have been hit the hardest. this is the first earthquake of such magnitude to hit the area in more than 100 years. let's go right to nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. what do we know about the efforts that are underway? >> yes so far we are seeing local authorities and the military trying to bring people out of the wreckage. as you, said the death toll is now at 8000. it was only a couple hours ago the death toll is at 800. a couple hours before it was at 600. as you know from the earthquake that happened in turkey back in february, they have a way of climbing very high after rescue workers are able to get in and extracting dead bodies. that's when we start to see these numbers going up and up. as you mentioned this is a 6.8 magnitude earthquake according to the geological survey. that is the strongest earthquake to strike this country and 123 years. as you mentioned, this was in the high atlas mountains. about 50 miles away from the historic city america. there was some damage to the center. this earthquake was so strong it was felt throughout the entire country. that is why we are starting to see so much of an increase in the death toll. the problem, is this region of morocco is quite remote, as you mentioned. the whole neighborhood has been flattened. and that is because the housing there just was not prepared for the magnitude earthquake of this size. we are starting to see it. we are seeing from the survey. there is homes built from adobe bricks. other reinforced concrete. it's not really a good prescription for withstanding an earthquake of this magnitude. that's why we're seeing the numbers escalating. they're going to be going up as the days go on. as the rescuer goes on. hopefully it will be like here in turkey. i was here back in february where we saw the astonishing site of people being brought out of their homes five, six, seven days buried alive but survived. that is the kind of -- we are going to be hearing of death and family members [inaudible] >> math we will check in with you a little later on. let us know. matt bradley covering the earthquake. in fulton county -- others were indicted on criminal racketeering charges. we begin with brand-new developments in the cascade of legal actions there in the last 48 hours. just late last, night a judge denied mark meadows motion to remove his case from state court to federal court. this is an early and major loss for trump's former white house chief of staff who try to make the argument that the actions for which he has been criminally charged were performed under his role as a federal official. that's part of donald trump's official campaign or his subsequent campaign to deny the election and stay in office despite knowing he lost. that argument was rejected by the judge who wrote in his opinion, quote, in light of the states evidence that meadows undertook actions on behalf of the campaign during the time period of the alleged conspiracy, meadows was required to come forward with competent proof of his factual contention that his actions involving challenges to the outcome of georgia's presidential election results where within his role as chief of staff. his efforts fall short. late last night, meadows filed notice that he will appeal the decision of the 11th circuit court of appeals. the question is still alive one. it could ultimately affect other defendants in the case. for others, jeffrey clark, david schaffer, sean still and cathy latham have filed the same motion to remove their cases to federal court. donald trump's lawyers notify the court this week that they may seek to do the same thing in coming days. the judge and meadows case wrote that this decision does not affect the other defendants efforts. the failure of his case does not bode well for him. that's because some legal experts believe that meadows, as the then chief of staff to the president of the united states had the strongest argument for removing the case to federal court. meanwhile, a newly unsealed grand jury reports sheds some more light on the sweeping nature of trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. 19 people, as i, said were indicted in the criminal racketeering case brought by fulton county district attorney fani willis last month. as we are learning, the special grand jury that investigated the election interference identified and recommended twice as many people for indictment. in its final report, members of the grand jury recommended that 21 additional individuals face criminal charges in the case. all of whom for one reason or another were not ultimately indicted by the prosecutors. the list of 21 individuals includes some bombshells and senator lindsey graham of south carolina as well as the former united states senators at the time kelly loeffler and david perdue are among those who the special grand jury are recommended for criminal charges. the national security adviser michael flynn who once pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with the russian ambassador was ultimately pardoned by trump was also on the list. as was borscht abstain, a trump aide who remains a close adviser to the president and the grand jury recommended the indictment of the current lieutenant governor bert jones who participated as one of the states 16 fake electors. a judge however blocked fani willis from investigating jones because of a conflict of interest because willis had hosted a fund-raiser a -- state agency has said it plans to appoint a special prosecutor to determine if bert ajou nze should face charges. graham, loeffler, and flint have all denied wrongdoing in response to the special grand jury's report. epstein has declined comment while purdue and jones have not come out with any public statements yet. the names are not particularly surprising, since all the people are known to be hard-core trump acolytes who were openly doing the former president's bidding. they weren't charged in the end. the inclusion in the final report reflects the widespread efforts of donald trump's desperate and