only 1 mile per hour above category 3 at 129. we are 130. as we get farther north into the colder water, things begin to die off. but because it is so much, there is going to be so much rainfall. we are still going to get a significant flood threat. i mean, historic-like flood threat with this in places that don't get 5 inches of rain a year. they might get 10 in two days. >> all right. here's to hoping everyone heeds the warnings of officials in the coming hours and days. thank you very much. i'm alex marquardt here in "the situation room." thank you so much for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "outfront" next, trump's arrest. cnn learning when the former president is expected to turn himself in to fulton county officials.

as the secret service prepares for an historic moment with 18 other codefendants also surrendering. biden targets trump. president tearing into his predecessor on foreign policy, while holding his own historic summit with two of america's closest allies. returning to ukraine. an american held captive by russian-backed soldiers for months and finally freed has once again returned to the battlefield. why? he's my guest. let's go "outfront." and good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, negotiating trump's surrender. discussions taking on a more urgent tone tonight as sources tell cnn that the former president is now expected to surrender on thursday or friday. now, sources tell cnn that the secret service has been camped out at the fulton county jail preparing for this historic arrest. because, keep in mind, it's not just trump who will be turning himself in. there are 18 others who must also surrender, including a who's who of trump's orbit. that means trump's former chief

of staff mark meadows, his attorney general rudy giuliani will be there. now, all of this coming as the fulton county sheriff has told us that trump will be treated just like any other defendant. now, what that would typically mean is being thoroughly searched by a jail deputy, receiving a medical screening, fingerprinting, and a mugshot. now, this is something trump has so far avoided in the other three indictments he's faced. but trump negotiating his surrender before he actually shows up at the fulton county jail is something he won't most certainly want to do, because if he doesn't he could be faced being put in jail for up to 72 hours. that is typically how it happens in fulton county. and the jail there of course is notorious. a longtime defense attorney who has had a number of clients booked there telling the "new york times" today, quote, it's miserable, it's cold, it smells. so unpleasant that the justice department's actually investigating the dangerous conditions there after an inmate was found dead covered in bugs and filth.

it's a far car from the gold-plated ceilings that cover the walls of mar-a-lago. paula reid begins our coverage tonight. what else do you know about what's taking place on the ground, and, as we indicated, the need for these early negotiations before he actually surrenders? >> reporter: those negotiations are going to take place on monday. his team will head down to fulton county, georgia, to work out the specifics of this surrender. the district attorney has given a deadline of next friday at noon for this to happen. and here's what this is going to look like. right now, we understand that this is more likely to happen in the back half of the week. so likely most likely on thursday. but he's going to turn himself into the fulton county sheriff's office. there he is expected to have his fingerprints and likely a mugshot taking. the mugshot, it's a sensitive issue. at the federal level, while they usually take a mugshot but they don't release it, they opted not to do that with former president

trump because they said they use those mugshots in case somebody goes on the lamb. he's one of the most recognizable people in the entire world so he didn't do that at the federal level. one of the other big differences is that in his federal arraignments, he had the processing, the initial appearance, and the arraignment all at one time. this is going to be a little bit different. he'll be processed and then a judge will set a court hearing date for him. the district attorney has said that she wants all of those initial court appearances to happen the week of september 5th. >> all right, paula, thank you very much. and obviously not wasting any time in terms of trying to get it started. let's go now to ty cobb, former trump white house lawyer. you heard paula's reporting, right, that it's expected that trump will negotiate on monday for what his actual surrender would look like. because if you show up without doing that in fulton county, the typical situation is you could be booked for 72 hours in the jail. that's how it works there. we do expect that he's going to negotiate ahead of time.

but do you think, like, in those other indictments that paula referenced that they'll make exceptions so that trump doesn't have to have a mugshot or go through any of the other standard things that would involve treating him like anyone else in georgia? >> so, i would expect that they will accelerate his processing in the sense that he won't have to sit on a bunch with a fubunc of felons waiting to see who's next. i think he will be handled with respect. i think the secret service is likely to conduct whatever search is required of processing a defendant. and that the fulton county sheriff will accept their search. i don't think he'll be subjected to any physical search personally by the sheriff's office.

