Welcome to cnn this morning. Im amara walker. Thank you for sharing part of your morning with us. As the grim reality sets in for survivors in hawaii, some are questioning the states response beforehand and how much was done to try to warn residents to get out. Plus Hunter Bidens legal troubles heat pup the Justice Department elevates the attorney to Special Counsel after plea talks fall apart. And donald trump and his legal team get a stern warning from the judge. Well have the latest on the contentious hearing. New data Shows Americans are pulling out of their 401 k and relying on credit cards. Well have a financial expert to weigh in with her advice. We begin with really grim news from hawaii, where those devastating wildfires have claimed at least 80 lives so far. The death toll will likely rise in the coming days. Crews have not yet searched the inside of most of the buildings and its unclear how many people are unaccounted for. Video shows the horror of the fire as people tried t
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
you personally lost crops. i lost nothing compared to what people lost. i lost farm stuff and food and whatever, tiny little things compared to what people. people lost their family. they lost their houses. everything we ve seen, all the landmarks, everything that we ve seen for years, history, it s all gone. it s all gone. and bill weir joins me now. bill, authorities announced residents of west maui will be allowed back in the area today. what are you seeing? what have residents done without access to their homes? reporter: well, it s certainly ramped up the uncertainty and fear of the worst, people looking for proof of life of family members. but this is what it looks like since they opened up lahaina now to residents. long, miles-long line of cars here. this sheds light on the difficulty of evacuation when the grass was burning.
his place is gutted out with flames. it is unrecognizable. it is scorched like a bomb went off. farmer eddie garcia lost a fortune in crop damage but the bracing for much bigger losses. when i was down there early. there were uncles and people i know in the street. trying to get to the end of the street. they say hundreds of people jumped in the water. you personally lost crops? i lost nothing compared to what people lost. i lost farm stuff and food. and whatever. tiny little things compared to what people lost. people lost their family. they lost their houses. everything we have seen. all the landmarks we have seen. history. it is all gone.
band fleetwood mack. his place is gutted with flames. it s unrecognizable. one of the most charming beloved port cities in the world is scorched like a bomb went off. eddie garcia lost a small fortune in crop damage but now is bracing for much bigger losses. my god when i was down there early there were uncles and people i know in the street dead, people were trying to get to the end of the street, you can tell by where the cars that were parked, they say hundreds of people jumped in the water. you eternally lost crops, like nothing, i lost nothing compared to what people lost. i lost farm stuff and food, and whatever, tiny little things compared to what people lost. people lost their family, they lost their houses. everything we ve seen, all the landmarks, everything that we ve seen for years, history, it s all gone. reporter: well, days after the firestorm the officials here