anti-democratic attempts to cling to power. a point was emphasized by the january six committee's own investigations. let's put this into perspective. these were senators and elected officials and white house aides who were exposed to criminal charges due to their associations with a failed and disgraced former. president and in turn, the reputations and legacies have been damaged. all because of their blind loyalty to one man. joining me now is -- senior official reporter for politico, and fred smith junior, professor of law at emory university in atlanta, georgia. gentlemen, thank you for being with us. let's start with you, -- mark meadows who wanted his case moved from federal court to georgia court. why he wanted to do it, and what his case was for doing it? >> sure, federal officials who are actually conducting federal business cannot be tried and charged in state court for committing a crime. that's as long as they were in official duties. and so long as they've had a federal defense that they could launch. hear what the judge found, judge jones, he found that although mark meadows was a federal official at the time this took place, he was not conducting official government business at the time that he was working to overturn the election. part of the judges revisiting hinges on the hatch act. which itself states that when individuals are engaged with official federal business, they can't be engaged in political activities. so to the extent that mark meadows was engaged in political activities, that was beyond the scope of his office. >> and josh, i'm not a lawyer so i don't want to say the case was weak, but i have the indictments in front of me. and they discuss the things in there that mark meadows did that seem well beyond the scope of anything that would be done by the chief of staff. however, the judge in the case had put out a question to lawyers, and said if there's even one thing that he actually did that was part of his official duties, for which he is charged, would that be enough to move this to federal court. either the judge was convinced that no it would not be, or that know everything he's alleged to have done was not chief of staff level. >> that's right, i sat through the all day hearing last week down there in atlanta, where meadows's lawyers made their case. and fani willis as prosecutors did their rebuttal. meadows argument was very, very broad in terms of what qualified as part of his official duties. he ended up arguing at the end of the day that anything capable of distracting president trump from his official duties was part of meadows's official duties to combat or nip in the bud. you can imagine with somebody like former president trump that things that could be distracting to him could pretty much be almost anything in the world. you know, anything insulting him as we know, it tends to drive him crazy. that would become an official duty of mark meadows to respond to that. it was a broad lay down from meadows inside. you're right in pointing to the crucial question here. in the ruling, the judge said he thought the charges did not involve what was at the heart of meadows's official duties. i think as this goes up on appeal, that will be the key question. was there any part of the indictment that was part of meadows is arguable official duties. i bet you will see appeals court judges, and perhaps even supreme court justices have to weigh in on that subject. >> fred, there are four other codefendants already making the same motion to have their case removed. donald trump may also do so himself. he suggested he might. putting aside donald trump, for the four other defendants, the argument i heard from legal experts is meadows's case was probably the best one. in other words, if someone was gonna get removed, it would be meadows. there are four other codefendants here, a harder case to make. some were claiming that they were federal officials because they were electors, but they were fake electors. evaluate that for me. >> sure, absolutely. native idris who filed a motion so far, meadows likely had the best case. the weakest case would certainly be the individuals who were not federal employees, and didn't have any official government role at all. the most analogous person it, just might be jeffrey clark. -- and judge jones's opinion would certainly seem to apply to him as well. including with respect to the hatch act. as you know, president trump's arguments may look different. undercurrent individuals who have filed motions, meadows had the strongest case. >> and jeff clark was a department of justice official, which is the argument that he is making. josh, the interesting thing about this is meadows presented his case forcefully and strongly. he's an affable guy. he was in there talking about all the things he allegedly did, but how it doesn't fit into this court. this was a case before the case. and he talked a lot. he gave a lot more testimony than a guy who might be actually be tried in this case. does not affect him? does that testimony carry over to the case? he did talk a lot about the things he did. >> yes, it's usually one of the last things a criminal defense attorney wants to have their client to. to go up on the witness stand a couple weeks into a case being filed, and lay out their version of the facts. and then be subject to cross-examination by the same prosecutors that are trying to put that defendant in jail. but that's exactly what mark meadows did. i think it means that his lawyers thought that this removal was the best possible vehicle for him to shut down or come that this prosecution. because we knew that if the case was moved to federal court, as professor smith said earlier, the next thing that would happen would be a motion saying that meadows was immune from federal, or immune from state prosecution because of his federal duties. and that they saw that as the card that they could play that would essentially shut down the case. so defense lawyers were willing to take the risk. the other thing to take into account