jitters. kids heading back to school run into a bear at the bus stop. >> good morning to all of you. >> i am sitting in for the vacationing dylan ratigan this week. we begin with the wildfires threatening thousands of home around los angeles the official count, 53 buildings destroys. 12,000 are still in the fire's path. more than 3600 firefighters are working on the frontlines to knock down the flames. this fire is only 5% contained at this point. >> it is an extraordinary setting. i am a native of southern california, and i can tell you this area is coming dangerously close to beautiful homes. there are a lot of magnificent homes there. schools and everything that are edged up right into the foothills. and these are people that know they are based there, but

nonetheless build sprawling estates. let's bring in michael okwu covering the fires. give us the prediction about how the day will go for the crews out there today, michael. >> reporter: that's the $10,000 question, contessa. nobody knows for sure. i can tell you officials are saying it won't be fully contained until another two weeks or so. they projected a specific date on this point, on september 15th, they hope to have their arms around this, so to speak. and part of this is because they made some progress overnight. they say mainly on the northwestern flank of the fire, where they say they were essentially aided by slightly cooler temperatures, in other words, even some talk about some moisture in some of the areas around this fire, but, again, this is a heat and terrain driven fire. the fire is basically igniting these many, many canyons that you have in the foothills here. they create their own weather

patterns and largely driven by heat. and the flames jump from canyon to canyon. so they are very concerned about that. given the fact they will not have any kind of relief in the heat for another several days. we have been seeing triple digit temperatures that are supposed to get up to 102 degrees today, which is a very familiar sight right now. we don't expect that there will be any kind of relief in the weather until friday. so that's why you are seeing containment dates so far in the future, because they know they are going to deal with temperatures like that, and the terrain is not going to change. it's rocky and steep and hard to get their arms across. >> michael, i am looking at a note where there are six people that refused to evacuate in the gold canyon area of los angeles the reports that i am seeing is that they are trapped. what do you know about that situation? >> reporter: the firefighters are not talking a lot about

that. what they have been saying is this is a cautionary tale for folks. when we say the weather conditions are bad and the fire is fierce, which they have been saying for days, you should take it seriously. what they say is that these people have actually called up some media outlets to express the situation they are in. according to firefighters, they say that they have not called them directly in the last day or so and they have not indicated that they are in any great severe danger immediately. however the firefighters do say that the only way to get them out is to use some roads that are right now inaccessible because of where the fires are. they risk their lives right now, although they are concerned about where these people are. >> on the left hand side of the screen, you are seeing the live pictures right now as -- it's just dark there.

it's still black, and the fires are giving us eerie orange glows to the scene. those are flare-ups happening right now. and then on the right hand side, the burned out screen. just before dawn. the sun is not up yet on the west coast. on the right hand cider seeing if people go back today, the kind of scene they are going to see. michael i know you are staying on top of the fires today. thank you for the update. we will check back in with you. stay with msnbc for the complete coverage of the california wildfires. we will check in with al roker who is in los angeles we will talk about the 102-degree high today. how does that affect the firefighters' ability to get out there and fight the flames. we will check with officials live in the fire zone. if you are affected by the

fires, we want to see your pictures. please take the pictures safely. police made a startling discovery. they found a bone fragment in the yard next to garrido's property. he is a sexual predator, and police are investigating whether he may be involved in the disappearance of prostitutes in the area. garrido used to be the caretaker of the next yard over. let's turn to politics now. tom ridge insists politics did not play a role in the bush administration's decision on whether or not to raise the terror alert level. but in his new book, the former homeland secretary says, he had his doubts. he said just days after bin

laden released a video. >> in this incident, we felt we should not go up. and rumsfeld felt we should. at the end of the day, as i was responsible for overseeing what happens when we go up, and i said to myself, was it politics or security? there is no doubt in my mind every time we had the discussion, that occasion and multiple other occasions, nobody thought anything other than security. >> jennifer, let's begin with you. we are talking about national security here. this is the safety of you, me. it's irrelevant what your party affiliation is. should politics play a role? >> well, it shouldn't. and i will tell you, it doesn't. i spent several years at the ceo and

-- cia and i saw what they go through. every day there is an incredible amount of intelligence that talks about what kind of threat this country is under. these sorts of inner agencies discussions happen on a regular basis. have you a lot of information being funneled in to a small group of people that have to make difficult decisions about whether or not to raise the threat levels. >> rich, look, monday morning quarterbacking, and is it fair for us to be second guessing what was going on, because on the eve of the election earlier that year, there was a devastati devastating terrorist attack. if you want to get in the mind of a terrorist, maybe this is a good time to have an attack. >> well, we were right on the hills of madrid. the critical thing that you have

to look at here, and it's really not a news flash, but it's looking back on what happened in the bush white house. it's something that you need to keep in mind for the future. for this administration for future. politics does play a role. and clearly for eight years during the bush administration, politics were front and center of every decision made, and whether that was when to go to war or whether it was to politicise the threat level. and tom ridge said in his book, there was a political push to up that. whether the system worked or not, he said one thing in his book and he is kind of saying something else. we have to understand that politics can't play a role in these decisions. >> one thing he is saying is he is worried we have become too

co komplacient in that. we don't have it. >> let me comment on something your guest just said. i was at the white house on 9/11. i remember what we were dealing with. i think it's insensitive when somebody says politics were in place. that's false. i think it's incredibly insensitive of somebody that was there, and somebody that worked at the cia for years and saw how dedicated our public servants are at keeping the nation safe. to suggest that politics are at play crosses the line. and look at what we are doing with the war on terror. when you look at what is happening with the current interrogation system. we do not know if we have the war fighters on the front line,

if they were to capture bin laden tomorrow, i don't know what we would do with him. things are constantly changing in the new administration. we are becoming come play sunt as a nation. >> recich, i am out of time. you have 15 seconds to counter. >> well, everything was poured through in the bush administration, first political and then secondarily. it's positively true. i was working in the senate when we were debating this, and the timing of the war was not dictated by the pentagon, but dictated how it would affect george bush's re-election. that's wrong. >> that's untrue. >> it's absolutely true. thank you both so much. a obamathe white house is rg general stanley mcchrystal's

request for more resources. >> we are not going to see the entire thing turn around in a few months after years and years of negligent. you cannot under resource the most important part of our war on terror. >> war on terror. remember they wanted to use overseas contingency operation instead. doesn't really trip off the tongue, does it? mccrystal will ask for more troops for afghanistan. and one columnist said u.s. forces should pull out of afghanistan and focus soly on pakistan. and press secretary, robert gibbs, said they were repeating talking points in the gop radio address. >> the senator clearly turned

