miles and miles and all of this, of course, an indication of how serious the situation is. you heard the governor say that there are about 130,000 acres burning all around the state of california. eight wildfires. this single wildfire alone is attributing to about 122,000 acres of that. that gives you your sense of just how massive this wildfire is. now, fire officials will tell you that they're much more cautiously optimistic today than they were yesterday. a lot of that is because they got an assist from mother nature overnight. the fire laid down a little bit, largely because the temperatures went down significantly and humidity came up significantly but what they're concerned about today is something they have not been concerned about for the last week or so, that is the fact that they believe that they're going to get some winds. winds are in the forecast gusting 30 to 40 miles an hour along the ridge lines and that is a very big concern for the firefighters. in spite of the fact that they've made some great headway.

you throw into the mix on that, tamron, the fact that they'll get some thunderstorms which you think will bring some relief here. the firefighters will tell you, look, whatever water or precipitation we get from that isn't going to do much good and then you also have to be concerned about some of the dry lightning strikes that they're expecting. so, you throw in lightning in that, it means possibly new fires. i must tell you, some of the fires we have been seeing on the air are, in fact, some back fires that the firefighters have been able to light. now, that is actually good news. it means that they were able to get on the ground and start lighting some backfires and also digging in containment lines around the fire, although at this point, officially, only 5% contained. >> fighting fire with fire. michael okwu thank you for the live report. joining us on the phone democratic congresswoman linda sanchez on the phone. thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> incredible pictures out there. but i'm reading conflicting reports on whether the wildfire

will have an impact on california's budget crisis. i mean, just last week we were talking about the state having this huge garage sale and now they're facing what will be an expensive battle with this fire. >> yeah. it certainly is not helping our budget woes out here in california, that's for certain. >> what do you know about the ability to really give the firefighters everything they need here? i know that the governor has pointed out that maejs funds have been set aside and what about the people who think that california is cash strapped and can't deal with something like this. >> just prior to the outbreak of these wildfires, a lot of the local communities that i represent have been looking at their budgets and ringing their hands and trying to figure out where they could possibly save money to keep these cities afloat and one of the areas that they were looking in was scaling back the number of fire stations. so, that just goes to show you the budget woes really impact the ability when you have unforeseen, you know,

circumstances like wildfires can really have an impact on that when you, obviously, have a lot of resources that are trying to combat these fires. right now the fire is only about 5% contained and we've got crews working around the clock to try to contain the fire. so, it is worrisome. when you look at the magnitude of these fires and the fact that homes are threatened, lives are threatened and, you know, we're cash strapped and looking for ways to save money, not spend more money. >> certainly, this is something no one can plan for, but perspective wise, you have certainly been around and this is your home state, how is what we're seeing compared to what we seem to see quite honestly so often and once a year? >> yeah, it's really interesting because i'm a native californian, born and raised here and periodically we would have fought wildfires when i was younger, but nothing of the magnitude that we've seen in the last several years and, obviously, a big contributing factor to that is that we're in drought condition. we don't, we aren't receiving

the amount of rainfall that we should or, quite frankly, that in years past we did. i think that also is a signal that our weather patterns are changing and i think that that is further evidence that, you know, global warming and the need to do something about it is going to affect us sooner rather than later and i can't think of a better example than the fact that we've had now these habitual wildfires just about every year. >> we were looking at video of the observatory which has also threatened the mt. wilson observatory threatened by this line of fire. back to the budget. report that with ten months left in this fiscal year that this fire season could certainly present even more budget woes for this state. obvio obviously, beyond the loss of life, which is most important. and the loss of property following. this could be a big blow once this is all said and done with the money that's spent. >> definitely. it definitely requires resources

and we have very few of those resources right now. so, you know, it is concerning. again, it's an unforeseen circumstance and when you don't have the money set aside, really, to deal with it, it means that we're going to have to look at other areas to cut down the line, if we just don't have the resources to combat this fire, as well. >> incredible. congre congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us. we wish the best for those people the firefighters and those people affected. >> thank you. >> it is now september 1 and many are wondering, will the fight over health care fall like the leaves to the ground or can president obama turn the pressure into a positive. the president must lay out one specific plan and push his proposal to congress and then sell it to the american public. the big story at the white house. let's bring in chuck todd and chief white house correspondent. chuck, we see the president on a staycati torx n. he's there but he's working and

