Out front next, trumps legal team just hours away from facing the judge in the January 6th Case in court for the first time. This is the special counsel jack smith wants to start trumps trial january 2nd. And the death toll rising in maui as Search And Rescue operations are frantically underway. Im going to speak to a woman who narrowly escaped a wall of flames. Her incredible story. Plus, all the republican president ial candidates heading to iowa, our john king just returned from there. Were talking to voters, and he will be at the magic wall tonight. For us, lets go out front. And good evening, im erin burnett. Outfacetoface, trumps team set to meet judge Tanya Chutkan. Chutkan is the judge overseeing the January 6th Case, and their meeting comes as the clock is ticking. Trump now on notice to reply to jack smiths formal request for the trial January 6th Case to begin,anuary 2nd, 2024. That would put the doj case to hold trump to account for trying to overturn the elec ahead of all but one case that trump currently faces. Only the civil case in new york alleging fraud is scheduled to start sooner. It is a bold move by the doj, and trump personally tonight responding moments ago referring again to, que, deranged jack smith adding only an out of Touch Lunatic would ask for such a date one day into the new year. Trump added the trial should only happen, if at all, all caps, after the election. It was part of a Vektive Trump lobbied today referring to fake indictments saying prosecutors are trying to rig and steal another election. Trumps lawyers no doubt dont want their client posting his usual screed of venomous accusations, they will almost certainly file a request for a later trial date after the election. Thats what they did in the maralago case where team trump, again, appeared to be dragging their feet. In florida trumps codefendants in the maralago case, walt nauta and Carlos De Oliveira appeared in court. Nauta pleading not guilty, de oliveira hasnt gotten a floridabased lawyer. The wheel s of justice are turning. In michigan tonight, all of the 16 people charged in the fake elecr scheme have now pleaded not guilty. They eh face eight Felony Charges including multiple counts of forgery, which are each punishable by 14 years in prison in michigan. And in atlanta, the courthouse tonight under tight security with blocked off streets as all eyes remain on District Attorney fani willis, bho is expected to issue more than a dozen indictments there including another set of criminal charges for the former President Trump. Lets start with Katelyn Polantz tonight in washington with all these developments. Prosecutors have come out and they filed, they want a january 2nd start date for trumps election interference case, as early as obviously the first day of the new year you could have a case begin. Trump railing against that on social media. When do you expect his attorneys, though, to officially respond . Theyre going to have to by next thursday, so one week from today, trumps lawyers will come into court and theyll lay out the schedule that they want. As you said, quite plausibly, they would be asking for after t election. Whether the judge would want to do that, that seems pretty unlikely. This judge has indicated she wants to move things along in this case. What the prosecutors are asking for here, its not just a january 2nd start date of the trial itself, they actually want Jury Selection to begin just four months from now in december before the holidays, so a jury can be seated and then the trial can kick off right after the new year. So thats a pretty aggressive time line, and the prosecutors say they want that because its of public importance that this deserves a prompt resolution. Hes running for president , and this is about a former president conspiring to overturn the legitimate results of the president ial election. Trumps team, they have their own arguments that theyll make, things about president ial immunity, first amendment, those will come later. Tomorrow there is a hearing in this case, erin. Its not going to be about this. Thats going to have to wait for the next hearing very likely. What tomorrow is going to be about whenever these parties do go before judge Tanya Chutkan in d. C. For the very first time, its going to be about evidence handling, how much donald trump can speak publicly about what hes learning that the Justice Department has in their evidence before trial. Were also watching to see how the drudge responds, not just to the legal arguments theyre making and what terms she sets there on the edge, but also if she responds to any of these social media posts trump has been making that are quite aggressive about both her and the Justice Department prosecutors and others in this case, mike pence, and also if she might be commenting on how many Tv Appearances that his lawyer has made, john lauro, hes been on tv multiple times, and the prosecutors have raised that as well. Thank you very much. Lets go now to ryan goodman, former special counsel at the department of defense, jocelyn benson, the democratic michigan Secretary Of State, she was interviewed by prosecutors in the federal election probe as well. And also with us, george conway, the conservative lawyer. So thanks very much to all of you. Ryan, youre with me. January 2nd, is that just sort of a Starting Point on the negotiation . I think its a Starting Point, and that the judge will probably accommodate the defendant in this case in terms of trying to set a time thats probably a bit later. It does look like President Trump is his lawyers will ask for it to be after the election. Certainly he asked tonight, not formally, but he put it out there. Thats what they did in florida, they said the same thing, so you would assume theyd say the same thing here. Maybe it gets pushed back a month or two but it seems that it will start at the beginning of the year. Secretary benson, you were interviewed by federal prosecutors in this case. Theres actually a whole section in the indictment about trumps attempts to subvert the election in michigan, right . It details an entire scheme in detroit. Obviously Secretary Of State there, and youre also an attorney yourself. Do you think that this case, that the January 6th Case for the doj can get to trial this quickly . I do. I mean, what ive seen and experienced over the last several years in working both with the january 6th Congressional Committee and speaking with the prosecutors is that this has been a very meticulous, in some cases slow moving process to ensure all eye is are dotted, all ts are crossed, every person who has been spoken to is interviewed. So in my sense, the work is done and its long past time really to see justice for what occurred and what will have occurred, you know, three years prior, four years prior in some circumstances with the lead up to 2020. So i think that were all ready to go, and certainly the defense should be as well by january, which is, you know, by the way, still five or six months five months from now. Its a fair point, and also what you say, another fair point about the frustration that many shares. This is years in the past. Why did it take so long putting us in the middle of an election season and giving us a narrative, george, that it could interfere with an election season, right . When you look at this, trump is saying looking at january 2nd, that would be two weeks before the iowa caucuses. So hes on social media tonight saying only an out of Touch Lunatic