ali is the central allegation here against meadows involves the recorded phone call. it's sort of difficult to dispute where there is a 62 minute audio recording of who said what. you can say what you meant, but you can't dispute what you said. >> that was a phone call that involve the georgia secretary of state. while he wasn't talking the same lingo that donald trump uses that sounds more modeled like, he was trying to implore the secretary of state to do something. fred, this ones for my parents were watching. they will say, there's a whole lot of grand jury's going on here. there is a special grand jury that made recommendations along time ago, then fani willis and her team decided who they were going to indict. they put this thing forward, and they put it to a regular grand jury, and that's what resulted in the indictment. the special grand jury ended up suggesting, or recommending, charges against 21 people who ultimately have not been charged, including, as we said, the united states senator and two former united states senators from georgia. lindsey graham is the existing united states senator. they were not charge, explain this please for our non legal audience, why they were recommended for charges that were not ultimately filed. >> one of the things that the prosecutor has to take into account here is what she will be able to persuade a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. what can she prove beyond a reasonable doubt? notably, with respect to some of the defendants who ultimately were not charged, the grand jury, the special grand jury was more split. one of the things that we can see in this report is how many of the special grand jurors recommended charges. and with respect to some of those defendants, there was a greater split. it's also, you just kind of look at the, sorry, we could go through all 21. we don't have time for that though. let's start with the first one, only the first one. cleo mitchell was on that famous phone call, but her language was different. she wasn't employing, she wasn't imploring, she wasn't telling official lies. and stead what she was saying was we have what we think to be this information. we would like more information from you so we can verify our information. this is a very different tone than the former president, who asked the secretary of state to find almost 12,000 votes. >> gentlemen, i appreciate your analysis. this is really helpful to create clarity for me. thank you on behalf of our audience. josh bernstein -- fort smith junior is a professor of law at emory university. by the, way of eventually gonna have to stop carrying these ones around. the ones i have printed and put together. you can catch a check out a fully bound addition of the trump indictments, the 91 criminal counts against former president of the united states. it has the four complete indictments against donald trump's on september the 25th. you can order it now if you would like. all, right up next, the latest on the legal threat to donald trump's presidential candidacy. i'll talk to the ceo of citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington. noah bookbinder, this organization is behind a lawsuit seeking to disqualify donald trump from the ballots on the basis of the 14th amendment to the constitution of the united states. the next hour i will be talking to this important woman, janet griswold, the secretary of state and colorado, which has emerged as the epicenter of that disqualification fight. disqualification fight. tions... ...because t-mobile helps pano ai innovate, so they can stop the spread of wildfires. now's the time to see what america's largest 5g network can do for your business. shingles. some describe it as pulsing electric shocks or sharp, stabbing pains. ♪♪ this painful, blistering rash can disrupt your life for weeks. a pain so intense, you could miss out on family time. the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside of you. if you're 50 years or older, ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles. to 50 years with my best friend and my soulmate. [sfx: spilling sound] [sfx: family gasp] nooo... aya... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and bounty is 2x more absorbent so you can use less and get the job done with one. you've got a bit of your face on your face. bounty, the quicker picker upper. 180... 180. hello patrick mahomes! who do you even play for? t-mobile! t-mobile has plans that make upgrades work for you. they even have a plan which makes you upgrade ready every year. that's good play calling. cheers! take charge of your upgrades with our best go5g plans at t-mobile. [ horns honking ] ♪ california love ♪ ♪ now let me welcome everybody to the wild wild west ♪ take charge of your upgrades ♪ a state that's untouchable like eliot ness ♪ ♪ say what you say, but give me that bomb beat from dre ♪ ♪ let me serenade the streets of l.a. ♪ ♪ from oakland to sac-town ♪ ♪ the bay area and back down ♪ ♪ cali is where they put their mack down, give me love! ♪ ♪ shake, shake it, baby ♪ ♪ shake it, cali ♪ ♪ oooooooooooh ♪ ♪ california love ♪ c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game? yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. every day, businesses everywhere are asking: is it possible? with comcast business... it is. is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address operations issues? we can help with that. can we provide health care virtually anywhere? we can help with that, too. is it possible to survey foot traffic across all of our locations? yeah! absolutely. with the advanced connectivity and intelligence of global secure networking from comcast business. >> all right, if you've been it's not just possible. it's happening. watching for the past month, he'll know we've been at the forefront of a conversation surrounding section three of the 14th amendment of the constitution. and donald trump's current in eligibility to hold the office of the president of the united states, or any office for that matter. a quick but