the second deadliest u.s. wildfire in a century incinerates paradise. this hour, the governor will deliver a new update, and we'll bring it to you live. plus, yet another not guilty plea from donald trump in one federal case, as the special counsel is asking for an aggressive trial date in the other. trump also not happy with the date they are seeking. what are friends for, by the way? a new expose on judge clarence thomas has unveiled an up roar, an entire 737 just for him? i'm kaitlan collins, and this is "the source." tonight, we're waiting to get a new update from the governor of hawaii and the mayor of maui. a news conference, we should note, is set for this hour. as fires continue to devastate the island. the death toll has now climbed to 53 people. and officials are warning that that number could only get even higher. president biden issued a disaster declaration to unlock federal resources and address the catastrophe while on the road today. >> our prayers are with the people of hawaii but not just our prayers. every asset we have will be able to them. >> they're going to need it. the historic town of lahaina has been left in ashes. the fires are now reportedo about 80% contained, but the scenes that are left behind are absolutely devastating. people are comparing it to a war zone. look at this before and after image. you see that largeuiing on that's the lahaina shos beach resort. it's sti standing tonight, but it doesn't look like anything else around it is. here's another before and after. that's an elementary school. you see that beautiful blue water nearby. on the right is the after photo, a total hellscape. the full scope of the devastation likely won't be known for several days. we do know military personnel from the coast guard are helping with the search and rescue missions that are happening, that are underway in hawaii tonight. today the pentagon announced more than 100 national guardsmen have been activated to help with those efforts. joining me now is jeff hickman, public affairs director for hawaii's department of defense. i know the hawaii national guard is conducting these search and rescue efforts, are going basically from house to house from our understanding. i mean, what are they seeing? can you just describe the devastation for us? >> first of all, thank you for having me. it is a practical war zone, and the governor, that's what he said today. for him, it's a war zone. i've seen war zones in afghanistan and iraq, and it is. everything is completely wiped out. you know, that used to be the capital of hawaii, and it was a bustling town. some of those buildings were still there, all made out of wood. and that whole waterfront is gone. a lot of history. the world's oldest -- or biggest danion tree gone. that school, my mom taught there. there's a lot of people who have a lot of connections to that area. and a lot of things we have to rely on now are just memories. >> what's it like to see the school that your mom taught at in the conditi tt it is after that fire? >> it's unbelievable. and, youno you had to wait until the sun came up to seet. and thank goodness the winds died down. the fires are still smoldering in the town, but to see it just flat and completely gone, i mean, all of those buildings -- i used to run in between it when i was small and she taught there. i just spent an anniversary there with my wife and family driving down front street. it's going to have a long-lasting effect for that community. >> yeah. i mean, i can't even imagine. and before you could even think about the recovery, the rebuilding efforts, i mean, the search and rescue missions that are underway right now, we talked about those being conducted by the national guard. how does that even work? how are they going through this? they're the only people allowed in these areas, i should note. what are they seeing so far? >> yeah, you know, we're assisting the police department and fire department, other first responders. we have 30 soldiers and airmen from the hawaii national guard assisting with that mission. we have another 30 assisting the police with the check points, just guarding the area to keep people out. the public is not allowed in there yet. and it's going to take months for the process to begin recovery. you know, we've got to go in first building the building house to house, block by block, and look for bodies. we have a wide search and rescue team that that's their specialty. fema and with the federal government's help, they're sending people as well. a lot of the emergency support functions coming down. we're going to have to bring in counselors and chaplains to assist with our soldiers and airmen who see what they see. i'm sure the police and fire are going to need it too. they're going to first go through, try to find as many body and loved ones, missing personnel as they can. then next is a little bit of cleanup. then it's allowing the business and homeowners to go in and grab their effects. so, the public is not going to be allowed in for a long time, and it's going to be a very long process before they can rebuild. >> we know the fema administrator has just arrived in hawaii tonight. when it comes to what they're looking for, do you know how many people are still missing at this hour? >> unconfirmed reports, but we've heard up to 1,000. and, you know, just living here in hawaii, everybody knows somebody on that island. so, the connections on facebook, has anybody seen my uncle, has anybody seen my family, people posting pictures of their dogs that they had to leave so fast they left their dogs in the house and they don't know if their dogs are still alive or if their house is still up. so, yeah, the number is very high. like you said, the death count officially is 53 right now. i'm sure it's going to go up. but the families and the people who were missing someone and what they're going through on top of losing