certainly hearing what is being said. what is the latest and what is the possibility the president will come out after the break and draw the line in the sand? >> the white house is hinting at something. they'll only say if he'll continue what robert gibbs said to us this morning, a group ofterters. the president will continue to do what he has been doing. health care will be a big part of his day and a big part of the things he will be talking about in september. but, you know, let's get to reality here. september 15 sth the deadline for the senate finance committee to get the president's bill introduced. i know it's not officially the president's bill, but it's the closest thing. what max baucus comes out with is going to be in consultation with the white house. that's going to be the bill and that will end up being the goal of the president, whatever that is, that that's what the president pushes. that's what he sort of decides to own as his version of health care reform and then tries to get all of the other congressional bills to conform to that. but i think if you're looking for a magic date, september 15th

and there's so many things going on in september. a lot of issues coming due whether it's afghanistan, iran and you're going to have the unexpected like the wildfires and like h1n1. when it comes to the politics of health care, i think september 15th, circle that date on the calendar. if things aren't improving for this white house by then, if they don't have control of this health care message by then, people know inside this white house that it might not be something they could get done this year. >> how about this whole issue of bipartisanship? we know the president pushed it from the very start and now you have this letter releases. senator chuck grassley and made public just yesterday, chuck. he has written it a while ago and she is supposed to be part of the group from both sides of the aisle bringing this. the letter in part set the record straight on my firm and on waivering opposition to government-run health care. is the government ready to give

up on bipartisanship? >> one of the other three republicans in this, you know, they want to be kicked out of the bipartisan talks. not good politics for them in their home state. at the same time, the white house doesn't want to kick them out because they want to say, no, no, no, they want the republicans to quit the bipartisan talk. a little bit of a game of chicken. neither side wants to take the blame for ending the so-called bipartisan negotiations. i don't think you'll see them ever officially end, you'll see at some point the finance committee will come out with a bill and grassley andensely. he is in a box, he's up for re-election in 2010. he has admitted it. where he was in his head august 3rd versus where he was experiencing the town halls that he experienced in iowa on august 27th, this is what he said last week, he's got a different mindset now. so, he's up, he's up for re-election and the conservative wing of the republican party in iowa could absolutely provide a

challenge to him that he could lose and he knows it. >> we're out of time. a lot more to explore especially when it comes to how far the health care is willing to go in this game of chicken. thank you, chuck. the white house fires back at former vice president dick cheney charging that president obama is putting national security at risk. that's what he said in his sunday interview. well, we're bringing in a heavyweight, national security adviser jim jones making statements that are being factored in to the chaina versus obama debate. what happened deep in the heart of texas that forced this congressman to abruptly end his own health care town hall. he ended the town hall in 47 seconds. we'll shed some lights on the proreform fights that's happening out there. plus, the latest on the massive fires burning in southern california. more video and more details on how they're trying to get control of it. as i get older, i'm making changes to support my metabolism.

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welcome back. critics of health care reform seem to be getting all the media attention these days, but proreform activists say they're out there and don't count them out yet. exhibit a, activists refuse to let republican congressman pete olsen get away of telling a story of a pregnant woman who could not find a doctor to treat her unborn child's heart defect. >> her son would not have been born if there was a public option -- >> that's terrible! >> wow. >> that's not true. >> the insurance company turned her down. not the government. the private insurance turned her down, not the government. my gosh.

>> so this went on for less than an a minute before the congressman ended the meeting and then left that stage and here with us now is program director for u.s. action. thanks, alan, for joining us. >> thank you. >> i do want to point out that some of your board members have strong ties to the unions who are supporting a reform, especially the sciu. we want to make that a part of the conversation, but, with that said, many people are wondering where has your side been as these town halls have been getting so much attention throughout the country. >> our side has been organizing at the grassroots level turning out thousands and thousands of people to town hall events and other activities. when you count up the numbers in august, we have far outorganized the conservatives. there is no question about it. they have gotten some of the headlines because of some of the more confrontitational numbers. as far as numbers, we are far ahead. >> those tactics and people have argued whether it's disruption

