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Hawaii Governor: "80% Of Lahaina Is Gone"; Richard Yust, Executive Director, Maui Food Bank, Discusses Donation Needs Amid Ongoing Fires; Gilgo Beach Suspect's Wife Has Cancer, Insurance Ending Soon; Lawyer: Family May File Suit Over Search Of Home; Airline Ticket Prices Drop In Final Weeks Of Summer. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired August 11, 2023 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:34:17]
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: Hawaii's governor says it appears that 80 percent of historical Lahaina is now gone. We have these before-and- after satellite images, which really show the depth of the devastation. This is before the fires. This is after. It really shows these homes completely gone, reduced to ashes.
Then there's Lahaina's famous banyan tree. We have this image of that tree before. A glorious huge tree, 60 feet high, 150 years old. This is located in the center of Lahaina in the downtown. And this is what it looks like after the fire. Just an incredibly eerie, spooky image.
This is not in black and white. You can see the tree singed and covered in ashes. This is what this cultural landmark now looks like, charred and smoldering but still standing. Important.
[14:35:10]
CNN's Bill Weir did have a chance to examine this historic tree this morning. Take a look at his report.
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BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: It looks like it may have survived. It needs water desperately to survive right now.
But for the locals who are coming down and looking at the damage, this is such a sign of hope that maybe their iconic tree will have lived while so much else is gone here.
But the history can never be replaced.
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MARQUARDT: And this is the 200-year-old Waiola Church, whose graveyard is the final resting place of early members of the kingdom of Hawaii's royal family.
This is what it looked like on Tuesday as its walls were swallowed by flames. Many church members believe the sacred building has now been destroyed.
Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: I've actually been there. I can't believe this is what it looks like now. It's unbelievable, unbelievable.
MARQUARDT: An inferno.
KEILAR: An inferno.
So let's talk a little bit more about this now. It's really a humanitarian crisis that's unfolding in Maui. There's no other way to put it.
Let's talk about it with Richard Yust. He is the executive director for the Maui Food Bank, which does incredible work across Maui.
Richard, I know you are now serving and will be serving people you normally do not. Tell us about your needs right now.
RICHARD YUST, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MAUI FOOD BANK: Yes, our -- well, obviously, financial contributions have the most effect right now so we can provide for those families and all the needs of what's coming in.
We're having a mass influx of people needing food assistance. We've been convoying our trucks to the west side and also in town to the shelters that are set up.
KEILAR: This is also the kind of thing that I think, it's fair to say, it sort of bumps people down a rung or two, right? Maybe they didn't need assistance before. Maybe they needed it for a little while. Now they're going to need it for longer.
What is the timeline looking like for how long you think you're going to have to provide increased assistance to people on Maui?
YUST: It's really sad so many people have lost everything. This is going to take a long time to, obviously, either be rebuilt or -- and that's going to be months, years, who knows how long. So we are gearing up for the long haul.
We're providing immediate relief just to kind of calm people's nerves and make sure they have what they need as far as food, water, essentials, cleaning products, hygiene products. We're providing all of that currently to those folks.
But it will be a long time. It's so tragic. And these folks -- generations have been in line.
And then we've also lost homes in the upcountry area as well. That's tragic as well.
You know, Maui is an extremely resilient community. We do take care of each other here. We know we're in one of the remote places on earth, unfortunately, or
maybe fortunately, depending on how you look at it. People here realize that, and we are here to take care of each other. The community support has been overwhelming.
And then support from, you know, national companies and Feeding America, disaster services. We have a tremendous amount of --
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KEILAR: No. Go ahead. Turn that off, Richard.
But let me ask you, you mentioned and that is the beauty of Maui, that it is away from it all. That is certainly why a lot of people live there. And a lot of people live there because they've lived there for generations, of course.
But being on an island has its challenges when you are bringing in food. You already have known that as you're bringing in food and products to serve people.
YUST: Yes.
KEILAR: Tell us about the challenge.
YUST: Well, obviously, the challenge is, you know, even expedited ocean freight is two weeks out. That's if everything falls right into place. So, yes, we have limited resources here currently on the island.
[14:40:07]
Fortunately, the harbors did not sustain damage, except for the Lahaina harbor. But the major harbor here on Maui is fully operational. So that's a blessing.
Containers that had been booked are coming in. We're able to access some of those food resources.
You know, I guess the sad part is that some of the major wholesalers here on the island no longer have those businesses on the west side that they were supporting with food.
But they're not letting anything go to waste. Those feed donations are coming to the food bank. And we're making sure all of that gets out to folks in need over, especially on the west side.
KEILAR: That's certainly good to hear.
Richard, thank you so much for being with us and talking about the challenges and just how long this is going to be going on. We really appreciate you and we're thinking of everyone on the island. Thank you. YUST: Well, we appreciate you checking in on us. And we appreciate you
getting the word out that help is still needed here on Maui, especially financial contributions. So thank you.
