critical week. an abrupt resignation and outrage over his school speech as president obama tries to convince congress to pass health care reform. outbreak. thousands sickened as swine flu strikes u.s. colleges. what are schools doing to keep students safe? toxic town. saying good-bye to a city so polluted the government is paying residents to get out. and digging in. getting dirty and going green in and digging in. getting dirty and going green in an urban oasis. captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening. as americans enjoy this three-day holiday weekend, tuesday's dreaded return to the job could prove especially challenging for the nation's chief executive. the obamas are back at the white house tonight where the president's week has got off to a rough start with the abrupt resignation under fire by one of his special advisers. that's his controversy over the plarned message to school kids. this may come at a bad time for a president hoping to use this week as a chance to hit the reset button on the health care debate. we have more from the white house. >> reporter: as the president prepares for that all important address to congress and the nation on health care wednesday night, he must deal with the sudden resignation of a top aide on environmental policy and ms. flap over the planned speech tuesday to the nation's school children. the president today back at the white house after five days at camp david. a break that ended on a sour note. van jones, a top aide on environmentally friendly jobs, resigned late last night amid a controversy over his signature on a 2004 petition suggesting that the government had a hand in the 9/11 attack. internet videos also surfaced of provocative comments by jones, but it was this off-color assessment of republicans made last february that heightened calls for him to go. >> the answer to that is they're [ bleep ]. >> reporter: in a statement jones says he' the victim of a vicious smear campaign, and is quitting, he says, so he distract from the coming fights over climate change and health care. but the jones flap isn't the only diversion this week. his address tuesday to school children, available live nationalwide on c-span and the internet, has raised objections. some call it an intrusion. zim afraid this is a socialistic ideas of getting to kids when they're young. >> reporter: the white house says the speech is simply about staying and succeeding in school, and dismissed concerns of parents who plan to keep their kids home. >> that's silly. they can go to school and not watch. >> reporter: it comes as the president prepares for his biggest test yet. an address wednesday night to a joint session of congress and the nation on health care. after a summer that saul congressional proposals under attack at town halls across the nation and sinking support. >> your government has lost the faith and trust of the american people. >> reporter: aides say the president will now step forward with details, but it's his stance on a government-run plan, the so-called public option, that has become the make-or-break issue in the debate. liberals in his own party say it's a must. >> we need credible, comprehensive, universal health care with a good robust public option. >> moderate democrats have balked and today white house aides aren't promising anything. >> he believes the public option is a good tool. it shouldn't define the whole debate, however. >> reporter: many in washington believe the votes in congress are not there to pay a public option, and in the middle of all this the president ventures tomorrow to make a speech to the afl-cio, another key ally insisting on a public option. >> john harwood is cnbc's correspondent. i want to start off with the van jones resignation. i don't think most americans heard of him before this. can the republican right claim the first scalp in the administration, and how big a deal is it? >> not their first scalp. the president lost tom dashle who wanted to be his health care czar earlier in the year. it is a viktsary for the republican right, and the white house couldn't afford to spend time or energy at this critical point in the health care debate defending somebody associated with the suggestion the government allowed the 9/11 attacks to occur. >> they have spun the narrative to reinforce the notion that the president is dangerously left. does that hurt more than just the loss of a particular aide or adviser? >> exactly, lester. van jones was not an especially important figure within the administration. his job wasn't that big, but the president does face suspicions from some political opponents because of the exotic nature of his background, because of his name, because of some positions of his -- politically he's taken that shifted over time. there's something secretly moorad cal or further left than he's letting on right now, and he can't afford to have that suspicious amplified or continued in the political atmosphere we're in right now. >> we're talking about the resignation. the president wants to shipt the focus on health care, the big