>> caller: i don't have information that they didn't. fire department indicated to us there's no injured party at this point. so, you know it's hard to say 100% sure but i don't believe there was any casualties from this, from what i'm looking at. >> you guys were able to cut off and evacuate a huge swath of highway. any idea how many cars are on the highway as the fire moves car-to-car? >> caller: i was briefly looking at the news and i could see there was hundreds of cars probably close to thousands of cars that are stranded. there's motorists sitting there waiting, they can't go anywhere. i'm sure it's a nightmare for these people. >> there's also some concern, the fire department was talking about it folks in the area the water drops coming from the airplane and the helicopter are heavy, so folks need to get out of that area. that could cause injury. >> absolutely. it's a lot of water and a small area that drops. they are trying to direct it on top of a burning vehicle or structure and it is going to come down and it's going to come down hard. you don't want to have that kind of shower of water on you. definitely want to stay clear of that. >> officer, obviously, wildfires are a common occurrence. it's been an intense fire season already in california. my sense is however, it is relatively rare to get one that gets to a freeway so fast before it can be blocked off like this one got there today. >> caller: yes it's true. this is a rarity. i worked in this area for about seven years. i can only think, this is the worst i have seen. there's been times where it's approached upon a freeway, about the right shoulder the fire department got there relatively quickly and were able to take care of it. i can't think of anytime there's been multiple vehicle that's caught fire from a wildfire like this. >> all right. california highway patrol thank you. >> joining me now, melanie garner from the u.s. force service. i believe i saw a few vehicles in our live shot that appeared to be u.s. force service. are they on the scene of the fire? >> yes. the u.s. forest service are in command working the fire at the time. we have multiple agencies involved. >> now, we can see now that there are fire teams dispatched on the ground. they appear to be able to get some of the more intense vehicle fires under control, particularly the massive tractor trailer that exploded. do you feel you are confining the fire particularly on the stretch of the 15? >> we have the fire burning on the vehicles but we have a vegetation fire moving toward homes in the baldy mesa area. there's two different fronts on the fire. >> are you evacuated the homes in the mesa area toward which that fire burned? >> yeah the area is baldy mesa. it's an area of scattered ranch homes, scattered homes, large acreage homes. they are under mandatory evacuation. the area north and west of interstate 13. >> now, this fire started in the afternoon and my sense was, this was a particularly fast moving fire, that's why we have the somewhat surreal and terrifying image of the cars on the highway because it moved up the slope. is that right? >> right. it's a busy freeway on friday afternoons because of the vacation travelers, commuters and the construction going on in cajon pass. >> this has been a very active fire season in the fourth year of this historic drought in california. i read a statistic in the new york times that the five years previous average was 2200 fires at this point. there's already been 3300. are you stealing yourselves for an intense season? >> we are always ready for an intense fire season. we are aware the drought will cause more fires because the vegetation is dry and will carry more fires, but we are always prepared for fires. >> i have to imagine, this is a difficult and dangerous situation for the firefighters on the ground there. these vehicles obviously, very different than how you would go confronting a vegetation fire. this is huge amounts of explosive gasoline they are battling. >> it's both. it's dry brush allowing the fire to move quickly toward homes and quickly across the freeway and, yes, it ignited these vehicles that have all kinds of fuel ether carried in the vehicles or in their gas tanks. yes, that is a very scary situation as well. >> all right. thank you very much. joining me now from los angeles, nbc news correspondent hallie jackson. hallie what is the latest? is this spreading at the moment or are they able to get it under control? >> it looks like firefighters are on the ground putting water on the cars which is progress from a half hour ago. around 4:30 we knew 500 acres were burned now, it's 2,000 acres. it is movering quickly. firefighters are trying to get a hand on it from the ground and the air. we have seen retardant drops as well to contain this thing. at this point, i want to touch on this this is the highway to vegas. on a friday afternoon, people leaving l.a. to go to vegas at rush hour you are seeing a huge back up the mess on the cahon pass. wind gusts are not helping. we know that at least 15 cars burned. there's no firm number yet. visually, you can see how bad it's gotten. we understand from various fire officials, there are some number of victims, either burned or who inlailed smoke. we cannot confirm the number now. there was talk of a drone drowning the aerial attack. that was not the case. the drones were in the area, but cleared out in time for the aircraft to get up. i have to tell you, over the last several weeks, we have seen drones ground fire fighting aircraft in different fires. it's been a real concern for california officials here. luckily, that appears not to have happened in this case as we look at another water drop. >> that water drop if you were underneath it can be very very dangerous. that's a