but i do think they will insist on the mugshot and the fingerprinting, because that does seem to be routine there, and fani willis has said that's going to happen. so, i would expect that that will happen. i would expect that the mugshot will be immediately forwarded to trump's pr people and they'll be raising money off of it before he leaves the jail. >> right. well, i mean, certainly they'll seize it as something they can use in their advantage if they can. so, you've got the possibility of a mugshot, or the probability of a mugshot. i think that's probably the accurate word at this point, probably. being taken of a former president of the united states. that's momentous. but he's also going to be going to this jail which has a reputation of bad conditions. you heard how that defense lawyer had described it. it's obviously under doj review. so, even just being there, going

to a place like that, does that have any impact, do you think, on trump psychologically? >> i have been there. i've interviewed a witness there many years ago, and it is decidedly substandard by any standard, but certainly by trump standards. and i do think it will have some impact on him. he won't enjoy it. but, you know, to the extent that it'll rattle him, i don't see that happening. >> so, you and i spoke the other day and you said there was no way that trump should hold that press conference next week. but he said he's going to give a big press conference and go through every single bit of this indictment and show how there was election fraud left, right and center. you said anything he produced will likely be used as evidence against him in georgia, that that was an absolutely crazy thing to do. now, what i think is interesting here is that he actually backed down, essentially taking your

advice. he said his lawyers told him to save it for trial, and he doesn't appear to be planning to do anything like that. are you at all surprised, ty, that he actually seemed to listen to someone else and not just to go ahead and do what he wanted? >> it's inconsistent with the way he's maneuvered through these cases over the last couple of months. he has constantly ignored, i think, good advice in terms of how to comport himself. it could be a turning point. i think it may have come as a surprise to his attorneys that he announced that. and i'm sure that they reacted immediately, as i did, concerned that he could only complicate his circumstances if he proceeded that way. and it also, of course, raised the question of this grand jury thing has been going for two and

a half years. don't you think it would've been useful to share any exonerating material with him before they indicted you? >> well, you would think. and, of course, as we all know, re-counts and re-counts and court tests and audits. and there simply wasn't -- the fraud was not there. >> some of his claims were that almost 70,000 dead people voted, there were 5,000 people under 18, none of which is true. >> right. >> so, whatever was going to be in this document was not going to support the claims that have already been refuted. >> right. and i can't remember whether it was four or three or seven dead people. they actually did go down and get that exact number. we had talked a lot, ty, you and i and the audience listening to you about whether or not the case is being brought by the special counsel, the jack smith cases, the federal interference and election case, as well as

mar-a-lago, could be wrapped up before the 2024 presidential election or if trump will succeed in running out the clock and try to pardon himself in those cases. so what did you first think when he put that out that he wants the trial to happen in april 2026? >> so my immediate reaction is i had just read about him abandoning the news conference. and i'm thinking, ah-hah, somebody's got his ear, he's listening to good advice. and then i saw the 2026 proposal and laughed because that's nowhere within the neighborhood of the universe of possible dates. i think that whoever -- i don't think that was a lawyer-decided date. i think that probably was a trump-dictated date. i'm sure that the lawyers proposed something slightly more

reasonable even though they would be unlikely to achieve it. i think this case, the election interference case in particular can easily be tried before the summer of 2024. and i think it will be. >> all right, ty, thank you very much. >> thank you, erin. have a great weekend. and, next, trump takes a pass. cnn learning trump is planning to skip the first republican presidential debate, opting to sit down with tucker carlson instead. plus, the city of los angeles tonight under its first-ever tropical storm watch. a powerful category 4 hurricane right now is making its way towards california, first time in nearly 200 years. a hurricane hunter who just flew into that storm is my guest. and researchers in hawaii are still digging through the charred debris of more than 2,000 homes looking for the 1,000 human beings still missing.

