Threatening the judge in the 2020 federal elections subversion case. Also, georgia d a fani willis, as a trial date for donald trump, it is alleged coconspirators. How will it fit with the other three criminal trials hes facing in the middle of a president ial campaign . Plus, a live report from maui, where the governor says the death toll has risen in probably over 1000 people could still be missing. Good evening, thanks for joining us. We begin with two pieces of Breaking News tonight. The first, weve just learned, of charges in texas connected with alleged threats against judge chutkan, obviously presiding over the 2020 Election Subversion Trial of the former president. According to the court filing, the woman who lives in alvin, texas left a threatening, racist, bigoted voice mail for judge chutkan on august 5th. Allegedly saying if trump doesnt get elected, quote, were coming to kill you, tread lightly. And then a curse. She allegedly continued, quote, youll be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it. Authorities visited the woman on the eight, and according to the filing, she admitted to making the call from her home telephone. Breaking news as well in the georgia racketeering trial, Federal District judge tonight setting a hearing on august 28th, codefendant mark meadows request to move charges into Federal Court. There should be an early test for the District Attorney, fani willis. Earlier today, she asked the atlanta judge, now overseeing the case, to set two dates, September 5th for the arraignment, and a trial date of march 4th. Codefendant Rudy Giulianis already said, he will surrender to authorities sometime next week. No sign yet this changes his timetable. Sources also tell, us lawyers for the former president or in, quote, ongoing negotiations with d. A. Williss office. And early indications are they too are discussing a date next week. As to a trial date, if nothing changes, which it almost certainly will, take a look. Its wedged in with proposed dates for five oer trials, civil and criminal state and federal. In new york civil trial, the trump organization, october and january. The federal tion subversion trial, in the e. Jean carroll defamation trial part to. Plus, the Iowa Caucuses that month. Then, with georgias case, followed by the new york hush money trial, super tuesday march 5th, finally, in may theres a maralago documents trial. Again, all proposed dates, nothing set in stone. That calendar will change. Joining us now, Georgia Grand Jury witnesses, cnn political commentator, Former GeorgiaLieutenant Governor, jeff duncan. Former Georgia Democratic state senator, also michael, more former u. S. Attorney for georgias middle district. And cnn senior legal analyst, elie honig. Lets begin, i guess, with the Trial Timeline for the d. A. Willis. I mean, thats gonna change . There is no earth, there is no planet on which this case would be tried in march. Due to the logjam that we just saw. Now, we see all these four different indictments, and theyre all jockeying for a very limited trial space. But the da has asked to try this in march. First of all, theres an ongoing racketeering trial, right now, that the d. A. s office is handling in georgia. They are still choosing a jury. Theyre seven months in. I know that sounds unbelievable, but State Jury Selection is way slower than in federal cases. Even if they started in march, theyd still be picking a jury on election day. That is not happening. I understand what the d. A. Is doing, shes doing what prosecutors are trying to do. You always say, we are ready to go, any day, we want to try everyone altogether. But march is not happening for this case. Michael, very unlikely that there is 19 people charged. Its not gonna be 19 people by the time this goes to trial . No. Theres not a chance. There will be people who flip, who cooperate, some plead out. Maybe people she decides to get rid of, because it complicates the case. There could be a number of reasons. There wont be 19 defendant sitting in the courtroom. And because theres 19, thats one of the reasons theres no possible way that shes ever gonna go to trial march. This is sort of a pr move, i think, on her part. It throws gas to trump to say, look, why are they treating me different . Then every other criminal defendant in Fulton County . Where theyre rushing my case . Ive been in that industry taking up a jail bit. I didnt kill somebody, and mom and dad is waiting for the killer of their baby to be brought to trial. Why are they treating me different . This is playing into that hand. Until we recognize that he is really campaigning through this process, that i think will, were giving him the gift that keeps on giving. Thats a lot of hot air. Federal charges would come first. If the judges get together to try to figure out a schedule that makes sense, do you have any doubt that the federal case would go first . It probably will, if for no other reason than you have donald trump just at the top. You dont have anybody else. I think one of the most complicating things, with respect to williss case, because there are folks that can pop into Federal Court, and say that we should be there, like mark meadows, like donald trump, that really does extend the timeline. She isnt gonna want to go forward on this trump case without donald trump being there. You testified before the grand jury on monday, just hours before it headed up the indictment, what was that like . You know, it was pretty incredible. I was the first person in. They had no idea that they were the trump