Tracker showing joe biden with a doubledigit lead. And holiday covid concerns. Large crowds gather to celebrate the unofficial end of summer, despite warnings from Health Experts. Plus the virus impact on College Towns where College Football is on hold. A lot of money on the line. First, todays eye opener, your world in 90 seconds. We keep thinking theyve got it. Theyve got it, and then it flares back up. Total devastation. Sheriffs came through and said weve got to go. It may be time for them to leave. Fast wildfires raging across the state of california forcing mandatory evacuations. This heat wave is extraordinary. Its about as hot as it can physically get across california right now. Its cooking out there. Fresh concerns over potential spike in covid19 cases after the long Labor Day Weekend. Peoples willingness to comply with things we know can reduce spread is going to start to fray. The white house remains on the defense today. Allegations from a soon to be released memoir by a trump insider were leaked to the press. This Holiday Weekend was marked by the Racial Justice movement. Demonstrators around the country calling for police reform. Everybody is pointing the finger at each other. And that can be dangerous. A parade for President Trump gets dicey when multiple boats sink on lake travis in texas. Crazy moment at the u. S. Open. Novak djokovic disqualified after hitting the ball in anger that hit the line judge in the neck. And all that matters. Middleton for three. Chris middleton from downtown the Milwaukee Bucks avoid the sweep by the miami heat in overtime. The Los Angeles Lakers bounce back to beat the Houston Rockets to even up the series. Caruso throws it up. Hammertime for lebron james. On cbs this morning. Theyre off in the Kentucky Derby. It was a Kentucky Derby like no other at churchill downs. Never had the race been run in september, and never without fans in the grandstand. Authentic and John Velasquez have the lead as they come down to the 1 16 pole. Tiz the law still trying to get him. On the tick has won the Kentucky Derby . This mornings eye opener presented by toyota. Somebody made a lot of money off that horse. Yes, they did. What an upset, right . Happy labor day, guys. Gayle and anthony are off. Dana and michelle are here with me. Weve got a great show. Were beginning our labor day broadcast in california where one of the worst heat waves in california history is striking the state. Its slowing efforts to control about two dozen major wildfires. One of them trapped more than 200 people surrounded by flames near a popular campground in the Sierra National forest. Crews jammed people on military helicopters to fly them to safety. At least 20 people were taken to hospitals. Jonathan vigliotti is in shaver lake county north of los angeles. You spoke with a man who says he barely escaped. Michelle, good morning to you. Derek drake will be the first to tell you he is lucky to be alive. He was camping out here in the woods when he first noticed the flames. By the time he packed his stuff up, the one road out was completely blocked by a wall of fire. This park is known for its lakes so he did the one thing that made sense and jumped into the water. Campers hoping for a relaxing Labor Day Weekend found themselves suddenly trapped by flames. The socalled creek fire exploded. Jumping a river and kutcutting a river. Dennis drake was with his family. It was the Fastest Growing fire i had ever even heard of, let alone seen. It was amazing. Reporter he and about 150 people spent over an hour in the reservoir to escape the fire. Embers the size of golf balls. Winds 40, 50, 60 miles an hour. We keep going under and under and under and its like, in my mind, id gone, okay, are we going to die from the fire or from drowning. Drake captured this video of a military helicopter landing in the middle of the inferno. What went on in your mind when you saw the first chinook helicopter arrive . Woe im going, theyre here. They made it. And my level of anxiety, fear, stress just went from a million to about 10. It was just a big relief. Just a huge relief. Historic tripledigit temperatures combined with dry conditions helped fuel fires across the state. From San Bernardino county to san diego. Where at least 11 structures were destroyed and several more threatened. So much fuel at the base of that hill. I dont know if theyll weather the storm. Reporter and there are reports that half the town of big creek was destroyed by the fire. So far, this wildfire season, more than 2 million acres have burned. Thats a record and the heat wave continues today. Michelle . Jonathan, thank you. Stay safe out there. Forecasters predict todays heat will break more than 40 High Temperature records in the west. Cbs news meteorologist and climate specialist Jeff Berardelli joins us. This is no ordinary heat wave. Good morning, michelle. No, the word i would use is insane. The heat that were seeing in Southern California has never been experienced in modern history. It is unprecedented. We got to 121 degrees in a couple of spots in Southern California during the day yesterday. Even Catalina Island got to 110 degrees. Whicich is remarkable consideri its surrounded by cool pacific waters. North of that, San Luis Obispo got to 120 degrees. Even in Northern California we set alltime record highs. And in what is a worst