"California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire spreading!"
Our thought bubble, via Axios science editor Andrew Freedman: President Trump appears to be referring to endangered species protections, which mandate availability of water for some species. However, firefighters haven’t complained about lack of water for firefighting, but rather, the extreme nature of these fires.
President Trump's personal lawyer Jay Sekulow said Sunday that — should the president decide not sit for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller — his legal team would be prepared to fight any potential subpoena from Mueller's team in court.
The big picture: Sekulow told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week" that Trump has made it clear that he's willing to sit down with the special counsel, though his legal team still has some concerns. The team submitted a proposal to Mueller last month stating that the president would agree to an interview if questions are limited to potential Russian collusion, but Sekulow said the decision ultimately rests with Trump himself.
Fire officials are providing new details as to what caused the Carr fire, explaining that a minor car accident in June, caused by a trailer's tire failure, led its rim to scrape the asphalt and ignite sparks, resulting in one of the state's largest and most destructive wildfires on record, according to CNN.
The big picture: California has seen near-record dry vegetation and record heat which led to a ferocious "fire tornado" and propelled the fire across the Sacramento River and into the city of Redding. California's severe wildfire season follows last year's devastating blazes, which ranked as the state's worst fire season on record. The Carr Fire is 41% contained and spans 141,825 acres as of Saturday, according to Cal Fire. The death toll from the fire is now at eight people, per the AP.
James Clapper, director of national intelligence under President Obama, cites "the range of issues that arise from climate change" as a national security threat not receiving sufficient attention:
"Half of the world’s population will face water shortages by 2035, according to the U.N. More than 30 countries — half of which are in the Mideast — will experience extreme water stress by 2035."