or descent that's the proper part of the conversation, whatever you categorize it it got attention because it shows that people are quite angry and many of them are afraid and you can debate whether it's legitimate or not. on your side, where is the anger? it seems in our society that's what gets the attention and also what shows there is passion and conviction behind some of the complaints and concerns. >> outside the anger is totally focused on the insurance company, the health insurance companies who have, quite frankly, failed the american people. they certainly failed those who are uninsured over 45 million, but they failed the vast majority of us because they don't control costs and premiums go up and the quality of care is threatened as a result. so, it requires on our part serious reform which reins in the insurance companies and which provides the kinds of new system with a public option, a strong public option so that we can have a health care system where costs are controlled where

everyone is covered and with the quality of care increases over time. >> let me ask you this, you have insurance companies and turn your attention to them and certainly look at the kind of money that they contributed to lawmakers. with that said, you have some democrats that are not backing the white house, who are not standing on the united front as you prepare to take on some of the democrats who are waffling or are not certain where they stand. >> well, we have, we have really gotten their back this month. we've protected and supported a lot of the moderate and blue dog democrats who have been the target of a lot of the more controversial and confrontational tactics on the part of the right. we have shown them that we will stand with them as they stand with us in support of reform. >> will you stand against them if they don't support some of the things that many on the left want, such as public option. >> we will, we will continue to encourage them to support the public option and we'll see what

happens after the final votes are taken. >> i know you're looking at some rallies, 102 rallies in 20 different states before congress gets back. are you at all worried, though, if you have fire from one side and fire from your side that we might see potentially volatile confrontation? >> well, there are 102 rallies and just my organization is planning, but there are literally thousands that all the organizations involved in the health care reform movement are planning over the next, over the next week. there have been confrontational moments, but, quite frankly, we are not interested in pushing back on the arguments of the right, only in so far as we want to expose the lies that they're perpetrating. we are more interested in showing the positive benefits that come from the kind of health care reform that we're proposing. >> all right, alan, it was a pleasure here on the other side of this debate as it seems that one side has certainly dominated the media when it comes to reactions at the town hall.

thank you. >> thank you very much. >> in boxing every round certainly counts, but not sure what round we are in in the obama versuses cheney battle or saga. a new swing is coming cheney's way and not from the president. national security adviser, retired general jim jones now saying cheney couldn't be further from the truth when it comes to whose policy are keeping america safe. obama pufs push to improve international relations is putting more terrorists out of business. >> we're seeing results that indicate more captures, more deaths of radical leaders and kind of a global coming together of the fact that this is a threat to not only the united states but to the world. >> and here with us to talk more about those comments, nbc terrorist analyst. >> can you score right and wrong whennia hear what cheney said in that interview on sunday and what you are hearing from team

obama, especially from the national security adviser? >> you're talking about a national security adviser who is formally from the military and also admiral dennis blair and, again, u.s. military who said the exact same thing which is that there is no comparison and i think anyone who think the bush administration was better or tougher on the war on terrorism is engaging in self-deception. there is not evidence to this effect. if you look at egypt right now, we're in the height of ramadan right there and the center and the headquarters for many al qaeda opt receives where many al qaeda operatives were recruited from. right now the best dates in the market are the obama states and the old and discarded ones are the bush states. that is the impression people have around the world. u.s. power is predicated on soft power and hard power. >> but in that cheney argument, he did not acknowledge the rest of the world, only acknowledging that for the past eight years there has not been an attack on

american soil. that seems to be the scoreboard or the score that he is keeping. >> this is disengenous. military power and the power of our foreign policy. if we want to prevent attack heres in the united states, we can't simply be finding military solutions. okay. you don't win friends and influence people by drowning them and by beating them or humiliating them. you win friends and you influence people by inspiring them and they are inspired by the american ideals. those kind of feelings expand beyond the united states. they're also in most of the world. obama is not loved by everyone, but i don't think there is any fair comparison that you can make, any reasonable comparison you can make. anyone who says that is engaging in self-defection. >> even with whatever this administration is doing to counter what happened over the previous eight years you also have in that interview on sunday dick cheney saying that attack

