right now we're happy with the result. today, we're happy that nemo money will not be on the streets and no longer has the

opportunity to harm anybody else. >> that's the reaction from the brother of murdered cash app founder bob lee. lee's killer is headed to prison after a guilty verdict in the high profile san francisco murder trial. good afternoon. thanks for joining us, i'm kristen z. and that verdict came down at about 930 this morning. there's been plenty of reaction from those on both sides of the case. actually the decision reached yesterday, but it was read this morning. abc seven investigative reporter melanie woodrow was in the courtroom for each day of this trial. so it's been a big part of your life. and mel's here now with us to talk about today's decision. the reading of it and all the reaction that came after. >> absolutely, kristen. and can you imagine the anticipation, especially for nemo and for bob lee's family, that the verdict was reached late yesterday afternoon, and then they had to wait overnight until this morning at 930, when it was read. >> so anxious. >> i'm sure. absolutely. these jurors were extraordinarily thoughtful. they took their time

to deliberate and go through the evidence, something that both sides thank them for. of testimony, seven days of deliberations and 12 unanimous jurors finding nemo guilty of second degree murder in the stabbing death of cash app founder bob lee. not first degree murder as charged. bob lee's brother oliver, saying his family believes the murder was premeditated but understands the limits jurors faced. >> this case was extremely hard to prove because it was just nima's word versus my brother's word, which he's not here to be able for anybody to be able to hear those words. >> prosecutors omid talai and dane winstead argued he stabbed and killed lee after lee introduced his sister, hussam omani, to a drug dealer who, she testified sexually assaulted her. san francisco district attorney brooke jenkins. >> i knew and was confident that we had two of our best handling this case. >> the case received national attention following lee's death, when elon musk tweeted about violent crime in san francisco, jenkins saying musk got it

wrong. >> we are a city committed to accountability. we are a city committed to public safety. >> while many defense attorneys argued he acted in self-defense, momeni testified it was lee who attacked him with a knife after he made a bad joke, calling into question what type of father he was. >> this is obviously very disappointing for us. these are hard fought battles. >> his defense says he will appeal. >> mr. momeni continues to have a right to fight for his freedom, and continues to have a right to fight in this process. >> his mother, who was in court every day of the trial, says her son is innocent. >> this is their decision. my son is not such a thing, such a person. he is the kindest perso. every mother would love to have a son like him. i know my son. >> she says he remains determined. when you spoke to nima last night and he was, he knew there was a verdict and he was waiting to hear it. how is he feeling? what was he sharing with you? >> he's always strong and giving me hope. >> he waived his right to be

sentenced within 15 days. a status hearing is scheduled for january 10th. bob lee's family is preparing to celebrate both his birthday this friday and, of course, the upcoming holidays without him. >> kristin. >> all right, so you talked to his mother. what about him? could you see his verdict or his face when the verdict was read? >> yeah. so i happen to be sitting on the left side of the audience. so i was directly behind him, and i could not see his face. and what was interesting was i asked his mom, as did other reporters, if she was making eye contact with him as the verdict was being read. and she interestingly said that she was actually looking at the jurors. she wanted to keep her gaze on the jurors as as she learned what the verdict was. that said, we have a wonderful courtroom sketch artist that we work with, vicki behringer, and she was sitting on the right side of the audience. when you're facing the judge and the gallery. and so she did get a shot of nima, and there's a court sketch where he's seen wiping his eyes, and she says, that happened after the verdict was read. so not in that exact moment, but maybe as we were all

leaving the courtroom today and he was still sitting there, that he must have become visibly upset. and she did see that. >> what about the jurors themselves? were they emotional? and i know they didn't want to talk afterwards to reporters. right. what do you think moved them, though? >> yeah. you know, you never know whether or not the jurors will decide to speak to journalists. it is completely up to them. it is absolutely their right to go on with their lives and never talk to reporters or journalists. it's really critical that their privacy be kept to maintain the integrity of the system. right? if you've ever been received one of those jury summons notices, then you understand that. i think the question that i had that i wish i could have asked those jurors was, what was it for them that made them decide murder two versus murder one? was it that element of premeditation? and did it have to do with the video that we saw at the end of closing arguments by nima defense attorneys, where they suggested that bob lee was outside the battery social club, potentially allegedly doing drugs off an object that they

