me, "does it really work?" and all i have to say is, "here i am. it works." my advice for everyone is to go with golo. it will release your fat and it will release you. drizly. a good day to you. i'm back with you with another hour. new indications today that the war in gaza is intensifying beyond its borders. today we learned israel sent fighter jets to strike hezbollah targets inside lebanon. it comes one day after israel's defense minister said the country is fighting a war on seven different fronts. plus, a hugely consequential meeting happening right now in mexico city. u.s. secretary of state, head of homeland security, and the president of mexico sitting down to talk about the overwhelming

number of migrants putting a strain on both their governments. what can they get done? we'll have the latest coming up. we're going to start in the middle east where israel says it is battling enemies in gaza, in the west bank. lebanon, syria, iraq, yemen, and iran simultaneously. the heaviest fighting is happening in central gaza right now where israel says refugee camps are now considered a new battle zone. the u.n. says bombings there have killed at least 100 palestinians since christmas, and despite evacuation orders there is, quotes, no safe place for gaza residents to go. jay gray is live in tel aviv. jay, give us the very latest on the intensity of fighting happening now. >> reporter: yeah, it's very intense right now. in fact, some humanitarian agencies saying this is the most violent and deadly fighting we've seen since the beginning of the ground invasion into gaza. we know that the idf is working, as you talked about, in these refugee camps, in central gaza

just outside of gaza city. many of them. and we are being told that that is targeting areas where they believe hamas is running command and control operations in those areas. it's in crowded urban areas, so that makes fleeing the area for those refugees very difficult. an area, by the way, that they were told to move to when they evacuated their homes for safety. and so with that combined with what is another communications outage in the area, it's just very difficult for anyone on the ground there to know exactly where it might be safe to go at this point. and you pointed out the u.n. saying that they are in, i'm quoting here, gravely concerned about the conditions right now for civilians in gaza. >> jay gray on the ground for us in tel aviv. jay, thank you. let's bring in former israel ambassador to the u.s. michael orren. ambassador, thanks for being with us today. seven fronts, as i was listing

on the introduction to this discussion. reflect on that, seven different fronts israel is saying. is that possible, and how are they managing that? >> well, let's add an eighth front. i'm talking from southern tel aviv, and don't let the books behind fool you, we're in a bomb shelter here. we had 30 rockets fired about 72 hours ago. that's another front. there's no place safe within israel itself, and the northern part of the country is being shelled by hezbollah. on christmas day they destroyed a church, can't make this up, in the west bank, an attacks that they've discovered -- discovered rockets there, possible tunnels leading from the west bank into israel proper. shiite militias, houthi rebels in yemen. yeah, we are fighting on multiple, multiple fronts. but we are a strong society, and with a very, very strong army. about 360,000 reservists have been called up, plus a regular army which is well over 100,000.

roughly the size of the army that the united states sent to iraq in 2003. so we're going to hold out. at the end of the day we have no choice, this is an existential war. a war for our very survival. >> seven or eight fronts, as you're saying here, ambassador. can the idf keep up with this? and does that just say that the assistance from the united states and other places becomes more and more essential? >> first of all, it does, certainly. and the area -- if nothing else than ammunition because we are expanding ammunition at an enormous rate. the united states has systems to guard our skies from the many, many thousands of rockets that are in the arsenals of these terrorist groups. hezbollah alone has 150,000 rockets. hard to imagine, they're long range, accurate rockets. we have wonderful systems like iron dome which can protect our skies about 90% successful. but in you're firing 1,000 rockets, 90%, 100 rockets will get through. that will ruin your day as

