August 25, 2023 • 7 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a kill bill one of two point seven.
It is a kiss FM. Ryan Seacrest with you. I
want to jump on with John Matthew. So. John is
at our iHeartRadio station in Honolulu, Hawaii, joining us now.
John's a program director for news radio eight thirty KHVH
and news director as well for the whole Honolulu group
(00:21):
of stations that we've got there. John, Good morning, and
thanks for coming on. It's Ryan here.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Helloha, Ryan, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Aloha my friend. Well, so, first of all, big hugs
to you and to everybody there. What's today look like
where you are? Just set the scene a little bit
for us. How you doing well?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Today is a beautiful day in Hawaii. But the cleanup
continues on the on the island of Maui, and the
search continues for those that are that are unaccounted for.
There are some one thousand people that still we need
to account for from that day now two weeks ago
over in Lahina, and clean up efforts will continue from
(01:05):
now until probably the end of the year on the island,
on the island of Maui in Mahinas as we try
to really process this tragedy. I don't know if if
we've really even processed how much the destruction has really
affected the island of Maui, it is it's almost unfathomable
(01:30):
that the worst fire in one hundred years of American
history happened just two weeks ago on Maui.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I just when you hear it doesn't make any sense,
you know, it's it's so remarkable, and there is such
a unique and incredible spirit and sense of family there
on those islands. I've spent time there. You guys have, well,
how are the people coming together?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
What have you seen? John? It's been incredible here. The
generosity has been amazing. There are several different ways that
people that have reached out to help, whether that's been
to raising donations or sending over palettes of goods and necessities.
(02:20):
Supplies from other islands like here on Owahu almost immediately
supplies things like personal care items and clothing and things
like that for people that lost everything. Most of you
have seen the pictures of Lahaina. It was burned to
the ground and three point four square miles of that
(02:43):
town all gone, and the people that lived there. Now,
that was a town that had anywhere between I've heard
ten and twelve thousand people living there. Eighty six percent
of the buildings that burned were all homes and everything
is gone. So as we pulled together here, that was
(03:03):
the initial response, and now, of course fundraising efforts through
organizations like the Hawaii Red Cross and others are pulling
to their money to help the victims in any way possible,
and the generosity has been stupendous, not only from here locally,
but people around the world. As you said, a lot
(03:24):
of people hold Hawaii really near and dear to their hearts,
whether they've been here or not. It's a dream vacation
for some people and they've never been here, or there
have been people who have been coming for years and
years and years. But no matter what, no matter what
the circumstance has been, the state receives so much love
(03:45):
back from everybody and it's been an amazing thing to see.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So you mentioned the Red Cross. Also, iHeart Helps Mali
dot com as a site you can go to as
well if you want to lend a hand or just
see the different things that you can do. iHeart Helps Mali.
And this John Matthews is on from our radio's sister
station there. This is in Honolulu where he is, so
I hear you know, people would think some people would say, well,
(04:12):
it's not a good time to go there now with
everything that why he's dealing with. But I hear your
governor say, world for business.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Should people come, Yes, absolutely, Governor Josh Green. In fact,
when President Biden came to visit on Monday, the Governor
made a special effort to say, please come to Maui.
Maui eighty percent of its comomy is dependent upon tourism,
and this comes from a very good place. When this
(04:42):
tragedy first occurred, there was an initial message that went
out that said don't come to Maui, and looking back,
that was well well intentioned at the time. It has resonated,
but realized that the part of Maui that's which is
West Maui, that will be closed through mid October at
(05:06):
the very least. So the resorts in that area. Obviously
Lahaina is all gone, but there are other resorts that
are further up the road in an Apoli and Kapulua.
Those hotel rooms are being used to house those who
lost their homes, and it's just there's no way that
we can use those resorts for now, especially in the
(05:28):
light of this tragedy. But that's West Maui. Maui is
a big island, and all the resorts in South Mali
are open. Everything else is open island wide. But we've
seen a huge drop off in tourism. There were eight
thousand arrivals per day as of August first into the island.
(05:49):
That's dropped down to less than two thousand per day,
twenty five percent or less. That's all we have without
the tourists coming here, they're already hotels saying that prepare
for layoffs.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, I would saying the message then if you're just
tuning in here. John Matthews is there in Hawaii, works
with iHeartRadio is saying hey, you will help out by coming.
You want to help out, come, come busy.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, that makes sense absolutely. And when you think about
how people book travel to Hawaii, it's always I'm going
to come in a few months. If you are planning
to come next month and you're thinking, oh I shouldn't,
I'll get in the way. I'll be in this this
this area that's been devastated. It's only the one section
(06:36):
of Maui. It's a tragedy, but please book, yes, please come,
please come for Christmas. We need you.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
And why'd you point that out? Because I think it
is something where there's mixed messaging right now. Well not
only that, I don't know if everyone myself included understands
the vastness of those islands right And like he says,
you're talking about one area of Maui and to you know,
keep other people working that have to work, that need
to work right now, come, don't wait book it, John.
(07:06):
Thank you very much for coming on. Much love to
you and all of our iHeart colleagues or family and
your friends there.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Thank you very much, appreciate you absolutely. Ihearthelps Maui dot com.
It all goes to the Hawaii Red Cross and they've
been on the ground since the beginning of this and
they continue to do incredible work over there.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
We'll be watching and we'll see you soon, I hope.
Thanks buddy. Mahalo mahalo Bye bye, John Matthews. Interesting that message.
It's not it may not be what you think. Go
book it.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Help.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Yeah. Fifty minutes of NonStop kisses. Next long free guys,
This is a kill bill one of two point seven.
