and matt gaetz ble

gaetz text message from you.alk with you immediately about the current federal investigation and the indictment that is about to be filed against your son. i have a plan that can make his future legal and political problems go away. you sent that text message? >> i did, yes. >> why did you put it that way, that there is an indictment about to be filed against his son, and why did you tee up the legal problems? >> matt gaetz was in need -- or if the allegations are true, he's in need of goodwill from the government. i'm a sponsor to fund the rescue project. >> saying the indictment that is about to be filed, what if people take that to be an implied threat? >> there is no threat. i don't have anything to do with the indictment. i don't have anything to do with the investigation into matt gaetz. >> what was your point in telling gaetz's father about what you had heard about the trouble that his son was in? you could have just went to him and said help bob levinson. if we find him, it will be good for your son. you

ominous sign for gaetz. we're not yet reporting anything that confirms some kind of cooperation here. now, if greenberg does cooperate, if he does have evidence of interest to the feds, he could, like anyone else, get a more lenient sentence. he's looking at 12 years in business. all this comes as a new report is breaking first from cbs news and nbc news confirmed that the feds are probing a trip to the bahamas in late 2018 or early 2019. it is relevant to the probe because it involves, quote, women paid to travel for sex, which could violate federal law and whether gaetz or greenberg who was in court today used the internet to search for women they could pay for sex. in addition, the reporting says, quote, gaetz was on that trip with a marijuana entrepreneur. again, gaetz denying all of these allegations. he has not been charged with any crimes and we want to report for you a gaetz spokesperson speaking out new about this latest reporting and saying it looks like a general fishing exercise about vacations a

"not much, just hung out," said matt gaetz before anyone could talkn matt gaetz used the cash transfercus "tuition and school," which is a pretty weak attempt to cover your tracks. that's like leaving your wallet at a crime scene but wiping your finger prints off it the house ethics committee announced friday it will launch an investigation into republican congressman matt gaetz over allegations that he, quote, "may have engaged in sexual misconduct, and/or elicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the house floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity or impermissible gift." or as republicans call it, "running for re-election." new york city mayoral candidate andrew yang marked national pet day yesterday by tweeting that his family had to give away their dog after one of his sons became allergic. whoa, i can't wait to see what he posts for mother's day. [ light laughter ] he's the new scollins. he's ruining days. [ light laughter ] two weeks off, i felt like days were safe. britain's pr

gaetz, but i will. >> tonight the latest on the allegations against gop congressman matt gaetz and the justice department sex trafficking investigation. >>> then -- an emotional day in court as witnesses recount what happened to george floyd after derek chauvin pinned him down. >> george was motionless, limp, and chauvin seemed very -- he was in a resting state meaning like he just rested his knee on his neck >>> then as covid cases surge in wisconsin, republicans shot down the governor's mask mandate while in pennsylvania infrastructure week finally arrives. >> it's big, yes it's bold, yes and we can get it done >> when "all in" starts now. good evening from washington, d.c. i'm medhi hassan in for chris hayes. if you've been following the news today you've probably heard a lot about the justice department investigation into republican congressman matt gaetz into potential sex trafficking tied to an alleged sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, which gaetz denies there have been a lot of crazy developments in this story since we first reported on it last night, and we're going

in a statement gaetz's office said mat gaetz has never paid for sex.t gaetz refutes all the disgusting allegations completely. >> providing for flights and hotel rooms for people that you're dating who are of legal age is not a crime. >> reporter: but a source telling cnn investigators are examining whether any federal campaign money was involved in paying for travel and expenses for the women. gaetz and greenberg has been friends for years, hosting photos together and gaetz telling a local radio station greenberg would make a good member of congress for 2017. the duo according to a florida lawmaker leaving an unsolicited voice mail on her cellphone. he gave a recording of the message to cnn. >> this is your favorite tax collector. and we were just chatting about you and talking about your lovely qualities -- >> we think you're the future of the democratic party in florida. >> reporter: additionally information that may connect gaetz to a fake i.d. scheme at the center of greenberg's case was presented to federal investigators at a meeting last year. s

