Fake electors plot before the 2020 election was even decided. Well have more on that video which appears to undermine some claims from the former president s legal team also ahead, the latest developments in the Georgia Election case including the proposed trial date from Fulton CountyDistrict Attorney fani willis. Plus an update on the Recovery Efforts in maui amid increasing scrutiny for hawaiis electricity provider. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early on this thursday, august 17th. Im johnnen lemere. Thanks for starting your day with us. Well begin this morning with a disturbing situation out of texas where a woman was arrested and charged with threatening the federal judge who is presiding over former president Donald Trumps federal election interference case here in washington, d. C. The 43yearold who was denied bail allegedly threatened to kill judge tanya chutkan. We want to warn you some of these details are down right disturbing. According to an affidavit filed last week the woman recently left a voice mail just laden with racial slurs for chutkan where she told her, quote, you are in our sights, we want to kill you. If trump doesnt get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you. So tread lightly. Youll be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it. Additionally, the woman is accused of threatening to kill democratic congresswoman Sheila Jackson lee who is like the judge also black as well as other democrats and members of the lgbtq community. Nbc news has reached out to this womans lawyer for comment. We have not yet heard back. Well bring you any developments as they occur. Truly disturbing. Fulton County District attorney fani willis meanwhile is asking that the Georgia Election interference trial begin on march 4th of next year, march 4, 2024 just one day before the key Super Tuesday primary contest. In a new court filing she says she chose that date to make room for former president trumps several other pending legal cases. Now, march 4th were to happen, it would be 2 1 2 months before trumps federal classified documents case in florida as well as three weeks before the trial start date for the manhattan hush money case. Its also two months after the proposed start date for the federal election interference case against trump. In that same filing, willis asks that all arraignments for the 19 named defendants in the case be scheduled for the week of september 5th. Everyone has everyone charged has until august 25th thats next week to complete booking voluntarily. In Fulton County defendants must complete their booking at the Fulton County jail. That includes taking a mug shot and fingerprinting. Arraignments are then typically done separately. Judges occasionally waive Arraignment Appearances or hold them virtually. There is no confirmation yet which route the former president will take. Hes not had to take a mug shot in any of his other legal proceedings. Meanwhile, a judge has scheduled an evidentiary hearing in response to former Chief Of Staff mark meadows and his request to move the Georgia Election case to federal court. Judge steve jones ruled meadows has met the minimum Legal Standard for this matter to continue at least for the time being. If the judge Grants Meadows request it would presumably give him a more conservative jury pool. Fulton county. A. Willis has until next wednesday to file a response to meadows request. Joining us now, our friend msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. Thanks for joining us this morning. First lets start with that March 4th Trial date. Theres been a lot of speculation that the georgia case because its so big, so sprawling and people are involved it would be slow to put together and maybe even go last of all the legal matters currently facing donald trump, but the d. A. Suggesting march 4th, thats pretty soon. What do you make of that time line . Is it realistic . Do you think the trump people will have reason to push for delay . Its not realistic. The georgia case will probably go dead last of all these four cases. If you put up that graphic again ill show you something interesting. Fani willis is pushing for a march 4th date. The new york case is scheduled to start i believe march 25th. There you see it. Now, if the trial really did start on march 4th in georgia, Jury Selection wouldnt even be close to finish by the time the manhattan case began. Let me give you an example, theres currently a trial in Fulton County under fani willis, a rico trial of a criminal defendant thats arguably pretty wellknown but nowhere near as wellknown as donald trump. They are in the month 8 of Jury Selection, not trial, not the prosecutions case, not the defense case, not witness testimony. Jury selection, eight months. Its just not going to happen and that will run smackdab into the new york case. Now, the reality is a georgia judge can schedule trial for that kate, and a new york judge can schedule trial whenever they want. They dont control each other, they dont even have to talk to each other, but whats going to happen is if that case goes forward in georgia in early march, the new york case simply isnt going forward. I mean they can call interest trial, but trump wont be there, nothings going to happen. So this is a thing where prosecutors who want this case to go forward early are going to push for early trial dates, and theyre not going to get it. Maybe thats part of the strategy, ask high, get somewhere in the middle what you wanted. Its just not realistic asking for a March 4th Trial date in a case with 19 codefendants in a jurisdiction where your Jury Selection in high profile cases, rico cases is running eight months. Its just not going to happen. You can set that trial date and maybe you can even call it on the day of trial, but its not going forward. So also out of georgia this report mark meadows has pushed which tried in a federal court, you know, moving forward as it at least got some initial green light from the judge there. Likely donald trump as well. So give us your assessment, a, if this is going to happen for meadows, but whether it happens for meadows or not, how do you think it will impact the same bids from the others . Ill start with this. If the movement is successful, itll be a massive strategic move for the defense. Everyone today is talking about this being a petition or a motion or request. Thats not how a removal works. The Removal Statute works like this. If youre a defendant and you think removal is appropriate, you file a notice of removal, and then the case is removed. The case is gaup, and now its in federal court, and its fani willis, the prosecution, its their burden now to push to get it back to state court. Now, i think theyve got a pretty good chance of doing that thatch two things here. Why is this going to be so massive for the defense . Number one youll be dragging a prosecutor out of Home Field Advantage in state court into federal court. Point two, youll be drawing a jury pool from a larger geographic district area. That will pull in people from the suburbs and arguably people i mean arguably you could just look at Election Results that would probably include people that would be more republicans, arguably more favorable to meadows, favorable to trump, so that is huge, huge difference. Now, will meadows be successful . You can look at the new york situation where trump tried to exact same removal and was unsuccessful, but in that case the argument was what trump was doing Making Hush Money payments to an adult film star, was that within his duties as president . That was a pretty easy analysis and