over his cards on bipartisan ship and decided it's time to walk away from the table. it looks like republicans are stepping away from seeking a bipartisan solution. >> another key health care negotiation, chuck grassley said he won't compromise. grace chuck todd joins us live. >> reporter: i think they thought they lost any idea for a couple of weeks. this is not new. it seems to me it's playing out. it's a bit of a game of chicken

between grassley and the white house. the white house doesn't want to say a bipartisan deal is over, you guys leave the table. and grassley doesn't want to say it. neither one wants to give the other the high ground on this. that's why these guys are technically still at the table. and max even admitted a bipartisan deal will happen. he still believes they could get some sort of deal that can get through the senate. i would point to, the white house is working closely with max botkit. >> chuck, thank you for the wrap up from the white house. we are keeping an eye on hurricane jimenez. it is raising towards mexico's baja, california. it's expected to make landfall early wednesday with winds topping out at nearly 155 miles

per hour. rain is moving through the resort town of cabo. we continue to track the breaking news out in los angeles the wildfires raging at this hour. just after the break, we are heading back out to the scene and we will check in with the "today" shows's al roker. and you are watching msnbc, the place for politics. t care where you live... ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. so let's fix health care. if everyone's covered, we can make health care as affordable as possible. and the words "pre-existing condition"

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we continue to follow

breaking developments from the fire lines in southern california. more than 100,000 acres burned so far, and the station fire in los angeles county is only 5% contained at this hour. nbc's al roker is live in los angeles this morning. we spoke with you on "wake up with al" this morning. do the firefighters have a plan of attack? >> reporter: we spoke earlier with the public information officer for the county los angeles fire department. they said the fire at this point is doing what it wants. they are trying to set backfires and trying to get control of it. the problem is right now, alex, this is going where it wants when it wants. 5% controlled. that means 95% of the fire is out of control. right now the latest numbers, 121,000 acres burned.

we have got 6,300 homes evacuated. 12,000 homes are threatened. so far 74 homes and structures have been destroyed. again, they don't think they can get this under control unless conditions improve drastically. these firefighters -- almost 3,700 firefighters are out there on the lines working this thing. right now there is no end in sight. >> among the things these firefighters have to do is go after -- have you heard anything about the group of people, five or six people that are stuck. they called an s.o.s. a day ago, saying help we did not heed the evacuation warning a couple days ago, and now they have to go help them. >> reporter: yeah, the captain said they believe the people are safe. they have heard from them. you have to go from fighting

fire mode to rescue mode. that takes them away from the critical fire duty that they are so desperately needing. these firefighters are fighting to the bone. we are talking -- back here there are about 400 fire trucks. you have firefighters coming off the line and some going in to replace them. a makeshift city sprung up here. we are at the hanson dam area. these guys coming in are bone tired. when we came in to do the shots this morning, there were firefighters sleeping outside on cots. that's how many people there are. there are not facilities in here to house them all. they are doing back-breaking dangerous work. as you know, two firefighters tragically lost their lives over the weekend -- on monday, when their vehicle rolled down an

embankme embankment. and one of the firefighters' wife is about to give birth to their child in about two weeks. >> heartbreaking. our viewers are taking a shot right now, the san gabriel valley basin. it's covered with clouds. taking a look at the traffic right now as it runs along what i will guess is probably the 210 freeway. >> reporter: yeah, that's the 210. >> see, i know my freeways. i am an l.a. girl. this is eerie. when you got on scene, there was a glow, that orange glow. we got a shot of the moon in the orange glow. >> reporter: yeah, it's eerie, the orange glow. the air quality is four times

above what is unacceptable. not only do you have danger of the fire, but with folks for respiratory problems, this is not good. >> there has been no reports of any chemicals or anything involved in the fire, it's natural brush and some homes, though. >> reporter: yeah, this is the smell -- i have covered them and you have covered them, and this is the smell of wildfires. it's just there. the big problem for this, it's such a heavily wooded area. a lot of these back country areas, there has not been a fire in 40 years. there is ample fuel for the fires. >> this is a live web cam, everybody. from mt. wilson's observatory. that's one of the hilltop in san gabriel. these are the kinds of things that are responsible for your

effective cell phone use and law enforcement uses these, and it's home to a 110-year-old observatory where they gather lots of information about the astronomy. >> reporter: alex, overnight the fire did not get closer to mt. willen observatorobserve, so th news. >> thank you, al. appreciate it. we will be right back. the spark began where it always begins. at a restaurant downtown. in a shop on main street. a factory around the corner. entrepreneurs like these are the most powerful force in the economy. they drive change and they'll relentless push their businesses to innovate and connect.

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politico.com. explain the ec rules about how the pack donates money. >> well, kind of two tiers of political action committee. the first is a single candidate pack. can you max out by donating $4,800 per cycle. and the next pack you can donate $10,000 a cycle. two senators have returned $200 back to even it back. >> other senators here, michelle balkman, who has her fair share of controversial headlines, and orrin hatch. and they are go nating to bob

mcdonnell who has been partially criticized for basically saying the government should do all it could support non-working mothers and to keep homosexuals and adulters and foren-- it's h saying now that was in his thesis. >> in all fairness to sarah pack, that was made before the thesis was revealed. he is somebody well known to the social conservatives, and her donations are going that way. mcdonnell is in hot water with that. he was trying to explain away the thesis written 20 years ago. did not fully retract some of that. we'll see how that plays out over the next few days.

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wall street has been open for business about three minutes. the stocks are starting lower ahead of the news from the housing and manufacturing sector. the wildfire in the los angeles foothills is burning out of control. at least 50 buildings have been destroyed. let's get off the stock machine. there is the shot. about 12,000 others are in the flame's path right now. fire officials say it could be at least a week before they get a good handle on things. joining me now on the phone from auburn, california, is marianne aldridge. >> we are very fortunate. last night they were able to get a handle. last night it stood at 70% containment. we expect full containment by

today. the fire crews will continue to build and strengthen any lines and put out hot spots. last evening at 7:00, all evacuations were lifted and the residents were able to go back in the neighborhoods affected by the fire. >> that's the area of auburn, from which we have devastating shots yesterday. that is that fire. do you know anything about the fires burning south of you, about a six-hour drive in the san gabriel foothills? >> no, we have been pretty tied up with this one. i don't have numbers on that one. >> the auburn fire, the relative humidity, the lack there of, the temperatures there, what were the firefighters battling? >> the weather has been in the upper 90s, and we had low humid tease. the day the fire started, the winds were very gusty, and the last two days we have been fortunate to have those calm down. >> any injuries to the

firefighters or anybody in the community, residents? >> no injuries to residents, but three minor injuries to three firefighters. there were some road closures, and the main highway 49 up to that area was closed down shortly. it was reopened yesterday. it's slow going because of the equipment and the vehicles and the emergency traffic in the area. but it's open to the public. >> so you feel you have a good handle on the things with 70% containment now. >> correct. >> we like that good news considering what we are looking at to the south of you in california. thank you for joining us. a programming note. brian williams will anchor "nbc nightly news" live from california.