but first, congressman gaetz threatened michael cohen. now gaetz is in free fall.will check in with, yes, michael cohen learning to "the beat" live after this. ve after . r and outdoor allergens. try claritin cool mint chewabls for powerful allergy relief plus a cooling sensation. live claritin clear. this is how you become the best! ♪“you're the best” by joe esposito♪ ♪ [triumphantly yells] [ding] don't get mad. get e*trade. i'm not hungry! you're having one more bite! no! one more bite! ♪ kraft. for the win win. we started with computers. we didn't stop at computers. we didn't stop at storage or cloud. we kept going. working with our customers to enable the kind of technology that can guide an astronaut back to safety. and help make a hospital come to you, instead of you going to it. so when it comes to your business, you know we'll stop at nothing. what happens to your body language when your underarms toare cared for?, ♪ ♪ it shows! our new dove advanced care formula is effective... and kind to skin, leaving underarms cared for and you... more confident and car

gaetz? >> i think it's been clear from the reporting about the payments that were made and the practices that went on between greenberg and gaetz, that this was a constant thing that they had going on. the recruitment of girls and women to come in and to have sex with him and for these women to be paid. so the prosecution will need to have a narrater, someone who can help them understand what that process looked like. the payments between the women and greenberg, or money that went from gaetz to greenberg, on paper it only says so much. but to really understand the details of how this was going down, where they were doing it, the names of the hotel rooms, why they picked different place, those details will be very important to prosecutors as they build this case against gaetz. because if you're the government, you to be prepared to go to trial with gaetz and to have a knock-down, drag-out fight with some of the top defense lawyers in the country. gaetz has a ton to lose here. and that is not

i mean, it would be impossible to even draw a political cartoon about matt gaetz, because matt gaetz looks like a political cartoon. "i don't know. i guess i'll make his head look smaller? i mean, look at that thing based on that noggin, you'd expect his mouth to move like a "south park" character >> oh, hamburgers. [ light laughter ] >> seth: by the way, he'd be a good substitute if mr. met ever calls in sick. gaetz repeatedly claimed there was fraud even after admitting he didn't have any proof and that the trump campaign couldn't produce any proof. >> i think the justice department has a lot of egg on their face for having not discovered a lot of this fraud as it was occurring. david, as you know, this is very hard to find, prove and obtain relief on after the fact because so many of the ballots get co-mingled >> seth: so, according to gaetz, the fact that you can't prove there was fraud proves there was fraud. that's the same argument with your college roommate made to prove aliens built the pyramids. "if aliens are advanced to build pyramids, then they'd be advanced enough to ma

greenberg according to friends about and associates kind of idolized matt gaetz because gaetz was this personality. he had the ear of the president. and he was kind of a widely recognized figure in republican politics. and he knew that matt gaetz liked the ladies, and greenberg, according to them, met a lot of women on this seeking arrangements website and kind of brought them into the fold and supplied matt with a bevy of dates. and this lasted for quite some time. soon after getting into office, according to the 33-count federal indictment of joel greenberg, which is wide ranging and is pretty interesting reading, by may of 2017, he allegedly was having sexual relationship with a 17-year-old. some of our reporting indicates she might have gone on to become a pornography star currently. she is not commenting or wasn't returning our messages for comment. the investigation grew out of a smear campaign that joel greenberg tried to accuse his rival of being a pedophile. the feds eventually got the case and uncovered just a host of different crimes, alleged crimes that greenberg apparently

matt gaetz says he has never paid for sex, right? but it doesn't get you out of legal jeopardy if your buddy pays for sex and then you pay your buddy the same a. i'm not saying that's what happened here, there seems to be a case if your reporting is true it did. but from a legal exposure standpoint, if someone pays for sex and you pay them, you're not off the hook, correct? >> that's right. that's part of a conspiracy. now, what we have here, and it is worth going through the detail. we got hold of venmo payments. as anybody who uses venmo knows, when you pay anyone anything, you have to explain what that thing is for. we have to ask, why would a sitting congressman be making two payments, one of which says to hit up, it says "hit up" and it mentions are girls name, a name that hours later receives money from that same person who got that money. and so that's what we got here. we got venmo transactions that definitively tie him to them. we have more coming because we don't just have these financial transactions. >> well, what do you

