Maui, the death toll is soaring as we get new reports from the devastation. And back in court. Donald trumps legal team is about to appear before the judge in the 2020 election case for the first time, as prosecutors are now asking to start the trial in january. What is the judge going to say . Five americans wrongly detained in iran on the verge of freedom after the u. S. Strikes a deal with tehran. Im john berman with kate bolduan. This is cnn news central. This morning the scenes in parts of maui are apocalyptic as Rescue Crews Reach new areas. The death toll rose sharply overnight to 55. The governor estimates some 80 of lahaina were destroyed. When the mayor said its all gone, its all gone. Its all gone. Its gone. Im telling you, none of its there. Its all burned to the ground. The mayor says the death toll is likely to rise. They have only been able to count bodies found outside structures and many people are still unaccounted for. Today Search And Rescue teams from california and Washington State will join the effort in hopes of finding more people alive. Among the missing is linda vikali, her family has not heard from her since wednesday. Theyre looking, but we have not heard anything yet, and from what ive seen, it looks like their Apartment Complex is completely gone. Also missing disabled veteran tim williams. His family last heard from him on wednesday when he sent them photos of the fire. He told them i was trying to find shelter, but his family does not know if he made it. More than 11,000 customers are still without power. Cell Service Nearly nonexistent. The scope of the loss is overwhelming. Theres a lot of people, more than 36 people that didnt make it. I tried to warn as many people as i do. We tried. There was a lot of people lining i think it was just like so chaotic, nobody knew. There were no phone connections. As much as i was trying to save and let people know there were no options. I just had to go. I dont mind being homeless. I just more like am caring for the community. It is so hard. Cnns bill weir is on the ground in maui this morning. Bill, thank you for being with us. Give us a sense of what youre seeing and what the situation is. Reporter it is so devastating, john. Your heart just breaks for these people. So many people on this island affected, even those who didnt maybe live in lahaina and work on the west side of the island, thats where most of the tourists come, so this will affect hundreds of people on this island. Right now the campfire of 2018 in california which took 85 lives in paradise, california, is the deadliest in u. S. History. This probably will exceed that. They are worried that the number could reach into the hundreds because so many people were caught between this wall of flame and the pacific ocean. Those who did try to evacuate were stuck on the road in bumper to Bumper Traffic there, many others we know went into the waves to try to find relief, spent hours there, others didnt survive either from Smoke Inhalation or taking by choppy waves. The wind was 60, 70 miles an hour. I talked to one farmer, eddie garcia, who had fought the flames himself, was trying to build a fire break on his farm when he saw a tornado which has never been seen in this part of the world before. It took part of his equipment away. You can see the emotion as he describes how many lives were affected by this one disaster. You are telling me that this is not just one village on maui, this will affect all every single person. Every one of my friends lost their job because the building they worked at. So much of the people that live here, work here on the west side, its like where the hotels are, its where all the tourists come, its the reason we dont have beaches. Its like everyone has lost their job, theyve lost their house, theyve lost their family. I think theres going to be hundreds of people dead and i dont say that as any conspiracy theory, i just look at how fast it moved and i know how people were out here, we are all in slippers, you know, it happens what happens . How are you going to get out that fast . Its all wooden houses super close together in that nine hood. Youve probably been here on vacation. If theres a way you can help, its your turn. Help here because its needed. Every single home in lahaina is gone. Its like i said before, its apocalyptic. Reporter you know, in the best of times on an island like this in the middle of the pacific a gallon of milk is 12 here. Now they have to deal with a whole new level of hardship, cutoff supply lines, no electricity, no communication now and thats really, john, the most excruciating part for families waiting for Proof Of Life from someone they love. Bill, obviously, you know, its 3 00 a. M. Where you are now, its dark. I was hearing from you by phone when you were First Arriving on front street in lahaina last night. Just give me a sense of what was it like when you first arrived there. What did you see . Reporter the first thing is the smell, you can smell the burning chemicals, the boats that had melted in the harbor there, its just acrid smoke, thick in the air. Very little life. There were work crews out just sort of cleaning up the roads, helicopters overhead, National Guard helicopters, the Big S Chinooks and just utter devastation. Bent and burnt and charred pieces of peoples lives, their businesses. One