rockets can take down a building, right down the street here. >> speaking about taking down buildings, as you know the criticism over the usage of those 2,000-pound bombs over the weekend, 5,000 coming from the united states to israel to be used in the gaza strip. absolutely destructive capability here. this as we're hearing the discussion at least at the white house over the weekend with dermer was they wanted to move from high intensity to a more intel-directed summer cal approach -- surgical approach to the attacks. yet the criticism has been why are these large bombs being used. >> well, all the processes of dropping a bomb on gaza have to go through a legal process in israel. there is a bank of lawyers that examine every target and determine what type of munition can be used on that target, what is the danger of creating what's called collateral damage, injury among palestinian civilians. the huge, huge issue here, richard, is that we're dealing

with an enemy that is hidden beneath these cities. we're talking about a system of tunnels that is hundreds of miles long. it's actually inconceivable, that go down hundreds of feet, and so the -- they're using citizens and civilians as human shields and using itself as a huge shield. there's flow way of getting at -- no way getting at hamas without using heavy munitions and warning the civilian populations to get out of the way to the best degree that we can. it is a nightmarish situation, and any civilian casualties is one too many, i'll tell you that right off the bat. without hesitation. but we are dealing with a country that is using its civilian population as that shield. >> ambassador, you've heard this question before, i've asked it was netanyahu over earlier conflicts in wars that we've covered. proportionality, how do we explain the lack of that here? >> i don't think it's -- not lack of it. if anything it goes the other way. if the united states was facing

this enemy, you'd really see what the portionality would be. something white -- would half -- wipe half of gaza off the map. it's the amount of force you need to stop a threat. the fact that i'm in this bomb shelter and still being hit by 30, 40 rockets in a day means we're not using proportional strengths. the fact that hamas still is underground, is still conducting terrorist operations against us, that shows actually we're not using proportional strength and that another country -- i think the united states and even the president of the united states has said, another country would have reactioned in a much more, much more assertive way. >> mr. ambassador, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you very much. next, new developments in a number of legal battles including donald trump including attempts to bar him from the state ballots and his federal election interference case, as well. plus, how the white house is grappling with the humanitarian crisis at the southern border where record numbers of migrants

are coming across. and breaking news from capitol hill involving an ethics probe of a florida lawmaker. we're back with that in 60 seconds. conds. (mom) that's a bit dramatic... a better plan is verizon. it starts at 25 dollars a line. (dad) did you say 25 dollars a line? (sister) and save big on things we love, like netflix and max! (dad) oh, that's awesome (mom) spaghetti night -- dinner in 30 (dad) oh, happy day! (vo) a better plan to save is verizon. it starts at $25 per line guaranteed for 3 years and get both netflix and max for just $10/mo. only on verizon.

we're going to move to breaking news just in to msnbc. the house ethics committee has unanimously agreed to form a subcommittee to investigate allegations of campaign finance violations by democratic representative from florida's 20th district. nbc's capitol hill correspondents, ryan nobles, is following that story. what are we learning? >> reporter: well, this is congresswoman sheila cherfilus-mccormick, recently elected in the 2022 election cycle. she won a special election before being elected to a full term in the 2022 general election. and we don't know specifically what the house checks committee is looking into. they're normally private about these probes. what we do know is the committee has unanimously voted to norman

investigaive subcommittee to look into the allegations of campaign finance allegations. they list a number of specific things that they're going to look into including improper use of campaign finance funds, also the possibility that there was someone volunteering for her campaign that didn't specifically work for the campaign or work for official office. and while we don't know specifically what they are investigating, we to know that there have been questions raised about how congresswoman mccormick used campaign funds, i'm sorry, not campaign funds, but taxpayer funds to actually pay for ads that ran in her congressional district leading up to her election. now it's not legal for a member of congress to use taxpayer funds to create tv ads that are used for informational purposes, to inform members of her constituency about the work she's doing as a member of congress. but if those can be interpreted as campaign ads, it could lead to a violation of campaign finance laws. so this is an investigation in its early stages, but when it is notable -- but it is notable

