ari. >> thank you, ellison barber reporting. for our legal experts, as we go, do you expect life in the sentencing tomorrow, briefly, charles and then katie? >> the earlier point about the exemplary job clifton newman has done, this is not an easy thing to do. he's been over a number of high profile trials. he was also judge the over the walter scott trial some years ago with michael slager in south carolina, and he has continued to show himself as an exemplary jurisprudence. i expect he'll give the defendant life and we'll see that tomorrow. >> katie. >> it's got to be, and the reason why is there's so much that has been stolen from people. and i'm not just talking about the funds that were embezzled and stolen. the lies, the emotionality of having maggie murdaugh, paul murdaugh, a young man, mallory beach, the young woman paul murdaugh was responsible for killing, all these deaths, there has to be accountability and one person who's going to stand for that accountability and that's alex murdaugh. at his arraignment, he was ask

what they saw at this estate, sometimes that helps the defense more than the prosecution. >> ellison barberback with us as well. ellison, again, as we're looking at these pictures, this is the dog kennels, and again, that's where dick har put lee yan said he wanted the jurors to get an understanding of the spatial relationships in that area. i want to go back to what they could ask could not do. they were there for about 30 minutes, and they're not -- they weren't allowed to ask questions, right? they weren't allowed to speak to each other about it. when they go into that jury room, all bets are off. they can talk about anything they saw or any observations including the guy who stood in the feed room, right? >> right, they gave some general guidelines, parameters, one thing they did remind the pool of before they left because the drive was so long was just reminding them of the time line from when the 911 call came in to when the police actually arrived on scene. other than that, there were no questions, no discussions allowed and yesterday the judge actually had the bailiff and the office

joining me right now outside the courthouse is nbc's ellison barber and state attorney for palm beach county florida is joining me on set. alex murdaugh just released into the department of corrections. ellison, so much leading us up to this moment. i can't help but think this sentencing statement really culminates the weeks we have been hearing here. everything this judge was saying is quotable from the tiger on his tail and discovery of the mallory beach case, to his father on his death bed, how he's testifying it was just an ordinary day and how if he were to argue that in any of his legal cases he would lose every one and he will never have the opportunity to do that. to ellison, one of the most striking moments of that in which the judge saidky imagine you see paul and maggie when you go to sleep, i would imagine they visit you. you have to deal with your own lies within your soul. here, let's go ahead and listen in to the judge again. >> order was issued and for the most part it's been complied with except for the jury leaving the courtroom yesterday or not the jury, but the def

ellison barber is outside the courthouse for us. i know you've had a little bit of a chance to sift through some of the footage of the crime scene. what does it tell you? what might the jurors have learned from being there? >> reporter: they were able to see and we see in moments of this video the pool reporter when the press was able to see what the jury saw outside pointing out exactly where paul murdaugh was laying, where maggie murdaugh's body was laying, and also just a general sense of where everything is positioned. you see right now, we're looking at what are the dog kennels. remember, that is where that snapchat video that's been referred to as the kennel snapchat video, the one that puts alec murdaugh at kennels, prior to maggie and paul murdaugh being killed. that's where this was taken inside, and then this point, this is the area or outside this if it moves a bit more, at some point, you'll see someone walking, pointing, we're not there yet, but where maggie murdaugh was found. you see the woman in the dress walking out

and joining us now nbc news correspondent ellison barber outside the courthouse, also with us danny cevallos, criminal defense attorney and msnbc legal analyst. ellison, we'll start with you. tell us what the jury saw in this visit this morning to moselle. >> reporter: hey, jose. forgive me for looking off to the side at my phone, i'm trying to monitor any updates that we're getting from the press pool who has traveled to moselle with the jury. our team spoke to an officer here at the court, he said he had been in touch with the escort team that took the jury to moselle, that was seeing them around the property and would be bringing them back. we understand they are on the road headed back to the courthouse now. the judge had said he was hoping to have everyone back here by 11:00, 11:30 and they will presumably get right into closing arguments. the way this entire trip was structured, there was very clear directions for the jury before they even left that they were not going to be allowed to speak to anyone. that's other jurors, that's law enforcement traveling with them. and that they weren

