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CNN This Morning

Support, Supplies Flowing In For Fire-Ravaged Maui; GOP Hopefuls Flocking To Iowa State Fair; Hawaii Wildfire Death Toll Hits 80 As Probe Launched Into Blaze Response; Americans Are Pulling Money Out Of Their 401(k) Plans At An Alarming Rate. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired August 12, 2023 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:39]

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: And good Saturday morning to you. Welcome to CNN this morning. I'm Amara Walker.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good to be here with you. I'm Rahel Solomon. I'm in this morning for Victor Blackwell. And thank you for sharing part of your morning with us.

The death toll in Hawaii rises to at least 80 people after those devastating wildfires in Lahaina. And as the grim reality sets in for survivors, some are questioning the state's response beforehand and how much was done to try to warn residents to get out.

WALKER: Plus, Hunter Biden's legal troubles keep up. The Justice Department elevates the U.S. attorney investigating his case to Special counsel after plea talks fall apart. And former President Donald Trump and his legal team get a stern warning from the judge in the January 6 case, we'll have the latest on the contentious hearing.

New data shows that Americans are pulling out of their 401Ks and relying on credit cards at an alarming rate. We're going to have a financial expert to weigh in with her advice.

We begin with really grim news from Hawaii where those devastating wildfires have claimed at least 80 lives so far. Officials warning that the death toll will likely rise in the coming days. Crews have not yet searched the inside of most of the buildings and it's still unclear how many people are unaccounted for.

SOLOMON: Yes, newly released video shows just the horror of the fire as people tried to escape this video that you're seeing here. This is from the Coast Guard. And it shows the view of the Lahaina fire on Wednesday. Coast Guard crews were able to rescue 17 people who escaped the fire by jumping into the ocean.

And take a look at this TikTok video, it appears to show some of those desperate people in the water after they were forced to jump in to try to save themselves from the flames. Now I should say that CNN has not been able to determine the source of the video or independently verify the video. But then smoke and high winds created just what we know has been an incredibly chaotic and terrifying situation.

And take a listen to this next video, it is hard to listen to but it captures the terror as a resident tries to escape the flames in her car.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got a walk somewhere over there by the beach (bleep). (Bleep) MJ (ph) wrong turn, wrong turn. (Bleep).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: MJ, MJ, just keep going. Keep going, keep going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Bleep) No, no, no, no, no, no, no, not like this. Not like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not like this. No, God, Jekar (ph). (Bleep). God (bleep).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: It is just terrifying to listen to those people scream and try to flee in just a few seconds notice it looks like. CNN's Gloria Pazmino is in Honolulu with the very latest.

Gloria, what do we know in terms of the rescue and recovery efforts?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is just absolutely terrifying to listen to the voices in that video, you can just literally feel the panic that they're in, the fear that they're feeling as they're fleeing from the -- from the flames.

Now, I want to talk about the rescue mission. The search mission we know is underway. We have learned that so far, officials in Maui which is about 80 miles to the west of here from where we are have been waiting for the arrival of FEMA teams that are equipped with cadaver dogs. Those teams are going to be searching the inside of structures, those buildings have not yet been searched. So far the amount of people that have been recovered about 80 people who have lost their lives have been found on the outside of structures.

Now, I do want to talk about that public road that we know opened yesterday to give residents a chance to get back into Lahaina. We know that residents are anxious to get back in to assess the damage. Unfortunately, soon after the road was opened, they had to close it back up because there was so much traffic and people trying to get into the area that officials decided it was better to just keep them away for now. But that is creating a lot of frustration because there are people that are trying to get back in, supporters and volunteers that are trying to bring supplies into the area. And that is really the biggest challenge right now in addition to the search and rescue mission that is underway.

People are growing impatient, they are waiting for help and supplies to arrive. They desperately are in need. [08:05:04]

SOLOMON: All right, Gloria Pazmino, thank you. I should say that we spoke to an official in the last hour and I asked about that road, was it open, was it closed and she wasn't able to say. But as Gloria pointed to, there are still a lot of questions about --

WALKER: Yes.

