we'll get an update on the current state of the virus amid a rise in hospitalizations across the united states. good morning, and welcome to "way too early" on this wednesday, september 6th. i'm jonathan lemire, and thanks for starting your day with us. and we'll begin this morning with the stiffest punishment handed down so far for anyone involved in the january 6th capitol attack. enrique tarrio, the former national chairman of the proud boys, was sentenced to 22 years in prison following his conviction on a seditious conspiracy charge for playing a central role in the 2021 insurrection. his sentence is the longest so far, surpassing the 18 years given to oath keeper's founder stewart rhodes. now, prosecutors had sought a 33-year term for tarrio. wearing an orange jumpsuit, an emotional tarrio offered apologies to law enforcement and washington, d.c. residents for his involvement. he asked the judge to show mercy and vowed that he is done with politics. the judge timothy kelly said tarrio mobilized a group of 200 men amped up for the battle and circling the capitol. adding, quote, mr. tarrio was the ultmal leader, the ultimate person who organized and was motivated by revolutionary zeal. i don't have any indication he is remorseful for the actual things he was convicted of. tarrio's lawyers sought leniency, arguing their client was a, quote, misguided patriot who wasn't even at the capitol that day but in a baltimore hotel room watching the events unfold. here he is the night before the attack in a garage meeting with leaders of the oath keepers. tarrio was arrested about 48 hours before the attack because of his actions at a previous pro-trump event in washington. his sentence follows those of four other proud boys who received substantial prison terms though all far below what prosecutors originally wanted. so far about 1,100 people have been charged in connection with the capitol attack, and more than 300 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration. we go to georgia now on another legal matter where every single codefendant in the fulton county election interference case has now waived their arraignment appearance and has pleaded not guilty. the 19 codefendants were originally scheduled to be arraigned today, but that is no longer necessary. there will, however, be a separate hearing this afternoon to consider the requests of two defendants, kenneth chesebro and sidney powell, who are looking to sever their cases from the rest. a judge says he'll ask the state to estimate how long a trial for the whole group could take and how many witnesses they may call. both defendants have also requested a speedy trial and trying to move up their potential court dates. only chesebro has confirmed his trial to begin on october 23rd. several other codefendants are also requesting a separate trial. john eastman's attorneys argue they won't have enough time to prepare for an october trial date. david shafer's team is also looking to break off from the speedy trial group. meanwhile, chesebro's lawyers are looking to dismiss his rico charges all together citing the supremacy clause of the constitution. they argue that most of the charges against him apply to federal law and not georgia state law. this case of course being tried in state court. joining us now former assistant u.s. attorney for the district of columbia, glenn kirschner. he's also an nbc news and msnbc legal analyst. we're so grateful he's with us this morning to help us get through these headlines. glenn, good to see you. so let's start with enrique tarrio, the former proud boys leader who was given the longest january 6th sentence yet but still well below what prosecutors asked for. what's your analysis of this? why do you think the judge lowered the amount of time that tarrio will spend in prison? >> you know, jonathan, i will say i'm not only a former federal prosecutor, i'm an old army guy. and the way i read some of these sentences that are well-below, sometimes half of what the prosecutors are asking for, i think in part it's a recognition that there is somebody far more culpable above the field officers, the enrique tarrios leader of the proud boys, the eladminister elmer student rhodes. he says tarrio was the ultimate leader. he wasn't. the ultimate leader was donald trump. the field officers, the oath keepers, the proud boys and others did their nefarious best to stop the certification of joe biden's win, but they're just not the ultimate leaders. donald trump was in a very real sense sitting in a bunker on january 6th, the very well-appointed bunker, the dining room off the oval office. he was monitoring the field battle on tv. and when he saw a turn in the events with mike pence not having the courage to do what was necessary to keep donald trump in power, donald trump, the ultimate general, gave the order. he said he didn't have the courage to keep me in the oval office. there was one unmistakable message sent by that tweet. get him. and the field officers endeavored to do that. donald trump is the ultimate leader, and if enrique tarrio deserves 22 years in prison, donald trump deserves far more. >> 22 years, of course, still a substantial sentence. so let's turn to that man you deemed the ultimate leader, donald trump, and another one of the legal matters he faces which is georgia. and several of his codefendants there in fulton county are looking to separate their trials from the pack. two parter for you. do you think that will help them, and do you think that slows the whole process down which could be to trump's benefit? >> you know, almost every codefendant trial conspiracy case, rico case, defendants try to sort of peel away from the pack. they want a separate trial. why? because they don't want what we call presidential spill over. if you're a lesser player, for example, a fake elector, you probably don't want to be at defense council table with donald trump and mark meadows and sidney powell, rudy giuliani, john eastman, jeffrey clark, and some