KEILAR: All right, Richard, thank you so much.
For our viewers who do want information on how you can help Hawaii wildfire victims, you just heard Richard stating the need there, you can go to CNN.com/impact. You can also text "Hawaii" to 707070 to donate.
We'll be right back.
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[14:46:03]
MARQUARDT: Moments ago, attorneys for the family of suspected serial killer, Rex Heuermann, revealed that his wife has cancer.
Heuerman has pleaded not guilty to charges he killed three women and he's the prime suspect in the murder of a fourth. All of their remains were found on Gilgo Beach back in 2010.
Attorneys for his wife, Asa Ellerup, and her two adult children explained what the family is going through since Heuerman's arrest back in July.
Now this photo is from a GoFundMe drive to help their family, who their lawyers say are victims themselves.
CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now from Islip, New York.
Jean, we're learning all of this from a news conference that just wrapped up with those lawyers. What else did they say?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the civil lawyers representing Asa Ellerup and the two children.
First of all, he wanted to clear up some things that had been in the media. First of all, he said there was not a gun vault in the basement, it was not soundproof. That's completely wrong.
The way Robert Macedonio explained it to me a minute ago is that it's like a gun case and that it was elevated, there were 2x4s. It was very small in that basement, and it's necessary in order to get homeowners insurance here in New York.
Also clearing up what we heard about a doll encased in a glass that was taken out of that home, of plastic. That was a collectible from Asa Ellerup. That was her doll that he had collected for years.
A lot today about the home, the disarray of the home, more than we even knew before.
The attorney said the drainpipes had been removed in the home and there was running water but the water would go straight down into the basement. The family is living in the home, at least the son is living on a type of foam in the house.
Then they said that they are days away from filing a civil action, which they call Notice of Claim to preserve that right, the civil rights, the civil liberties for the family.
Take a listen.
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ROBERT MACEDONIA, ATTORNEY FOR ASA ELLERUP: There are certainly rights that they have to protect within a 10-day period. If you don't file that notice of claim, you lose the right to pursue it at a later date. So it's going to protect those rights, and that's it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: They wouldn't go into details, but obviously all the damage in that home, they believe law enforcement is responsible. They said they may cite numerous law enforcements in the lawsuit.
But they want to be paid for all of the damage in that home, that the family was not responsible for and should not have to pay for.
MARQUARDT: Jean Casarez, in Islip, New York, thanks so much for the report.
Brianna?
[14:48:50]
KEILAR: Coming up, the price for a plane ticket is dropping. That's good news. But what is behind it? And how long can it last?
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[14:53:23]
KEILAR: Summer's almost over, but if you were hoping to book one last trip, now is the perfect time to do it. Airline ticket prices are dropping, and the bargains are not going to last long.
We have CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean, here in studio with more on this.
OK, how much is it going to cost and how fast do we need to jump on these?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You need to jump on it now. We're in the plateau. So, August is really the sweet spot. September, October are really the shoulder seasons when there's not a lot of travel taking place.
So the message from travel site, Hopper, they say, if you jump on it now, you could get a pretty good deal. In July it was $274 on average for a domestic round-trip ticket. Now
it's gone down a little bit to $267 during the month of August.
So if you've got some PTO in the bank, the message is use it now.
It doesn't last for all that long because, around this time next month is when people look at holiday travel. This is fares peaking in late November, $283 for domestic round trip.
There's so many factors that go into airlines price setting. But right now, the factors are pretty clear. Jet fuel is low, competition is up, and the capacity is up just because airlines have really recovered from the pandemic.
The thing that people are really competing on when it comes to price are these international trips, and that is something that the world sort of opens up for the first time really this summer where people are paying a lot more.
So $813 for a flight on average round-trip from the U.S. to Europe. And that's really not far off from where we were last year.
[14:55:00]
So folks have been shelling out for some pretty big trips and you can still find a pretty good deal.
It's really interesting, too, the places trending where people are going are places served by ultra-low-cost carriers, like Melbourne, Florida, Reno, Nevada, Manchester, New Hampshire, Buffalo, Charleston, South Carolina.
Those are typically not the really big destinations like Disneyworld, and Disneyland, the places you hear all the time.
But these places that show that people are so motivated by price. That's the thing. And people want to get out so long as they want to get a screaming deal.
KEILAR: Are you sure they aren't campaign reporters?
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KEILAR: Because a lot of those destinations, I think, I'm like I've been to those for work.
MUNTEAN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Pete Muntean, thank you so much.
MUNTEAN: Thanks.
KEILAR: Alex?
MARQUARDT: Motivated by price.
Republican reaction is coming into the news that the Hunter Biden case will now have a special counsel overseeing it. The legal and political implications. That's next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
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