the hurricane jimena is expected to make landfall. bill karins is joining us. where is this going to land? where will the most damage be? >> close bought not a direct hit on cabo. that's what we learned over the last 24 hours. take a look at the storm. this is extremely powerful, the storm. it looks like it will go just to the west of cabo san lucas. and it gets to the california current, the cooler water, and then it should weaken throughout the next 24 hours. all of the spaghetti lines are where computers are telling us it will head. notice none of these things are showing a direct hit on cabo san lucas. some of the more unpopulated areas to the north are still in jeopardy. this means a weaker storm

effectively. here is the wind field. the orange shows you the hurricane approaching. those are the tropical storm force winds. from late tonight to early tomorrow morning, cabo san lucas will get strong winds, but not hurricane-force winds. they expect landfall as a cat 3 or cat 4, somewhere just to the west side. as you mention, it's a more sparsely populated area. this could have been a devastating blow to the resorts. as of now it's starting to look better. >> are the firefighters going to get rain from jimena in california? >> none of the rain or cloud or moisture will go up to california. new developments in the case of the girl abducted and held for 20 years. cadaver dogs are searching the property next to garrido, a yard

that he has access to because he was a caretaker for a couple years. they made a grisly discovery there. >> yesterday, one bone fragment was found. it was found on the neighbor's property. we are taking the bone back for further examination. we don't know if it's human or animal. >> here is garrido, accused of raping and kidnapping jaycee dugard. nbc's george lewis is there in antioch, california. george, what is the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: yeah, it's going to take several weeks for them to figure out whether that bone fragment is anything significant. it might be an animal bone buried on the property. they are not sure. they want to check thoroughly. they are sifting through the evidence thoroughly. the search on the garrido property ended now.

the cadaver dogs, and the two dozen or so officers who were digging in the back of the property are all gone. they put up chain-link fencing around it. they red tagged the house meaning it's unsafe to be occupied by humans and anybody on the property will be arrested for trespassing. the lab work now begins. it's interesting. police are also talking to people involved in other kidnappings, which have an mo similar to the kidnapping of jaycee lee dugard. there are a couple bay area children that were kidnapped in the late '80s. they are talking to their parents. those cases are being reexamined as police look for any links between garrido and any unsolved kidnappings in the area. >> when we are looking at jaycee dugard, they are saying garrido was never a suspect in her kidnapping. how can it be when it was reported that there was suspicion that he was trolling for victims in lake tahoe, the

very year she disappeared? >> it's interesting. the fbi says that he flew under the radar. this area here, this particular zip code has 102 registered sex offenders living in an unincoun. rated area. his parole officers visited him. the sheriff's office was called in once because a neighbor spotted children on the property. but there was never any real follow-up. the law enforcement agencies are looking now at their procedures. >> well, good thing. george, thanks. alex? what can you do with a video of people robbing your home? you can post it on youtube and hope people recognize the robbers. the video already has more than 17,000 hits. you can clearly see the burglars on multiple cameras that run

through the home. police say close-ups on video can go a long way to identify the suspects. homeowners are hoping arrests will follow. straight ahead, mark sanford on thin ice. what his own party may do to force him out of the governor's office. we will talk about it with one of the south carolina republicans. offering a whole month free. join and get a month of unlimited meetings and online tools. so all you'll need is 45 minutes a week to take control, turn hungry off... ...and turn weight loss on. the free month offer's only available for a limited time so join today. hurry registration's free too. weight watchers. stop dieting. start living.

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where "e.t." was shot. and now all of the homes lining the street have been evacuated. there are people that wanted to stand by until the very last minute. they said they reached the last minute, and they have taken off as this thing takes off. the winds have really, really picked up. it died down to where there was no wind just ten minutes ago. now it's to the point where this is starting to move. not only move, but move in the opposite direction that firefighters were planning. there are plenty firefighters out here surrounding the homes for structure protection. where all the smoke is, there are flames behind it, and it's coming, and coming quick. more fire trucks continue to show up. you probably heard that horn just go by. the los angeles police department was here a while ago continuing to knock on doors to make sure the folks that live in the area are heeding the

warnings to get out of here considering the fire has become a fatal fire since they worked on this. the latest number at 121,000 acres. it's very important, the folks that are around here, they heed the evacuation order should they need to evacuate. again, as we stand here watching the flames come off the mountain and the wind pick up and the ash falling all morning, starting to billow up and make for one heck of a mess out here. reporting live from california, and we send it back to you. now, sanford is answering how staffers could have reached him last year. the support for the governor is quickly evaporating from his own party. six gop members met this weekend and not one voiced support for him staying in office. they say whether you resign or

face impeachment proceedings. joan brady joins me now. representative, good to talk to you yesterday. have you personally said to the governor, i think it's time for you to step down? >> i did speak with the governor probably about several weeks ago. he did call all of the legislators. i certainly am cautious individually, but i speak with the caucus. at this juncture, we want to give the governor the charge. we want to say, if you think there is any possibility that there is going to be disclosure of any other indiscretions, personal indiscretions, or there will be very solid real ethic violations that come out of a report that is currently an investigation being done, or other ethic violations in the next 14 months, please, for the state of south carolina, please consider resignation. >> but he has been strong in

saying no. let me play what he said at his last press availability. >> i will not be railroaded out of the office by political opponents or folks that were never fans of mine in the first place, or to put it a different way. a lot of what is going on now is pure politics, plain and simple. >> he is not leaving room to the interpretation, that he is afraid of the investigation or what it could uncover. why are his fellow republicans so willing to get together and say it's time for him to step down? even if people are not saying that publicly, they are not raising their hands and saying i think he should stay in office. >> again, we have to act cautionly. that's not to say that the caucus is not disappointed, and even outraged like the rest of the citizens of south carolina with the activities of the

governor in the last couple months. we are lawmakers and we live by the laws, and we have to be sure before we go ahead with anything, that there is concrete, firm substantial ethical violations. >> are you really giving him an option here? it's either you go or we start impeachment proceedings? is that what you are saying? are you at that point? >> no, we are not at that point. again, we are waiting to hear what comes out of this ethics commission report. however, that does not preclude anyone individual, anybody in tf representatives when we come back in january can file a resolution asking for the impeachment. now, whether or not the evidence is there, that will remain to be seen. so as a group, you know, we certainly have not taken definitive action yet. but what i wanted to say is he very concerned about the legacy that he leaves and at and this

juncture he perhaps needs to be more concerned about the represent thags he is leaving for south carolina. >> representative brady, it's good of you to join me again today. thank you. >> thank you. >> long island beach home of bernie madoff is up for sale this week. a 3,000 square-foot home and it's cottage size compared to some of the neighbors but, you know, it doesn't have a garage, it doesn't have a walk-in closet but it is one acre closer to the surf than its large neighboring homes on the south tip of long island. and breath-taking views. authorities think this home could sell for 8 million bucks and go to compensate the thousands of victims who lost so much money in his ponzi scheme. be right back. welcome to progressive. how may i help you? i'm looking for a deal on car insurance. i think i might have a coupon in here. there's an easier way. we've got the "name your price" option. you do? follow me. you tell us how much you want to pay, and we'll build you a policy that fits your budget.