the answer was no. Here meadows has a stronger case. He can argue i was a federal official, i wasnt elected. That puts me more squarely in the definition. And hell argue, look, i was just taking orders from the president. That makes those official acts, therefore im exactly within the people contemplated by the Removal Statute, im a federal official and i should be in federal court because otherwise this would allow states to simply prosecute federal officials and drag them into criminal court. So meadows has a chance more than trump did in new york. I dont know itll ultimately be successful, but he does have a chance. So many developments to follow in the days ahead including, of course, when donald trump will surrender to authorities. Hes got to do it by next friday. Msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos, thank you for starting us off this morning. We appreciate it, and well talk to you soon. Meanwhile, theres new evidence that shows the fake electors plot from Donald Trumps allies was in the works well before he lost the 2020 election. The beat with Ari Melber Air never before seen footage Last Night Of Trump ally roger stone dictating an outline of that plot to his assistant that was then supposed to be sent to a group chat on the signal app that was recorded by the danish filmmaker who is making a documentary about stone. You might remember this from a year or so back. Heres a part of that video. The final decision as to who the State Legislatures authorize be sent to the Electoral College is a decision made solely by the legislature. We must be prepared to lobby our republican legislatures. The filmmaker says that clip was recorded on november 5, 2020, which was two days before joe biden was officially declared the winner of the election. Did seem, though, he was well on his way of doing so. It was also a munch before trump lawyer ken chesebro outlined that very plot. Stones representatives declined to comment on the story when reached by msnbc. Still ahead here on Way Too Early, well bring you the very latest on the wildfires in hawaii as the Death Toll Climbs and Recovery Efforts continue across the island of maui. Plus, congress is trying to avert fears over another possible Government Shutdown. Well take a look at the options on the table. Those stories and a check on weather and sports when we come right back. Age is just a number, and mines unlisted. Try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for Muscle Health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. Boost® high protein. Now available in cinnabon® bakeryinspired flavor. Learn more at boost. Com tv power e trades easytouse tools, like dynamic charting and riskreward analysis help make trading feel effortless. And its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. E trade from Morgan Stanley. With powerful, easytouse tools, power e trade makes complex trading easier. 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Plus, get a free Samsung Galaxy z flip5. Only on verizon. Wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. Its to die for. And its all right here. Streaming was never this easy, you know. This is the way. You really went all out didnt you . Um, its called commitment. Could you turn down the volume . Here, you can try. Get way more into what your into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. Welcome back as we turn to some of the mornings other top headlines. Tragagy is still unfolding in maui as the death toll from those devastating wildfires continues to climb. Nbc News National correspondent tom llamas has the very latest. Reporter search teams in lahaina continue their heart breaking work, already more than 100 bodies found and theyre still looking for the lost. What was once a paradise is now a mass grave. The tears just constantly coming for the families who have lost a lot. Reporter the flames destroyed his scuba business. Is it your belief, too, the power lines start this fire . Absolutely. The amount of power lines up in that area are horrendous. There should have been a lot more upgrading. Reporter while the cause of the blaze is still being investigated, theres increasing scrutiny on Hawaiian Electric. Data from a private company that monitors the grid through a network of sensors shows 34 major electrical incidents on the power lines around lahaina. Literally dozens and dozens of faults occurring over that several hour period overnight any one of which could cause an arked fault that would cause a spark and wildfire. Reporter Hawaiian Electric didnt specifically address that data or the multiple lawsuits but said in part we know there is speculation about what started it fire, but the causes havent been determined. This was a preventable circumstance. Reporter graham is one of the attorneys who filed suit against the utility. The activity was keeping the power running during this very serious wind event. Reporter but Hawaiian Electric ceo told me they dont have a program for shutting off power. It can be seen as creating a hardship for those customers that have medical needs. In lahaina the electricity powers the pumps that provide the water. And so that was also a critical need during that time. Shutting off the power just wasnt an option. I just dont understand what youre saying. There are choices that need to be made, and all of those factors play into it. Reporter with President Biden set to visit maui on monday, The Road To Lahaina is now open. We were with the cajun navy, an aid group that formed during hurricane katrina, as it delivered food and supplies outside of lahaina. Its been a big help for all of us here. Reporter but these signs of hope overshadowed by the name of the dead like buddy, a 79yearold musician and beloved grandfather. Its a fate this family of 16 narrowly avoided, their Escape Route Under Siege by flames and smoke. Five of the familys homes were lost, but the entire family is safe. Theres a lot of families still not together, and so well take what we have. Were blessed. Nbcs tom llamas with that report. Here in washington with a possible Government Shutdown looming at the end of next month, lawmakers on capitol hill appear to be eyeing a shortterm funding bill. During a Conference Call this week House SpeakerKevin Mccarthy told his fellow House Republicans he believes there will be enough votes to pass a Stop Gap Measure to keep the government running. With lawmakers on recess this month, mccarthys remarks reflect a growing recognition that congress simply wont have enough time to reach a longterm deal before the September 30th deadline. Meanwhile, President Biden calls it one of the most significant laws that has ever been enacted. Yesterday marked the oneyear anniversary of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. The legislation is, of course, a Signature Piece of the biden administrations economic agenda. The president celebrated the milestone at an event in the east room of the white house. This law is one of the biggest drivers of jobs and Economic Growth this country has ever seen. Since i took office, the private sectors announced nearly 400 excuse me me, 240 billion in new Clean Energy Manufacturing investments, the private sector, 240 billion of investment. And the laws already created an estimated 170,000 clean energy jobs. In one year its estimated it will go to 1. 5 million more jobs over the next decade. First is one year, now were talking about a decade. That legislation, of course, will be a center piece of the president s reelection bid next year. Still ahead here on Way Too Early well turn to sports and bring you the best highlights