would ask for such a date one day into the new year, and maximum election interference in iowa. Now, again, putting aside the petty invekt attitude, does he have a point about iowa and new hampshire, this would take him off the campaign trail. Thats his problem and not the courts and not the Justice Departments and not the publics. The fact of the matter is if hes so confident that hes so far ahead and i think he is far ahead i dont see why he needs to campaign so much. He can save his money, save his energy and work on defending himself. If he truly believed he were innocent, hed want this trial as soon as possible. In fact, its a standard rule in litigation that the party who thinks its going to win that thinks its going to win wants a faster trial, and the party that thinks its going to lose wants a slower trial, and Donald Trumps going to ask for something in 2025, and i dont think the courts going to buy that. I agree with ryan that january 2024 is aggressive. Its like bidding for a house. You come in with a low bid. The other sides going to come in with a sky high bid, and shell probably do something in between, earlier next year. Those times are very different in terms of the electoral cycle, the primary process as all know. Lets turn to michigan, Secretary Benson is with us and the fake elector scheme there. You obviously got them all pleads not guilty at this point. These are serious Felony Charges, right . Forgery is 14 years. And theres multiple counts of forgery in each case. But all the defendants there are locals, many of them older, 60s, 70s, 80s. The are older individuals. These would possibly be Life Sentences if they were to get them. Theres no Trump Campaign officials. The Trump Lawyers who are so visible in the indictment as the coconspirators, who are obviously going to very likely be part of what we end up seeing out of georgia, theyre not charged as well. Should they be . They definitely could be under the law. It looks like from all the evidence that we have, its maybe an issue of prosecutorial discretion, whether or not they want it go forward. Just on the face of it, the indictment out of jack smith definitely puts giuliani and President Trump in the drivers seat, says that all of these false electors occurred under their direction including in michigan. Theres a whole section. Thats very laid out, several pages devoted to michigan. Several pages devoted to michigan, especially giuliani directing his attention towards michigan to try to flip the electors and try to put these folks in place, they could be named. If they were dieted in michigan, it could also put serious pressure on them that they might not feel like they face in the federal case because trump might be elected again and be able to pardon pardon them. It could dovetail with the federal case were they to be indicted. Secretary benson, do you want to see charges for the bigger fish up the chain even in michigan . I want to see charges for everyone and anyone who is part of a scheme to overturn a president ial election and nullify the votes of millions of michiganders and millions of citizens across our country. The charges were seeing in michigan and even at the federal level and perhaps in other states are part of an ongoing effort not just to seek justice for the wrongs of the past, but also to ensure they dont happen again, which is why a broad net must be cast, and i think its important to note that, you know, none of the scheme would have come to fruition had there not been people on the ground willing to carry out the direction of those at the top of the nationally coordinated effort. So it is important to see justice at every level because whether you, you know, signed a document knowingly, knowing that it was false or directed someone else to do so, all of it was about overturning a president ial election. When you look at the defendants in michigan that there are and the two trump coconspirators in florida who appeared in court today, one of whom pleaded not guilty, the other obviously delaying by saying still doesnt have a lawyer in florida, are you surprised, george, given the point that ryans making about some of the pressure here, are you surprised that all these vi individuals have stayed loyal to trump, despite facing charges now themselves . No, i think the important thing to remember is that both of these cases, the maralago documents case and the January 6th Case here in washington, both of those are dependent upon numerous trump witnesses, trump witnesses meaning people who worked for trump or people, other republicans. And theyre just i mean, theres going to be dozens of them in the January 6th Case, and there are quite a number of them including former lawyers in the maralago case, and basically most of those people it appears are cooperating, including perhaps mark meadows. And so its not surprising its actually its actually heartening that most of those people are putting the law, putting their own skins above the need to defend donald trump, and its sad that these two relatively unsophisticated lower level people who were manipulated and abused by donald trump into committing crimes, nauta and de oliveira are Stuck Holding the bag. Secretary benson, i just want to ask you about the former president tonight in these posts, fake indictments, prosecutors are trying to, quote, rig and steal another election. Sitting as a Secretary Of State of michigan, right, where youre seeing the details of what happened last time, how worried are you that such a thing could happen again . We are i mean, one of the lessons from january 6th and the tragedy of that day in 2021 was the knowledge that it could happen again, and it certainly you know, we need to prepare for anything like that or worse to happen again, if theres no accountability and justice for those who are part of this plan in the past. But our work as Election Officials across the country is to prepare for any and all threats, domestic and foreign against our elections and our democracy. Weve been doing that. We will continue to do that greatfu gratefully to folks on both sides of the aisle, lawmakers who have passed laws to protect poll workers. Well be ready for whatever comes in 24, but we are certainly anticipating more tactics and pressure as we approach that president ial cycle. Secretary benson, thank you very much. Ryan and george, as always, thanks to both of you. And next, flames shooting 40 feet into the air, winds strong enough, just the wind, to knock people flat. Thats what one woman whos lived in maui for 20 years saw, as her home was destroyed and she rushed to evacuate feeling the heat of the flames. Shes my guest. Private plane, helicopter rides, a trip around the bahamas on a private yacht, new reporting of what Justice Clarence thomas has received are from wealthy friends. And rare protests in china caught on camera, these after the Chinese Government redirected flood waters to some homes to protect beijing. Erin burnett out front, brought to you by sleep number. Save 50 on the sleep Number Limited Edition smart bed, only at a sleep number store or at sleepnumber. Com. Am i . Ya save 50 othe sleep Number Limited Edition smart bed. Plus36 month financing on select smart beds. Op now only at sleep number. Theyre off from school, but not really home. Images and videos. Social media, finetuned to suck them in. And steal them away. Alone you cant stop it. Together we will. We have a plan. 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