49ers have the third best odds. yes to get back here. and include the math professor as well. kicking off preseason coverage. the red and gold report you will be joined by? >> lorenzo. he is my fullback. >> prime spot here. lovely here in vegas, fun to be next to you vern, as well. continuing our countdown to this exciting game. so, we are going to leave it with you for now. we will be back at 7:00. "cbs evening news" is next. we will see you soon. ♪ ♪ >> margaret: tonight the growing death toll in the maui wildfires as the governor of hawaii says this is likely the largest natural disaster in state history. here are tonight's headlines. ♪ ♪ lahaina residents now allowed to return to see firsthand the

devastating damage. >> this is going to take years to recover. and it just breaks my heart. >> the ocean almost swept my kids away a few times. we held on. we are here. we are alive. ♪ ♪ >> margaret: emergency proclamations issued as thousands seek out temporary shelter and supplies. >> we can't get goods there fast enough. the harbors are our lifeline. ♪ ♪ >> margaret: new questions tonight after maui residents say they received little to no warning as the fires barreled towards them. >> without a proper evacuation order, people, in a desperate attempt to outrun the flames, got into their cars and took to the road. but the fire quickly caught up. ♪ ♪ >> attorney general merrick garland announced a special counsel to investigate president biden's son, hunter. the move gives u.s. attorney david weiss expanded powers to continue his probe into hunter biden's tax and gun

charges. ♪ ♪ >> the judge in the january 6th case says she will accept some limits on what former president trump can publicly say about the evidence. ♪ ♪ >> margaret: and "on the road." a dream that took a backseat. now realized with the help of some old friends. >> it's in your heart. you've just got to help somebody like that. >> oh, my gosh. ♪ ♪ >> margaret: good evening to our viewers in the west and thank you for joining us on this friday night. i'm margaret brennan in for norah. we begin tonight with the latest on the scorching wildfires still burning in maui, as the governor says the death toll has risen. some residents are returning to parts of west maui to sift through the rubble for their belongings. meanwhile, the pictures from above show the scale of the ruin, with block after block reduced to ash, and the burnt-out wreckage of the business district shows how quickly the flames over took

that community. at one point, drivers were forced to abandon their vehicles as they sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic in a desperate bid to escape. the maui war memorial gymnasium has been set up as one of the many shelters across the island for evacuees who have lost everything. volunteers are handing out food, water, diapers, and other much-needed supplies. and thousands are stranded at the airport as they try to escape the chaos and return to the mainland. we have team coverage from every angle of this tragedy, but cbs's jonathan vigliotti has seen the starts us off with that update about the rising death toll. >> reporter: we walked more than 2 miles down historic front street and i don't recall seeing a building that wasn't damaged. tonight officials are now confirming the number of dead to has grown to 67. many of them desperately trying

to flee on foot. there was panic. and now tonight a mounting question -- why wasn't this town evacuated sooner? new video shows the absolute chaos as flames ravaged lahaina tuesday night. you can hear the desperation. >> no, we have to leave! we have to leave. >> reporter: and in the aftermath the devastation coming in a sharper focus especially striking this line of burned-out cars. a haunting landscape frozen by fire. residents got into their cars and flooded this street, but they could not outdrive the flames. we are talking car after car, i see several dozen of them were engulfed in flames, and residents tell me many of these drivers actually got out and jumped into the ocean to save their lives. but with a death toll now in the dozens and so many still unaccounted for, the agony grows. we met this man searching the charred rubble for his friends and coworkers. >> yeah, they lived somewhere around here. because you cannot recognize the place anymore.

