cnn's mike valerio is in maui where frustration is mounting over their response. mike?boris, when we talk about the death toll expected to rise, this is the slow-moving part of the disaster. what we saw tuesday into wednesday, that was the acute, most dramatic pictures that we've been able to see. this is certainly a level of drama in its own right. and why we say that is because specialized crews that focus in on the delicacy of finding human remains are needed when there are quite literally thousands of buildings in the burn zone, boris, that have not been searched yet. that is why there is the certainty that this death toll will rise above at least 100. in terms of accountability, we had an interesting development over the weekend. a lawsuit filed against hawaiian electric, the main utility that serves the islands. and the plaintiffs here, a couple from lahaina, they are asserting that the company did not -- was negligent in failing to turn off the electricity in several power lines that would eventually blow over and perhaps be a contributing factor to the wildfire.

. >>> i have to bring in mike valerio. what are you seeing this morning?> the sun is up, just after 7:00 a.m. here in the heart of honolulu. every now and then you may see people streaming in and out of our back drop, but what we have seen since midnight, shuttle buses coming from the international airport to this convention center, which is equipped to handle about 2,000 people. overnight they handled about a total of 100, and officials believe it will house more and more people now that the evacuations from maui pick up steam and become more of an organized machine. the video we captured from overnight, i was so struck, alex, by just taking in the human toll. you see families with expressions of utter exhaustion, of utter just looking for a place of solace and respite, and reprieve from the apocalyptic zone they escaped from, and they found that here. it was quite moving to hear from emergency officials who spoke openly about the island values of compassion for not only the people who inhabit this wonderful place, but for the island itself. on that front

cnn national correspondent mike valerio is joining me right now. lectric is now acknowledging that some evidence involving the cause of the lahaina fire may have been compromised. >> reporter: exactly. and that's important, fred, because a cause of the catastrophe has not been determined officially as of yet. maui county is saying a spark from a snapped power line, most likely started the fire. so preserving evidence of electrical equipment from a power substation near lahaina is key. the utility says it is not to blame for equipment moved in a fire zone, specifically writing, quote, hawaiian electric is taking reasonable steps to preserve its own property that was damaged or destroyed because of these devastating fires. however, state, local and federal government actors and others are moving forward to fight the fires and to clear out debris and other items that impede that effort. it is, therefore, possible, and even likely that the actions of these third parties, whose actions hawaiian electric does not control, may result in the loss of propert

mike valerio, thank you so much for that.y house and storefront burned on the island of maui, there is a story. for rock 'n' roll artist ruby mizour, it was his life's work that went up in flames. he was set to open up a new art gallery just as the fire swept through the town. 100 of his paintings were lost. we spoke to him and asked him about what he experienced on tuesday. >> my sons called and said, dad, it r it's really getting bad. i said, well, better come become here because it's not looking good here either. they tried to get out of lahaina and they were closing down the road because of the flames. and they got out. it was a miracle they got out. they came up to my house and they saw all the furniture on my deck, everything was being thrown around like toothpicks and they go, dad, we got to go now. and i said, you know what, if it's going to be really bad, let's get a hotel room. not one hotel had a room available. nothing. we were calling 15 hotels. not one room. so my other son said, you know what, let's get a u-hau

mike valerio, cnn, los angeles. >>> some new covid-19 vaccines will soon be heading to pharmacies.he shots are being tweaked to keep up with covid variants that are now circulating. the president biden has asked congress to ask for more funding to help with that new vaccine. here he is. >> it works. tentatively, not decided or final yet, but tentatively it will be directly recommended that everybody get, no matter what they got before now. >> the cdc is tracking a new variant that was found during a preliminary test of wastewater. the highly mutated variant was collected in the u.s., but the cdc isn't saying where and it's also been detected in low levels in switzerland. meanwhile, it could be time to break out your masks again. some experts are urging people, especially those with a higher risk of contacting covid to mask up. joining me now is ann rimoin, professor of epidemiology at the ucla fielding school of public health. thanks so much for joining us here. so i know there have been small surges of cases here in the u.s., a rise of hospitalizations over the summer, but covid,

mike valerio, cnn, maui. >>> well, joining me now from kihei, hawaii is alan drew.e's a resident of lahaina. alan, thank you so much for joining us at this very difficult moment. how are you? >> i'm doing pretty well, thank you, considering, yeah. >> i understand that you have been back to lahaina. what did you encounter? >> i -- just a very desolate place. we went through -- we got stuck in traffic most of the way. we got our i.d.s checked to make sure we're residents of lahaina before we got through, and we were -- you know, there were areas where we were given access to enter and there were areas that we were not given access to enter. we were bringing supplies to us to provide to some of our co-workers who are still stranded out there in hotels, up in the pili and kahana area. yesterday the place was still without power, but i heard today that napili and kahana got some power back. >> and allen, were you able to go and visit your home? >> i did, yes. i was able to see my home, or what once was my home. >> how did that make you feel? >> it was just nothing -- you