gaetz, who also had sex with them. mr. gaetz denied ever paying a woman for sex. one of the reporters on this story, katie benner, standing by to join us in just a moment. >>> meantime to the white house we go where they are bracing for a big fight with republicans and potentially even some of their own democrats over the plan to rebuild the nation's infrastructure and ultimately, perhaps, the nation's economy. the president now has his full cabinet. today it was all hands on deck for the group's first meeting in the east room. it proved big enough at a safe distance. high on the agenda, selling joe biden's $2.2 trillion infrastructure package. the president tapped five of his new cabinet members, transportation secretary pete buttigieg, housing secretary marcia fudge, jennifer granholm at energy, gina raimondo at commerce, and marty walsh at labor to spread the word about the plan. >> these cabinet members will represent me in dealing with congress, engage the public in selling the plan, and help work out the details as we refine it and move forward. >> job creat

don gaetz says this is extorted ive. he goes to the fbi and he also goes to one of these guys and he asks about these guys. don gaetz says he wears a wire and david mcgee says i am not involved in anything like that. i just represent the levinson family. i was hoping to get help for them potentially but he has never truly confirmed they talked about the levinsons. the fbi is investigating that separately. the fbi is concerned about someone who would throw this, at the time, nonpublic allegation of sex trafficking in the gaetz's family face. sources tell us look, none of those folks seem to have an apparent connection to the case except they found out about it. in other words they are not going to gaetz on behalf of the 17-year-old alleged victim in the case and saying you need to pay this woman money to make the allegations go away. they are referencing almost bizarre subplot having to do with bob levinson. he is also presumed to be dead. host: thank you for taking us through all of this. matt zapotsky, national security

and he knows a lot about matt gaetz. according to sources we talked to, the two were involved in a number of instances where fwreenberg helped arranged for women to travel to have sex with congressman gaetz. so the idea that greenberg, according to his lawyer, is working on making a plea agreement with the government and perhaps, perhaps -- we don't know for sure but perhaps might be able to tell the government more about what he knows, that raises a lot of questions. here is greenberg's lawyer addressing that. >> i think that mr. greenberg accepts a plea or plea agreement that it will show a sense of remorse, which he does have, a sense of acceptance of responsibility. number two, i think he's uniquely situated. i'm sure matt gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today. >> and i think that's an understatement, wolf, with that development as you heard. look, i think it's very common when you make a plea agreement that the government expect you to provide some cooperation in exchange for agreeing -- for supporting perhaps

matt gaetz is not part of that plan. why would you cast your lot with someone facing possible pedophilia charges and other charges when the republicans have bigger fish to fry when they're trying to win back state houses and push forward a different type of agenda. this is a distraction for someone they barely know, and they're not willing to sort of risk their own reputation for someone like him. >> yeah. and, michael, when somebody says that they want a pardon, the obvious question becomes what do you want a pardon for? >> exactly. for what is it that you are concerned enough to ask the white house, the white house counsel's office, the doj attorney, whoever he asked, he had something on his mind that seemed personal to him and his cohorts. that's both joel greenberg who is already under indictment and supposedly dealing in the same persons that gaetz is accused of being involved with. and then members of congress, there was a report, remember, of him sharing on his cell phone on the floor of congress pictures of naked

worrisome for gaetz. only gaetz can know exactly what those two were doing together. but what our reporting has shown is that greenberg met women on a website who were willing to have dates in exchange for gifts or some kind of money allocation and that both he and gaetz would have sex with them. >> preet, we're also learning that federal officials are looking into the congressman's travels, including a trip to the bahamas, as they investigate whether women were actually paid to travel for sex with gaetz and with others. what are the legal ramifications of those potential actions? >> very significant. that implicates federal law and implicates potential sex trafficking, also implicates potential campaign finance violations depending on what funds he used. the thing to think about is if and when we get a signed plea agreement that indicates cooperation, that means that federal prosecutors have made a determination that joel greenberg has been truthful with them. they made a determination joel greenberg has