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well, a partial victory for residents of a new jersey town that they don't really want

libyan leader moammar gadhafi in their back yard and a judge halted work being done at a residence where gadhafi wanted to stay for his visit to the u.n. general assembly. the mayor of the town petitioned to stop those renovations. it sparked outrage because of the relief and welcome to the lockerbie bomber back to his native libya. the british and scottish governments releasing relevant documents. this is days after a british paper leaked accordance indicating that the uk government struck a deal with libya that included al megrahi when a major oil deal was being negotiated. prime minister gordon brown continues to insist his government played no part in the part to let megrahi back to

libya. robert gibbs addressed it in his briefing. >> this administration weighed in repeatedly with those officials in saying that this person should serve his sentence in its entirety. the motivation for the british is a question for the british. >> nbc's donna friesen is in london. how is this playing out overseas? >> we're waiting to see the documents. expected to be hundreds of pages of communication between the scottish and british government. important to point out they are not letters between the british and the libyans about all of this. these documents released to refute the allegations that megrahi's release has been related to this. the sunday times released saying it was in britain's overwhelming interests for megrahi not to be left out of this prisoner

transfer deal signed by london and trip owe lee. the original plan to keep megrahi out of that prison transfer deal so he would never be sent back to libya. in the end, though, megrahi was included in that prisoner travers transfer agreement. six weeks after it was signed they ratified this massive oil and gas deal and that is why we are where we are today with the suggestions the back room deal was made. the british absolutely deny it. we'll be able to see in these documents what the communication was between the british government and the scottish authorities in the lead-up to this release of abd megrahi. >> thank you very much, donna friesen. wildfires are burning out of control in california. stay tuned for another live update after a quick break on msnbc. walmart checks other stores' prices

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msnbc. destructive, deadly wildfires tearing a path through california. we have live team coverage from the scene as firefighters work to bring the flames under control. a big meeting on tap at the white house on swine flu and wait until you hear the extreme measures some communities are taking to stop the spread. plus the president's big fall fight to get health reform passed but will democrats help or hurt him? we'll talk about all of that this hour. good morning i'm contessa brewer. >> i'm al vex witt. dylan ratigan is off on vacation this week. the so-called station wire in california burning in the los angeles foothills is just one of about eight fires in the state but it is also the largest charging now more than 100,000 acres. the official count stands at 53 buildings destroyed but those flames are threatening another 12,000 at this hour. nbc's michael owku is in los angeles this hour.

only 5% containment. do officials have any grip on when they think they will be able to put this thing out? >> it gends on what they say in another hour from now. we're going to get a briefing, we're told, in the next 60 minutes or so and what they are telling us now is that they expect this fire to be fully contained on september 15th. so that's a week longer than what they had said yesterday. it's clear to us that this is a monster fire. it is huge. it is relentless. it's been persistent and one fire official said it's angry. and all of this, despite the fact they haven't really been getting a lot of wind. so this is a fire that they say basically has been driven by the heat. we're talking about triple digits and also burning in the canyons. it's a sort of fire that given the topography here tends to create its own sort of weather system. even though you're not getting the outside wind, it's being fueled inside those canyons. last night they made some

progress, particularly on the northwestern flank we understand largely due to the fact the temperatures unexpectedly dropped considerably and humidity shot up about 20% to 30% so those who are great positions for the firefighters to actually get down on the ground, get some hand crews there to actually start digging some line around this fire. we also understand that they got some bulldozers in and dug some line around the fire as well. but, again, because of the triple digit temperatures and the fact that we're going to see forecasts like that for the next several days, no relief until friday, they say this persistent angry fire is not going to be contained any time real soon. >> real quick question for you. i know we are concerned about structures and people getting out of the way. any updates on animal shelters and how they may be overloaded right now as people trying to put their animals there as they flee the fires? >> yeah. that's always one of the biggest concerns here is we know that the animal shelters have been filling up.

this is as you know, alex, an area where a lot of people are into the outdoors. they have a lot of animals and a lot of pets and several people here who have all sorts of kinds. those shelters have been filling up. unfortunately, there also have been some animals that have been lost that have fled the scene, so to speak. people have reported seeing some run along the sides of the streets. so it's definitely an issue here, but the number one concern, obviously, for the firefighters is protecting people's homes and making sure that individual folks are safe. as you understand, as you probably know, there has been a report of at least five people who were trapped in the fire somewhere, in spite of the fact that fire officials gave an evacuation order two days before they reported themselves sort of locked down in this canyon. we haven't heard what the situation is yet but, apparently, they've called people and said they are doing just fine at this point.

>> that's fine, otherwise the firefighters have to risk their lives to get to them. they have two days of evacuation orders. michael okwu, thank you. that is a live look you're looking at the basin of the san gabriel mountains foothills area there along the 210 freeway. you see not much thanks to this thick haze of smoke. we had al roker on earlier who were saying the levels of breathing there, it's just the oxygen there, four times denser with ash, soot, that kind of thing which is so unhealthy right now. i mean,, you know, as you look at the fires you can look through the haze. that would be the station fire there in the basin there of the san gabriel mountain foothills. what a mess that is. if you have those animals, they are accepting donations with the animals, antelope valley fairgrounds and pearce college and taking large horses or anything there as well. think about getting your animals

saved to that area. we want to see your photos and videos. you can e-mail them to us or upload them at the address on your screen. about a thousand miles down the coast from those fires the residents of baja, california, getting ready for jimena hurricane. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with the latest on that. >> i think this will miss cabo by 50 miles just to the west. that's it. not out of the woods but looking better. category 4, almost a 5 now. it's going to start heading into some cooler water and should make landfall somewhere wednesday either in the morning or during the afternoon. the angle that it's approaching the coast a little shift to the west. it could be much later wednesday evening but it will weaken. this area is supposed to make landfall is a lot less populated in the southern tip where the

resort is so if they are going to have a strong powerful major hurricane hit somewhere, better than there than in a big city. notice. los angeles is up there under the "h" in hurricane. this will move more towards arizona and mexico and all of that moisture and rain, unfortunately it doesn't look like any of the moisture will make its way into the fire zone. >> bill, thank you very much. >> tom ridge says flatly politics did not play a role in setting the terror alert level when he was in home office. he was on "morning joe" suggesting the bush white house weighed political factors when making its decision. >> none of my colleagues on this discussion or any other discussion were trying to play politics with it but i did comment in the book, because part of the research i did after the book and i shared with the reared reader when they did surveys after the time, that's not the reason we ever went up.