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now, trump holding no public offense today, his 2024 rivals, of course, are across the country testing out debate lines and now taunting trump to show up. >> if you've qualified for the stage, which trump has, not showing up is completely disrespectful to the republican party who has made you their nominee twice, and to the republican voters who support who you're asking for again. >> i think you owe it to the people to put out your vision and talk about your record. and if you're not willing to do that, i think that people are not going to look kindly on that. >> "outfront" now, former executive director of the new york state democratic party, and the political commentator and former senior adviser to mitch mcconnell. scott, let me start with you on the republican side here. do you agree with christie and desantis that voters will think trump's move is disrespectful of them? >> well, i agree with him that it is disrespectful. but donald trump's been disrespecting republicans since 2016. and it's working for him.

he has busted party orthodoxy and party norms and party structures since he came onto the scene and they love it. and, so, as a strategic matter, i don't blame him. frankly, he's got a huge lead. everybody on that stage released a few people, may want to take a shot on him. and he thinks he can get in a low-risk/high-reward environment with the tucker carlson interview. it's a no-brainer to sit this out and let everybody tear ron desantis apart. >> i know you sort of share that point of view, right, at this point? >> absolutely. can't get into donald trump's head. i wouldn't even try. but if i were advising him, i would say do not go, your poll numbers are up, what do you have to lose? he has a lot to lose by being there. someone like ron desantis has everything to gain from being there. he can find a way to, if it's at all possible, to reset his campaign. but for donald trump, there's no reason for him to be on that stage. >> especially because kaitlan collins's goi especially because chris christie's going to be on that stage. while the republicans are on the

campaign trail, president biden held that historic summit at camp david. japan's prime minister and south korea. u.s. troops there on the dmz present all over that country. listen to what biden said. >> there's not much, if anything, i agree on, with my predecessor on foreign policy. there's an america-first policy makes us weaker not stronger if we walk away. >> okay. it comes though as the latest poll show biden running neck and neck with trump. and biden's three-point lead within the margin of error. and the majority of americans don't want him to run. the majority of americans don't want trump to run either. so, what gives? >> a couple things.

voters don't necessarily vote for foreign policy, but they vote for safety and security. and they vote for presidents that look presidential, and engaged in these kind of foreign policy discussions makes people look presidential. so it was a good hit. i think it shows biden as this uniter, which we've seen back when he was dealing with the ukraine, building bridges, if you will, and not that go-it-alone strategy. voters elected joe biden to be that guy, to be the one that worked across the aisle, that worked across borders to try and create these kinds of alliances. so they got exactly what they voted for. more democrats support joe biden now than they did barack obama at the same time in his presidency. so what that says to me is that democrats aren't really looking for somebody else. maybe we can have a better bench. and that's another conversation for another day. but right now the goal is to

beat donald trump. >> it's interesting because you had him hosting and having that presidential look today, and biden wants more and more of that as you've got this infighting going on, on the other side. the infighting that i'm referring to was on full display today. chris christie goes to florida where desantis of course is governor, to give us an idea of how he's going to be handling the debate and the attack lines. let me just play some of this. >> if he thinks he's going to get on the stage and defend donald trump on wednesday night, then he should do donald trump a favor and do our party a favor. come back to tallahassee, endorse donald trump, and get the hell out of the race. his point of view on the january 6th riot, he said, i wasn't in washington that day so i don't know as much about it. well, [ bleep ], man, i wasn't in washington either. but i have a tv set and i saw what was going on, and i got an opinion about it.

>> um, okay. so, yes, desantis is down 20 points in national polls since march. that's a ski slope, it's a downward ski slope. do you think this debate could be the moment that completely ends it for desantis or, conversely, do you think he can turn it all around in this moment? >> well, he certainly has the chance to do either. there's blood in the water, everybody knows it. obviously chris christie's gunning for him. but, at the same time, a lot of what voters have heard about ron desantis have come from other people. they've come from trump. they've come from never trump. they've come from the media. they've come from $20 million in attack ads that have been run against ron desantis. this will be a chance for him in his own words to lay out who he is and why he is running and to, you know, obviously have a few moments of combat with some of these other republicans. so, yeah, is there risk in this? absolutely. but there's also opportunity to try to finally break through of

