A search for answers. The atf now in maui investigating what sparked a catastrophic wildfire, as crews search for more than a thousand people still missing. And in the aftermath of the disaster, a top Emergency Management official stepping down even as he defends the response to the fires. Plus, delay, delay, delay. Donald trumps legal team testing the limits of that legal strategy, proposing to start one of his special counsel trials in april of 2026. Will the judge buy their reasons for the setback . And serious skepticism from the white house to the pentagon about ukraines current strategy and where kyiv is targeting its fight against russia. We are following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to cnn news central. We start this afternoon with major growing questions on the cause and the response to the deadly maui wildfires. Right now, the atfs National Response team is joining the investigation. The death toll remains at 111. But a thousand people or more could still be missing. Teams are still searching the burn zone for human remains, while mauis mayor says that 45 of that area has been searched. As the Recovery Effort continues, a stunning resignation overnight. This is mauis Emergency ManagementChief Herman Andela after facing intense scrutiny for not activating the islands Warning Systems and just one day after defending that decision, he has resigned citing a health decision. Hawaiis Water Management agency is also facing questions. A State Official may have delayed giving permission to use extra water to fight the flames. Joining us is kitv island News Reporter jeremy lee. You are at a Distribution Center right now. What are you seeing . Well, so many have come here to collect goods, and so many also want answers as one survivor asked, why dont they tell us the truth, we have already lived it, how much worse can it be . Now, amid that uncertainty and desire for answers, there are stories of inspiration. All of these Distribution Sites popped up organically beginning day one. Communities north of lahaina all the way up to kapalua rallied together in order to collect goods and make sure that those who had evacuated northward from lahaina had a place to go and had food and were able to be housed. Now, so many i have spoke to as i have stayed here over the last week have said they want the full truth. Add to that the atf has come in with electrical engineers and is now researching the origins of the fire. At some point, this fire was not just simply a brush fire anymore, but became an urban fire, an industrial fire, and consumed all of lahaina town. Now, those that i spoke to are waiting for answers. The one that they were not satisfied with came from herman, the chief Emergency Management leader who has stepped down resigned after defending the decision to not activate the tsunami warning signs. His reasoning he said that those would indicate to head to Higher Ground and he didnt want people to head towards the fire uphill. Those who i spoke to who survived said they knew exactly which direction to go, they wanted that to be activated to wake up others who might not be aware of the situation. It was away from The Black Cloud of smoke hovering over lahaina town and delivering its imminent destruction. Back to you. A controversial potentially costly decision not to activate those sirens. Jeremy, im curious to get a reflection from you, what youve heard from residents because weve heard a back and forth about whether tourists should be visiting maui. What have residents and officials told you about whether they support the idea of tourists visiting . Reporter early on, officials came forward and said we do not want to put an end to all tourism to maui. That would be disastrous. On the other side of the island, you have waimea, kihei, all these other parts of the island that welcome tourists and still do today. The way maui is geographically is you have the main island mass, and then west maui which juts out. Thats where i am right now where lahaina is to the south, and the towns of kanapali up to napili where i am now and kapalua. Those are the towns that Cannot Support Tourism at this time because of the decimated infrastructure, the rest of the island is welcoming tourists. Sometimes what starts as a social Media Campaign with good intentions may not necessarily deliver what would be good for the economy here on maui. Such an important thing to point out. Jeremy lee, thank you so much for your reporting. Lets discuss the investigation into the cause of the fires now. We have the former assistant Special Agent in charge for atf. Sir, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. Now that the atf is on the ground in maui, what is the process like for a wildfire of this scale and this kind of devastation, what are the challenges these agents are facing . This is an immense scene to try and grapple with every fire has a story, these are the experts you want to have on scene to help find that story. And the first phase is going to be the where and the when. Where did this fire start and when did it start, and thats whereas your reporter mentioned, youve got electrical engineers as part of the staff. Youve got specially trained certified Fire Investigators