>> reporter: have you heard from them since the fire struck? >> no. since that day, i can't get reached or called them. >> what the [bleep], dude. >> reporter: the common refrain. no warning sirens. no time to prepare. >> we did not get an evacuation. we kind of just figured it out on our own. when the neighborhood next to us was completely engulfed, black smoke, we couldn't even see anything. it was crazy. >> i'm just so grateful to be alive. >> reporter: emotions are still raw. >> the fire surrounded our homes before they could even get out. there was nowhere to go. and these are beautiful homes that are very old and they are made of wood. it was lit up like a matchstick. nobody had any warning. >> reporter: a full-scale mobilization is underway, airlifting vehicles, supplies, and national guard troops. residents like keith hunter are pitching in to help first responders. >> people lost everything. homes, jobs, their cars. some, their pets. there are still people missing. i have never seen something

ravaged so fast. >> reporter: we are walking down front street through the historic district. and you can see every building here has been absolutely gutted by these flames, and we are noticing these orange xs, that indicates they have actually gone in and inspected, but what is incredible, and this gives you a sense of scale, we have been walking now for more than a mile, and these are the first buildings i have seen that have been looked at. the task overwhelming. the loss of an entire town immeasurable. >> it break my heart, you know? my kids go to school there. i have lived there since i was 15 years old. you know? everything we know is lost. everything. it's devastating. >> reporter: and specialists are being flown to the island to help search through all of that ash that you saw. it is a tedious process that will take several months, and margaret, it will take many years before this community rebuilds again.

>> margaret: and the trauma will be with them. thank you for sharing their stories tonight. and with hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed, thousands of residents have been displaced with nothing but the clothes on their backs. authorities are setting up emergency shelters until more permanent housing can be made available. reporter rudabeh shahbazi from our cbs los angeles station is there with survivors. >> reporter: the devastation from tuesday's wildfires forced thousands to flee, as entire communities burned around them. >> my whole life in lahaina. my school, my job, like, just, in the blink of an eye, just, all gone. >> reporter: now, more than 2100 people are staying at six emergency shelters across the island. ekolu brayden will spend another night sleeping in his car. >> i left so much over there. and i know i could have done something, but i didn't. >> reporter: as the flames were ripping through liza tobias' home in lahaina, she begged her father, carlo, to evacuate with her.

but he refused. >> i wanted to force him to come with me, but he was very hardheaded. and he didn't want to come. and he said he is going to stay and wait for my mom. >> reporter: tobias' mom say made it safely to a shelter, but her father is among the 1,000 people officials say are potentially missing. >> the whole complex is called... >> reporter: melinda young is searching for her coworker, mona cole, who she reported missing. >> because of the phone service, she is not on any of the lists for maui prep or for the civic center. and so we are just getting it out there. >> reporter: hawaii's governor says 80% of lahaina is now gone, and for the first time in three days, residents like caleb and julie knapp visited their home of 16 years, which is now just smoking rubble. >> this is our first time coming back and, like, actually knowing that our house burned down. >> reporter: and logistics present a problem. the only way to get supplies to the island is by air or by boat. but as you can see behind me

here at king's church, the community has stepped up. margaret? >> margaret: thank you, rudabeh. and while shelters are overflowing, maui's airport is also jam-packed with thousands of stranded passengers attempting to evacuate the island. cbs's carter evans is there and has been speaking with desperate travelers who have had their dream vacation turned into a nightmare. >> reporter: thousands of people are still trying to flee maui. >> oh, my lord. >> reporter: many taken by bus through the burn zone to the airport. the stanleys from california were on board and shot this video. >> we could see just smoldering. >> just ruins. >> fire. >> that line goes way back. >> reporter: at the airport, a chaotic scene as tourists just desperately trying to get home, many sleeping up a small airport until they can get a flight out. somewhat cuts and bruises, each with their own harrowing story of survival. this family from california jumped in the water to escape

the flames. >> the ocean almost swept my kids away a few times. we stuck together. we held on. we are not going to die this way. and we are here. we are alive. >> reporter: this is the tsa security line. it is so long, it is hard to tell where it begins and where it ends. some of these people have been waiting for days, and now airlines are flying in empty planes with relief supplies to help get everyone home. like this united plane, loaded with medical supplies, and southwest and hawaiian airlines are selling tickets as low as $19. >> have many people arriving at the airport who don't have bookings, so we have been working in a little bit of scramble mode at the airport to make sure we take advantage of every available seat. >> it is super, like, banding together right now. 's >> reporter: volunteers are helping, too. offering supplies to those stranded at the airports. many like the stanleys are thankful for the compassion and care from many of this island community. when many of the people here lost so much themselves. >> they gave us all of these blankets and pillows. >> just random volunteers would show up and hand out food, offer

