This Is Now (July 31, 2026)

The lieutenant governor arrived behind a wall of security, but in court shared hugs and managed a jaunty shaka for the camera. Her attorney was the first to deny guilt. We enter pleas of not guilty to count one, two, and ten and asked that a trial be set. Other attorneys echoed that statement for their clients. Leo Assumption was Luke's campaign treasurer accused of covering up donations from businessman Toby Solidum, who was looking for money for COVID testing. Former state lawmaker and human services director Ryan Yamani allegedly took thousands in cash from Solidum, and state airport's administrator Ford Fujikami is accused of taking a bribe while working for the state Senate. Judge Ron Johnson assigned the case to Judge Paul Wong and set trial for September. 28. Do you want to say anything at all? No? No? Okay. How about Richard? Oh, no, thanks. Are you thinking about severing this case? Do you think it's fairly... Everybody's in the same boat? No, third time. I don't know anything yet until we get the discovery, so I don't want to make any statements regarding this matter. The indictment says all five worked together in conspiracy, which the attorneys will challenge. Is there virtually impossible to prove? And why this Attorney General thinks that she can do something that many, many more experienced prosecutors have not been able to successfully do? I just don't know. Do you think it's just political? Yes, I do. The Attorney General has denied any political influence and said lead prosecutor, David Van Acker, was in charge. It is my opinion that the government is going to have a difficult time proving this conspiracy. Just based on the language included in the indictment, it does not seem that there was an actual agreement. Veteran criminal attorney Megan Cow points out that the transcripts of Luke's only meeting with Soledom, where she accepted two campaign donations, seemed to show her turning down his offer of more money twice. Solidum was indicted with the others, but has been in the Philippines since 2024. It looks like Ms. Luke was saying, no, there is no agreement. And therefore, my opinion is that the government is going to need to call Mr. Soledom to testify against Ms. Luke to prove that there was, in fact, an agreement. Kao says the biggest flaw in the case may be a failure to meet the three-year deadline to charge B-level felonies. The defendants will remain free on bail until trial. The trial date two months from now is considered very unrealistic. It could be many months before we see the end of this case. Reporting from Circuit Court, Darrell Huff, Hawaii News now. Thank you, Darrell. A tense scene unfolded at Union Plaza in downtown Honolulu as residents continued fighting to remain in their homes. Aali Duklo has more. The feud between owners and tenants here at Union Plaza heightened about nine months ago with what residents call unexpected eviction notices. Since then, we've been covering a legal battle, claims of a power and water shut off, and accusations of crime and drug use.

Then on Thursday, yet another episode of confusion and conflict that ended with the door behind me being locked shut. You need to get out of my way. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You can't touch me. And this confrontation between a worker and a tenant's rights advocate as the door was being sealed. We were called in by a tenant. Tenants called for help because they say more than a dozen masked men told them to leave with their belongings because they were going to fumigate the building. I was actually down at Safeway. I didn't even know. I was coming back to try to even get to my stuff. I haven't got to any of my stuff in my unit. My bed, my clothes, my hammocks. So like even if I wanted to find a spot outside right now, I have nothing. Residents claim they were not notified they would have to leave the building to have it disinfected. So they think it's a guise to get them out. That's why some residents refused to vacate. This man flashed a knife at our camera, what appeared to be a showing of his resistance. Then fumigators drilled the door shut, leaving the premises with plans to return later. Tenants have repeatedly claimed that the owners have been trying to kick them out illegally. Just have no mind for the tenants. They really don't care. But one of the owners has been telling us they have been informing residents they'll eventually have to leave. That's because there are plans to convert the building into student housing. After nearly a year of controversy at the condominium, a manager says residents are occupying the building. I know a lot of things going on here are questionable, but I know everybody who is per us in charge has been really trying to help keep everybody safe and inside and off the street. But that's where some fear they'll end up, and they're even more concerned for their neighbors with children. I have my car so that'll buy me a few days, but it's the other people who don't have a vehicle that I'm worried about. One of the managers of the building didn't want to go on camera, but he said he's helping to relocate these residents. Aali Iduklo, Hawaii News now.