of the most vibrant Tourist Spots really in the United States there just laid to ash everywhere. Everywhere you look theres that iconic ban i dont know tree which thankfully looks like it survived which will be a morale boost for people now, but so many pieces to pick through, john, so many lives to account for right now. Its just taken the wind out of peoples emotional sails here. Its going to be a hard road in the next couple days. It is hard to process some of the images were seeing of buildings just flattened there or in some cases melting in on themselves. Bill weir, thank you for being there for us. We look forward to speaking to you again throughout the day. Kate, really it is just extraordinary to see. Hearing that they dont even have an estimate of how many people are still missing, its so hard. They havent been able to get inside the structures yet where maybe so many people have been trapped. Exactly. These wildfires that just ripped through maui have already become one of the deadliest fires in u. S. History and the federal government is stepping in. Sending the fema administrator in today for one. Mauis mayor for one thing, mauis mayor spoke to nbc this morning laying out their Top Priorities right now. We have not yet searched in the interior of the buildings. Were waiting for fema to help with that search as they are equipped to handle the Hazmat Conditions of the buildings that have been burned. As we were just talking about, which means the death toll could very easily and quickly rise once they are able to get inside these structures. President biden has approved a Disaster Declaration that will send in and free up more federal aid and it is clear people on the island are in great need. Formula, diapers, ice, water and just food. Thats going through your mind right now . I have a 4 month old and a 2yearold. Cnns Priscilla Alvarez is at the white house following this angle for us. What is the white house doing . What is the administration saying this morning . What are they doing to help . Reporter kate, this Disaster Declaration is a key step in mobilizing federal resources to these communities that have been devastated by the wildfires. So as you mentioned, President Biden approved this Disaster Declaration just yesterday and it will unlock a couple of things here, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs, lowcost loans for uninsured Property Losses and other programs to help individuals and businesses recover. Now, a white house official also told me that hawaii has asked fema for Shelter Supplies like water, cots, food, blankets. President biden himself has talked to the hawaii governor, we know that he did just yesterday, and that he also spoke to how he plans to have federal assets continue to go to hawaii and shore up resources. Take a listen. All available federal assets on the island, including the u. S. Coast guard and Navy Third Fleet and u. S. Army to assist local Emergency Response crews along with the hawaiian National Guard. Were working as quickly as possible to fight the fires and evacuate residents and tourists. In the meantime, our prayers are with the people of hawaii but not just our prayers, every asset we have will be available to them and weve seen their homes and businesses destroyed and some have lost loved ones and its not over yet. Reporter of course, all of those assets will be important to their recovery. We also know that the fema administrator is headed to hawaii today where she, too, will survey the damage and report back to the white house. Kate . Priscilla alvarez at the white house, they are going to need to help, just take a look at those pictures were seeing coming out of the island, you need to see nothing more than that. The pictures do tell the story. Thousands of people have lost their homes there. Joining me now is lauren with Maui Rescue Mission. Thank you for being with us. The official death toll overnight rose to 55. I know you have fears that it will likely rise much higher. Why . Yeah, thanks, john. So im here at a Hyper Local Level working with nonprofits, so Maui Rescue Mission is a 501 c 3 nonprofit, we are a mobile outreach to the homeless and weve been here before the disaster and will be here after. Our concerns are that we as a local nonprofit are not able to even access anything west of west maui is completely cut off from communication and power. Our local facebook groups which are really important to a really tightknit community here on maui, were seeing a list of 1,400 names missing. Thats very fluid, but thats sort of what were seeing at a Hyper Local Level. Were sending materials, churches, nonprofits are sending materials via Boat To West Maui and via air because the two ways to access the west side of maui are closed off to everyone except Emergency Personnel right now. You cant even get in by road unless you are the Emergency Personnel, is that correct . Thats right. And to orient your viewers a bit, if you dont understand the geography of maui its going to be hard to understand the scope of the devastation here. The center of town is Kaud Kahakuloa that is in the valley, theres the West Mountains and the Central Valley is in the middle and thats where the only walmart, target and costco is for the whole island. So transportation and access to resources is something we work with on a daily basis at Maui