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--:-- Georgia Howe: Good morning, I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, August 17th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us. We've got a lot to cover today, so let's get right to it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: First, the search for the more than a thousand still missing continues at a painstaking pace on the Hawaiian island of Maui.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, that's right. We're facilitating human remain dogs that are searching every address in this area. What steps are being taken to protect displaced residents and their property?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, Cabot, we're joined now by Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, what do we know so far about the potential cause of the blaze?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, we're finally starting to get a clearer picture of what happened that day. It appears the fire started after high winds knocked down a number of power lines, sending sparks into underbrush below that had been dried out by drought over the last month.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: One resident posted a video of what appeared to be the initial blaze, attempting to put it out with a garden hose as he called 911. As firefighters responded to the scene, the fire soon spread out over a three-acre area, but was declared, quote, 100% contained by officials by 9 a.m.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: However, due to power outages on the island, firefighters were dealing with diminished access to water, and around 3 p.m., the blaze jumped out of that contained area, raging towards Lahaina.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: 30 minutes later, officials began urging evacuations, though, as we talked about on the show, hundreds if not thousands of residents never got that message as the emergency sirens failed to sound and text message alerts failed to go off for many without cell service during the power outage.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Those who did try to evacuate were then confronted with near zero visibility from smoke, downed power lines blocking streets, and gridlocked traffic.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: A number of residents, including families with young children, were found burned to death in their cars. Just horrific.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What's the latest on the recovery efforts?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, at the latest count, the official death toll now sits at 106, though cadaver dogs have now searched just a third of the burned out rubble.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: A big fear at the moment is that a large number of the dead may be children. Schools in the area were canceled last Tuesday due to the power outages, leaving many kids home alone while their parents left for work.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: There have also been questions about what will happen to the destroyed land.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, so local government officials and residents have said that they're worried developers will see the destruction as an opportunity to snatch up prime real estate and potentially drive out locals.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The area has seen a housing shortage in recent years and the fear among locals is that large developers could exacerbate that problem.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's one Lahaina resident speaking with MSNBC: "I just want to remind all you real estate investors around the world, Lahaina is not for sale. Please don't reach out to these families and take advantage of them during the most devastating times of our lives."
--:-- Cabot Phillips: On that note, Hawaii's Governor Josh Green said this week he'd reached out to the state's attorney general about imposing a moratorium on the sale of any property that's been damaged by the fires.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He also said the state is organizing pro bono attorneys from Maui to consult with residents if people reach out to them about buying their land.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's Green on Wednesday: "If someone behaves in a predatory fashion towards one of the people that are suffering right now who have lost their loved ones or lost their home, you can be sure I will not be allowing anyone to build or rezone or do anything of that sort if they've taken advantage of anyone here."
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Rebuilding will be for our local people.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, we've seen a lot of frustration from residents angry about the government's response. What are we seeing on that front?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So first, there was justifiable anger over the lack of warning as the fire spread.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And in the days since, that sentiment has only grown, as residents in Lahaina say the government has failed to provide necessary aid to those who lost their homes.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: While the White House issued an emergency declaration and FEMA was deployed on the ground, resources have been very slow to reach those in need.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Many residents say government officials have been nowhere to be found and that the only food and water they've been given has come from private citizens who formed pop-up relief centers around the island.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's one angry Maui local in a video posted online: "The United States government are criminals for the way they're handling the Maui fire situation right now and for their neglect of the Hawaiian people, their U.S. citizens."
--:-- Cabot Phillips: There is next to zero federal response. It's the Hawaiian people that are having to step up and create shelters and give people housing and get supplies, purchasing supplies and bringing it out on boats.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Much of that frustration has also been aimed at President Biden, who was on vacation during the fire and went viral after saying, quote, no comment when asked by reporters about the disaster.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: On Monday, he announced $700 payments to each household displaced by the fire, which residents said was little consolation.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That announcement also came the same day that Biden signed off on another $200 million aid package for Ukraine.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Critics say that money ought to go towards American citizens suffering in Hawaii instead.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For his part, the president said he will visit Hawaii on Monday, but there is a lot of anger heading his way and towards local officials.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, well, a lot more to cover on this and we'll keep on top of it. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, a feud has broken out between the real family members depicted in the Oscar-winning 2009 movie The Blind Side.
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, that's right. Former NFL player Michael Orr is suing Sean and Leanne Toohey, the couple who took him in as a teenager.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He claims they tricked him out of earnings on the hit film and book.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, I'll start by saying this is a pretty sad situation all around. What happened?
--:-- Megan Basham: So on Monday, Michael Orr filed a petition that said when he was 18, he signed paperwork believing the Tooheys were adopting him.
--:-- Megan Basham: But he now says he only found out six months ago that what he actually signed was a conservatorship agreement and it gave the Tooheys legal authority over his business dealings.
--:-- Megan Basham: Orr claims that Sean Leanne and their two children each initially made $250,000 from the movie and then 2.5% in residuals.
--:-- Megan Basham: He says he, in contrast, received nothing.
--:-- Megan Basham: So now he wants to dissolve that conservatorship and he wants a full accounting of the assets produced by the bestselling book and movie and also some unspecified punitive damages.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, what are the Tooheys saying?
