the trump administration. >> i have to tell you, lawrence, when i came in as deputy secretary of state, it was after during the pandemic still, but it was after the state department had really been disrespected. people had not been hired, new foreign service officers hadn't been brought in. people really kept their heads down. they were afraid to take risks. they were afraid to do their jobs for all they had been

through. both the trump administration and the pandemic, they are now back. they are robust because the president of the united states and secretary blinken believed in them, understood. they're not the deep state. they're patriots. they are the people who, day in, day out, make sure that american citizens are safe abroad day in and day out. make sure people have their passports day in, day out. make sure american business can do business abroad and export our goods and create jobs for americans. president biden, secretary blinken understood that, and it was really wonderful to be there today and see that affirmed by ambassador wendy sherman. >> thank you very much for joining us here tonight. thank you. appreciate it. and coming up tomorrow, the strangest senate confirmation season in history gets underway with the most unqualified nominee for secretary of defense in history, pete hegseth, in the witness chair. he will be the first nominee in history who will be

asked, how much money did you pay the woman who accused you of rape? senator ron wyden joins us next. >> welcome to tackling life with jordan and veronica, brought to you by experian, who takes longer to get ready on game day. you okay? >> for sure. well, when you have to look like this, you got a lot of stuff to do. >> you just have to put a helmet on. >> yeah, i'm better at managing time, for sure. >> it's like a part of your job. >> like clock management with experian, you can cancel subscriptions you forget about and could save you time and money. >> who needs the app more? >> both need it. >> who doesn't need to save more time and money? >> everyone download the experian app now. >> tired of sciatic nerve pain radiating down your leg and lower back? get relief. finally with magnilife leg and back pain relief, a combination of four active ingredients that get to work fast. >> so get living. >> available at your local retailer. >> your life is pretty smart, but when it's time to eat, suddenly you feel out of sync.

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up for msnbc daily at msnbc. com. understand more with msnbc. >> the very strangest senate confirmation hearings in history are about to begin tomorrow. for some of the most unqualified cabinet nominees in history, the senate armed services committee will become the first senate committee in history to be considering the nomination of a cabinet member who is an accused rapist. donald trump's choice for secretary of defense, pete hegseth, paid a settlement to an unnamed woman who accused him of rape in a statement to the police department in monterey, california, in 2017. no senate confirmation in history has included the question how much did you pay to the woman who accused you of rape? that's

where the trump confirmation hearings begin. tomorrow, some cabinet nominees have to have senate confirmation hearings in more than one senate committee, because more than one committee has jurisdiction over the department that the nominee will run. the senate finance committee has jurisdiction over most of what the department of health and human services does, because the senate finance committee has jurisdiction over the biggest health care programs in america, medicare and medicaid. the senate health, education, labor and pensions committee also has some jurisdiction over the health and human services department. and so robert f kennedy jr will have to go through two senate confirmation hearings as donald trump's choice for secretary of health and human services. the top democrat, former chairman on the senate finance committee said, quote, mr. kennedy's outlandish views on basic scientific facts are disturbing and should worry all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children. when mr. kennedy comes

before the finance committee, it's going to be very clear what americans stand to lose under trump and republicans in congress. and joining us now is oregon democratic senator ron wyden. he is the top democrat on the senate finance committee. he's also a member of the senate intelligence committee and the budget committee. and he is the author of the new book, it takes chutzpah how to fight fearlessly for progressive change, which goes on sale tomorrow, most importantly in the strand bookstore in manhattan, the oldest bookstore in new york. he will be there tomorrow. i'll be there. >> strand and powell's in portland, oregon. they're the two greats. >> yes. okay. and you can get this signed at the strand tomorrow. what is it? i mean, it takes it's the perfect title for what's going on with these nominees. i mean, what does it take to nominate someone like pete hegseth for secretary of defense? >> well, you got to really be reaching. i mean, chutzpah is not always good. it's inherently

good, but it can be misappropriated to do things that are harmful to the american people. i think that's the case here. >> and you have robert kennedy coming before you in the finance committee. he'll also be in front of the senate health education labor committee. what are you going to be focusing on with him in the finance committee? >> well, what i always talk about is, you know, bringing the receipts. and we've been looking at the tapes and the material. i mean, he said point blank, there is no vaccine that has been effective. now, you say that to parents, for example, in oregon or any part of the country, and they're going to say, but we've had 2 or 3 generations vaccinated and we've been healthy. >> you're going to have to have the videotape ready to roll. because what he does, we've seen this is when you confront him with his actual words. he says, he didn't say that. >> well, and he always says something along the lines of, not only did he not say it, but he's going to study it in the future. that's what he said