on iran was something that he was supporting. that would have put us in prewar. >> another brilliant idea. >> and god knows what else would be happening in that region when that is the case. when the rest of the world hears that, is it still bad for the current administration when the rest of the world hears that it is a part of the dialogue to go in and launch a military attack against iran? >> i don't think it reflects well on the bush administration, but no impact on the current administration. another brilliant idea, invading another country, a country that we don't have to go to war with. you have to make peace with somebody. it happens that in the 1970s we made peace with the chinese to offset the threat from the soviet union and we have an opportunity to make peace with the iranians and to settle these issues. it's not easy. but we can avoid a war with them. if we could avoid a war, why would we be so eager into jump

into it. another example of why the mindset of dick cheney is so far away from reality, he doesn't understand the basic issues that are in play here. >> obvious that mindset from iran was very different. we continue to follow breaking developments out of southern california where new evacuations under way right now as towering walls of flame inch dangerously close to thousands of homes and ever so close to city of los angeles. plus, the british government tries to clear the air about its role in the release of the only man convicted in the 1988 lockerbie bombing. we got just released documents pertaining to the back and forth between the negotiators of this deal. next on msnbc. to work but, i was like, hey, this actually works. (announcer) only rogaine® foam is shown to regrow hair in 85% of guys. i'll check it out and i'm like, nice. (announcer) rogaine® foam stop losing. start gaining. if you're still one of the guys

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but i did. you need to talk to your doctor about aspirin. you need to be your own advocate. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. you take care of your kids, now it's time to take care of yourself. welcome back. british and scottish governments are making public their correspondents to the lockerbie bomber. the british government initially

tried to exclude mu gary from a prisoner transfer agreement from libya. then in a change of tone, jack straw wrote to the spanish counterpart saying that he had not been able to secure an exclusion. british prime minister gordon brown continues to insist that his government had no noinfluence on the decisions to let megrahi to libya. still to come, triple-digit temperatures and low humidity add fuel to the flames as firefighters in southern california try to gain the upper hand on that relentless wildfire burning ever so close to los angeles. a live report from the danger zone, next. democrats make plans for a health care comeback on capitol hill. but is it too late? is the damage already done? we'll delve into the debates on msnbc. the place for politics. carol, when you replaced casual friday with nordic tuesday, was it really for fun, or to save money on heat?

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mitchell reports." right now, tourists are fleeing baja, california, as hurricane comes in. bracing for that category 4 storm. officials are trying to persuade 10,000 people living in unsturdy shacks to evacuate the area. if you're going to steal somebody identity, probably best not to targ that wife of federal reserve chairman ben bernanke. mitchell young is allegedly part of an identity theft young that stole mrs. bernanke's purse last year and now she's up on a mug shot and in a lot of trouble. today, vermont's new law goes into effect. the first marriage was performed at 12:01 a.m. and 3,600 firefighters are fanned out across southern california battling that massive wildfire. still right now raging out of control. thousands of residents across the state have been forced to evacuate. 78 buildings have been destroyed

and as many as 12,000, 12,000 more could be next. gina kim is live at lake view te terrace, california. the people who still don't want to evacuate. what is the mindset behind not wanting to leave? >> well, you know, here in southern california we get exposed to fires quite a bit. in fact, it's a perennial, annual event. people who have been through this say i'll protect my property. didn't come close to me last time, they have a false sense of security. but what happened over the weekend was three people got severely burned because they refused to evacuate and two of them actually tried to duck the fire in their hot tubs. so, police and firefighters said, look, we'll tell you once and then we won't tell you again because two firefighters also lost their lives getting a little too close to the flames and tragically one of those firefighters was expecting a

baby a few weeks from now. so, the danger level has definitely gone way up in terms of the human toll, but, today, we have slightly better news, tamron. higher humidity and they'll take full advantage of it as they try to battle this massive blaze. >> even with that good news, i understand they're also worried, though, the winds may kick up and create another set of problems for those firefighters. so, with the good news, it seems something bad right behind it. >> yeah, it is kind of a mixed bag of news today. on the one hand, we do have slightly cooler temperatures and by slightly i mean more like 101 instead of 104 and the higher humidity, but, yes, there is a storm coming our way. apparently in a couple days and with these slightly higher precipitation, we'll also apparently get 30-mile-an-hour winds and possibility of lightning strikes. so, yeah, we're definitely not out of the woods just yet. seven days into this fire with no end in sight. they're thinking two weeks may lapse before we have full control over this.

