maui, the death toll is soaring as we get new reports from the devastation. and back in court. donald trump s legal team is about to appear before the judge in the 2020 election case for the first time, as prosecutors are now asking to start the trial in january. what is the judge going to say? five americans wrongly detained in iran on the verge of freedom after the u.s. strikes a deal with tehran. i m john berman with kate bolduan. this is cnn news central. this morning the scenes in parts of maui are apocalyptic as rescue crews reach new areas. the death toll rose sharply overnight to 55. the governor estimates some 80% of lahaina were destroyed. when the mayor said it s all gone, it s all gone. it s all gone. it s gone. i m telling you, none of it s there. it s all burned to the ground. the mayor says the death toll is likely to rise. they have only been able to count bodies found outside structures and many people are still unaccounted for. today search a
saying, quote: the fires began on tuesday and are now about 80% contained. the blazes spread quickly, fuelled by strong winds generated by a hurricane over the pacific ocean. thousands are still in emergency shelters. visitors are being evacuated from the island. these are the latest pictures we have smouldering ruins and total devastation. the worst destruction has been on the island of maui, where some beachfront areas have been completely levelled. us presidentjoe biden has now declared the wildfires a major disaster. this triggers the release of federal funds to help recovery efforts. he spoke earlier. we have just approved a major disaster declaration for hawaii, which will get aid into the hands of people who desperately need the help now. they ve lost, anyone who has lost a loved one, whose home has been damaged or destroyed, is going to get help immediately. and i ve directed that we send support to these brave firefighters and first responders and emergency personn
there will be active recovery over the coming days and we of the bones of those who have been lost. so it will take time. to give perspective, it is going to take many years to rebuild lahaina. when you see the full extent of the destruction of lahaina it will shock you. it does appear like a bomb and fire went off, if i may. and all of those buildings, virtually, are going to have to be rebuilt. it will be a new lahaina. let s recap the latest details from hawaii. at least 53 people are now known to have died in the fires, though we ve heard the governor say that number will rise. billions of dollars of property are also expected to be destroyed. governor green says as many as 1,700 buildings have been destroyed and 11,000 people are still without power or water in west maui. the fires began on tuesday and officials say none of these fires are 100% contained. the blazes spread quickly, fuelled by strong winds generated by a hurricane over the pacific ocean. thousands are sti
know that there are several factors that have played a role. when we talk about wildfires, we tended to talk about wildfires, we tended to talk about wildfires, we tended to talk about three ingredients. we do know when it comes to whether, in hawaii, strong women s have fans the flames. strong winds. it s red area represents severe drought in the structure and the orange area s moderate drought. they represent 14% of the state. these larger yellow areas are abnormally dry conditions. this sucks the moisture out of vegetation, which means in turn, these areas are more likely to catch fire. on top of all of this, scientists have recorded 90% less rainfall than a century ago. when you talk about a spark in fuel, scientists have also said that some parts of hawaii have grasses that are not native to the state and are far more flammable than some of the native plants they are. couple that with those dry conditions, and it means those area are more likely to catch fire and spre