everything, it's -- you can't put into words. >> just to hear you say that 1,000 people you believe are still missing tonight is astonishing. >> yeah. that's a very, very high number. there's lists that people are sharing. there's a lot of -- red cross is really helping out. you know what? the state is stepping up and showing its aloha. they're giving so many blankets, food, and items that maui and the state is saying, slow down on the items. people are giving so much because they want to help in some way. so, we're trying to steer a lot of people to giving money. so, word is getting out on the best way to donate and the best way that you can help. we've had people from the mainland u.s. calling, do you need doctors? do you need help? we'll help. and people are just reaching out. it's great to see at this time. >> yeah. we're going to speak to a doctor who is helping out on the ground in just a few moments. but, you know, you talked about these search and rescue missions, these national guardsmen and the police officers are going through and trying to find people but potentially also recovering bodies. what's the biggest challenge with an effort like that, given that so many of these neighborhoods are just incinerated, that roads are blocked, that there's ash everywhere? >> i think one of the biggest challenges is that, you know, the national guard is a community-based organization. they're made up of people from that community. i heard somebody else say it today on the radio. imagine, you know, going to the neighborhood and going to houses you know and finding somebody or even a neighbor, you know, someone you knew of. but i would say that would be the hardest part is being from that community and then going in there and just having to do your duty, assist those first responders and everybody else to try to get back to, you know, a sense of, you know, recovery and the build-back. so, to me, the hardest part is being from there and knowing what used to be there and what's there now. >> and you grew up there. how long have you lived there? >> i lived there all the way up until high school. so, i grew up in -- and there's a fire near that side of the island too. there are three on maui. that one didn't affect the urban area nearly as much as the one behind them. lahaina was the best resort town. the best halloween was right there on front street. everybody goes there for fishing. the water is beautiful. the beaches are gorgeous. tourists flock there because of the water. it was amazing. it was a neat town, and i'm sure it's going to build back and be stronger than ever. it's going to be a while before that happens. >> i know we're speaking to you in your official capacity. this is so clearly personal for you. have you ever seen anything like this? >> being in the national guard, we share a lot of stories with other national guardsmen from other states, and the california national guard and what they had to do with the paradise fire and some of those other fires in the last decade and hearing their stories of what they had to do, seeing their pictures -- because we're all public affairs so we see the photos and the video -- it looks just like that. and we never thought that would happen here. you're talking a town that got enveloped. there are 80-mile-per-hour gusts and it happened at night from a hurricane that didn't even hit hawaii. it was a whole bunch of things aligned the wrong way, and it just -- it surprised everyone. no, we never thought that it could happen and i've never seen anything like this. >> and what are you hearing about how busy hospitals are? have you heard anything about the number of injuries and what that looks like from that perspective? >> i heard there was about 30 burn victims, three that are in critical. i think those guys have been evacuated to owahu for follow-on more serious service. i heard there was a firefighter who is in stable condition. so, he's doing okay. that's just so far. there's still people on that side of the island. they're doing bus evacuations. so, the visitors, they're taking them to the airport and they're flying home or flying to owahu to stay in the convention center, which was set up. if they're a resident, they're being taken to a shelter. one of the big concerns we have the amount of resources we have for the island. we're trying to get the visitors out that can get out and go home and take care of the residents that are there and preserve what we've got. right now we are bussing people out slowly. there's still roads that are closed. there's still buildings and other fires that are brush fires are, like you said, they're more contained than they were yesterday. we have two chinook helicopters from the hawaii national guard assisting with fire suppression. and they told us yesterday they could see a difference. so, yeah, a lot of things are changing and they're going to start moving in a different direction. but, yeah, it's just amazing. you know, this is something we've never seen and never expected. >> i just -- i can hear it in your voice that you're just -- how surprised you are and what you're being forced to do, not just you, your neighbors as well. >> it's a little bit of comfort whatever i'm going through, the long hours i'm doing to get messaging out like this, coming on your show and share the message of what our great first responders and national guardsmen are doing, to get to hear the stories. so, you know, it's an honor for us to do that. just imagine the people who lost their homes, their businesses, pets, friends, and what they're going through. if we've got to work hard to do it, we will. >> and of course those estimated 1,000 people that are still missing tonight. jeff hickman, i know that there's a lot going on right now, and we thank you for your time tonight and for joining us. >> thank you very much, kaitlan. i want to bring in dr. reza denesh, a private doctor