of the others. so it's not at all surprising they're beginning to try to peel away. there'll be really interesting to see what the judge does because there's a strong preference, jonathan, for joint trials when defendants are joined together in one indictment. so judge mcafee will have to decide how many defendants should go to trial in october. because as you mentioned chesebro has already made a speedy trial demand, so he has to go to trial in october. and how many will be able to convince the judge that they really do need more time to prepare, so even if they don't have a strong legal basis for a severance because motions to sever are rarely granted, they have a practical basis to be tried separately, a de facto severance and, you know, go to trial later. i suspect we may see two batches of defendants here, not one joint trial. >> terrific insight as ozfrom former assistant u.s. attorney for the district of columbia, glenn kirschner, who i'm certain we'll be speaking to again very soon. thank you, glenn. one more headline now new york attorney general letitia james is asking the state supreme court to sanction former president trump, his sons eric and don jr., as well as their lawyers. according to newly filed court records, james wants to impose the sanctions because trump's attorneys continue to raise what she calls the same frivolous legal arguments in fighting her $250 million civil fraud lawsuit. james argues that, quote, sophisticated defense counsel should have known better than to rehash previously rejected arguments. and she is calling for the court to impose a $20,000 fine. while trump's legal team has pushed to have the case dismissed, a trial is set to begin there in early october. still ahead here on "way too early," we'll bring you the latest on senate minority leader mitch mcconnell's condition after the capitol's attending physician put out a letter about mcconnell's health. plus, the united states issues a new warning to north korea amid an expected meeting between kim jong-un and russia's vladimir putin later this month. those stories, a check on sports and weather and the morning's other headlines when we come right back. r headlines when we e right back the citi custom cash® card a different kind of card that automatically adjusts to your spending earn 5% cash back on your top eligible spend category up to $500 spent each billing cycle learn more at citi.com/customcash (ella) fashion moves fast. setting trends is our business. we need to scale with customer demand... ...in real time. 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(vo) learn more. it's your vision, it's your verizon. want a smarter way to mop? introducing the new swiffer powermop. an all-in-one cleaning tool with a 360-degree swivel head that goes places a regular mop just can't. mop smarter with the new swiffer powermop. welcome back. with the senate's summer recess now over, minority leader mitch mcconnell is looking to quiet concerns about his health. on capitol hill yesterday the kentucky republican spoke on camera for the first time since he suffered an apparent medical episode last week. in his home state the 81-year-old mcconnell froze for nearly 30 seconds while taking questions from reporters. that, of course, followed a similar incident on capitol hill back in late july. yesterday mcconnell briefly addressed the situation. >> at one particular moment of my time back home has received its fair share of attention in the press over the past week, but i assure you august was a busy and productive month for me and my staff back in the commonwealth. >> mcconnell's office also released a letter from the capitol's attendsing physician yesterday who wrote that after examining the senator he found, quote, no evidence of a seizure disorder, a stroke, or a movement disorder such as parkinson's disease. many of mcconnell's republican colleagues also expressed confidence in his ability to do his job, although the junior senator from mcconnell's own state expressed real skepticism about the physician's all-clear. >> it looks like a focal neurological event. that doesn't mean it's incapacitating, doesn't mean he can't serve, but it means somebody ought to wake up and say, wow, this looks like a seizure. >> the reality is we may expect mitch mcconnell will check out for 20 seconds a day, but the other 86,380 seconds of the day he does a pretty darn good job. >> the doctor said that no stroke, no impairment there. that's good. i heard him on the floor just a little while ago. sounds good to me. >> he seemed fine today, so obviously the all-clear he got from dr. moynihan was pretty encouraging. >> we should note senator paul is a doctor himself and behind the scenes there's considerable concern among republicans about mcconnell's health. we turn now overseas, and amid the ongoing war in ukraine the biden administration is warning north korea against providing russia with any military support. at a briefing yesterday white house national security advisor jake sullivan said discussions about a potential arms deal between moscow and pyeongyang are advancing. >> what i can say is this. providing weapons to russia for use on the battlefield to attack grain silos and the heating infrastructure of major cities as we head into winter to try to conquer territory that belongs to another sovereign nation is not going to reflect well on north korea. and they will pay a price for this in the international community. >> that new warning comes amid speculation that north korean leader kim jong-un may travel to russia later this month for a meeting with russian president vladimir putin. we also learned overnight that secretary of state antony blinken has traveled to kyiv to meet with key ukrainian officials including president volodymyr zelenskyy. this marks blinken's fourth visit to ukraine since the war began. according to a senior state department official, blinken is expected to announce more than a billion dollars in new funding for ukraine. still ahead here