The world. Im kim brunhuber, ahead on cnn newsroom. What we saw was likely the largest Natural Disaster in hawaiis state history. Deadly wildfires tear through maui. Entire neighborhoods wiped out. We write you the harrowing stories of those who escaped the fastmoving flames. Plus, the big event that has them racing to see the iowa fair. In zaporizhzhia, as President Biden asks congress for more assistance for ukraine. Well have the live report from the latest. Live from cnn center, this is cnn newsroom with kim brunhuber. Tremendous devastation, a sense of deep loss and a scramble to save whatever can still be saved. Thats all happening on the Hawaiian Island of maui, where 53 people have been killed by wildfires described as apocalyptic. The death toll is likely to go even higher as Emergency Crews Sift through countless properties, now in ashes. The wildfire is now the second deadliest in the u. S. In a century, and the governor says its likely the largest Natural Disaster ever in hawaiian history. Much of the Historic Town of lahaina has been destroyed. Tens of thousands of people, tourists and locals have been evacuated from the island. It looks like a war zone out there. It really looks like somebody came along and bombed the whole town. Its completely devastated. Its burned down to the ground. Its sad. The wildfire that tore through lahaina is now 80 contained. Derek van dam shows us more of the damage and how authorities are responding. Reporter tonight, fires on the island of maui continuing to burn as new federal help is now being dispatched amid unprecedented widespread destruction. Scenes like this becoming more common. Businesses melted. Historical sites gone. Homes reduced to ash and smoke. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Officials say hundreds of families are displaced. Everybody in our neighborhood lost everything. Reporter marks home in lahaina is gone, as is much of the Tourist Destination and economic hub. Steffel making a harrowing heartbreaking escape. We ran downstairs and grabbed the dogs and cats. And we lost the cat and the dog because of just confusion. And the fire just engulfed our house. Reporter Officials Say winds associated with Hurricane Dora helped fuel the fires. These before and after images near Lahaina Shores Beach Resort are staggering. Same with this stretch of beach, where a number of buildings are simply gone. Today President Joe Biden approving a Disaster Declaration for hawaii, providing federal financial assistance. And the pentagon now activating more than 100 National Guardsmen to help in the response. Anyone who has lost a loved one whose home has been damaged or destroyed is going to get help immediately. Reporter assistance meant to help maui county residents like lafina davis. Everything that we own in all my 50 years of life is completely burn odd the ground. Reporter today residents and tourists alike finding refuge in a Honolulu Convention center. The gas station blew up at 3 00. And since then, weve just been trying to outrun a fire. Reporter as firefighters work to contain the deadly blaze, residents look at the Monumental Task ahead. Its not just a loss of our home, its a loss of our entire community, our town that weve known it to be for generations. And its completely devastating. Were shook to our core. Reporter derek van dam, cnn. My next guest was caught up in the lahaina fire but managed to escape. Steven potter is on the line from mauis northern shore. Thank you so much for being here with us. I understand you were sort of setting up your life there in hawaii when you were caught up in this fire. Just describe what happened, what you saw. Well, we were trying to go through front street to make it to the north side of the island to kawahui. But trees blocked the road and nobody was getting in or out. It was a horseshoe of fire. And the winds were pushing us, pushing it towards us, towards the ocean. And the only thing we could do is jump in the ocean and spend about eight hours there. And thats when the car started exploding. And it just became apocalyptic, like you had said. Just pure tragedy. There is about 60 to 100 people in the water with me. And they kept on asking me, is this it . I kept telling them no, no, no. In the back of my head, i was thinking maybe. Oh, my gosh. You describe a horseshoe of fire and cars exploding. Were you injured in any of this . Just speckled from the wind pushing ashes on me. I made it out pretty lucky. But then you would get the waves crashing your face into the rocks. Yeah, it was just absolutely crazy. We lost a baby, in the evacuation. It got separated from its parents. And then it was lost in the two or three evacuations that we went through. I havent heard anything about it getting reunited with its family. It was just pure tragedy. Oh my george bush. And you literally thought you were going the lose your life . Yeah. It got that bad. Because being educated in Smoke Inhalation and car batteries and gasoline and fumes from thor into you, dashes, thats all we could breathe. There for about an hour, when the fires were at their peak, all that black smoke just being pushed down into you. And when you breathe in, it burned. Just absolutely burned. Even with a tshirt over our heads. It was absolutely horrible. Our eyes were swollen shut the next day, a lot of us. And you were one of the lucky ones. Unfortunately, you know, more than 50 people didnt make it out of the fire. Yeah. Yeah. And that number is still going up. People compare i mean, were seeing the pictures now. Just utter devastation. I mean trying to picture how all this would be built back up. It