joining us now is nbc news correspondent ellison barber outside the courthouse and also msnbc legal analyst charles coleman, civil rights attorney and former prosecutor, and nbc news senior legal correspondent laura jarrett. so, we're just waiting for that ten-minute break that the judge announced just a short while ago, but, charles, how have -- do you perceive the effectiveness of the defense so far this morning? >> well, jose, i think that so far what we have seen from the defense is exactly what i would have expected, the defense does not necessarily have to convince every one of those jurors that he's innocent, however, they do have to at least convince the jury that the prosecution has not met its burden beyond a reasonable doubt. i think that's what you're seeing. i saw them attack the narrative that was trying to be advanced by the prosecution, which is one thing i expected. i also saw them speak to the lack of physical evidence, which was another thing i expected. so, again, keep in mind they don't necessarily need everyone to believe their client. i think that's one thing that peo

nbc news correspondent ellison barber is at the courthouse in south carolina as she has that part of case made a lot of people look at the murdaugh family and the world around them a lot closer than they had in the years and the decades past. and in addition to those financial crimes, 99 charges alex murdaugh now faces related to that, there are also police investigations around two other deaths that happened within the murdaugh family orbit. >> alex murdaugh, the privileged son of a powerful south carolina legal dynasty. now a convicted murderer. for killing his wife and son. the spotlight shifting to other possible crimes and mysteries surrounding murdaugh and his family. the former lawyer disbarred last summer, is also under indictment, on charges of serious financial crimes. including fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. during his trial, prosecutors said murdaugh committed the murders to distract from his financial troubles. under cross-examination, murdaugh admitted stealing money and lying about it. >> you were generating millions of dollars in fees, that was not enough fo

. >> joining me now is ellison barber. she's outside the courthouse. laura jarrett and former u.s. attorney joyce vance are here. ellison, i want to start with you. you have witnessed a lot of this from there on the ground. murdaugh not showing any emotion during today's sentencing. we notably did not hear from any family members during today's hearing. what struck you in the closing -- the conclusion of what has been a dramatic and heavily viewed moment in american justice? >> reporter: it was a very different alex murdaugh than the one we saw take the stand. when he arrived in court this morning, this is the first day where he was not in plainclothes. he was dressed as a convicted murderer. he was in a jumpsuit. his hands were shackled as were his feet. when members of the press shouted question at him, if he had anything to say, he said nothing as he made his way into the courtroom. showed very little, if any, emotion today. very little, if any, emotion when the guilty convictions were delivered last night. when he was on the stand testifying in his own defense, he was asked why

ellison barber where the victims are from. so morgan first to you, these people, these four people are childhood friends. they traveled down to mexico together, and they did so to share driving duty. what more are we learning about them and how this happened? >> reporter: yeah, lindsey, we're filling in this time line that started back when this group of four as you described, lifelong friends left south carolina in that white van with north carolina plates and nen made that road trip hundreds of miles here to south texas to brownsville where according to family members one of the group had a cosmetic procedure scheduled in neighboring matamoros, and they crossed over one of the international bridges here, and federal authorities tell us it was shortly after they crossed that bridge that that white van took a heavy amount of gunfire, a barrage of bullet, according to some of the photos and videos that we've seen that then led to this video being captured showing these gunmen in broad daylight walking very casually i might add

nbc's ellison barber is outside the courthouse in walterboro, south carolina, as she has been for a while now. we're also joined by msnbc legal analyst and former federal and state prosecutor tali farhadian weinstein. good to have you both here. what did we hear from the defense to raise reasonable doubt? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, the defense made the argument that this entire case from the prosecution has been based on speculation and theories. they argued that the main investigative agency here s.l.e.d., they bungled this from the start. they said they put out a statement 24 hours, less than 24 hours after this happened telling the public that there was no threat to them. they say that is because they focused and decided alec murdaugh was the suspect and then didn't look anywhere else. instead they say they set out to try and make the facts fit the narrative that they had already decided on in their head. they say that the motive the state presented doesn't make any sense because it is simply not true. listen. >> why, why, why, would alex murdaugh on june 7th execute his son paul and h

i want to bring in nbc's ellison barber in lake city, south carolina, that's home to two survivors.with us, nbc's ken dilanian with the latest from law enforcement. so ken, what do we know about the suspect they do have, and have we heard anything about the investigation or any movement in finding out who the cartel is and the other individuals are who are to blame? >> well, mexican authorities have identified that 24-year-old suspect as jose guadalupe, and they haven't said very much about him, just that he was guarding that wooden shack where the two surviving americans and the two bodies were found after they were moved several times. in terms of the cartel, the gulf cartel is known to be the one in control in matamoros, but u.s. officials have not said to what extent they've learned who inside that cartel is responsible. i just want to reinforce, though, chris, what you just heard there from the family members of latavia mcgee, it's very important testimony because there's been a lot of misreporting potentially linked to what the mexican official said that somehow these people d

