and good day, i'm richard

lui, the much anticipated report on the house ethics committee, the years' long investigation into matt gaetz is public today. the 32 page report packet concludes there was substantial evidence that representative gaetz violated house rules and other standards of conduct, prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, drug use, special favors or privileges and obstruction of congress. the committee found gaetz regularly paid women for sex between 2017 and 2020, and had sex with a 17-year-old girl in 2017. the committee also found that gaetz used illegal drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy on multiple occasions between 2017 and 2019. the report, however, did not find sufficient evidence that gaetz violated federal sex trafficking laws. gaetz has denied all allegations of wrong doing in this and has

been rebutting the report on social media, including this post, quote, there is a reason they did this to me in a christmas eve eve report and not in a courtroom of any kind where i could present evidence and challenge witnesses. the former congressman tried to block the report's release, filing a lawsuit hours before it became public. and not long after the report was filed, the clerk's office informed gaetz's attorneys there were paperwork errors that needed to be made in the complaint before action could be taken. gaetz has until 5:00 p.m. to respond to the judge with a reason the lawsuit should not be dismissed as moot. nbc news correspondent julia ainsley is reporting from washington, d.c. also joining us is nbc news senior national political reporter jonathan allen. "washington post" congressional investigations reporter and msnbc contributor, jacqueline alemany, good afternoon to all three of you.

the ethics committee spoke to more than two dozen witnesses, reviewed nearly 14,000 documents, as you have been going through it, what are some of the things that stand out, and any surprises based on what we had in our earlier report? >> yeah, richard, this committee, the investigators did what good investigators do. they followed the money. i want to read this out to you. they tracked more than $90,000 to 12 different women over that five-year time period, 2017 to 2020, that is notable, looking at the way gaetz is responding to this, he's giving money to someone he's dating that they didn't ask for, and he's trying to make a distinction that that wasn't prostitution. another thing they found, and this is worth noting for accuracy, all of the women that were interviewed by the committee, they stated their sexual activity with gaetz was consensual, but at least one woman felt they used a drug, and may have impaired their ability to know what was going on or give full consent. that matters especially as we

question why we're learning all about this through a house committee report and not being charged by prosecutors. the doj statement has told nbc news that the federal sex trafficking allegations would not have stood up and that they would have brought charges if they thought they had a winning case, richard. >> jonathan, from that report, you heard from julie, as well as your own, what stands out to you, and any surprises? >> i don't think there were any huge surprises, richard, we heard rumors with all of this. obviously it's much different to be put into print under the lag of a congressional committee, specifically the ethics committee, in terms of matt gaetz reputation, this is damaging to him, somebody who has been thinking of running for governor of florida. he's somebody who was named as the attorney pick for donald trump efore withdrawal amid possible likely rejection by the

united states senate, and so, you know, he says that he didn't do anything wrong. he says these charges aren't true and if they were, he would have been prosecuted in a court of law. for now, what we have is the ethics committee saying he did a bunch of things,including they believe it's credible that he had sex with an under age girl, you know, that will go down on his permanent record. >> jacqueline, the republican chair of the ethics committee released a statement saying in part, why i do not challenge the committee's findings, i did not vote to support the release of the report and i take great expectation that the majority deviated standards an action the committee has not taken since 2006, but last hour, on msnbc, glenn ivy defended its release. take a listen. >> the reason the ethics committee exists is to make sure

our members know what they can do, what they can't do, what crosses the line and what doesn't. and so i think issuing the report certainly provides guidance on that front as well. >> jacqueline, the decision to release the report was a reversal from november, as you know, when the committee was deadlock on it. then we had this vote on december 5th. we get the report today during a christmas week, as matt gaetz noted, what are the implications of the decision, and what the panel has found so far? >> we also talked to glenn ivy in the aftermath of the release of the report, and he noted that he felt like, one, there has been precedent, at least four different examples that have been previously cited by democratic members on the committee of the report being released after the fact. you actually have one former member still fighting some of the allegations that came out in the ethics report that was released by the committee after he had already resigned from his post. but also the fact that it was important to release this report

as to provide guidelines for what is acceptable and what is not acceptable from a member of congress. there was a feeling from democrats and at least one republican member who sided with democrats to vote with the majority, to release, this gop-led panel, in order for this report tleed to the public, that there was a need to make sure that gaetz didn't get away with sustained behavior while he was a member of congress that was considered not just inappropriate by other members, but also as the report concluded, to have violated some laws and house rules and regulation. he also told us he felt the panel's work was an important public good, that as this goes forward and potentially seeks higher office or might receive some sort of appointment from donald trump now that he has withdrawn from attorney general, perhaps in a different agency or area of the government that the

public should know what exactly gaetz was doing and outlining the kinds of behaviors that he was engaged in. >> julia, as you were looking through the report, something that stood out was the statement of not getting information or sharing information with the department of justice saying that it refused to provide significant evidence to the committee and that it caused significant delays to the committee investigation along the way. what's to be made of those statements in this report? one side might say, well, this is different branches of the government, so they wouldn't support or necessarily share information. the other side might say they are both looking at the same individuals and accusations of these specific actions that they should work together. what do you make of that? >> well, i've certainly covered many investigations going back to robert mueller's investigation, run through an