that democrats and republicans have moved to this stage of forming this committee. and richard, you'll remember a similar committee was formed in the investigation of congressman george santos. they ultimately released that scathing report which led to him ultimately being expelled. no one's talking about this quite yet for this member of congress, but it is notable that they've decided to take this very important step in terms of an investigation into a potential campaign finance violation. >> ryan, how fast might this timeline move? >> reporter: it could take a long time. the house ethics committee is notoriously private, and they notoriously are meticulous in their investigations. there's a very real possibility that they could launch this probe, and we may never hear the end of it. they may decide there's nothing there and move on, and not tell us about. it there have been ongoing investigations, for instance, into congressman matt gaetz, also of florida, that's been ongoing for some time with no real end in sight. so the ethics committee, very private about how they conduct their business.

there's no telling how long this particular probe could take. >> with a very large workload, as well, that committee does have. ryan nobles in d.c., thank you with that breaking news for us. just in the last hour, as well, former president donald trump renewed his attacks against special counsel jack smith. this comes after smith filed a motion to bar trump from making political arguments and referring to conspiracy theories during his election interference trial. smith urged the court to reject what he calls trump's attempts to inject politics into the proceedings. in a new statement, the former president called smith president biden's, quote, errand boy, then accused smith of ignoring the law, and once again slamming the case as a witch hunt. joining us now glen kirschner, former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst. let's first start with what jack smith has said. how will that fare -- will he be able to keep out political injections during these proceedings? >> you know, richard, he will if

judge tanya chutkan, the presiding judge, rules that it's not properly admissible evidence. people may not know, but what jack smith just filed is called a motion in limne, trying to limit what the other party can say, do, and what evidence they can present. i will say in my 30 years as a prosecutor i filed countless motions in limne as did my opponents, the defense attorneys. this is entirely a routine part of the pretrial litigation where each side is trying to limit the other side to making only proper arguments. you can't appeal to the jurors' prejudices, their politics, their idealogy, and that is what jack smith is trying to flesh out. and then what will happen is the judge will rule on whether these arguments are proper or improper inbound or out of bounds, she'll issue an order, and donald trump's lawyers will have to adjust accordingly. this is an unusual issue because

of the nature of this prosecution. but the procedure of filing these motions in limine ordinary. >> why this, why by jack smith? >> i think he is trying to signal where the prosecution is going. they want very much to keep this a trial that is decided on the facts, on the evidence, on the testimony. we have seen time and time again that many of the expected witnesses are republicans, some of donald trump's own former cabinet members. and you know, if it turns out that the witnesses are republican after republican, you know, donald trump will have to defend against a chorus of republican voices. it will make it much harder for him to try to inject politics into this case before the jury. >> okay. that makes -- that makes sense. if this motion is upheld by the judge, what does it mean for the strategy that trump's team might take? >> you know, they will undoubtedly, once the case is

sort of properly back before judge chutkan, because while the appeal is pending on the presidential immunity claim, judge chutkan can't take up these motions, they can still be filed, but there will be no oral arguments or litigation. donald trump's lawyers will push back and try to make arguments about why it's proper and admissible evidence that there is some political motivation for this prosecution. and judge chutkan will haveo rule on what comes in and what doesn't. >> also new today, you've been watching this, the decision in michigan, the state rejecting a bid to bar trump from the ballot. talk about -- stay in state, first of all, why and how is that decision based on what we understand, how did they get there? and is this something that there might be more to it? "the detroit news" only reporting on, for instance, two or three minutes of what i believe is nine or ten minutes of this recording that might have some bearing upon this decision. >> yeah, richard, there is really more of a procedural decision by the supreme court in

michigan than a substantive decision. what do i mean by that? well, you know, not all state election laws and regulations are created equal. in michigan, the secretary of state, asselin benson, has -- jocelyn benson, has no lawful authority to keep names off of the republican primary ballot. if the republican party in michigan offers a name, even if that person might be disqualified, for example, they're 34 years old and the constitution says you have to be 35 to hold the office of the presidency, secretary of state jocelyn benson has no authority to keep the name off. so the supreme court of michigan in recognition of that basically said, look, so there is no legal error for us to take up yet. but importantly, the litigation will probably continue because the attorney who brought this case on behalf of michigan voters said, okay, that's fine,