All right, well, happy Aloha Friday, everybody. Pretty breezy out there today. We've got strong trade winds. A wind advisory just went into effect from the National Weather Service. You can take a look. It's pretty warm, 87 degrees. East-Northeasterly is around 20 miles per hour out there. Feels like 92. Likely seeing some gusts around 25 to 30 miles per hour. Wind advisory is going to continue until 6 p.m. on Saturday. It's not for the entirety of the state, but for all of these areas. In the tan, east-northeasterly is between 25 to 35 miles per hour. with some gusts around 50 miles per hour as well. Right now it doesn't include Kauai or Niihau. We're going to continue to watch these breezy trades. I'll give you a breakdown of how long they'll stick around coming up in my full forecast. Thank you, Drew. Well, for only the second time in history, the American Red Cross is declaring a national blood shortage and weather may be a factor. The Blood Bank of Hawaii tells us extreme heat, poor air quality, and food-borne illnesses are causing a dip in blood donations nationwide and across the state. The Blood Bank says its supply for Hawaii hospitals is at its lowest point in four years. I'm concerned because now we have only six hours, six hours supply of universal opaz, 10 hours supply of type A, and a day supply of ONAG. So it has not gotten better, and it's gotten worse. The blood bank is urging donors to make appointments at its Young Street headquarters, Waikele Center, and Winward Mall. President Trump held a cabinet meeting at Camp David today, hours after he announced what he called a historic agreement towards peace in Gaza. Natalie Brand reports from the White House. During a cabinet meeting at Camp David, President Trump cast doubt on reaching a peace deal with Iran. I'm losing faith in them because they do lie. On Friday, Iran's military claimed responsibility for launching strikes on U.S. military facilities in Kuwait and on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump promised to respond. We'll be hitting them very hard. And at some point, they're going to say, we just can't take it anymore. The president credited military action in Iran in helping to bring Iranian back to Hamas to negotiate with his Board of Peace over Gaza. Trump posted on social media that the deal includes the complete disarmament of Hamas. But there are questions about the details. Hamas representatives saying they need Israel out before they do that. Israel saying they need Hamas to disarm before they get out. Again, it's a bumpy road ahead with lots of potholes and potential landmines. On the domestic front, President Trump pushed the Senate to confirm Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche. Some Republicans are holding out over the settlement Todd Blanche oversaw to end the president's lawsuit against the IRS. They want written assurances there will be no DOJ fund to compensate people the Trump administration deems unfairly prosecuted by previous administrations. Well, it is dead, but you know, I wish it weren't, to be honest with, I think people were.

horribly treated, horribly abused. This has nothing to do with Todd. This was me. horribly abused. And I'd like to see them compensated for the pain. GOP senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, who forced a delay of the vote, also have concerns about another part of the DOJ's deal that could give the president and his family immunity from future tax audits. Natalie Brand, CBS News, the White House. Ahead on, this is now. Southwest is launching a new route from Hawaii Island to Las Vegas. Casey Lund tells us how this could help boost the local economy. Plus, wildlife officials are keeping a close eye on a young whale calf in waters off Maui. Their message to the public in two minutes. Aloha Warrior fans, the news is out. UH games are coming home to K5. All the games, UH shows, athlete profiles, and throwbacks to your favorites are all in one place. Hawaii News Now. Celebrate the home team with us and let's go Bose.