to take us home, showers and stuff. everyone was just super nice. >> reporter: the hawaii tourism authority is now taking the unusual step of asking all visitors to leave the island of maui if they don't have any business here. now, many of these people will be going to honolulu, where the convention center there is prepared to take on up to 4,000 evacuees until they can find a flight home. margaret? >> margaret: wow. carter evans on the ground. for a look at how long these windy conditions will be fanning the flames, we turn now to meteorologist mike bettes from our partners over at the weather channel. good evening, mike. >> margaret, good evening. keeping a very close eye on the wind conditions across maui. in lahaina, wind still gusty, 20-30 miles per hour over the next ready for hours and this is why we keep a close eye on any hot spots that might be wind-driven. the forecast, though, longer-term, also some concerns. but here is why. some areas of disturbed weather in the pacific basin.

could be forming into hurricanes approach the hawaiian islands? modeling suggesting we may have that happen south of the islands by next tuesday or wednesday followed by another one that goes north of the islands about a week from now. as far as the forecast goes for the lower 48, more thunderstorms over the weekend, especially in the midwest and the northeast. clusters of thunderstorms with high winds, hail, and chances for some flooding, as well, especially, margaret, across new england, where we have had flooding off and on throughout the summer. >> margaret: we turn now to a major development in the deepening investigation into hunter biden. today, attorney general merrick garland appointed delaware u.s. attorney david weiss as special counsel in the matter. this new status means weiss isn't subject to day-to-day supervision by justice department leaders. as cbs's catherine herridge reports, it appears the case may now be headed to trial. >> this appointment confirms my commitment to provide mr. weiss all the resources he requests. >> reporter: attorney general merrick garland said david weiss himself asked for

special counsel status after leading the criminal probe into the president's son since 2018. >> the appointment of mr. weiss reinforces for the american people, the department's commitment to both independence and accountability, in particularly sensitive matters. >> reporter: but the timing matters. two weeks ago, in a delaware court, a plea deal for two misdemeanor tax charges and a felony gun offense fell apart over whether the president's son could avoid future criminal charges. weiss told congress in july he had not requested special counsel status. he hasn't publicly stated why he changed his mind. but on friday in a federal court filing, weiss said the plea negotiations with hunter biden were at an impasse, and the

filing, weiss said the plea negotiations with hunter biden were at an impasse, and the government now believes the case will not resolve short of a trial. >> i think the special counsel's greatest enhanced power as a result of today's order is that he just has much more independence to pursue charges against hunter biden. >> nice to meet you. >> so nice to meet you. >> reporter: an irs whistle-blower recently told cbs news the evidence supported more serious felony tax charges. >> it is a matter of, are we treating everyone the same? >> reporter: and in this case? >> no, i don't think so. >> reporter: responding to the special counsel announcement, hunter biden's attorney said we expect a fair resolution not infected by politics. republican congressman james comer chairs the house committee investigating the bidens. >> it is 100% political move. i mean, how can you appoint someone who less than two weeks ago tried to negotiate a sweetheart plea deal? >> reporter: the white house had no comment, but legal experts told cbs news this could

slow the investigation, now in its fifth year, even further, possibly pushing it into the middle of the 2024 presidential campaign. margaret? >> margaret: catherine herridge. i know you will continue to follow it for us. the federal judge overseeing former president trump's prosecution on charges of seeking to overturn the 2020 election, cautioned that there are limits on what he can say publicly about the investigation. trump had requested to speak broadly about evidence and witnesses. judge tanya chutkan said making witness interviews publilic woud risk i intimidatining them. she said p political coconsideratioions would n not e heher decisionons. ftx foundeder sam banknkman-frid was sentnt to jail t today. wewe'll have t the latest t on e cryptocucurrency mogogul next. ♪ ♪ eosisinophilic c conditions. allergic r reactions m may occ. don't t stop yourr asthmama treatmentnts without t talking with youour doctor.. tell youour doctor if your asasthma worsesens. headacache and sore throaoat may occucur. tell y your doctoror if you he a paparasitic ininfection. geget back to o better brereat. ask k your doctotor about fafas. not t flossing w well? thenen add the w whoa! of listeririne to yourur rout. new scieience shows liststerine is 5 5x more effective than f floss at r reducing plplaque abovove the gumlmline.