looks like a ghost town. How long do you think it will take to get back on its feet . Its probably going to take years to rebuild it. I mean, with the cost of housing here and people being displaced with the Housing Market being tough to get into a place already. Its, you know, its going to take a long time. The cleanup is going to, you know id hate to be down there for sure. Yeah. What happens to you now . You were just about to sort of set up your life there, set up your family. What happens to your plans . Luckily, we havent let go of our house on the mainland. So ill be flying out saturday to return home with my family. In the meantime you must be thinking of all those people who have just lost everything. Everything, yeah. I was with them in the evacuation centers, and the stories and, you know, just the despair on peoples faces. Its sad. Yeah, youre absolutely right. I made it out very lucky. We are hearing from the governor that so many hawaiians are coming together, are sending in supplies, are trying to help each other in these circumstances we often see the best of humanity. What are you seeing . Absolutely. When we got to the war memorial gym, you couldnt walk two feet without somebody asking if you wanted food or water, if you need anything, if youre okay. And theyre doing an absolute bangup job down there. Yeah. Its just horrific to see again. Were seeing these pictures from the air. Ive been to lahaina. Its so beautiful, and just tragic to think not only of all those who have lost their lives, but everything thats been lost there. Listen, we wish you all the best in getting back up on your feet and everybody in the community. Steven potter, thank you so much for speaking with us. And we want to say if you would like any information on how you can help those impacted by the hawaii wildfire, please go to cnn. Com impact, or you can text hawaii to 707070 to donate. Lawyers for donald trump are set to make their first appearance before the u. S. District judge Tanya Chutkan today. She has scheduled a hearing on the handling of the evidence in the case for trump plotting to overturn the 2020 election. The counsel is asking for evidence in the trial with the trial set to begin january 2nd next year. Trumps attorneys are expected to push back with all the other entanglements including fraud, hush money cases in new york plus charges that trump mishandled classified documents after he left the white house. Judge chutkan could have something to say about recent attacks on special counsel jack smith. The former president has repeatedly called him deranged. On thursday he lashed out at the january trial date posting on social media, quote, only an outoftouch lunatic would ask for such a date one day into the new year. The trial should only happen, if at all, after the election. Meanwhile, in florida, trumps codefendants in the maralago case, walt nauta and Carlos Doleira appeared in court. Nauta pleaded not guilty, but oliveiras arraignment was postponed. And in michigan, all 16 people charged in the fake electors scheme have pleaded not guilty. They each face eight Felony Charges including multiple counts of forgery. Well, trumps legal problems notwithstanding, donald trump will campaign at the Iowa State Fair on saturday. And so will almost everybody else. The fair offers gop candidates a chance to make a strong impression ahead of the first debate later this months and the caucuses in january. But if any of them hope to catch trump, they still have a listening way to go. We get more from cnns jeff zeleny. Reporter the annual Iowa State Fair is unfolding with a hearty side of politics as fearly every republican president ial candidate is descending on the state in the coming days to make their case to iowans about their president ial hopes. Now of course the Iowa Caucuses open the 2024 republican nominating contest on january 15th. Leaving these candidates less than six months to make their case. Now there is no doubt that donald trump is the frontrunner in this campaign. He will be here at the state fair on saturday. But several others are as well. But his former Vice President mike pence was visiting the fair on thursday, was asked a very pointed question about his actions on january 6th. He defended them like this. There is almost no idea more unamerican than the notion that any one person could pick the american president. I mean, the american presidency belongs to the American People and the American People alone. 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. Reporter and from that crowd at least, he received applause. Of course, this is still an uphill challenge for the former Vice President to make his way through this very crowded primary, with so many other candidates. Now of course the Iowa Caucuses are less than six months away, but before that, critically, is the first republican president ial debate that takes place in less than two weeks in milwaukee. Now four candidates have already signed the Loyalty Pledge that requires them to sign to support the nominee to get on stage. Former President Donald Trump has not said if he will compete in the debate or not. But clearly, the Republican Campaign is heating up as many of these other candidates are trying to catch the frontrunner as they define themselves and introduce themselves to iowa voters. Jeff zeleny, cnn, des moines. So what would a Republican Debate look like without donald trump . Well, cnns senior political analyst ron brownstein. Here he is. I would think most people would be surprised to see him at the first debate and maybe the second if fox is hosting at the Reagan Library in september. But