Welcome back. A new nonstop flight between Hilo and Las Vegas could create new opportunities for tourism and business across Hawaii Island. Casey Lund tells us what that could mean for the island. Aloha from the Grand Nani Loa and we Mahaloven for hosting us as we have some pretty exciting news Super exciting I know thank you Thank you and this direct non-stop service happening the first flight I believe August 6th August 6th is going to be a game changer for the community not just the community though the state people don't think about what this is going to mean really for the economy. You had conversations with the folks in Nevada about this day. I did. I did. Yeah, so many local folks live in Nevada. Vegas in particular, right? So the opportunity to come straight back to Hilo. I mean, there's connecting flights, but this direct flight is a game changer. Yeah, and you are talking to with your research and development, the folks that work for you, and were telling me earlier today, we were talking about this, that this is kind of a long time coming in the credit and Mahalo Southwest for sticking through the pandemic because this isn't. This isn't just start up on the spot. No, no, no, no. It's hard. It's a lot of work. I know behind the scenes, Southwest has done a lot of, you know, infrastructural work, kind of changing flights, routes and all like that. So we really appreciate their efforts. But it's going to help us big time because it's a direct flight here and a direct flight too. Absolutely. And then later on Saturday tomorrow, a really good time. It's going to be. Capena's going to be here. There's going to be all these artists, stuff for the KKK&A again. This is like the hub. This is the hub. I mean, this is the place, right? Capana has a song. Yeah. What is it? We're going to ride on me. Get a train. Yeah. Play it. Why do we put the D? I'll let them take it away because we already tried our best. Again, that's all happening. Saturday, the direct flights again. The first one's going to be August 6. All the details, by the way, if you miss any of them, not just for the service to Hilo to Vegas, but the event happening on Saturday all at Hawaii News Now.com. Mayor, thanks so much for being with us. Thank you so much. Back to you, Dave. Thank you, Case. A mystery off Maui, wildlife officials are tracking a young whale calf that may be in trouble. Raquel Callow says the public is urged to stay away from the lone humpback. Researchers think it might be a yearling or an orphan calf whose mother recently died off Molokai. Either way, experts say it's highly unusual for it to be in Hawaii in the middle of the summer. It just seemed really distressed and it was sad, very sad. The first sightings of this lone whale were reported Tuesday of Kaanapali Maui. The poor little thing. It was, it's small. It just was. going back and forth in front of the jetty. So kind of towards the beach and back around and back around. We assume that this is the same animal that was involved in the event off of Molokai. DLNR says it may be the calf whose mother died off Molokai three weeks ago. Obviously a calf that's relying on its mother for milk at that time of year, you know, is in dire straits at this point. But researchers say it could also be a yearling, a young but independent whale that's already

migrated to Alaska once before. Regardless, summer is not a good time for humpbacks to be in Hawaii. Experts say they should be feeding in cooler waters, thousands of miles to our north. Yeah, this siding is certainly unusual for this time of year. These animals should be up in on their feeding grounds in Alaska or those kind of regions replenishing their energy tanks, if you will. The siding has drawn curious tour groups and boaters, but... DLNR and NOAA says people should stay at least 100 yards away and report any sightings to its hotline at 888-256-98-40. Sad, sad situation, but as little we can do, that shark starts spraying when an animal is malnutrition or sick, and that's a likely scenario over the long term. Raquel Kalo, Hawaii News Now. And thank you so much, Raquel. Pretty breezy out there right now. A wind advisory up. I'll give you the details. In a few minutes. Aloha Warrior fans, the news is out. UH games are coming home to K5. All the games, U.H shows, athlete profiles, and throwbacks to your favorites are all in one place. Hawaii News now. Celebrate the home team with us, and let's go Bose.

First Alert Weather with Drew Davis. All right, well, happy Friday, everybody. Happy Aloha Friday. Lots to talk about. We've got a wind advisory that's up across parts of the state. It's going to be pretty breezy this weekend. Let's just take a look at what we're tracking out there. We've got some gusty trade winds, lower humidity levels, so not as warm as it's been the past couple of days. Again, they say it's not the heat that gets you. It's the humidity, and that was pretty true the last couple of days. It was pretty warm out there. All right, taking a look, island by island, not seeing a ton of... of rainfall seeing a few stray showers moving into the koalau. The windward side of Oahu, a little bit of cloud cover out there, a little bit gloomy as well. Moving over to Maui County, not seeing much, maybe some clouds over the windward slopes of Haleakala, cloud cover over parts of Hawaii Island. This satellite imagery is frozen, so using some context clues, I'm going to say we might not be seeing up-to-date data, but just a heads-up about that. Also, it's windy enough to where we're seeing sea salt and sea spray getting lofted up by the atmosphere into the atmosphere, so you're seeing that static-y pattern on the radar. Now, our wind advisory, this is up across most of the state. These gray areas are not included in the wind advisory. It's going to last until 6 p.m. on Saturday. East-Northeasterly is between 25 to 35 miles. per hour. And Gus, again, between 15 to 20 miles per hour, 20 out of the east-northeast in Honolulu. Light winds over in Hilo right now. And this is going to continue to be the case going into Friday evening and Saturday. Pretty breezy Saturday afternoon. Between 20 to 25 mile per hour, excuse me, 25 mile per hour sustained winds. That's going to get a little bit weaker as we're going into Sunday. Like I said, slightly lower humidity, but still feels pretty warm. 92 for a heat index value in Honolulu, even though it's 87 on the thermometer. 84 over in Kahuloh, excuse me, Kahului. on the thermometer and 90 for a feels like temperature. And we're seeing a few showers out there. More typical windward and malco shower pattern going into the next couple of days. Thinking of bulk of the rainfall. is going to be over the eastern half of the state. So parts of Hamakua Coast, Kohala Coast, also over in Puna on Hawaii Island. Our surf and shoreline forecast, east facing shores, around 4 to 6. Trade swell. Going to be growing a little bit as we're going to the evening. Wouldn't be surprised if we do see a high surf advisory go up on east facing shores. South facing shores, three to five, and north and west facing shores. Excuse me. I've been trying to fight back a cough throughout this entirety of this forecast. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday pretty breezy. More cloud cover going into next week. Are you getting choked up that you're leaving, Drew? No, no, I just have a cough, I swear. We are too. All right, thanks, Drew. What beaches across the country, police are using the skies to keep swimmers safe from sharks. Sam Brock explains.

