smith's case? plus, americans in iran, out of prison and now under house arrest. the rare move marking a bright spot in u.s.-iran relations. the new details we're learning about the tentative deal to free them and what iran is getting in return. and senator joe manchin says he's seriously thinking about leaving his party as he weighs his own political future. why manchin might be stepping away from the democrats and what it could mean for the balance of power on capitol hill. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this friday, august 11th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we'll begin with breaking and tragic news out of hawaii where wildfires continue to ravage the island of maui. at least 55 people are now confirmed dead, and that number is only expected to rise. four major fires are currently burning across the island. they're being fueled by dry conditions and strong winds caused by a passing hurricane. the fires have destroyed historic buildings and homes and reduced much of the town of lahaina to ruins. officials estimate it will take years and cost potentially billions of dollars to rebuild. governor josh green is calling this the worst natural disaster in state history. >> what we've seen today has been catastrophic, but we tell you there's going to be a team effort to bring our state back. what we saw was the utter devastation of lahaina. >> president biden has approved a federal disaster declaration and ordered federal aid to affected areas. we will have much more on this story a little later in the show. we turn now to the latest indictment of donald trump where prosecutors have proposed a start date for his trial on charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. in a filing yesterday special counsel jack smith's office asked judge tanya chutkan to order the trial for january 2, 2024, to, quote, vindicate the public's strong interest in a speedy trial, an interest guaranteed by the constitution. trump's lawyers, however, have argued that it's the defendant who is guaranteed the right to a speedy trial. and in this case one of those would not benefit their client. they now have until next thursday to propose their own start date, which we all assume will be likely to hit after the 2024 election. judge chutkan is expected to make her final decision before a hearing currently scheduled for august 28th. if the january 2nd date is granted the trial would pull trump off the campaign trail shortly before the iowa caucuses, which are set to be held not even two weeks later. their date, january 15th. that's the same day a separate trump trial is set to begin where he is accused of defaming the writer e. jean carroll. on social media last night trump blasted smith writing this. "only on out of touch lunatic would ask for such a date one day into the new year." trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. before a trial date is set, however, both sides are due back in court today for a hearing on a protective order requested by prosecutors. at 10:00 this morning attorneys from both sides will appear before judge chutkan to discuss what evidence trump is given access to. last week smith's office asked the judge to implement the order over concerns that the former president could influence the case by sharing sensitive evidence across social media. trump's attorneys have since sought to narrow the order's scope, claiming that the doj is trying to strip their client of his first amendment rights. since charges were announced, trump has regularly attacked smith, potential witnesses, and even judge chutkan herself on social media and in a series of campaign speeches. as result of her assignment to the case the judge's security detail has expanded. yesterday nbc news saw her being flanked by thr marshals inside the d.c. court house as she went to get a cup of coffee. joining us now former litigator and now an msnbc legal analyst, lisa rubin. lisa, great to see you again this morning. you will be in that courtroom for the 10:00 hearing. what are you expecting? >> i'm expecting, john, that judge chutkan is really going to make clear that this is her courtroom and that she has the right to make decisions about how this trial is conducted from start to finish. you have to ask yourself why is judge chutkan having this hearing at? she could have decided a protective order on the papers, and there are copious submissions from both sides indicating which way they want this protective order to go. i think judge chutkan has asked them to come in because she wants to make a few things clear on the record. one, this is not a silencing mechanism of donald trump with respect to his first amendment rights. this is just about evidence in the case and what about that evidence he can talk about. and then she also wants to make clear to his lawyers if he violates the terms of the order she is going to impose today, what those consequences are going to be. those are the sorts of things that might not leap off a page but certainly will be heard around the world when she says them in her courtroom today, john. >> and lisa, let's go back to the trial date now that was proposed by the department of justice, that january 2nd date, not even two weeks before the iowa caucus. what's your read the judge will grant prosecutors that date, or is she willing to take the prosecution's arguments in mind? >> you know, john, i probably think that not unlike judge aileen cannon in the southern district of florida, she's going to try to meet the