>> roger cresty served in counterterrorism positions under president clinton and president bush and now a nbc news terror analyst. when you worked in that particular role, how much did politics influence the actions that you took? >> well, it shouldn't influence it all but, obviously, it has in the past. now, i had a chance to work with secretary ridge when i was at the white house. he's a very decent and honorable man. in many respects, he was put in untenable position. the department of homeland and security was not trusted at the time and a brand-new department and he was really thrust into a situation that the bureaucracy did not prepare for. i think what he wrote in his books and said in the interviews is interesting which is he himself did not believe politics played a role in the decision-making but clearly it had an influence on the process and on actual output. so if you look at how the raising of the terror alert was played domestically in the height of the political season clearly it had an impact. did he believe it was driving

the decision? absolutely not. i do believe most people within the national security community feel the same way. but, obviously, for the political types at the white house, there was a benefit to it. >> look. you know, he defended this whole system of raising the terror alert levels but really shouldn't we be on a high alert all the time. i mean, is there any realistic influence that raising the terror alert level has on our safety? >> this speaks to a bigger issue include is the homeland security department advisory system is broken and it doesn't work for two reasons. one, the bush white house heavily poe little sized it and it lost credibility with the american people. every time secretary ridge went out there and said we need to raise the alert he was immediately discredited through no fault of his own. second thing there are elements to the system that do work behind the scenes. how should certain sectors increase security, what should certain regions do in order to respond to a higher threat level. what i think the department has to do now and secretary napolitano is doing this is conducting a review do we need

something new? the administration needs a way to articulate to the american people when there is a heightened threat but do it in a way people believe the administration is doing it for security reasons and not for political reasons. >> roger, we appreciate you adding your perspective. thanks. rod blagojevich is saying the move to appoint obama's senate replacement was routine and he never intended to sell the seat. he goes on to say he ended up appointing roland burris because -- well, he says burris had a big ego and the only one who would accept it. the white house responded to the report that chief of staff rahm emanuel had asked blagojevich to appoint a place holder for obama's seat. >> i barely cover with rahm what is going to happen the rest of the week. i have not talked to him about that, nor have i -- nor have i -- i've not seen the book. >> you know the white house press corps wasn't content with that so pressed him and said he had no knowledge of any discussion between emanuel and

blagojevich about that illinois senate seat. new york city post is reportering spitzer may be ready to make a comeback. he resigned last year after caught up in a prostitution scandal but the post has sources they say who say that spitzer had informal discussions about making a run for new york state comptroller. a u.s. senate seat currently held by chris ten gillibrand. pending home sales for july climbed more than 3% from june, up 12% from a year ago and that is the sixth straight month in which we've seen a rise. the latest indication that the housing crisis may be easing. a pending home sale is a home that is under contract but has yet to close. this month will be a crucial one for president obama and the democrats hoping to pass the health care bill. lawmakers are set to return from their summer recess after getting an earful from constituents, some of you, of

course, about some of the proposed overhauls. house speaker nancy pelosi meets with key democrats next week. the plan will be a strategy to regain momentum in the debate. meanwhile the white house pushes for a bipartisan deal and president facing mounting criticism from liberal members of his own party who don't want the party to grom. a blogger for politics daily.com is with us. good morning, david. >> good morning, alex. >> does obama need the left? >> you always need your friends. it was, you know, the left that gave the core imagery to his presidential campaign. things could turn badly for him in the months or years ahead. you can't afford to tick off your friends in politics. now, often, the playbook is to move to the center and you take your friends and your core supporters for grand and expect them to go with you and follow your political calculations and that often is a winning strategy

for winning elections and even for gaining policy wins in terms of legislative battles. but at this point -- go ahead. >> but, david, as you think about the left. i mean, it's not like the left is going to go across all the way over the middle and get over to the right. the likelihood is the left will support president obama but by doing that, pleasing them to the extreme, is it worth the president annoying the middle which is the preponderance of this country? >> well, you got to -- you got to deal with both. and the people -- whether you're a conservative, the people on your right or whether you're a liberal and the people on your left are the ones who really are your basic infrastructure. people now are already talking in washington about the degree of medical elections next year in 2010 and the prospects of the democrats at this moment in time look bleak according to some political handicappers. why is that? that's, in part, because people are assuming that if liberals are disenchanted with obama

they're not going to work their backsides off the way they did in the past. you can't take your side for granted. that is stimts where sometimes where the money comes from in terms of political races. whatever you produce legislatively you have to bring in the middle but you can't afford to ignore the people on your left. they may stay home. >> but, david -- >> the republican party the last few election cycles. >> what is the president doing wrong because his approval ratizing around 50. the lowest of his presidency. doesn't that affect his efforts to deal with health care effectively? >> well, i think it does. i think, you know, i always am hesitant to second-guess the political team of this white house because they have done a pretty good job getting obama from where he was to become president. but it does seem as if the health care debate has become very muddy and the president, with the biggest bully pulpit in

town, is the one who has the most ability to define the terms of the debate. and he seems to have lost control. i also think he had unrealistic expectations about what he could do in terms of bipartisan dealing with the republicans. >> we're going to -- >> he tried real hard and now they are sort of handing his lunch back to him and so he is left without a bipartisan real effort and a process that seems very opaque and unclear and confusing. >> all right. . we have to -- >> those are two bad things to have. >> this next week things will clear up for the white house when he gets back from vacation. many thanks, david corn. >> my pleasure. coming up, we take you back to the big news in california today. wildfires have burned 100,000 acres in the los angeles area already with no sign of it ending. we're going to talk live to someone who was evacuated from his home after the break. dick cheney for president? we're talking to the calmest who say he may the gop's best chance

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good tuesday. we're following developments this hour out of southern california. wildfires there burning out of control. flames now threatening some 12,000 homes or so, businesses as well. and so that means thousands of families are evacuating. >> joining us live on the phone from red cross camp in palmdale, california is roger oliver. he was evacuated from his home on saturday. roger has not been allowed to go back in. roger, good morning to you. any word? >> none whatsoever. >> you got no word on what is happening.

do you know about the -- we certainly reported as you're well aware there are flames in the area, but any of your neighbors have word on their homes? >> no. they won't let nobody back in there and, so far, we haven't been able to get any information from the police or the fire department. >> we are looking right now, roger, at some live pictures of the smoke just billowing up. it has to be difficult, especially for people who can smell the smoke, see it far away and just to be left wondering if they're going to go back and find anything left. >> yeah. it's a little difficult. >> yeah. roger, you've gone through that area. did you go along the 14 and get into palmdale. how did palmdale? that is a relatively flat area, kind of along the desert bed there of the mohave desert. are you seeing flames on the backside of the mountain? >> no. all we get to see from here is the smoke.