huge amount of weight. they have to coordinate extremely tightly with the firefighters on the ground. you see them clear out and back away in preparation for the water drop. the water drop may look inefficient to the naked eye or like it's not enough to get it under control, the fire has to be put out on the ground. it is hard to put a fire out from the air. it can aid, but the firefighters in the live shot are the one that is will do that. you are seeing some of those vehicles being withdrawn. they have cleared enough space and created enough break between the fire to move vehicles back. that's easy to get that portion of the fire under control. hallie, this has been a very active season. there's a lot of concern about how it's ging to be. you can see the plume of smoke from the fire in san bernardino peeking up over the santa monica mountains right there in our shot there. you can see that there on the left of your screen. hallie, there's a lot of concern. i talked to someone from the san diego fire department. they had a really really active season last year. they are worried about what this season is going to be. >> that is something you are hearing, not just in san diego, but throughout the state. we talked about it a lot, last summer it could be the worst fire season. we are hearing it again this year. they say there's no fire season anymore. they are seeing fires almost year round. typically, it's only bad certain times of the year. we are in the fourth year of this record breaking drought. you are seeing more fuel for the fire that is can light up. it's a concern. in this area out here north of san bernardino, people are used to wildfires, right? it's not uncommon. we have seen 3300 in california. i would nlt say it's a way of life, but almost. when you see this number of cars burning on the highway, you heard one of the folks say, that is a rarity as he put it. he's never seen anything like it in seven years. >> hallie jackson, thank you for your time. we are going to be right back. we will continue to monitor the fire and bring an interview i had talking about efforts this fire season. that will be up next. stick around. do you like the passaaadd? it's a good looking car. this is the model rear end event. the model year end sales event. it's year end! it's a rear end event. year end, rear end check it out. talk about turbocharging my engine. you're gorgeous. what kind of car do you like? new, or many miles on it? get a $1000 volkswagen reward card on select 2015 passat models. or lease a 2015 passat limited edition for $199 a month after a $1000 bonus. shopping online... ...is as easy as it gets. wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers carpenters and even piano tuners... were just as simple? thanks to angie's list now it is. start shopping online... ...from a list of top rated providers. visit angieslist.com today. we are monitoring a massive, raging wildfire sweeping across san bernardino a few miles from where we are located at griffith observatory. ed to move up a slope, on to the 15 freeway, which was packed with traffic. the traffic had to be evacuated. people got out scattered reports of some injuries. firefighters are fighting their way down the line of cars vehicle-to-vehicle as the fire was hopping from car-to-truck-to-car. the fire spreading now in the opposite direction threatening homes in a nearby area. this happening in the fourth year of the historic drought that created record amount of fuel for these wildfires. firefighters girding themselves for the worst. we'll be back with more after this break. can a business have a mind? a subconscious. a knack for predicting the future. reflexes faster than the speed of thought. can a business have a spirit? can a business have a soul? can a business be...alive? we continue to monitor the dramatic scene in san bernardino county. the fire broke out on the cajon pass. the fire crossed the freeway setting multiple cars trucks aflame. it started near interstate 15. it is approximately 2,000 acres in size. northbound and southbound interstate 15 are closed. this week i went for a ride in san diego's fire rescue helicopter with their chief of air operations to discuss how the historic drought the state is going through is changing the way they fight fires, just like this one. >> the basic conditions here in the san diego fire department are looking for in fire season. >> i think the fire rescue is similar to all of is your honor california right now. what we are looking at is impact of the drought on the fuel conditions, which means dry fuel, a lot of it. add a wind event, which we know is going to happen we can't predict exactly when. add the wind to it. then any degree of slope and you are going to have a significant fire if there's an ignition. >> does dryness, does the fact the state has been in an historic drought for several years, does that increase the risk factor? >> what's interesting, fire burns dead dry fuel significantly faster than it does green live fuel. we look at how much dead fuel is out there. what the drought has created is large pockets of dead fuel that provide the base for the fire. >> you had quite a season last year starting may, 2014. tell me a little bit about that. >> i think what was unique about that event was, one, it was in may where we see aggressive active fire behavior. two, the majority of fires we saw were along the coast and historically for us, you don't see a lot of fires on the coast because you have a coastal input. occasionally less winds. historically n our area fires start to the east and move to the west. this was the unique situation. >> so you had a bunch of fires along the coast. itis not something you really dealt with before? >> no. my experience has not been we have seen multiple