The Historic Town of lahaina, popular with tourists, laid to waste. Officials now saying at least 36 people have been killed, an untold number missing. Bodies washing up after people jumped into the ocean to escape the flames. Thousands forced to evacuate. Chaos at the airport as tourists race to escape. President biden declaring a major disaster. Our team in the Fire Zone Tonight in maui. Also tonight, the deal to release Five Americans detained in iran. Its part of a prisoner swap. Who or what is the u. S. Giving up in return . New video of that deadly fbi raid in utah. Agents outside the home of man who allegedly threatened to kill President Biden. Then suddenly a loud bang. Tonight the role Donald Trumps Social Media Platform played in alerting the fbi. The shocking assassination caught on camera in ecuador. The president ial candidate leaving a Campaign Event when the fatal shots are fired. And launching into history. The civilian astronauts on their aweinspiring ride aboard Virgin Galactics first Space Tourism flight. This is Nbc Nightly News with lester holt. Good evening and welcome, everyone. The scope of the devastation and loss of life in maui from that Rampaging Wildfire is coming into horrific focus tonight, revealing a landscape of incinerated homes, businesses, cars, and so much more. Against that backdrop, we woke up to a staggering death toll, at least 36 people, a toll expected to rise. Before and after Satellite Images illustrate the Path Of Destruction as the firestorm blew through the Historic Town of lahaina. Fires still burning today, but winds have thankfully calmed. And this evening survivors are sharing with us their harrowing stories of escape, which for many involved a desperate dash to the ocean with the flames at their backs. Tonight President Biden declaring a major disaster on maui, intended to fast track help to the island where thousands are in shelters and communications are spotty. We have an expanded reporting team on the ground. We begin with Miguel Almaguer who made his way deep into the disaster zone. Miguel, i can imagine it is a shocking scene to view in person. Reporter it certainly is, lester, and the damage here is extensive. It stretches block after block and neighborhood after neighborhood. That wildfire just exploded here. This is actually the area where some people ran from their homes into the ocean about a block and a half away. But tonight far too many people did not escape the flames. As homes erupted into fireballs, the fastmoving inferno obliterated everything in its path. This tropical paradise becoming a death trap for dozens who couldnt outrun the flames. Lets go reporter after this terrifying heartpounding scene to evacuate, authorities now confirm at least 36 fatalities, the second deadliest blaze in recent u. S. History. No communication whatsoever. Reporter susan materas son matthew is still among the missing. Just know your family and friends are reaching out to everybody. Your face is out there. We will find you. And just know that we love you. Reporter matthew lived here in lahaina, the Historic Town in ruins where nearly 300 structures were swallowed by flames and engulfed in smoke. Its all gone now. Reporter the fire devoured homes in minutes. Neighbors say it jumped from house to house and then block to block. Many say the flames were out before firefighters even arrived. Woke up this morning and got on our phones to pictures of our house, just down to the slab. Reporter inside these charred homes and incinerated cars, authorities believe there may be more bodies to recover and more heartbreak to share. Weve been pulling people out since last night, trying to save peoples lives, and i feel were not getting the help we need. Reporter a popular colorful beach town, this is what lahaina looked like and whats left today. Here at the harbor residents say more bodies are washing up along the shore. As the fire came across this area, victims say they were running as fast as the flames. Many jumped right into this harbor to save their lives. Once it came from this direction, i decided at 7 00 p. M. It was too much and time to go, because i could hardly breathe. Reporter Patrick Sullivan lives steps from the beach and lost it all. How do you describe the emotions that youre feeling right now . Well, right here its pretty tough. But well be okay. Well make it. Reporter with maui in misery, tonight three separate firefights are still under way. The National Guard making progress, but there remains no cause for the fires, only reassurance from the president. Anyone who has lost a loved one, whose home has been damaged or destroyed is going to get help immediately. Reporter but for so many, help wont ease the heartbreak. Kimo kirkman lost more than just his home in the fire. His fathers ashes are also gone. Hes just in the