not on gaetz, on trump.may have been added today on allen weisselberg, remember that name, the long-time trump org spts cfo worgs for trump's daddy knows everything that trump did, all the money in and out. the feds just got more help from an ex-relative whom we spoke to on this program. big bolo next. scotts turf builder triple action kills weeds, prevents crab grass and feeds your lawn. all three,in just one bag. i like that. scotts turf builder triple action. it's lawn season. let's get to the yard. dana-farber cancer institute discovered the pd-l1 pathway. pd-l1. they changed how the world fights cancer. blocking the pd-l1 protein, lets the immune system attack, attack, attack cancer. pd-l1 transformed, revolutionized, immunotherapy. pd-l1 saved my life. saved my life. saved my life. what we do here at dana-faber, changes lives everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. everywhere. the dexcom reads my number. it sends it to my phone. that means my sugar is going it sendhey siri.y phone. what's my su

like matt gaetz paid for sex, matt gaetz! said stephen colbert! and reporters for "the new york times" have seen receipts to these women from cash app, and apple pay. how dumb is matt gaetz? ( as gaetz ) "dude, dude, no, don't leave a paper trail. use the cash app, that way it all goes up in the cloud! that way, when it rains evidence disappears! gaetz didn't keep his pervy behavior secret. allegedly, he showed his republican colleagues photos and videos of nude women he said he had slept with while on the house floor. remember: this is where he works. you know those mandatory sexual harassment trainings your office holds where the examples they give are all so outrageous, you're like "who is this possibly for?" it's for matt gaetz. gaetz also reportedly boasted of his "access to women." who says "access" to women? they're humans, not the united airlines premiere club. gaetz's reputation for creep goes all the way back to his days in the florida legislature, where he allegedly created a "game where members of the florida hous

and trump loyalist, matt gaetz himself. he spoke publicly for the first time since the reports surfaced of an ongoing justice department investigation into sex trafficking, involving a minor and allegations of payments for sex and possible public corruption involving a state senate campaign. gaetz took to the stage at a save america summit hosted by women for america first at the trump doral hotel. >> i am built for the battle and i am not going anywhere. distortions of my personal life and wild, and i mean wild conspiracy theories. i won't be intimidated by a lying media and d.o.j. officials and the crooks he is working with. when you see the leaks, lies, falsehoods, anonymous sources and insiders forecasting my demise. know this, they are not really coming for me. they are coming for you. >> earlier today the house ethics committee announced their own investigation into gaetz for sexual misconduct and his office responded with this statement. once again the office will reiterate, these allegations are blatantly false and

florida republican matt gaetz. from "the new york times" in just the last few hours, quote, a former local official in florida who faces an array of federal charges including a sex trafficking count is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks a prosecutor and defense lawyer said on thursday in an indication that the defendant could cooperate as a key witness against representative matt gaetz under investigation. a plea by the former elected official joel greenberg could significantly strengthen the justice department's hand as it investigates mr. gaetz and others that met him through florida republican poll techs and scrutinized on sex trafficking violations. the defense attorney for greenberg all but confirming serious consequences for gaetz with the cryptic remarks made outside a florida courthouse. >> did your client introduce matt gaetz to any underaged girls for sexual relations? >> right. so i'm just going to let you sit there and look over your head and ignore that question. i'm sure matt gaetz is not fe

it's not a family brand from matt gaetz's point. >> reporter: matt gaetz grew up in this house, used the movie "the truman show." >> in the mid '90s, one day some producer just shows up in a golf cart and tells my mother they want to make a movie in this house starring jim carrey. >> reporter: his mother is partially paralyzed after suffering complications while pregnant with his sister and opted not to terminate the pregnancy. the congressman said that's contributed to his anti-abortion stance. last year, the congressman announced he has a secret known biological 19-year-old son that he's been parents for years. >> i just couldn't be happier and prouder of the young man he's become. >> reporter: and, again, the fbi is investigating a potential extortion crime, but that is not specifically related to the other investigation and two sources tell cnn there is a separate federal probe looking into whether gaetz had a relationship with a minor, whether his involvement with other minors broke sex trafficking laws, prostitution laws. and gaetz's lawyer declined comment for this story and g