parties in the middle, but it might not be the middle exactly. and in particular here the department of justice wants to start trial on january 2nd. that doesn't mean select a jury on january 2nd. they actually want to do jury selection before christmas starting on december 11th. my guess is she'll look for a time in the spring. manhattan d.a. alvin bragg earlier this month has signaled a willingness to forfeit his own march trial date in the manhattan d.a.'s hush money case in the event that the department of justice or others need a sooner trial date for crimes alleged against donald trump that are more serious. >> and we just showed that packed calender of trump's court dates. lisa rubin, thank you so much. we'll speak to you again on "morning joe" and you'll be at that 10:00 hearing today. much more ahead. meanwhile, we turn to this major headline. five americans imprisoned in iran have been placed under house arrest in the first planned steps that includes $6 billion of iranian assets currently blocked under sanctions. if the proposed agreement goes through iran will only be able to use those funds for humanitarian purposes. the new deal has been under negotiation for months with qatar and other governments acting as intermediaries. let's bring in nbc news senior executive director for national security david rhodes. he joins us here on set at 30 rock. this of course comes at a moment of what has been real tension between washington and iran. give us your sense as to how this deal came to be, and is it some sort of break through? >> protracted secret talks of brad mcgurk who's a diplomat had private talks in oman, and this is hopefully an effort that will decrease tensions. that's the positive side. the negative side is this $6 billion. it is restricted. this is iranian money that's been held in south korea that will be moved to the middle east, and it will only be used to buy food and medical supplies and other humanitarian things. there are restrictions on it, but critics have already said this is essentially a gigantic ransom payment, and the broader dynamic here is state hostage taking. that is governments iran, but russia, venezuela, and others essentially kidnapping innocent americans and holding them for years and years. >> and david, you of course have your own experience of being held. there's been some criticism as you say this is ransom payment. others in favor of this deal note it comes perhaps as a signal of an informal agreement between the two nation about iran's nuclear deal. donald trump when he was president he pulled out of that deal. the biden administration has not put it back together, but there's been some hopes tehran would cool their activities. what's your read of the big picture? >> that's a step forward, maybe less threats to shipping in the strait of hormuz which could affect oil prices. there's even reports iran isn't giving russia all the drones it wants to fight its war in ukraine. a key ethos of the hard liner regime is fighting the united states. it's part of their whole identity and their political future, i think. so i don't want to over -- you know, sound overly optimistic. and i want to speak again. yes, i'm biased as many years ago it was the taliban that took me, but there's got to be a coordinated attempt to shun worldwide any government that uses this practice. there's been a change under the trump administration and biden administration where a majority of americans essentially kidnapped and held hostage abroad it was extremist groups five or six years ago. now the majority is governments. that has to stop. this is just totally unacceptable. one of the released american has been held for nearly seven years in iranch it's been absolute torture for the families of these five americans, and this practice has to stop by these governments. >> that cannot be said enough. and of course there are other americans held around the world including wall street journal reporter evan gergs vch. what senator manchin is saying about possibly leaving the democratic party. we'll get into that. plus 2024 white house hopeful nikki haley signs the rnc's loyalty pledge but she made one small edit. those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. orts and weather when we come right back (christina) wanna know the secret ingredient to running my business? 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>> i'm doing well. the forecast looking bumpy for folks in parts of the midwest today and already a line of thunderstorms stretching across that region. this is just one part of the system going to work its way to the east. severe risk basically from missouri to minnesota, and we're talking large hail, strong winds. those are going to be the main threats with just a couple of tornados possible, too. as we get into tomorrow, your saturday plans across the north east could be interrupted by this system working farther to the east. those same kind of impacts with the wind and hail are going to be what you're most likely to see, but we have the localized heavy rains and flooding concerns could be out there, too. this will last at least through the afternoon and evening hours and another round for parts of the midwest as the tail end of that system works through that region and brings us some strong storms. by the time this is all said and done through the next couple of days and weekend picking up an inch or two, stretching doung to illinois. watch for the flooding concerns. this is the region across the southeast that could