repeatedly with respect to vaccines. but the reality is the past is prelude. i mean, he's got these statements, these outlandish statements on the record. that's where he's going to put his attention. >> what is at stake for americans when you have a secretary of health and human services who knows nothing about the subject, knows nothing about the massive health care delivery systems, medicare, medicaid that that department is in charge of. >> well, what you have is a situation where you can have real political demagoguery. i mean, he won't know a whole lot about the substance. he'll take some phrases that sound good. certainly. that's been part of the whole trump approach. and people in america will get hurt. >> senate intelligence committee are also a member. one of the top members of the senate intelligence committee, tulsi gabbard, will eventually, i guess, if she can get her paperwork done, be in front of your committee. what are you focusing on there? >> well, we're trying to figure out what are real positions are. for example, she took positions,

for example, where she was unhappy with the foreign intelligence surveillance act. now she's done an about face. so we're trying to sort out what she really stands for. >> and how do you how do you do that? these nominees are going to be slipping away, trying to slip away from every question you have. >> well, what you have to do is pin them down on specifics. for example, on the foreign intelligence surveillance act, what we're going to say is, why did you change your mind? what were the facts that were relevant? because she took very strong positions, that she was opposed to it initially. now her republican sponsors don't like that she's making changes. we'll have to figure out why. >> legislatively, the senate finance committee might be the only place where donald trump actually gets anything done, because that's where the trump tax cut will be written. and that is the one thing he was able to achieve last time. what are you anticipating this time? >> understand the distillation of the trump economic agenda. it's all about giving tax breaks to the people at the very top

and having cuts in medicaid and hunger programs to pay for it. that's what it's all about. we saw something else come out in just the last day or so. it's all about helping the people at the very top. >> what do we find out in this book about, as you put it, fighting fearlessly for progressive change? that's the thing people are wondering about right now. how does it go forward? >> well, what we're going to talk about is hustle and grit and being willing to be bold and to focus on the issues where the second word is, bill, it's going to be medical bill, it's going to be housing bill. it's going to be gas bill. clearly, we lost sight of that in the last campaign. we've got to get it back. >> senator ron wyden, who i knew way back when he was congressman ron, one of the finance committee back in the 20th century. this is this is this is a great one again, the strand bookstore tomorrow night in manhattan. it takes chutzpah how to fight fearlessly for progressive change. you will be fighting fearlessly for truth in these confirmation hearings. thank you very much. thank you,

thank you. and coming up as we await the possible release of jack smith's report, the justice department released another special prosecutor's report today. the one on hunter biden. today. the one on hunter biden. andrew weissman can neuriva support your brain health? mary. janet. hey! eddie. no! fraser. frank. frank. fred. how are you? support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva. (sneeze) (hooves approaching) not again. your cold is coming! your cold is coming! thanks...revere. we really need to keep zicam in the house. only if you want to shorten your cold! when you feel a cold coming, shorten it with zicam (revere: hyah) protection against trackers, protection against trackers, malicious websites and malware okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy.

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and there's always a constant fear that who's to say something like that won't happen again? that's fair. we committed to underground, 10,000 miles of electric line. you look back at where we were 10 years ago and we are in a completely different place today, and it's because of how we need to care for our communities and our customers. i hope that's true. [joe] that's my commitment. [ambient noise] one (800) 403-7539. >> that's one (800) 403-7539. >> as we await the possible release of special counsel jack smith's report to attorney general merrick garland today, the justice department released the report of another special counsel, david weiss, who spent

six years investigating and prosecuting hunter biden, or seven, depending on how you count it. the seven year investigation was summarized in a 27 page report, short one for special counsel, which reserves the last two pages to object to language used by president biden when pardoning hunter biden last year. the report says only after hunter biden's guilt had been fully and fairly adjudicated did the president claim that this prosecution was the result of raw politics, and that no reasonable person who looks at the facts of hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than hunter was singled out only because he is my son. politicians who attacked the decisions of career prosecutors as politically motivated when they disagree with the outcome of a case, undermine the public's confidence in our criminal justice system. attorney abbe lowell, defense counsel for hunter biden, wrote. like all his court filings, david weiss 27 page report