president, it's matt gaetz. i don't need anything, sir.l you, you did a great job today. don't let these people get you down. we're going to keep fighting for you with all we got. >> becoming one of the president's chief defenders. >> president trump sometimes raises his voice in a ruckus. he knows that's what it takes to raise an army of patriots who love america and will protect her. >> reporter: and allies in congress. >> what we see in this impeachment is kangaroo court and chairman schiff is aukting like a malicious captain kangaroo. >> reporter: and cultivated a reputation as a brazen provocateur with political stunts focusing more on his personal brand than passing legislation. >> we're going to try to figure out what's going on. >> reporter: in 2019 leading a group of republicans to storm a closed-door deposition that was happening during the impeachment proceeding. >> we're going to go and see if we can get inside. >> reporter: and causing a dustup with this tweet about michael cohen, seemingly threatening the president's former p

look, matt gaetz was in big trouble in

not on gaetz, on trump. new pressure may have been added today on allen weisselberg, remember that name, the long-time trump org cfo works for trump's daddy knows all about all the money, in and out of everything that trump did. the feds just got more help from an ex-relative whom we spoke to on this program. big bolo next. ♪ ♪ smooth driving pays off. saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today. the harry's razor is not the same. our razors have five german engineered blades designed to stay sharp, so your eighth shave is as smooth as your first. and we never upcharge you for high quality. harry's. available in store and at harrys.com. - [narrator] grubhub perks give you deals on all the food that makes you boogie. harry's. (upbeat music) get the food you love with perks from- - [crowd] grubhub. i'm not hungry! - grub what you love. you're having one more bite! no! one more bite! ♪ kraft. for the win win. >>> more legal news. a bolo, be on the lookout for a big name p

new reporting on matt gaetz and his pardon. new york times" correspondents who broke the story joins us. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home. >>> breaking news to report involving the federal probe of congressman matt gaetz. "the new york times" has a new report on gaetz's efforts to head off the investigation in the final dice telephone previous administration. maggie haberman has the by-line and since joins us now by phone. what have you learned about the attempt to get a pardon? >> so anderson, the way it's been described to us by multiple people familiar with what took place is gaetz did two things, publicly on fox news and he tweeted it, he said that the former president should pardon really everybody. i think he mentioned a thanksgiving turkey. he talked about joe exotic, becaus

on the political side, mark, pop a gaetz tells you everything you need to know about matt gaetz. kwied a headline. a lot of people own favors, repay favors by staying silent. one florida operative speaking on condition of anonymity. walk us through that. >> matt gaetz's father is a powerful lawmaker. he rose to florida senate president. the similarity between don gaetz and his son, smart, good speakers, and they didn't suffer fools or give a chance to their enemies to recover, and the difference between don gaetz and matt gaetz, don would get toxic, he told me coat my words with honey, that way it makes them easier to swallow. matt gaetz doesn't live by that. there's a major difference between them. don gaetz prior to public service made a lot of money in the hospice industry. the family has deep pockets, on the political side you mentioned, matt gaetz has been fundraising for his legal defense. if he gets charged, if this goes to court, he is going to fight it and have a stable of well paid, very experienced attorneys whose job it is to raise enough reasonable doubt so that ther

now, to be clear, i don't want to talk about gaetz. i want to talk to gaetz. he is invited on this show, okay? he has taken his shot at me which was completely unfair, and he's still welcome on this show, and he is declining, which he had never done before and had told me many times he never would. he always wants the opportunity to defend himself. i think he's entitled to that. i think he's entitled to due process like everybody is here and i think our politics gets ahead of it too often. but i have to ask, why would you prospective donors want to pump an embattled representative with cash when he won't even take the opportunity to answer the questions before him? interesting. now, the congressman evidently saw our exclusive last night that blew a giant hole in his extortion explanation about all this. that's what he says. don't look over here, don't look over here, where all these investigations are going on about the women and the activity. it's really about this extortion plot that's going on. one, the two things have nothing to do with each other. but he