but in the future if donald trump's name is on the general ballot for president, then the complexion of all of this changes, and then they will rebring this litigation. and that's when it will become ripe for the courts to resolve it. >> you brought up complexion. there are 17 states pt of this particulart of the complexion, and that they're all looking at the validity of donald trump being on the ballot. will most of them, you think, lean toward a michigan decision or most lean toward a colorado decision which the decision came down, as you know, to remove trump from the ballot. >> yeah, well part of our system of federalism versus state rights says the states get to run their own elections. they get to pass laws. they get to promulgate rules and regulations, and just like in wisconsin where -- excuse me, colorado where the laws and the regulations allowed the courts to litigate the issue to

fruition, and of course the supreme court in colorado barred donald trump from the ballot, every state will have to operate in accordance with its own laws and regulations. so i think you're going to see decisions all over the map, and i think once this case lands in the supreme court, no telling which state it will come out of. but once it lands in the supreme court, i think that's when we're going to get more overarching guidance about whether donald trump is disqualified for having engaged in insurrection or rebellion. >> saving the supreme court decision coming down, glen kirshner in iowa have 16 more states to go. two down. have a good holiday, my friend. thank you. a caravan with 8,000 migrants including families with young chin moving through mexico -- children moving through mexico to the united states southern border which has seen a record year for crossings so far. right now secretary of state antony blinken and alejandro mayorkas are in mexico city meeting with the mexican

president on how to mitigate the strain on both countries. joining us now, nbc news white house correspondent monica alba. monica, what can get done in this meeting, and is this a precursor to maybe seeing president biden actually going down to speak with the leaders in mexico and other countries in central america? >> reporter: well, richard, it was actually just about a year ago where the president did travel to mexico city for what's known as the three amigos meeting where they were all together discussing this exact issue and pledging to work together as the north american leaders to really try to stem the flow of migration and to really treat this as an issue that they are seeing in the entire hemisphere, not just limited anymore to the northern triangle countries or to central america and mexico. this is certainly extended because of larger real shifts in what we've seen in south

america. people fleeing crime, poverty, and conflict in their nations, and typically undertaking these treacherous journeys to make their way to the u.s./mexico border. this is something that president biden even in just a couple of weeks ago when he was in san francisco for a different summit, he did meet with the mexican leader there, and they have continued to try to really pledge to work on this. it has proved to be a completely intractable issue. and certainly politically we saw that play out just in recent days because the administration wanted to work with congress to try to address the issue of border funding specifically to surge resources to the border now when they might be needed most, and instead these negotiations are stille td up w essential national security priorities. now that's been puntsed deeper into january which is why the white house decided in this week between christmas and new year's to send secretary blink wrenn, to send secretary mayorkas to have face-to-face meetings to

see what else can be done from the enforcement perspective specifically which the u.s. really relies on mexico to step that up and to step up any kind of commitment. but that might be a short-term stopgap measure in terms of long term, these are way more complicated issues that likely won't be dealt with today. richard? >> monica alba at the white house. thank you for the very latest on that meeting that is happening in mexico city. next, indictments, expulsion, a speakership mutiny, and investigations. a busy year in gop politics. what we could see in 2024 especially as election season kicks into high gear. kicks intor emergen-c crystals. okay, so here's my most requested hack for stubborn odors. you'll need vinegar, a large salad bowl and... oh, hi! have you tried new tide fabric rinse? it works after your detergent to fight deep odors 3 times better than detergent alone. i love that. try new tide fabric rinse.