ground with all the other ashes. I was picking up picture, old picture, and i should take a picture of it. Its the only thing i have now. Unbelievable destruction. Miguel, i know you have some late information about fires still burning tonight. Yeah, lester. Finally some good news from lahaina. The fire in this area is basically 80 contained. Crews have made tremendous progress. The reason, though, lester, is because so much of this area has burned, there is simply not many more homes that can be destroyed. Lester . And miguel, we heard some of it in your story, but from the survivors, the stories of unimaginable loss and terrifying escapes as the fires destroyed everything in their paths. Dana griffin spoke with some of them today. Reporter as daylight exposes the scarred skeleton of a prosperous tourist town its all gone. Reporter the people who thrive off the land are gutted. Its like an apocalypse. Reporter mason jarvey has the burns to prove he barely escaped. We have the worst disaster ive ever seen. All lahaina is burnt to a crisp. Reporter a paradise turned overnight into an inferno. Residents forced to flee in terror. We thought we were okay, but then the wind came. The gas stations blew up. Everything caught fire by the brush. And then we just had to evacuate. Reporter some jumped into action, warning others of the rushing flames. The fires on front street. Its time to go. This is completely burned. And we just if i saw somebody, i helped them. Reporter thousands evacuated. This was a home. Reporter with no guarantee theyll have anything to go back to. Pretty much everybody i know lost everything that we have. Reporter many left with only theyre harrowing details of survival. We just barely got out. There were ash, ember, everything flying through the air. Reporter Martha Robert and Bill Thornqvist lost it all. They had to walk 15 miles to find safety. Is there anything from your home that youre going miss . So it was the feeling of security. Locking the door when i left. That silly . Youre locking out the fire. Its just your world. Its horrendous. Reporter so now reporter so now they live in this high school gym. But today perhaps a glimmer of hope over the evacuation center. The rebuilding will start with memories. A 150yearold tree, a famed landmark, burned, but still standing. Dana griffin, nbc news, maui. Meantime, patience is being tested at mauis airport as thousands of people, mostly tourists scramble for flights off the island. Steve patterson is there for us tonight. Reporter tonight, thousands of passengers are just trying to get home. People are getting delayed, people are getting canceled. Baggage claim is a mess. Its all over the place. Reporter many still stranded in mauis Kahului Airport, processing the devastation they managed to escape. Its scary to see a big wildfire kind of coming your way. And its not something i ever experienced before. We jumped out of the car and ran as fast as we could and got out. Reporter Amy Springsteen is headed home to oregon. She says this is whats left of her maui rental car. She along with some others in her party were going to dinner when she says flames leapt on to the street. There was debris everywhere, Fire Falling Down on top of us. We got out safe. Reporter so far more than 20,000 passengers have fled the island since the fires began. Thousands are still waiting. I think everybody feels safe that theyve gotten to the airport and there is food, because there was no food on the island. A lot of the seats are full. A lot of people standing around, just waiting for their flights. Reporter tonight many travelers will still call the airport home. As airlines scramble to add extra flights to get them out. American Airlines Even upgraded a plane head theed to los angeles with extra seats. On southwest and hawaiian airlines, websites showing available flights from maui to honolulu for 19. And United Airlines saying theyve canceled all inbound flights to Kahului Airport so all seats empty planes can be used to get passengers back to the mainland. And Steve Patterson joining me now from the airport. Steve, what is the mood there this evening . Lester, i can tell you it is a mix of people who just want to escape this travel chaos, and others, mainly locals who are reflecting on a space that has stood here for a generation there is a woman to my right. She doesnt want to be in camera, but she has been sleeping in this Tsa Courtyard for the past two nights. By the time people make to it this tsa line, theyre just happy to be getting off this island. Elester . Steve patterson that update, thank you. The other major story tonight, Five Americans held hostage for years in iran finally out of prison and one step closer to coming home. Andrea mitchell has details on the deal the u. S. Made with iran. Reporter tonight, Five Americans