>> any of your neighbors there with you? have a lot of people evacuated to that shelter where you are? >> you know, there's a few people here. i don't know where everybody went to, but there's a lot of them that are in rvs and staying with family, whatever. >> of course. for those of you that are involved with the thousand trails campground there in california, we wish you the best of luck and that includes you, roger oliver. good luck and thanks for joining us. >> all righty. thank you. coming up in our next half-hour we check in with john klemack keeping a close eye on the fire moving down the mountain side. he was standing in front of a house where "e.t." was intermediate and that house is close to flames right now. why some people can't afford to get sick and puts the rest of us at risk. this is msnbc. we'll be right back. (announcer) your doctor knows

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a bomb attack in afghanistan killed a u.s. soldier this morning underscoring the growing violence in that country. the white house is reviewing general stanley mccrystal request for a new war strategy and new resources. press secretary robert gibbs used a phrase the white house has stayed away from. >> we're not going todd to see the entire thing turn around in a few months after years and years of neglect. you can't underresource the most important part of our war on terror. >> is there that phrase, war on terror was ditched by the administration back in march. it's not clear if gibbs meant to say it or a slip of the tongue. >> falls off the tongue more easily in overseas contingency operations. >> we were used to that one, true. at the same time the white house is preparing to send more troops to afghanistan, some republicans are urging the opposite. for instance, george will says

u.s. forces should pull out of afghanistan now and focus solely on its border with pakistan. former vice president cheney insists that president obama's actions are weakening the nation's security and one columnist is calling on cheney to take the job himself. >> an op-ed argues the following. james toronto is the author of the column and he joins us now. i mean look. here is dick cheney who a lot of americans blame. they say he lied. they say he authorized torture and even just the other day in this interview, he says it's fine with him if cia interrogators go beyond the legal parameters set out for them. why would he be the guy to lead us into the next cycle?

>> you say a lot of americans. i think you're mostly talking about the kind of people who watch your evening shows here on msnbc. >> no, the kind of people who voted for barack obama to be the president. >> right. >> that is the majority of the nation. >> that's 53% and, you know, the issue here is we now have the second time in the obama administration that obama has gotten into a debate with dick cheney over the bush administration's terror policies which obama has sought to reverse. so we have this situation where cheney is making the case for those policies and obama is making the case against it. we're going to test and find out what happens without those policies in place. the question i raise in this column what if dick cheney is right and what if the bush administration did keep america safe and obama is putting america in danger? >> john mccain says those policies, the one that were used extraordinary means of interrogation actually made us less safe because they've been recruiting tools for al qaeda. >> yeah. i don't know any evidence for that. in any case, we have a test now.

we're going to have a few years of much gentler policies toward terrorists and if there are no terrorists attacks -- >> i don't think that's fair. gentler policies toward terrorists? >> yes. if no major terror attacks then obama can claim vindication. i'm raising the question that is right. >> you say that is the last line of this op-ed. are you saying this as food for thought? i mean, you're thinking in a philosophical way dick cheney, looking at hip is the bear of the standard bearer of a cloak if you will of a certain kind of attitude? you're not really calling for dick cheney to run in 2012, are you? >> it's 2009. 3 1/2 years before the election. even with our extended presidential election cycle, it's much too early for anyone to actually run for office. and dick cheney, as far as i know, has never backed away from -- yes, in a sense, i'm speaking philosophically. but look.

if there is a major terrorist attack and something on the order of knife again, heaven forbid it will change the way americans look at terrorism and it may call for somebody with dick cheney's experience to step into that role. again, it's a big if and i hope it doesn't come to pass. i i hope that obama is right that we overreacted to september 11th and the terrorism isn't as big of a throat as the bush administration made it out to be. certainly, it's appealing to think so. >> tba. james toronto from "wall street journal." >> thank you for coming in. back to the live pictures we've been watching in southern california and the line now. you see that smoke. it's rising above this area, the station fire that's already burned 53 homes and now tens of thousands of people on the run from these flames. we'll keep our eye on it and keep you caught up after a quick break. now you can get unbeatable prices

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good tuesday. i'm contessa brewer.

place made a surprising discovery while investigating the abduction and captivity of jaycee dugard. investigators say they have found a bone fragment in the yard next door to phillip garrido's property and examining it to determine whether it's a human or animal bone. he is a xul predator and police investigating whether he may be involved in the disappearance of several prostitutes in the area. cadaver dogs sent to hunt for evidence in the neighbor's yard because garrido used to be the caretaker there. george lewis is here with us. when are they expecting the results back from the bone fragment? >> it could be a matter of weeks. they are doing very detailed studies on this bone fragment. we probably shouldn't read too much into it at this point. it may well be a piece of animal bone that they found on the adjoining property but, obviously, police are being very careful and meticulous in their search for evidence in this case. they want to see if there is anything linking phillip garrido

to a string of unsolved murders in this area. woman whose bodies were dumped in a space where -- near where garrido used to work. they are also reopening a couple of cold kidnap cases, kidnappings of young girls here in northern california that bear a referableance to resemblance to the kidnapping of jaycee dugard and looking into all of that. law enforcement agency throughout this area re-examining their cold case files. >> it's interesting. because the fbi is now talking about the time when jaycee disappeared saying they exhausted thousands of leads about her whereabouts, sometimes they had confidential informance but they say that garrido himself was never really on their radar. i just can't get past that, george, because he had been convicted of the sexual assault not far away in reno, nevada, back in the 1970s and in 1991, i read a report saying they suspected he was up in south

lake tahoe trolling for victims at the very time, the very year jaycee dugard disappeared. >> well, there are very old reports about his behavior. the fbi admits that he sort of flew under the radar. the problem here is this in this unincorporated area in northern california, in this particular zip code, there are 102 registered sex offenders and law enforcement in this unincorporated area is stretched very thin and admit they have to take a look at their procedures and how they deal with these registered sex offenders. >> it's the local guys, the sheriff there absolutely, the parole officer, absolutely, but even dating back to 1991 you just wonder how so many opportunities were blown. george, i appreciate the update. thanks. speaking of updates. we are going to update our top story. the dangerous wildfires burning out of control in southern