all the noise that tends to surround his candidacy and really rise above that in his own voice. that's what he's going to have to do right now. everybody on that stage wants to replace ron desantis as the frontrunner of the nontrump candidate. so, he's going to be getting it from all sides. >> right. it's interesting you used the word combat. it's appropriate. the candidates are also talking about they're going to attack biden. that will be the easy go-to for all of them when desantis has been taking a lot of incoming to go there. desantis today went after biden's silence over the hawaii wildfires. 50% of democratic primary voters. we touched on this. they want someone else to be the party's 2024 nominee. are you worried that this debate could turn any independent voters or weary voters away from biden, in part, because trump's not there? so they actually get to look at real alternatives.

>> i would be more concerned if the republican primary electorate actually allowed any of their candidates to be that kind of candidate to talk about crossing the aisle in the way that biden has done. that doesn't seem to happen. remember 2012? chris christie went and hugged barack obama, then president obama, after superstorm sandy. and he spent the next several years finding a way to deny that. if that's the kind of candidate that he would be or that those other candidates on the gop side will be, there's no wiggle room for them to try to get some of those disaffected democrats, if there are any, or independents to come to their side because they're not making themselves into general election candidates. they're staying very focused on the primary electorate. >> which is who the audience is for this debate. thank you both very much. and, next, for the first time ever, there is a tropical storm watch in california as hurricane hilary heads towards the southwest. and tonight fears that it could

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tonight, a historic threat. millions in california now bracing as a category 4 hurricane is churning west of mexico. these are live pictures of the heavy winds in cabo san lucas right now. the first-ever tropical storm watch has been issued for california. the biggest concern at this hour is the amount of rain the storm could dump on southern california. the context here is it could be multiple years' worth of rain in just one to three days, which could result in life-threatening flash flooding. president biden speaking about this today, saying that his administration is sending resources ahead of time. >> fema has pre-positioned personnel and supplies in the region, and they're ready to respond as needed. i urge everyone in the path of this storm to take precautions and listen to the guidance from

state and local officials. >> chad myers is "outfront" at the cnn weather center. chad, where is the storm right now? >> there's cabo san lucas, so well south of there, still in very warm water, erin. so this thing grew 75 miles per hour in strength in just 24 hours. it went all the way up to 145. now that number says 130. why? because there were men and women in a c-130 aircraft that left the air force base this morning, flew into this thing across the gulf of mexico, across mexico, and into the storm and found that it wasn't as strong as the satellites were predicting. so that's good. now we're down to 130. 129 is category 3. 130's, you know, category 4. so we're right kind of splitting hairs here. but now, yes, the very, very first tropical storm watch for california, not just southern california, all of. >> it is incredible when you

think about it, and one of the biggest threats here tropical storm or hurricane is the rainfall. tropical storm could be absolutely, you know, devastating. a climate scientist at ucla says it could dump multiple years worth of rain in a day or two. could it really look like that? >> yes, it will. not could, it will. dr. daniel swain is who you are talking about. if you want to get a really good idea of what he's thinking, you can go on and find his channel there on youtube. hurricanes, yes, they produce wind, they produce storm surge. but this won't be a hurricane when it gets to north america and southern california. this is just going to be a tropical storm. but a very wet one with just tremendous amounts of water in the atmosphere. because it picked up all of that water down here in the very warm parts of the pacific. there now will be a significant, of course, life-threatening. but infrastructure-threatening

type of flooding event here for parts of southern california. you have the mountains, you have 5 or 10 inches of rain on top, it has to wash down somewhere. we're going to wash away road beds, we're going to wash away bridges. this will be a disaster by the time we wake up on tuesday. >> all right, chad, thank you very much. joining us now on the phone is lieutenant colonel toby baker, a hurricane hunter who just flew into the storm. colonel baker, i appreciate your time, and i know you just flew in. it was the first mission to collect data inside the category 4 hurricane, which, as we know, is intensifying. what did you see? >> this is the first time we went into the storm. it's actually a fairly large storm itself, as you probably have been saying on the news. it's very large because we've had hurricane-level winds from the center all the way out to about a hundred nautical miles. that just gives you an idea of just how large the storm itself is. and it being a category 3 storm, it packs a lot of wind, and it's

