But breaking tonight, we first told you about this last night. But now at least 36 people are dead and thousands are fleeing their homes as i will wildfires sweep across the Hawaiian Island of maui. The flames have forced some adults and children to literally run into the ocean to avoid blaze. This is a disaster of historic proportions for the island state. President biden is promising immediately help for those affected. And the u. S. Military is assisting in the response. Some historic areas have been totally destroyed. National correspondent William La Jeunesse joins us now from outside a shelter on maui. Good evening, william. Good evening, bret. You know, the fires are still burning. So this remains a Search And Rescue operation. In fact, were told a number of individuals are still up in lahaina. They survived the fire but they dont want to leave because they wont get back. In the video i want to show you is from lahaina. Thats the commercial heart of this island and it was litera
it s just a little sad to hear, you know? i think people want to see you show up for us and provide an eighth of what you are giving to ukraine. it s outrageous. lahaina is so hurt right now and that was tone-deaf. what do you need the most right now? right now we need to get our families and friends back home. number one. that should be number one. we need the fast-track permits. we need to clean up the area. 6-8 months. i spoke to some professionals be they are optimistic about that. we need to start getting some permit process fast-track by architects, have some homes already drawn out and have some options for us to look at, and look over. from there we are going to need some rentals too because it s hotel thing ain t going to last forever. federal money? they promised a lot. you know. talk is talk. they need to walk the walk.
jiowans who already have strong opinions. i m going to pass on him. i don t think very favorably of him. desantis, vivek ramaswamy, and today nikki haley and doug burgum have all signed the are rnc loyalty pledge to support whoever wins the g.o.p. nomination, qualifying them for the debate stage. trump says he will announce whether he shows up for the debate next week but he refuses to sign the pledge the former president heads to iowa on saturday but will skip governor kim reynolds one-on-one chat with the candidate. criticizing her for wanting to stay neutral after he endorsed her. that s his choice. i would love to have the opportunity to interview him. and with all the republicans in town, iowa democrats sending their own message telling voters to stick with president biden. talk is talk. but action matters, right? and this is a president that has delivered. is it. so the only g.o.p. candidate now
talk is talk. what action they take will be important. i m also not going to criticize john mccain obviously. he has his thoughts on these things. but, look, people need to listen to what president trump is saying. and pyongyang is going to have to make their decision and whether they re going to be willing to take that risk is going to be up to them. it is a serious situation. i just want to read to you, because we did some historical checking to see how extraordinary the statement from the president actually is, senator. we go back to august 6, 1945, this is president truman issuing a warning to the japanese. i ll read it to you. it was to spare the japanese people from utter destruction that the ultimatum of july 26 was issued. their leaders promptly rejected that ultimatum. if they do not now accept our