>> incredible video and just amazing to see this happen, yet again, to that state. thank you, jinah for the latest from there. in one week congress gets back to work on the health care. but republicans are vowing to keep the pressure on through the fall. let's bring in lawyer and democratic strategist richard goodsteen and john ferry to score how things are going. thanks for joining me this afternoon. >> how are you? >> very good. richard, let me start off with you, how do you gauge the damage that has been done before we get to how you undo it the democrats have suffered a hard time here. >> i don't mean to sort of seem like i'm in character here. >> so don't seem like it. >> but, listen, let's talk about where there's consensus. in the course of august, there seems to be bipartisan consensus around portability of health care and around the fact of pre-existing conditions should not be a reason to eliminate people and people shouldn't have

their policies canceled when they get sick and there should be preventive health care and there should be a look at maybe malpractice reform. those seem to be issues around which there is bipartisan consensus. so, all this talk about how, oh, we'll never get there. look, michael steele put out a health care, basically, bill of benefits and, in essence, it says if you like sparring with your health insurance company and if you like being at their mercy, i don't think most people find themselves in that position. >> hold a closed door meeting trying to undo damage she has done in the month of august. back to the heart of my question, has there been damage and how significant is it? >> again, i think the moderates. we have always known that for the speaker to maintain the kind of majority that she had beginning this year that the democrats from purple districts,

if you will, from swing districts have to be satisfied. they can lose some of them and they probably will, but she can't lose so many as to not have her majority. i think, again, i think the focus around is what is their consensus and even those moderate democrats will freely admit that, yes, criticism about this public plan, but a lot of adwreement about things that their constituents insist on. >> do they smell blood in the watter to keep the shark analogy going. is there blood in the water? >> i think moderate democrats will say, you know, we can't do this, we can't sustain it. certainly republicans can't be onboard with the public option. it depends on what you mean by blood in the water. i think -- >> you got senator chuck grassley and this is my example. chuck grassley is supposed to be a part of the bipartisan team that is going to get this done and we've uncovered this letter, a letter has been uncovered where he said, set the record straight on my firm and unwavering oppositions to government-run health care. he's if he's part of the team

that is supposed to come up with a bipartisan plan and he is saying set the record straight on my firm and unwavering oppositi opposition, were republicans ever planning on getting something on the table that most or a bipartisan effort could agree on? >> if you listen carefully to what he said, he came up with a fairly good consensus. get rid of consensus and have an ability to get insurance across state lines. you can come up with that package. that package is something bob dole and tom daschle supported 20 years ago. we could have gotten that done 20 years ago. the democrats have to give up on the public option. if they agree to do that, we have to get a consensus. >> i don't know if that's true. but i'll ponder that for a second and i'll humor you on that one. john, richard, pleasure speaking with you. >> thank you. rod blagojevich is dropping a white house bombshell in his new book. he says ron emaneul plans to

escape the white house after just two years and he wanted blago's help. blago claims that he wanted him to "appoint a placeholder to his congressional seat, according to blagojevich. the plan was for him to run in 2010 once he was done with the obama administration. the white house's take on this is -- >> i barely covered with raum what will hap on the rest of the week, i have not talked to him about that and i have not seen the book. >> well, we'll all see it because the book "the governor" hits shelves next week. a lot of blame in the book where blago blames everyone, but as one writer said, himself for the problems he's facing. sarah palin under fire again. why donations being made from her political action committee are raising more eyebrows. we'll hit the money trail next on msnbc. upbeat rock ♪ singer:wanted to get myself a new cell phone ♪

