Maui’s Wildfires & Iran Prisoner Swap

00:00: I escaped with students building my apartment building.

00:06: One of them passed away.

00:07: That's two-thirds of the population.

00:10: All the parties are floating around us.

00:12: Fast-moving wildfires across the island of Maui have killed dozens of people, destroyed the community of Lahaina,

00:19: and continued to endanger the lives of locals and visitors.

00:23: All the places that are tourist areas that are Hawaiian history are gone.

00:28: And that can't be replaced.

00:30: I'm daily wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.

00:33: It's Friday, August 11th, and this is Morning Wire.

00:40: The Biden administration reportedly moves to unlock $6 billion in funds to Iran as the

00:45: two countries negotiate a potential prisoner swap.

00:49: What do we know about the deal and what comes next in the negotiations?

00:53: And Massachusetts and New York declare states of emergency as both run out of space to house new migrants.

01:00: How severe is the problem and how realistic are the unorthodox strategies being suggested.

01:06: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire, stay tuned.

01:08: We have the news you need to know.

01:15: Thousands have been displaced and dozens are dead after a massive wildfire unexpectedly

01:20: ripped through the Hawaiian island of Maui.

01:23: Thursday fires were also reported on the big island.

01:27: Here with more on the deadly blaze and the franx search for survivors as daily wires senior

01:31: editor cabbage Phillips, cabeta, a real tragedy in Hawaii.

01:35: What's the latest?

01:36: Yeah, this is one of the deadliest wildfires to strike the US in the last few decades.

01:41: The fire started on Tuesday and ripped through the island, fueled by 80 mile-prower winds

01:45: from distant hurricane Dora in the Pacific.

01:48: While level two drought conditions on large parts of the island further contributed to the ferocity of the place.

01:53: Those high winds grounded firefighting helicopters and planes

01:56: and also knocked out power on Tuesday as the fire worsened,

01:59: making it difficult for many residents to even learn about the danger coming their way.

02:03: As the flames pushed towards the coast,

02:05: dozens of tourists and residents were left with no option but to jump into the ocean,

02:09: where they were later rescued by coast guard ships in the area.

02:12: This woman survived by running out into the waters with others from her apartment.

02:15: We were on the wrong path for about $800 and so.

02:18: In the water.

02:19: In the water.

02:20: We started to get hypothermia, so at some point we had to, we were actually kind of going

02:24: back and forth between being in the water and trying to cool down from the inverse burning

02:29: off the carbon burns, my face is covered in burns.

02:33: Others attempt to do escape by car, driving through smoke-filled streets as buildings all around them were consumed by flames.

02:39: In one, especially herring video posted on social media, a group of men recorded themselves

02:43: attempting to drive to safety as smoke and flames filled the road around them.

02:47: At one point the video shows a woman laying motionless in the road in front of them.

02:51: Just a warning, this audio is very difficult to listen to.

02:54: Somebody's down right now.

02:56: Somebody's down right now.

02:58: Just go that we cannot do nothing for her.

03:00: Oh my God, bro.

03:01: Just go.

03:03: We cannot do nothing for her.

03:05: In another instance, a group of five young people were stranded in their car.

03:08: I'll set a once bustling out the mall.

03:10: Text messages show them frantically messaging EMS with their location.

03:14: Telling them, quote, fire is all around us.

03:16: Vision blocked cannot reach ocean.

03:18: Car is super hot.

03:20: Thankfully, they were rescued half hour later,

03:22: but dozens of others were never brought to safety.

03:24: Here's Maui County Mayor Richard Visson Jr.

03:27: We are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time.

03:31: In the days ahead, we will be stronger as a kaya ulu or community,

03:36: as we rebuild with resilience and aloha.

03:41: So tell us about the areas that were the hardest hit by this fire.

03:45: Yeah, the community of Lahaina bore the brunt of the fire.

03:48: Lahaina is the cultural hub of Maui, it was once the state's capital and the residents of Hawaii's king.

03:53: Hundreds of homes and buildings there were destroyed,

03:55: including a number of historic and cultural sites that had been there for centuries.

03:59: Thousands of residents living in Lahaina

04:01: are currently staying in shelters on the island,

04:03: while thousands more tourists have been ferried to other islands.

04:06: Here's Adam Waintrov, a spokesperson for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, speaking on ABC.

04:11: These were to warn and fast-moving fires

04:15: and it's only recently that we've started to get our arms around them and contain them.

04:19: So we're hoping for the best that we're prepared for the worst.