cnn's mike valerio joining me now live from maui. are you hearing and seeing there today? >> reporter: fredicka, first of all, good morning. whenever -- you've experienced this for decades, we experienced it a couple of moments ago. when you're here on the edge of disaster zones, there are people that exude their generosity of spirit, on their missions, going to check on loved ones, their homes, seeing what's left. to give you a lay of land before we introduce you to our new friend susan. fred, this is the only way to get into lahina, into the disaster zone. we're about 1,000 feet over the pacific ocean. it's an orderly process. cars are stopping every now and then. people are coming up to us and want to tell us their stories. a couple seconds ago i talked to a woman named susan. i said, susan, we're broadcasting to europe, africa, the mainland of the united states. tell everybody watching why this isn't just a postcard, but your home and why we all need to care about what is unfolding this slow-motion disaster. listen to what she to

>> mike valerio, thank you. joining us a resident who has drone video of the wild fires. clint, one of the worst things about being a journalist you talk to people on their worst day on one of their worst days and i am sorry to be doing that now. how are you and your family doing? how are your friends doing? >> we are one of the lucky ones. i'm here on the south side in a fire that we had start over here and it ended up petering out on the wind and the wind has been the biggest driving factor in fueling the flames. now he has had multiple fires that we have been juggling and it's part of the reason why resources are gathered so thin because firefighters were dealing with evacuations. i was taking footage throughout the night working to make sure people understood where we sat and how disaster it it could be and whether or not we are able to get over this. it got pushed to a gully where the wind stopped and that created a natural firebreak so as of right now my main family is all safe and accounted for. i also own a paintball field on the west side and a lot of our friends

let's go to cnn's mike valerio on maui. so much to update us with.appening with that road and people being turned around? >> reporter: yeah, fredricka, it's a sense of organized chaos here. we are on the main roadway that leads into the disaster zone, so as we push in, these are some of the lucky drivers. it's mostly people with supplies, utilities who are going to first responders. they, for the most part now, are being let in. but it's a little more complicated than that, as we look at the line of cars, mini-vans, sedans, suvs. this still goes back a mile. as we started to see about an hour ago, when we were with you on the highway, these families in some instances are being turned around because they're being told by maui police that there's a traffic jam that started because too many people were being let into the disaster zone. so as we walk here, just to give you a sense of how many drivers, some of whom have been waiting for 12, 13, 14 hours, you have people, fred, who left their homes tuesday evening, not knowing if they were going to survive

cnn's niek ha-- mike valerio isn the ground.ead may be as long and painful a process for families who have suffered it through all of this similar to 9/11. how are people responding to that? >> reporter: well, sara, i think that people are entering this profoundly mournful period hearing comments just like that and it is so painful, sara, to see this in-person on the ground in the heart of maui because this is an island that blooms with life and to know that everybody here is entering this chapter, it's cast a pal to know that not understanding what has happened to your mother or your sister, where their remains could be and what condition they could be in, isn't just a question that might not be answered for a few days, but this could be something that lingers, that looms over families for months, sara. so so in terms of why this process is going to in aunt likelihood drag on so long for so many it's because the dna remains that are being found is so delicate and so damaged. to that point we just got the latest figures, there a

mike valerio, thank you for keeping us posted. >>> and joining us is fema administrator deanna criswell, and thank you for joining us. the latest update is 36 people, 36 lives lost on the island from the deadly wildfires and any information that the death toll has risen? >> john, thank you for the opportunity to join you today. i want to start by expressing my deepest sympathies by anyone who has been impacted by this tragic fire. i know that when i spoke with the lieutenant government, and she had said it was 6, and when we got up this morning, we saw that it had increased, and i have concerns of what i think of what it will be, but we have been coordinating with the state of the initial response and there to support the recovery efforts. >> you have people on the ground as you said, and what are they seeing in terms of the scope of the destruction? >> what we are seeing is widespread devastation across many neighborhoods on maui, and we have an office in oahu and so we had staff there, and senior leader was there for another meeting, and instantly could embed to hear the tragic impact

