team trump on the defensive this morning

in the wake after sweeping indictment from georgia. one trump ally makes moves for more lenient jury as the former president tries to push the trial beyond the 2024 election how the political world is reacting dead on the ground like a piece of charcoal. >> death, destruction and anger sweeping across the hawaiian island of maui we go step by step through that fateful day to answer the question could the deadliest wildfire in a century have been avoided? a minnesota small town left scrambling after the entire police force walked off the job. with two weeks' notice, the 1200-person-town must find a way to replace the police or up the cops' pay. a sports car will join the electric revolution. how the lamborghini model is touting perform the without the gas. >> rep

how one surfer swam 20 miles for help, and why rescue crews are still searching the waves. it's wednesday, august 16. "early today" starts right now >> and good morning, and thanks for joining us i'm jessica layton >> good to be with you i'm frances rivera former president trump and his allies are already on the defensive after the sweeping indictment in georgia. trump on truth social tuesday called for his crowded schedule of trials to be pushed until after the 2024 election, allege be allegeing interference, meanwhile, mark meadows filed tuesday, attempting to move his own charges to federal court a move to federal court could result in a more favorable jury pool for defendants. nbc's garrett haake has more on the reaction from the political world. >> reporter: the historic fourth indictment of donald trump

shaking up the 2024 campaign the republican frontrunner slamming the charges as another witch-hunt by a democratic d.a. and vowing to release what he calls a conclusive report on monday proving his disproven claims of election fraud in georgia. frumt trump allies blasting the growing number of charges he's facing [ this >> this should be decided at the ballot box >> we see the legal system being weaponized against political opponents. that is un-american and unacceptable >> i'm uncomfortable with what i read last night. i think that this conflict is essentially covered by the federal indictment >> reporter: the georgia case could be more politically damaging in a critical battleground state where the popular republican governor and

trump critic brian kemp is a potential witness against him. kemp posting that the election was not stolen our elections in georgia are secure, accessible and fair. the georgia indictment adding to a legal minefield during the heat of the campaign trump's arainment likely happ happening near the gop debate. then the case in january, plus a march 25th trial over hush money payments in manhattan and a may trial on the classified documents case >> i firmly believe from my standpoint that he's guilty. >> democrats are scared to death. they'll to anything they can to keep a republican, much less donald trump from getting into office >> our thanks to garrett for that report. now to florida, where a defendant and one of trump's other cases entered a play after two botched attempts

mar-a-lago property manager might pleaded not guilty de olivera was unable to enter a plea during previous court appearances because he was not able to secure a florida-based lawyer prosecutors accuse him of attempting to delete security video after learning officials wanted it. he was charged in a super see superseding case new information about an american who crossed into north korea. what is north korea saying about private travis king? >> reporter: good morning, frances. this really the first time north korea has acknowledged the fact that they are holding king and discussed what exactly happened here, through kcna, the official media spokes entity for north korea, they are saying king has

admitted to illegally intruding into north korea, and that he said he harbored ill feeling against with inhuman treatment and racial discrimination within the u.s. army. remember, he was facing disciplinary action within the military, supposed to be on his way home when he entered north korea. north korea now saying king said he wanted refuge, either in north korea or in a third country. now we know the u.s. military has been working to try to bring him home, in part, by coordinating with u.n. command which overseas the joint security area on the south and north korean border, borde demilitarized zone the military saying they cannot confirm what he is saying is racial discrimination with the military but they working with all available channels to bring him home we're hearing from king's mother who's very worried and is hoping to get a phone call from her son

soon >> thank you overnight, maui county began the slow process of identifying the victims in the hawaiian lea names of two victims in their 70s. the remains of at least 106 have opinion been recovered so far. at least three lawsuits have been filed here's noah pransky with what led to one of the deadliest wildfires in our nation's history. >> reporter: this fire story starts with wind and actually, we're going to zoom out to two days before maui was aflame >> national weather service actually gave us the red flag warning ahead of time. >> reporter: sunday, august 6th. that's when the national wh service issues a fire weather watch related to powerful winds

driven by hurricane dora off to the island's south august 8, small fires break out, including one about a mile and a half from the motion those fires were 100% contained a few hours later, but the wind continued to whip trees, roof tiles and power lines, many of which reportedly stayed energized. key moment, 3:15 p.m. when the lahaina fire grows so large for the first time it can be seen from space >> oh, my god. i think we need to load up the car maybe. >> reporter: the scene is a mile away from the ocean but the fire was moving fast thanks to the winds and akers upon acres of burnt out non-native grasses firefighters struggled to keep up with the flames >> then i saw one dead on the ground like a piece of charcoal. >> reporter: but state officials said the 80 warning sirens around the island never sounded and maui emergency management didn't order the immediate evacuation near the downtown, even as fire and smoke started

overwhelming neighborhoods the evacuation order came finally at 5:50 p.m. but by that point, residents had already started taking things into their own hands >> just seemed like every second was ten hours waiting. >> reporter: but not everyone fled from the flames by car. some resorted to the pacific ocean or swimming pools in the middle of the inferno. one that would burn for days, claiming livelihoods and lives noah pransky, nbc news the arkansas education department will not allow credit for ap african-american studies. the class can still be taught, but students will not see the boost that other ap classes could give their gpa this comes months after governor sa sarah huckabee sanders linmited

what could be taught in schools. kathy park has new details on what happened the day of the school shooting. >> reporter: the legal fallout deepening for the mother of a boy who shot and seriously injured his teacher. deja taylor pled guilty to felony child neglect which could carry a sentence of up to five years. >> she feels very responsible. feels very bad >> reporter: taylor already pleaded guilty in federal court in june to using marijuana while possessing a firearm in the courtroom, prosecutors shared new details about the moments after the 6 kr-year-old shot his teacher he shouted f you, i shot my teacher. he said he stole the gun from his mom because he needed to shoot his teacher. >> i have a scar up here, and i