important refresher. section three of the 14th amendment, ratified on july 9th, 1868, reads in part, quote, no person should be a senator or representative of congress, or elector of president and vice president, or hold any office, civil or military, under the united states, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath to support the constitution of the united states, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. donald trump having interacted, or incited an insurrection, and having tried to overturn the results of a free and fair election in violation of the constitution, and having given eight and comfort to those who had, is according to this constitution, ineligible to be president again. section three of the 14th amendment has been used to remove someone from office. although just one time since the immediate aftermath of the civil war. in september of 2022, following a lawsuit by a group of new mexico residents, coup weaker if, in the cofounder of a group called cowboys for trump, this guy right here, appropriately wearing a cowboy hat, was ordered removed from his position as general county commissioner buy a new mexico state court judge due to his participation in the january six insurrection. he was previously sentenced to 14 days in jail. the group of new mexico residents that brought that case were represented in part by citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington. that is a group you will know well. it is known as crew. in essence, that case was a proof of concept. that the 14th amendment was indeed enforceable in the modern era. as crew president noah bookbinder said after the ruling, quote, this decision makes clear that any current or former public officials who took and oath to defend the united states constitution, and then participated in the january six insurrection can and will be removed and barred from government service for their actions. now, a new case in colorado seems to build off the new mexico decision. a group of six colorado voters, also with the assistance of crew, have filed a lawsuit in state district tort in denver. seeking to order colorado secretary of state not to print donald trump's name on the states ballot based on the 14th amendment, section three. it's a case that legendary constitutional law professor, laurence tribe says, is quote the strongest of the suits. let me see where it is. the strongest of the suits filed to compound secretary of state to apply the 14th amendment disqualification clause to trump. the six plaintiffs clearly have standing under colorado law, an ironclad legal and factual research backing up their complaint. all right, the key word here, standing. it means that the people bringing the lawsuit have to prove that they would be harmed in some way if the case is not addressed. lawrence tribe, and the retired conservative federal judge, jay michael luttig, are two of the two most respected legal minds of our time, especially considering the constitution. -- both right here on velshi, three weeks ago, and an important -- and an article published at the atlantic at the very same time. now reacting to the lawsuit, colorado secretary of state, janet griswold who is joining me in the next hour says that she is quote, hopeful that this case will provide guidance to election officials on trump's eligibility as a candidate for office. after the break, i'm joined by the president and ceo of crew, noah bookbinder. noah bookbinr.de and i'm a fitness instructor. i saw myself in a photograph. and we were all smiling, and i looked closer, and i was like that- that's what everybody sees? i'm back, and i got botox® cosmetic. the lines were so prominent it's all i saw in the photograph, so now when i take photos, and i see myself in photos, its- it's me, i just have fewer lines. botox® cosmetic is fda-approved to temporarily make frown lines, crow's feet, and forehead lines look better. the effects of botox® cosmetic may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness may be a sign of a life-threatening condition. do not receive botox® cosmetic if you have a skin infection. side effects may include allergic reactions, injection site pain, headache, eyebrow, eyelid drooping, and eyelid swelling. tell your doctor about your medical history. muscle or nerve conditions, and medications including botulinum toxins. as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. see for yourself at botoxcosmetic.com ♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪ (fan #1) there ya go! that's what i'm talkin' about! so researchers can help life underwater flourish. (josh allen) is this your plan to watch the game today? (hero fan) uh, yea. i have to watch my neighbors' nfl sunday ticket. (josh allen) it's not your best plan. but you know what is? myplan from verizon. switch now and they'll give you nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv, on them. (hero fan) this plan is amazing! (josh allen) another amazing plan, backing away from here very slowly. (fan #1) that was josh allen. (fan #2) mmhm. (vo) football season is here. get nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a free samsung galaxy z flip5. only on verizon. meet the team... behind the team. the coach. the manager. and the snack dad. all using chase to keep up with their finances. the coach helps save goals here, because she saved for soccer camp there. anddd check this out... the manager deposited a check. magic. and the snack dad? he's getting paid back. orange slicesss. because this team all has chase. smart bankers. convenient tools. one bank with the power of both. chase. make more of what's yours. >> joining me now is one of the people being the 14th amendment lawsuit in colorado, no bookbinder, the president and ceo nonprofit organization, citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington. also known as crew. he's a formal federal production prosecutor. thank you for being with us. i was trying to do justice to this conversation with that, that introduction that we just did. i