continues to ignore some of the major mysteries of his seven year investigation. mr. weiss conveniently omits his proposal to resolve this investigation in 2023 with a pair of misdemeanors and a diverted gun charge recommended by career prosecutors. mr. weiss also fails to explain why he reneged on his own agreement, a reversal that came at the 11th hour in court as he and his office faced blistering attacks from republicans and his then filing an unprecedented charges of his then filing unprecedented charges for someone with no aggravating factors, who had paid his taxes in full years before the charges were filed. finally, and most curious, mr. weiss fails to clarify why he and his prosecutors pursued wild and debunked conspiracies about hunter biden by a russian agent that prolonged this investigation and ultimately cost taxpayers millions of

dollars. joining our discussion now is andrew weissman, former fbi general counsel and an msnbc legal analyst. andrew, how do you sort out these dueling statements today? >> well, i think the first and most important thing for people to understand is that the biden administration allowed the special counsel to be appointed to bring a criminal case against the son of the sitting president. you know, this that is if you're sort of thinking about is the department weaponizing against enemies. well, this is a department of justice that brought a case against the son of the sitting president. and there's also no question that the tax offenses and the gun offenses were committed, and that hunter biden is guilty of that. the argument that abbe lowell, his counsel, is making is that it sort of only because he was the son of the sitting president, did special counsel go forward. in

other words, he was sort of singled out for that reason. and other people similarly situated would not have been prosecuted. i'm somewhat sympathetic to that idea. and the filing that i've now read, you know, up one side and down the other is completely silent as to why david weiss, the special counsel, was willing to first agree to just two tax misdemeanors and then completely changed his mind. it just doesn't explain why he was willing to do the two tax misdemeanors, and it's uses pretty slippery language. it's like if you didn't know the law, you would actually think that he was. he had actually only offered two felony counts, but that's not what happened. so, you know, abbe lowell has a complaint here that there really this isn't the most, i want to say, candid, but not the most fulsome report in recounting exactly what happened here.

>> yeah. and president biden's comments on it, what he what he is saying is that if this was anyone else in delaware who was not his son, who didn't have the kind of prominence that would then attract a special prosecutor, but but someone who did these things didn't pay taxes for a period, and then also said something that was untrue about his his drug status on an application for a gun permit, that that person would not be prosecuted this way and might not be prosecuted at all, given that by the time he was prosecuted, he paid his taxes and that and that people can't find another instance of a federal prosecution of someone who said something about his drug status on a gun application. that wasn't true. >> well, i certainly had not ever experienced that. i was a prosecutor for over 20 years. and to give you an example of why i don't think the report is

really what you expect out of the out of the special counsel's report. he says, well, you know, this kind of charge is the second most common charge brought for federal firearms offenses. what he doesn't say is the first firearm offense that is the most common is 80% of the cases. the second most is 5%. so to say it's within the 5%, it's like, just say that. but to pretend, oh, it's the second most important is really not the kind of candor and forthrightness that you expect in a report. just, you know, the facts are what the facts are and you have to live with those. >> and the other detail people always want to know about this is okay, but how many of these cases was that the only gun charge. and that's what abbe lowell means by there was no aggravating issues here. if the gun had been used in some way, that's an aggravating issue that adds to the importance of lying

on the on that form. andrew weissmann, thank you very much for joining us tonight. really appreciate it. you're welcome. thank you. and coming up tonight, los angeles is living under exactly the same fire warning that was issued last monday night before the worst fires in los angeles history started tuesday morning. the only places not in danger of suffering from major fire tomorrow because of high winds. are there neighborhoods that have already burned to the have already burned to the ground? that's head & shoulders is launching something huge. ♪♪ the bare minimum. anti-dandruff shampoo made with only nine ingredients. no sulfates, silicones or dyes. and packaged with 45% less plastic. giving you outstanding dandruff protection. and leaving hair beautiful and moisturized. major dandruff protection, minimal ingredients. job done.