suggested looked to be a knife. and they were saying that bob lee maybe had brought the knife, the murder weapon, to this interaction that he had with nima and not the other way around. and i'm, of course, very curious whether or not that that piece of video was what held things up for them, or if it was something else. and we might never know, right. >> maybe made a difference. but like you said, unless you can talk to them and it is their right to stay silent. but in terms of looking at the nature of this case so high profile, it affected not just these two families so deeply, but really the national perception of san francisco. and it's so deeply tied to the tech industry. right? >> absolutely. i mean, you heard brooke jenkins talk about this today. i was looking back at that elon musk tweet. it was actually a response to somebody else's tweet where he was saying that his friend bob lee had been murdered. but at the time, you know, the perception of san francisco was that it's a crime filled city and that there's an element of lawlessness. and so you heard brooke jenkins say, well, no, elon musk got it wrong, right? in this case, these two individuals knew each

other. they weren't good friends. they were more so acquaintances. but this was not a random act of crime in san francisco, as it had been suggested. and that's why this case initially got national attention. once nima mckinney was arrested, and it was clear that these were acquaintances. the attention, i think, continued just because of the elements of the case. it was so interesting between nima's sister and then her connection to her plastic surgeon husband. and like you said, the tech industry and the use of drugs in the tech industry. it just was an interesting case for a lot of people that impacted, as you said, two families significantly. and this is not the end, right? there's going to be an appeal. >> and what is the timeline actually for the sentencing and the appeal? yeah. >> so today, nima, he waived his right to be sentenced within 15 days. there's a status hearing coming up on january 10th. it's potential, i should say. they potentially may set a sentencing date at that status hearing, but he might waive time again. so to

be determined. right. we'll see. but that's sort of the next time that we'll be back in court on this case. and you heard tony brass, nima, his defense attorney, say they're going to go back and look at the evidence and analyze it and kind of figure out how they're going to go about appealing this case. >> all right. it's been a long journey. i know, exhausting for you, too. you've been diligently reporting on every twist and turn, melanie. thank you. thanks. and as we said, we've been covering this case from the very beginning. if you would like to go back and read any of our previous reporting, a lot of it from our melanie woodrow, head over to our website, abc seven news.com. moving on to other news now, new developments involving the now shuttered federal women's prison in dublin. the u.s. department of justice will pay nearly $116 million to resolve lawsuits brought by more than 100 women who say they were sexually assaulted at the prison. the settlements come a week after the bureau of prisons announced the permanent closure of the facility, citing infrastructure and staffing. p-g-and-e's is set to get a huge cash infusion to

invest in power lines and hydroelectric power. the utility said today that the energy department plans to offer a record $15 billion loan guarantee to california's largest utility. the conditional loan still has to be finalized. president biden's administration is rushing to spend billions of dollars from the loan program, which faces an uncertain future when president elect trump takes office. today is oakland mayor chantelle's last day in office after being recalled, 64% of oakland residents voted in november in support of recalling her. she served less than two years in office. in a procedural move, oakland city council is set today to certify the results of that election. council members are also expected to approve that. the council president, nikki fortunato bass, served as interim mayor until a special election is held within 120 days. well, today started a little damp and overcast, but some parts of the bay area are starting to get some sunshine. let's check in with drew to see when we could see more rain come

back. >> here's your 330 look at temperatures. upper 50s, lower 60s. feels very nice out there. and then we'll have some high clouds streaming in this evening. we're not anticipating seeing widespread fog once again tonight, but it will get chilly 30s and 40s later on tonight. so highs today will hit about 60 in richmond, 61 in the city, 62 in san mateo. warmer in san jose. coming in at 64. 61 in oakland. concord at about 60 degrees again overnight tonight. expect a colder night on the way. we will find temperatures in the 30s in some locations, like santa rosa and napa. fairfield around the bay shoreline will mainly be in the mid and upper 40s first thing tomorrow. here's live doppler seven along with satellite. we are tracking a really quiet picture across northern california southern california. unfortunately, we do have another red flag warning. the reason why we'll see a moderate santa ana wind event. again, southern california really has not seen much rain yet this season, so they're still dealing with some dry vegetation. and the winds will

be an issue the next 36 hours. the storm track clearly you can see it's kind of aimed at seattle. and portland remains there through friday. and then we'll start to see rain return to northern california over the weekend. looking at the rain outlook, we are going to see above average rainfall likely over the next couple of weeks, as that storm track kind of sets its sights on us this weekend and early next week. so looking at future weather by noon on saturday we will track some light rain again. the storm does not look to be as strong as when we had this past weekend with those damaging winds, and we'll be in and out of the light showers sunday and monday as well. here's the accuweather seven day forecast showing you we do have some fog to sun on our tuesday. dry skies wednesday. lots of sunshine. we'll keep it sunny thursday friday you'll notice an increase in cloud cover and that's ahead of rain returning here both saturday and sunday. by the way, winter begins saturday and we'll keep those showers in the forecast even through early parts of next week. >> kristen thank you. jay z is not running away from rape

accusations when we come back. his latest response to claims that he assaulted a young girl and which parts of the story he says don't add up. also, the white house attempts to clear the air about some suspicious drones in the sky over the northeast. what the government is saying about a mystery that's

