on its face, a hearing this week that donald trump s former chief of staff mark meadows, product around what might sound like a sideshow legal issue compared to the larger problems facing the former president. he wants to move his case from state, to federal court. but we learned from his nearly four hours of questioning, it has implications far beyond a potential change of a new first trial. in addition to giving us the first sense of where the argument may be for a number of trump s other coconspirators, of which there are many. the testimony was another flashing warning sign of what a second trump term could look like. i mean, let s zero in on the key defense we heard from mark meadows. he argued that the allegations outlined in the indictment, you know, the unrelenting pursuit of baseless claims of election fraud, the pressure campaign and church officials to find votes? the conspiratorial behavior to keep trump in power? he says all of that was, quote, part of my role as
pete: thank you. will: you guys are just vibing on the music. pete: everyone at home is too. muck. will: they won t even interact with me. [laughter] they re just done. rachel: too busy grooving. we only have an a hour left of the show. it just kind of flew by. pete: by the way, it s national v-j e day, victory in japan. big day. it s also world beard day. you look better in a beard, but you re not allowed to wear one. rachel: i ve never seen him in a beard, have i? pete: he rocked one for years. will: it wasn t that great. pete: national blueberry popsicle day as well as play outside day and and world coconut day, so take your pick. rachel: i love coconuts, and i would like to try a blueberry popsicle. pete: sounds good. as you careen out of her into the fall which will: now i m okay with that. pete: now you re okay? will: it s almost september. pete: it is september. will: is it september? if i don t pay attention to details like that. [laughter] so it s september, it s
day in a good way. like, i didn t know i had muscles here, what is that? have a great weekend and we ll see you next week. thank you, allie. good evening. i m ali velshi in for ari melber. thanks for joining us for the two-hour edition of the beat. the cases targeting trump are accelerating as prosecutors prepare to put actual evidence in front of actual juries. we re watching for developments in the georgia case specifically over when, how, and where this case is going to be tried. trump codefendant and former chief of staff mark meadows is awaiting a judge s decision on his bid to move his case or his part of it, because he s one of the 19 codefendants, to federal court. meadows claims the actions for which he was charged, setting up calls, reaching out to state officials as trump contested the 2020 election, were just part of his white house job. fani willis flatly rejects that, arguing even one official act shouldn t be enough to move meadows case, and helping over
structure to escape the blaze. and happening right now, remnants of idalia going through north carolina, causing heavy flooding and even spawning tornadoes. in south carolina, just as the storm was barreling through the region, a small twister may have flipped over this car. take a look at that. this after idalia made landfall in florida yesterday as the most powerful hurricane to hit the big bend in over 100 years, packing wind speeds of up to 125 miles an hour. at one point in cedar key, the storm surge surpassing ten feet, entire neighborhoods converted into rivers. right now, just as we approach the hottest point of the day, roughly 300,000 people are without electricity across the south as crews are working around the clock to restore power. joining us now with more is nbc news meteorologist angie lassman and nbc s julia ainsley is in morehead, city, north carolina, and nbc s guad venegas in cedar key, florida. there is an update from the national hurricane center at 1
are already without power. and as millions in georgia and south carolina brace for impact, millions more in florida are starting to take stock of the damage. the coast got the worst of it. this video showing how the wind tore roofs off of houses. downtown cedar key, city hall was swamped with 6 feet of water. officials say the storm surge got as high as 15 feet. that s on top of 100 miles an hour winds. strong enough to pull this gas station awning on to its side. more than a quarter million people are without power in florida. and moments ago, the head of fema talked about the people who chose to ride out the storm. and my biggest concern is those people who chose not to evacuate, and i know that our local first responders, the heroes that are out there in those local communities are doing amazing job already of going into the areas where people did not evacuate, and helping to get them to safety. let s go to crystal river, florida, where msnbc s jose diaz-balart has bee