i do think that once the debates move to the early caucus and primary states, the calculation will be different. People might remember that back right before the 2016 caucus in iowa, he skipped a fox debate in iowa and held a counter programing event. He said he was raising money for veterans that never seemed to pan out. But he ended up losing the caucus, somewhat surprisingly. I think he will feel more pressure to participate in the debates in the early states for which absence could be seen as a slight not only to the sponsors but to the voters. But on the early debates, i believe most people believe he is going to make his point, keep his marbles and go home, as ron desantis said. Ukrainian officials call it a miracle which saved childrens lives during a Russian Missile strike. Still ahead, a stroke of good luck that made children leave the site of the take just in time. Plus, Russian Media coverage versus the reality on the ground in ukraine. And later in the show, the u. S. Strikes a deal with iran. A group of americans released from one of the countrys most notorious prisons. What iran is getting in exchange. Well have that coming up. Please stay with us. Get odorfree eight hohour protection from mosquitoes and ticks without the ick. Zevo onnbody repellent. People love it. Bugs hate it. Try killing bugs the worryfree way. Not the other way. Zevo traps use light to attract and trap flying insects with no odor and no mess. They work continuously, so you dont have to. Zevo. Peoplefriendly. Bugdeadly. Hi, im stacey, and ive lost 60 pounds on golo. guitar music i decided to try golo when i had an International Flight coming up and i realized i couldnt fly being the size that i was. My sisterinlaw tried golo and had lost 50 pounds, so i thought id give golo a try. I didnt expect the results i got on golo. I was hopeful, but i did not expect it to be like this. Golo just makes sense. This plan works. announcer change your life at golo. Com. Thats golo. Com. The u. N. Humanitarian official says shes appalled by a russian strike on a hotel frequently used by the organization in various ngos in ukraine. The Missile Attack happened on thursday in the city of zaporizhzhia. Ukraine says one person was killed and 16 others were wounded. The building also serves as a childrens day camp, which closed for the day just an hour before the strike. Ukrainian officials call the timing a miracle that likely saved many childrens lives. Meanwhile, the front lines are largely holding, despite reports of heavy fighting among ukraines counteroffensive in the south. Officials say moscow is now rushing reinforcements from crimea while pulling back a lot of damaged military equipment. And in washington, President Biden is asking congress for another 24 billion in aid for ukraine and other international needs. But hell be up against some republicans who are skeptical of providing more help. More on all this, join Selma Abdulaziz joins us from london. What more are we learning about the horrific hotel attack . Let me start with Breaking News that weve only received just in the last few minutes. This is coming from kyiv city, local officials that say hypersonic missiles have been fired. These are kienzle missiles. They are calling on all families to take shelters. Terror and fear in the capital this morning. But straight to those front lines, kim, of course, where ukrainian Officials Say that Russian Troops are making an attempt to pull them, to distract them from that southern front, which of course has been key for kyivs fight in this counteroffensive towards the north, towards kharkiv. In fact, so intense has the russian assault been towards the Kharkiv Region that one city has had to order mandatory evacuations for all residents. Officials there saying that the city has been struck by Air Assaults Dozens of times a day. Kyivs troops saying that russia has sent in troop reinforcement, Airborne Division reinforcements, trying again to pull ukraines focus towards the north. And thats really what were seeing throughout this conflict, of course. Yet again presents that issue of these very long front line, hundreds of miles of active fighting where the Ukrainian Forces are stretched very thin and consistently trying to reacted to russian air superiority, which has continued to hold ukraine back in certain areas. And that means there is very few gains that weve seen in recent months since the launch of this counteroffensive, while at the same time with very few successes in hand again, President Biden going to congress, asking for more help, more support, 24 billion in additional aid. That includes humanitarian sent assistance. He is set for a showdown this fall. And not only seeing resistance from republican politicians, but from more americans at large. I just want to show you a poll here recently. Cnn found 55 of americans say congress shouldnt authorize more funding for ukraine. So were seeing u. S. Support for ukraine slowly fading, which in the context of ukraines offensive, which you were just talking about adds some political pressure on top of the obvious military and strategic drivers here. Absolutely. I mean, kyivs fight, kyivs needs on the frontlines are absolutely linked to the u. S. Election next year. Mentioning that poll again. Just to give you a pint of comparison, last february when a similar poll was conducted, 62 of americans said they believed that the United States should do more to help ukraine. So a huge shift there over the course of the last year and a half or so. And thats being reflected, of course, in congress where there is skepticism rather among the republican party. Thats