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jay-z is firing back about rape allegations against him. the hip hop legend and sean diddy combs are being sued by an anonymous female accuser. she claims the men drugged and raped her at a party following the 2000 mtv music awards, when she was just 13 years old. in a fiery speech yesterday, jay-z's attorney called the allegations a sham. he said there are

inconsistencies with the woman's story and raised questions about the timeline of the alleged events. the woman's attorney says the lawsuit speaks for itself. the white house is providing new insight into the drones that have been spotted in the northeast in recent weeks. this comes after federal investigators say they've launched about 100 probes after 5000 tips were called in. abc's perry russom has the latest. >> the white house today working to calm concern over the reported drones hovering over the northeast. >> there's no national security threat we're seeing at this time and no threat to public safety. >> abc news cannot confirm what these videos show. national security spokesman john kirby on gma this morning, saying people are seeing a mix of law enforcement, commercial and hobbyist drones in the sky. >> most of these aircraft are doing good things. they're delivering products. they're being tested for science purposes, they're conducting law enforcement missions. >> drones have been reported in at least seven states in the northeast. federal sources tell abc news they're deploying infrared cameras and drone

detection technology to ensure those flying over new york and new jersey are not a threat. >> thousands upon thousands fly in our skies legally and lawfully, every single day, doing all kinds of good things for the public. good in the northeast corridor is one of the busiest. >> president elect trump demanding more government transparency. >> i think they'd be better off saying what it is our military knows and our our president knows. and for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense. >> the fbi says it's concerned after seeing an increase of pilots being hit in the eyes with lasers, after people on the ground think they see a drone. investigators say do not aim lasers at suspected drones. >> we are also concerned people will take matters into their own hands and fire a weapon at an aircraft. >> drones have also been reported near trump's estate in bedminster, new jersey. john kirby says that area is restricted airspace, and they are confident in their ability to keep that airspace safe and secure. perry, russom, abc news, washington. >> a san francisco assembly member, spending habits have

started to raise questions. when we come back, we'll talk to the san francisco standard reporter, who has done a deep dive into some perso

of san francisco assembly member matt haney. this time, it's money raised through a ballot measure committee spent on lavish parties and forty-niner tickets. it's all detailed in a new story published by our media partner, the san francisco standard, and it follows an existing investigation into haney's finances. launched after an earlier report by the standard. joining us live now to talk about his latest story back at the san francisco standard is senior politics reporter josh cain. hey, josh, you're back. >> i am back. it's great to be with you. >> i'm sure all the san francisco bay area politicians are very happy about this, as you will follow the money once again, right? let's. >> let's go. >> all right, so let's go talk about this one. the money in question this time. what is this

money? this pot that matt haney had access to? >> yeah. so this follows up on reports that i did earlier in the summer, looking at the campaign finances of assembly member matt haney, who represents san francisco uh. when i did that initial reporting, we found that he was spending tens of thousands of dollars on forty-niners giants and warriors games, as well as broadway shows and calling them fundraisers, which is not completely unheard of. but the level he was doing it was very strange. i then actually got another tip that actually he had quietly created a political committee to support ballot measures in the primary and the general election this past year. and what i found is actually a similar pattern. more forty-niners tickets, more warriors tickets, and more fancy hotels, restaurants, bars, a lot of lifestyle purchases that would seem, even though they were billed as fundraisers or normal campaign expenses. >> so are these committees like this ballot measure committee he

formed, typical for politicians who are running to also have one of these. >> it's not unusual for politicians to set up a committee in support of a ballot measure that they're passionate about. this one, however, matt haney created it to support any and everything when it came to ballot measures, state propositions in elections this past year. and by doing that, it allows him to really just kind of have his cake in every single way. as far as raising unlimited sums from special interests and then spending that money in a way that is not as clear as it would be if you had a focused mission to support a particular issue. he picked two ballot measures and spent a little bit less than $19,000 on facebook and instagram ads. he raised $119,000 roughly. so when you talk about the amount of spending he did to support these ballot measures compared to spending on all these other expenses, it's pretty imbalanced. >> i see. and you're saying they

could conceivably be fundraisers. let's say you were using those tickets to, i don't know, court someone who ends up raising money for you or something. right. but you're just saying it's a lot of these activities, a lot of these same types of tickets or things like that. >> well, yeah, it's like, for example, matt haney went to san diego in september of 2023. he stayed at a $555 a night hotel in pacific beach. he then had meetings for potential ballot measures, in which he racked up hundreds of dollars of charges at a restaurant, at a rooftop bar with a pool that's known for people just running around in swimsuits and bikinis. not necessarily a place where you think business is taking place. and then these forty-niners games again, it's not really clear who actually attended and who gave money. haney's campaign refused to actually comment for this story, but it would seem that there's a really strong potential that he was losing money by throwing these lavish fundraisers, rather than actually making a profit to put