SOLOMON: -- what the status is right now in Lahaina.

WALKER: All right. Well, there is, as you'd imagine growing concern over how authorities handled the early moments of the wildfires as the flames began to spread across the island. The Hawaii attorney general is now ordering a review of the state's response leading up to the fires as you know that there was lots of wind and some power outages because of that Hurricane Dora churning in the Pacific. And some critics are saying, you know, perhaps lives could have been saved had there been a siren warning sound outside.

Earlier this morning, I spoke with Congresswoman Jill Tokuda. And she says the state underestimated how bad the fire would get.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JILL TOKUDA (D-HI): It's not like hurricane force winds are unknown to Hawaii or dry brush or red flag conditions, we saw this before in Lane. We did not learn our lesson from lane, that brush fires could erupt as a result of churning hurricane winds below us to the south. And I -- we underestimated the lethality, the quickness of fire. And in this situation, we have got to make sure that we do better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: And Congresswoman Tokuda also called for the waters around Lahaina to be dredged to make sure every missing person is accounted for. Obviously, she is referring to the many people that jumped into the choppy waters there.

All right. Joining us now to talk more about the rescue and recovery efforts is Bryan Stern, a former Army and Navy combat veteran. He is the CEO and co-founder of Project Dynamo, a veteran led nonprofit organization that specializes in bringing help to disaster areas and conflict zones throughout the world. Bryan and his team are on the ground in Hawaii helping with relief efforts. And also as I understand it, Bryan, rescue efforts. Is that correct? Are you helping with rescues?

BRYAN STERN, CO-FOUNDER, PROJECT DYNAMO: Yes. The -- we're doing -- we're doing -- we've done a lot of both. We've done a lot of humanitarian drops and a lot of rescue -- and a number of airborne rescues. We're going to do our start. We're going to start some grand rescues today, most likely assuming that the roads open up a little bit. SOLOMON: Tell us a little bit more about the assets that you're deploying the way you're trying to help. But also, I mean, how are you reaching out and communicating with the folks in Lahaina who of course as we know are having electrical and power issues?

WALKER: Yes.

SOLOMON: I mean, how are you communicating with people there?

STERN: Well, you hit the nail on the head, the communication part is the problem. We need people to go to projectdynamo.org, which is our website, and register families and friends with their addresses and where they are. It is incredibly difficult to go walking around and hope to find somebody. We need people to register on the website, that way we can go -- be a little more targeted. That's also where people can go to donate.

We are entirely donor funded. And this is -- this costs money. Helicopters cost money, all this stuff costs money. So, we need your help.

The -- as far as rescue operations go, it is slow going. There's a lot of -- we don't know -- we don't know who's trapped and who's not. And it seems that nobody really does. And the only good way to do this is to have it as the targeted searches or blanket searches and go house to house which requires a lot more people.

WALKER: Tell us more about your approach, Bryan. First of all, you're in Maui right now, right? And if so, where exactly are you on the island? And how are you and your teams? Well, first of all, what are your impressions of what you're seeing and how is that impacting your approach in terms of rescuing or trying to rescue more people?

STERN: Well, the affected area looks like a war zone, which sadly Project Dynamo has a lot of experience with. We've -- we worked in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan, even Hurricane Ian. So, this is -- yes, this is fire and wind, not water and wind, but it's cataclysmic, it's apocalyptic. There's -- a lot of these homes and buildings were made out of just wood. So they went up like matchstick, like matchsticks.

So, it is pretty -- it is unbelievable to see. Right now where I'm sitting, I'm about a nine minute -- 10 minute flight via one of our helicopters from the affected area where it's all burned.

SOLOMON: Bryan, remarkable to hear you say having the experience that you have that it looks like a warzone. I mean, the photos are just heartbreaking to see.

Help me understand for folks who have been able to escape the flames, for those who have medical conditions, the dire units of time in terms of getting people the help they need.

[08:10:04]

STERN: Yes, that is the issue is the, you know, the access to the area is tough because the roads remain closed. Fire started again last night, at least one area, two -- technically two areas, the brave firemen and cops, the police officers that are here are completely overwhelmed. They need backup, they need resources, which have been slow going. Part of that is because we're on an island, part of that is just because it's been slow.