ellison barber is in the hometown of the survivors. what more are you learning about the group of childhood friends. i understand there's a report of a fifth person who traveled with them from where you are. >> reporter: right, so a law enforcement official who is close to this case is telling nbc news that there was a fifth person traveling with this group, but that fifth person didn't actually cross the border into mexico because they did not have the proper documentation to cross the border with the other four. mexican authorities say once the four crossed the border, they were in mexico for about two hours when their van, the car they were traveling in came under fire. two of the four were killed. the other two, last we heard, were receiving treatment at a hospital in texas. one of the two survivors, eric williams was reportedly shot in the leg. nbc news had a phone call with his wife yesterday. she talked about how she didn't have a whole lot of information on how he was doing, his condition. she said the conversation they had was

joining us now is nbc news correspondent ellison barber, who has been so closely following this trial from outside the courtroom, and charles coleman, civil rights attorney, former prosecutor, as well as glen kirschner, former federal prosecutor, charles and glen are msnbc legal analysts. ellison, you've been there for so long covering this trial. what has the reaction been like there today and this was such an unusual morning in so many ways. >> reporter: right, this is a state that has what is commonly known as allocution, where victims have the opportunity to address the court prior to sentencing taking place. that moment that we heard from alex murdaugh, he didn't say a whole lot. he maintained his innocence. at one point later, a back and forth with the judge, he reiterated those same statements, those same remarks you see on the screen. that's him arriving this morning. he arrived very differently than he has every other day in court, he was no longer in plain clothes. he was in a prison jumpsuit, his hands and feet both shackled because he is a convicted murderer. he has mainta

ellison barber has more. ♪ bad bunny, baby ♪ >> reporter: it's a voice recording that may be worth $40suing the global super star, claiming in a lawsuit that her voice and phrase they came up with together were used in two of his mega popular songs without her permission. ♪ bad bunny, baby ♪ >> reporter: that includes a hit single that has been streamed more than 365 million times on youtube. ♪ bad bunny, baby ♪ >> reporter: and a song from his chart-topping album which became spotify's most-streamed album in 2022. made bad bunny the most-streamed artist in the world. ♪ ♪ and won him a grammy. >> bad bunny! >> he just made it, this album with love and passion. >> reporter: according to the lawsuit, the pair started dating in 2011. in 2015 she claims the rapper asked her to record a voice note on her phone and then send it him. she alleges in the suit that in 2022, after they broke up, bad bunny's rep asked to buy her recording for $2,000, but she declined. and that in a subsequent negotiation, bad bunny's rep sent over contracts which she did not sign. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: but the next day

ellison barber kicks it off. >> reporter: "ted lasso" back for a hearard itthird season a tackling a up p those around him wiwith hisis sillyly anticse american heaead coacach of a brh soccer team. >> may hate me, but itit ain't lie. then the h hand, bye, , bye, bye >>>> reporter:r: the maiain cha struggled d with panic attackskd trauauma has b been frfront and center >> it's okay you're having a panic attack just breathe >> going crazy >> no more than anyone else. >> reporter: the show applauded by fans and advocates for bringing mental health awareness to prestige tv >> so coach lasso, the podium is yours. >> reporter: the emmy-winning cast bringing that discussion to the white house. >> no matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter who you voted for, we all know someone or have been that someone ourselves, actually, that's struggled, that's felt isolated, anxious, a alone it's one o of the manyny things bebelieve it or not that we all have in common we also have to know that we shouldn't be afraid to ask for help ourselves, tand that does take a lot. >> reporter: the

tonight on a special episode of "dateline," joining me from walterboro is nbc news correspondent ellison barber and on set, nbc news legal correspondent, laura jarrett. ellison, talk me through it first, right? it was quick this morning to say the least. we thought it was going to take a lot longer than it actually did. take us through what actually took place in the courtroom. >> reporter: we thought we were going to hear a lot of victims' statements because that's a part of a process commonly known as allocution, laura, i'm confident can explain all of that better than me. my understanding is it's not something that takes place in a whole lot of states. but because that's something that happens here, we expected to maybe hear hours of victim statements and that did not happen, instead, what you had was a very brief statement from the prosecutor, a very brief statement from the defendant, alec murdaugh, saying i am negligent, i would not hurt my wife maggie. i would not hurt my son paul, and then a lot from the judge as he went to sentence him, and there were some really powerful moments there