This summer's not just the waves crashing and surfers shredding, but sharks popping up at beaches from New York to California. The NYPD recently sharing this drone footage showing dark figures lurking in the waters off New York City. We're approximately flying about 100 yards into the water right outside the jetties, looking for sharks, the silhouettes of sharks. Police say they're also searching for schools of fish that could be bait for sharks, with a fleet of drones deployed at four different beaches. Some surfers sensing the extra protection. Sharks is out there, but we surf with sharks. It is what it is. Already, Rockaway has been closed 45 times in about two months, nearly double all of last summer for sightings. That's partly due to more surveillance, partly due to more sharks flourishing under conservation laws. Is that in any way connected to this increase of population? I think it is. The New York sightings are particularly interesting because we know that these animals occasionally get up there, and we've seen them in the past, but they're being seen more frequently. Recently, a man had a dust up with a shark at Jay Jones Beach on Long Island. While in Daytona Beach, Florida... When he let go on my foot, they try to come up and get my arm. Jacori High suffered these lacerations to his leg. The shark surge prompting changes from Southern California and the shark lab autonomous vehicle sending back signals to the beach. It'll be listening for our acoustically tagged sharks. It'll take water samples to look for white shark DNA. To new rules in Martin County, Florida, accounting for shark risk when banning fishing at public beaches. All of it, a reflection of a new reality, even as the number of attacks, has stayed pretty much the same. We have a sample of the bytes that occur, and the trend in that sample is not changing, so I don't think there's any reason to be more fearful. Aloha Warrior fans, the news is out. UH games are coming home to K-5. All the games, U-H shows, athlete profiles, and throwbacks to your favorites are all in one place. Hawaii News Now. Celebrate the home team with us, and let's go Bose.

All right, time for some good news. A man who went viral for a simple act of kindness is getting a pretty cool reward. Hey, check this out. Christopher Hellenthal's fame grew after this video went viral of him dressed in a Spider-Man costume helping a man in a wheelchair across the street. Now he says Sony Pictures invited into the premiere of the new Spider-Man movie in Hollywood. They found me and they got a hold of me and they told me that I was invited to go watch the Spider-Man Brand New Day premiere with all of them. So cool. It's a reminder for all of us that with great power comes great responsibility, but sometimes it also comes with movie tickets. That's so cool. And the costume. Yeah. It's pretty awesome costume. I was not expecting him to be in costume for the interview. All right, Drew. Yeah. Really sad. I'm really happy for you too. Yeah. For those that don't know, I am leaving Hawaii news now. This is my last day. I'm moving closer to my family. My mom's been having some health issues over the last year and a half. And it'll be better to be closer to her and also my wife's family as well. And so I'm going to miss Hawaii dearly. There's my beautiful wife. We'll see you guys at four. This podcast is sponsored by Long's Drugs. Download the CVS app today and make Longs a part of your day. Aloha Warrior fans, the news is out. UH games are coming home to K5. All the games, UH shows, athlete profiles, and throwbacks to your favorites are all in one place. Hawaii News now. Celebrate the home team with us and let's go Bose.