So, with respect to people who have medical conditions, there aren't a clock, there aren't a clock. And we're seeing that on the island as well where people are running out of food. If you're running out of -- if we're running out of food, we're definitely running out of things like insulin and things like that. So -- and there's no electricity, so anything to be refrigerated is a problem.

So, the bottom line is we need -- time is ticking. And the weather is OK, but it's still very warm, and elderly people, sick people, what have you, they -- we need to get to them, and get them -- and get them out of the affected area to at least a warm zone if not something else.

WALKER: Bryan, pardon me if you already addressed this, but did you say you were able to find some survivors? And is that the goal or priority right now?

STERN: Yes. Of course, the number one priority is the safety of life. We can -- you know, you can rebuild a house, you can't rebuild a son or a daughter or mother and father. So, rescue operations remain the priority. But at some point, those become -- it goes from rescue to recovery.

We're flirting with that line right now of recovering the dead or rescuing the living. We're flirting with that line. We have another day probably until that becomes -- until that true transition happens.

WALKER: Yes, like you said time is our enemy right now. Bryan Stern, appreciate you joining us and all your efforts. Thank you very much. Best of luck.

SOLOMON: And for more information about how you can help Hawaii wildfire victims, go to cnn.com/impact. Or you can use your phone to scan the QR code that you see on your screen there.

WALKER: All right. Turning to other news now, and despite being a Republican appointed prosecutor, GOP critics are blasting Attorney General Merrick Garland's appointment of David Weiss as a special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation.

SOLOMON: Yes, Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted Friday that, "If Weiss negotiated the sweetheart deal that couldn't get approved, how can he be trusted as a special counsel?" Now, Weiss has been investigating the president's son since 2019. The appointment came after plea talks between the Justice Department and Hunter Biden fell apart. CNN's Paula Reid explains why a special counsel was needed in this case.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Amara and Rahel.

Well, according to the Justice Department on Tuesday, U.S. attorney, David Weiss, asked the Justice Department to change his designation to special counsel for the purposes of the Hunter Biden investigation. Now Weiss is a Trump appointed U.S. attorney, he's been investigating Biden for five years. But the Justice Department has not put forth any official explanation for why he suddenly wanted to change his status and become a full blown Special Counsel. But there are some clues in the court documents, in court filings because on Friday court filings revealed that the plea agreement that had been reached between the U.S. attorney and Hunter Biden has fallen apart. They have reached an impasse after a judge expressed some concerns and had some questions about this plea deal.

And after reaching this impasse, according to court filings, it appears that that case related to some tax charges and one charges related to gun possession could now go to trial.

Now one of the big difference is, once you're a special counsel, not only can you bring a case in any jurisdiction, you also have to write a full report detailing your findings. And the Justice Department emphasizes that that will help with the transparency around this investigation. But it's not clear that Republicans on the Hill are going to see it that way. Because they've wanted Weiss to come and talk to them, testify, answer questions, and it's unclear how becoming a special counsel could impact his willingness to testify before them. We know that previous special counsels like Robert Mueller and John Durham have testified but only after their investigations and after they submitted their reports.

Now, the sources tell CNN that the White House was not notified before the special counsel announcement, nor are Hunter Biden's lawyers. Amara, Rahel.

SOLOMON: All right. Paula, thank you.

Well, Donald Trump now has some limits on what he can and what he cannot talk about when it comes to the 2020 election interference case.

WALKER: Yes. Yesterday, a federal judge issued a protective order barring the former president from publicly disclosing any sensitive information about the case. CNN's Jessica Schneider explains what exactly that means and what the judge said she will be watching for as Trump hits the campaign trail.

[08:15:11]

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Amara and Rahel, the case against Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. is moving rapidly. And the judge in this case is really being firm on what Trump and his legal team can and cannot disclose about the case to the public. So Judge Tanya Chutkan, she issued a protective order and it lays out the Trump cannot disclose any sensitive information that's given to him and his team during discovery. So that includes material about the grand jury process or information from it or search warrants.