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you could pay as little as $0 per month. very critical. >> the winds are going to pick up with wind gusts that may reach as much as 70mph. and so this is the time that everyone must be vigilant. follow whatever orders you are receiving from your local authorities. if you are in any area where you may be called to evacuate, collect your belongings that you would want to take. in the tragic event that you have to evacuate. and please be ready and prepared in that event. >> vice president harris has, of course, lived in california almost all of her life, and she knows the drill. one week ago tonight, at this very hour, california officials issued a red flag warning indicating that

hurricane force winds on tuesday of last week would create the most dangerous fire environment possible in the los angeles area. and tonight, they are issuing the exact same warning again, saying that winds could again hit 70mph on tuesday and wednesday in los angeles. we're now at least 24 people have been announced to be dead. more than 20 other people are missing. on 60 minutes last night, los angeles county fire chief anthony moroney told bill whitaker what fire officials were up against. >> so the water system was stretched. metropolitan water systems are not designed to sustain a firefight like this. your viewers can't expect a municipal water system to supply enough firefighting water to extinguish every one of these houses. that's unrealistic.

>> did you have enough resources? >> did you have enough firefighters? did you have enough fire engines? >> no. >> and there's not enough fire engines for this. >> ordinarily, for one house like this, you might have 3 or 4, 3 or 4 fire engines. >> we think we've lost 8000 structures. so times three fire engines each. that requires 26,000 fire engines. i don't think the state of california has 26,000 fire engines. that could be at one place right now. >> joining us now by phone from the pacific palisades section of los angeles, is cal fire battalion chief brant pasqua. chief, what is the situation there tonight? >> yeah, the situation out here tonight is we have all the crews mopping up extensively, working around the clock to make sure we put this fire as much to bed as we can before these winds surface.

>> and i know people tonight who have gotten this new warning in california about the next two days who are feeling just as afraid as they have as they felt all of last week, after just experiencing a couple of days of relief. >> right. yeah. >> this is just another example of why we need to be prepared with our families to have that emergency plan, that go bag ready for times like this, when there's not going to be a lot of time to get ready and evacuate. so i strongly urge residents, be diligent, be fire wise, don't do anything that could create a spark. one less spark is one less wildfire for us. but also have that go bag ready. have that emergency plan ready. make sure all of your family knows what it is. >> is there any area of los angeles tomorrow that can feel safe as these winds approach again? starting around 4 a.m?

>> you know, i haven't had a chance to look at the whole l.a. metropolitan forecast. i've just been really focused on our fire here in the palisades. and, you know, we're doing everything we can to make sure we have extra resources on every side of this fire, in case there were to be an ember that would jump the fire line, which sides of the fire could be active now, because so much when i look at it, i see areas of the palisades burnt all the way down to the ocean, so it can't possibly go in a westward direction. that's correct. you're absolutely correct. and that's why we've focused our surges of engines into the encino area and brentwood area of this fire. we want to be able to have almost be able to put an engine at every house should the need arise. >> how do you deploy? will you be deploying engines before there is a specific fire need in that spot?

>> great question. and yes, we have as we've gotten reinforcements throughout last week, we just put them out there in the area, either at the house or just down the street, ready to go in case something happens. and now even more so, especially with these winds coming. we have engines out there at the houses on the streets, preplanned, pre-positioned, ready to go. >> cal fire battalion chief brant pasqua, thank you very much for joining us again tonight. >> you're welcome. >> and for those who are following my coverage last week, i can tell you that my house is still there. it is inside the evacuation zone. so no one has been allowed. no one who lives on my street or near my street has been allowed back to their houses there. those people are all very much living on edge because they are. we are literally our houses are on the edge of what is the dangerous fire zone. there are. those people had a couple of days of people had a couple of days of feeling like it might be ♪ who knows what tomorrow will bring ♪

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>> that's one (800) 403-7539. stay up to date on the biggest issues of the day with the msnbc daily newsletter. get the best of msnbc all in one place. sign up for msnbc daily@msnbc.com. msnbc premium gives you early access and ad free. listening to rachel maddow's chart topping series. msnbc original podcasts, exclusive bonus content, and all of your favorite msnbc shows now ad free. subscribe on apple podcasts. >> that is tonight's last word. the 11th hour with stephanie ruhle starts now. >> the death toll climbs in the l.a. area. wildfires as high winds are set to cause critical fire conditions until wednesday. we've got the latest from the ground on the wildfires and california's insurance crisis. then money, power, politics, new reporting on former lobbyists scoring top, top