fires along the coast. normally, they pop up to the east inland. an occasional fire along the coast. it was an extremely rare occurrence. >> talk to me about what the effect of the drought that's happening here in california is on the work you guys do. >> well vegetation fires need three things really. they need terrain, slope, fuel and the weather. the dryness and the wind to move the fire. all it takes is a source of ignition and you have a fire. with the drought, the critical component. the fire is going to burn more rapidly. some areas are affecting our ability to get water. the quickest way to fill in is hover over a body of water and snorkel it up. it drys up and becomes less available. that means we have to travel farther to get water, which means for us the amount of time we are spending on the fire. >> that's interesting. what are the bodies of water you are not going to drop salt water. >> we can. it's the last thing we will do if nothing else is available. that's a good example. that pool of water right there, anything you see on golf courses, golf course water. any place that the pilot can safely get into. a challenge is snorkeling the water up. they need maneuver room as they come forward and get enough lift to get out. so they are looking for an opening that allows them to move in smoothly and safely and enough depth to the water. so, the droughts affecting the location of some of those. that's interesting. the drought increases the amount of fuel. the more dry fuel you have the more you have increased your chances of something igniting. >> yes. >> you have the situation where you are using bodies of water with this helicopter to snorkel up water and work in the fire suppression. as those bodies of water dry up it gets harder to find those? >> exactly. >> all right. that was my interview with the san diego fire department. you are looking at a fire burning in san bernardino california. we have been here all week doing reports on the water wars. california has had the three driest years since they started keeping track. the reason we did it is it is a national story. it is a story about the present and future into which we are walking. they will see more weather and climate extremes more droughts in the western united states and a place where scarce resources in the west and across the country, things like water are going to be used effectively and efficient efficiently. you are seeing the smoke from san bernardino right now. it may be a way of life. all the models we have suggest it is going to be more intense. more reporting on the water wars when we come back. don't go anywhere. the possibility of a breach can quickly become the only thing you think about. that's where at&t can help. at at&t we monitor our network traffic so we can see things others can't. mitigating risks across your business. leaving you free to focus on what matters most. ♪♪ in the nation, we know how you feel about your car. so when coverage really counts you can count on nationwide. ♪ love ♪ because what's precious to you is precious to us. ♪ love is strange ♪ just another way we put members first. join the nation. ♪ baby... ♪ ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ a new test with pluggable febreze. we rented this resort, hid smelly objects all over each villa and plugged in febreze. then real people were asked to stay for a long 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burned more than 2,000 acres. it's not just the highway. when it jumped the highway, it caught the cars on fire apparently. now, threatening homes. there are mandatory evacuations in the place. this is north of san bernardino. this is really the route. when you look at i-15 the highway we have been watching, this is the route for people to get out of l.a. and up to vegas. as you might imagine, on a friday afternoon at 5:30 local time, that is a popular highway to be driving. this is snarled traffic, of course. firefighters are trying to get a handle on it. we have seen them from the ground and the air dropping water and retardant to contain this thing. >> as you are watching the images obviously, this is a dry region. even if there were no humans here this would be a dry region and without humans there would be fires. itis part of the area. what happens during development and people have gotten smarter of how to develop. there is a cycle in which the suppression of fires, successfully fighting them helps it fuel stock. the more you build up fuel stock and that combines with the drought in its fourth year to create a tremendous amount of dry fuel that is now there throughout southern california. >> yeah you know we talk about this often, that if you talk about this would be a dry area if there weren't humans. that is correct. if there weren't, the fires would burn naturally. it would not allow fuels to be replenish replenished. because there are homes, people, cars and highways all over california in these metro areas, that has become the concern, stopping the fires. protect life property that is a firefighter mission. >> all right. hallie thank you so much for joining us this evening. we are going to continue to check in with the fire as it burns, hoping the firefighters can get it under control. it appears at this moment we don't have reports of deaths. there are reports we cannot confirm of injuries. a terrifying moment as the fire swept up on to the freeway. it gives you a sense of how fast it moved and how close much of the area is to that kind of event. now, we are here at the griffith observatory overlooking the city of los angeles for the final installment of water wars an in-depth look at what's happening as the state grapples with this historic drought. we are looking at the sea, once a bustling tourist destination. today, the