And she also issued several warnings to Trump. She noted that even though he's running a political campaign, he still in her words, has to yield to the administration of justice. And she said if that means his political speech has to be somewhat limited, then that's the way it's going to be. She says she is carefully scrutinizing any statements that Trump and his team make. She says that anything that they say that can be interpreted to be intimidating to witnesses or prejudicial to potential jurors could really threaten this whole process.

So under all of these terms, prosecutors are saying they're prepared to begin handing over material immediately. This includes 11.6 million pages of documents. It includes hundreds of recordings of witness interviews, which Trump of course will be prohibited from disclosing publicly. And we'll see how quickly this case could go to trial. The prosecution wants it to start January 2, Trump's legal team has to propose their start date sometime next week. And they'll likely propose it after the election.

But really the rate that Judge Chutkan is moving here, she'll likely want to hew closer to the prosecution's proposed January date. So we'll see. Guys.

WALKER: All right, Jessica, thank you.

Still ahead, we are hours away from seeing some Republican primary front runners, Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump going head to head not on the debate stage, but at the all-important Iowa State Fair.

SOLOMON: Plus, Mother Nature delivering a one two punch, severe storms in some areas, dangerous heat in others and millions of people are at risk. We'll be right back.

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[08:21:14]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. More Republican presidential hopefuls are flocking to Iowa this weekend. According voters at the Iowa State Fair it's a chance for the candidates to make their case.

WALKER: It is. And we talked with some voters who say their minds are already made up and others say they are concerned about the latest indictments of Donald Trump. CNN's Senior National Correspondent Kyung Lah joining us now from Des Moines.

Hi, Kyung, good morning. What more are you hearing from voters there?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Amara and Rahel. The state fair here is just starting to open up and people are just starting to come in. And this is really the sort of the main event day at least politically, that's where we're going to see the arrival of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, almost at about the exact time. Although, we don't anticipate that they're actually going to see each other face to face.

And you know, never one to follow tradition. Donald Trump is not going to do the traditional Iowa State Fair visits that involve a soapbox or some of the retail politics that Iowans are used to here at the state fair. I want to show you who he is bringing. This, you might think of it as more trolling to get inside DeSantis' head, he's bringing a number of U.S. representatives from the State of Florida, nine of them, in fact to walk with him to make the point that the governor of Florida can't draw support even from people in his own state. So this type of trolling doesn't work with Iowans.

Iowan Republicans who we spoke to appear a bit mixed. Some who say they don't believe the DOJ has any legitimacy in this case involving Donald Trump. But I want you to take a listen because it's not exactly uniform.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like I say, I know in my area, it's Trump country.

LAH: Are the indictments changing how you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, because I do think a lot of that is for a fact.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of those are trumped-up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't find the charges against him being trumped-up at all. That's my opinion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: So, Rahel and Amara, uniformly, yes, polls are showing that Donald Trump is a pacesetter in this primary. He is ahead of everybody. But here in Iowa, the -- because of that little dissent you hear, they do wonder if that is going to hold all the way until January.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

LAH: And we'll see some of that play out today.

SOLOMON: And it'll be really interesting, Kyung, to see the crowds. I mean, if today is sort of the main events, we've already seen pretty big crowds there at the Iowa State Fair. So a lot to watch.

Kyung Lah, great to see you. Thank you.

WALKER: I saw county eating some food on the air the other day I want to know about some of the good fried foods you've tried. Kyung, anything in particular?

LAH: Oh my god, the deep fried strawberry shortcake.

SOLOMON: Oh, wow.

LAH: Anything deep fried, to be honest.

WALKER: That sounds amazing. All right, Kyung Lah, thank you.

All right. For more now on the Iowa State Fair and its significance in the presidential race, let's bring in Brianne Pfannenstiel. She is chief politics reporter for the De Moines Register.

Hi there, Brianne. So first off, talk to us more about, you know, why this state fair is such an important stop for all the presidential candidates.