fbi appointment, at the same time, congress was also looking at russian interference. there are a lot of times we have had these things happening at the same time, secret service investigation with them, assassination attempt this summer, oftentimes investigations run concurrently, and can come up with different information. i think there's a lot of questions for the justice department regarding that and also why we never saw charges. repeatedly we heard that this investigation was on hold. we started caring about z in 2021. we were told by a senior doj official that it's career prosecutors who made the decisions not to bring charges. that was not a decision made by merrick garland or anyone in a political position who might have made that decision so as not to seem that they were putting their finger on a political scale. instead it was made by career prosecutors. lots of questions as to why. all of the evidence we have now, they didn't think there was some charges, except they do say that they don't think they could have

brought federal sex trafficking charges, and that seems to bear out in what we're learning today, richard. >> one of the distinctions here, when we look at it, jonathan, is the 17-year-old girl in 2017, this report saying that he did have sex with that 17-year-old. the doj at not finding the same outcomes, the prosecutors there, not taking action, what do you think about those two different views of the same specifics of this case? >> well, richard, this may not surprise you, but i was not in the room. so i don't know. in terms of what actually happened. it's important to remember, there are sort of different bars for prosecution for the justice department to believe a crime was committed, meaning they may

believe it was committed and not go forward with the prosecution because they believe they can't win or other reasons, and outlining conduct that is appropriate within the halls of the house. and among the house members, so, you know, there's surely different standards here, and the ethics standard is obviously one that is lower than the standard for prosecution in terms of having confidence in what you're putting in the report, but as to whether or not, you know, matt gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old, you know, again, there's only a couple of people who know that for sure. >> and two bodies deliberating on what may or may not have happened. well distinguished there. jackie, 5:00 is in front of us for matt gaetz at least, there's also, again, that doj did not

share information with this report, but potentially the report was shared with doj, and if so, or if not, what does that mean for doj going forward? might they have some new data? new evidence that may bring some new action in this case? >> that is a really good question, and so far what we have learned from leaks over the doj investigation, which has been nearly a half of a decade, have indicated the doj might have access to far more information than the ethics committee did. earlier this summer we reported that the ethics committee was upset with the justice department for not providing more of the evidence and information that they had obtained through their investigatory process in this case. "the new york times" obtained one spreadsheet that showed a vast array of women and men who were involved with the payments

indicating that perhaps hundreds of witnesses participated in a grand jury investigation and grand jury proceedings about this case. it's really unclear what the doj is going to do if anything with some of the raw materials that the ethics committee is likely going to hand over. now that gaetz is no longer under consideration for attorney general renders any senate ethics committee follow up investigation moot as part of the confirmation prose, but i wouldn't be surprised if there's further action on some of the findings that the ethics committee came to a conclusion about. for example, the fact that gaetz had sex with a 17-year-old in july of 2017, that they concluded was in violation of florida statutory rape law. >> jonathan, gaetz hinted at his political future. we were talking about that a little bit earlier. let's listen to what he said. >> it seems i may not have had enough support in the united

states senate. maybe i'll just run for marco rubio's vacant seat in the united states senate and join some of those folks. >> well, jonathan, i guess that's possible. the second possibility, does he show up in early january and get sworn in with the 119th. is that possible too? >> he said he won't do that. you know, he basically signed a resignation letter and said he wouldn't do that. on the other hand, i don't think there's anything preventing him from doing it except that now that the ethics committee report is out there, he would face potential punishment from the house up to and including expulsion. so, you know, i don't know what matt gaetz wants to do. mostly he wants to be at the center of attention, and he'll continue to try to do that in whatever way he can. i think that president-elect trump dodged a major headache here in terms of the se senators understanding what was

deciding matt gaetz should not be under any circumstances the person in charge of law enforcement in the united states. >> julia, this 5:00 p.m. deadline, anything to it? and what is next with this? or is this the end of it? . we're now in the holiday week, christmas week. >> it's hard to see how gaetz would continue to want to fight this in court. now that this report is out, the contemporary restraining order. gaetz will have to continue to fight this in a court of public opinion as we're already seeing him doing on social media. but it is hard to imagine how he would overcome the vast amount of witnesses that seem to be corroborating the same pattern here, richard. >> julia ainsley and jonathan allen, thank you so much, jackie alemany, see you in a bit. luigi mangione entering his

plea in front of a new york judge. we're live at the courthouse where it all just happened. with liberty mutual. customize and sa— (balloon doug pops & deflates) and then i wake up. and you have this dream every night? yeah, every night! hmm... i see. (limu squawks) only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ nature knows best. that's why new chapter vitamins... ...follows her example. with key vitamins, minerals, herbs, and whole food ingredients... ...crafted to work with your body. ♪♪ bringing the power of nature... ...into your new chapter. (cough cough) (sneeze) (♪♪) new alka-seltzer plus cold or flu fizzy chews. chew. fizz. feel better fast. no water needed. new alka-seltzer plus fizzychews.