we continue with the sex trafficking scandal of matt gaetz which puts unbearable pressure on the trump-gaetz relationship. you see the headline there. this matters because, remember, congressman gaetz has claimed he's innocent. he's also claimed that he's nothing more than basically a willing subject in a doj probe of someone else. he's even buying ad time to attack the media and predicting he'll be vindicated and that there is no real story here. but thanks to legally required campaign disclosures, the world is learning that gaetz moved 85,000 intended originally for campaigning into his own legal defense. so something, something is costing him a lot as this goes forward, a probe he says is going nowhere. the fees started right after the initial indictment of gaetz's associate. gaetz for his part has vowed to fight to the very end. he talked about this at his recent defiant maga event. >> i have not yet begun to fight for the country i love and for the nation that i know benefits from america first principals. i'm built for the battle, and i'm not going anywhere. >> he is battling, but that

gaetz is denying all of it. greenberg, a friend of gaetz, who could face decades in prison on 33 federal counts, including identity theft and sex trafficking of a maynor, said to likely strike a plea deal, which could mean a whole lot of pressure on matt gaetz. or in the words of greenberg's attorney, this. >> i am sure matt gaetz not feeling very comfortable today. >> probably not. and that's not all. the feds are looking the a trip gaetz took to the bahamas which could be a federal crime if women traveled with him. a lot more to come. senator joe manchin in the spotlight as a crucial 50th vote for democrats in the senate sits down for a cnn exclusive explaining why he says congress can't go this wake and democrats and republicans have to work together. >> january 6th changed me. i was clear with everybody. i never thought in my life, i never read in history books to where our form of government had been attacked at our seat of government, which is washington, d.c., at our capitol by our own people. the british

gaetz's father don gaetz allegedly received a message from a man saying he had a plan to make his son'spolitical problems go away. in a simple, unsigned document titled "project homecoming," it states gaetz was currently under investigation by the fbi for various public corruption and public integrity issues, including a sexual orgy with underaged prostitutes. in return, the document asks for a $25 million loan to fund an operation to rescue a former fbi agent who went missing in iran in 2007. the levenson famt ily said they received information from u.s. officials leading them to believe their father was dead. that same day, president trump said this. >> it's not looking great, but i won't accept that he's dead. they haven't told us that he's dead, but a lot of people are thinking that is the case. >> the levenson family attorney is david mcgee, the same man gaetz named in a fox news interview blaming him for the extortion attempt. >> i know there was a demand for money in exchange for a commitment that he could make this investigation go away along with his coconspirators. >> mcgee re

gaetz. so dave, when you put all this together, how bad could this get for matt gaetz?bad that he could be facing up to life in prison. if he's charged and convicted with child sex trafficking, there's a ten-year minimum sentence. that's why the issue of the flight to the bahamas is not, in my opinion, as big a deal as the sex trafficking allegations. because if he engaged in sex acts with sex workers who were all of age and participated in the transportation of them to the bahamas, then he could be guilty of a violation of the mann act, which is punishable by up to ten years in federal prison. contrast that to child sex trafficking, which has a ten-year minimum. so it's a much more harsh sentence. and rightly so. so i think matt's in a lot of trouble. even if he didn't have sex with an underage girl, even if he didn't pay for it, he could still be guilty of child sex trafficking under the statute. >> right. and it's incredible, as you point out. any of these crimes it carries serious, serious prison time. thank you both very much. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> than

matt gaetz is a jerk.e has done nothing since he has been in washington except make a name for himself as a big mouth and a rabble-rouser. he calls himself a firebrand. you had him on your book tv a few weeks ago trying to push his book and he sounded so sweet and nice and was totally different from anything he appears when he is at work. i have watched him in these hearings and he makes an ass out of himself. host: we go to amy calling from orange park, florida on the democratic line. good morning. caller: good morning. host: go ahead, amy. caller: good morning. yes, i really agree with the previous callers who are questioning why are the republicans circling the wagons around matt gaetz? they are really only hurting themselves and it seems like -- like he said, he is in the maga sphere and taking the donald trump approach by dealing with the scandal with upholding rallies. if the republicans want to circle the wagons around him like they did around donald trump, they are going to suffer the consequences.