ama: reporter mike valerio shows how some are saved from the stormy weather. >> and historic rescue northt responders and floater back to safety. in north carolina, trees simply snapped outside of charlotte, careening feet from families hunkering down. >> trees, limbs hitting the truck as you were driving. >> in south carolina, firefighter set a falling tree killed a teenager. his closest friends and family devastated. >> they are wonderful neighbors. i just can't imagine what they're going through. >> john you billy polls proved no match for the winds. one after another knocked down, some around drivers. first responders rescued 47 people from this wreckage. >> last night, lives were saved. there were people who were stuck and stranded in cars who were able to sleep in their own beds last night. >> in the heart of philadelphia, a tower cam showed swallowed by storm clouds. roofs were ground. and an all-out effort to get thousands of people back on planes of the eastern seaboard to new york. dan: air travel has improved significantly today with far fewer delays and cancellations, accordin

mike valerio on maui.oined by jeremy greenberg, the director of the operations division for fee ma's response directorate. thank you for being here. this is now the deadliest u.s. wildfire in recent times that we have ever seen in more than a century. there were all sorts of problems that we just heard. there were problems with the mitigation that could have happened before, there were no sirens that went off. is the government partly to blame for this large loss of life? >> good morning. first and foremost, i'd like to offer our condolences to all of those who have been impacted by this tragic fire. while we know that there will be a review on the actions taken, the most important point right now that we want to stress is the recovery operations, making sure that the federal government is supporting the state of hawaii in their search operations and most importantly starting the difficult process of recovery. >> i know that is really important to the folks on the ground there, the citizens that have lost

cnn's mike valerio is on the main road into lahaina and is joining me now. road will reopen to the general public, mike. you're seeing these images. what is that going to mean for the public now? >> you know, kate, so let's just sort of lay out what is happening here, and you're right. people are seeing these images and saying the general public cannot enter that area and that is exactly right. so the burn area, the historic town, the core of lahaina that is going to be sealed for the foreseeable future, but there is concern about what about the rest of the region? west maui, and this is the highway that will be reopening in the next hour and a half and there is the sense that the general public needs to access the western side of the island to help bring back the economic vitality of the island. this road was only accessible to first responders for several days. so this will make travel and commerce easier for everybody, not just supply convoys and not just residents of a specific set of addresses. so there's reekt cconnecting th island and re-housing the is

mike valerio, cnn, hawaii. >>> more than 90 million americans are starting the week under heat alerts. can could reach as high as 117 degrees and louisiana is under an excessive heat warning too. and meantime more than 100 million people across the eastern u.s. are under severe storm threat today. the risk stretches from eastern tennessee and kentucky to the southern part of the northeast. the main threats are damaging wind gusts, isolated tornadoes and large hail. >>> we're following developments out of ukraine where at least three people have been injured in russian missile and drone attacks on the southern refugees on of odessa. multiple fires were sparked. and the foreign ministry is condemning russia's actions in the black sea after russia defense ministry said one of its warships fired warning shots. to get into this, clare sebastian is joining us with more. what more have we heard from the sources about the overnight attacks on odesa? >> yeah, owe dedesa has had mul attacks. and they seem to be targeting the ports. this team we're seeing debris from missiles, air force saying i

let's go now to cnn's mike valerio on maui. ke, you made your way past that road that was closed overnight. what are you seeing and hearing from people? >> we're the closest you can get to the perimeter of the disaster zone. we actually have some breaking news. the roadway was reopened into the perimeter. it seems as though people are being turned around and that it is being shut down once again, adding heartbreak to all of these people in the cars and trucks you see who have been sleeping overnight, waiting to get back into lahaina for over 15 hours right now on the highway. it seems is as though after about a hundred cars were let in since the last time we spoke with you, now an about-face. there's a road sign that says road closed, adding to the anxiety of people who slept here for hours waiting to get in, waiting to see what is left of their homes, their businesses, their restaurants. and now, just look at this. one after another after being checked and briefed on the situation, look at this, people are being turned around.

. >> cnn's mike valerio is in san diego for us and joining us now. r: kate, good morning to you. i think we're seeing and experiencing a lot of muscle memory from the disaster response we had from all the atmospheric rivers in january, february and march. to that end, specifically to san diego, where we are, we had no fewer than ten search and rescue water teams from san diego fire department spread up and down the san diego river from the coastline, mission bay, all the way up to the five and they rescued no fewer than nine, kate, nine people overnight who were in harm's way from the raging flood water of the san diego river. so it's been all about preparation, really minimizing the catastrophe here along the coast. the picture utterly different in the desert communities as you're seeing on the screen right there and as you mentioned at the intro to our segment. but in terms of preparation, something very unusual as we push in a couple hundred yards through the bay here, just on the other side of the bay, you see the number 72 through the fog. that i