--:-- Megan Basham: So they released a statement on Tuesday through an attorney that is denying all of this.
--:-- Megan Basham: They say that Michael always knew it was a conservatorship and that lawyers told them at the time they couldn't adopt him because he was over 18.
--:-- Megan Basham: They say they made an arrangement to avoid NCAA violations and that allowed him to attend Ole Miss and put him on their insurance.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, their attorney also said in a statement that they didn't make any money off of the conservatorship and that really very little money that came from the film was divided equally.
--:-- Megan Basham: He said the idea that the Tuohys would try to profit off of Michael Orr is, quote, not only offensive, it is transparently ridiculous because they're already independently wealthy, as depicted in the film.
--:-- Megan Basham: The Tuohy family is reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to the sale of a string of fast food franchises that they owned.
--:-- Megan Basham: And because of that, he says the notion that the family would, quote, connive to withhold a few thousand dollars defies belief.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, that said, Orr, of course, has made a lot of money, too.
--:-- Megan Basham: He earned an estimated $34 million over eight seasons in the NFL.
--:-- Megan Basham: So the Tui attorney said this isn't the first time that Orr has tried to do something like this.
--:-- Megan Basham: They claim he tried to blackmail them in the past, threatening to plant a negative story in the press if they didn't pay him $15 million.
--:-- Megan Basham: To go along with that, Blaze commentator Jason Whitlock said he reviewed Orr's 2011 autobiography.
--:-- Megan Basham: And he says in that book, Orr acknowledges that it was a conservatorship, not an adoption.
--:-- Megan Basham: And again, that was back in 2011.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, have we heard anything from Orr or the Tooheys directly?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, Orr gave us a statement today and he said, I will let the lawsuit speak for itself.
--:-- Megan Basham: And then Sean Toohey spoke with his hometown paper, the Daily Memphian, saying that he and Leanne Toohey hope that they can reconcile with Orr.
--:-- Megan Basham: And if so, they're going to, quote, love him at 37, just as they loved him at 16.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, you hate to see this no matter what the truth is.
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, in a historic verdict, a Montana state court has ruled in favor of a group of young climate activists who sued the state for violating their right to a, quote, clean and healthful environment by routinely permitting the use of fossil fuels.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, that's right. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So, Amanda, this ruling in Held v. Montana is the first of its kind nationwide, and it's created quite a stir.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So tell us a little bit about this ruling.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, sure thing. Helena District Judge Kathy Seeley decided that a provision in the Montana Environmental Policy Act was unconstitutional, siding with the 16 young plaintiffs.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Those plaintiffs, they range in age from just five years old to 22.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Specifically Judge Seeley determined that the provision prevented Montana from considering climate impacts of energy projects and she said that ran afoul with the state constitution.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: That was amended in 1972 to guarantee access to a quote clean and healthful environment.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The plaintiffs argued that their injuries included dealing with wildfire smoke, feeling despair about melting glaciers, suffering from asthma, and other injuries associated with their, quote, recreational, spiritual, and aesthetic interests.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, one thing that's unique about this case is the ages of these plaintiffs.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: You mentioned that at least one is as young as five years old.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So who actually organized this suit?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, that's a great question.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The group behind the lawsuit is based in Oregon and are called Our Children's Trust.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: That group reportedly approached these young people, the minors, presumably through their parents, to move forward with the lawsuit.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: In fact, Our Children's Trust has filed similar climate action on behalf of youth in all 50 states since 2011.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: This was the first time a youth-driven climate suit made its trial, let alone score a victory.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The group, though, has caught some ire from detractors who claim Our Children's Trust uses children as pawns to advance their own climate activism.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: To that point, here's Montana Congressman Matt Rosendale on Fox News: "They get children to follow the suits, to be their litigants, so that they could go in and try and shut down energy developments."
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: I do serve on the Natural Resource Committee, and we have demonstrated time and time again that there's no country on Earth that develops the resources with better labor standards and better environmental standards than what we do.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And yet we continue to see these groups try and close it all down.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So what's the result of the ruling?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The ruling was pretty narrow, so it's going to be up to the Montana state legislature to determine how to bring this provision into compliance.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And in Montana, Republicans hold a supermajority in the legislature.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So that could be a bit of an issue for activists, and that's if this ruling holds on appeal.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: However, this ruling is being praised by climate activists because of the precedent it sets.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Julia Olson, the founder of the group representing these plaintiffs, she called the verdict a, quote, game changer in this generation's efforts to save the planet.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: and she promised more rulings like this one.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So climate activists are calling this a huge win.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: How's the state responding?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, through a spokesperson, has already called the decision absurd, saying the state of Montana can't be blamed for changing the climate.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Knudsen spokeswoman Emily Flower noted that the same legal theory has been thrown out in courts in over a dozen states and she argued that it should have been tossed out here too.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Knudsen has previously argued that the suit is an attempt to jam a quasi-Green New Deal through the courts instead of working constitutionally through the legislature.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Others who are on the side of the state are worried that this could have a major impact on Montana's economy by slowing down or even stopping energy projects.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Montana ranks sixth in the nation for coal production.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Since its judgment was just issued on August 14th, we haven't yet seen an appeal from the state, but we can expect that pretty soon.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, I think you're probably right.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
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