on maui. he founded a non-profit that provides free health care. doctor, i know a lot has been going on for people in your profession, have your skills. we just heard from jeff, who was talking about the hospitals. and they are dealing with burn victims. what are you seeing on the ground? >> first of all, thanks for having me. you're absolutely correct. the company i started and we did a non-profit called moto for the people. it couldn't have happened at a better time. i've been an e.r. doc on long island fighting covid and doing house calls. i realized on wednesday morning, which was yesterday, i knew the fires were happening. everyone got the warnings. my clinic is the south side of -- we didn't know what was happening in lahaina at all. nobody had text messages or images or anything like that. once the paramedics got there and we know each other, they kind of text, doc, there's bodies on the ground, a lot, and they're around. i realized this is serious. i decided to open up my clinic, make it free for anyone that needed it, called in extra staff, and i rounded up people in my mobile unit that i'm sitting in and headed out to the field just to help. i went out to the shelter they set up at war memorial. then i went to maui high. everyone gave me food and water and supplies that they thought i would need for lahaina, which was a good call. i had my own medical stuff and i hit the ground running and called the mayor. we went through another road, which was very scary at that time because i didn't realize what i was walking into and how devastated the road and the damages were. trees were on the ground, huge concrete blocks were pulled out. there were -- it reminded me a little bit of the pandemic and covid, how you see images of new york. being there, it was like an atomic bomb went off. i could see small flames. i could see trees burning. as we rolled through in my big red van -- i'll show you guys the tour in a minute if we have time -- people came out of the woodwork, survivors. we had another shelter on the west side. how are people going to get there? the shelter is a couple miles away. a guy came up to me, hey, i'm here to help. food. i haven't eaten in two days. i did a lot of stuff providing water and food. and i started capturing patients that had eye injuries, respiratory issues, people just in shock and denial, some people refusing to go with me. they want to sit where they were. they're looking for their dogs. it was very traumatic for me and i'm an e.r. doc and i trained in ucla in l.a. i've seen a lot of trauma. to be there on the ground level -- i've seen earthquakes in l.a. i've seen floods in hawaii from rains. but this was something nobody expected. i don't think anyone knew how severe it was. and i was the first medical team and the only one that is on foot. the red cross is set up in shelters. >> you actually -- if i'm right, you actually ended up helping a woman. one of the most devastating things we heard about this is people were literally jumping into the water because it was the only safe place. you helped a woman who had to do just that to escape from the fires. >> you ask someone how did you get hurt, how are you, where are you from? and i was dealing with her stress and cuts and wounds and respiratory issues. and i asked her, like, so, i hate to be nosey and ask. what was it like? she was like, well, i just looked out the window and saw the fire. you got a fire and didn't get enough warning. how can you predict this? she said she saw the flames coming, she grabbed what she could, left her bird to burn, left her other pets. and i don't know how she was holding it together talking to me. she just started running to the ocean. so, i'm envisioning the time, sunset time running to the ocean for your life, jumping on the water. she goes, people got out on rafts and paddled out. there's people out at sea for all i know. and she's telling me, her friend who had a lot of respiratory issues and had some smoke inhalation hung on. she hung on for seven hours before things cooled off and they swam back to shore to walk or recooperate. she goes, my friend died. so, your friend was in the water holding on next to you and she died? i'm having flashbacks of the "titanic" and that movie scene. you can't make that stuff up. this is real. i record the video and became a newscast. that's how a lot of people saw that. she wasn't the only one. we had another guy propel three stories down with a rope he had. we were like, were you in the military. he was like, no, i just had this rope. he felt the walls so hot he knew not to open his front door. he went out the window. everybody in his building died. some people climb buildings that then burned and they hid behind it. i don't know how they survived and nobody had reached out to them. i'm lucky. i think the power was out, but i was driving over electrical lines and doing some kind of crazy stuff. it's like my calling and my mission to go out there and i had my nurses and team with the medical supplies. so, we were able to triage 20 or 30 people there. we went to another shelter on the west side. the problem people don't realize, it's not like i'm an e.r. doc, it's like the burns people, they die or they survive. if they survive, they have a very low likelihood, especially on a rural island to survive. we don't have a burn center. >> doctor, just to hear your stories and to hear you be one of the first people there, i mean, it's just amazing. we know that you have a lot of important work that you are doing right now. we're grateful that you joined us tonight. thank you, but we're going to let you get back to that. thank you for your time tonight. for those of you who are watching at home and want to be able to help, you heard from jeff there just a few moments ago talking about the outpouring of support. cnn's impact your world team has vetted organizations. they are aiding in these recovery efforts, and you can find out how you can help these wildfire victims in hawaii at cnn.com/impact. or you can just text hawaii to 707070. we will stand by for that news conference. we're going to get an update from the governor, the mayor, the officials there. we'll bring that to you live as soon as it begins. also donald trump is now ripping the special counsel over the date that jack smith requested for his election interference trial. it's quite soon. we'll tell you more next. we never just see the numbers. we see thehe people. marcus: : detroit, it's jt changed so much. you can see what it once was. and then, i think about what it can be. as an trepreneur, it's about how i can givs to empower themselves if we can just all do somhing small, all the small things will start to amount to something big. that's why we're here to help make it happen. 