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more. >> reporter: the strength of donald trump's hold on the republican party is one of the first questions 2024 may answer. the gop presidential field which piqued with more than a dozen active candidates in 2023 ends the year with just five credible campaigns remaining, and polling shows the republican race remains donald trump's to lose. >> we're leading with 51%, while ron desanctimonious is at less than 19, and haley at 60 -- what happened to the haley summer? >> reporter: the early states' gauntlet of iowa, new hampshire, south carolina, and nevada will win the field still further before what could be a decisive super tuesday on march 5th. trump's biggest roadblock on the path to the convention and nomination in july may not be another candidate at all, but his legal challenges including 91 channel charges spread across four cases, and a civil fraud trial set to conclude in january which has bogged him down in new york. he's denied all charges.

>> i should be right now in iowa, in new hampshire, in south carolina, i should be sitting in a courthouse. >> reporter: january could prove a pivotal month on capitol hill, too, with the first of two government funding deadlines which could lead to a partial shutdown even as negotiators resume work on a stalled bill to send aid to israel and ukraine and overhaul immigration policy. >> negotiations will continue in earnest until we get there. >> reporter: all while house republicans' impeachment inquiry aims to pick up steam. >> we expect to depose the president's son, and then we will be more than happy to have a public hearing with him. >> reporter: the house will face those challenges with a majority somehow even slimmer than the one they began with in 2023 when they struggled for days to elect kevin mccarthy as speaker in an historic 15 ballots. >> he won't have the votes. >> reporter: with mccarthy who made history a second time when he was ousted from the speakership by eight rogue republicans in october, retiring from congress in december.

>> i would do it all again. >> reporter: and new york's george santos, who practically rewrote the definition of congressional scandal -- >> if i leave, they win. >> reporter: expelled in disgrace and facing federal prosecution. and while new house speaker mike johnson continues to learn on the job, top senate republican mitch mcconnell will likely remain the subject of speculation over how long he'll hold onto his leadership post after a march concussion contributed to two frightening freezes for the 81-year-old. >> i'm sorry, you all. we're going to need a minute. >> reporter: whoever's in charge, the pert's key issues in 2024 seem set, addressing border security and the economy, uniting them -- >> i think we need to prove in 2024 that we have the policies and the will and the ability to make those differences. >> reporter: and finding consensus on abortion and, yes, trump, among the issues that divide the party's old guard from the new. >> the focus has to be just completely right now making sure we don't return donald trump to the white house.

>> reporter: what are we going to learn about republicans in 2024? >> that we're going to win. it's going to be tumultuous, going to be disagreements, there's disagreements in every household in america. >> reporter: garrett haake, nbc news, washington:for more, cornell belcher, strategist and political analyst and matthew down, served as chief campaign strategist for president bush's 2004 campaign. matthew, let's start with you on this. garrett haake did a great year ender to tell us about what's happened and where we may be going. with johnson now this charge -- and we've seen at least halfway through there congress the most unpredictive congress as you know -- unproductive congress as you know, they well a yield of 3.5% based on the number of bills they put up for votes. 3.5%, about two dozen passed overall. we know january's going to be packed full of very important decisions. is johnson going to be, as some people say, knock some heads together to get some stuff done? >> well, i think they're going to be consistency which means

they're going to be completely unproductive in 2024. the problem that johnson has, and you can question him as a leader and all that and as i have, the problem is his caucus. and the -- it's a caucus like herding quail. and you can't herd quail because they're all over the place. they all have different viewpoints. they don't want -- some don't want to support being with trump, most don't want to support being with trump. so i think he's in an untenable position. the other problem he has, which i'm sure we'll talk about, is that donald trump will dominate the landscape throughout 2024 while the congress is trying to work and while mike johnson is trying to work. he's going to weigh in and be a disruptive force. so he has to not only deal with an unruly caucus, he has to deal with this sort of unstoppable, disruptsive force of donald trump that he'll have to face throughout 2024. >> cornell, what does the democratic leadership do? we saw toward the end of the first year that there were some