BRIANNE PFANNENSTIEL, CHIEF POLITICAL REPORTER, DES MOINES REGISTER: So the Iowa State Fair brings in people from every corner of the state. They're coming into Des Moines, they're staying for a day, they're staying for multiple days. And so it's really a chance to meet people from all across the state all in one swing. And it's really just a fun event, right? People are here with their families that are having a good time, it's a chance for these candidates to really show that they can connect with Iowans one-on-one, meet them face to face, have a conversation and just show that they're a real person, right?

[08:25:11]

But it's also just, you know, all about the optics. There are so many reporters there these days, there are so many T.V. cameras, it's a chance for these lesser known candidates to really have a moment to try and break out of the pack. They're also around trying to sign up donors, those folks who are still trying to get on the debate stage next month. And then for these bigger candidates like Donald Trump, like Ron DeSantis, who we're going to see today, it's a moment to try and one up each other and have a little bit of gamesmanship as we're seeing.

WALKER: All right. So speaking of wanting one upping each other and optics, what about the optics of Donald Trump showing up to the fair with this entourage of nine Florida, Republicans who have endorsed him, obviously, that is an aim, a swipe at Ron DeSantis. I guess, you know, what's the strategy? Will it work? Do Iowans care?

PFANNENSTIEL: Well, it is a big swipe at Ron DeSantis, right? He's trying to show that even people in Florida, his home state, prefer Donald Trump over Ron DeSantis. But Ron DeSantis, of course, you know, punch back. He's announced that he's bringing about a dozen Iowa endorsers with him to the Iowa State Fair today. And that message is very much that it doesn't matter at this point what Floridians think, this is about the Iowa caucuses that are happening in January.

It matters how Iowans feel about these candidates. And he's saying, look, I've got more endorsements here in the state than you do and I'm going to bring them with me to the Iowa State Fair. So we're seeing some of that back and forth. And I think it is true that Iowans, you know, care more about who people that they know and respect in the state are endorsing. You know, they're looking for guidance from, you know, some of their elected officials who really do have a lot of access to these candidates for what they think.

So at the end of the day, we'll see how, you know, how meaningful endorsements really are. But we're seeing kind of that back and forth today. And as you heard, both of these candidates will be at the state fair at about the same time today. And so, Donald Trump is certainly known for spectacle in 2015 when he was campaigning, he came to the Iowa State Fair in a helicopter, he was giving out free helicopter rides to kids. So, we'll see if he tries to, you know, one up himself and create a bigger show today.

WALKER: What about the influence of the Iowa governor, a Republican Kim Reynolds? We know that she's very popular in the state, she's a rising star in the Republican Party. She is not endorsing anyone, at least not just yet. She's getting attacks from Trump, as you heard from Kyung Lah's reporting, because of her neutrality. Will you expect candidates to take advantage of that? Is it going to backfire, the fact that Trump is not participating in this fireside chat with the governor and instead attacking this popular Republican in the state?

PFANNENSTIEL: Well, I think when Donald Trump made those comments about Kim Reynolds, it raised a lot of eyebrows here in Iowa. You know, there was even a state senator who said he switched his endorsement from Donald Trump to Ron DeSantis because of those comments. You know, the governor here is really beloved among the Iowa Republicans.

And so, it's an interesting choice to skip her fireside chat series that she's doing a series of Q&A's with these candidates. But you know, I think Donald Trump has shown throughout this campaign that that he, you know, thinks he's bigger than that, he can draw these big crowds, he can create events for himself, and he's not necessarily willing to lend his, you know, star power as it were to some of these other events. And so, I don't know that that's necessarily a ticket, the governor, he travels with a lot of security that can make some of these smaller events more difficult. You know, he hasn't outlined exactly what he plans to do with the state fair today. But I expect that if he tries to move through the crowd at all, it's going to draw a pretty sizable group of people. I'm not sure exactly how that's going to go for him.

So, it's an interesting choice. Governor, Kim Reynolds certainly has a lot of influence. And she's decided that she's not going to endorse this cycle. She thinks it's more important for Iowans to make that choice and for her not to tip the scales, maybe in favor of one candidate or the other Iowa Republicans. And I would Democrats agree, I think that, that this is a state where people should be able to come without a huge war chest, they should be able to have an even playing field and move the needle by shaking hands and doing the kinds of things that we're going to see today at the fair.