towards political efforts. >> all right. we've reached out to him as well. haven't heard back yet, although it's only been a couple of hours and it sounds like he hasn't responded to you. but who are the key contributors? which groups to these committees? because that may tell you something as well. >> well, this is actually really interesting. so as i said, matt haney raised about $119,000 for his political committee. a lot of it came from native american tribes, which have made a lot of money from tribal casinos. he also took $30,000 from the california apartment association pac, which represents landlords and property owners. what's interesting about that is that matt haney has billed himself as a champion for renters. he's actually a leader on the california renters caucus. and to be taking $30,000 from the california apartment association pac and then using it for the way that we've already described, it's a little suspect. >> so will this just be added to the investigation that's already underway? >> you know, i reached out to the fair political practices commission. they did not want to

comment for this story, but they did confirm that they have active investigations into haney's 2022 and 2024 state assembly campaigns. >> all right, josh cain, keep us posted. thank you so much. >> will do. thank you. >> you can check out more of josh's story and the san francisco standard's other original reporting on their website, sf.com and abc seven will continue to bring you more segments featuring the standard's city focused journalism every tuesday right here on abc seven news at three. the long awaited follow up to the lion king arrives in theaters this week. when we come back, hear from the three voices behind the main characters in the prequel

in theaters in just three days. it's the origin story of how mufasa became the lion king. george pennacchio sat down with the lead voice actors to talk about their friendships on and off the screen. back to the trees. >> we're trapped. we have to swim. no, we have to fight. >> mufasa and taka are voiced by aaron pierre and kelvin harrison jr, who worked together previously in nat geo's genius mlk x, playing doctor martin luther king jr and malcolm x. >> let's keep them guessing. >> amen to that. >> you two are playing brothers and you've worked together before, so do you feel like he is your brother by this point? >> yeah, he's definitely like my big brother. he's definitely. he laughs. >> you're months apart. >> months apart. and that's why he's my big brother. not because of any other reason. i'm june, he's july in mufasa, the lion king. >> their character's brotherly bond is tested when the female lion, sarabi enters the picture. voiced by tiffany boone.

>> why are you following us? >> i was hoping to find my pride. >> what happened to the outsiders happened. >> a few of us got away. but you're the only other lions i've seen. >> tiffany. what is it like to see yourself on camera as a character? that's an animal singing. >> strange. yes. yes. when i finally saw it. or even when we would see some of the sketches and things come to life, it was like, this is really, really, really strange. especially how intense the technology is. and it feels. it's so lifelike. >> this is a big title, coming out in a major time of the year for movies, so you seem just too darn relaxed. >> no, no, this is see, this is where there is two things coexisting. the external is giving relaxed. the internal is giving. i need some water, so i'm very i'm very nervous. but you know, i'm really hopeful that people connect with this and it resonates with people. and whether they choose to see

it on their own or with their loved ones. i just hope people leave feeling inspired and feeling joyous. >> you say joyous. you're sitting here laughing together. you act together. this is a friendship that is going to be around for a long time, isn't it, kelvin? >> yeah, i think so, i hope so. i feel like and if you guys don't, i know how to find you. >> see? and this is why i was the villain. >> but did anyone in your life when you said you were playing scar? say you. you being bad? no. >> i think they saw the potential. they knew i liked to have a good time. and i think that's ultimately what scar likes to do is have a good time. he likes to play with his food. kaka do not eat him. wonderful. another were not supposed to eat. >> wow, it's an amazing opportunity to be in this cast of actors, to be working with lin, to be working with berry. it's one of those moments where you have to pinch yourself and be like, oh, okay, you are in

this amazing opportunity. where are you going to do with it and hopefully be present in it? >> is this one of the great moments of your career? >> 100. i'm so glad you said that. 100%. i think the, you know, 3 or 4 year old kid who first saw lion king, he is overjoyed and still can't quite believe that this is a reality. so i'm still pinching myself, and i'm happy to be pinching myself with other people who are pinching themselves about this moment. >> mufasa the lion king opens friday in theaters. disney is the parent company of abc seven. thank you so much for joining us. world news tonight with david muir starts right now. and i'll see you back here at four. tonight, there is breaking news as we come on the air involving the ceo murder suspect, luigi mangione. just in tonight, a new york grand jury has now indicted mangione on first and second