narrator: time is running out to give a year-end gift like no other, a gift that can help st. jude children's research hospital save lives. woman: cancer doesn't care how old you are, and it's devastatingly scary. if you're donating to st. jude, you're supporting finding a cure, because the fight never stops. narrator: every gift counts, and whatever you can give will make a difference for children like gideon. make your donation today to help st. jude save lives. this morning in new york city, luigi mangione pled not guilty in the state charges in the murder of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. now he will remain in federal custody until his next court date. that's february 21st. joining us now, nbc's steven

romo, who's outside the new york courthouse, and former assistant manhattan district attorney catherine christian. first to you, let's start with this and you what more do we know about the defense's argument behind mangione's not guilty plea today? >> reporter: yeah, richard, we did hear quite a bit from the defense today, but we've not exactly heard how they plan to back up that not guilty plea, in part because they are still waiting on discovery in this case. there's a lot of evidence that prosecutors have that the defense attorneys have not been able to see. and mangione's attorney, karen freeman agnifilo is asking for an expedited discovery for that reason. agnifilo also spent a lot of time today really going after these perp walks we have seen, particularly the first one when mangione was arriving in new york city, surrounded by so many officers carrying these powerful

weapons, saying they were absolutely unnecessary and creating political fodder and a spectacle, something that could potentially prejudice the jury. we see it there, surrounded by the fbi, nypd joint task force, so many officers, i've heard it compared to something that you might see in a batman movie, a villain being taken in, something that is of course concern to his attorney, he does have a right to a fair trial. here's more of what she had to say today. >> it was like perfectly choreographed and what was the new york city mayor doing at this press conference, your honor? that just made it utterly political, and frankly, you know, the mayor should know of anyone, the presumption of innocence, dealing with his own issues, and i submit that he was just trying to detract from those issues of making a spectacle of mr. mangione.

>> reporter: you hear her placing the blame on mayor adams in this situation, in addition to, they were able to set the next court date for february 21st. this hearing, fairly short, richard, but we did get a lot of fireworks, particularly on that publicity angle. >> more on that, how has the mayor responded? >> reporter: yeah, we did get a response from the mayor's office about this, richard, saying in part, critics can say all they want, but showing up to support our law enforcement and sending the message to new yorkers that violence and vitriol has no place in our society is who mayor adams is to his core. they're saying he was trying to show support for law enforcement, and not trying to create publicity or sway potential jurors in this case. the judge, by the way, also responding to this, saying that he has very little control of what happens outside the courtroom. of course, that's where most of these perp walks are taking

place, richard. >> steven romo live at that new york city courthouse. thank you very much. accurate catherine to you o according to last week's perp walk, how effective is this argument at the beginning of a case? and your thoughts on the walk itself, this perp walk that we have so much video about? >> well, it's effective for defense attorneys to make it every chance they get, and in this case, as karen friedman agnifilo said, it's not just unusual, it's bizarre to see the mayor of the city of new york participating in effectively a perp walk, and it did draw attention, and it made it heightened, you know, that this was a really important case, and the language that the mayor used, did not use the word you're supposed to use, alleged. mr. mangione is allegedly a murderer. he has to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and it is

true that mayor adams himself is allegedly involved in a criminal activity. he has an open indictment with the u.s. attorneys office of the southern district. he is innocent until proven guilty. the reality is that these arguments, a year from now, if this case goes to trial, i doubt the publicity will die down. if it does, a judge will say no harm, no foul. but the defense attorney doing her job, you have to call out every time you feel your client has been wronged. you have to do it in court, and make a record. they call it making a record. if there ever is a conviction, you would have the grounds to appeal because you brought it up. >> staying with the state prosecutor's case, the terrorism charge, how might they go about proving that? >> it's a hard one. you may think, this clearly is terrorism. if you're familiar with new york law, particularly the appellate cases on this very charge, the

highest court of new york state, court of appeals has said this charge is reserved for 9/11 type cases. fortunately there was only one, the oklahoma city bombing, the shooting of yeshiva students on a school bus on the brooklyn bridge, there has to be more than just a heinous crime, which this is, and allegedly committed by mr. mangione. did he publicize what he was going to do? there's no -- apparently no social media presence about him saying i'm going to go after health care ceos, after he did it, he didn't publicize, you know, catch me if you can, i'm going to go after the rest of the ceos. the defense attorneys have a very good argument that the facts of this case do not rise to the level of terrorism. murder in the second-degree in new york is you intended to cause death, you caused death. that's the straightforward

charge, the best charge in my belief that the manhattan d.a. has. he's the one on video shooting mr. thompson in the back. the terrorism, they're making a straightforward case into a complex case, but, you know, a jury will eventually decide whether or not the manhattan d.a.'s office can prove the terrorism enhancement. >> how does the process and the outcome of the state charges, the state case, affect the federal charges and the federal case and vice versa? >> this is sort of unusual. it's not unusual for a defendant to have state charges and federal charges. that happened to me. i had a defendant who had state charges, but then they had federal charges in other jurisdictions, involving different facts. here you have the same facts, the same witness, the same charge. i think publicly the u.s. attorneys office and manhattan d.a.'s office are saying the state case will go first. practically, i don't see why