collecting all this moisture as it's developing over the ocean. by the time it hits land, all that water is collected. it's going to be dropped or dumped basically onto the land portion. >> and what is your biggest concern about the storm? is it just that that volume of water? >> no, because the biggest thing with storms -- well, one, hopefully it never hits land or interacts with anybody at all. but with the way the storm is staring, it's not just the rain it could bring but also the winds. even though it may come as a tropical storm, you still have all that wind. the storm itself being large, it can bring a lot of storm surge which can cause a lot of issues right there near land. and then a lot of the rain is coming through just being affected and just causing a lot of flooding and such. >> now, your squadron is based in mississippi. and that's because you and your crews are flying into hurricanes often. it's what you do.

you go in the atlantic, you go in the gulf of mexico. this storm, and obviously there are a lot of hurricanes off the west coast, usually though in mexico they don't come up into the u.s. this has triggered the first tropical storm watch for california all the way through los angeles. so it's the first tropical to make landfall in california in nearly a hundred years, if it's still a hurricane of any sort, it'd be in almost 200 years. i'm curious, colonel, is there any difference in what you are seeing in this storm as opposed to the ones that you see so regularly in the caribbean and in the atlantic? >> no, not necessarily. every storm is always different. we always treat it the same. we go in, because our primary purpose is just to collect the raw data to make the forecast for both the tracking and intensity as best as possible. this one's just a little different because, as you mentioned, it's going north. most storms that are in this area typically head further west out into the ocean. so, this is just really more of

a unique storm. just mainly at the direction it's heading in. >> so the next flight i know, colonel, taking off to go into the storm is taking off within this next hour. what are they looking for specifically, do you know? >> they're just going to pick up where we left off. it's going to be a long flight. once they get into the storm, because we'll fly 24/7. usually there's a plane in it, if it's going to affect a population or an area of land mass, we'll fly into it because we're trying to collect the raw data. this is what provides the forecasters and the master hurricane center the best data along with the satellites to track and forecast for direction and intensity of the storm. >> all right, colonel baker, thank you very much. i appreciate you taking the time. glad you're back on the ground safely. i know you'll be up again, so thank you. next we're going to take you inside the desperate search for people still missing after the deadly wildfires in maui. what did our bill weir see

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new tonight, 500,000 casualties. u.s. officials telling "the new york times" the total number of deaths and injuries in the ukraine now are now nearing half a million. staggering toll, 18 months ago none of them thought they'd be in this situation. my guest tonight, alex drueke. he was nearly one of them after volunteering to defend ukraine from russian invaders, alex spent 105 days in russian captivity. he was captured along with andy nguyen by russian forces and held as a prisoner of war. alex experienced execution threats, physical torture, solitary confinement and food deprivation. you may remember his mother, she was on this show many times along with joy, andy's now wife, pleading for his life and safe return. alex and andy nguyen were finally released. and less than a year after being freed, alex chose to go back to help with the war effort. and alex drueke joins me now. i'm really glad to speak with

you, again. and you're home once again. i know you've been back for a week from this trip in ukraine. obviously the first time you went there, you went to fight and you endured horrific things, captivity, torture. you were released. but you did choose to go back. can you tell me why? >> i chose to go back because this war is not over. and i want to do absolutely everything that i can to ensure ukraine's victory and stop this war as soon as we can. >> so, tell me what it was like for you this time. obviously you weren't fighting. i'll be clear to everyone on that. you weren't fighting, you were helping training soldiers, humanitarian. tell me what you were doing and where you went. what did you see? >> for about the first half of my visit, i was there five or six weeks for the first half i was working with humanitarian group, ukrainian patriot. we were delivering food, medical supplies, and military supplies to some of the recently

liberated areas out east, ones that are having some real issues getting supplies into those towns. and then for the second half, i was working with and interviewing several different training groups to see where i can besting used to help continue training ukrainian soldiers so they can win the war. >> i was over there, well, i guess we probably overlapped last and saw some of the soldiers fighting and training, training in their off days. you spent a lot of time with them as they were training, and spoke to them. and of course they had been fellow fighters with you. so, how are they doing? what are they telling you about how they feel right now about the war? >> it's a mix. the ukrainian people, the ukrainian soldiers are still motivated, still dedicated, still want freedom and so sovereignty. but we've passed 540 days now. that's a long time and war fatigue is a real thing.

