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--:-- John Bickley: I stayed with students in my apartment building, and one of them passed away right up to us from smoking pollution. All the cars were exploding around us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Fast-moving wildfires across the island of Maui have killed dozens of people, destroyed the community of Lahaina, and continue to endanger the lives of locals and visitors.
--:-- John Bickley: All the places that are tourist areas that are Hawaiian history are gone, and that can't be replaced.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, August 11th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: The Biden administration reportedly moves to unlock $6 billion in funds to Iran as the two countries negotiate a potential prisoner swap. What do we know about the deal and what comes next in the negotiations?
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Massachusetts and New York declare states of emergency as both run out of space to house new migrants. How severe is the problem and how realistic are the unorthodox strategies being suggested?
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Thousands have been displaced and dozens are dead after a massive wildfire unexpectedly ripped through the Hawaiian island of Maui.
--:-- John Bickley: On Thursday, fires were also reported on the Big Island. Here with more on the deadly blaze and the frantic search for survivors is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, this is one of the deadliest wildfires to strike the U.S. in the last few decades. The fire started on Tuesday and ripped through the island, fueled by 80-mile-per-hour winds from distant Hurricane Dora in the Pacific, while level 2 drought conditions on large parts of the island further contributed to the ferocity of the blaze.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those high winds grounded firefighting helicopters and planes and also knocked out power on Tuesday as the fire worsened, making it difficult for many residents to even learn about the danger coming their way.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: As the flames pushed towards the coast, dozens of tourists and residents were left with no option but to jump into the ocean, where they were later rescued by Coast Guard ships in the area.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This woman survived by running out into the waters with others from her apartment.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We were on the rock wall for about eight hours or so. In the water. In the water. We started to get hypothermia, and so at some point we had to, we were actually kind of going back and forth between being in the water and trying to cool down from the embers burning off and covered in burns.
--:-- Georgia Howe: My face is covered in burns.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Others attempted to escape by car, driving through smoke-filled streets as buildings all around them were consumed by flames.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In one especially harrowing video posted on social media, a group of men recorded themselves attempting to drive to safety as smoke and flames filled the road around them.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: At one point, the video shows a woman laying motionless in the road in front of them.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Just a warning, this audio is very difficult to listen to.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In another instance, a group of five young people were stranded in their car outside a once bustling outlet mall.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Text messages show them frantically messaging EMS with their location, telling them, quote, fire is all around us. Vision blocked, cannot reach ocean. Car is super hot.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thankfully they were rescued a half hour later but dozens of others were never brought to safety.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here Maui County Mayor Richard Bisson Jr: We are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time. In the days ahead we will be stronger as a kaya'ulu or community as we rebuild with resilience and aloha.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So tell us about the areas that were the hardest hit by this fire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, the community of Lahaina bore the brunt of the fire. Lahaina is the cultural hub of Maui.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It was once the state's capital and the residents of Hawaii's king. Hundreds of homes and buildings there were destroyed, including a number of historic and cultural sites that have been there for centuries.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thousands of residents living in Lahaina are currently staying in shelters on the island, while thousands more tourists have been ferried to other islands.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's Adam Weintraub, a spokesman for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, speaking on ABC: These were large and fast-moving fires, and it's only recently that we've started to get our arms around them and contain them.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So we're hoping for the best, but we're prepared for the worst.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: By Thursday morning, the fire had been largely contained, leaving rescue crews to search the ashes for survivors.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But those who did survive now face another set of challenges. Now his hospital system is relatively small, and officials say they do not have the resources to treat vast numbers of burn victims, meaning many patients will need to be transported to other islands for emergency treatment.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: On Thursday, President Biden signed off on a disaster declaration offering funding and other help, including helicopters for search and rescue and firefighting operations.