grand jury. They had been handling nine other criminal matters. And then, literally, i walk in the door, you should have seen their eyes. They got really big. It was kind of a moment of, it was very serious. That second, they knew that they had a really big job to do. In front of him. Lieutenant governor duncan, you testified on that day. Was your experience similar . No, it was very seriously. Everything in that room, we really are at the center of the universe. Everybody in the world cared about what was gonna happen in that meeting. The District Attorney was very prepared, for the presentation. The jurors were very engaged, inquisitive, and spot on with their questions. Its one of the non attorneys at this table, i hear all the legal opinions about whats going, on the moving parts. This is a mess, politically speaking. This is another reason why we cannot make this mistake again, as republicans. This one is different. Weve seen these other cases, these other federal cases, they seem to be getting more serious as time goes on. This ones got some really, really sticky political spots to, it for donald trump. I hope we take our medicine, if you like the starting to be some more gyrations. Our candidates need to step up to the plate here. Mark meadows, obviously, we talked about this a little bit last night, trying to move this to Federal Court, giuliani will probably do the same thing, former president w. The same thing. Where do you stand on that . Does that make sense to you . To have this being in Federal Court . Look, i dont often make sense to me, for it to be in Federal Court. If im defending one of them, im sure as heck gonna do that. In terms of removal in having the removal stick, its a really low bar. So, you, know i really do think mark meadows may have a shot at being there. Hes not gonna get it dismissed. Giuliani, on the other hand, i dont think that he can say what he was doing was in further its of some kind of official role with the president. Thats the bar, essentially . That is really the low bar for removal. From there, it is still fani williss team that is going to be prosecuting that case, in that courtroom. It doesnt turn into a federal prosecution, it is still a state prosecution. Just a little bit down the street, at the Federal Courthouse. If there was ever a case that ought to be transferred, if the statutes gonna mean anything, the case involving a former president would have to be the case, right . If this case cant be transferred, i dont know that there would ever be a case that will be transferring out of. If fani willis is still prosecuting, it from a legal standpoint, from a jury standpoint, whats the benefit for the former president and, giuliani and these others . For one thing, the jury pool will be much different. If this case remains in Fulton County, the entire jury will be drawn from Fulton County. You all are familiar with it. The stats, are the voter in 2020 was 72 against donald trump, 26 for donald trump. If you get him to Federal Court, now youre in the Northern District of georgia. Which includes Fulton County, where most of your jurors would come from, but it includes all those northern counties, some of which donald trump won by 60, 70 . You get a much better jury pool from trumps perspective. The common denominator here, hes gonna get indicted somewhere. Hes gonna have to sit in court and pay the price. Lets play a game. Who made this quote, who could very well, we could very well have a sitting president with under felony indictment, ultimately, a criminal trial. It would grant government to a halt. Who said that . Donald trump in 2016. I was gonna say me. All of us. Every person with a normal brain on their shoulders within it. In terms of the jury pool, youre not gonna pull in those northern northern. Its gonna be atlanta division. The biggest problem for Jury Selection would really just be cherokee county. The rest of that Metro Atlanta area is not Trump Country still. We know that Mark Meadows Case has been a sign of an obama appointee. If youre trump, the only reason you want to get a Federal Court, if you think you can get one of your appointees, now that we know thats not gonna happen, im wondering if youll still pursue it. In terms of scheduling, assuming this stage is not real, the federal case, the January 6th Case goes first, when do you think it would actually go to trial . I dont think theres a chance it goes before the election. This is a case that goes after the election. Back to the Jury Selection, there have been cases we had one in south georgia, where they expanded to the whole district. So, because they needed that, if you think about just the hyper emotion and the partisanship that involved in this case, they are going to have to, this will be a Jury Selection like no other. There are feelings that are polarized, that we like weve never seen. Elliott, asked about this, this threat we just learned about to the judge in this case. The same color made a threat to representative Sheila Jackson lee. And i think to all people, if i read the lgbt community. This is not a surprise , obviously, given we dont know if she was listening directly to the former president. Certainly, he has put her name, that judges name, front and center. This is what happens. This is exactly the danger and the rhetoric. Donald trump has spent the last week or so attacking the judge over an over. Jeff duncan over and over. And weve seen it, how many times do we need to see this story . People see what he says, People Act On what he says. Of course, january 