. >> with us now to talk more about this, nbc news correspondent ellison barber in lake city, south carolina. telemundo news anchor julio bakedo. ellison, we're hearing more from family members of the survivors, what are they telling us? >> reporter: yeah, family and friends tell nbc news all four of these individuals were childhood friends and that they had gone together to split up driving duties to take turns on the long journey to mexico. this city, lake city, is was their hometown. the mayor has already talked about this, acknowledging all of them had ties here. we expect the community to have a vigil later this evening. the family of the survivors, we're starting to hear more from them and they're talking about this scale, this range of emotions of feeling a lot of relief that they have now heard that their loved ones are safe and back in the united states getting medical care, but also feeling devastated for the families, their loved ones, and friends who do not make it back home. nbc news spoke to the brother of one of the survivors, eric williams, he was shot in the leg according to

joining me ellison barber, lauren jarrett and danny savalis. >> you heard when jim griffin gets emotional. he seemed to be starting to cry saying to the jury, do not compound a family tragedy with another one. one thing my colleagues who have been in and out of the courtroom -- catie beck who has been here from the beginning -- have said is that this jury often seems to take quite well to this attorney, to jim griffin. he has a bit of a casual folksy delivery. the jury seems to be attentive and paying attention when he speaks. frankly, they seem to like him. there's a reason i think why we heard from him in the closing arguments and not dick who has been so at the front of this case for the defense and has been at the center of some contentious back and forth. i think in that final moment of him getting emotional, we saw why the jury seems to relate to this attorney so much. they went through a lot of different points here. one thing they maintained and stayed with was reminding the jury that reasonable proof and what they need -- the burden the state needs to meet, that it's not the defe

ellison barber, thank you as well. we're following breaking news this hour as well.congressman george santos is being investigated by the house ethics committee, i want to bring in now nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitale, this broke in the last 30 minutes or so. we are learning by the minute. bring us up to speed if you will. >> by the minute here. i think up here on capitol hill, we had long surmised that this ethics investigation was coming. what we're talking about here is bipartisan in nature, this ethics committee. usually ten members, five on each side, republicans and democrats, but what they're doing here is announcing that they're, a, looking into santos, but be, forming a subcommittee to do that with four members. they're going to be pushing forward with their investigation, and it's happening on a few fronts here. in the release they detail whether or not santos engaged in unlawful activity, whether or not he failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the house, both of those sounds like they are campaign finance r

nbc's ellison barber is outside the courthouse in south carolina. also with me former u.s. attorney in south carolina, bill nettles, and former prosecutor david henderson. good to have all of you here. ellison, i know you've been talking to people on the ground following this case so closely for us throughout. emotions have to be high. what sticks out to you in all of this? >> reporter: yeah, i meerngs the prosecution very quickly said they feel like justice was served in this case, that they agree with the jury. they think the evidence that they presented wasoverwhelming and that's why the verdict of guilty on all four counts was delivered and delivered so quickly. this jury deliberated for two hours and 51 minutes. that is not a very long time at all. the defense have said they plan to file an appeal, they say they feel like there are a number of things that they have grounds for appeal at both the state and federal level and say they will start that process filing the paperwork for it in the coming days. the judge had a lot to say at this sentencing hearing. he talked abo

. >>> now we have nbc's ellison barber outside the courthouse in south carolina where alec murdaugh was put in a prison van and head for life behind bars. i understand you have a new interview and new information for us, ellison. >> reporter: hey, chris, yeah, we're getting information on what will happen with alec murdaugh next, and i'm looking over at my phone because i'm texting with a former prosecutor in this state who is familiar with the process that takes place once someone is convicted in court in this statement let me tell you what we know is going to happen to alec murdaugh, and this is from a spokesperson with the correctional facility where he is going to go to next. she says that he will be arriving, accompanied by south carolina law enforcement this afternoon, and he will be going to kirkland correctional institution. that is where all male inmates in the state of south carolina go first. that's what the former prosecutor i was talking to was saying that that is a very standard procedure. more often than not, there is a moment where when the inmate is taken there that the