see flooding today. on top of that really warm temperatures once again. the south continuing to sizzle. triple digit temperatures from new orleans to midland texas and hit 104 today and these temperatures will continue at least through the weekend. i now also people have their eyes on maui, what's going on there. we've seen improved weather conditions for folks with the winds coming down, but of course they need rain, too. angie, lassman, thank you. have a good weekend. still ahead here on "way too early," house oversight committee chairman james comer vows to escalate his investigation into the biden family including a possible subpoena for the president himself. we'll show you his new comments next. his new comments next dryness and frizz that keeps coming back, could be damaged hair that can't retain moisture. you need pantene's miracle rescue deep conditioner. it's filled with pro-vitamins to help hair lock in moisture, visibly repairing six months of damage in just one use, with no weigh-down. guaranteed, or your money back. for hair that looks healthy and stays healthy. if you know, you know it's pantene. hi, i'm katie. i live in flagstaff, arizona. i'm an older student. i'm getting my doctorate in clinical psychology. i do a lot of hiking and kayaking. i needed something to help me gain clarity. so i was in the pharmacy and i saw a display of prevagen and i asked the pharmacist about it. i started taking prevagen and i noticed that i had more cognitive clarity. memory is better. it's been about two years now and it's working for me. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. 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um, it's 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 to "way too early." it is just about 5:30 a.m. on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. house republicans on the oversight committee determined to go after president biden are leveling a new threat. plans subpoena members of the biden family potentially including the president himself. here's committee chair republican james comer of kentucky. >> this is always going to end with the bidens coming in front of the committee. we are going subpoena the family. we're putting the case together to win in court. obviously with all the opposition and obstruction we're getting from the biden attorneys now, we know this is going to end up in court when we subpoena the bidens. so we're putting together a case. >> congressman comer released a third memo on wednesday detailing bank records showing that hunter biden and his associates received millions of dollars from foreign entities while his father was vice president. now, let's be clear that's a fact that has been known for years. and nowhere in the bank records is there any indication and certainly not proof that president biden was involved in any of these transactions, something that the white house and congressional democrats have repeatedly pointed out. what's more, president biden has said he was never involved in his son's business dealings and never communicated with his son or his associates about business. and then yesterday on fox news republican congressman nick langworthy of new york state, also a member of the house oversight committee essentially admitted he and his gop colleagues have absolutely no evidence to prove their claims that the president was involved in his son's business dealings with foreign nationals, which directly refutes congressman comer's allegations. take a look. >> despite nearly two years now of an investigation into the president's son while you have certainly unearthed a trove of evidence that the committee says proves the president's association, there has not been produced a smoking gun, clear-cut undeniable proof of the president's involvement with his son's foreign business deals. what do you say to that? >> well, we've never claimed that we have direct money going to the president, but many members of his family have received money from foreign governments, and this is something that is very important for the american people to know. >> i want to follow up on the point you made a moment ago, which is you said we never claimed that any money was funneled directly to the president. that is precisely the claim that the chairman of your committee, james comer, and also jim jordan have made many times on the public record and on this network. >> we're putting an investigation together laying out the facts between the business dealings of this family. we're going to continue the investigation. i believe impeachment inquiry would give us more tools to get the job done. >> joining us now to talk about this, political reporter for axios. steph, good morning. i know you've been following all this closely for weeks. we appreciate your effort. so what's the latest here from these republicans? we just heard some mixed messaging there. it is an unrelenting crusade to the biden family and i think most or even some democrats would acknowledge hunter biden's practices unseemly but no evidence just yet. what are the next steps? are we actually going to see subpoenas? >> i thought it was striking hearing comer saying this was always going to end with the biden family testifying before the committee. comer has been aggressive in all these investigations from the very beginning and again saying he plans subpoena biden family members i don't think is especially surprising, but you raise a good point where the past few weeks have certainly been rough for hunter biden and there have