on "way too early," a former major league baseball mvp is on a historic tear. we'll show you his absolutely huge night at the plate. plus an update from the u.s. open where an american pull off a big upset late last night. that's all straight ahead. ght. that's all straight ahead. businesses need 5g solutions today. that's why they choose t-mobile for business. mlb partners with t-mobile to not only enhance the fan experience, but to advance how the game is played. aaa relies on t-mobile's network to stay connected nationwide, so they can help get their members back on the road. and we're helping pano ai innovate, to stop the spread of wildfires. now's the time to see what america's largest 5g network can do for your business. listen, your deodorant just has to work. i use secret aluminum free. just swipe and it lasts all day. secret helps eliminate odor, instead of just masking it. and hours later, i still smell fresh. secret works! ohhh yesss. ♪♪ 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 two for two with two home runs. >> and now he sends one to center field. could it be four in a row, four in a row for altuve. >> jose altuve is on a historic heater right now. the astros second baseman hit three home runs in the first three innings of last night's game. that comes after his two home run performance on monday including one he hit in the top of the ninth in that game, which then makes him the first player since 1961 to homer in four consecutive innings. how about that? jose altuve and the astros dominate the rangers 14-1, and they have now moved into sole position of first place in the al west. that felt inevitable. let's stay with baseball and a major milestone last night in the bronx. >> john cole standing on the doorstep of 400. he'd become the tenth yankee and 58th player in history with that many. >> fly ball. deep left field. there it goes. see ya. his 400th career home run and gives the yankees a 3-1 lead. >> john carlos, a stantonian home run. >> stantonian. he hit his 400th career home run. he's the fourth fastest player by number of games played to reach that mark in baseball history. his two run shot broke the 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth and the yankees would go onto win over the tigers. here they come. staying in the american league east the tampa bay rays would need extra innings to defeat the red sox last night, but don't worry they did it. brandon, walk it off. with that three run blast to right field just inside the foul pole, a pretty devastating defeat for the sox. jordan westbering hit a chopper that would get a runner in the top of the tenth. and then the orioles leader struck out two batters with a runner on third to complete baltimore's 44th comeback win of the season. let's move onto the u.s. open where an incredible run for an unseated american continues at flushing meadows. >> ben shelten is onto the semifinals after upsetting francis tiafo, the tenth ranked player in the world. it's the first slam semifinal for the 20-year-old who only turned pro last year. shelten is the youngest american man to reach the open semis since michael chang did it back in 1992. he'll now face world number 2iovack djokovic. the guy's a lot of fun. time now for the weather and let's go to meteorologist angie lassman, a fellow tennis fan. and she's here with the weather. >> i think i'm going to steal shelten's answer there. i get the forecast right, i'm going to hang up the phone. >> playing with confidence. >> we're talking still summer-like conditions across much of the country. the north east especially and parts of the southern plains continue to see these temperatures well above normal for this time of year. we're going to eventually talking triple digit temperatures as we continue through at least the next day or so. we'll be watching for these conditions to stick with us here as we get into at least the next couple of days. jonathan, these are record temperatures. 100 degrees across washington, d.c. today. we'll continue to see these conditions lasting for a while here as we get through at least -- at least saturday and sunday that's when we're going to start to see things kind of calm down. there's the records ewe see today. we move to the southern plains, triple digits across texas. cooler air settling in into parts of the midwest and that will leave us seasonable. the cold weather doesn't make it into the north east. by friday we'll start to see conditions remaining unsettled but not quite as warm, and they'll start to get a little more seasonable. that cold front, though, is going to be a key player with what happens with tropical storm lee. 65 miles per hour, expected to stay north of the leeward islands, but we could see rough surf, potentially and down the line category 4 storm is what we're expecting. the good news is a lot of the models kind of agree this system will take a northerly turn, jonathan, as it gets down the line. it'll bear watching here. we're in peak season after all. >> we'll keep an eye on that heat. even when we commute to work it was beastly weather. still ahead here on "way too early," president biden wears a mask for the first time in months after the first lady tested positive for covid earlier this week. we'll talk to a medical expert about the current rise in cases even before we enter the autumn and winter. 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( ♪♪ ) arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. rsv can be serious. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about arexvy today. rsv? make it arexvy. 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 my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose new neuriva ultra. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. welcome back to "way too early" as we come up on 5:30 a.m. on the east coast, which means 2:30 a.m. out west. i'm jonathan lemire, and thanks for being with us. following the first lady's positive test result for covid-19, president joe bid