california. throughout this morning the flames creeping down the mountain side and threatening a neighborhood in tujunga, california. john klemack is live with us there in tahonga. you're in front of an iconic house. explain your location. what about the people in the neighborhood? this very all evacuated? there is supposed to be a mandatory evacuation in order and police came through a little while ago knocking on doors for people to get out while they can as this fire started to encroach on these homes. tony decided to stay home and he lives in this iconic home behind us where "e.t." was shot. you weren't here when the movie was shot. >> no. the previous owner. >> why are you not getting out some. >> my wife basically left, took the dogs with with her and so we felt pretty comfortable and then at that point, the fire, you

know, looked manageable. i thought as long as it stayed the way it was, we would be okay. >> but you got to admit when we were standing out here there were points this fire did not look manageable. >> exactly. the firefighters are so confident that this house was defensible and the area is defensible because of the layout that they exuded a lot of confidence and made me feel good. i found a neutral corner where i was not in their way and they seemed to put up with it. >> looked like they were pumping water out of the pool back isn't there. >> yes, they were. that helped also. >> as the firefighters still on the mountain side here in the back area there is a fire access road that is back there that they've been working on actually using bulldozer four days ago to clear that area so they could prepare themselves for this and started a backfire that is allowing a controlled fire to then meet up with the fire that was burning out of control to help put itself out that is why you're seeing this white smoke

now because they were able to attack this on their own terms to get this under control. so far, so good and plan to do the exact same thing to that hillside coming up in a few minutes because they want to make sure they can clear that so that the fire doesn't make its own trip down here and threaten any more of these homes. >> i bet they can't get that done soon enough. john, thanks for the live report. a programming note. nbc's brian williams has traveled to los angeles and anchor "nightly news" live from the fire zone tonight. president obama will focus on a different health care issue here, the swine flu. he is going to get briefed on preparations for the h1n1 flu virus from cabinet officials including health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius and homeland security adviser john brennan. the next two weeks students across the country are going back to school. >> one new york school district is banning handshakes and high

fives and hugs to prevent the spread of swine flu. another flu problem. nearly 60 million workers in the u.s. don't have paid sick leave which exposes others to the h1n1 virus when they want to show up for work. joining us live is dr. nancy snyderman and the host of "dr. nancy" on msnbc. >> hi there. >> what is the chances this is going to happen in this school district? no skin on skin contact. >> we get wiggier and wiggier and that is the problem. most people who sneeze in their hands and touch you and you put your hand to your mouth is how this is transmitted. i worry we will lose all sense of social decorum. this is now going to spread through the united states. we expect it. so good hand washing and good, you know, coughing but to not touch each other and do not do high five's and not greet each other in church, i sort of sort of concerned the common sense is about to get flushed down the toilet.

>> the common sense when you shake someone's hands and don't lick your hands or rub your eyes. >> don't reach your hand to someone if you know you've just coughed or sneezed. we touch our hand to our face inadvertently every 10 to 15 seconds and a lot more for kids. >> when you're looking at the skill district, other than saying wash your hands which little kids are already told that. the whole twinkle twinkle little star under the faucet. >> i'm a mother of a 15-year-old who is a freshman in high school and has the grudgiest hands. i am going make sure he gets enough sleep and good enough breakfast so he a decent immune system and i'm pounding into him the wipe your hands with some kind of disinfectant and it has to have 60% alcohol to be effective, those gels and wash your hands. that's the best can i do for now and when i personally am going to get him the vaccine when it comes out in october.

and, of course, as a mom, my fingers are crossed for that interim period between next week and a month and a half from now. >> you're going to be beating the drum on this. you're telling us all the time. >> i will be beating the drum on this. look. it's a very efficient virus and not killing a lot of people but the reality we don't know how it's going to act. if there is a shot that can prevent illness and hospitalization and maybe death, why not do it? the conspiracy theories on out there. this is one time you can trust your scientists and your government. the message has been very straight. >> we look for more at noon eastern. >> guess what i'm doing? i'm getting my real flu shot today. the flu shots are available at various places across the country approximate get your regular flu shot now. get it out of the way so there is not a drain on the system. you guys both need flu shots. >> we'll get them. thanks. >> thanks, mom. >> no problem. still to come the politics of terror. tom ridge discusses his decision

to raise the terror alert level before the 2004 election. strategists on both sides of the aisle weigh in next. (announcer) carefree introduces protection, times ten. new carefree ultra protection liners, with wings! absorb ten times more, like a pad but feel thin and comfy, like a liner. new carefree® ultra protection™ i'm more active, i eat right, and i switched to new one a day women's active metabolism. a complete women's multivitamin plus more for metabolism support. and that's a change i feel good about. new from one a day. i had a heart attack at 57. my doctor told me i should've been... doing more for my high cholesterol. what was i thinking? but now i trust my heart to lipitor. when diet and exercise are not enough, adding lipitor may help. unlike some other cholesterol lowering medications, lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk...

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tom ridge says anyone who thinks politics played a role in setting the terror alert level is dead wrong. the former homeland security secretary is trying to diffuse the controversy that stemmed from passages in his new book "the test of our times." on "morning joe" ridge recounted a key debate that happened just before the 2004 election. >> in this particular instance, there was rigorous robust debate. we felt absolutely not that we shouldn't go up. others, attorney general ashcroft, secretary rumsfeld, we should. at the end of the day since i was responsible overseeing what happens if we went up, i said to myself i'm using the book, was it politics or was it security? there is no doubt in my mind every time we had this

discussion, that occasion and multiple other occasions, no one thought anything other than security. >> alex johnson is a republican strategist, taylor west is a democratic strategist. alex, what is your take here? because, you know, i read the passage in the book and it made it sound like he suspected that politics were behind the request to raise the terror alert level and now he is saying absolutely not. >> well, i mean, i think we have to take him at his word and i know his statements might be somewhat contradictory but reasonable people can agree when al qaeda attacks, i think they like to make a splash. i think they like to do something dramatic. what could be more dramatic than striking the united states, you know, when they're having an election? that strikes the heart of democracy. i think, you know, reasonable people can agree that -- that -- that, you know, our country could and should be alerted for the possibility that al qaeda might have been motivated to attack at this particular time.