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statement. > the special counsel jack smith said he nts to put donald trump on trial in the election interference case as soon as january 2, 2024, nearly three years after the capitol attacks, about two weeks before the iowa caucuses. prosecutors think it will not take more than four to six weeks to present their evidence. then trump will get to go. this could mean trump will be in the courtroom and on the campaign trail at the same time. the former president's codefendants appeared in court today to face new charges in the mar-a-lago documents investigation. trump body man and his official codefendant walt nauta pleaded not guilty. but once again the court is facing a delay as carlos de oliveira, the latest codefendant who was added in that superseding indictment showed up without a florida licensed attorney. his arraignment has been postponed to next week. you don't see trump in those videos along side the attorneys and two codefendants. he also pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, but we waived his appearance at today's hearing. joining me now, jennifer rogers, and david kelly, former u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. thank you both for being here. jennifer, this is a really aggressive schedule. the prosecutors are putting this forward. they said they want not just this, to give trump's lawyers the bulk of their discovery in the next two weeks. compared to a normal timeline, how remarkable is that? >> it's really, really tight, kaitlan. we're thinking about cases when we were in the u.s. attorney's office. a run of the mill case would usually take you nine months. it's not that it can't get done if they have a dedicated prosecution team, a dedicated defense team doing just this. it's feasible in theory, but i think it's pretty tight. i can't imagine they can do it that fast. >> trump is obviously not happy about this. he's saying he can't believe jack smith scheduled it for the day af new year's day. he said it should happen, if at all, after the election. his team gets to suggest their own timetable. i imagine they're not going to agree with this one. >> i think jack smith starts off -- it's kind of like a bidding war. he puts in his bid knowing he's not going to get it. maybe there will be a march to the middle. maybe if they don't start in january, maybe they can get -- i agree with jennifer. it typically is about nine months before you get to trial. it can be done sooner, and i think the discovery in this case is less complex than the discovery in the documents case. the reason being, the documents case has a lot of classified information, the substance of which i don't think is really relevant. but the fact they have to sort through the classified information issues. so, i think that can be longer. and i think the point here is this can be done faster. i don't think it's unreasonable for him to come and bid so low. but i think it's going to, at best -- look, i don't think it's likely to go before the election, but i think it could reasonably and prudently be scheduled, you know, sometime in the spring/summer. >> and normally when we talk about a speedy trial, we're talking about a defendant's rights to a speedy trial. what prosecutors noted today was public's interest in the speedy trial. and it's difficult to imagina this one, in which the defendant is the former president charged with these three charges but saying that obviously it's a matter of public importance and it merits in favor of a prompt resolution, given he's running for office. i mean, does that work for the judge? >> well, what underlines all of this is the notion that if he wins election again, he will have this case dismissed. he will have a way to get rid of this altogether. >> he said he'll fire jack smith. >> he'll fire jack smith. his a.g. will dismiss the case. if it happens to be over by then, he'll pardon himself. that's not really codified in the speedy trail act, but that's what we're talking about here. >> what do you make of what happened, david, in southern florida today where you see walt nauta and carlos de oliveira walking out of court. carlos' attorney were arguing for a delay to august 25th because he doesn't have florida based representation that is signed onto yet. the judge said, no, we're going to do this tuesday. >> the southern district of florida is pretty strict about outside lawyers coming in. i've been there and had that issue before. and i agree with the judge. it shouldn't take that long. and i think he's now testing the patience of the judge. you need to get somebody. there's somebody in this subject that's licensed to practice in the southern district of florida has to be available to come in at least to be local counsel for, you know, some attorney. so, saying the 25th is too long is more than reasonable. he should get his act together and get a lawyer and move forward. >> walt nauta did the same thing, though. he delayed in getting a florida-based attorney. we were hearing from