guess, i see good faith discussions going on on twitter between people who would like to see the 14th amendment used to keep donald trump off the ballot who are arguing about whether or not the underlying offense of insurrection, or giving aid and comfort to insurrectionists is proven or not. whether it has to be proved or not. some people say, there was an impeachment. yeah there is a january six commission. but these trials have not been heard yet. so tell me about that first of all. what does the constitution say or suggest as it results to proving donald trump actually violated section three of the 14th amendment? >> so it is important to note that if we look at the cases in which people have been disqualified, under section three of the 14th amendment. that includes the griffin case last year that we talked about. as well as a number of cases from the aftermath of the civil war. there's not a single one in which one of those officials was charged with, or convicted of insurrection. so the case in fact in all of those cases is quite clear, that you don't need criminal charges. you don't need a criminal conviction. this is a separate thing. in fact, you know, we are not seeking criminal punishment in this lawsuit. what we are seeking is really to establish a qualification for office. just as if a 23-year-old ran for president, you could go and challenge them, and say you know, the constitution says you have to be 35. this person isn't 35. they need to be disqualified. and because that is the con of -- that we're seeking, it's a different standard of proof. it has to be proven by a preponderance of evidence. not beyond a reasonable doubt that you would need in a criminal case. and, you know, we add crew wrote a comprehensive report. we have since seen comprehensive articles from leading conservative scholars, -- and paulson. professor tribe -- evidence is overwhelming way past, that preponderance of the evidence standard that donald trump needs the elements that we will need to show to establish that he engaged in insurrection. >> this is important takeaway, i'm not born in america, i can constitutionally run for president. that's not a punishment, that is just a rule, by the constitution. i think that's an important point. the other big issue is standing. donald trump is now trying to move this case from colorado state court to federal court. this is important, because at the end of august, and obama appointed federal judge rejected a similar case that was brought in florida against on a trump. ruling that the injuries the plaintiffs tried to claim were not valid. and more importantly, quote, an individual citizen does not have standing the challenge whether another individual is qualified to hold public office, and quote. can you shed some light on that for us? >> yes. so, first of all, some updates. last night we moved on behalf of our clients, plaintiffs in colorado, to demand the case back to -- it is my understanding, and you know, things are moving quickly. but it is my understanding that donald trump's attorneys have actually conceded that this case does need to go back to colorado state court. and what's important here, distinct from that florida case, is that colorado has state law that says that voters who are, who would be voting for this candidate, so in this case, this would be for the republican primaries. that would be republican and on affiliated colorado voters, have the right to go to court and challenge, challenge to remove from the ballot somebody who is unqualified. so there is a specific law in colorado that says you can do this. it says these particular people, this particular kind of person can do it. that's ten stand in colorado. that's what professor tribe was talking about. that is a different thing from somebody just going to federal court and just saying, i believe this person should be disqualified under the constitution so i want them removed. this is under a specific law that says you can do it in this particular way. >> noah, thank you as always for giving us clarity on this. this is a tough one for people to get their heads around. i appreciate your analysis that you're providing. no bookbinder is the president and ceo for citizens for responsibility at ethics in washington crew. i will continue this conversation next hour with the colorado secretary of state -- and tomorrow i'm joined by this man. the legendary constitutional law professor, laurence tribe, who helped bring forth this 14th amendment argument. more velshi up next. velshi up next. (woman) it is high. whenever you are ready. (man) are there any snakes? (woman) nope. (man) are you sure? here we go! (vo) it's time to push your limits. (man) okay. (woman) you're doing great! (man) oh, is that a buffalo? (woman) babe, that's a cow. (vo) the all-new subaru crosstrek wilderness. adventure on the edge. j.p. morgan wealth management knows it's easy to get lost in investment research. get help with j.p morgan personal advisors. hey, david! ready to get started? work with advisors who create a plan with you, and help you find the right investments. so great getting to know you, let's take a look at your new investment plan. ok, great! this should have you moving in the right direction. thanks jen. get ongoing advice; and manage your investments in the chase mobile app. 