salten sea finds itself on the brink of environmental disaster. film maker, john waters put it it's where uyou taupe ya does a tan go. if you come to the edge and you just kind of close your eyes for a second and you listen to the sounds around you, you wouldn't know you were in the middle of a desert of southern california or an an agricultureal area. it has that sound of life and calm peacefulness that is just waiting here for people to come appreciate. >> reporter: drive three hours east of san diego and you reach imperial valley. a desert turned agricultureal wonderland, home of 80% of winter's vegetables and the largest lake in california, the salten sea, a body of water created by accident. >> the colorado river is an outstanding example of river that man put to their own use. >> reporter: engineers attempted to divert irrigation water from the colorado river. it failed and the colorado flooded the salten basin for two years, creating the sea. fires helped keep it going. by mid century, developers realized this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. >> you are looking at a remarkable idea. an idea that has intrigued, attracted and thrilled thousands upon thousands of men, women and children. this is the story of the miracle sea in the desert. the salton sea. >> reporter: it was supposed to be the riviera of the west. a haven for ordinary americans and the hollywood elite. >> we had frank sinatra here. anybody with recognition whatsoever were here. you name it they were here. >> i never water skied. i was the boat driver. my kids they were the ones and their friends who took turns. then the fishing was good too. we'd go fishing a lot. >> we had a dune buggy club. 110 members. we used to have a ball. >> reporter: it didn't last. two tropical storms in the '70s and a mass die off ofe '90s, turned this desert paradise into a post op landscape t. sea is shrink shrinking. the evaporation is making it saltier, twice as salty as the ocean. it's an environment tilapia can live in but not much else. >> it is constantly changing. the fish will perish as the sea gets saltier. other things will be able to live here. >> reporter: the salton sea depends on water chrks it gets from area water from the colorado river. that is now at risk. the water agreement is diverting some of the water to cities. now, a shin king salton sea is makinglake lake beds. it stirs up a toxic dust. it will only get worse over time. so far, little has been done to stop a looming environmental disaster creating an uncertain disaster to the thousands of people who call it home. >> i love this place. i will fight for it as much as i can. makes you sad. i won't leave here. i'll hang out. >> as the california drought continues, companies and cities are looking to the ocean for solutions. i visited a plant to find out the future of converting salt water to fresh water. much more, when we come back. t strategy is now business strategy. and a partnership with hp can help you accelerate down a path created by people, technology and ideas. to move your company from what it is now... to what it needs to become. 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>> the technology has evolved. since the '50s, plants installed in the middle east and elsewhere. here in north america, where water has been cheaper and plentiful, we have relied on traditional sources of supply. what's changed is the traditional sources are no longer cheap. the technology is more affordable. we are at the cross overpoint. it's made sense to look to the ocean for part of the sup lie. >> the technology has been expensive. what we are standing on is a billion dollar facility. >> no doubt. this water that we are producing at the plant will cost more than our supply. our partner tht project, san diego water authority looking at this supply as a hedge on future droughts. they expect in the middle of the next deck kate it will be -- additional investment will be required to keep the waters flowing as well. >> it's hard to see how things don't become drier as the climate changes, as things get warmer. >> throughout the southwest, we are dependent on the same source of water, the colorado river and the sacramento river. that's what serves san diego county along with local run off. this is an opportunity to look to the pacific ocean for a new supply to meet a portion of our needs. >> that's the pacific ocean there. that's the stuff that you are going to use to turn it into drinking water. how does the process start? >> we have a pump station on the ocean front. it sends 100 million gallons of sea water to the filter where we are standing. that's the first filtration. it goes through a bed of sand and charcoal. the next step gets the water cleaner in terms of impurities. the last step is reverse osmosis that separates the fresh and salt water. one gallon of extra salty water is the byproduct that goes back to the ocean. >> we are now in the third final chamber of this process, where is where the actual reverse osmosis happens, right? >> where the magic happens. this is where we separate the salt from the water. >> how does it work? >> it works, you pressurize the sea water to real high pressure. >> you really have to pressurize it. >> almost 800 to 900 pounds per square inch. what does that mean? what is a fire hydrant compared to that? >> the tire in your car is 30 psi. we are looking at 30 times that pressure. 