sources that it was a delay tactic. do you think this is also a delay tactic? >> i think it's all a delay tactic. we're talking about a matter of months before the election. every week counts. the notion they got a week out of fighting over a totally routine protective order in the january 6th case, this stuff with the lawyers in the documents case, it's death by a thousand cuts. every time they can push it back, a little, a little, next thing you know, you can't try it until after the election. >> we find out about that protective order tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. meanwhile, donald trump is keeping everyone guessing about whether or not he'll be at the first republican debate in just a few days from now. other candidates have signed a loyalty pledge required to take part. and we'll tell you who. and we're also waiting for the news conference. it's going to start any moment in hawaii. we'll see the mayor and the governor of hawaii scheduled for 3:30 local time. we'll be 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save. ♪ [ cellphone buzzes ] sometimes it takes a different approach to see the possibilities all around you. almost 10. you gonna have a big birthday party? ♪ with capella university's game-changing flexpath format, you can earn your nursing degree without putting life on hold. imagine your future differently with capella university. - [announcer] do you have an invention idea but don't know what to do next? call invent help today. they can help you get started with your idea. call now 800-710-0020. butter sculptures, fried doh,nd a lot of iowa voters. 20sidential candidates are either in or headed to iowa for the state fair tonight. donald trump in that state holds 44% of the support of the republicans in that state. joining me tonight, jamal simmons, who is an aide to both president biden and vice president harris and is now a cnn political commentator. and doug heye, former rnc communications director and republican strategist. congrats to you. we're glad to have you with us. our viewers will see you very often. doug, everyone and their mother is in iowa right now, including vice president mike pence. obviously they're all there shaking hands, talking to people. but mike pence got asked on january 6th from one voter who had travelled there to see him. and he said he thought people deserved to know that trump pressured him to overturn the election. >> people deserve to know that on that day, the former president asked me to choose him over my oath to the constitution. i chose the constitution, and i always will. >> trump is denying that, saying he never asked him to disregard the constitution. we all saw what happened. what do you make of the fact this is something he's talking about at the iowa state fair in the middle of these 2024 primaries. >> i would say you left short the number of fried foods available at the fair. it is a very, very long list. it's part of the reasons candidates go there. >> i'm sorry, doug, i've got to interrupt you. we need to go to maui where officials are giving an update on the catastrophic wildfires. this is the governor. >> what we saw was the utter devastation of lahaina. we walked from end to end today as a team, mayor bisen for the county, senator schatz, federal level, and myself, plus all of our teams. and what we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in hawaii state history. you'll recall in 1960, we had one year into statehood, a tsunami that hit and took 61 lives on the big island. we are seeing loss of life here. as you know, the number has been rising, and we will continue to see loss of life. but we have extraordinary professionals working on this job. we also have seen many hundreds of homes destroyed. and that's going to take a great deal of time to recover from. but that's why we come together. we come together to give comfort to people. and like i said, we will prevail. but we come together now to talk about the specifics of resources. this morning at 12:10 a.m., my team and i submitted the proposal to the federal government for presidential disaster declaration. and exactly six hours later, we were honored to receive in the affirmative that the federal government will be supporting our full recovery, which means that there will be grants for individuals from fema. there will be support for rental aid. there will be support for small businesses. and this is just a small piece of what's going to be necessary. but the financial aspects of the recovery will help blunt the loss of life because all of us will have a loved one here on maui that we know of that lost a house, that lost a friend. we talked to many people today, not just at the shelter, which was something to behold. and we appreciate all the volunteers like we appreciate the incredible work of the firefighters and police. but we talked to an old gentleman who hadn't seen anything like this ever in his life, a wildfire that took a whole city. his neighbors have all lost their homes. his home was intact, but he was in tears. this is a gentleman that doesn't cry easily. we saw young men on bicycles riding through lahaina. they also had much loss to share. they lost their houses, and they don't know where to turn. so, what we're telling you is we will rebuild. today you're going to hear from not just me as governor but you're going to see what senator schatz will be able to begin working on and proposing for our aid. also, we have experts from fema, of course our local leadership, our state senator, and mayor. but let me say this, a couple things. we are going to need to house thousands of people. it's our intent to initially seek 2,000 rooms so that we can get housing for people. that will mean reaching out to all of our hotels and those in the community. we'll ask people to rent those extra rooms or their adus or the ohana they have in their property. we will create a program