bipartisan, if you will, efforts that got through. one or two where you saw both parties in congress for a bill that was passed, and obviously we're talking about the budget and other items here. what do you think they should do to work with this very difficult gop caucus? >> that's the question i get? >> yeah, that's the question you get. >> well, understand they weren't with them to avert cass strof -- catastrophe. the things that the gop majority was able to reach across and work with democrats on, they had to -- in order to avert crisis and catastrophe. we're not talking about moving legislation that is aimed at, you know, so lowering costs or fighting crime, or any of the things that republicans ran on. right now they're talking about, you know -- you know, let's not have a crisis. and as well as impeach the

president. the problem that republicans have is they don't actually put forward anything that they want to actually accomplish that has large support and -- of the american people. and that's the part of the problem is democrats in -- in the house, they're going to have to try to work with republicans to avert catastrophe, budgetary catastrophes in government shutdown, but the things that republicans want to do, let's just say, you know -- what they've been talking about nationwide abortion bans, those are not things that democrats are going to work with them on. those are things democrats are going to fight them on. i think democrats are going to enter the next term trying to contrast themselves with house republicans on the things that they're fighting against having house republicans move forward, things that have no widespread popularity. >> cornell, what does the white house, what does president biden need to do as we're looking at our year end here and toward

2024, he's clearly in an election year. what can he get done during that time as you have said many times, as well as matthew, it's the first two years, we're now into the election year. what can president biden do to solidify what he has and make gains at least based on the polling that we're seeing right now? >> look, i think we are going to elect -- to election year. and i see all the polling, we're talking about sort of how the president's suffering with this skitsy group or that constituency -- constituency group or that constituency group. and back me up, a year off from the election, few campaigns are exactly where they want to be with certain constituencies, or we wouldn't have a use for campaigns. if you look at what's been most problematic for the president, it is certain constituencies that -- center of those constituenies are young voters. most diverse generation of voters in american history. you're talking about a lot of black and brown voters, as well. and where he's off of his 2020

mark the most is with these young voters. and so he's got to build a campaign to tell these young voters not only the things that he's done but also what his future vision is. i think he has a pretty good story to tell. if you look at the environmental legislation that he's -- that -- historic legislation that he's passed, i think he's got a good story to tell. if you look at his efforts to -- to push back in and give some student debt relief, i think it's got a good story to tell. he's also got to pitch that forward to what he's got to be fighting for in the future, lower costs, greater opportunity, so i think he's got to build a campaign -- look, they're not going to get much done in congress. he's got to build a campaign and tell the story of the things he's accomplished, that directly speak to young voters, and what he's going to be doing in the future. >> cornell, thank you so much, matthew, i owe you one. both have a great afternoon. >> happy new year. >> all righty. you, too. next, why gun sales appear to be spiking among black women in the united states.

you're watching "msnbc reports." "

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join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. welcome back. gun shop owners are reporting a surge in demand from first-time gun owners. a number of whom are black women. a group not typically associated with gun culture. nbc's trymaine lee has more about the new face of gun ownership. >> reporter: that's right. it's been a tumultuous year when it comes to the economy, our politics, and in some parts of the country, a feeling that crime is rising or violence is

hitting closer to home, especially for some black folks. and that feeling of not feeling safe has led some to take matters into their own hands. literally. i went to south jersey in philadelphia to meet with some of these folks. when frances and gene davis opened anubis gun shop and club near camden, new jersey, they discovered an unexpected and untapped target demographic -- black women. have you been surprised at the number of ladies who want to buy a gun? >> yes. and only because it's like to me when i started, i was shocked at myself. >> reporter: gun sales among women generally and black women this particular exploded through the pandemic years. in a 2021 survey of gun retailers, 87% reported a spike in sales to black women in the first half of that year. >> we have any long guns? >> reporter: anubis is part of a growing number of gun clubs founded by and for black women.