that would happen. first of all, the senate is currently in federal custody. also, he is facing possibly the death penalty, and on the gun charge, there's a mandatory minimum of 30 years. why should the state case with lesser, you know, jeopardy, go first. so i think this is just a matter of if, you know, they haven't really decided, they meaning manhattan d.a., versus the federal prosecutors, who is going first, and remember at the end of january, this will be president trump's department of justice, and as we know, he clearly is not a big fan of the current manhattan d.a., so i wonder how much cooperation there will actually be in about a month between the two offices. >> more on the cooperation and the federal charges with catherine christian. that's next hour. i know we'll see you then. thank you so much at this segment. appreciate it. coming up, the diplomatic demand president-elect trump is making to panama before he even retakes office, next on msnbc reports. takes office, next on m reports.

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president-elect donald trump is pushing back on report of ally elon musk's growing political influence. in a speech to young conservatives in phoenix on sunday, trump insisted musk is not the shadow president some suggested he was. trump also clashed with panama's president for suggesting the

u.s. would take back the canal if shipping rates for its use were not lowered. nbc news correspondent ryan nobles has more. >> reporter: president-elect donald trump ran on a promise to change the way washington operates. and he may be delivering before he's even sworn in. >> it's great to be here. nice to win the election. >> reporter: at a conservative event over the weekend in arizona, the incoming commander in chief promising his disruptive style like the one he displayed in the spending fight last week will yield results. >> i intend to keep those promises to the american people. >> reporter: trump's unpredictability will be put to the test, especially given his long list of priorities for the new year. he has promised to execute a mass deportation program, vowed to extend the tax cuts implemented in his first term and with the help of his billionaire buddy, elon musk slashed trillions of dollars from the federal budget, promises he did not back down from this weekend, but made

clear it is he, not musk running the show. >> the new one is president trump has ceded the presidency to elon musk. no, no, that's not happening. but elon's done an amazing job. >> reporter: trump later joking the south african born-musk couldn't be president. >> you know why, he can't be, he wasn't born in this country. >> reporter: and though he mostly focused on policy priorities, the president-elect airing an unexpected complaint. >> we're being ripped off at the panama canal like we're being ripped off everywhere else. >> reporter: calling for the return of the panama canal, which was transferred in a treaty signed by both countries in the 1970s because of high shipping fees. >> we will demand that the panama canal be returned to the united states of america in

full, quickly and without question. >> reporter: panama's president overnight rejecting that idea, saying, quote, the sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable. >> joining us now, msnbc political analyst, alexi mccammond, and back with us, "washington post" congressional investigations reporter, jackie alemany. he covered a lot during this first rally since becoming president-elect. what do you think the dynamic of musk and president-elect trump is right now, and where it might go based on what we have seen first out of the gate at this rally. >> it's clear that president-elect trump is still just as obsessed with the media coverage of him and who's really in control as he has ever been. we have also seen brief spats between elon and trump in the past before with elon saying, i think it was in 2022, that it

was time for trump to ride off into the sunset and for the republican party to move on past him. it's not unusual for folks to have these riches with trump, and end up being allies and going back to have a riff, which we might see happening with trump having this obsession with the coverage that elon is really in control. the thing is, as long as elon keeps supporting him and pushing for his agenda, giving him money or raising money for him in other ways, trump will want him around. as long as elon is being loyal to trump and showing the fealty to trump that he demands, there's no reason for the two to get into any kind of feud moving forward. >> jackie, when you look at elon musk and his efforts so far, this is somewhat of a trial balloon, right, getting in the middle of a policy process. we have seen what the outcome was and also showed some of the cracks within the republican caucus during the process that happened overthe weekend.

what do you make of how elon musk might be butting in, if you will, or leaning in on the process? a different branch all together. >> yeah, ard, i think in this current moment, trump does view musk as a helpful and useful extension of his political power, and as an enforcer of some of his priorities, and he's been extremely encouraging of the department of government efficiencies. this is musk's outside government agency that's going to find ways to make efficiencies, and to cut the federal government's spending by a very very potentially unrealistically large amount. i think, though, where musk could encounter some problems and maybe create some problems for the president-elect is that pushing some of these policies that are in contradiction to what trump has promised on the campaign trail? something like cutting entitlements, for example, trump

has promised he's not going to cut things like social security, social security disability insurance, and that is one of the priorities that musk has honed in on these conversations he has been having separate of donald trump on capitol hill with his side kick and partner vivek ramaswamy, that has excited a lot of these republican lawmakers who are big trump supporters, some of the biggest maga adherents in the republican party but who also vary from trump in terms of their fiscal ideology and ways that they would like to see the government's influence, who have been wanting to cut entilt tlems and have not had the political capital to do so. where it could come to a head is undermining trump. >> what we know, right?