so that that's available. it will be deeply subsidized, in my opinion, to make sure that for many months if people need a home, they can find a home here. we're also going to call to action for people across the state. if you have additional space in your home, if you have the capacity to take someone in from west maui, please do. we'll find a way to connect you. please consider bringing those people into your lives, especially if you have a space that you can otherwise rent. the state will find resources because the federal government will be in full support. president biden spoke to me directly and said that they will be here with us all the way. we'll take questions at the end, but i know there are several experts here that are going to address you. we understand you're hungry for information. let me say this up front. we respect that. we know how important it is that you do your jobs, but we're just about 48 hours in, and there's tragedy on the roadside. there's tragedy in the homes in lahaina, and we're trying to be very careful to respect the dignity of people who have had such loss. so, if wefr been at any time more difficult to communicate, it's because we're trying to also respect what they've gone through. we'll get you a lot of information as we go forward. so, i'll pause here. >> mayor, at this time, i would like to welcome the maui county mayor, richard bisic. >> hello. in an event like this, i think we all understand goes through several phases. we have been in the phase now of fighting fires and saving lives. i appreciate the patience the media has had with us, allowing us to go through that phase. soon, we'll be in the recovery/rebuilding phase, as the governor has spoken to. we know that's going to be a long process. i really want to speak to our citizens, our residents, our visitors, our businesses, who have suffered tremendous loss and probably inconsolable grief. i think for us, the message is we're going to try our very best to identify those that have perished so that the families can have that closure and can have that understanding. we're also going to try and connect our families with those who are in our shelters. as you understand, this was an emergency. people left without taking anything with them. in most cases, they had no choice. so, now we're at that phase where we want to make sure those in our community, whether we're in a hotel or at a shelter or staying with a family or friend that we can try and match them back with their families. a lot of work being done here to make that happen. again, as the governor spoke to, we will rebuild, and that's really what we have no choice but to do. until you see the devastation that we all witnessed maybe through photographs before this morning but in person today, it's difficult to describe. but there are lots of people that will need a lot of help. and our goal, as government, is to provide that help to people. i did want to also speak to the folks who did not -- whose homes were not damaged. and i know the question on your mind is when can i get back to my home? just as soon as we can try to provide the certainty that we have recovered those that have perished. and that's really our goal right now. we're hoping to find people that might just be injured. a lot of time has passed since the incident, so we're still in that phase. but please allow us to complete this process before we allow people back into the home. there's no power, there's no water back on the west side either. so, those are both things we're trying to restore as well. we also want to make sure we can provide enough shelter space, space at our shelters, for folks. we're kind of at the limits. and we'll have to be creative with our team after this to try to get more for folks out on the west side. so, we're very cognizant of the main things that people want to know. where is my family member? when can i move back to my home? and what's the long-term plan? i mostly, however, want to thank all the partners, the allies, that we have in our federal government, our state government, our fellow county government support, and of course our public. your patience, your vigilance, we continue to ask for it. thank you. >> i'd now like to bring up u.s. representative brian schatz. >> senator. >> senator. u.s. senator brian schatz. >> it's fine. it's fine. aloha, everybody. i just have a couple things to say. first of all, we are unified from the federal to the state to the county government and especially including the community. we were fortunate enough to be in the emergency operating center, and i've been in a lot of eocs. and i have never seen such an extraordinary group of individuals who are professionally and personally dedicated to disaster response and, of course, recovery. and so many people have so many personal relationships that they're kind of managing having to be a first responder but also worry about their own families. so, we all want to thank them. but josh got a call from the president. i just got a call from the vice president. leader schumer called and assured me that he was going to do everything he could in terms of a disaster supplemental funding bill. and one of the best pieces of news, which was fortuitous this week, is that bob fenton, from region nine, who has been a longtime friend of hawaii through fema, through wildfires, other wildfires, through volcanic eruptions, through floods and tropical storms, is here and is one of the most knowledgeable people on disaster response and recovery that you could possibly get. he's here physically with us, walked front street, has done all of it, and is going to stay for the duration, even as the fema administrator, i think, arrives tomorrow evening. so, we are united. we are not underestimating the task in front of us in the next couple of days and couple of weeks but also couple of years. this is going to be a long period of recovery, but