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welcome back. more than 3,000 firefighters are trying to get an upper hand on that raging wildfire threatening more than 12,000 homes right now in southern california. at times, the flames reached 100 feet in the sky racing up hillsides near homes. 90 degree temperatures and low humidity are causing the station fire, that's the big one, to explode in size to more than 120,000 acres. the fire is only 5% contained, which is really nothing at this point. for the very latest information and pictures of the fire, you can visit our website, msnbc.com/fires and some incredible images out there. police still investigating the abduction of jaycee dugard. they say they found bone fragments on the property next door to where she was held captive. now, police are now testing to see if those fragments are actually human bones as they look into whether phillip garrido is responsible for the

disappearance of several prostitutes in the area, as well as another young girl who bears a striking resemblance to jaycee. george lewis joins us from antioch, california. how long will it take before they get an answer on whether those bone fragments are human or animal? >> yeah, tamron, it is one bone fragment. a single bone fragment they found so we shouldn't read too much into this. it may well be an animal bone fragment but the police are being very careful sifting thou all this evidence and they're also expanding their search to tie phillip garrido to the connection of other women including three prostitutes whose body was dumped in a field where he once worked and there was one michaela garecht who was

kidnapped a few months after garrido was released from prison. she bears a striking resemblance to jaycee dugard. she was snatched off a street into broad daylight and the car sped away. they're looking at that and other kidnapping cases, as well as these unsolved murders to see if there's any tie in at all. >> george, any word phillip garrido is cooperating. right after his arrest he gave that interview that was widely played where he tried to explain the case of jaycee dugard, but is he cooperating at all? >> we have not heard whether he is being cooperative or noncooperative in that interview it was very long and incoherent and i suspect if he is cooperating with authorities, they are taking everything he said with a grain of salt. >> thank you, george, for the latest on that investigation. and, you know, the movie

"jerry mcgwire" show me the money, though them the money. republicans are getting support from former alaska governor sarah palin, money bags but now the federal election commission is saying, hang on a minute. deputy political director mark murray joins us live from washington. so, we know that governor palin certainly for those who support her, they're ready to open up their wallets, but what is the controversy here, mark? >> tamron, has to do with campaign finance law and most political action committees like sarah palin political action committee or packs that can give up to $5,000, $5,000 for a primary and $5,000 for a general election. however, in order to be a multi-candidate pack you actually have to give donations to more than at least five candidates and campaigns. well, as it turned out, sarah pack had given contributions just to two candidates. john mccain, alaska senator lisa

mercowski and by that you could only give up to $4,800. $2,400 for the primary and $2,400 for the general election. treated just like almost any other individual giving money to a political candidate. and so that's why they had to return just a couple hundred dollars in each instance because they hadn't reached that multi-candidate level to be able to give more donations. >> what about this filing the fdc on friday that the pac actually contributed to lindsay gram, marsha blackburn on the list, as well. >> the reason is to get to that multi-candidate threshold and be contributing to at least five other campaigns. so, she gave to some of the more conservative candidates. you mentioned michelle balkman and others and now that they give money it can give in the $5,000 increments for a primary or general election. >> we know michelle balkman

seems to be one of those targets for those on the left, but also on this list that sarah pac gave to this gubernatorial candidate bob mcdonnell, he has been criticized in the news for saying that women who work are a detriment to society. how dangerous is it for her to be associated with such, she has her own controversy, we know that. but with such a fresh controversy. >> that story has created a political firestorm and yesterday bob mcdonnell held a conference call with reporters in virginia and nationwide to explain that he no longer holds that view on women about feminism and women being able to work. he said his youths have evolved and pointed out that his daughters have worked and so does his wife and he really hopes that quiets down that storm and it would be surprising to me if sarah palin was not giving someone like that money.

>> you know, it's interesting. she said they received over 950 requests for speeches and the other thing is vanity fair levi johnston, the kid who would have been her son-in-law, he has written something for "vanity fair" called "me and sarah palin." we're out of time. i wish we could talk about "me and sarah palin" but i'm sure we'll have much more time for that later. kind of scary. >> most definitely. a few minutes ago, we showed video of republican congressman pete olsen of texas being shouted down during a town hall. he's a republican. but the people who shouted he was getting his facts wrong about health care, a story that he had been telling. well, his office does not dispute that. it happened, it is on tape, but now says that this came at the end of a presentation section of his meeting and that he did go on to have a q and a that lasted for three hours. well, what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? most for headaches.

