There was also a lot of news, as there has been all week. Theres more today. Lets get started this friday, august 18. This breaking overnight, Hurricane Hillary Intensifying in the pacific. It is now a major category 4 hurricane thats expected to bring flooding and rain to california and the southwest over the weekend. More Breaking News, mauis Emergency Management administrator quit abruptly a day after he defended not sounding the islands sirens as Deadly Wildfires tore through la hadhaina citing health reasons. And also this just in, femas Disaster Fund is slipping into the red and Hurricane Season hasnt even peaked yet. Now pressure is on for congress to pass a spending bill. Former President Trump wants to push back the trial date in the federal election subversion case by a lot. The Special Counsel wants january, months from now. Trumps team wants april of 2026, about three years from now. And federal prosecutors are recommending the toughest january 6 sentence yet for two leaders of the proud boys, 33 years in prison. Prose cnn this morning starts right now. And were going to start with Breaking News this morning. A major storm threatening the west coast. Hurricane hillary has intensified into a powerful category 4 storm as it nears cabo san lucas. It could bring heavy rain, flooding, and powerful winds to californias baja in the southwest. The hurricane is expected to weaken as it heads north. If it hits california as a Tropical Storm it would be a rare and unprecedented event. The first one to do so in 84 years. We begin with our meteorologist Derek Van Dam. I think anyone waking up this morning Hearing A Hurricane is heading to Southern California will be very confused, as i was. It doesnt happen a lot. Yeah, you have to go back to 1939, the last time we had a Tropical Storm made landfall in Southern California this is significant and people are going to be caught off guard with this system. Were closely monitoring it, but this storm intensified by 75 Miles Per Hour just in the past 24 hours. It is a cat 4, winds right now at 145 Miles Per Hour. When will we feel the impacts . The Baja Peninsula here, this is part of mexico, of course, theyll feel impacts by saturday morning. But as early as saturday evening into Southern California, certainly into the day on sunday, and once again on monday across much of the southwestern u. S. But this storm is going to encounter some significantly cooler water compared to where its moving across right now. And this is going to significantly weaken the storm as it approaches california. Its likely and explicit wording from the National Hurricane center, this will pack the punch of a storm as it reaches, lets say, san diego, perhaps into los angeles. Now this is a game of miles. If this storm stays offstore, we have more coastal impacts erosion, large waves, rip currents, and even urban flooding because of the proximity to the larger cities. But if it moves inland, it starts to get sheared apart by the Baja Peninsula, it brings the flash flood more inland, mud slides and the flooding is a big concern here as the potential exists for upwards of a years worth of rain, if not more, out of this storm system within a period of a day or two really, a significant Rainfall Threat for much of the southwestern u. S. Including our largest populations from l. A. To san diego. A years worth of rain. Derek, we keep your agile in your job. No shortage of Weather Events youre dealing with. Weve been following the wildfires in canada. Thousands are under evacuation orders. Whats the latest on that . Yeah, look at the smoke just billowing out from these fires across the northwest territory. The fires that are Impacting Yellowknife with over 20,000 people being evacuated from this capital city, this is significant because we have a cold front thats going to move through this area. So what that will do is bring the potential for thunderstorms. So more ignition chances for additional fires to form. Of course we need the rain, but it wont be enough to quell the wildfires because the winds will pick up with the passage of this front, 25 to 35 Miles Per Hour, not to mention the degradation of the quality of our air we continue to breathe across the midwest. We have air quality alerts stretching from Central Canada all the way into the northern portions of the country. Just look at this, poppy and phil. This years wildfire burned acres eclipsing the past 40 years for canada. That puts everything into perspective. Keep in mind with Hurricane Hilary heading towards the west coast, fema is already running out of Disaster Relief money before the atlantic season even starts to ramp up. Its been a recordbreaking year with more than a dozen billiondollar Weather Disasters coast to coast from catastrophic flooding to Tornado Outbreaks to crippling winter storms. Thats not even counting the recent historic floods across the northeast and that devastating maui wildfire that has become the deadliest u. S. Fire in over a century. A fema official tells Cnn The Relief Fund could be used up by the end of this month unless congress acts. From the white house this morning, thats terrifying. Is there an assurance congress will act . Reporter its going to be top of mind when they return, but the bottom line when i talked to officials about this is it would delay that critical recovery if fema does not get these funds. As you mentioned, its been a recordbreaking year for expensive disasters, and thats put an intense strain on their funds which could be depleted by mid to end of august. The white house has been monitoring this, and in their supplemental request to congress, they included an additional 12 billion for these funds. The fema administrator was asked about this at a White House Briefing this week and she also conceded that they have enough funds for the initial response to maui, but they still need more to get all the recovery there. Take a listen. We have enough funding to support the ongoing response efforts, because we take events like this into consideration, but it would delay if we dont have additional funding, it would delay some of the Recovery Projects and push them into next year. Reporter now a fema official also tells me that a lot of these funds go to prep. So if we know a hurricane is coming, for example, that you just mentioned, or any other sort of natural disaster, they can start to send supplies and people there knowing theres going to have to be Recovery Efforts on the back end. If they dont have those funds, they might not be able to do that work. And so all of that would slow down recovery. Of course this is fueling concern within the agency, and the ask is going to congress for them to work on this as these natural disasters continue to happen. Congress that is not currently in session for the month of august, and that supplemental request included ukraine, too. The pathway is up in the air. Priscilla alvarez, thank you. Mauis Emergency Management chief has resigned. This as outrage grows in the wake of the catastrophic wildfire that has killed at least 111 people. He was facing serious criticism for not activating Warning Sirens as this wildfire closed in on lahaina. Also under scrutiny this morning, were learning a State Official may have delayed giving permission to use extra water to fight the flames as the disaster unfolded. The atf says they are sending in investigators to figure out how the fire started. Close to half of the Disaster Area has been searched. More than 40 cadaver dogs are on the Scene Searching for Human Remains in the scorched rooms. Our randi kaye has been digging in on all of this. Here is her reporting. So many of us residents felt we had absolutely no warning. Reporter hawaii has one of the largest Public Safety outdoor siren Warning Systems in the world, sirens that were silent as wildfires raged. The question is, why . First, it was this it would not have saved those people. Do you regret not sounding the sirens . I do not. The sirens, as i mentioned earlier, is used primarily for tsunamis. Reporter thats what the head of the Emergency Management agency said before resigning a day later. Even before that Press Conference ended, his reason had changed. This time suggesting the sirens werent used because people wouldnt have been able to hear the warning. Its an outdoor siren, so a lot of people were indoors, Air Conditioning on, theyre not going to hear a siren. Plus, the winds were very gusty and everything. I heard it was very loud. And so they wouldnt have heard the sirens. Reporter the same story with hawaiis governor. First this sirens were typically used for tsunamis or hurricanes. To my knowledge, at least i never experienced them in use for fires. Reporter minutes later, another explanation. This time the governor suggested at least some of the sirens were broken. The sirens were essentially immobilized, we believe we believe by the extreme heat that came through. Some were broken and were investigating that. Reporter yet that doesnt all track with the countys own webpage, mauisirens. Com which clearly states how the siren system is capable of alerting residents to multiple disasters including wildfires. Emergency alert. Reporter we also found this explainer about the sirens uses on hawaiis Emergency Management agencys webpage. We often use sirens for hurricanes, brushfires, flooding, lava, hazmat conditions, or even a terrorist event. Reporter this map also from the countys page shows where the Warning Sirens are located. According to the state, there are about 400 sirens statewide including 80 on maui. And in the Historic Town of lahaina where more than 100 people were killed in the flames, there are five sirens. Five sirens that were not used to warn those in grave danger. Instead, Officials Say they chose to send alerts by text message to cell phones as well as alerts on land lines and through tv and radio. It is our practice to use the most effective means of conveying an Emergency Message to the public during a fire. Reporter while that may have worked in some cases, the wildfire moved so swiftly, it knocked out power and cell service, so how were residents supposed to receive those warnings . Theres no warning at all. Theres not a siren, a phone alert, nothing, not a call. Reporter randi kaye, cnn. Critically important reporting and so many Unanswered Questions this morning. And recognition