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 that's me before dawn powerwash. [sigh] now, powerwash gives me the power of an overnight soak in minutes. with 3 cleaning boosters... not found in traditional dish soaps that help break down, loosen and lift away food and grease... so much faster! a bend with a bump in your erection might be painful, embarassing, difficult to talk about, and could be peyronie's disease or pd, a real medical condition that urologists can diagnose and have been treating for more than 8 years with xiaflex®, the only fda-approved nonsurgical treatment for appropriate men with pd. along with daily gentle penile stretching and straightening exercises, xiaflex has been proven to help gradually reduce the bend. don't receive if the treatment area involves your urethra; or if you're allergic to any of the ingredients. may cause serious side effects, including: penile fracture or other serious injury during an erection and severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. seek help if you have any of these symptoms. do not have any sexual activity during and for at least 4 weeks after each treatment cycle. sudden back pain reactions and fainting can happen after treatment. tell your doctor if you have a bleeding condition or take blood thinners as risk of bleeding or bruising at the treatment site is increased. join the tens of thousands of men who've been prescribed xiaflex. make an appointment with a xiaflex-trained urologist. visit bentcarrot.com to find one today. >> have you listened and subscribe to the velshi banned book club podcast? every episode looks at an important topic through the lens of literature. this week is no different. or discussing a very real fear for just about every person in this country. something that can feel inescapable and relentless. i'm talking about school shootings. this week's episode features bestselling author jodi peco on her new book, or not her new book at all, but 19 minutes in the -- top straus are on his book, give a boy a gun. reading books like this can't stop-able, it but it can help with the wounds that we don't see, the emotional trauma that an entire generation of american children now carry with them. used a q r code on your screen to check out this week's new episode. and if you missed them, you can also go back and listen to the first three episodes featuring many wonderful authors, including the great margaret atwood. new episodes of the velshi banned book club podcast are available on thursdays wherever you get your podcasts. all right, up next, a major setback in an attempt to derail the massive corruption case against donald trump and 18 others. what the latest ruling could mean for donald trump himself. p himself. feel darkest before dawn. with caplyta, there's a chance to let in the lyte. caplyta is proven to deliver significant relief across bipolar depression. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders and weight gain were not common. call your doctor about sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants may increase these risks in young adults. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report fever, confusion, stiff or uncontrollable muscle movements which may be life threatening or permanent. these aren't all the serious side effects. caplyta can help you let in the lyte. ask your doctor about caplyta. find savings and support at caplyta.com. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ what do we always say, son? liberty mutual customizes your car insurance... so you only pay for what you need. that's my boy. now you get out there, and you make us proud, huh? ♪ bye, uncle limu. ♪ stay off the freeways! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ just between us, you know what's better than mopping? anything! ugh. well, i switched to swiffer wetjet, and it's awesome. it's an all-in-one, that absorbs dirt and grime deep inside. and it helps prevent streaks and haze. wetjet is so worth it. love it, or your money back. how can you sleep on such a firm setting? gab, mine is almost the same as yours. almost is just another word for not as good as mine. save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed. plus, free home delivery when you add an adjustable base. shop now only at sleep number. ♪i've got home internet from t-mobile.♪ ♪it only costs $50 bucks at t-mobile.♪ ♪just one cord to set up.♪ ♪say goodbye to that truck.♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful mornin'...♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful day...♪ ♪they won't raise your rates at t-mobile...♪ ♪you'll get a great deal every day!♪ home internet from t-mobile... just $50 bucks a month. the best advice i ever got hwas to invest with vanguard.. for my retirement. the second best? stay healthy enough to enjoy it. so i started preparing physically and financially. then you came along and made every mile worth it. hi mom. at vanguard you're more than just an investor, you're an owner. helping you prepare for today's longer retirement. that's the value of ownership. >> and what could be an ominous sign for former president donald trump, a judge on friday rejected a bid by the ex white house chief of staff, mark meadows, to transfer the georgia election interference case against him to federal court. meadows had unsuccessfully argued that the charges against him stemmed from his official duties as white house chief of staff, and that he was there for shielded by federal immunity, which protects government officials from legal liability for actions taken in the course of their job. but in this ruling, u.s. district judge steve jones stated the allegations against meadows, which stem from election subversion charges were primarily rooted in political activities, rather than his position as white house chief of staff. writing quote, the evidence before the court overwhelmingly suggests that meadows was not acting in his scope of executive branch duties during most of the overt acts alleged, and quote. remember, that most of the alleged acts. because that will be important. meadows lawyers quickly filed a notice to appeal last night. for other codefendants of the georgia case have also sought to move their cases to federal court. trump has not done so yet. but his lawyers have indicated that they may try. but this does not bode well for others. i'm joined now by lisa reuben, -- an msnbc political analyst for rnc chair and host of the michael steele podcast. welcome to both of you my friends. while this is fundamentally a legal matter, i'm going to start with you michael. because for non lower lawyers like me, who read the indictment, and read the things that mark meadows is alleged to have done, i think this judge had a lot of patients and