25 to 30 times higher pressure in the tire of your car. >> okay. >> the water is introduced this to filter. there are 17,000 of these in the plant. inside this filter is a very fine membrane material it looks like that. >> this is fairly simple in certain ways. pressurize the water and you are going to force it through these -- this paper basically, that's got very very small holes. >> right. >> how small are the holes? >> small enough so a water molecule can get through. >> a water molecule? >> a water molecule. >> how small is that? >> a halftimes smaller than the diameter of the hair on your head. >> it's a miracle in engineering. what do you say when they say the trade is energy for water. you are using energy to get fresh water, right? >> correct. but, we also have a heavy energy load and supplies are coming in from other locations. they get pumped over the mountains. energy is part of our water supply regardless of the source. this requires energy to remove salt. the others require energy to transport it here. >> i guess the question is carbon emissions and water are two things we have constraints on. are we making the right trade when we do this? >> in this case we are. we are making it carbon neutral. we are buying electricity from the local utility. they are making fossil fuels and renewables to the extent the electricity in this plant went to fossil fuels. we buy carbon offsets to make this carbon neutral. it's our commitment for the full 30 years of the operation of this facility. >> do you think you are the first wave? if i come back in 20 years, more of these? >> absolutely. there's going to be more. utilities all the way from orange county to the north of us up into the san francisco bay area looking at similar projects. some smaller, some comparable size. but, this is not the last plant of this scale in california. coming up a man that's been critical of california's drought strategy. the state's contingency plan of staying in emergency mode and praying for rain. jay joins me next. e. we're keeping our eye on the fire. it is a higher risk of fire and other disasters. we have been crisscrossing the state as part of our watt ere war series. if you want to check it out, go to facebook.com/allinwithchris. 's what i like to call the meta effect. 4-in-1 multi-health metamucil is clinically proven to help you feel less hungry between meals. experience the meta effect with our multi-health wellness line. i am totally blind. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night, and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24. learn more by calling 844-824-2424. or visit your24info.com. ♪ ♪ ♪ (vo) making the most out of every mile. that's why i got a subaru impreza. love. it's what makes a subaru a subaru. joining me now is jay, hydrologist and senior water scientist. good to have you here. >> thanks for having me. >> we are going to talk about solutions. this is the end of the week. the fires burn over the mountains there. >> yeah. >> one possible solution is a bigger scale. this is the first in carlsbad what do you think of that? >> the best solution is to try to use less. conservation should be the first step. when that isn't enough you have to look at sewage recycling. desol dags is going to be a big part of our future. >> it is? >> absolutely. it has issues. it's energy expensive. >> the water that comes out is twice as salty and goes back into the ocean. it's going to have some effect. >> we can't sacrifice square footage of the sea floor. it's too much waste. >> folks are going into cars here, being allowed back into their vehicles it appears, what's left of them. many of them were burned in the fire. that's continuing over the mountains there. you say conservation is the first. one thing that's been interesting this whole week is this is a dry place. way drier than say, you know east coast. >> yeah. >> before the drought. the drought is very intense. there's a lot of people who live here and a lot of farms and cities yet a ton of slack in the system. that's been one of the most fascinating things here. >> i agree with you. i imagine someone like you coming over from the other side of the country takes a look around and thinking what drought. it's green and there's trees. we are not behaving like it is a semiarid region. we have to use less water, scale back on what we are doing with agriculture. that means accepting that we can't do all the thing that is we want to do. >> but who is that we? this gets to the political conflict. it's easy for you to sit here and say we. if that means some relatively new farmer in the imperial valley withdrew their water rights can't grow his stuff. >> of course not. we need to grow food. the fact is california is running out of water. we have been running out for a long time. that's because of the depletion of our ground water. add it into the total supply and think how much we get from snow and rainfall each year. we are losing water. we have to address that there are competing needs for water, environment, growing food, producing energy. we have to balance those. >> what does that mean in real terms? you have been critical of the governor. >> i haven't been. he's doing a great job. i think he's doing a great job. we need a long term plan and we don't. it's tough to do long term planning when your back is against the wall. actually, i think that the governor and his cabinet are probably the best group of people that we can have at the helm. >> why do you say that? >> governor brown has been exceptionally focused on water, even before the drought. he's using the drought as an opportunity to get long term infrastructure things done. >> there are people watching this, you know in virginia or dallas or boston. they are like well california i don't know. i guess that's bad. why the hell do i care? >> yes. >> i think there's an answer but what is your answer? >> we grow a tremendous amount of food. we grow almost all the produce consumed around the country. as that starts to take a hit, the ripple effects will spread across the country in the form of higher food prices. that will be a big problem. >> people are