>> what do we know about what it might be or what the idea of what it might be is, and secondarily, it seems to have gotten a little bit of energy coming from the hill itself with a bipartisan, at least it seems right now, interest in this very same idea? >> yeah, i mean, i think he knows how to be slick and sell the idea that they are focusing on efficiencies, and where vivek was doing an interview with "axios's" mike allen and he talked about the issue of cutting entitlements and the way they are pushing for it at once, and also not taking accountability for it is really interesting. he said to mike allen something to the extent of, well, you know, republicans in congress would be the ones to ultimately vote to cut entitlements, not us. and those people were voted into office by the american people, so if you look at it that way,

the american people are saying they want that, and that's obviously not true. polls show something like 80% of americans don't want to see anything touched when it comes to social security benefits, for example. but they're talking about going after people who they say shouldn't even be receiving these entitlements, so they're also saying that's the first part before they get to wholesale cuts of packages or programs. but i think we've seen with the government shutdown bill, how obsessed they are with numbers and the weight of this package, and so when they talk about efficiency, you have to ask, are they thinking about just numbers and the bottom line or are they thinking about the people who will be affected by any sort of cuts. >> alexi mccammond, jackie alemany, thank you, have a good monday. coming up, from gaza to syria, the past year has e reshaped the middle east. richard engel joins us with what it means for the region going forward.

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top ranking georgian arriving in damascus today to meet with members of syria's new leadership, as an israeli air strike killed seven people at a tent camp in a humanitarian safe zone. in the past year, the political dynamics across the middle east have changed drastically, and so has the balance of power. nbc news chief foreign correspondent, richard engel has

more. >> reporter: it has been one of the most destructive, violent, and transformative years in the middle east in a decade. israel's war on hamas, payback for the october 7th massacre has left gaza in ruins. >> everywhere you look there is just nothing left standing. >> lawless, and teetering on the brink of family. israeli forces kid hamas's top leader, along with more than 45,000 palestinians according to local officials. for the first time, the clerical regime in teheran abandoned its caution and launched two direct attacks against israel, firing hundreds of missiles and drones. well, there is a lot of activity in the sky here as well. i think you can see some of these flashes of light. >> the only person killed was a

gazan, crushed by a missile, shot down by air defenses. wrong time, wrong place. israel responded with restraint, so far. with complex long range air attacks that targeted iranian defenses. it was e that israel can launch a devastating air campaign at will. lebanon felt that firsthand as well when israel launched a war against hezbollah to stop the group from firing rockets into northern israel. >> you get a sense of how powerful this blast must have been, just by how much debris there is. >> israel shattered hezbollah. >> hezbollah blaming israel for an unprecedented attack that involved blowing up its members pagers. >> reporter: and assassinated its leader too and his chosen successor. by early december, a shaky cease

fire was in place. >> the fighting across the lebanese, israeli border will end. will end. this is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. >> weakening hezbollah, changed the balance of power across the region. in neighboring syria, it created an opportunity for islamist rebels who had been fighting against the government for a decade. rebel forces marched into the capital of damascus, and overthrew the regime of dictator, bashar al assad, whose family ruled the country with an iron fist for over half a century. assad's government had been propped up by three seemingly reliable backers, russia, hezbollah and iran, none of them would or could step in to save his government. the rebels saw an opportunity and took it. there is one word i'm hearing over and over again, it is arabic for freedom. and a lot of celebratory

gunfire. syrians were in a state of shock, delighted the dictator was gone, but not sure if they could trust the rebel's promises that they would be more moderate. the map of the middle east is being redrawn by the hour. richard engel, nbc news. >> and coming up, the new legal drama rocking hollywood, what actress blake lively is alleging about her "it ends with us costar" in a new complaint. and next hour on msnbc reports, what former democratic senator doug jones thinks the supreme court needs to do to regain americans' trust, after a report detailed alleged ethical lapses by justice sz. -- by justices. -- by justices

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actress blake lively has filed a complaint against the costar of her new film, justin baldoni. in the updated complaint, lively accuses him of sexual harassment on the set of their film "it ends with us" and alleges after she held a meeting to address his actions, he ran a campaign to ruin her reputation. nbc news entertainment correspondent corey me las has more. >> explosive allegations of sexual harassment on the set of "it ends with us." >> one day you have a daughter, what will you say to her? >> reporter: the actor blake

lively filing a complaint against the costar and film's director. saying he repeatedly harassed her on set and crossed boundaries. improvising physical intimacy that had not been rehearsed or discussed, allegedly improvising numerous kisses in a scene. in another instance, the producer pressured lively to simulate full nudity. the complaint says that the situation got so bad that a meeting was called to address issues that had nearly derailed production of the film. the complaint says a list of protections like a full-time intimacy coordinator on set were established to allow the film to finish shooting, but it didn't end there, the complaint says, media and fans began to raise questions about a rift in the cast as press for the film kicked off and baldoni was nowhere to be found in appearances with lively and other costars. the complaint says he hired a

crisis team to hire a retaliatory campaign against lively to destroy her reputation. in a text message of two pr experts, including in the filing, one wrote of doni, he wants to know she can be buried. >> this reveals a new play book for waging a far reaching and largely undetectable smear campaign in the digital age. >> reporter: calling hoover the author of the best selling 2016 novel about domestic violence that the film is based on voiced her support for lively on instagram, writing, thank you for being exactly the human that you are, never change. never wilt. a lawyer representing baldoni and his production company called lively's allegations categorically false and another desperate attempt to fix her negative reputation. chloe melas, nbc news. >> chloe is with us on set.

