For more information how you can help victims of Hawaii Wildfires go to cnn. Com impact or text hawaii to 707070 to donate. The lead with jake tapper starts right now. A brand new Special Counsel now focused on hunter biden. The lead starts right now. The Attorney Generals surprise announcement. The prosecutor who was overseeing The Hunter Case is now being elevated to a Special Counsel. What will this mean for the president s son . What will this mean for the president . And donald trump might be told to zip it. The judge in the 2020 Election Fraud case signaling that she is going to be willing to restrict sensitive evidence as she tells trumps attorneys the former president s right to free speech is not absolute. And hawaiis catastrophe sadly getting worse. Historic towns gone, homes burned to the ground, 55 lives confir confirmed lost, and that number is sadly expected to climb. Welcome to the lead im jake tapper. And we start with our Law And Justice lead with a new Special Counsel
Likely. Were following the legal and political implications. Plus a warning to Donald Trumps legal team from the judge overseeing the election interference case, saying more inflammatory statements will require a quicker start to the trial. We are live outside the court. And the death toll as they have yet to even start searching the hundred of burned out buildings. Well take you live to maui. Were following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn news central. Another controversial investigation that could have some pretty big repercussions for 2024 is escalating. Today a Special Counsel was designated in the federal probe of hunter biden. Attorney general Merrick Garland named david weiss to the role. Weiss has been leading this investigation. Yes, he has. Hes been leading the investigation into hunter biden for the past five years, in fact. This week he asked himself to be elevated to that role of Special Counsel. Were following that in realtime.
before we go, we do want to highlight a video from the devastation on maui, and that is lahaina s banyan tree. this is now ordinary tree. it is one of the city s most beloved landmarks. such a gorge tree. it was planted back in 1873, so 150 years ago as an 8 foot sapling that came from india and grew to shade nearly two-thirds of an acre. for generations it has been a meeting place there in lahaina, a place of rest and sanctuary, stretches a full city block and is now more than 60 feet tall. this is video that was actually shot, this one we re showing you here by hawaii senator brian shakt. and while the tree is still standing you can see the damage to it. it s not clear at this point if it s going to survive fully. it s not the worst loss of this fire that has claimed dozens of lives but the fact it is still standing and still may live is much needed sign of hope for the town, for that island,
before we go, we do want to highlight a video from the devastation on maui, and that is lahaina s banyan tree. this is now ordinary tree. it is one of the city s most beloved landmarks. such a gorge tree. it was planted back in 1873, so 150 years ago as an 8 foot sapling that came from india and grew to shade nearly two-thirds of an acre. for generations it has been a meeting place there in lahaina, a place of rest and sanctuary, stretches a full city block and is now more than 60 feet tall. this is video that was actually shot, this one we re showing you here by hawaii senator brian shakt. and while the tree is still standing you can see the damage to it. it s not clear at this point if it s going to survive fully. it s not the worst loss of this fire that has claimed dozens of lives but the fact it is still standing and still may live is much needed sign of hope for the town, for that island, and for the state.