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bus of migrants headed to chicago. it was announced that the bus took off from texas, where republican governor greg abbott has been busing migrants to other states. the illinois department of public health says that the little girl was confirmed dead at a hospital. an official believes she was traveling with her mother and father, and her death is now under investigation. ftx founder sam bankman-fried is in jail tonight after a federal judge in new york revoked bail for the former ceo of the collapsed cryptocurrency platform. bankman-fried has been living with his parents in california since his extradition from the bahamas back in december. the judge agreed with prosecutors that he tried to harass a key government witness. bankman-fried has pleaded not guilty to stealing billions of dollars in customer funds. and we have a consumer alert tonight about an ice cream recall. what you need to know to look for in your freezer, next.

>> margaret: now a consumer

alert to check your freezer for a brand of ice cream that is being recalled because it could be contaminated with listeria. real kosher, of new york, is recalling 8-ounce cups of its soft serve on the go ice cream after two people needed to be hospitalized. the recalled products were sold in 19 states and washington, d.c. the company says its other products are still safe to eat. "on the road" is next, with a restoration of a classic car and one man's outlook on life. ♪ ♪ >> announcer: this portion of the "cbs evening news" is sponsored by farxiga. visit us at farxiga.com.

>> margaret: finally, tonight, >> margaret: finally, tonight, a reminder of some of the most important things in life: old friends, old cars, and a chance to feel young again. here is cbs's steve hartman "on the road." >> reporter: if there's anything even remotely good about having als, 56-year-old craig reagan of college station, texas, says it may be a heightened sense of gratitude. gratitude for caregivers, like his wife, nancy. friends, like his dog, taco. and memories, like his '73 ford mustang, which, even tough it stopped running back in 1999, has taken up permanent residence at his house. >> it's a big paperweight. >> reporter: [laughs] a big paperweight. why did you keep it? >> i just had an attachment to

it. >> reporter: he's had it since high school. >> he was proud of it. >> reporter: craig had hoped someday his boys might want to fix it up with him, but they showed no interest in cars. then he planned to do it himself, but als had other plans. so the car sat rotting. until some old high school friends caught wind. >> and everybody, as soon as i called these guys, they were like, yeah, let's do it. >> it's in your heart. you just got to help somebody like that. >> reporter: so, for the next year, they went to work on it. put in under hundreds of hours, while other classmates paid for parts, and not long ago... >> are you ready, craig? >> reporter: that big, immovable paperweight... >> on... >> reporter: was ready to lift off. >> two, three! [cheers] >> it was almost like a piece of him. >> reporter: that came back to life? >> that came back to life. >> vividly, actually.

i'm ready when you are. >> reporter: craig was diagnosed with als in 2016. the disease is incurable. but he has clearly found his treatment. >> what's it like to be back in it? >> i feel like i'm a teenager. >> reporter: and as for the people who made this moment possible, they insist the bigger gift was the lesson they received. >> he reminded us of something maybe we forgot. >> yeah, just do good stuff for people. that's all that matters. just do good stuff today. >> reporter: do good stuff today. no better medicine on earth. [engine revving] steve hartman, "on the road," in college station, texas. >> margaret: and that's tonight's "cbs evening news." we hope you will join us this sunday for "face the nation." our guests include hawaii democratic congresswoman

jill tokuda, and chairman of the house intelligence committee, republican mike turner. for norah o'donnell, i'm margaret brennan. good night, and i will see you sunday. . hello to you, we bring you the 7:00 news live from las vegas along the vegas strip. we have a lot to cover this evening, the countdown to preseason football, the niners and the raiders. they will be playing on sunday. we have you covered there. but we have a

lot of news to get to. maui is not forgotten here in vegas. there is a large contingent of u.s. population hawaii natives here. and, one special owner has brought together a group to gather donations to remember those and help those in his hometown. >> a lot of hawaiians came to vegas. >> we have to stay strong and do what we can for them on that end. >> palettes full of supplies are being shipped from right here in the bay area. the search for the policing continues we get an update from a dad who got separated from his two young children. good evening to you. welcome, we are live here along the las vegas strip. we have go