he came out early on against toxic masculinity, and then there's this case. >> it's not a good ituation for him, but he also has a strong fan base as well. he is beloved. these are shocking allegations. he has a podcast called man enough, and you can imagine perhaps he's going to address or want to tell his side of the story at some point. his attorney coming out swinging saying this absolutely is a one sided cherry picked version of events. there's a lot of support for blake lively. costars saying they knew about things that were happening on set because blake was telling them along the way. amber hurd exclusively speaking out to nbc news saying she herself has been part of a smear campaign in the past, that she knows what this is like, referring to the negative publicity that she got in 2022 during her defamation trial against her ex-husband johnny depp, she had johnny depp's pr team was the same that worked

with just i didn't think.in. his legal team is saying that's absolutely not true, they did nothing to amber hurd and nothing to blake lively. again, this is a precursor to a lawsuit. you could see this turn into a lawsuit, and even make its way to trial if it were to ever get that far. >> chloe melas, thank you for that reporting. in the next hour of msnbc reports, the quote, massive hole a progressive research group says democrats are in following their 2024 losses. and what the party can do to dig itself out. o to dig itself out nature knows best. that's why new chapter vitamins... ...follows her example. with key vitamins, minerals, herbs, and whole food ingredients... ...crafted to work with your body. ♪♪ bringing the power of nature... ...into your new chapter. so, you're 45. that's the perfect age to see some old friends, explore new worlds, and to start screening for colon cancer. yep. with colon cancer rising in adults under 50,

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. thanks for being with us, i'm richard lui at msnbc headquarters in new york city. we begin this hour on that scathing report of matt gaetz released by the house ethics

committee. matt gaetz pulled himself out of contention when it became clear he was not going get the support he needed in the senate. the 42-page report alleges there was substantial evidence that gaetz violated house rules, including potentially criminal offenses at the state level. among the allegations, quote, prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors of privilege, and obstruction of congress. the ethics committee tracked more than $90,000 to 12 different women between 2017 and 2020. likely connected to sexual activity and/or drug use. gaetz tried fo to block the report's release, after repeatedly denying any wrong doing. he floated the possibility of running for the senate on sunday. >> it seems i may not have had enough support in the united states senate, maybe i'll just run for marco rubio's vacant seat in the united states senate, and join some of those

folks. >> joining us now, nbc's capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. ryan, what are some of the more significant allegations against gaetz in this report, and how is he responding? >> well, richard, perhaps the most damming aspect of this report is a very specific and detailed allegation that matt gaetz engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl. this is something that has dogged matt gaetz tr a for a go part of his public career. it's something he has repeatedly denied. we are hearing for the first time from the girl who was involved in this activity. she testified before the committee that he and gaetz engaged in a sexual act on two different occasions at a party in 2017, when she was only 17 years old, and had just finished her junior year of high school. she did say that the act was consensual. she said that gaetz perhaps didn't know that she was 17, but that doesn't escape the fact that the committee finds what he

is accused of, and accused of statutory rape. this is in addition to a long list of accusations that the committee makes about gaetz and his repeated $90,000 to 12 different women over a five-year period where they claim the payments were for sex or illicit drug use and a trip to bahamas. four different women went on the trip. gaetz had sex with all of them. one believed the trip was payment in exchange for sex, another woman saying she witnessed him taking ecstasy. gaetz denied all wrong doing. he said his activity during this period of time was embarrassing, but he said it does not reach the level of criminality, and he also points to the fact that the department of justice investigated these accusations against him for quite some time, and determined that they were not prosecutable.

does not mean he was exonerated by any measure. members of the committee believe florida state prosecutors should look at the allegations to determine whether or not he violated any state laws. this of course comes against the backdrop of gaetz' political future being wide open. as you showed, he floated the idea, perhaps running for the senate from florida in the near future once marco rubio vacates that seat. it's clear, despite the allegations in the report, matt gaetz does not appear to be going anywhere and will remain in the public eye, richard. >> ryan, what's the practical impact on gaetz, considering he's no longer a sitting member of congress, and he could show up in january and get sworn in, for instance . >> i do think that's unlikely that he shows up here, and the seat he once held in november. former governor ron desantis has started the process to replace gaetz as a member of congress. i do think that that was part of