they're sisters in arms filling a void among gun groups that are often dominated by white men. >> it was initially about defense, but now i love it. >> reporter: more than just a gun club. >> absolutely. yes. again, it's a brotherhood, it's a sisterhood, it's a fellowship. >> we have 120 chapters -- >> reporter: the club is an affiliate of the national african american gun association, believed to be the largest advocacy organization for black gun owners in america. about half of the group's more than 45,000 members are women. >> the first time that i actually handled a weapon or a firearm, i actually felt for empowered. >> reporter: at the first in-person convention in atlanta, women came from all over the country to break stigmas and block stereotypes. >> we're moms, we're sisters, we're daughters. >> one of the misconceptions is that black people are anti-gun. but our history has shown particularly in the south of black people utilizing firearms. >> reporter: it's history that's complicated. laws dating as far back as the

17th century and as recent as the 1960s have largely blocked legal gun ownership for black people as white people in power try to control black resistance. now more black people say they're arming themselves amid a rise in hate crimes against black people and anti-black rhetoric, as well as the high-profile police killings of black men and boys including the killing of george floyd. >> a lot of things were happening in 2020. it changed our attitudes, and it made us want to protect ourselves. >> reporter: francis and gene davis say they're filling a long ignored niche and performing a critical service. why is it important to see your faces here? >> building a community with our gun club, it kind of defeats all the negativity attached to it, to firearms and black people owning firearms. >> reporter: the davis des have form aid communities and go out and have fun. they say now more than ever it's not just about creating a business for themselves, it's about providing tools for those

who might need it most. >> trymaine lee with that reporting. thank you so much. next, a second thought when shopping. a new nbc news exclusive report on how the clothing bargains you pick up at the store may have an impact on world labor. bor. ng gat beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain! the subway series? it's the perfect menu lineup. just give us a number, we got the rest. number three? the monster. six? the boss. fifteen? titan turkey. number one? the philly. oh, yeah, you probably don't want that one. look, i'm not in charge of naming the subs.

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deals you got on your gifts and may get still. in an msnbc exclusive, a new investigative report shows that not all bargains are the same and how shoppers can think twice when picking their deals. deals are at your fingertips. >> prices have been falling -- >> stores are still trying to woo consumers with further discounts. end-of-year sales good for some, band for other. jeans, shirts, jackets, stylish, but some may be products of modern day slavery says the united nations. including some brands we've all come to know -- people forced to make garments to pay off unjust debts or work in inhumane conditions. products available in every state in america. on line, too, fast fashion getting too fast. >> at the holiday season especially we don't necessarily know where those clothes are coming from. >> former u.s. ambassador for anti-slavery -- >> there's this thing called debt bond animal. the united states is -- bondage. the united states is not immune. we called it sharecropping.

>> a tenant works the land paying debts with a share of their crop never making enough to leave the land. >> by the end of the week you owed more to the place you had to buy groceries or pay for rent. >> reporter: this human trafficking survivor talks about what he experienced -- >> there were dozens of boys and men packed like sardines. to disobey meant severe punishment. days, sometimes weeks of fasting. or worse, beaten until bones were broken. >> forced labor stories like elijah's are alive and well. the two-year study in one country found migrant workers had to pay fees to get their cab. payback taking months or years in unsafe work conditions as defined by the international labor organization. nbc news has not independently verified the findings in

maritius, but they were downgraded in the latest human trafficking report. >> one worker owed over $11,000. >> the equivalent of almost five years of wages, says e. benjamin skinner. he's been investigating human trafficking for over two decades. >> it's a devil's choice. something that they feel they have to do in order to improve their lives in order to improve their families' lives. >> when shown the investigation's results, some brands did nothing to help the workers. but then there are the other companies -- >> pvh, barber, second clothing factories. >> reporter: of 18 companies shown the research, while publicly not admitting the findings, 11 did something, says skinner. pvh, they decided to help workers by reimbursing them some $400,000 in total. >> those brands that have made it right need to be applauded. they need to be rewarded. >> see the person behind it. there is not one piece of