are out of tehrans note or the You Evin Prison and temporarily under a house arrest in iran. My belief is that this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare, and the nightmare that their families have experienced. Reporter before they can come home, iran will get 6 billion of its oil revenue for humanitarian needs. Eventually, the u. S. Is also expected to release several iranians from american jail. Held the longest, siamak namazi, a Business Consultant arrested in 2015. Morad tahbaz, an environmentalist, was imprisoned in 2018 and his wife not permitted to leave iran. Tell us about having your parents there and not being able to have them come home . Its been an nightmare you cant imagine. Emad shargi was also arrested in 2018. His daughters told us last year the wait was agonizing, especially when a fire broke out in the prison. We thought he was dead. We didnt get to speak to him for two days. Reporter moving the 6 billion for irans use could take weeks. Washington post journalist jason rezaian, jailed in tehran for almost two years, knows what theyre feeling. That kind of firsrst taste of freedom, your shouldlders start to loosen up just a little bit. But they dont fully relax until youre out of iranian airspace. Reporter a source familiar said separate talks could lead to an informal deal to freeze Irans Nuclear program, which official sources say is only weeks away from having enough fuel for a weapon. Lester . Andrea, thanks. There is a video tonight between fbi agents and a utah man who allegedly threatened to kill President Biden. Peter alexander has that story. Reporter this video was taken during the deadly confrontation. Fbi agents seen surrounding the home of suspect craig robertson, who is not visible in the footage, when suddenly the s. W. A. T. Team went through his back door with a battering ram. They called for my neighbor to come out, and he is like im not comiming out [ b bleep ]. Reporteter the fbibi had ararrived at robertsons provo, utah home wednesday morning to serve an Arrest Warrant for his alleged threat to assassinate President Biden. Court records show a social Media Company first alerted the fbi in march about a disturbing post by robertson. Tonight a senior Law Enforcement official tells nbc news that company is truth social, the site founded by former president trump. The fbi says robertson identified himself online as a maga trumper, and called one of his rifles a democrat eradicator. The fbi says for months it had been tracking the 75yearold and his violent threats about the president , Vice President kamala harris, and other prominent democrats, including manhattan d. A. Alvin bragg, whose prosecuting a criminal case against mr. Trump. In a recent post, robertson noted that biden is coming to utah, and referred to cleaning the dust off his sniper rifle. President biden in Salt Lake City today, where he praised his and his familys security detail. My daughter has secret service, and, you know, its just wonderful. Reporter late tonight, a senior Law Enforcement official tells me robertson was armed when fbi agents confronted him, but he pointed his weapon at them and did not respond to commands before agents shot and killed him. Lester . Peter, thank you. In 60 seconds, the terrifying airplane plunge, nosediving 1500 feet within seconds. Was the crew to blame . Plus, the stunning assassination caught on video. 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Live clalaritin cleaear. The ntsb cited crew failure today as the probable cause of a Terrifying Plunge by a United Airlines jet last december. The plane had just taken off from maui for San Francisco when it descended from 2100 feet to just 748 feet above the pacific befofore recoverering. The ntntsb blamed d a miscscommunicatition about the pilots desired flap setting during the initial climb. Well turn now to that shocking moment caught on camera in ecuador. President ial candidate killed by an assassins bullet at a Campaign Event as escalating Gang Violence grips the country. Richard engel now with the disturbing video. Reporter president ial Candididate Fernrnando Villavicencio was surrounded by bodyguards leaving a Campaign Event in ecuadorrs capital. Adds he was gettining into a a truck [ gunshots ] you can hear the gunfire. He was shot in the head and killed, just two weeks before the election. The lawmaker and former journalist was running on a pledge to root out corruption and organized crime, now terrorizing the streets. The president says assassins tossed a grenade as they escaped. At least six people are under arrest. Drug violence is skyrocketing in ecuador, with gangs fighting over routes and turf. Villavicencio promised to clean house. These are some of his last words at his final Campaign Event. What we need to do is to lock up the thieves, he said. Villavicencio had said he had been repeatedly threatened by drug cartels. Tonight ecuadors president has declared a state of emergency. Lester . Richard engel tonight, thank you. And coming up on our exclusive reporting, how china is allegedly threatening people beyond its borders in an effort to cover up Human Righghts abuses. S. Rezaian. N. N n an effortt to i told mysyself i was s ok with M My Moderatete to Sevevere Rheumamatoid ararthritis sysymptoms. Wiwith my psororiatic arthritis s symptoms. 