COMPLICATED TO ADDRESS. >> LET'S BRING IN NOW STEPHANIE RUHLE. STEPH, AS AMERICANS COPE WITH HIGHER TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THE ECONOMY IS FEELING THE IMPACT AS WELL. TELL US ABOUT IT. >> IT CERTAINLY IS, MIKA. IT'S ALL ABOUT WORKER PRODUCTIVITY. THE U.S. COULD BE LOSING UP TO $100 BILLION A YEAR AS WE'RE FACING THESE TEMPERATURES GOING UP AND UP. EVERY TIME YOU SEE THE TEMPERATURE GO UP BY A DEGREE -- AND I'M TALKING ONCE WE'RE IN THE HIGH 80s AND THE 90s -- WE COULD BE LOSING HALF A PERCENTAGE POINT OF PRODUCTIVITY. THINK ABOUT ALL THE OUTDOOR JOBS. PEOPLE CAN'T SIMPLY GO OUT AND DO THOSE JOBS IN THIS EXTREME HEAT. THEN THERE'S AGRICULTURE. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS PAID OUT OVER A BILLION DOLLARS TO PLACES LIKE CALIFORNIA IN CROP INSURANCE BECAUSE OF THE HEAT. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS ABOUT OUR CONSUMER-BASED ECONOMY, WE'RE SIMPLY NOT GOING OUT AND SPENDING. YOU'RE SEEING THEME PARKS -- THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF THEME PARK SEASON -- IN TEXAS CONSIDER LIMITING THEIR HOURS OR SHUTTING DOWN. IN SOME PLACES, THEY'RE SAYING I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE. I'M HEADING NORTH OR ANYWHERE WHERE IT'S JUST NOT THIS BRUTAL. >> HOW ARE THEY TRYING TO COUNTERACT THIS? >> REMEMBER, CLIMATE CHANGE HAS BECOME EXTREMELY POLITICAL, THOUGH IT SHOULDN'T, RIGHT? YOU ARE SEEING CERTAIN STATES LIKE CALIFORNIA, WHERE YOU SEE OVER THE SUMMER ROLLING BLACKOUTS TO START TO ADDRESS THE POWER GRID. TEXAS IN THE WINTER ALSO GETS THE OTHER EXTREME, WHAT WE SEE WHEN THEY HAVE EXTREME COLD AND THE POWER GRID SHUTTING DOWN THERE. WE OBVIOUSLY KNOW IT'S A PRIORITY FOR THE PRESIDENT, BUT FROM STATE TO STATE THINGS GET HYPER POLITICAL. REMEMBER, WHETHER WE'RE IN 90-DEGREE HEAT OR 100-DEGREE HEAT, IT'S A PROBLEM FOR OUR HEALTH AND OUR ECONOMY. >> TWO EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WILDFIRES HAVE CLAIMED THE LIVES OF TWO PEOPLE IN NEW MEXICO WHILE CAUSING 8,000 PEOPLE TO FLEE THEIR HOMES. MORE THAN 1400 STRUCTURES AND 22,000 ACRES HAVE BURNED. MELANIE STANSBURY IS A CONGRESSWOMAN. >> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING US ON. I AM IN SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO RIGHT NOW IN ROSWELL, JUST DOWN THE MOUNTAIN FROM THE FIRES. THESE FIRES HAVE BEEN DEVASTATING. OVER 8,000 COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAVE BEEN EVACUATED. THE GOVERNOR AND MYSELF SPENT THE DAY VISITING SHELTERS AND HEARING THE STORIES FROM PEOPLE WHO HAD TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES AND DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GOING BACK TO. AT THIS POINT, WE CAN CONFIRM THERE ARE TWO DEATHS. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF MISSING PERSONS AND SEARCH CREWS TO FIND THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE GOING OUT TODAY. BOTH OF THESE FIRES THAT ARE BLAZING RIGHT NOW ARE ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING. THIS WILL BE ONE OF THE WORST WILDFIRES NEW MEXICO HAS EVER SEEN. >> CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT WHAT CAUSED THIS FIRE AND ALSO SOME OF THE CHALLENGES FIREFIGHTERS ARE FACING AS THESE BLAZES CONTINUE TO RAGE? >> WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SPECIFIC START TO THESE TWO FIRES WAS. THIS IS THE HEIGHT OF THE FIRE SEASON FOR NEW MEXICO, HOT, DRY SEASON. OF COURSE, WITH THE CURRENT WEATHER PATTERNS AND THE FACT THAT WE ARE SEEING INCREASED HEAT AND A SHIFT IN THE FIRE SEASON, CERTAINLY CLIMATE CHANGE IS A CONTRIBUTOR, BUT WHAT HELPED TO START THIS FIRE WE WON'T KNOW UNTIL THE INVESTIGATORS HAVE WRAPPED UP THAT INVESTIGATION. WHAT WE DO KNOW IS THE FIRE WAS INTENSIFIED BY THE WINDS THAT WE SAW DOWN HERE. BUT LUCKY, WE DID SEE A SHIFT IN THE WEATHER PATTERNS YESTERDAY AND FORECASTERS ARE HOPING OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS INCREASED MOISTURE WILL MAKE THE FIRE EASIER TO CONTAIN, BUT WE'RE EXPECTING THIS FIRE TO BURN FOR AT LEAST THE LAST