what vexed the house ethics committee. they lost jurisdiction over gaetz once he was no longer a member of congress. they did have the ability to penalize him in some way, shape or form as a member of congress for violating the house's rules. once he left the house, all they had was an investigation, and that's the purpose of releasing this report, to get the information out in the public. they believe, as they point out in the report, that it was in the public interest to reveal the findings of this long investigation. and it was, of course, an investigation that was conducted using taxpayer money. now, this wasn't a unanimous decision. the chairman of the committee, michael guest wrote a dissenting opinion where he specifically said that this set a dangerous precedent, that investigations into members that are no longer part of the body, having those reports revealed, could open up a pandora's box. this opinion of a majority of the members meaning that it was bipartisan, is believed to be a special circumstance where they believed that this information needed to get out into the

public, and that's what ultimately led to the report being revealed. richard. >> ryan nobles on the hill for us. thank you so much, ryan. joining us now, jennifer horn, cofunder of the lincoln project, republican strike ateg a former spokesperson for doug burgum's campaign. jennifer, to you first on this. your reaction to the ethics committee report that just came out on gaetz that ryan was reporting on for us. >> well, that is horrific. any parent who has or has raised a daughter, thinking about her as a teenager in high school, being in the circumstances that this report outlines has to be horrified today. but what's worse is matt gaetz himself, the behavior in which he has engaged disqualifies him in my opinion from any sort of

public service whatsoever. i agree that this report had to come out. it is not the first time that the house ethics committee has released a report after someone has left congress. there's nothing about this that suggests they are just going after matt gaetz personally, and i think, frankly, it's the american people have a right to know this, but more importantly, the people of florida have a right and need to know this. especially when he's out there talking about running for -- possibly running for senate again. and i'll finish this thought just by saying, we should not expect that the republican party is going to show any sort of honor or dignity or humanity in this case. we should not expect they are going to put these young women and the consequences they have suffered first, you know, at the top of their thoughts or their actionings. we're talking about a party that just elected a man who is an

adjudicated rapist and this is the kind of activity, the kind of behavior that many of them have been triedying to hide. >> lance there was push back in this report, including by the speaker of the house. what does that mean for the speaker? >> we should just release every single report that's ever been done, based on what was skrus just said. yes, they have released some reports. that was 30 or 40 years ago, and it's only happened a couple of times. at some point in this country, you're innocent until proven guilty, at least the last time i checked that's how it went. the justice department investigated this stuff. they had witnessed credibility issues, the same witnesses that are the basis for this report. these are serious accusations. i'm not disputing that at all. to come down into this, this committee didn't have credibility going into today, but it's completely shot. we might as well release every

port that's ever been done out there. i see no other reason to release this. he's no longer a member of congress. they do not have just diction over him. he's clearly not going to be the attorney general of the united states. what other reason did they have to release this other than to personally hurt him? >> it was a bipartisan vote by the committee in order for it to be released. i want to switch to you, michael hardaway, president-elect trump speaking about elon musk's influence on sunday, specifically the criticism that he has heard regarding several issues from trump. this is him in phoenix a little bit earlier. take a listen. >> the new one is president trump has ceded the presidency to elon musk. no, no, that's not happening. but elon has tone an amazing job. we want to thank him, but no, he's not going to be president. that i can tell you.

and i'm sach, you fe, you know can't be, he wasn't born in this country. >> first off, what do you make of his comments, and how are democrats like your former boss, hakeem jeffries react to this, and handle elon musk when it comes to issues of congress. >> trump is delusional. elon musk spent $200 million to buy himself this presidency. it seems to have worked. he was the one that initially came out and spoke out against the bipartisan effort to keep the government open, and trump followed. it appeared as though musk was leading trump, trump was taking direction from musk. here's the problem for leader jeffreys and the speaker as well. this should have happened at a house level. it did, where the speaker and leader worked together to create a bipartisan effort that should have been moved to the senate. when you have elon musk parachuting in and no

understanding of how government works, destroys that effort, the next years, republicans really have a one-seat majority, until that is problematic. >> you know, jennifer, what are some of the hurdles that trump and musk will be faced with in congress? we got a hint of that in the last week, and we saw the example over fighting of government spending. as they go forward and put together this doge, this committee, this department on government inefficiencies or efficiencies, how might that play out? >> one of the first things people need to understand about what just played out over the past week, elon musk and his company does billions of dollars of business with the united states of america and with our government, and trump just put him in charge of streamlining spending and government. the most obvious self-serving i should think of. and we should expect that as mr.

ramaswamy and mr. musk take on this new role, we're going to see a tremendous amount of self-serving action that takes place under it. they are the perfect fit for the president-elect. they think the same way that he does. if it makes him money, if it serves him well, then he's in for it. you know he's all in for it.