--:-- Georgia Howe: At the moment, officials say they're still not sure exactly how or when the blaze started.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The wildfires on the island are fairly common, starting in dry areas of grassland before being whipped up by winds coming off the water.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So we'll be keeping an eye on the investigation and the potential cause of the blaze.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Hopefully we'll get some answers in the coming days.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, devastating situation and a lot of prayers for all those affected.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Anytime.
--:-- John Bickley: The United States has reportedly negotiated the return of five Americans jailed in Iran.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The prisoners have been released to house arrest as they await next steps.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to discuss the prisoners and what Biden will be giving up in return for their release.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hi, Tim.
--:-- Georgia Howe: First off, what do we know about these prisoners?
--:-- Tim Pierce: There's five in total, three we know and two who are staying private. Four of the prisoners were released Thursday from Avin Prison in Tehran.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The prison is notorious for human rights abuses that go on inside, as well as the high number of political prisoners that wind up inside.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The fifth prisoner, an American woman, was apparently already on house arrest.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The three prisoners we know are all dual citizens of Iran and the United States, Siamak Namazi, Ahmad Shargi, and Murad Tabaz, who also holds citizenship in the UK.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Namazi has been held the longest. He was arrested in October 2015 while on a business trip and charged with working for a hostile government.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Shargi is also a businessman. He was jailed in 2018 and two years later handed a 10-year sentence for alleged espionage.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Tabaz is an environmentalist who was also arrested in 2018 and given a 10-year sentence for supposed spying.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The U.S. maintains that all these arrests are nonsense and that these people are political prisoners.
--:-- Tim Pierce: All right, so all political according to U.S. officials.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What are we trading to free them?
--:-- Tim Pierce: The Biden administration has apparently agreed to a prisoner swap, so Iran will get back a few of its own, though it's unclear as of yet who that will be.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Iran will also reportedly get access to $6 billion in oil revenue that it been unable to access because of sanctions.
--:-- Tim Pierce: That money will be moved to a bank in Qatar and Iran can access it only for humanitarian supplies such as food and medical equipment.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The deal is supposed to block Iran, a known sponsor of terrorism, from using the funds for any other purpose.
--:-- Tim Pierce: According to reports, the funds will be held by the Qatari government, and when Iran makes a request, Qatar will pay the vendor directly from the account and Iran will receive the goods.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But of course, that would just free up funds for Iran to direct that to other unsanctioned efforts.
--:-- Tim Pierce: How long did it take to work this deal out?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Months, at least.
--:-- Tim Pierce: NBC News reported back in February that talks on a deal were taking place quietly behind the scenes and were being mediated by Switzerland.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Swiss have mediated most talks between the U.S. and Iran since the two countries broke off diplomatic relations over 40 years ago.
--:-- Tim Pierce: In fact, the deal also serves a dual purpose of softening the tension between the U.S. and Iran.
--:-- Georgia Howe: One of President Biden's foreign policy priorities since taking office has been to revive the highly controversial Iran nuclear deal.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Former President Trump killed the deal over concerns that it wasn't strong enough.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump officials thought the Iran deal actually made the potential for a nuclear-armed Iran much greater.
--:-- Georgia Howe: When can we expect these prisoners to be returned?
--:-- Tim Pierce: In the next few weeks. No hard timeline has been set, and there seems to be some hesitation about celebrating too soon.
--:-- Georgia Howe: An attorney for one of the prisoners said that this was only a first step and cautioned that there are simply no guarantees about what happens from here.
--:-- Tim Pierce: All right, so skepticism there about Iran following through.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What's the response been to this deal so far?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Republicans have been pretty critical of it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A few have said that, assuming Iran is given access to $6 billion, the U.S. has just agreed to pay the largest terrorist ransom ever.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton issued a pretty strong statement against the deal.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He said he hoped the Americans arrive safely back in the U.S., but called the agreement with Iran a craven act of appeasement that will only embolden the Ayatollahs to take more hostages and use these ill-gotten gains to attack our troops, fund terrorism, and arm Russia.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Yeah, strong words indeed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tim, thanks for joining us.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Officials in Massachusetts are asking citizens to consider taking illegal migrants into their homes as the state scrambles to confront a dire shelter shortage.