still have some bullet fragments up here. >> reporter: she spoke to savannah guthrie earlier this year >> i remember him pointing the gun at me. i remember the look on his face. i remember the gun going off >> reporter: zwerner has filed a $40 million lawsuit against the school district. her attorney writing in part, our focus remains on justice for abby and holding the school system accountable for failing to act on warnings the boy had a gun. newport news schools say they cannot comment on legal actions. >> reporter: the boy still his mother but is in the custody of his great-grandfather. disney is accused of withholding hundreds of millions of dollars tsg entertainment co-financed films produced by 20th century

fox, which was bought by disney in 2019. the financier is suing the studio, saying they used accounting tricks to cut into tsg's profits. disney did not respond to request for comment. august might be slipping away, but the summer heat is here to stay for now anyway. meteorologist angie lassman has her eye on more record temperatures across the country today. hi, angie. >> hi there, good morning, guys. we've seen heat alertsexpire i parts of the southeast you can notice we still have some of those expected for parts of texas today, 31 million people, but really the pacific northwest is going to get your attention once again today for the oppressive heat that we're going to have to deal with let's talk exactly about where those temperatures go. we're going to see those becoming an issue here and there we we go. triple digits. portland, 100, not quite a

record baker city, 100 as well. eugene expected to break a record with a high of is 03. as we look ahead to late week we get relief for folks there back to normal in a lot of these spots. boise gets back to the low 90s more typical august temperatures how about the southeast. still triple digits in houston baton rouge expected to head to 95 degrees but we cope keep it nice and comfortable and cool until w temperatu temperatures into the mid-80s in st. louis this afternoon and that's a look at your forecast, ladies, back to you u. >> all right, ang, thank you we'll tell you why one state

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danielle? [♪♪] secret works. [♪♪] welcome back nearly 30 boston markets have been shut down officials found violations, including $600,000 in owed wages. after an initial complaint last fall, officials say they have gotten dozens of reports across the state. if any of the 27 locations stay open they would face a penalty of as much as $5,000 per day the mayor of a small minnesota town says he was blindsided when the entire good hugh police department handed in this resignations because of issues over pay. the officers will remain on duty until august 24. the town with a population of around 1200 people is looking for short-term solutions the city council member addressed the situation saying

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h. th there is a new luxury vehicle about to enter the stage. on friday, the italian auto maker will reveality electric super car concept at monterey car week they plan to roll out gas-electric hybrid versions of all of its cars. the fully-electric model is expected and look how sleek that is another one on the market for the taking >> it's so expensive i would be afraid to even drive it.

sticking with the car theme to a slightly more-affordable ev, tesla is launching models of the s and x cars they are ten grand less and the s can go 269 miles on a charge which is 79 miles less than the pricier version and the standard model s can drive about 320 miles, reduced by 85 miles elon musk has the electric vehicle everyone's coming out of the wood work trying to make their own versions these are still $80,000, $90,000 a pop. not necessarily a cheap way to get around, but cheaper than the lambo. >> you're going to have to do some math when it comes to how much you're paying for the vehicle and how much you have to charge ch ina is set to overtake japan as the number one car

exporter china's ev exports doubled from the same time last year. now in comparison, overall auto experts from japan and thailand have jeyet to return to pre-pandemic levels. china poe china produces more than half the world's lithium supply when you look at that essential lithium battery that's so crucial you get why china's number one >> and now you are all caught up on all of your car ev news. still to come, inside this rescue at sea with crews from two countries searching the open water. the extraordinary ending water. the extraordinary ending

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group of australian surfers. they were stuck on their surfboards after their boat capsized off the coast of indonesia. megan fitzgerald has more on the group's rescue >> we got everyone >> woo >> reporter: a miracle at sea for a group of friends stranded in open water. for more than 38 hours, four australians and two boat crew members clinging to surfboards off the coast of indonesia it was supposed to and two-hour trip on sunday afternoon, a group of 17 people set off in two boats headed for a surf resort t treacherous weather caused the boats to lose contact. one making it to shore, the other disappearing in the storm. setting off a frantic search and rescue mission by crews from australia and indonesia. >> we have to hang onto the hope but then you think, god, what if they're unconscious or floating and they're gone all time.

and your hope starts to dwindle. >> reporter: elliott foote made the decision to paddle for help. he was rescued by fishermen over 20 miles away. not long after, rescue crews spotted his friends. >> it was a coordination between all parties involved in order to bring them back safely but mainly their own mates their own mates bonded together. >> reporter: the news making its way to australia >> we're so lucky it's good news for all of them. >> that's right. everyone's been found. that's aboutestness. >> reporter: elliott's dad learning his son was alive by a text message >> hey, dad, elliott here, i'm alive, love you. talk later >> reporter: despite the happy ending for some, one nooisen crew member still remains missing at sea >> wow that is, the chills, when they started cheering, but, ooh >> what an incredibly extraordinary story, and, you know, holding out hope for that one who's still missing.

hope they have the same fate >> absolutely. a tourist has gone viral after trespassing at a monument in rome. the woman was seen climbing over rocks not iconic trevi fountain before security blew the whistle and scolded her. it's not clear if she was arrested or find authorities are urged to limit access to the fountain you know the saying "when in rome" but maybe not here >> let's hope she threw coins in the foinoint. thanks for watching "early today. >> we all hope you have a great wednesday. we'll see you back here tomorrow morning. morrow morning.

right now at 5:00, tragedy in san francisco. a 4-year-old girl hit and killed by a driver. her father also