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welcome back. we've got new live pictures as more than 3,000 firefighters are trying to get the upper hand on that raging wildfire threatening more than 12,000 homes in southern california. 90 degree temperatures and low humidity are causing the station fire to explode in size to more than 120,000 acres. the fire's just 5% contained. and they're expecting potentially thunder and lightning as well as wind that could kick up, and 30 miles per hour wind, some estimates, that could start this fire to spread even more quickly. also speculation the mount wilson observatory would succumb to the fire. that includes tv antennas that would affect the information being sent out to the folks in california. complete team coverage of what has happening there in the state

of california. president obama just received a major briefing on the nation's planned response to h1n1, the swine flu. we just learned he will make a statement from the rose garden just minutes from now. that's at 2:10 eastern time. the swine flu will certainly be one of the big stories in the next 24 hours. let's bring in white house reporter for the "washington post." good to see you. >> great to see you. if swine flu definitely something that's going to be on everyone's mind over the next 24 hours. actually something the white house has been preparing for for many weeks, trying to make sure they get alert out to people who are going to be vaccinated and to have a plan in effect for the school year. >> switching to topic number two, the kennedy senate seat. we heard duvall patrick say january 29th is the date. what will happen as far as the legislature and the pressure being put on the democrats there to change the rules of the game. >> that's right. i know the segment's the next 24 hours. this is really going to be the next 24 weeks. a little less than that,

actually, about five months that this phenomenal campaign shaping up in massachusetts. my old newspaper, "the boston globe," is reporting the attorney general is going to be the first to get into the race. there are going to be a number of others. they're going to be keeping an eye on whether any kennedy, whether it is the senator's widow or joseph kennedy will throw their names into the ring as well as members of the house delegations who are eyeing it on, of course, the republican side. there's going to be a number of candidates who are now, a few days after the funeral of former senator ted kennedy, people starting to get back into politics, figure out who's going to run. it's going to be one of the greatest races we've seen in a long time. >> e know the impact it will have on some of the immediate debates happening out there. great seeing you. we want to remind our audience, president obama going to make a brief -- making statements from the rose garden regarding h1n1, the swine flu, and the preparedness of this country for the outbreak. they say it could affect at

least 10% of the population as we enter the traditional flu season. so we will certainly bring the president's comments to you when he steps up to the mike at the podium in the rose garden. that does it for me in this hour. i'm tamron hall. i'm going to see you back here at 3:00 p.m. eastern. pick up the coverage from here. and contessa, i believe, is standing by with what they have coming up for us. >> we have a lot of fire coverage comie ining up after ak break. every day special. fancy feast introduces an entirely new way to celebrate any moment. fancy feast appetizers. simple high quality ingredients like wild alaskan salmon, white meat chicken, or seabass and shrimp in a delicate broth, prepared without by-products or fillers. new fancy feast appetizers.

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breaking news, right now. these are live pictures. watch as those flames grow ever closer to a neighborhood. those among 10,000 and more families who are evacuated. we are looking now at hundreds

of miles burnt, thousanding is firefighters hard at work. the heat is scorching. not only from flames, but a day where the temperatures already hit 100 degrees. commanders are feeling optimistic. they think they can get some work accomplished today because of higher humidity helping them. but, again, look at those flames approach these houses. good tuesday, everyone. welcome to msnbc's special coverage of the california wildfires. i'm contessa brewer in new york. joining me from los angeles, al roker. i understand you have just returned from touring some of the sites hit by these wildfires. what did you see? >> reporter: well, contessa, we were in the hills above above the city of tajunga in southern california. we witnessed these firefighters who do amazing work and some of the hand crews. hand crews are literally feet on the ground. they have ax picks.

they've got rakes, chain saws. they're cutting out the brush, they're working with bulldozers. while we were on the hill, it was amazing. there was no wind when we got up to the hill. when we got on it, all of a sudden winds picked up and the hill literally exploded in flames. we had to come down pretty quickly. it was an amazing thing to see. you've got almost 3,700 personnel working these fires. you've got 400 fire trucks right now. you've got 13 helicopters. you've got six winged aircraft. an amazing army. this fire right now 5% contained, which means 95% of it isn't contained. the good news is, the winds for the most part have been fairly mild. we've been looking at the radar. i don't know if we can access the radar, our nbc radar right thousand. but there have been some showers. most of these showers aren't reaching the ground. they're evaporating. the bad news is they are helping to kick up the winds. and that's been a big problem. the wind directions are going to be outth