gaetz is denying all of it. greenberg, a friend of gaetz, who could face decades in prison on 33-federal counts, including identity theft and sex trafficking of a minor. said to be likely to strike a deal, a plea deal, which could mean a whole lot of pressure on matt gaetz. or in the words of greenberg's attorney, this. >> i'm sure matt gaetz is not feeling very comfortable, today. >> probably not. and that's not all. the feds are looking at a trip that gaetz took to the bahamas, and whether women were paid to travel for sex with the congressman and others, which could be a federal crime. lot more to come on the investigation, tonight. all this is happening, as senator joe manchin, in the spotlight, as a crucial-50th vote for democrats in the senate sits down for a cnn exclusive. explaining why he says congress can't go this way, and democrats and republicans have to work together. >> january 6th changed me, and i was very clear with everybody. i never thought, in my life, i never read in history books to where

gaetz's spokesman tells us that gaetz is a long time policy expert on this issue and that he passed legislation on this as far back as 2013. by the way, he has previously denied that he ever paid for sex, wolf. >> evan perez, reporting for us. thanks very much. i want to bring in senior legal analysis preet bharara. thanks for joining us. what does an investigation like this look like to determine if this was what they call pay to play? >> the latin phrase is quid pro quo. essentially what you have to prove is there is a quid, there was something of value provided to someone else, someone in office like matt gaetz for example and that he took official action, the quo. beyond that, you have to show that the second was in exchange for the first or vice versa. here investigators are going to look at whether or not there were things of value provided, hotel rooms, you know, sex workers, the like. i don't know how much evidence there is of that. then you're also going to have to show that matt gaetz performed official action, whether that's voting in a particular way or introducing bills that were d

so i think things are going to get worse before they get better for matt gaetz. >> it's not like gaetz wrote "sex" on the memo line of the payment. how would prosecutors prove the money was for illegal purposes if that's, in fact, what it was for, dave? >> jim, they don't need to prove that the money went for sex to prove child sex trafficking charges. that's the thing. when it comes to child sex trafficking, the statute is so broad that it's enough if matt gaetz just enticed a girl to have sex with greenberg for money or provided drugs like i can at asy to help facilitate it. it's enough if he drove one of the girls back to the hotel room or paid for the hotel room. you don't have to have a payment for sex to come under a child sex trafficking statute. according to reports, the payments were for people who were of age. if that's the case, it's most relevant if there's adult human trafficking and that would require force, fraud, or coercion. but when it comes to young people under 18, the statute is way broader. >> that's important. amanda, matt gaetz released a letter of support from

i mean, you've got gaetz, who is defiant tonight.o step down. we're old enough to remember when a sex scandal could take down a politician. what is the gaetz situation going to tell us about congressional and senate republicans? >> well, i can see jason is ready to say something. no, it's terrible. who has even criticized him? is this suitable behavior for a member of congress? what about the grift of the trump fund-raising. having to give back $120 million, the ads that went to the republican congressional committee, where they automatically sign you up each month, and double your contribution, and say if you don't check this box, then you're defecting from donald trump. we're going to tell him about it. the thuggishness, the cult of personality, the creepiness, that's gone from trump throughout the party. >> and matt gaetz is, jason, fund-raising off of this. comparing what he's going through to the russia hoax. >> yeah. well, i'm not surprised by any of this. if you can bring yourself to vote for donald trump, then any of the sort

so far gaetz is standing firm, even though news today gaetz's legislative director has resigned his post, the second staffer to leave the congressional office. on the home front, an attack billboard went up in gaetz's congressional district, paid for by a liberal group. tonight the house ethics committee announced it has launched an investigation into congressman gaetz for a laundry list of violations, including accepting bribes and misusing campaign funds. in a statement gaetz's office called the allegations blatantly false. >> let's talk about gaetz and more including the state of the republican party. we're joined by cnn commentator and former ohio governor john kasich. and ron brownstein. he has written a new book "rock me on the water." it's a brand new "new york times" best seller, by the way, must read. ron, how do you expect congressman gaetz, first of all, will try to navigate this escalating scandal? >> well, thank you for the kind words about the book. look, i think when a house ethics investigation is the least of your problems, you got problems. and i think the way he's goin