WALKER: Brianne Pfannenstiel, thank you very much.

SOLOMON: All right, coming up for us. We want to take you back to Hawaii, we've heard the horrifying and terrifying stories of people trying to escape the wildfires in Hawaii this week. And now CNN is getting a view from the ground in Lahaina where the community has been turned to ash. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:33:42]

WALKER: New details now on the deadly wildfires that are ravaging parts of Hawaii. At least 80 people have been killed so far. And the fire in West Maui that prompted evacuations in the Kaanapali area is now 100 percent contained.

SOLOMON: But officials say that firefighters are still working to extinguish flare ups in Lahaina that's after allowing residents to briefly return to the devastated town on Friday. Now Maui police have now shut down that main road into Lahaina. CNN's Bill Weir takes a look at the devastation there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EDDY GARCIA, FARMER, MAUI RESIDENT: The trees that you guys see behind you right here. This was all from the tornado that came through. Now we've never even seen a tornado in Hawaii.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): In a place so familiar with weather extremes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow, it's crazy.

WEIR: Maui locals have never seen anything like the firestorm that obliterated Lahaina.

DANIEL GOLDBERG, BOAT CAPTAIN: Little like smolder of smoke, or like the house had survived and now there's a little brush firing and within like five minutes, the whole thing was right up in the right --

WEIR: Really?

GOLDBERG: There's nobody there to put anything out.

WEIR (on camera): We're just pulling into Lahaina now, just getting our first glimpse at this town after hearing these nightmarish stories. And it is worse than you can imagine. It looks like a World War II set, like a bomb went off here. Just clutter scorched devastation everywhere melted boats in the harbor.

[08:35:07]

WEIR (voiceover): What was once the capital of the kingdom of Hawaii and one of the most well preserved towns in the nation is ash, including Bill Wyland's famous art gallery, and he says he escaped the flames on his Harley Davidson riding around evacuees trapped between fire and ocean.

BILL WYLAND, ART GALLERY OWNER: Pad I took the car instead of motorcycle. I plugged in with everybody else jumping into water. It was, I mean, it was flames were shooting over the top coming out. I didn't want to look behind me because I knew they were beat behind me.

WEIR (on camera): And there's nowhere to go your pin between --

WYLAND: Just pin and that's what happened.

WEIR: -- fire and the ocean.

WYLAND: That's what happened to all the people I think is all those cars that were sitting waiting for someone to move in front of them. No one was moving anywhere. You're dead in the water. They all jumped in oceans and a lot of them didn't make it from what I heard. Now a lot of people.

WEIR: I'm sure if the winds were 80 miles an hour, that's the surface of it.

KEVIN ELIASON, REALTOR, MAUI RESIDENT: It wasn't just that there was diesel fuel floating in the water as well. And the Coast Guard couldn't come in too far because of the reefs and a lot of the people can't swim that far. And then a couple of people died for smoke inhalation as well. They were just inundated. I know a lady that stood in the water for eight hours.

WEIR: This is the historic banyan tree 150 year old majestic tree at the center of Lahaina town. 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 when so much else has gone here.

But the history can never be replaced. Right here this is the first hotel in Hawaii, the Pioneer Hotel, Pioneer Theater. It's completely gone. Right over here was the library. It's just now a stone shell of scorched locks. Around Front Street their fleet Woods, Mick Fleetwood of the band Fleetwood Mac, his place is gutted out with flames. It's just unrecognizable.

One of the most charming beloved port cities anywhere in the world is just scorched, like a bomb went off.

WEIR (voiceover): Farmer Eddie Garcia lost a small fortune in crop damage. But now is bracing for much bigger losses.

GARCIA: Oh, my God, like when I was down there early there were uncles and people I know in the street, dad, people were trying to get to the end of the street you can tell by where the cars that were parked. They say hundreds of people jumped in the water.