case scenario, we have a big wind event coming tonight and during the day tomorrow. Well see that wind surge to the south. Dry air, windy conditions weaving and bobbing through the canyons with gusts 40 to 60 miles an hour. And that means o s out of contr wildfires. To the east of that in colorado, well see a huge push of cold canadian air. Temperatures go from the mid90s today to the mid30s tomorrow. And on top of that, were going to see snow and a lot of heavy snow in the mountains. Maybe as much as a foot of snow in places like denver could see a few to several inches. All of the extremes that were seeing right now is what Climate Change does. It takes an ordinary situation and it makes it extraordinary. Extraordinary and drastic, jeff. Thank you. Police in portland, oregon, are bracing for protests to escalate today and tonight with demonstrators and counterdemonstrators expected to be out in force. Saturday marked the citys 100th consecutive night of protests demanding Racial Justice. Nearly 60 people were arrested. Lilia luciano in portland shows us why the situation remains so volatile. Black lives matter reporter protesters supporting the black lives Matter Movement took to the streets for the 101st night in a row sunday. This is pretty much how things always start. Its always like a peaceful gathering. Reporter demonstrations started peacefully saturday but it escalated when police tried to turn back the crowd from marching toward their east precinct. This remains a riot. Reporter Police Used Tear Gas to clear the streets. At one point engulfing our crew which got run over as police attempted to push back protesters. The cops are right here. Theyre rushing us. Reporter a man was set on fire as protesters threw fire bombs. He was taken to a hospital, according to police, who arrested 59 people saturday night into sunday morning. Reportedly the highest number since protests began in may. Fighting for black lives. This is what its about. Reporter protest organizers have been calling for substantial cuts to the Portland Police budget. This is all stuff they actually shot at me. Reporter braxton has been protesting for months and showed us a box of tear gas canisters and other munitions Law Enforcement has used against him. We have a constitutional right to assemble peacefully on public property. As long as that right is infringed, well be showing up. Reporter even without declaring a riot, police still detained several protesters telling others to go home or go to jail. Today, theres a big protrump car rally expected to roll through the streets of downtown portland. Last time that happened, it ended up deadly. We hope it stays peaceful. Lilia, thank you. Plus labor day gatherings and college partie have alarmed Health Experts who say these conditions are ideal for spreading the coronavirus. The official u. S. Death toll is approaching 189,000 this morning. And a leading model used by the white house now projects that toll could more than double by the end of the year if preventative measures like masks are not kept in place. Nikki battiste reports on the labor Day Celebrations that are making the experts nervous. Reporter it wasnt just the beaches. Amusement parks, this one near pittsburgh, saw large crowds, while in orlando, disney world and Universal Studios hit their limited capacity restrictions. A burning man themed party on San Franciscos beach drew more than 1,000 people saturday night and was harshly condemned by the mayor who tweeted this was absolutely reckless and selfish, adding, you are putting peoples lives at risk. Relative to where we were heading into memorial day, we have an equivalent amount if not more infection heading into labor day. Reporter on face the nation, former fda commissioner Scott Gottlieb warned there could be another spike in new cases, similar to the one following memorial day weekend. But even more dangerous this time. Were heading into the fall and winter when wed expect a respiratory pathogen like a coronavirus to start spreading more aggressively than it would in the summertime. Reporter some students continue to flaunt restrictions. Hundreds of young people partied at a Manhattan ParkNear New York University saturday night. The university is launching an investigation and had already suspended more than 20 students for unrelated health violations. San diego state brought in security guards after 120 students tested positive over a twoday period. Inperson classes have been suspended. My office has already issued over 450 violations to individual students and organizations. We are doing everything within our power to ensure that were prioritizing the health and safety of our students. Reporter as you celebrate the unofficial end of summer today, remember, Officials Say that spread is happening at more intimate gatherings like backyard barbecues. Americans are urged to wear a mask and keep physical distance even with friends and family who do not already live with you. Nikki, important to keep reminding people about that. Good to see you back here. Your first day back here. Good to have you. Thank you. Good to be back. The cbs news Battleground Tracker asked registered voters which president ial candidate would do a better job handling the covid outbreak. Voters chose democratic nominee joe biden over President Trump, 50 to 38 . The poll also shows biden