04:23: By Thursday morning, the fire had been largely contained, leaving rescue crews to search the

04:27: ashes for survivors. But those who did survive now face another set of challenges.

04:32: Now, this hospital system is relatively small and officials say they do not have the resources

04:36: to treat vast numbers of burn victims, meaning many patients will need to be

04:40: transported to other islands for emergency treatment.

04:42: Yeah, on Thursday, President Biden signed off on a disaster declaration, offering funding

04:47: and other help, including helicopters for search and rescue and firefighting operations.

04:51: At the moment, officials say they're still not sure exactly how or when the blaze started,

04:55: the wildfires on the island are fairly calm and starting to dry areas of grassland before

05:00: being whipped up by winds coming off the water.

05:02: So we'll be keeping an eye on the investigation and the potential cause of the blaze.

05:05: Hopefully we'll get some answers in the coming days.

05:07: Yeah, devastating situation and a lot of prayers for all those affected.

05:11: Thanks for reporting. Anytime.

05:17: The United States has reportedly negotiated the return of five Americans jailed in Iran.

05:23: The prisoners have been released to house arrest as they await next steps.

05:27: Daily wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to discuss the prisoners and what Biden will be

05:31: giving up in return for their release.

05:33: Item first off, what do we know about these prisoners?

05:37: There's five in total, three we know, and two who are staying private.

05:41: Four of the prisoners released Thursday from a vene prison in Tehran.

05:45: The prison is notorious for human rights abuses that go on inside,

05:49: as well as the high number of political prisoners that wind up inside.

05:52: The fifth prisoner, an American woman, was apparently already on house rest.

05:56: The three prisoners we know are all dual citizens of Iran in the United States.

06:01: C.M.A.K. Namazee, Ahmad Shargi, and Marad Tabaz, who also holds citizenship in the UK.

06:08: Namazee has been held the longest. He was arrested in October 2015 while on a business

06:12: trip and charged with working for a hostile government. Shargi is also a businessman.

06:16: He was jailed in 2018 and two years later handed a 10-year sentence for alleged espionage.

06:23: Tabaz is an environmentalist who was also arrested in 2018 and given a 10-year sentence

06:27: for supposed spying. The U.S. maintains that all these restaurants are nonsense and that these people are political prisoners.

06:33: All right. So all political according to U.S. officials, what are we trading to free them?

06:38: The Biden administration has apparently agreed to a prisoner swap. So Iran will get back

06:43: a few of its own, though it's unclear as of yet who that will be. Iran will also reportedly

06:47: get access to $6 billion in oil revenue that it's been unable to access because of sanctions.

06:53: money will be moved to a bank in Qatar and Iran can access it only for humanitarian

06:57: supplies such as food and medical equipment. The deal is supposed to block Iran a known

07:02: sponsor of terrorism from using the funds for any other purpose. According to reports,

07:06: the funds will be held by the Qatar government. And when Iran makes a request, Qatar will

07:11: pay the vendor directly from the account and Iran will receive the goods.

07:14: But of course, that would just free up funds for Iran to direct that to other unsanctioned

07:19: efforts. How long did it take to work this deal out? Months, at least. NBC News reported

07:25: back in February that talks on a deal were taking place quietly behind the scenes and were

07:29: being mediated by Switzerland. The Swiss have mediated most talks between the US and Iran,

07:34: and since the two countries broke off diplomatic relations over 40 years ago. In fact, the deal

07:39: also serves a dual purpose of softening the tension between the US and Iran.

07:43: One of President Biden's foreign policy priorities since taking office has been to revive

07:47: the highly controversial Iran nuclear deal. Former President Trump killed the deal over concerns

07:52: that it wasn't strong enough. Trump officials thought the Iran deal actually made the potential

07:56: for a nuclear armed Iran much greater. Right. When can we expect these prisoners to be returned?

08:03: In the next few weeks, no hard timeline has been set, and there seems to be some hesitation

08:07: about celebrating too soon. An attorney for one of the prisoners said that this was only a first step,

08:12: and caution that there are simply no guarantees about what happens from here.

08:16: All right, so skepticism there about Iran following through.

08:20: What's the response been to this deal so far?

08:24: Republicans have been pretty critical of it.

08:26: A few have said that assuming Iran is given access to $6 billion, the U.S. has just agreed

08:31: to pay the largest terrorist ransom ever.

08:33: Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton issued a pretty strong statement against the deal.