i even saw that during iraq and afghanistan. there is a certain degree of weariness, of tiredness. they would really love to have this war over. they are tired of their cities being bombed, their loved ones being bombed and losing limbs and lives. they're motivated to do it, but they're getting a little tired of how long it's taking. >> and in the counteroffensive i know -- look, it's been slower than anybody expected. president zelenskyy's been open about that as well. now there has been some progress in recent days. some of which, alex, i understand is because of u.s.-supplied cluster munitions. it appears that that's the reason but we haven't been able to actually confirm it. from what you were able to see, because you were there as those cluster munitions were approved by the u.s. to go over. are they playing a role now? >> i really think that they are. the ukrainian army has made significant progress in the south around zaporizhzhia, around kherson, even in the

bakhmut direction. i really do feel like the fact that they're using the cluster munitions exactly the way those are intended to be used, it is proving very, very valuable on the battlefield. i think the biggest problem for the counteroffensive and why it's going so slow is the west was very slow in supplying the equipment and munitions that ukraine needed for the counteroffensive. and that gave the invaders months of time to dig in, make multiple laps of mine fields and trenches. but the ukrainians, they're doing their best. and once they get through them, they're absolutely going to crush them. i've been saying it since i first came home and i'll say it again now. we need to give ukraine what it needs to win this war right now. and i promise you they're going to win the war right now. we just have to stop dragging our feet. >> alex, you obviously spent a long time with andy nguyen when you were in captivity and enduring what you endured, the torture and the psychological

pressure. but you guys came back together. and he was reunited with his fiancé. she had been tireless in advocating for him. she came on the show so many times and they just got married. so they are now married, and guess who his best man was. it was you. can you tell me about that day, what it was like? >> it was amazing. that was just a couple days ago. it was a lovely service, a lovely wedding. everything went really, really well. and it was -- you know, andy had spent so much time while we were in captivity talking about his fiancé and wondering if he was ever going to be able to make it back home and get married. so for that to actually happen for us to all be there and be there on that special day, was incredible. i can only imagine. i think it's so wonderful that you were his best man. what a great joy for you both. thank you so much. i'm glad to speak to you again. >> definitely. good to speak to you.

and, next, we are going to take you to the desperate search for survivors in hawaii. crews digging through that charred debris. 2,000 burned homes and businesses. a thousand people still missing. also tonight "outfront," a special report here on putin's brutal private army, which could now infiltrate a country where the united states has over a thousand troops. awh, use priceline. they have package deals no one elslse has. [son inflates] we can do it! ♪go to your happy price♪ ♪priceline♪ i'm javi, i'm 31, and i'm a fitness instructor. i saw myself in a photograph. and we were all smiling, and i looked closer, and i was like that- that's what everybody sees? i'm back, and i got botox® cosmetic.

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tonight, maui's top emergency official who defended a decision to not sound sirens as a ferocious fire raged has resigned, effective immediately. the fire killing at least 111 people including children, mostly around lahaina. the decision to not use the sirens has brought intense criticism from people, from citizens, many who have lived in lahaina for generations, only now making their way home to see nothing's left. >> it's hard to take in, you know? just seeing all this devastation. we grew up here. this is home to a lot of us. >> bill weir is in lahaina tonight. and, bill, you've been speaking to many residents there who are returning. what are they telling you? >> reporter: well, right now, erin, there's just so much angst and worry over that number of

the missing, over a thousand people this many days, ten days after the fire. there is spotty communication. we're at the mercy of cell signal after the live shot. so if it breaks up, that's why the but the roads are open, the communication's largely back. and a lot of people think if we had heard from these people, we would have heard from them by now. so they're sort of processing through the stages of grief. while the cadaver teams sift through this 3 t1/2 square mile crime scene essentially. there's 40 dogs and shifts going in. we met a couple that actually burned paws. there are still so many hot spots in there. the forensic efforts, once they do time. the head of the task force for the pentagon said today this is a multi-year effort for the people of maui both in terms of recovery and rebuilding. and it is just the early days.