--:-- John Bickley: The plea to residents came just a day after the governor declared a state of emergency over the migrant crisis.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraida Lordi is here with the details.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Hi, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yes, exactly. This was Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll on Wednesday. Most importantly, if you have an extra room or suite in your home, please consider hosting a family.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Safe housing and shelter is our most pressing need. Become a sponsor family.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A day earlier, Massachusetts Governor Mara Healy, a Democrat, declared a state of emergency on the migrant crisis.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: She touched on residents potentially stepping up to help during a press conference in Boston on Tuesday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Healy said the state is calling on everyone in Massachusetts to come together and ask Bay Staters to help us meet this moment in our state and offer a helping hand.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Now, is there a process in place for people to actually do that?
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's not clear yet how the hosting process would work, whether people would have to apply to host a family, or whether the state would compensate hosts.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Now what led up to this? We heard a lot about New York being overwhelmed with migrants. What the status in Massachusetts?
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's pretty serious.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Dozens of migrants arrive in the state every day.
--:-- Georgia Howe: About 50 migrant families arrived by plane from other states in the span of 48 hours earlier this week, according to Governor Healy.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Healy said the state is currently housing nearly 20,000 people, many of whom are migrants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: More than 5,600 families are being sheltered on the state's dime, up from 3,100 families a year ago.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: This is more people than the state has ever served through its emergency assistance program, according to the governor.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those in need of shelter include babies, young children, and pregnant women.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Many of the migrants are from Haiti and headed to Massachusetts, likely because Boston has a large Haitian population.
--:-- Georgia Howe: One interesting point here is that Massachusetts has a 1983 right to shelter law on the books that requires the state to immediately house eligible families with children, regardless of shelter availability.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: This puts the state in an extremely difficult position.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The law was written long before the migrant crisis and was intended for Massachusetts citizens in crisis, but it doesn't include any language prohibiting non-citizens from taking advantage of the generous benefit.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: So now that the governor has declared a state of emergency, what does that actually mean?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, the state of emergency will expedite the process for creating or renting more migrant housing and allow the National Guard to quickly step in if necessary.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Governor Healy blamed the slow pace of work authorizations, which he said can take months as a big driver of the crisis.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Healy wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asking that migrants be cleared to work and ask for financial help from the federal government as well.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: But this situation has been building for a while.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Earlier this year, migrants in Massachusetts started showing up at emergency rooms because they had nowhere to sleep for the night.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: And leading up to the state of emergency declaration, Massachusetts took several other drastic steps to house migrants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Last year, the state housed migrants in motels, empty college dorms, two new welcome centers, and on Cape Cod's military base, which received the 49 migrants who arrived in Martha's Vineyard from Florida last fall.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Well, and as we've reported before, other states and cities are also buckling under very similar pressure.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What's the latest in New York?
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Well, New York City's homeless shelters are bursting at the seams.
--:-- Georgia Howe: There are 55,000 migrants currently being housed on the city's dime.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: On Monday, Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan to house up to 2,000 adult migrants in a tent city on Randall's Island in the East River, saying it has become a Herculean effort to find enough shelter beds every night.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We have to make sure we have a real decompression strategy at the border, and we have to ensure that we have real immigration reform because it's going to continue.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: It's not sustainable. When you look at 10,000 a month, the math just does not add up.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Both Massachusetts and New York have pleaded with the Biden administration for financial help with the migrant crisis.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: In the meantime, it'll be interesting to see how these Northeastern states adapt to now being border states.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, as a Massachusetts native myself, I'm watching this very closely.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Mairead, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks, Georgia.
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--:-- John Bickley: Thank you for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If you love our show and stand with our mission, consider subscribing, giving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
--:-- John Bickley: You can also follow us on Twitter.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