asking for submissions and testimony and comment about whether or not mark federals might be -- because to me, the stuff mark meadows did was very political. it was not being the chief of staff to the president of the united states when he was on a phone call with brad raffensperger. he sent -- about the elector scheme. he happened to show up at a voting center. he claimed to just happened to be in atlanta. it's a bit of a smell of being political, not federal government employee stuff. >> it smells political because it is political. the judge knew, and the judge was cautious about it. he understands the political environment, his court is operating under it. he understands the political players in front of him as defendants. so he wanted to be methodical. he wanted to be clear in his approach to this, so that yes, there will be political backlash is, there always is. but at least you can look at his effort to give a mark meadows every defense, every opportunity to lay out and make the claim that he was acting as an official of the federal government of the united states. that's what he was on those phone calls. so it's very clear he was not. so the judge did it right. mark meadows recognizing the peril that he is in, was trying to get it to a more favorable venue for him getting it out of washington d.c.. the judge would have none of it. i think that to your point, i think that is something that the other lawyers representing other defendants now, including donald trump, they're looking at it and going, well we have to come up with a more creative argument. because, because a legal one isn't working. >> and lisa, you know, the judge cited the fact that there's not a lot of case log on this kind of thing. she's asked both sides to provide answers to questions he really wanted to take time, as you yourself told me, when i said at one point, why does he need this time to discuss, to decide this. you said he wants to read the transcript. like he really wants to understand everything here, because as michael said, he was going to face a great deal scrutiny. he made a point of saying that this judgment does not apply to anybody else who is seeking to move their case to federal court. however, others have said this doesn't bode well for the other people seeking to remove their case to federal court. tell me why. >> it doesn't. because there are two parts, if we go to legal land for a second, there's part of this set stems on legal intellectual analysis. that is something that will apply to anybody who makes this attempt. but there's another part here that has to do with the facts. particular to mark meadows, and in particular, when you are claiming that you have a right to move a federal court, as a former or current federal officer, the burden of proof is with you. obviously, in any criminal prosecution, the burden of proof rests with prosecutors. but where a defendant wants to change from state court to federal court, they bear the burden of proof. that's why mark meadows took the stand. there is a part of this opinion that has to do with the judge assessing mark meadows's testimony, and his credibility of that testimony. that was a very shrewd thing for him to do. one, because it protects him on appeal. it is much more difficult for a -- to say this district court judge made the wrong judgment when he was assessing the credibility about his testimony. but it is also a smart thing to do because it shows that he is going to take each of these applications one by one, and pay careful attention to the application of law to fact. >> which we are going to have to want to see. right? as citizens of the united states who believe in justice. we'll want to see that happen all the way through this case. both of you please stay here for a moment. i have to pay the bills, we'll be right back after this quick break on velshi. break on velshi. an improve your business however you see fit. rosie used part of her refund to build an outdoor patio. stop waiting. go to innovationrefunds.com clink! struggling with the highs and lows of bipolar 1? ask about vraylar. because you are greater than your bipolar 1, and you can help take control of your symptoms - with vraylar. some medicines only treat the lows or highs. vraylar treats depressive, acute manic, and mixed episodes of bipolar 1 in adults. proven, full-spectrum relief for all bipolar 1 symptoms. and in vraylar clinical studies, most saw no substantial impact on weight. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. report fever, stiff muscles or confusion which may mean a life-threatening reaction, or uncontrollable muscle movements which may be permanent. high blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death, weight gain and high cholesterol may occur. movement dysfunction and restlessness are common side effects. sleepiness and stomach issues are also common. side effects may not appear for several weeks. ask about vraylar and learn how abbvie could help you save. - the will states that mr. marbles will receive everything he needs in perpetuity. thanks to autoship from chewy. - i always love that old man. - and he gets the summer house. - what? - [narrator] save more on what they love and never run out with autoship from chewy. (fan #1) there ya go! that's what i'm talkin' about! - [narrator] save more on what they love (josh allen) is this your plan to watch the game today? (hero fan) uh, yea. i have to watch my neighbors' nfl sunday ticket. (josh allen) it's not your best plan. but you know what is? myplan from verizon. switch now and they'll give you nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv, on them. (hero fan) this plan is amazing! (josh allen) another amazing plan, backing away from here very slowly. (fan #1) that was josh allen. (fan #2) mmhm. (vo) football season is here. get nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a free samsung galaxy z flip5. only on verizon. ♪ did you know 80% of women are struggling with hair damage? 