It is a kiss FM. Ryan Seacrest with you. I
want to jump on with John Matthew. So. John is
at our iHeartRadio station in Honolulu, Hawaii, joining us now.
John's a program director for news radio eight thirty KHVH
and news director as well for the whole Honolulu group
(00:21):
of stations that we've got there. John, Good morning, and
thanks for coming on. It's Ryan here.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Helloha, Ryan, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Aloha my friend. Well, so, first of all, big hugs
to you and to everybody there. What's today look like
where you are? Just set the scene a little bit
for us. How you doing well?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Today is a beautiful day in Hawaii. But the cleanup
continues on the on the island of Maui, and the
search continues for those that are that are unaccounted for.
There are some one thousand people that still we need
to account for from that day now two weeks ago
over in Lahina, and clean up efforts will continue from
(01:05):
now until probably the end of the year on the island,
on the island of Maui in Mahinas as we try
to really process this tragedy. I don't know if if
we've really even processed how much the destruction has really
affected the island of Maui, it is it's almost unfathomable
(01:30):
that the worst fire in one hundred years of American
history happened just two weeks ago on Maui.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
I just when you hear it doesn't make any sense,
you know, it's it's so remarkable, and there is such
a unique and incredible spirit and sense of family there
on those islands. I've spent time there. You guys have, well,
how are the people coming together?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
What have you seen? John? It's been incredible here. The
generosity has been amazing. There are several different ways that
people that have reached out to help, whether that's been
to raising donations or sending over palettes of goods and necessities.
(02:20):
Supplies from other islands like here on Owahu almost immediately
supplies things like personal care items and clothing and things
like that for people that lost everything. Most of you
have seen the pictures of Lahaina. It was burned to
the ground and three point four square miles of that
(02:43):
town all gone, and the people that lived there. Now,
that was a town that had anywhere between I've heard
ten and twelve thousand people living there. Eighty six percent
of the buildings that burned were all homes and everything
is gone. So as we pulled together here, that was
(03:03):
the initial response, and now, of course fundraising efforts through
organizations like the Hawaii Red Cross and others are pulling
to their money to help the victims in any way possible,
and the generosity has been stupendous, not only from here locally,
but people around the world. As you said, a lot
(03:24):
of people hold Hawaii really near and dear to their hearts,
whether they've been here or not. It's a dream vacation
for some people and they've never been here, or there
have been people who have been coming for years and
years and years. But no matter what, no matter what
the circumstance has been, the state receives so much love
(03:45):
back from everybody and it's been an amazing thing to see.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
So you mentioned the Red Cross. Also, iHeart Helps Mali
dot com as a site you can go to as
well if you want to lend a hand or just
see the different things that you can do. iHeart Helps Mali.
And this John Matthews is on from our radio's sister
station there. This is in Honolulu where he is, so
I hear you know, people would think some people would say, well,
(04:12):
it's not a good time to go there now with
everything that why he's dealing with. But I hear your
governor say, world for business.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Should people come, Yes, absolutely, Governor Josh Green. In fact,
when President Biden came to visit on Monday, the Governor
made a special effort to say, please come to Maui.
Maui eighty percent of its comomy is dependent upon tourism,
and this comes from a very good place. When this
(04:42):
tragedy first occurred, there was an initial message that went
out that said don't come to Maui, and looking back,
that was well well intentioned at the time. It has resonated,
but realized that the part of Maui that's which is
West Maui, that will be closed through mid October at
(05:06):
the very least. So the resorts in that area. Obviously
Lahaina is all gone, but there are other resorts that
are further up the road in an Apoli and Kapulua.
Those hotel rooms are being used to house those who
lost their homes, and it's just there's no way that
we can use those resorts for now, especially in the
(05:28):
light of this tragedy. But that's West Maui. Maui is
a big island, and all the resorts in South Mali
are open. Everything else is open island wide. But we've
seen a huge drop off in tourism. There were eight
thousand arrivals per day as of August first into the island.
(05:49):
That's dropped down to less than two thousand per day,
twenty five percent or less. That's all we have without
the tourists coming here, they're already hotels saying that prepare
for layoffs.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Yeah, I would saying the message then if you're just
tuning in here. John Matthews is there in Hawaii, works
with iHeartRadio is saying hey, you will help out by coming.
You want to help out, come, come busy.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, that makes sense absolutely. And when you think about
how people book travel to Hawaii, it's always I'm going
to come in a few months. If you are planning
to come next month and you're thinking, oh I shouldn't,
I'll get in the way. I'll be in this this
this area that's been devastated. It's only the one section
(06:36):
of Maui. It's a tragedy, but please book, yes, please come,
please come for Christmas. We need you.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
And why'd you point that out? Because I think it
is something where there's mixed messaging right now. Well not
only that, I don't know if everyone myself included understands
the vastness of those islands right And like he says,
you're talking about one area of Maui and to you know,
keep other people working that have to work, that need
to work right now, come, don't wait book it, John.
(07:06):
Thank you very much for coming on. Much love to
you and all of our iHeart colleagues or family and
your friends there.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Thank you very much, appreciate you absolutely. Ihearthelps Maui dot com.
It all goes to the Hawaii Red Cross and they've
been on the ground since the beginning of this and
they continue to do incredible work over there.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
We'll be watching and we'll see you soon, I hope.
Thanks buddy. Mahalo mahalo Bye bye, John Matthews. Interesting that message.
It's not it may not be what you think. Go
book it.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Help.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Yeah. Fifty minutes of NonStop kisses. Next long free guys,
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Ryan Seacrest
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