in neighboring new mexico, at fire burning in carlsbad national park.visitors were evacuated as crews battle the 14,000 acre blaze. >>> he's one of the most watched and talked about republicans. today texas governor rick perry is in new york. he's speaking at a republican dinner tonight. but there's still no answer to that question, a whole lot of folks are ask it. will he run for president next year? >>> and speaking of republican presidential candidates, last night seven of them faced off in new hampshire with one anti-obama message. but when you ask people who won the debate, one name you hear often is minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann. our joe johns has more on her rise to contender status. >> tea party darling, anti-obama fire breather, now congresswoman michele bachmann is ready for an even bigger microphone on an even bigger political stage. >> maybe we need to send a change of address form to 1600 pennsylvania avenue. with sarah palin still undecided, bachman may be the only woman among a field of male contenders. she's known for tough ta

officials have closed the famous carlsbad taverns. >> they are bringing the firefighters in from allut but only 10% containment, rob. i can't imagine. i know you've been out on the fire lines like that. it's dangerous work and back-breaking work and they are trying to get a handle on this thing. >> the size of this is extraordinary. almost 500,000 acres of it and they have to surround it and i think they have 10% now and today, i think a better chance laying down more fire lanes and get more containment. smoke a huge issue as it continues to press off into parts of new mexico. very bad air quality there. we will call it elevated fire conditions in parts of texas and southern new mexico but we don't have any critical fire danger today which is a nice reprieve from what we have seen. flood warnings across missouri. dumping into the mississippi so we have got issues there. on top of that we have heavy rains falling across parts of iowa, missouri again today, and in through parts of illinois. these aren't severe thunderstorms at the moment but they could become severe later on today in t

>> the one i am aware of is new mexico and around the carlsbad area. there may be others. >> is that for high energy waste? >> this is local community support and yes, sir. >> now mr. friedman, how much is closing out the yucca mountain project costing the federal government? a yearly basis or? >> mr. dingell, i'm not sure to the answers the question. if i can i certainly will. >> it isn't going for peanuts, its cost and lots of money? >> they spend a great deal of money on the network and finalizing some of the technical studies that have been done to estimate how much is it estimated the closeout of yucca mountain will the department of energy liability, do you have an estimate on that? >> we do expect that it will be -- >> can you answer that for the record? >> how much as the united states invested in the yucca mountain project? how much of that works for the nuclear waste front, the rate payers and how much of the federal government in the taxpayers? >> about two-thirds from the refund and 10 billion. >> [inaudible] >> how much does that come down

carlsbad, california phyllis. caller: carlsbad, new mexico. host: in new mexico. go ahead. caller: i don't care whether you are independent, republican, democrat. stop taking all the wages away from them working in washington or living outside of it. take all their perks away and start hurting like the rest of america is hurting. we are. i brought a daughter from one side of the country to another because of no business. they've lost it all. start letting them feel the pinch. host: we have a tweet from dean he writes instead of cutting benefits, congress should be cutting waste and tax loopholes. send us your tweets at c c-span wj. on the line for republicans. caller: good morning. i'm 52 years old. i've been paying into social security since i was 14. i've been an independent contractor most of the time. i believe the problem with social security is that people are getting a lot more than they paid in. it's like trying to nail jel low to a tree. start out by making it optional. let's pay everybody back what they paid in and kill the system and let people keep the money and

is any difference in that regard than carlsbad. again, i do not understand the standard. i was not involved in those conversations, so your guess is as good as mine. i mention that scientists are trying to find a safe place to put nuclear fuel. it is a ford is now, but not long term. the department of energy describes the 25-year stalemate. do you agree with those terms? >> it cannot believe it has been a stalemate, but a very contentious process and i would not deny that, but i do not believe it was a stalemate. >> these 25 years were not spent the people just wringing their hands. >> and we had a great victory and submitted a license application in the 2008, so i would not look at that as a stalemate. unfortunately, the truncated licensing process, but i believe the nation deserves an answer on yucca mountain. >> as far as you can tell, from your knowledge and experience, that answer has not been forthcoming other than to say they are looking for consensus or social aspects on this? but we have not seen any scientific, legal, any

moved from this particular site to a site almost half a mile underground in salt beds down near carlsbadhe hazard has been going down over time. the thing you have to understand this is an area where they don't believe a fire could get to number one. the fire, as you heard the fire chief today in the press conference said we do not me believe a running fire could get to this site. even if it could, the county fire people are prepared, and the chief said this at the press conference, to immediately surround the site and cover it completely with foam. so you would have a protection from a foam encasing all of that. but they don't believe number one the fire could get there. number two, they're prepared to cover all of the waste with foam so that it wouldn't be able to escape or catch on fire. >> so clearly, they have plans a, b and c. you know this area very well. i was looking closely at some of the maps earlier today. and there's in area called area g. it's the place where most of the waste is apparently being stored. it's about five miles from the lab. follow the line diagonally to the

another fire forced the carlsbad caverns national park to close. the concern for many home owners is now the smoke. is. >> a lot of people think because the smoke isn't in their home town, they're safe but it can be throughout the home. >> that's what i want to understand. it's not about that but the smoke itself and what it does to your body. >> here's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories. today's question, is either party inspire the middle class? karl costello joining us from washington with the very latest. kay, carol. >> hello, suzanne. we're asking that question -- i'm having technical problems. i'm going to take this out of my ear. we're asking this question in light of the debate between the republican candidates. it certainly didn't take long for the democratic party to rebut via youtube. after the obama bash fest, it was a no-brainer. >> i do not believe in american courts. >> i support a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. >> well, come on, the republicans may not have uttered the phras

carlsbad caverns is the best known example. millions of people have been educated and have known that over the years. in the white nose centrum, my home state of pennsylvania as many caves that advertise. they will advertise for bats. there are small business owners with families that run some of these commercial caves that rely on the bats to bring in tourists. >> what is the percentage of caves that are problematic? the syndrome is their verses the once free of any of this fungus or disease? >> researchers are monitoring -- >> throughout the united states. >> it is being monitored county by county pennsylvania, for example, had the fun this a few years ago. this year in maryland in there were additional counties impacted. i don't know of anybody has a percentage >> a percentage of all the case throughout the united states and canada that are affected? >> i can tell you that we have over 190 sites known to be affected at this time and there are thousands and thousands. >> is a small percentage but still spreading? >> that is t