08:37: He said he hoped the Americans arrived safely back in the U.S., but called the agreement

08:41: with Iran a craven act of appeasement that will only embolden the IOTO as to take more

08:46: hostages and use these ill-gotten gains to attack our troops, fun terrorism and arm

08:50: Russia.

08:51: Yes, strong words indeed.

08:52: Tim, thanks for joining us.

08:53: Thanks for having me.

09:00: Officials in Massachusetts are asking citizens to consider taking illegal migrants into their

09:05: homes as the state scrambles to confront a dire shelter shortage.

09:09: The plea to residents came just a day after the governor declared a state of emergency over

09:14: the migrant crisis. Daily wire investigative reporter Maraid Alority is here with the details.

09:20: So Maraid Massachusetts is asking residents to consider housing migrants in their homes.

09:25: Hi Georgia, yes exactly. This was Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll on Wednesday.

09:31: Most importantly, if you have an extra room or suite in your home, please consider hosting a family.

09:37: A day earlier, Massachusetts Governor Mara Healy, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency on the migrant crisis.

09:50: She touched on residents potentially stepping up to help during a press conference in Boston on Tuesday.

09:55: Healy said the state is calling on everyone in Massachusetts to come together and ask

09:59: Bay Staters to help us meet this moment in our state and offer a helping hand.

10:04: Now is there a process in place for people to actually do that?

10:07: It's not clear yet how the hosting process would work whether people would have to apply

10:11: to host a family or whether the state would compensate hosts.

10:15: Now what led up to this?

10:16: We've heard a lot about New York being overwhelmed with migrants.

10:19: What's the status in Massachusetts?

10:21: It's pretty serious.

10:23: Dozens of migrants arrive in the state every day.

10:25: About 50 migrant families arrived by plane from other states in the span of 48 hours earlier this week according to Governor Healey.

10:32: Healy said the state is currently housing nearly 20,000 people, many of whom are migrants.

10:37: More than 5,600 families are being sheltered on the state's dime up from 3,100 families a year ago.

10:43: This is more people than the state has ever served through its emergency assistance program according to the governor.

10:48: Those in need of shelter include babies, young children, and pregnant women.

10:52: Many of the migrants are from Haiti and headed to Massachusetts, likely because Boston has a large Haitian population.

10:59: An interesting point here is that Massachusetts has a 1983 right to shelter law on the books

11:03: that requires the state to immediately house eligible families with children, regardless of shelter availability.

11:10: This puts the state in an extremely difficult position.

11:13: The law was written long before the migrant crisis and was intended for Massachusetts citizens

11:17: in crisis, but it doesn't include any language prohibiting non-citizens from taking advantage of the generous benefit.

11:24: So, now that the governor has declared a state of emergency, what does that actually mean?

11:28: Well, the state of emergency will expedite the process for creating or renting more migrant

11:33: housing and allow the National Guard to quickly step in if necessary.

11:37: Governor Healey blamed the slow pace of work authorizations, which she said can take

11:40: months as a big driver of the crisis.

11:43: Healey wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking that migrants be

11:47: clear to work and ask for financial help from the federal government as well.

11:52: But this situation has been building for a while.

11:54: this year, migrants of Massachusetts started showing up at emergency rooms because they had

11:58: nowhere to sleep for the night. And leading up to the state of emergency declaration,

12:02: Massachusetts took several other drastic steps to house migrants.

12:06: Last year, the state housed migrants in motels, empty college dorms, two new welcome centers,

12:12: and on Cape Cod's military base, which received the 49 migrants who arrived in Martha's Vineyard

12:17: from Florida last fall. Well, and as we've reported before, other states and cities are also

12:22: buckling under very similar pressure. What's the latest to New York?

12:26: Well, New York City's homeless shelters are bursting at the seams. There are 55,000 migrants

12:31: currently being housed on the city's dime. On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan to

12:35: house up to 2,000 adult migrants in a tent city on Randall's Island in the East River,

12:41: saying it has become a herculane effort to find enough shelter beds every night.

12:45: We have to make sure we have a real decompression strategy after border,

12:50: and we have to ensure that we have real immigration reform because it's going to continue.

12:55: It's not sustainable. When you look at 10,000 a month, the math just does not add up.

13:02: Both Massachusetts and New York have pleaded with the Biden administration for financial help

13:06: with the migrant crisis. In the meantime, it'll be interesting to see how these Northeastern

13:10: states adapt to now being border states. Well, as a Massachusetts native myself, I'm watching this very closely.

13:17: Marade, thanks for reporting.

13:18: Thanks, Georgia.

13:23: Thank you for listening to Morning Wire.

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