that have training and cause and origin to help look for those initial spots. Because once you find the where and the when, then its going to be the how. Theyre going to be talking to first responders, witnesses. Theyre going to be looking at the physical evidence as well. So, on that note given that theyre studying physical evidence, and much of it has been decimated, ashes is most of what were seeing in that area. Is it possible that we may never know the true source of these wildfires . And thats a great question, and that does happen frequently. Not only is it an immense scene thats been charred, its also been run over by first responders, people escaping by other people that were in the area. A lot of these times youre trying to unpack what happened and try to get down to the bottom most layer to find it. And sometimes the answers are not as clear as we want them to be. But its still very early in this investigation. Theres still a lot of tasks for all the investigators to do and all the engineers to look at. Yeah, no question it is going to be an immense task. I am wondering, edward, residents and State Officials have been very focused on faulty powerlines as a Potential Spark for the wildfire. How big a focus is that going to be for investigators, the local Power Company . Reporter theyre going to focus on all potential sources and causes of the fire. Thats where i mentioned they talked to witnesses, theyll look at the physical evidence. Theyre going to take into account any potential source. So, in previous situations like this, im curious, what does accountability look like if negligence is discovered . Well, atfs job and the nrts job is to come in here and find the cause of origin and do the investigation and do the factfinding. Then they turn their results over to the jurisdiction that invited them in. The atf, nrt comes in at the invitation of the local departments, all the evidence, all the findings are turned over to them, and then its taken from there. Its going to be a difficult task, but we certainly look forward to the results of their work. Edward, thanks so much for sharing your perspective with us. Thank you. Jim . The head of fema says there is enough in its Disaster Relief fund for the initial response to the nmaui fires. But it is set to run out of money this season. The Climate Crisis has strained those coffers over the last several years. The numbers since 2016 are shocking, 139 big disasters, killing at least 5,200 people in total with more than a trillion dollars in damages. Lets go to cnn White House Correspondent priscilla alvarez. Priscilla, its a measure, right, of the effects of all these storms and natural disasters tied to Climate Change that its, well, means the coffers are running empty for response to a lot of these disasters. So what are the options to replace them . Thats right, jim. This is an agency that has to contend with the fact that natural disasters are getting worse and they only have so much money. And that means asking congress for more. This is something that the white house has been monitoring. And they included in their supplemental request to congress 12 billion for disaster funds. Of course, that is part of a broader funding request, which already faces an uphill battle. But at least for fema, there is growing concern about what it might mean if these funds are depleted by the end of the month. Already the federal government has tallied 15 weatherrelated disasters that funds include over A Billion Dollars have gone to the assistance and recovery for those disasters, just to give you a sense of just how much funds theyve already had to use before the Hurricane Season has started in earnest. The fema administrator told reporters here at the white house this week that they expect to have enough funds for the initial response in maui. But any delay in further funds could put their recovery into next year. 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, other consequences include that money would or at least people and items could not get to places before a disaster happens. I spoke to a fema official who told me that often times these are funds used for prep or predeployment. If they know a hurricane is coming, for example, they can at least get people and assets there for what will happen on the back end and what that recovery will include. But without those funds, it just makes that all the more difficult. So certainly growing concern within fema as these funds run dry. And, as we were saying, the Hurricane Season just on its way. Priscilla alvarez at the white house, thanks so much. Right now, parts of Southern California are under a Tropical Storm watch. Speaking of weather events, for the first time in history, a category 4 hurricane, named hilary, is barrelling up the Eastern Pacific towards mexico with 145mileperhour winds. It could eventually bring heavy rain and flooding to california. Cnn meteorologist joins me now. This is a west coast hurricane. What does this tell us about the threat and the danger Going Forward . Lets take a look at the latest numbers that we have. Right now sustained winds, 145 miles per hour. That Forward Movement to the northwest at 10 miles per hour. So youve got watches and warnings out for