speech later this week, a line in the sand as his spokesman likes to call it. is the real audience here democrats, democrats on the moderate part of the party holding things up that the president needs to address? >> exactly, lester. this is one of those presidential speeches that is less about the public than about the people in that hall in the congress, because what president obama has to do is help democrats understand what the parra meters of this debate are and reassure mods that something can mass the senate they're going to cast a vote. they don't want to cast an empty vote to haunt them. he has to get the senate to move right now. >> thanks for being with us tonight. now to the swine flu and the fears it could spread rapidly as schools re-open. it's happening at washington state university where more than 2,000 students appear to have been stricken, and there are a growing number of cases at colleges from coast to coast. here here's jeff rossen. >> reporter: college move-in day. the new threat is swine flu. at washington state university this weekend's football game was overshadowed by a massive outbreak on campus. 2,000 suspected cases after only two weeks in session. >> if you feel sick, don't come to class. >> reporter: student volunteers are handing out free flu kits including a thermometer, painkillers, sports drinks and han sanitizer and tissues. >> i wash my hands after everything i do and i use purell, too. >> reporter: college students are vulnerable living, working and playing in close quarters. that explains this. the caseload is skyrocketing affecting at least 77 colleges from mississippi to kansas, colorado, to virginia, and the vaccine won't be available until next month. >> my kids are going to get this vaccine when it's available. we have a very high confidence in the safety of influenza vaccinati vaccination. >> reporter: at emery university in atlanta, they have a separate dorm for infected students. it's i modern day quarantine. they call it club swine. >> i'm very worried about missing classes because this is basically the first week of classes. so far i've only missed one of every class. >> every college, every high school, every elementary school, nursery school, any location where people are in close quarters, and this applies also to the military, should be prepared and have a plan for a forthcoming epidemic. >> one school near boston is telling sick students to just go home. doctors say that isn't necessarily a bad idea considering how easily this virus spreads. >> thank you. some good news tonight about the massive wildfire that's been burning north of los angeles. it's now 51% contained, and as fire crews gain the upper hand, officials are beginning to take stock of what's been lost. we get the latest from lee cowan. >> reporter: the angeles national forest, just 25 miles from downtown l.a., was once the perfect retreat on a labor day weekend like this. but now it's canyons and camp grounds are in a fire's footprint, a moon escape investigators say is the result of arson. after 12 days fire crews finally stopped its march to the west, but the blaze continues to jump fire lines to the east. >> the fuel, the dryness, the extended drought all coming together for extremely treacherous firefighting conditions. >> reporter: more than 157,000 acres have burned. 76 homes have been lost. more than a dozen damaged. and the price tag, $43 million and rising. and then there's the human toll. two firefighters, captain ted hall and specialist aroundee quinosas lost their lives, turning an arson investigation into a homicide case as well. the danger doesn't understand even if the fire dies. so much vegetation has been burned off, that the new worry now is flash flooding. >> if there's no vegetation and rain hits it, all the soil washes downstream. >> reporter: with all the losses come some victories. like here where firefighters managed to save the birthplace of modern astromomy. the mount wilson observe tear. >> we were overwhelmed with the history and science out of this facility. >> reporter: an effect that spelled this astron measure to travel 2,000 miles to say thank you in person. >> you know, i wish i knew what to say or something i can give you. all i can give you is my eternal thanks. >> reporter: gratitude like that goes a long way, especially since the worse of fire season is still ahead. lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. in northern california inspectors found what they called a significant crack in the span of the san francisco oakland bay bridge. the 73-year-old bridge was closed this weekend as part of a multi-year ren notice vags to help it better withstand earthquakes. they hope to repair the crack and re-open on tuesday. now to what's calmed one of the most toxic towns in america. contaminated after years of lead and zinc mining. but despite the danger and government efforts to move people out, some were refusing to leave pitcher, oklahoma. not anymore. here's nbc janet shamlian. >> reporter: the obituary of this small american town is written in spray paint. along a dusty