we will rebuild. >> senator brian schatz, at this time i would like to bring up major general ken hara. >> good afternoon and aloha. i'd like to start off, again, by offering by condolences and prayers from everyone in maui to include the visitors. it was just extremely saddening to see all the destruction there. you know, i was fortunate to be able to see it first hand and now realize the amount of support that we're going to require for the federal, state, county, and the private. and i was talking to governor green and said this has got to be an all of nation approach. because of what i saw, we'll be activating what we call the joint task force 5.0. i'll be appointing brigadier general steven logan, he will be the two status commander. so, he'll have the authority to command both active duty and national guard forces. i've been in close contact with admiral aquilino, who's commander of u.s. pacific command and general charles flynn, who's commander of the u.s. army pacific. and they have said they will provide the state whatever military resources we need for response and recovery. i did ask and we did formally request several capabilities and resources from fema and from the federal government. i'll allow administrator fenton to go into the details of what he's approved. but it's going to take a long time, as the mayor and both the governor alluded to. so much destruction. it's going to take time to rebuild. and we're going to need that all of nation approach that i talked about. thank you. >> mahalo. at this time, we would like to bring up robert fenton, region nine fema administrator. >> appreciate it. and first, you know, our condolences and prayers to those that have lost friends and loved ones during this event. we want to be with you not only now but through the recovery in the years to come. also, a message of safety. make sure you continue to heed the warnings of local officials. don't wait. listen to them and heed their warnings. as all the speakers before me talked about is unity of effort. i'd just like to say, one team, one fight. but this is really going to take a whole community effort. it's just not government at the federal, state, local level. it's business, private sector, non-profits. the citizens of maui all come together to work together to help recover. the devastation that i saw today is significant. i've been on many fires in my career. i've been in fema for 26 years, been to the biggest fires in the country. and the downtown area is significantly damaged, and a lot of lost structures down there. some of the programs that we will bring and that are important here is the ability to provide direct federal assistance. what does that mean? i have the authority to ask the president to task other federal agencies to provide support to maui and the state of hawaii. some of those are going to be in the debris removal, household waste, which usually the corp. of engineers removes debris for us. and generator emissions, mass care, commodities, and also bringing in search and rescue teams that help with cadaver dogs to search for human remains. they're on the way in right now both from california and washington and will integrate the great fire department you have here. our individual assistance program is the key program for individuals, for those that are survivors who either lost loved ones or you can't get back to your house or you think you've been impacted by this storm, go ahead and phone the 1-800-320-6632 fema number. again,s that -- >> right now officials in maui are providing an update after a catastrophic wildfires there that have killed 53 people. we heard from the governor, josh green, there at the beginning saying that they are going to continue to see loss of life, saying this is the largest natural disaster in hawaii's state history. he said there's going to be a need to house thousands of people who were either pushed out of their homes or had to evacuate. we sadly learned earlier that the death toll in maui has climbed to 53. right now, though, rescuers are still searching for many missing. we heard one estimate earlier from someone from the hawaii department of defense who said he believes 1,000 people are missing tonight. we'll bring you new updates as they come in. for more information about how you can help those hawaii wildfire victims, go to cnn.com/impact or text hawaii to 707070 to donate. we'll be right back in just a moment. relapsing ms isn't the only thing i have going on. that's why my doctor and i chose kesimpta. kesimpta is different. it's the only b-cell treatment for rms i can take at home once a month. kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions and slowing disability progression vs aubagio. for me, a once-monthly treatment just works for my schedule. don't take kesimpta if you have hepatitis b, and tell your doctor if you have had it, as it could come back. kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections. while no cases of pml were reported in rms clinical trials, it could happen. tell your doctor if you had or plan to have vaccines, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. kesimpta may cause a decrease in some types of antibodies. the most common side effects are upper respiratory tract infection, headache, and injection reactions. when i'm ready, i spend less than 1 minute a month taking kesimpta. how i spend the rest of my time is up to me. ask your doctor about treating rms with kesimpta. back with our panel now. we are turning to the presidential candidates who are in iowa. it's that time of year for the state fair. now something that is coming up while they are all there. the loyalty pledge. so far, only fgop hopeful hopefuls have signed ahead of that debate. doug, trump said last night not going to sign this pledge to support the eventual nominee. obviously, it's a requirement to participate in the first debate. this is what he