this is going to take so much time in the recovery for the families themselves but also trying to figure out what went wrong and why. So it doesnt happen like this again. Randi, thank you for that. Special counsel jack smith wants trumps trial to start next years. Trumps lawyers want it to start in 2026. Trump suddenly canceled a News Conference where he claimed he was going to produce evidence of nonexistent fraud. New reporting behind that change of plans is coming up. , news si. Then i went to experian. Now i can see them in one place. And the ones i forgot about . Experian can cancel them for me. See all you can do at experian. Com save now. My active Psoriatic Arthritis im losing my rhythm. E with skyrizi to treat my skin and joints, im getting into my groove. uplifting music along with significantly clearer skin. Skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. And is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. Skyrizi attaches to and reduces a source of excess inflammation that can lead to skin and joint symptoms. With skyrizi 90 clearer skin and less joint pain are possible. Serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. Thanks to skyrizi, theres nothing like clearer skin and better movement. And that means everything. Nothing is everything nows the time to ask your doctor about skyrizi. Learn how abbvie could help you save. Oh, oh, oh. Ill be the judge of that. Oh, thats nice. Oh searchable, verified reviews. Thats better than the ham, and ive never said that. Booking. Com booking. Yeah drumroll by lonis, Little League this just in got the keys to what you want and what you need something new Something Sweet moving to a different beat okay now what . can i get a get a drumroll . what . can i get a drumroll drumroll . what . can i get a can i get a drumroll please oohh thats nice yahh ya, can i get a drumroll, can i get a drum thats nice how can you sleep on such a firm setting . Gab, mine is almost the same as yours. Almost is just another word for not as good as mine. Save 50 on the sleep Number Limited Edition smart bed. Plus, free Home Delivery when you add a base. Shop now only at sleep number. New developments this morning in the federal election subversion case against former President Donald Trump. His legal team says again they dont want to have a trial in the middle of the election, or even in the year after the election. They want a trial in april 2026. What theyre really saying is theyre complaining about how much they have to go through to prepare for this trial. Theyre saying there are millions of documents, 11 million pages of records, that theyre going to need to read one by one. Thats not exactly how it works in preparing for trial. The government does turn over to defense teams lots and lots of information, but they also spell out for them, these are the Important Documents you should look at. But the trump team saying so many records. We would have to read the equivalent of War And Peace so many times to get ready. Donald trump has other things hes needing to prepare for. Theres going to be hearing dates for other criminal indicted criminally indicted cases before this trial as well, and so everything is going to converge in a way we need a lot more time, april 2026 is what theyre asking for. They say that the governments subjective is clear to deny President Trump a fair ability to prepare for trial. The court should deny the governments request. Poppy and phil, whether the judge will buy that argument still remains to be seen. She is going to have them in court in a couple weeks to talk about a trial date. There are a couple reasons why this trial may need to go to trial quickly, and the Justice Department has argued that one reason is that the American Public deserves to see this case settled because it is about an election. Katelyn, a number stood out to me what the Justice Department is asking for in terms of the length of the Prison Sentence for the leaders of the proud boys. Youve got some reporting on this about the their in the january 6 attack on the u. S. Capitol. What can you tell us . It is a long time. Its a whopper of a number from the Justice Department asking to sentence the leaders of the proud boys on january 6 to essentially three decades in prison each. Theyre asking for 33 years in prison for the chairman of the proud boys who wasnt even on the Grounds On January 6th but was purged from washington, d. C. , and cheering on the others over texts. Theyre asking for 33 years for joseph biggs, zachary reel, another man who bashed in a window, one of the first pieces of the capitol to fall, for 20 years. But this Court Document was a reminder when you read it just how serious the violence was on january 6th, how there was now asserted by a jurys finding here, that there was an effort of people who came together who plotted out how they would lead a mob inside the capitol if they had the opportunity. The Justice Department wrote about these four members of the proud boys convicted of seditious conspiracy. They brought that army of violence to the capitol to exert their political will. For years these defendants intentionally positioned themselves at the vanguard o