trump as well, and matt gaetz. >> no. and, first of all, ali, sage advice when it comes to public versus private venmo accounts. this is not a surprising take from congressman kinzinger who has been one of the few republicans to sort of break with president trump and former president trump and his disciples of which congressman gaetz is certainly one of the more ardent ones where he's really patented himself as an heir to the trump throne. kinzinger has founded a group to try to unseat these republicans and replace them with more moderate members, ones willing to occasionally work across the aisle with democrats. but so far his voice is fairly lonely. gaetz, of course, as you noted is going to be in florida this week at president trump's former club and also this weekend there's a gathering of top republicans at, where else, palm beach, florida, just up the road from mar-a-lago, the former president's estate, and there is expected to be an event there, which underscores what a shadow he still casts over the republican par

there will likely be other names introduced into this beyond gaetz, in addition to gaetz and a broader reach of allegations. one of the most troubling aspects so far on that point, gaetz has some explaining to do. you heard on this program last night, there's reportedly a trail of payments from gaetz to greenberg to other women, three in fact. one including actress, star who is in the adult entertainment business through venmo. an online app to pay people. likely for gaetz, he is in the gopq. they have a high appetite for scandal. the house ethics committee is opening an investigation into the congressman. we will see if his party actually goes after one of its own. gaetz can't be completely confident of his future. after all, he did reportedly ask the trump white house for a pre-emptive pardon and was denied. judging by something else that i want to play you that gaetz said tonight, he is either sure he can beat back the allegations or he is a very unique kind of clueless. >> i take the words of margaret thatcher to heart. if you want something said, get a man. if you want something d

gaetz indicates, happened this month.either case, if -- you know, if these are -- you know, you -- you face great peril in the sex-trafficking case, as its subject. and, of course, if there is an extortion, you would want the fbi and the department to be able to work that to a, you know, a good conclusion. and you are certainly not helping that, by going on tucker carlson's show and talking about and exposing the fact that your own father wore a wire against one of the subjects. so it's -- it's all quite bizarre. >> maggie, congressman gaetz has certainly been a staunch and very vocal ally, and supporter of former-president trump. is there any sense of how this news is being received by the former president? by those, in his orbit? >> sure. jim, i do want to say one thing, just to -- to what andrew mccabe just said. the only other person, that i can think of, that i have seen handled an investigation this way is donald trump. when he was under investigation by the mueller team but he was president. and it's a little diffe

i'm sure matt gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today. >> reporter: gaetz, it is important to point out, has denied all of these accusations against him, specifically saying he has never paid for sex and he has never had sex with a 17-year-old as an adult. we haven't heard very much from gaetz other than a few retweets on his twitter feed and one fox news interview shortly after these allegations came out. hi will appear for the first time later today at an event at the doral golf kour, trump national golf course speak at a women's event there. it's the first time we'll hear from gaetz after this scandal all broke. >> ryan nobles, thank you very much. joining us now is maggie haberman, a correspondent for "the new york times." matt gaetz lays out his response. he denies having sex with a 17-year-old, et cetera. with "the daily beast" reporting and the new report, where is matt gaetz this morning? >> look. matt gaetz has a series of problematic headlines at minimum, john, and as we have seen over the last day, the lawyer for his friend who is likely to cut a plea deal is suggesting t

first, matt gaetz is under

where gaetz had venmoed $900. and the following morning, greenberg split that up apparently between three different girls. and gaetz's venmo one said test. you know, you have to put a little thing in there that says what it is for. and the other said, you know, hit up and then a girl's name. i mean, come on. get dumber than that. and so -- >> yeah, you are talking about daily beast reporting. we should mention, nbc news hasn't matched that reporting. i just want to put that out there. >> yeah but i mean, it's in "the new york times," too. but i mean, yes, it's "the daily beast" reporting. but what happens is once greenberg cooperates, not only do we have the public reporting of the venmo. but we have greenberg's private information. so, exactly, what did he do? what did gaetz ask him to do? are there other venmos we don't know about, yet? where are the text messages? where are the travel receipts? where did they go? let's say, for example, greenberg says we went to the ritz carlton in naples. okay. you don't have