and your heartbreaks for these people, erin, who are going through so much. they're worried about the air, which is full of hot -- the water, which is -- to drink. the aloha spirit endures, and most of it is community-led pulling together. >> for some reason when you talk about the paws of the dogs getting burned, they're still going in in that heat somehow gives the ability to see this picture even more. the burn zone search isn't even half over, as those dogs are going in. do they think, though, they're going to be able to find out how many of those thousands missing are there? from what you say, are people really assuming at this point that virtually all of them could be dead? >> reporter: i did have a heartbreaking conversation with a community leader today. they had a press conference really to call out the leadership of maui, to include them about conversations about when to reopen, when to rebuild.

and she broke down, as she talked about the concept that families may never know ultimately because essentially this whole beautiful, historic place has been decree mated. there are fears that there are storm systems that could bring rain late in this weekend, which would wash a lot of what's in lahaina into the sea. so, they're working against the clock. but at the same time, they're coming to grips with this grim reality right now. there's just so much loss and pain right now. and the average tourist doesn't understand maybe the history behind it. but these people need our support more than ever. >> bill, thank you. bill, in lahaina tonight, as you can see the cars behind him of residents who are allowed to go back home. of course, home is gone. next, the brutal wagner group, which has been behind some of putin's biggest gains, could soon be focusing its attention where american troops are now stationed, at least 1,000 hoff them. withth ubrelvy, there's another option.

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tonight, wagner refocusing its efforts. the russian mercenary group led by yevgeny prigozhin may be looking to expand somewhere else. fred pleitgen is "out front." >> reporter: since the military junta overthrew the military president of nigher, russian flags have become prominent at rallies. he adds, i prefer that the russians settle in because today if russia does so, it's not to exploit resources. it's to help us have peace. but the wagner private military company might soon be settling in here as well. france says it believes the niger troops are -- former

french colony. yevgeny prigozhin, after his own failed mutiny inside russia, said the group wants more business in africa. in niger, the country where the u.s. has deployed more than 1,000 troops, that allegedly means wagner will soon be fighting terrorism here. i am proud of the guys from pnc wagner, he said in an audio message. just the thought of them makes i.s.i.s. and al quaeda into small, obedient boys. while west african nations have threatened to intervene, wagner could confront them or friends. >> they will be happy to put -- >> reporter: wagner mercenaries were some of vladimir putin's toughest and most successful forces in the war in ukraine. but the group has also been expanding in west africa for

years. cnn filmed the mercenaries training security forces in the central african republic, but they're also active or have been linked to libya, mali, and sudan, huge countries with vast natural resources, some of which wagner are exploiting. over the past years, investigations by cnn and human rights groups have established wagner's involvement in and complicity with atrocities against civilian populations in sudan, mali, and the central african republic. and the french say the group is also behind a smear campaign against them. he says this drone video filmed last year in mali shows white men burying bodies in a site where a fake twitter account falsely claimed french forces had committed a massacre. u.s. secretary of state blinken said wagner is both exploiting and creates instability in

western africa, where washington has invested in training local military. >> every single place that wagner group has gone, death, destruction, and exploitation have followed. insecurity has gone up, not down. >> reporter: but for now, wagner and russia stock seem to be rising in west africa. busy making more russian flags to meet increased demand. and erin, the u.s. and its allies remain extremely concerned about the situation there in niger. a source in the french foreign ministry telling cnn that they consider wagner to be an organization with an opportunistic and predatory logic, and therefore wagner could try to take advantage of the situation. erin? >> thanks very much to all of you for being with us. you for being with us. "ac 360" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight on "360," rs