also moving to drier parts of the country. >> yeah. >> they are moving to sunnier parts of the country. >> yeah. >> everything west of the mississippi, huge expanse or west of the sort of midlands right? the kind of amazing prairie we have. everything to the left of that is sustained by the bureau having figured out how to divert these big rivers right? >> right. >> an era of sustained climate change is going to need serious adjustment. >> it will. what we are seeing is we went through that area of dam building. that's allowed the settling of the west. as climate changes, the snow low, the snowpack in the mountains is decreasing. that water availability is decreasing. in the meantime we are depleting our ground water. we are running out of water in the southwest u.s. >> what do you say to somebody who doesn't believe in climate change. we have droughts we always get droughts. >> i say it's fine. i mean that's fine. but, the reality of what's happening there is that the water table is dropping dropping dropping. it's record lows. there's no denying they see that. >> right. whether you believe in that or not, you can see where the water table is at. >> finally, i guess this question of the ultimate waste water, the actual sewage water, purifying it and it sounds tough to sell people on. is that a possibility? >> it's excellent. >> tasty. >> it is an excellent strategy. it's an excellent component. >> it's a doable thing? >> it's in orange county world class facility. >> maybe when we come back we will do that. taking the salt out seems like an up hill battle. do you think we are going to see that at a larger scale, too? >> absolutely. it's a little cheaper right now. >> cheaper? >> yes. >> that's very interesting. jay, great pleasure to have you here. i follow you closely on water issues. >> thanks so much. >> we are live at the griffith observatory in los angeles. up next, i'll ask the director of the observetive about the news of outer space. the first up close pictures of pluto. put your hand over your heart. is it beating? good! then my nutrition heart health mix is for you. it's a wholesome blend of peanuts, pecans and other delicious nuts specially mixed for people with hearts. i said people with hearts. because hearts health is important. that's why i've researched optimized and packaged this mix just for you. not you. so if you have a heart start optimizing your nutrition with my nutrition. planters. nutrition starts with nut. when a moment spontaneously turns romantic why pause to take a pill? 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yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against occasional digestive issues. with three types of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips'. all right, we are here at the griffith observatory high above los angeles. i'm happy to have with me the director for four decades, if i'm not mistaken is that right? >> that's the case. >> this pluto thing, how big of a deal is what we have been able to pull off in terms of getting that close to pluto? >> it's huge. first, it's the first time in the entire history of earth we have seen pluto close up. second, the technology that managed to work. going for purposes in hibernation and come out working like it should. finally, what we see is a complete surprise. >> what is the surprise? >> the surface of pluto seems to be young, covered with mountains of ice. it's not craters like we have seen elsewhere. it is a rocky, icy world. the details tell us about processes that are, up to now, unknown. >> this is more than an incredibly cool thing for people. we are going to get a lot of information about how our universe works from us? >> not only how it works, but the story of how we are concerned. pluto is the story. it's not making that much of a difference, but the solar system is process. we have to understand the process and pluto is part of that story. >> it's weirdly controversial. some people think it should be a planet. is what we are learning now going to contribute to that determination? >> it's fair to say any kind of definition of a planet or something else is going to be somewhat arbitrary. the reason this happened to pluto, we know there are a lot of other objects large in the solar system. some people didn't know what to do with them. so it was simply declared to make it simple. the bottom line is pluto is interesting. when we were redoing the whole place, the $93 million renovation, we knew it was coming. we had to look at the whole thing. we said it doesn't matter if it's a planet or not, it's welcome at griffith observatory. >> it's a pleasure. thanks a lot. >> thank you. >> that is "all in" for this evening live from griffith observatory overlooking the city of los angeles. itis been an incredible week. we crisscrossed the state. we have spoken to everyone from farmers to firefighters to officials and environment lists about the drought. my great thanes to my guests field producers and the incredible crew from the nbc los angeles bureau who made all this happen. thank you to everyone who made it happen. "rachel maddow show" starts now. good evening. >> you can't see this because you are in the field. i'm applauding you. it's been an amaze zing week. i thought i knew about that topic. itis amaze zing. well done. well done. >> thanks preernt it. >> that reporting he did all week, the stuff he explained and went out and saw, bring it on. thanks for joining us this friday. we have a big show for you here. we are beginning with an exclusive that, i'm sorry, happens to be about republican presidential candidate donald trump. you are not going to see this story anywhere else. this is ours alone. it's a little weird. it starts a decade ago when donald trump made a big and public donation. mr.