many of these areas in anticipation of where this system is going to go. Yes, we do have Tropical Storm watches in and around portions of Southern California. The First Time Ever the National Hurricane center has issued such watches for california. But they spread even farther south along baja, california, where the storm is anticipated to be a little bit stronger. So youll notice there youve got more of the Hurricane Watches and hurricane warnings. Its still expected to maintain its strength for at least the next 24 hours. Then we will finally start to see some gradual weakening of this storm as it continues its way off to the north, eventually making landfall around california, likely in the Tropical Storm phase. Now, heres the big reason why. Its going to be entering much cooler water, and thats really going to help this storm weaken considerably as it shifts off to the north. The main concern with this storm is certainly going to be the potential for flooding. Because as it spreads up into the north, its going to bring all of that moisture with it. So you have a high risk in effect for excessive rainfall for palm springs, moderate risk for las vegas and san diego just to show you how widespread this rain is expected to be. Most of these areas will pick up 2 to 4 inches of rain. Some areas could top out at 8 or even 10 inches of rain. Keep in mind for a lot of these places thats a years worth of rain in just a short period of time. Last year we had some very heavy rain in death valley. That was only 1. 46 inches in a short period of time. They only get 2 inches on average every year. The forecast for this weekend, 3 to 4 inches. Thats why youve got these Flood Watches in effect. And its not just california. Areas of arizona, utah, nevada also looking at the potential for some flooding here. Winds will also be another concern. Theyre going to be the strongest farther south. But even as this system spreads to the north, youre still going to get some very gusty winds that could end up bringing down trees and powerlines as we head into saturday and sunday. A lot of the question here is the exact track. Because if it shifts farther west or farther east, youre going to have different impacts for different portions of the state of california, and even for areas of arizona and nevada as well. But, all in all, the biggest impact is certainly going to be rain. And that is regardless of where this track ends up going. Rain is going to be the biggest concern absolutely. So, you were saying as it reaches the colder waters up closer to los angeles, its going to weaken. But the warmer waters where this formed over, is that tied . Are we seeing more of these kinds of things tied to Climate Change effects . Or is it too isolated to make a conclusion . It is. For some of those areas farther south, some of those areas are seeing and weve seen thing the gulf of mexico. Record warm surface and sea temperatures. It provides fuel for storms like this one and many others to rapidly be able to intensify much more quickly, and even maintain that strength as they get into what would typically be much cooler waters, theyre starting off stronger. So even though it is expected to weaken, most of these storms dont even make it here as Tropical Storm strength when they get this far north. Seems like every day we get a reminder. Thank you so much. Boris . Still ahead this hour on cnn news central, remember President Trump promised he was going to hold an explosive News Conference on monday . Finally showing proof to back his allegations of widespread fraud in georgia . Evidence so strong he said it would exonerate him . Well, that Press Conference is canceled. The reason trump says he shut it down. Plus, thousands of canadians are rushing to evacuate as more than 200 fires burn across the country. The latest there as entire cities are being emptied. And where was murder suspect brian kroeb erger when four Idaho College students were brutally murdered . We have the latest details. Stay with us. Ance was daring to dream. Cadillacs renaissance, is daring to go all electric. So. Whats your renaissance . Just the three of us girls. I never thought twice about feeding her kibble. But abt two years ago, i realized she was overweight. E was always out of breath. 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Now some of the same Fulton County officials who are awaiting those surrounders are facing threats. The fbi stepping in. This after the grand jurors who voted to indict trump were doxed on farright sites. We also have an update on the federal elections subversion case. Thats the federal one. Trumps Defense Lawyers have officially asked the judge to push that trial more than two years down the road to april 2026. Cnns paula reid is tracking these developments. So, why do they believe they have a right to a threeyear delay . Reporter theyre asking for approximately three years between indictment and trial. They argue that they need that time to prepare. Ive seen them argue in other cases in court. For example, in the maralago case. They have a lot of cases, they have a lot of work, and they cant do everything at once. In their filing they argued, quote, the governments objective is clear, to deny President Trump and