. >> i'm ellison barber. "nbc news daily" starts right now. >>> today is thursday, march 23, 2023. >>> talk of the town. the ceo of tiktok facing off with lawmakers on capitol hill today. the growing calls to ban the wildly popular app and what it could mean for your account. >>> tornado destruction. a rare twister across los angeles county ripping roofs off of buildings. our bill karins is tracking where the threat of severe weather is headed next. >>> the rapper never as afroman sued by ohio police. why the department accuses him of capitalizes off their raid on his own home. >>> and some food for thought. scientists say junk food can rewire your brain to actually prefer unhealthy food. what that could mean for your waistline. >>> we begin in the nation's capital where the ceo of tiktok is facing intense questioning from lawmakers. >> i've never heard of tiktok before. there is not just one issue at play here. there are several issues. tiktok under the the microscope how it affects children and teens' menta

. >> let's go to ellison barber in walterboro, where alec murdaugh's hands will soon be in the jury. the prosecution got one last shot at the jury. tell us about that and what's next? >> they switched lawyers which was interesting. he made this emotional rebuttal to the jury, at one point, kind of going back to directly try and contradict some of the points we heard the defense make. if you remember the defense's closing remarks, they talked about this murder, the motive that the prosecution has centered its case on, saying there is no reason for alec murdaugh to do it, and at one point, the defense attorney in their closing remarks said the botched suicide attempt that allegedly occurred on the side of the road when alec murdaugh had a friend shoot him. the defense said that's a sad but rational reaction to being exposed for all of these secrets, all of these lies, all of these previous financial crimes. they said it is irrational, insane for a person to kill their family because of those reasons. the prosecution picked that up, saying that roadside shooting in its entirety, that th

. >> i'm ellison barber. "nbc news daily" starts right now. >>> today, tuesday, march 21st, 2023. more destructive weather hitting california. 1 it changed my life. >> how she put her students' lives above her own and the road to recovery with a bullet still lodged in her chest. >>> an urgent warning, the cdc sounding the alarm over a potentially deadly fungus spreading across the united states. what you need to know to protect yourself and your family. >>> we'll get to that dangerous weather situation in california in just a moment. we begin in new york city with the pending decision over the possible indictment of former president donald trump. several sources familiar with the matter tell nbc news that the earliest a decision could come is tomorrow when the new york grand jury reconvenes. >> it is unclear what charges they're considering, but the case stems from hush money payments made ahead of the 2016 presidential election. today, all nypd officers were told to be in uniform and on stand by. u.s. capitol police also stepping up security, though they say there are no specific

ellison barber is live from walterboro, south carolina, and kristin gibbons feden former prosecutor and an msnbc legal analyst. we were seeing that video of the vans bringing the jury, the windows blurred out so nobody's identifiable. what can we expect here on this field trip, and also once the jury returns to the courtroom? >> reporter: yeah, so for now it seems like they are actually keeping to schedule and going to be a little earlier than we were expecting, at least yesterday evening and early this morning, they left earlier than anticipated and from the latest pool reports we have, it seems like they are in the process of finishing up this visit, and the judge previously said they wanted to have the jury back here by 11 so they could get started with closing arguments. that would sort of expedite the time line we had in our head heading into today. but look, the jury was given very clear instructions on the way to moselle, they were told that they could come, they could look. the majority of the time was going to be spent at the kennels in the feed room area. they were going to be

we have two reports starting with nbc's ellison barber who joins us from the courthouse.daugh has been charged with nearly 100 additional crimes related to embezzlement, drug and running a drug, and money laundering ring, and insurance fraud, on top of that, police are now investigating two other deaths that happened within the murdaugh family's orbit. alex murdaugh, the privileged son of a powerful south carolina legal dynasty, now a convicted murder for killing his wife and son. the spotlight shifting to other possible crimes and mysteries surrounding murdaugh and his family. the former lawyer disbarred last summer, is also under indictment on charges of serious financial crimes, including fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. during his trial, prosecutors said murdaugh committed the murders to distract from his financial troubles. under cross-examination, murdaugh admitted stealing money and lying about it. >> you were generating millions of dollars in fees. that was not enough for you. would you concede that? >> if by concede, that do you mean was i also stealing