with a tenpoint lead in the race among likely voters. He travels to harrisburg, pennsylvania, today for a labor day event focused on unions and working families. As ed okeefe reports, his running mate is questioning the president s push for a Coronavirus Vaccine. I will say that i would not trust donald trump, and it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever hes talking about. Reporter democratic Vice President ial candidate Kamala Harris said she wouldnt trust just President Trumps word on a Coronavirus Vaccine if one is available before the election. I will not take his word for it. He wants us to inject bleach. No, i will not take his word. Reporter and harris isnt alone. A new cbs news Battleground Tracker poll finds skepticism about a vaccine is on the roois. Nearly twothirds say it was probably rushed without enough testing. Rather than a Scientific Achievement that happened quickly. And as protests continue across the country, the poll finds more voters see democratic president ial candidate joe biden as trying to calm the situation while President Trump is perceived to be encouraging fghting. Mr. Trump has spent the last several weeks raising concerns about a potential spike in violence in the nations suburbs. Biden and the radical lefts weak response has led to chaos and violence. Reporter but the poll thinks its not likely violent protests will happen in their neighborhood. We do have two systems of justice in america. Reporter harris, who set the campaign in wisconsin today, on sunday also criticized attorney general bill barr for denying that systemic racism exists in the criminal justice system. Theres no question that we have seen an unacceptable incidents for generations of unarmed black men being killed. Nobody can deny that. Reporter still, 57 days to go until the election, but joe biden is now legally required to start thinking about a potential transfer of power. By law, hes opening a Transition Office here in washington, and that staff is going to be advised by a handful of interesting people, including one of his former primary rivals, Pete Buttigieg and a few of the women he considered to be his running mate, including susan rice and new mexico governor michelle luhon grisham. A lot of unity there. Tony and i, we need the white board. Im glad the white board has the days to the election count back there. What about me . We do what we can. Michelle does as well, im just learning. Now also 57. The president is busy fending off a series of new accusations from people who used to work for him. This including his longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen, highly critical. His memoir disloyal goes on sale tomorrow. Its being distributed by simon schuster,. He served a prison sentence. Paula reid looks at some of the allegations in it. Reporter President Trumps former fixer Michael Cohen insists his old boss is a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predator and a con man. Cbs news obtained an early copy of cohens book where he reveals President Trumps admiration for Vladimir Putins ability to take over an entire nation and run it like it was his personal company. Cohens behind the scenes account corroborates accusations previously made about the president including hatred and contempt for his predecessor barack obama. He was an incompetent president. Grossly incompetent. Reporter cohen says trump claimed the former president got his degrees from fing affirmative action. And President Trump said tell me one country run by a black person that isnt an shole. He called Michael Cohen a disgraced felon who has lost all credibility and is not surprised to see his latest attempt to profit off of lies. The administration is trying to discredit a report by the atlantic magazine alleging President Trump canceled a visit to an American Cemetery near paris in 2018 because he reportedly said the cemetery was filled with losers. Its a disgrace that somebody is allowed to write things like that. Reporter although parts of the report have been confirmed by multiple outlets, the president s va secretary defended him. I judge a man by his actions, and the actions have been beneficial for veterans all across this country in ways that we have not seen since the end of world war ii. Reporter this week, President Trump will visit several key swing states, including north carolina, florida, michigan and pennsylvania, where he will visit on friday to mark the anniversary of 9 11. Former Vice President joe biden will also be in pennsylvania on friday, but its unclear if the two men will be at the memorial at the same time. Tony . As we learn from ed okeefes white board, 57 days until the election. Paula, thank you very much. Ahead, more protests in rochester, new york, after new developments in the case of daniel prude. Well have the latest moves by prosecutors investigating how prude died after an encounter with police. We have much more ahead including a black man shot seven times by a white Police Officer in kenosha, wisconsin, is speaking out. Youll hear what jacob blake had to say from his hospital bed. Plus, the numberone player in mens tennis is thrown out of the u. S. Open. Were going to show the display of temper that cost novak jokavic his spot in that tournament. Youre watching cbs this morning. 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