WEIR (on camera): You personally lost crops like what is the --

GARCIA: Nothing. I lost nothing compared to what people lost. I lost farm stuff and food and whatever tiny little things compared to what people lost, people lost their family, they lost their houses, everything we've seen all the landmarks, everything that we've seen for years, history, it's all gone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: We have heard several times now for the last few days. That was Bill Weir reporting from Hawaii. If you would like to help Hawaii wildfire victims go to cnn.com/impact.

WALKER: Coming up, why financial experts are concerned about the rate at which more Americans are pulling money out of their retirement plans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:42:31]

SOLOMON: The numbers this week show more Americans are pulling money out of their 401(k)s. New data from Bank of America shows that the number of people who made a hardship withdrawal during the second quarter of this year surged nearly 36 percent from Q2 of last year.

Now at the same time, overall employee contributions they actually continued to hold steady for the first half of the year. Also a greater share of people up their contribution rate than decreased it.

Here to discuss as Jean Chatzky, she is the host of the HerMoney podcast. Jean, I want to get to tips in just a moment. But first, from your perspective, what do you think is happening here? Because you have sort of a tale of two economies you have some people who are tapping their retirement accounts and other people who are upping their contributions.

JEAN CHATZKY, HOST, "HERMONEY" PODCAST: Yes, absolutely. This is nothing new. We've seen this bifurcated economy for a very long time, the fact that some people have wages that just have not kept pace with inflation, rents are skyrocketing, they are continuing to struggle. Other people have jobs where they have been able to keep pace, and they're doing just fine.

SOLOMON: So what should people do if you're at home and you are facing some financial difficulties? What are some tips?

CHATZKY: First thing you have to do is just go back to basics. And I know that this sounds like advice you've heard before, but it really works. You have to look at your money, what's coming in. What's going out and where it's going.

Only when you see that flow of your money, can you start to make changes about where you want your money to go? Start with the small stuff first, trim the small expenditures. And if that's enough, then you focus on the big stuff.

SOLOMON: So that's the expense side, which is an important part of sort of managing your finances. But what about on the income side? You know, as we said, if people were tapping their retirement accounts, clearly they feel like they need that extra income. What do you do instead of perhaps tapping your 401(k)?

CHATZKY: Well, you know that the job market has continued to be strong. So if you want to work the other side of the equation, you look at whether it's been a long time since you've gotten a raise, you look at whether you can walk across the street for more money, you look at whether you can take on a side gig, but there are other things that you can do on the expense side too in particular look at your credit score.

One of the big charges that people face is interest and interest rates have gone up this year. If you're carrying variable rate credit card debt we know just ticked above a trillion dollars for consumers. [08:45:03]

Your interest rate has probably gone up six percentage points this year, if you've got a good credit score, transferring that balance to a lower rate credit card where you could pay it off quicker and cheaper is a good move.

SOLOMON: OK, that's good to know. What about the differences between withdrawing from your 401(k) versus taking a loan from your 401(k)? What are the differences there?

CHATZKY: When you withdraw, you are going to pay taxes on that money. And it may also be subject to a 10 percent penalty. These are hardship withdrawals that you're talking about. Some of them are penalized, some of them are not, but alone is often much, much better. Because when you pay the money back, typically over a five-year schedule, you're paying the interest and the money back to your own account.

And so that's absolutely something that you should look at before you withdraw. Just be aware that if you leave your job, you can be asked to repay that money inside of 60 days, otherwise, it's going to be treated as a withdrawal.

SOLOMON: I think that's an important point. So perhaps consider a loan, not a withdrawal if you can. Jean, finally, you know, in a few short months, October millions of people are settling going to have a new bill that they haven't had in three years student loans. Of course, if you can afford to start making those payments due, but what if you can't? What are some other options that people should keep in mind as October quickly approaches?

CHATZKY: The big option right now with these federal student loans is that there's a new income based repayment program. It's called SAVE, it will cap your payments for undergrads at 5 percent of your discretionary income for graduate students at 10 percent of your discretionary income.

If you can't afford your payments, go to studentaid.gov, make sure you're enrolled in that kind of program. That's going to be a huge help.

SOLOMON: Jean Chatzky. Great to see you. Thank you.