mike valerio is following the latest. >> reporter: officials are saying, quote, the negligence, carelessnessaii electric campaign and its subsidiaries is directly responsible for the fires. the electric company strongly denies that. there's the issue of who's to blame, and then there's the incalculable loss of life and dreams. we spoke to small business owners on maui about how this disaster has changed them forever. >> this one used to be a restaurant. >> reporter: there is agony in every stone of lahaina's front street, utility teams solemnly at work. >> people were jumping in the water, but also there's no air because the fire is eating all of the oxygen. >> reporter: glass blower ryan takes us to his gallery, what remains of it. >> now there's just piles of rubble. >> reporter: amid the devastation, there is compassion. the hawaiian spirit of owehohan family. this doctor is giving away medications free to those in lahaina who lost everything. >> i know we've administered thousands of doses of medication, whether that be injectables for those battling diabetes or any type of behavior heal

let's go to cnn's mike valerio. last hour you were approached by a woman who was very frustrated about the road closures. what's been happening there? >> reporter: good morning. the sun is now up over maui. this is the moment, fred, that people have been waiting for for more than 14 hours. hundreds of car s queued up in the background, now able to move through the main route that goes into the disaster zone o f la h these are people who have been waiting after they fled their homes tuesday afternoon, tuesday evening with literally nothing but the clothes they were wearing. they may not know what's left of their homes. people sleeping here overnight in their cars. they're checking with police. police are making sure that these are residents, not tourists, not anybody trying to take advantage of the situation. and if you were staying at a bed and breakfast or a small hotel, you are also able to get into this perimeter. we also want to take you as we monitor what's happening over here. some video of national guard troo

. >> let's get to mike valerio who is in maui. >> reporter: we're learning more about the victim whoot just a coincidence. it you live there, you love living in lahaina. that was true for both of the individuals who we have begun to learn about early this morning. we're going to begin with carol hartley, she's 60 years old. we know about her from her sister, who spoke with us a short time ago. she lived downtown in this perfect setting in the heart of town for 36 years. and her family thinks that based on what they have been able to put together about that horrible tuesday a week ago, carol turned around when she was fleeing her home in that apocalyptic scene, she turned around to help a friend. then she was found dead days later. but her niece writes about -- excuse me, her sister write this is. my little sister has always looked for the good in people and always helped others. she will be missed by all who knew her for her fun personality, her smile and adventures. so now a 68-year-old tried to save his home from burning down. and he wasn't just trying to save his home from burning

let's go now to cnn's mike valerio, on maui., being told, you know, that the situation is very tenuous? >> reporter: it's unbelievable, after all the heart-stopping images we've seen since tuesday afternoon, with people waiting to get in, sometimes 15 hours or more, it is now at times traffic here on maui that is deciding whether people get in past this police perimeter. when you walk with me down here, this is the main road. just over to my right, some of these folks have been waiting since far before dawn. the story, essentially, fredricka, is that this roadway reopened yesterday, but because too many people were going into lah lahaina beyond the barriers that were meant to only be accessed by fema, that weren't investigated yet by first responders, the police said now we've got to stop everybody, we're going to shut this down and reassess how we're managing this. on that front, we spoke to a bunch of motorists before dawn. take a listen to what they told us about their own journeys. patrick made it in, todd did not, the secon

. >> mike valerio in san diego, thank you. sara? >>> ahead, watching and waiting. where you can see the van pulling away, that is where any day now donald trump or any one of the 18 co-conspirators could surrender on the criminal charges before friday. what we are learning about the timing of all of this. oh.. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lo. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire >> woman: why did we choose safelite? we were loading our suv when... crack! safelite came right to us, and we could see exactly when they'd arrive with a replacement we could trust. that's service the way we want it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ after switching to the farmer's dog we noticed so many improvements in remi's health. his allergies were going away and he just had amazing energy. it looks like nutritious food, and it is. i'm investing in my

mike valerio is live for us. we're hearing that hot spots continue to flare up in many areas several days from the initial fires. >> reporter: that's right. good morning to you. firefighters still have tons of work ahead of them, but i think that the emotional gravity point that we're focused on here so deeply is the effort to identify the human remains that are found a couple miles behind the camera. what we mean by that is the governor was on the air with kaitlan collins a few hours ago. he very much set the tone and set the tempo and expectations for people here all throughout the island that this not only will be a few days to get all the wildfires under control, but it will be weeks until all of the dead are identified. to that end, we have a few numbers for you. 13 dna profiles out of all of the bodies that have been found, that is what we have so far. authorities are asking people to come into a community center near maui central airport so they can reqdevelop more profil make more dna matches. so far they