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. >> all right back with msnbc legal analyst, lisa rubin, -- michael steele. michael, we sometimes have you on because your former rnc chair, because you're conservative, you were, or maybe are republican. >> i am. >> here's the part that i want to ask you about, you are the lieutenant governor of maryland. you understand a lot about how government works, and how being elected official, or a government employee is different from being a campaign or. of the other people, to four other people who have who are moving to have their cases taken out of georgia court to federal court, three of them have, in my non-legal opinion zero standing. they were fake electors, pretending to do something. jeffrey clark is intriguing to me. he was an employee of the department of justice. up to no good, but he has, he is making the case that i was actually doing government work. >> well he is full of it. because, you're right, he wasn't doing government work. there was no government work involved here. this was in the back end of a hotly contested presidential campaign. campaign. donald trump, he wasn't running you know, not an operation inside the government to secure the rights for fill in the blank, or to negotiate a deal with our allies abroad. there was no, no nexus to the state department, or other government agencies who would be involved in this. this was a straight a political contest in which the president wanted to use the authority, power, and instruments of the government to get his way. and others who were inside, all those other, even mark meadows, these government officials, the moment that they picked up the phone, and called brad raffensperger, in my humble opinion, they were in violation of the hatch act. they did it on government property, with government property, having a political conversation. trying to change the outcome of a political campaign. so let's stop being stupid and getting caught in this face with these idiots. and believing, and pushing out their narratives. because they are flat out wrong. and we need to be honest about that, and stand up, and push back against the noises were making. they wanted to confuse the jury pool. this is all about the jury pools that will be put together over the next few months. this is not about anything other than that, so they can get that one juror, when trump's name comes up, and say no, he's not guilty. the whole thing falls apart. >> lisa, there's a whole separate thing going on right now with jim jordan, the house judiciary committee, who is trying to get fani willis investigated, or get information from her. fani willis has written back to jim jordan, accusing him of bullying, -- because he asked her to turn over all the documents related to her prosecution of donald trump. in a letter to jordan, and her letter read, there's absolutely no support for congress purporting to second guess, or somehow supervise an ongoing criminal investigation in prosecution. that violation of georgia sovereignty is offensive and will not stand. your letter makes clear that you lack basic understanding of the law. it's practice, and the ethical obligations of attorney general, and prosecutor specifically. i want to remind people, district attorneys are elected. so tallied, just put this in context here. jim jordan and the republican congress are trying to intimidate fani willis in her prosecution. >> that's right. under the guise of congressional oversight, they have tried to interfere, not only with fani willis's prosecution of donald trump, but also with alvin bragg's prosecution. and the tenuous nexus that they are drawing to their authority, as federal officials, is the power of the purse. they're saying to both of these offices, you receive grants that we appropriate to the department of justice. you receive grants from the department of justice and therefore we have some right of oversight. i thought, in some respects, the most powerful part of this letter isn't the rhetoric in the nine pages that fani willis wrote. but in an appendix where she goes through line by line all of the grants that the fulton county d.a.'s office gets from the department of justice. none of which have anything to do remotely with the prosecution that deals with trying to overturn the 2020 election in georgia. -- or ensuring violent crimes are effectively investigated and prosecuted. so jim jordan's attempt to exert oversight here hangs by a very thin line. funny what's was right to call him out on that in that very brutal service letter earlier this week. >> thank you to both of you. always good to have you two friends on the show. the legal analysts -- that's why go to when i have questions, michael steele is the former chairman -- and msnbc -- host of the michael steele show. former lieutenant governor of maryland, and lots of other good things, including helping me out what i have to be -- . straight ahead, we're digging into the unsealed georgia grand jury votes. especially the noticeable people who are recommended for indictment, but weren't ultimately indicted. and breaking news out of morocco, where 1000 people are dead following a rare earthquake overnight. another hour of velshi begins now. velshi begin now. >> good morning, a saturday september the 9th, i'm ali velshi. rescuers are what racing to locate any remaining survivors that shook marrakech last night. at least 1037 people are confirmed dead. more than 1000 others are injured following the rare 6.8 magnitude earthquake. it hit late friday night, the province of all house, approximately 40 miles from the historic city of marrakech. video shows severe damage from the villages in the mountains all the way to marrakech. buildings are toppled throughout the city. rescuers are struggling to reach the remote villages that have been hit the hardest. this is the first earthquake of this magnitude to hit this area in more than 100 years. i want to get right to my colleague, nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. matt, what do we know about the rescue efforts underway? we're still in thea