WALKER: Very important advice. Millions bracing for extreme heat, millions more under a threat of severe storms. We keep talking about this week after week. We'll tell you what you need to watch out for, next.

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[08:51:21]

WALKER: 95 million people are bracing for extreme heat this morning. Triple digit temperatures are expected across the south and the Pacific Northwest. SOLOMON: And more than 110 million are under severe storm threats from the Central Plains to the northeast. Let's bring in meteorologist Jennifer Gray in the weather center. Jennifer bring us up to speed it seems like we're getting to a lot of everything today.

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we really are. You know, it's no surprise we were seeing the excessive heat, warnings excessive heat advisories across the south. But this new area across the Pacific Northwest it goes into effect tomorrow. But they're already under heat alerts. So they really been able to dodge the excessive heat so far this summer. So it is building there. And then it'll continue for the Deep South.

So high temperatures across the south. Triple digits. No surprise here. Dallas 107. Your high temperature on Sunday. We do cool off about 10 degrees. So temperatures will finally return a little closer to normal by the time we get into the early part of next week.

But 102 for much of the weekend across Houston should be at 96, so really extreme heat is still there. The feels like temperature 110 in Shreveport, 117 in Corpus Christi, 115 in Baton Rouge. So these are incredible numbers. People really, really need to do anything they can to try to stay cool.

Across the Pacific Northwest, the heat is going to be building in. Saturday 89 degrees in Portland hitting 106 on Monday if you can believe it. 100 degrees in Spokane, 78 is the normal for Seattle will hit close to 90 degrees on Monday. So this is a big deal for the Pacific Northwest.

Look at Portland, Oregon should be at 83 degrees this time of year hitting at -- hitting 106 on Monday staying in the triple digits and then not cooling off at all until at least Friday and even then still staying above normal.

Switching gears a little bit we have the severe threat as well. You can see across portions of the Mid-South. These storms right now pushing to the south impacting portions of Illinois, of course, Missouri, lots of lightning strikes associated with these.

And we do have a round of storms pushing through the Northeast today. And then we'll still get these storms heading into portions of the Mid-South and the Midwest as we go throughout the afternoon today.

So we could see some pretty strong storms including places in the Northeast this does include Pittsburgh, New York City could see some storms, damaging winds, large hail and guys also the possibility of an isolated tornado or two.

WALKER: I'm so over the heat.

SOLOMON: I feel like this has been a very intense summer.

WALKER: Yeah.

SOLOMON: I mean like between the heat, between the flooding. It has been a lot. Jennifer, thank you.

WALKER: Rahel, just don't go outdoors afternoon today. It is so --

SOLOMON: I'll be seeing you until tomorrow.

WALKER: Yes.

SOLOMON: Join us again in an hour. Great to be with you today.

WALKER: It's so nice to be with you. Smerconish is up next. We'll see you back here at 10:00 a.m. Eastern but first, if you're looking for a way to help your body and your community, a new Swedish fitness craze might just do the trick. Here is this week's staying well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN MICHAEL GENER, L.A. PLOGGING FOUNDER: Plogging comes from a Swedish term plocka up which means to pick up and jogga which means to job and combine those two words plugin was formed.

It started in Sweden and I just decided to try it out in L.A. and kind of tried to find a community but didn't exist. So I just started my own. You jog and you pick up trash along the way.

I love to work out and I really love my city. So, I just grabbed a plastic bag. I wore my running gear and I just went jogging that small trash bag filled up so quick I ran three blocks and it was already full.

[08:55:09]

So I gathered a group of friends. We got bigger trash bags and we started jogging around and really cleaned up the city. All you need is your running gear and a desire to make a change.

DR. SAJU MATHEW, PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN: Plogging does involve jogging, but then you have to stop you have to bend over. You have to pick up litter around your neighborhood. So it does involve a lot of core strengthening, you're working on your back, you're working on your legs, it's muscle strength training, a lot of people have back issues, knee issues so definitely check with your doctor.

GENER: It's not my trash but it is our planet. Thank you for coming out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Staying Well is brought to you by Rinvoq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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