6th. The day after, there was a search of maralago, a guy stormed the fbi office in ohio and got shot and killed. Good work by the feds to act very quickly here to swear out this warrant. Charging this person with intimidation and threats against the federal judge. Someone has to step up here. It has to be the prosecutors. Theyve already let donald trump say way more about judge chutkan, about themselves, about the witnesses than any prosecutor would tolerate in any case. I understand, being sensitive, they dont to be seen as overdoing it on trump. Theyre under doing it on trump. All the prosecutors here need to adopt a Zero Tolerance policy. And in forsyth, and go to the judge, and get real repercussions for this kind of rhetoric. Its leading to real danger. Which i know governor . Look, this is exactly how we got to january 6th. This game of rhetoric, this game of playing on peoples emotions. Feeding them ten second sound bites, lies, this is exactly how we got to january 6th. That is ultimately a fear of mine. That we get to that unbelievable flash point again. Because somebody is willing to put their selfish desires of being in power over top of the country. Like i said, i just feel like this is such a golden opportunity for the Republican Party to pivot here. I think america, including democrats, are begging us to do Something Better than joe biden and donald trump. In this 2024 cycle. I wish i was sitting here in this panel, in talking to you about how to defend joe bidens border policies, or National Security policies, o r College Tuition waivers. I wish i was doing that. Instead, were having to defend these crazy steps and gyrations of the Republican Party. Thats whats Gonna Play Out for the next 15 months. If we dont change direction. I think the security issue, also goes into, should be in Federal Court or state court . I know the Lieutenant Governor had death threats, and threats to his family, and to his staffers. I know i did. Anytime you pop your head up and push back on the trump machine, this is exactly what happens. Can you imagine, the grand jury, their names were released. Once the indictment was released. That is allowed under georgia law. They are already being docked. So, can you imagine, if you are a jury called for this case to sit in judgment of donald trump, what youre exposing yourself to . Jen jordan, jeff duncan, elie honig, michael moore. Thank you very much. Perspective now from retired federal Appeals Court judge and distinguished conservative legal scholar, jay michael luttig. We did spokes shortly before airtime. Judge, we mentioned the Fulton County d. A. Is asking for a march 4th start date for this trial. Two months after special counsel jack smiths proposed start date. What do you make of that date . And which of these trials do you think will go first . Anderson, thank you for having me on tonight. Its my pleasure. At this point, early, its impossible to know exactly how, or even whether, these various trials of the former president will be sequenced. And held. I believe that the courts involved will cooperate with each other. And sequence the trials in such a manner as to ensure that the former president s tried on all of these matters. Before the 2024 election. I am relatively confident that, if thats not possible, that the trials will be sequenced such that the trial of the former president on the charges relating to january 6th and the attack on the United States capitol of that date, will proceed first. I believe, to conclusion, before the 2024 elections. You think its possible that that trial, the Jack Smith Trial On January 6th Issues and election interference, that would go first . And that could be concluded before the election . I do, anderson. Its many, many months. Before the election. On the timetable thats been proposed by the special counsel, the former president s trial would begin on january 2nd, 2024, i believe. As you know, the District Court and the District Of Columbia is taking briefings o n that scheduled trial date, as we speak tonight. The government, as i said, is proposed a january 2nd as the start date for the trial. The president , former president , briefed on that issue, is not due in the District Court, i believe, until august 28th, anderson. Despite warnings from federal judge chutkan, overseeing the 2020 election case, the former president continues to rage against he r on social media. What options does she have, or any of the judges in these four criminal cases, have to stop him . None of the other majority of republican candidates running against the former president are backing him on his critiques and his attempts to destroy the Justice System in this country, essentially. The former president s comments and attacks on the federal judiciary and on the specific individual judges who will preside over his trials, are unprecedented in american history. Anderson, they are a grave disservice to the nation. They are inexcusable. And they imperil the former president s himself, in the defense of his actions on january 6th, before the juries that will hear his case. But this is, of course, a pattern that the former president has engaged in. Since at least the day he has assumed office in 2016. To prominent conservative Law School Professors recently completed a paper, arguing the former president is actually ineligible to hold a future position in government, because of what happened on january 6th. They cite a section of the 14th amendment, Section Three, which says that a persons disqualified from Holding Office in