highway almost every home and church and business in picher, oklahoma is marked to be condemned. >> it's scary here at night. everybody is moved out and gone. >> reporter: gloria is among the few still laifing in a community poisoned by decades of lead mining where the water runs orange and soil is caving in. picher is considered one of the most contaminated spots in the country. they're surrounded by gray mountains of toxic gravel. so polluted the government has paid more than 500 families to move away. buyouts started four years ago, now almost complete. as if things weren't bad enough, a tornado last year leveled homes and killed seven. even holdouts like 74-year-old joyce cox, who runs a burger stand, have accepted the inevitable. >> this whole buyout situation wasn't my idea, but when the tornado comes along and wipes out half the town, what else are you going to do? >> reporter: the bank moved, the post office closed. soon they will cut power in a town where the extent of the human toll will never be known. >> people my age, a burchl have died of cancer from here. children with birth defects, one kidney, deaf. >> reporter: her own son is deaf. knowing the potential danger, she's afraid to leave. picher is home. her father was a miner. se grew up here. she raised her children here. it's the only life she knows. >> what's that day going to be like when you close this door? >> it will be hard. i'm sorry. >> reporter: the last days of a tainted town, soon little more than a name on a map. janet shamlian, nbc news, picher, oklahoma. when "nightly news" continues this sunday, prescription for change. a flat rate health care solution. planting seeds to last a lifetime later. we'll be right back. i can enjoy the zoo 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(announcer) find out how to get your first full prescription free at advaircopd.com. this is humiliating. stand still so we can get an accurate reading. okay...um...eighteen pounds and a smidge. a smidge? y'know, there's really no need to weigh packages under 70 pounds. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. cool. you know this scale is off by a good 7, 8 pounds. maybe five. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. you weren't always my favorite day. with all the pet hair in the air, i'd spend class preoccupied, bothered by itchy eyes. but now i have new zyrtec® itchy eye drops. it works fast, with just one drop, to relieve my itchy eyes from allergies for up to 12 hours. no other allergy itchy eye drop works faster or longer. which is good, 'cause there's a lotta paws to shake. with new zyrtec® itchy eye drops i can love the air™. (announcer) find it in the allergy aisle next to other zyrtec® products. as the debate rages over health care reform ashgs growing number of people are taking matters into their own hands, they're opting for flat rate health care. could it be the best medicine for the health care crisis? here's nbc's chris january sing. >> reporter: at this doctor's office patients fed up with traditional health care had a litany of complaints. insurance is too expensive. >> i haven't had health care in a few years. i can't afford it. >> reporter: waits are too long, visits too short. >> i was at a doctor's office, and he tapped his watch and said let me know that my ten minutes were up. >> reporter: rising insurance rates are pricing out small business. >> our total budget would have been 14% devoted to health care. we couldn't afford it. >> reporter: all three now believe they found the answer to their frustrations at qliance. they charge a flat rate, a membership rate like a gym. 49 to $79 a month covers unlimited office visits seven days a week that average half an hour. checkups, sick visits, x rays, basic tests all included. this monthly fee practice isn't new, but it's used by the wealthy willing to pay a lot of money to have access to this kind of care. what's interesting is that now it's being seen as part of the solution to the problem of the high cost of medical care. dr. garrison bliss says the key so to eliminate the middleman, insurance companies. >> prime care right now is a money-burning operation. 50% of the money going to primary care is spent on transaction costs. your job is to get the paperwork right rather than your job is to take care of the patient. >> reporter: venture capitalists have investigated $7 million in qliance that has doubled the number of patients in a year, similar practices are open in 17 states. patients need to buy insurance for catastrophic coverage, but even with them they expect to save $1 million over five years. kim, $100 a month. >> it's really comforting to know that if something is wrong, if i get sick again, that i don't have to worry. >> tip your head back. >> reporter: while congress debates getting health insurance to all americans, one option may be to focus on health care instead. chris january sing, nbc news, seattle. >> we'll take a break. when we come back, taking on google. the place where everyone comes for answers. 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