been, you know, clear examples of ways he tried to leverage his own family's last name, tried to portray an illusion of accesses, the word his former business partner devin archer used, but we haven't seen such a clear tie to biden yet. and of course we're hearing comer and other republicans trying to say, well, we don't need an exact payment, a record showing payment to biden himself, we can prove corruption otherwise. i think you're going to see them try to prove that by saying biden knew what his son was doing and was involved, but there's no clear proof yet. >> steph, assuming no actual evidence emerges, it doesn't seem that's going to dissuade republicans from keeping this going. the goal seems to be to muddy the waters and have the false equivalency with president trump creating a mirage here for the bidens. are there some republicans think that could backfire, americans could see through that and potentially punish them at the ballot box next year? >> certainly once we get into the territory of impeachment inquiry and impeachment vote that's when we're going to see moderate republicans start to balk about going that far. we're already starting to hear moderate republicans say maybe they shouldn't go so far as impeachment, they want clear evidence. but there is still quite a few republicans in the house who are willing to pursue an impeachment inquiry. at the very least this is something speaker mccarthy has already been hinting at, pointing to some of the evidence comer and his committee have already produced when it comes to hunter biden and joe biden's, you know, conversation about business in the past. >> we appreciate that. and before we let you go, we'll just mention you've got a new piece on axios about the federal election commission getting involved with campaigns using a.i. we encourage viewers to check that out. coming up we'll turn to cnbc for the morning's business headlines and some insight on the markets which are still reacting to ye to 50 years with my best friend and my soulmate. 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opening up mixed and searching for direction. though we are watching out for other macro detail. we've got the ppi numbers for the month of july going to be monitored closely. in terms of earning season more than 90% of the s&p 500 companies have reported, so 80% of them have actually beaten expectations, though those expectations were low. >> let's turn to a couple other headlines. cnbc spoke with ex-ceo, i guess we call it ex and she changed it reason for changing twitter's branding logo and everything else. >> that's right. a very wide ranging interview with cnbc's sarah eisen. some of the highlights first of all when questioned whether she was influenced by elon musk she says she has completa tonomy in her job and she and elon musk's roles are very clear and divided. she said they're keeping a close eye on what meta is doing for threads although she emphasized for them it's so much more than just a social media platform. they plan on rolling out other services as well including odd co, video, banking, messaging. and she also said that advertisers have begun to return back to the platform. you'll remember a lot of advertisers. left. a cnn estimate was only 43% of advertisers have continued to pay for spaces on "x." she says she's been working with them to bring them back offering them brand safety tools and adjacency controls to help the brand feel comfortable on the site. >> two of america's largest luxury brands are merging. tell us about it. >> that's right. so tappestry has agreed to buy versace and michael khors for $8.5 billion. if you haven't heard of tapistry, they own coach. they said they would pay about a 60% premium to where the stock has averaged over the last couple months or so. no surprise we saw shares jumped. shares dropped around 13% yesterday in trading. ultimately what they're trying to do here is create competition with some of those european luxury powerhouses. they said the combined sales of these two units will be about $20 billion, but you've got to compare that with say lvmh who have had $79 billion in sales since 2022. a big catch-up to do. >> cnbc's joumanna bercetche, great to see you. have a wonderful weekend. still ahead here on "way too early," we're going to have more on the absolutely horrific wildfires in hawaii and take a look at how climate change may have fueled this disaster. we'll be right back with that. n. 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® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv this isn't charmin! no wonder i don't feel as clean. hurry up dad! you've been in there forever! i'm trying! this cheap stuff is too thin! i told you not to get the other toilet paper. here's charmin ultra strong. ahhh! my bottom's been saved! woooo! with its diamond weave texture, charmin ultra strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. what's everybody waiting for? this? ok hon, we know you're clean. we all go, why not enjoy the go with charmin. age is just a number, and mine's 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® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv we turn back now to the deadly wildfires in hawaii. at least 55 people have been killed in the fires, and that number is expected to keep rising. the fires started burning earlier this week, and experts say that climate change is no doubt partially to blame. hawaii is defined by its lush vegetation, but in the last few weeks the island of maui has been