i don't that is a disingenuous argument. i think that what rumsfeld and ashcroft were thinking but it was near the election and politics plays a role in all things near an election. maybe that was in the back of ridge's mind as well. >> taylor, what is your take on this? it sort of adds to the overall conversation we're having now with the former vice president saying that the president's policies are making us less safe. is there room in the future discussion for look back and say here is what we did well and didn't do well and here is what it changes to do better in the future? >> sure. i think so, contessa. of course, tom ridge is back-pedaling now. a firestorm created by these comments but i think the reason the firestorm was created because it confirmed what so many people have long suspected about the bush administration is that they allowed politics to intrude on every level of government, even the most critical things like keeping our nation safe.

and to tom ridge's credit, he prevailed in this situation, but when he says in his book that rumsfeld and ashcroft were both arguing to raise the alert and no one in the department of homeland security thought that was necessary. >> doesn't alex have a point in election year politics plays a role in every decision? >> it's a little troubling it would have a role in something that is intended to keep the public alerted about our security situation. i mean, i think that is off limits. >> all right. >> i would just add that tom ridge puts in his book, and the book is, i think, largely written so that we can learn from maybe some of the mistakes we made and try to improve on them going forward. but one of the points he makes is that he was not involved in national security meetings and if ashcroft and rumsfeld were in those meetings, maybe they were privy to intelligence that ridge was not privy to. >> that raises the question why

the homeland security -- >> exactly! >> is involved in -- >> absolutely. >> i mean, come on! alex, listen. >> that is one of the points he tries to make in the book. >> guys, i have to leave the conversation there. thank you for joining me. pollen. when i really liked to be outside, i did not like suffering from nasal allergy symptoms like congestion. but nasonex relief may i say... bee-utiful! prescription nasonex is proven to help relieve indoor and outdoor nasal allergy symptoms like congestion, runny and itchy nose and sneezing. (announcer) side effects were generally mild and included headache. viral infection, sore throat, nosebleeds and coughing. ask your doctor about symptom relief with nasonex. and save up to $15 off your refills. go to nasonex.com for details, terms and conditions.

in just a couple of hours big three automakers will be out with their sales figures for august and they are expected to be some eye-poppers. in fact, it could be the best month in more than a year thanks largely to the government's 3 billion dollar cash for clunkers program. phil, good morning. would we be seeing some improvement in car sales even if you took out the cash for clunkers? >> i'm not sure. i think clearly cash for clunkers is driving the sales numbers we're seeing today and the best numbers we'll see for the industry since december of 2007. in fact, the expected sales rate is between 15.5 and 16 million vehicles, that is the pace of sales not the actual number of

automobiles sold in august. the pace of sales before cash for clunkers was running 9 to 9.5 million. a substantial increase because so many people went out to dealerships and traded in their gas guzzler for a new fuel-efficient model. by the way, we expect to see sales come down back into the 9.5 to 10 million range for the rest of this year and gradual build from there. but there's no doubt the numbers you're going to see today from the automakers, they are going to be astounding. >> in part, though, sales figures may come down because i understand it, phil, thanks to cash for clunkers, the price you're going to pay for some cars has gone up. how does that work? >> well, it's all a matter of supply and demand. there is such tight supply right now that the automakers can push through price increases. these are not substantial price increases but what the industry has been doing the last ten years. slight increases year after year as they've added more content

into the vehicles. you can't get away with that if you have a glud of vehicles out on the lot. right now not the case. tight supply and automakers can get away with increasing prices for certain models. >> phil lebeau, thanks so much in illinois. the recession can't seem to keep people from their movies. 2009 is the highest grossing year ever. it's not even labor day. revenues reached $4 billion beating the record from summer of 2007. what were the biggest hits? "transformers." "harry potter" and they were the all-stars and not far behind were the hangovers. >> haven't seen any of these! >> what is wrong with you? >> labor day weekend is expected to bring another 100 million to the box office. we don't have time for you to answer that! >> i have no life. how about a bear scare on your first day of school in new

britain, kentucky? try telling that to the grandkids. this black bear is scampering around town. >> it was not cute at all! i'm trying to make sure my kids get on the bus! so i can go in the house! and there is a bus there. i'm making sure i get in the house right now. >> you can tell her heart was pounding and wouldn't yours be if you saw that at the bus stop? come on, people! >> i saw one at a campground in california. people are yelling at me! >> they canceled recess but didn't cancel but it kept in indoors. the bear eventually wandered back into the woods. he was probably scared, too. if you see them you're supposed to just talk really loudly at them so they know you're there and they go away. >> i went running after them in california. speaking of california, that is where we have our eyes closely trained on the eight fires that continue to burn throughout the golden state giving it that horrific golden glow. you don't want it from the fires. look at this! >> look at that. >> station fire. and that may be that home in

tujunga where is that notable home where "e.t." and i understand "charlie's angels" was intermediate as well. they think they have that hill saved. let's hope. >> you look. we're looking at 12,000 families in the line of the fire so we'll keep a close eye on this throughout the day. carlos watson will have more on the fire's progress in the next hour.

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talk to your doctor about prescription treatment options. and make this time, your time. good morning, everyone. i'm carlos watson. welcome to a brand-new hour of msnbc live. walls of flames closing in on southern california. dozens of homes are going up in smoke. thousands more stand threatened and with triple digit temperatures and low humidity adding fuel to the flames, actually a little hope at this point the fires will weaken any time soon. from raging infernos to rolling national health care debate. voters continue to block the town halls, new town halls across the country in large

numbers nanged answers from lawmakers. president obama and the democrats are retooling their message. while at the same time pointing accusatory finger to republicans for walking away from bipartisan talks. good morning. i'm carlos watson. busy day here on msnbc. we continue to bring you breaking developments on the fires that are sweeping across southern california. but, first, we fast forward through the top headlines we're following. a chilling discovery in the jaycee lee dugard case. police found a bone fragment next door in the add joining property of phillip garrido. authorities in western mexico urging 10,000 residents to evacuate ahead of the hurricane. most tourists fled mexico's peninsula but authorities are having a harder time convincing locals to leave. the hurricane is just short of category 5 status with winds near 155 miles per hour.

former homeland security secretary tom ridge is trying to clarify a key claim in his just released book. ridge says he didn't feel pressure from the bush administration to raise the terror alert before the 2004 election. >> was it politics or was it security? there is no doubt in my mind that every time we had this discussion, that occasion and multiple other occasions, no one thought anything other than security but i'm saying in the book -- am i missing spg? >> the test of our times, america under siege and how we can be safe again hits the book shelves today. breaking news in california. no end in sight to the deadly wildfires scorching los angeles county. fire officials say it will be at least two weeks before they can contain the 122,000-acre blaze still raging out of control. at least 50 homes destroyed so far and 12,000 more are being threatened. michael okwu is in california. what is the latest?