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just one year ago, donald trump was facing long days in the courtroom, and potential prison time. as we head into 2025, he's preparing for his second inauguration instead. nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard takes a look back at all of trump's legal battles where they stand now, and how the indictments ultimately shaped his narrative while campaigning for president. >> reporter: for defendant donald trump. >> donald j. trump is guilty. >> reporter: the fate of the 2024 presidential election could determine both his political and legal future. >> they want to put me in jail. >> reporter: trump using his own potential imprisonment to rally supporters around his defense. >> our enemies want to take away my freedom because i will never let them take away your freedom. >> reporter: as a candidate arraigned on criminal charges in new york city, washington, d.c.,

florida, and atlanta. where a local fulton county jail formally booked, finger printed and photographed him, for a mug shot that trump capitalized on. >> when i did the mug shot in atlanta, you know, that mug shot is number one. >> reporter: trump trump turned it into a symbol of freedom, using it for merchandising and fundraising. >> every time the radical left democrats, marxists, fascists indict me, i consider it a great badge of honor. >> reporter: in 2023, the indictments coming in rapid succession. >> i got arrested four times in the last, it's almost like i wake up in the morning, do you think they'll arrest me today. i never got arrested before. >> reporter: some of trump's primary opponents trying to benefit themselves from the cases. >> court cases and vengeance of the past, we got to start going forward. >> that conduct is indefensible in my view. >> reporter: instead, as trump made his way to new york to face criminal charges for falsifying

business records to cover up hush money payments to stormy daniels and influence the 2016 presidential election, his narrow lead in the gop primary began expanding. >> it distorted the primary, just crowded out i think so much other stuff. >> reporter: special counsel jack smith brought two cases against trump, another for refusing to turn over classified documents and allegedly trying to hide them from the fbi, leading to federal agents executing a search warrant on his florida estate. >> they lead r raided my house florida mar-a-lago, no notice, no nothing. >> reporter: in a separate case brought by letitia james a new york judge found trump and his family company engaged in repeated financial fraud, fining him $460 million. >> donald trump may have authored

authored "the art of the deal" but he perfected the art of the steal. >> reporter: a jury in new york finding him liable for sexually abusing e. jean carroll and then defaming her. >> he's nothing, we don't need to be afraid of him. >> reporter: another jury months later then ordering trump to pay carroll more than $80 million after the judge overseeing the litigation determined that he had defamed her again, as trump called the prosecutions and lawsuits politically targeted, the justice system continued to turn. >> shouldn't be allowed to happen. i'll stay around here. >> reporter: major witnesses taking the stand in the hush money trial, stormy daniels, michael cohen, the publisher of the "national enquirer," david pecker and his former white house close aide, hope hicks, meanwhile his political allies, courting public opinion. >> the judicial system in our country has been weaponized against president trump. >> they're not prosecuting president trump, they're persecuting him. >> reporter: after seven weeks, the jury unanimously found him

git on all 34 felony counts. the judge scheduling a sentencing date for after the election, raising the stakes of america's decision. >> we are projecting that the next president of the united states is donald trump. >> this was, i believe, the greatest political movement of all time. >> reporter: and with the result, concerns about immunity from prosecution and the ability and precedent of imposing a sentence on a sitting president. leading special counsel jack smith to drop his two cases. federal judges then agreeing to toss the indictments out. his fulton county case indefinitely on hold, and the judge in his new york trial now deciding whether to toss the verdicts against trump out all together, or suspend his sentencing daylight until he leaves office in 2029. vaughn hillyard, nbc news. >> and thank you for that reporting. and clarifying something one of our guests said earlier in the hour about one of these cases, as vaughn just said, a jury found donald trump liable for sexual abuse in the e. jean

carroll case, i want to bring back with us now, former assistant manhattan district attorney catherine christian. catherine, i want to start with this particular case. judge merchan, which was brought up in vaughn's piece here, has not issued a decision on trump's sentencing for the hush money case and we don't know when he's going to do it. he did say after the election, where does that stand, and i understand know him professionally? >> quite frankly, it's inexplicable why judge merchan has not issued a decision yet. some judges are more decisive than others. you know, tomorrow's christmas eve. the courts are open today in manhattan, and they're open tomorrow. it's possible he could issue his decision today or tomorrow. it's inexplicable why he is taking so long to issue this decision. he's either dismissing the indictment or he's not.

and if he dismisses the indictment, the case ends. if he's not, then the next issue is sentencing. well, january 20th is coming very quickly, and so it just lakesly basically is on hold. yes, donald trump was found guilty by a jury of 34 counts, but until he is sentenced, that is not considered a final judgment. >> also of note, as you know, donald trump facing the mar-a-lago documents case, also the january 6th case. did merrick garland move too slowly in your opinion to act on the federal cases and what could have changed if he did move faster? >> well, hindsight is 2020 but getting an indictment a year before election day probably wasn't the wisest decision to wait that long because here we are. and both of those federal cases are now gone. so it was a long time for that

special counsel to be appointed, and one wonders if it had happened a year earlier, there would have been enough time to go to the supreme court and get a decision, and also, quite frankly, if that federal indictment had happened first tlrks may there may not have been a manhattan d.a.'s case. >> 30 seconds to you on this one, let's go to the state of georgia, the election interference case there. fani willis, her disqualification, what does this mean? is the case dead? >> i think it's dead. anyone who's hanging hopes saying it will come back to life, i think if you're going to be realistic, you have to say it's fallen into the black hole. >> all right. catherine christian, thank you for staying with us. i appreciate your time today. >> you're welcome. that does it for us this hour. i want to thank you for spending time with us. happy holidays from new york

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