unusually dry. according to the u.s. drought monitor almost 16% of the island is in what is considered a severe drought right now. at started experiencing long-term decline in average annual rainfall decades ago, which experts believe is caused in part by rising global temperatures. joining us now climate reporter for "the messenger," dave levineten. good to see you again. let's talk about the role climate change appears to have played here in hawaii in terms of conditions on the ground. we mentioned the drought but also the hurricane that came through. give us a sense to what happened. >> thanks very much for having me. so, yeah, there's a few things at work here that climate change is at least partially a part of. one as you said declining rainfall is a big issue here, and that is at least partially related to clouds getter thinner as temperatures rise. thinner clouds means less precipitation, means you have a more likely chance for dryer conditions that we have seen in maui recently. and obviously hurricanes as well are sort of getting juiced a little bit by warmer ocean temperatures, so the hurricane that is actually hundreds of miles away but is probable fanning the flames is of course related to the changing climate. basically everything we're seeing is happening in a changed world, so the baselines are just sort of shifted, and that means you're much more likely to get these very dry, very dangerous conditions that we have seen to create these as you said absolutely horrific fires. >> and the speed of this fire is hard to even fathom and overtaking people in just minutes in their homes, their cars, some folks even jumping into the ocean to escape. dave warb we're not just seeing the effects of climate change in hawaii. we've seen it all summer long on the mainland. the south is dealing with record breaking heat, and of course there's study after study that suggests the planet has never been hotter than right now. tell us more. >> so the month of july was the hottest recorded month in human history and likely the hottest month in tens or even hundreds of thousands of years and that's because july is the warmest month of the year, and this was the warmest july that we have ever seen. and that has manifested in heat waves in a number of places including, of course, across much of the southern southwestern u.s. including europe and china and elsewhere. some scientists recently basically found those heat waves especially in europe and the u.s. would have been essentially impossible without the influence of climate change. so what that means is we have created a world where a heat wave that could not have happened before is now relatively likely is going to happen more and more. and obviously those heat waves carry a lot of danger for vulnerable people, for the elderly, for people who work outside, and we have seen quite a lot of really harsh conditions in particular in texas and arizona and in other parts of the south as well. >> and dave, real quick, last one. is there an expectation here on the eve of hurricane season that we could have the capacity for -- the potential for a series of really deadly yeah, j actually, noaa, the national oceanic and atmospheric association revised their projection for the atlantic hurricane the season started june 1st and runs through september, october, but they adjusted it upward because of the extreme temperatures we are seeing. people may have heard of hot water in the atlantic. hurricanes are fueled by warmer ocean temperatures, so these storms as they cross the atlantic, if they're going over, you know, very, very warm water, that can make storms, you know, much stronger and faster. there is a chance. obviously, it is difficult to predict specific hurricanes and the tracks they take, but there is a chance we will see some very strong storms because of that warmer water thanks to climate change. >> yeah, we may have to brace ourselves. the biden administration is putting out climate change measures later today. it is an important topic. we'll stay on it. dave levitan, climate reporter for "the messenger," thank you for joining us this morning. up next on "way too early," president biden's push for another package for ukraine aid. and coming up on "morning joe," we'll hear from john kirby about that, as well as the proposed deal to free five americans who have been imprisoned in iran. plus, exclusive reporting on the fraught relationship between the white house and senator joe manchin, as the west virginia democrat considers leaving his party. also ahead, a live look from the federal courthouse in washington, d.c., ahead of today's hearing on a proposed protective order in the election case against donald trump. 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(vo) for a limited time get nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a free samsung galaxy z flip5. only on verizon. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand for a better night sleep. so now, he wakes up feeling like himself. the reigning family room middle-weight champion. better days start with zzzquil nights. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose neuriva plus. unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supporting 6 key indicators of brain health. to help keep me sharp. neuriva: think bigger. welcome back. president joe biden has asked congress to include $24 billion in additional aid for ukraine as part of a new $40 billion spending package. over $13 billion of that money would go towards military aid with $8.5 million marked for economic and humanitarian assistance. according to "the new york times," this is the first time that the president has asked for more ukraine aid since the republicans took over the house. the previous packages had already been approved. this one seems a little more in doubt. let's dive into it with the co-author of that reporting, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times," peter baker. great to see you. the grumblings from republicans have only increased in recent months. some, like minority leader mcconnell, is pushing for it, saying, look, "we have to keep funding them." others are saying that it is time to drawdown. preview for us these negotiations. >> yeah, so, obviously, this is an important moment in the war. because our allies are looking to see what the united states is going to do in this era, and putin, we think, is looking at the united states and thinking whether he can wait it out. so biden is going to congress and saying, "fine, if you support, you know, the war against ukraine, war against russia -- excuse me -- this is your moment to say so." last month, 70 house republicans voted to strip all funding from ukraine. that's 70 out of a caucus of 220, you know, something like that, right? it's about a third. it's not obviously a majority of the republican caucus, not a majority of the house. if you get this funding bill to the floor of the house, you're likely to get it passed. the question is whether you can get it to the floor and, if so, what kind of leverage conservatives will ask in compensation, effectively. they want more money for border enforcement. they want more money for something else. so this is the beginning of an interesting dance to see both how the president handles this and how these house republicans handle this, given the opposition that's growing within their party to more aid for ukraine. >> this comes, of course, as there is some building anxiety as to just how slow, at least so far, ukraine's counteroffensive has done. peter, certainly, the president and his team, eyes not just on ukraine but on china. you have new report on the white house's investment with china's sensitive high-tech industries. >> yes, it'd ban u.s. investment inintelligence, semiconductors, and -- i'm blanking on the third one. >> something else. keep going, yeah. >> the three critical areas that are meant to help beijing's military modernization. they do not want the united states to be helping that. we already ban exports in these areas. china's government is saying we don't want american money and know-how going there either. this is an important moment. china feels the united states is trying to contain them, trying to strangle their growth, as they see it. the biden administration is emphasizing, no, this is a narrowly tailored order. it is about national security, not economics. you're hearing a lot of industries saying, "we're in support of the fact the government has been consulting with us on this." some republicans think the biden administration is not going far enough, should be more aggressive about trying to cut off some of these financial flows to china. >> peter, take a step back for us, please, big picture here at the political scene at home. president biden just returned from a trip out west, you know, on a number of issues, climate change, national parks, economics. it is clear that his white house is trying to draw such a contrast. doing the people's business, setting up against trump, racing from legal matter to legal matter, court dates on the horizon. talk about this moment in the presidency. >> quantum computing is the third area, it came to me. >> nailed it. >> you see a contrast this week. the president would like everybody to think that he is focused on the people's business, while the former president is busy, consumed with this court date and that court date. we've already seen two trials set, two criminal trials set, and a third one about to be set, as we talked about earlier in the program. the president would like people to focus on his success as he sees it in turns things around. covid is down. inflation is down. unemployment is near record lows. they would like americans to feel, you know, that progress and translate into political support. so far, the one number that hasn't changed much for the president is his own approval rating. that is something to watch. >> yeah, certainly, we're many months before voters go to the polls, but, you know, i think the white house happy to let donald trump take up much of the oxygen for now. they're trying to tell that economic story. great stuff, as always. chief white house correspondent at "the new york times," peter baker, have a great weekend. thank you for getting up "way too early" on this friday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. crooked joe wants this prosecutor, the deranged guy, to take away my first amendment right so i can't speak. listen to this, we don't want you to speak about the case. i'll talk about it, i will. they're not talking about my first amendment right. >> welcome to "morning joe." big donnie is right. they're not going to take away the first amendment right, anybody's first amendment right. he just can't threaten people. i mean, we'll kind of get into all of that in a second. great to have you here on "morning joe." that was trump again promising the crowd in new hampshire he's going to keep talking about federal charges that he is facing in the 2020 election case, including, i guess,