said about it. >> i wouldn't sign the pledge. why would i sign a pledge? there are people i wouldn't have. i wouldn't have certain people, you know, somebody that i would endorse. >> what happens if he doesn't sign the pledge? >> if donald trump wants to be on the debate stage, he will be on the debate stage. the reality is he doesn't want to be and politically it's smart not to be. he is on that stage, he going to allow every opponent to get the oxygen that he brings into a room and invite himself for a lot of criticism from his own party that he doesn't want to have. so he may do a separate event. he is not going to be at the debate. his advisors are telling him don't do this. i think anybody rationally who works in politics when they are working for an incumbent with a big lead, which is sort of where trump right now, that's what you advise. >> but georgia governor kemp, no stranger to tension with donald trump, tweeted today in response to that, every republican running for president would be better than joe biden. he is a republican governor. not surprising he would say that. he said anybody who doesn't commit to supporting the eventual nominee is putting themselves ahead of the future of their country and says this is political games. >> donald trump has been putting himself ahead of the future of our country since 2016. is that when he showed up? and i just find it very hard to believe that donald trump will let an event occur again with so many lights, so many cameras, so many remote field reporters from every network and he will not be present for be a part of it. i think that we are looking at -- i am not sure how he gets there. i am not sure what kind of maneuvering he does. it won't be because it's the smart thing to do or the rational, political thing to do. donald trump is a little bit more casino owner barker than he is rational political -- >> there has been a tack tuck by the other republicans to try to goad him into coming. does that work? >> i don't think so, because he could be the riverboat casino. he could be on the other side of the river and hold his own event. he will get attention. he is the show and he knows that he is the show. he doesn't need to bring his spotlight to other people and let them steal from his limelight. so he is going to do something potentially. it doesn't need to be what everybody wants to do. >> i don't know if the word potentially in there. you used to work for vice president harris. i wonder what you made of that nikki ley did today. she sted this picture and crossed out -- they call it the beat biden pledge. they crossed out biden. she wrote it's the president harris pledge. you worked for the vice president. >> this is, first of all, a really complicated argument the republicans are trying to make. it's asking voters to, maybe even imagine joe biden being president, right. and so joe biden might be president. then you might get kamala harris. so it's just too complicated. voters usually vote who they want at the top or bottom. if i were a republican candidate, i would say i want joe biden to be president or don't want to joe biden to to be president. i wouldn't worry about the vice president. it seems like nikki haley is auditioning for vice president. if she wants to be vice president, she should say so. >> welcome to the scene. >> thank you. all right. if you look at senator tommy tuberville's website, you will see this description. quote, tuberville lives in alabama with his wife suzanne. tonight "the washington post" has us asking if he actually lives in florida. the fact-checker reports that last month tuberville sold the last of the properties that he owns in the state of alabama. the senator has not responded it our request for comment, but his office told "the post" his primary residence is in auburn. but kessler found that records show that house is actually owned by tuberville's wife and his son. instead, "the post" says that campaign finance and property documents show the home that actually bears his name is a beach house in florida in the panhandle worthy millions of dollars and where he has lived two decades. he said this in 2017. >> six months ago after 40 years of coaching football, i hung up my whistle and moved to santa rosa beach, florida, with the white sands and blue water. what a great place to live. >> let's be clear. no one is saying that senator tuberville broke any laws. he spent plenty of time in alabama, specifically in auburn where he coached the auburn tigers and the football team from 1999 to 2008. it's also the first time -- not the first time he faced accusations of being a carpetbagger. in 2017 he decided not to run for governor of the state when questions about his residency were raised, to add to that, the birmingham news reported that tuberville voted in the midterm elections not in alabama, but in florida in 2018. to run for governor in my home state of alabama, you must be a resident for seven years. to run for senate, you only have to be a resident for at least one day. i think you see where i'm going with this. in 2019, "the post" reports that tuberville registered to vote in alabama nine days before he launched his senate campaign. shy note as "the washington post" does tonight that during his campaign tuberville did not shy away from these allegations that he didn't really live in the state. >> yes, i am not an everyday resident of alabama. that's going to be brought up. >> not an everyday resident of alabama. i should note that didn't negatively affect his campaign. he was, in the end, elected in a landslide. thank you for joining us for a very busy hour tonight. cnn primetime with laura coats starts now. there was so much to cover and still so much ahead. so nice to see you. good evening, everyone. i'm laura coats. thank you for joining me. we have notable guests joining me tonight, including bob mcmcdonald. i am eager to hear what he has