Smiths case . Plus, americans in iran, out of prison and now under house arrest. The rare move marking a bright spot in u. S. Iran relations. The new details were learning about the tentative deal to free them and what iran is getting in return. And senator joe manchin says hes seriously thinking about leaving his party as he weighs his own political future. Why manchin might be stepping away from the democrats and what it could mean for the Balance Of Power on capitol hill. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early on this friday, august 11th. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for starting your day with us. And well begin with breaking and tragic news out of hawaii where wildfires continue to ravage the Island Of Maui. At least 55 people are now confirmed dead, and that number is only expected to rise. Four major fires are currently burning across the island. Theyre being fueled by dry conditions and strong winds caused by a passing hurricane. The fires have destroyed Historic Buildings and
Country . Chuck schumer should be asked the question. It really is in the president tends to decide. He says its an issue Border Security. Think we know better. Its an issue of his own political and security. Reporter ellison barber joins us from the white house. Expected to serve until february. What changed . Services tell our correspondent Jennifer Griffey and that essentially President Trump became annoyed over a lot of the coverage that mattis was receiving over the last couple days since he resigned. That is what prompted the expedition speeding up of mattis planned departure. I asked the white house about those claims as claims of annoyance but have not yet heard back. A spokesperson at the pentagon told fox news the secretary of defense should set the pleasure. Remain focused on National Security. Sources tell fox news that mattis wanted to stay until february 28th so among other things he could help ensure an orderly transition. Of course very notably resigned about three days
Between washington and iran. give us your sense as to how this deal came to be, and is it some sort of break through? protracted secret talks of brad mcgurk who s a diplomat had private talks in oman, and this is hopefully an effort that will decrease tensions. that s the positive side. the negative side is this $6 billion. it is restricted. this is iranian money that s been held in south korea that will be moved to the middle east, and it will only be used to buy food and medical supplies and other humanitarian things. there are restrictions on it, but critics have already said this is essentially a gigantic ransom payment, and the broader dynamic here is state hostage taking. that is governments iran, but russia, venezuela, and others essentially kidnapping innocent americans and holding them for years and years. and david, you of course have your own experience of being
Mattis. as mattis did come he followed suit and left. he did the right thing. reporter: mcgurk one of a handful of top brass who served in the bush of in the bush obama and trump administration and with his departure goes a deep understanding of iraq and afghanistan and the terrorist organizations that populate the region. president obama s national security adviser says it is a huge loss to reading yesterday the fact that you say you don t know brad mcgurk speaks volumes about your commitment to fighting a says. why don t you know the man has done more than any civilian. i can assure you barack obama knows him well. president trump springer chief of staff says mcgurk never briefed the president. the president says he didn t know brett mcgurk. how is it possible the president doesn t know the envoy representing the u.s. to the coalition for the last two years good that s easy because the president will the secretary of state and secretary of defense.
Mulvaney says is that the democrats are currently offering. mike: ellison barber leaving us off on the north lawn. it s a lot. following defense secretary mattis at the door, and rep mcgurk who just a couple weeks ago said it would be reckless to pull troops from syria before i says to fully defeated. he does not know mcgurk any quite ahead of the planned february departure, suggesting the envoy was grandstanding. julian turner has more from washington. chernenko is never president trump s national security team to resign in protest over the decision to withdraw american troops from the ongoing syrian civil war is brad mcgurk. they say they don t blame him for leaving. i would not be surprised if they had not had a meeting. he was sleeping in february, but has mattis just did, one of the greatest patriots i ve ever met in my public service, general