cnn's jen sullivan has the details. >> reporter: a surprising move in the ongoing probe against hunter biden. u.s. attorney general merrick garland announcing friday david weiss is special counsel in the case. >> it is in the public interest to appoi him as special counsel. >> reporter: thpresident's son was charged with failing to pay more than $200,000 in taxes on more than $1.5 million in income back in 2017 and 2018 and illegally owning a gun at a time he was addicted to drugs. last month hunter biden was expected to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors. in exchange he'd not face jail time for the gun charge, but the deal between the justice department and hunter biden fell through at the last moment. the district judge called the deal confusing and not straightforward. hunter biden pled not guilty. the two parties continued negotiating, but prosecutors finally said talks were at an impasse. >> the appointment of mr. weiss reinforces for the american people the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. >> reporter: this means

jen sullivan reporting. >>> let's bring in shawn turner, former director of communication for u.s.ou so much for joining you. based on what we know about these two sailor, what concerns you the most and how will the chinese government use this infor information? >> i think we've seen a few of these cases the past couple years, but this case does concern me a little more because while it is classic chinese trade craft, what people need to understand is that you don't need to have a lot of information in order to form a picture for intelligence agencies like the chinese. what concerns me is that while these individuals may have been lower ranking dividuals in the navy, they provided information that helps the chinese government paint a picture in the case of the essex, a picture of ship operations, a picture of potential weapons systems and a picture of procedures that happen a aboard the ship. and in the other case a little bit of information about military installation, just enough to help the chinese understand how the u.s. military operates and give them advantages to be competit

reporter jen sullivan has the latest. >> as first responders sifted through what remains in western maui, families are searching through this list of those still missing from a catastrophic wildfires. >> there is a part of you but just knows. >> a list of 388 names of peopl still unaccounted for was released thursday. >> once those names come out, it can and will cause pain for some folks that are affected by this. >> at least 115 people perished in the flames that tore through the island earlier this month. the wildfires in maui are the deadliest u.s. wildfire in almost 100 years. estimates are the fire caused up to $6 billion in damage. for some, no amount of money can replace what they lost. >> i know the hurt, the loss, the deep void because losing lahaina, losing our family members is something so personal. >> many families now asking how something so devastating could have happened and what could have been done differently to limit the widespread damage. maui county filed a lawsuit against hawaiian electric company and its subsidiaries claiming the utility companies negligence caus