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Farxiga were back now with our nbc news exclusive on chinas Human Rights Abuses and the lengths its allegedly going to cover them up. Even trying to get to people who have already fled the country. We get more from keir simmons. Reporter tonight, idris hassam is in a prison in more rocco. His wife and young Daughter Thousands of miles away in turkey, listening to our phone call as he tells us about his twoyear nightmare. Sometimes there is i cannot breathe. Reporter hassam was arrested by moroccan authorities, wanted by china under an interpol red notice, which interpol confirms has since been dropped. He is a member of the mostly Muslim Uighur minority from china. The Chinese Government accused by the u. S. Of committing genocide against uighurs. While in exile, hassam caed against treatment. China cathat terrorisd wants he says he is innocent, and now his wife and three children live in fear. You must miss them. I miss very, very much my family. I have picture of my family. I cannot see this picture. If i see this picture, i am very upset. I am crying for myself. Reporter tonight, a new report obtained exclusively by nbc news documents disturbing efforts by china to allegedly target exiled uighurs. We have your father and sister. Youll never see them again if you dont collaborate with us, the report says one anonymous victim was told. The report by safeguard defenders, a nonprofit Human Rights Group highly critical of the chinese governmeescribes cases like this man, living in turkey, who says his family was forced to call him from china and urged him not to speak up on human rights. When you got that phone call, did you believe that they were speaking . I know that the phone call belong to the china political party. Reporter the Chinese Embassy in washington tells nbc news that china is ruled by law. It cant be accused of torture, persecution, or arbitrary detention against uighurs. Its not about human rights, ethnicity or religion, but about fighting violence, terrorism, and separatism. Meanwhile, a u. N. Appeal is delaying ans edition to china, for now. Lester . Keir simmons, thank you. Up next, we talk with a civilian passengers after they goe ride of a lifetio the of space and made history in the proces im kareem abdul jabbar. I was diagnosed with afib. The first inkling that something was wrong was i ststarted to n notice thatat i couldnnt do things Withthout Losingng my breath. I couldntt make it through h the airporort, and d every likeke 20 or 30 0 s i had toto sit downn and geget my breatath. Every y physical e exertion seemed t to exhaust t me. And finanally, i i went to Ththe Hospitall where i i was didiagnosed wiwith afib. When i i first nototiced sympt, which h kept comining and goi, i shouould Have Gogone To T The Doctorr and toldld them what was h happening. Ininstead, i t tried to l let it passss. 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Reporter natives of antigua, Keisha Schahaff and her daughter ana are not only the first mother and daughter duo to reach space, theyre also the first female astronauts from the caribbean. What do you hope Little Girack on the island seeing this happen feel after seeing what you guys went through . I hope they feel invincible. Like its okay to dream. Its okay to have these crazy dreams. [ cheering ] reporter and the heros welcome for john goodwin from his wife of 52 years. Ththe former briritish olympian, whwho is battling parkinsons disease bought his ticket in 2005, waiting nearly two decades for this view. Even at 80 years of age with parkinsons, i can do it. Reporter a 60minute flight that for these trailblazing tourists will last a lifetime. It was so beautiful. Just breathtaking. And i just felt this total connection. Its something so deep within yourself, like have in your heart u en you just thou love someone omething so y. Rter much needed perspective from a spaceship ed unity. Gadi schwartz, nbc news, above new mexico. Thats what i call a family road trip. Thats tly news for this thursday. Thanks for watg, everyone. Im lester holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night. He weve been pulling people out since last night, trying to save peoples lives. And i feel like were not getting the help we need. Pleading for help from deadly wild fires