clothing that any of us wear that is made wholly by robots. there is a person who had thier hands on that. >> reporter: a mix of buyer beware and buyers learning to care. richard lui, nbc news, new york. joining us now is e. benjamin skinner, founder of the organization. tell us about trans parent m, what your approach is, and what has been the response of this investigative report. >> first of all, it is a discreet, non-profit organizational group. we look for endemic human rights violations in corporate supply chains. the approach is different than traditional journalism in that we'll do the investigation, but then we go to the brands that are selling the products to you and give them the opportunity to do the right thing. >> what happened when you showed all the different companies this particular report?

we've shared some of those details. i understand there is also a response from the very trade association that's associated with these companies. >> yeah. the response, frankly, was not as robust, initially, as we had hoped. we've been doing this now for about eight years. in malaysia, we did investigations, very similar investigations, with workers that had gone into debt bondage, paying for their jobs. what we saw there was an industry-wide response that -- where these i businesses made commitments that no workers should be paying for their jobs. what we find in month risch, is those commitments haven't been put into practice fully. it took a while. as you saw in that segment, unfortunately only three brands to date have stepped up, done the right thing by their workers. >> we did see response coming from the trade association specifically, mech sa. have fully collaborated with s

trans parentem throughout the investigation process. we recognize there are weaknesses. they go on in a long, one-page response. is this your perspective, to get these trade associations, the providers of the clothes we buy in new york today and across the company? >> for ma risch, it is a massive form approximate of their economy. we're not trying to destroy that part of the economy. the apparel industry has been the most important engine of human development across the globe country by country. we want to see that thrive, right? but what we also want to see is true transparency. we want to see brands stepping up and saying, hey, workers, are you okay? and doing it in a way that allows those workers to really tell the truth. what we saw in -- was not that.

what we saw was intimidated workers. >> about a million dollars spent on this particular investigation over two years. this is a long-term commitment to find out the truth. what does that mean for us, as shoppers? >> so, it all depends on what you, the shopper, want to do, right? you make the next move. the tools are in place so that you can make decisions as to where you spend your money. as investors as well. are investors going to reward those companies that practice transparency and practice ethical supply chain, or are they going to move in a different direction? >> in a way, we're responsible, as we do make our buying decisions here, ben. and i know there are some sites we can go to if we're very interested in what we're about to buy. what are some of those? >> sure. you can start with our website. that has the details of this vestigation, the good, the bad, a t ugly from the brand responses. i would also say good on you,

aimed at consurs know the chain, another excellent site. fashion revolution and remake are two great organizations that actually are building a movement around ethical consumption. there's a lot that we can do. the one thing we can't do is be passive. >> all right. ben skinner, thank you so much for your work. >> thank you, richard. that does it for me today. i'm richard lui reporting from new york city. "deadline white house" starts right now.

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hey, everyone. it is 4:00 in new york. i'm alicia menendez in for nicole wallace. for most of us, this stretch between christmas and the new year is a sleepy and slow time. not if your jack smith. you might have thought the special counsel would take a break this holiday, especially with judge chutkan -- question of presidential immunity is

resolved. no, jack smith has been working away. this morning, the special counsel released a scathing report about the ex-president about his rhetoric and disinformation, the kind of rhetoric and disinformation we have heard over and over and over again. whether it's when trump is bloviating about election interference outside his trial in new york, or in a late-night christmas rage post on truth social. now donald trump can say what he wants online outside of court. but what we cannot do, jack smith argues, is make dubious clai before a jury for his upcoming federal election interference trial. quote, through statement public filings and arguments and hearings bore the court, the defense has attempted to inject into this case partisan political attacks and irrelevant and prejudicial issues that have no place in a jury trial. although the court can recog