Rescue Mission, getting resources to the homeless and, you know, before this we were working with a homeless woman on the west side to try to get her to fly to oahu for Emergency Surgery because oftentimes maui residents have to fly to oahu for things like specialist doctors appointments and surgeries. So burn victims are being flown to oahu. Whats your sense of the greatest need in the affected areas right now . Yeah, so as a sort of local nonprofit we are we are waiting for the approval to be able to access the areas that we can drive our trailer that has showers and laundry and hygiene items, like were waiting to access those areas of greatest need. So to be honest we dont know. The scope is not clear. This is going to be an unbelievable recovery, but, john, the fires are still raging here. Theres not 100 containment. Theres three different wildfires and so were still in the middle of this thing, but from a local level, as fema comes in and as we get all of this help, like please just buoy up with the local leaders here, the local reporters because theyre here, they know the terrain, they know the communities. Its a very unique place here, maui and the maui police the police chief referred to lahaina, the entire town as a sacred Burial Ground in the News Conference yesterday. Yeah. And so we just ask that everybody share their aloha, a collaborative spirit is really what we need and were so grateful that the president is sending resources and were going to need it. And so if your viewers are feeling like they want to do something, if you can give to a local 501 c 3 that is on maui that has been here, like i said before, the disaster and will be here after doing things like hygiene kits like what Maui Rescue Mission is doing, please do that. Give to a 501 c 3 thats local here. That would really bring the greatest because we are looking at years, years of recovery here. Its going to take a lot of time, a lot of work and a lot of heart, theyre lucky to have you there, lauren henrie, thank you for being with us this morning. Thank you. For more information about what you can do, go to cnn. Com impact or text hawaii to 707070 to donate. Kate . Coming up for us, it is the first hearing in former president trumps 2020 criminal case, as prosecutors are making a big new ask to start the trial In The Beginning of january. Its all happening next hour. Plus, Five Americans including these well, we will show you these three men who are right now detained in iran are a big step closer to coming home as the u. S. Announces a Prisoner Swap Deal with the iranian regime. A journalist wrongfully detained himself in iran, he joins us to talk about what the road ahead looks like. The captain of the Alabama Riverboat at the center of that massive brawl speaking out for the first time. What he says happened. But, you know, i saw it like Everybody Else saw it. It looks like white people attacking a black man. Chevy silverado has what it takes to do it all. With up to 13 camera views. And the z71 offroad package. You ok . Yeah. Any truck can help you make a living. This one helps you build a life. Chevy silverado. 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Join us. a landmark day in the January 6th Case against donald trump, the first hearing before federal judge tanya chutkan, this is the first time we will hear from her as prosecutors just filed a motion to start the trial in january. Today were looking for any signs for how she might proceed. Cnns Senior Legal Affairs correspondent paula reid is outside the court. Todays hearing isnt about timing exactly, paula, but everything at this point seems like its about timing. Reporter you are absolutely right, john. Everything in this case is about timing and about speed because the Dee Freps Strategy is to delay, delay, delay. You also have prosecutors asking for a speedy trial. We will get to that in a second. Todays hearing is about the rules for handling sensitive evidence in this case. This will be the first time theyre a cheering before judge chutkan, she is an obama appointee, shes been on the bench for a decade and overseen dozens of January 6th Cases. Both sides will have the opportunity to present their arguments for how they think the most sensitive evidence should be handled as it is shared between prosecutors and Defense Attorneys leading up to a trial. Just yesterday prosecutors said that they believe this trial should start on january 2nd, 2024. John, by any objective measure thats a pretty quick timeline for a case like this. Prosecutors say its in the Public Interest to move this case along quickly. Defense attorneys have another week before they have to weigh in and offer their suggestion for a possible trial date and we will all be back here in three weeks on august 28th when judge chutkan says she intends to set a trial date for this case. But we will be watching today to see how quickly she makes the decision on these rules and just her demeanor, how shes going to handle this case. This is her first test before the media, before the lawyers and this is going to definitely be likely the biggest case of her career. It will set the tone today for what we will likely see in the weeks and months ahead. Paula reid, great to have you there. You will be giving us updates as quickly as we can get them from inside the courtroom. Also this morning,