the allegations are against pastor robert morris of gateway church in dallas. his accuser who is now in her 50 says she was 12-years-old when the abuse began, she shared her story publicly with a blog on friday, which led to the revelation cnn's ed lavandera is following the story for us, what is the pastor saying? >> well, the passenger did give a statement to cnn affiliate wfla. we'll get to that in a moment, but robert morris is the senior pastor at one of the most prominent mega churches here in the dallas, fort worth area, gateway church in southlake, texas. and according to cindy clemens, shy or who spoke with the wartburg watch, which is an evangelical church watchdog group. she details that back in the 1980s, he was sexually molested by robert morris for almost five years in a statement, the senior pastor, morris, said that when i was in my early 20s, i was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady in a home where i was staying. it was kissing and petting and not intercourse, but it was wrong. this behavior happened on several occasion

morrises church later that summer, giving his personal assessment of him. >> i want to thank pastors robert morrisple with a great reputation. great reputation. and gateway church, the team has been incredible in hosting us. and i would now like to ask pastor morris and bishop jackson to lead us in prayer. >> robert morris just resigned from his church, falling allegations ■çthat he sexually abused a child. in a statement to a+++a+?propri with a young lady. those are his words. he didn't mention that the young lady in question was a 12-year-old girl. in his statement, trumps one time spiritual adviser admitted he continued to molest the child on, quote, several occasions over the next years. sr. investigative reporter for nbc news has been on the story. he writes about pastor morris in his book, they came for the schools, one towns fight over ho race and identity and the new war for america's classrooms and he joins me now. mike, this is something that happened a long time ago that we are learning about now. take us through how this came out. >> well, last week, the survivor in this case, cindy rv

visiting morris's church that summer, giving his personal assessment. >> i want to thank pastors robert morris people. great people with a great reputation, i have to say. great reputation. gateway church, the team has been incredible in hosting us and now i would like to ask pastor morris and bishop jackson to lead us in prayer. >> robert morris just resigned from his church following allegations that he sexually abused the child. in a statement to an evangelical new site, morris said he was involved in an inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady. those are his words. he didn't mention that the young lady in question was a 12- year-old girl. in his statement trump's one time spiritual advisor admitted he continued to molest the child on several occasions over the next few years. mike is a senior investigative reporter for nbc news who has been all over this story. he writes about morris in his book they came for the schools, one towns fight over race and identity and he joins me now. mike, this is something that happened a long time ago that we are learning about now. take us through h

robert morris had worked on. it, was part of donald trump's evangelical executive committee you back in 2016, also, campaign for him and 2020, holding roundtables at the church. it's not clear boris, if he's involved in this 2024 election cycle, we've reached out to the campaign and are still waiting to hear back and add that that woman hired evangelists, milligrams grandson as her attorney. but since this happened in the late late 1980s, the statute of limitations for some kind of litigation is likely expired, right? so what what recourse are they seeking? >> right. the statute of limitations has expired. so as far as we know, criminal charges will criminal charges were never filed. and it's not exactly clear that. can happen at this point, but the lawyer did say her cindy climate shires lawyer did tell us in a statement saying that she has spent 30 years trying to tell the world about robert morris. so she's been said that she's been ignored while morris has been promoted as a man of god over the decades. but s

robert morris is known for efforts to advance a christian political moriality agenda. many of his republican allies now distancing themselves from him. >>> an icon of pop music is facing new legal troubles. justin timberlake was arrested and charged with driving while intox intoxicated. >> reporter: pop super star justin timberlake pleaded not guilty after he was arrested by police on dwi charges. he had left the american hotel in a gray bmw with florida plates. just after midnight he rolled through this stop sign on madison street, and then they saw him swerve twice before stopping him. according to court papers, the officer observed that timberlake's eyes were bloodshot and glassy, displayed slow speech and was unsteady afoot. timberlake refused a breathalyzer and blood test, telling police, no, i'm not doing a chemical test. >> no one should drink and drive anywhere, including sag harbor. i don't know any of the details about their is case, that's for sure. >> reporter: he allegedly said he had one martini at the american hotel and left with friends. billy joel weig

think, for it to come to light, cindy clemesha, appearing on cnn, accuses gateway church pastor robert morris of molesting her between 1982 and 1987, when morris was a traveling pastor. >> after clemesha went public, morris acknowledged he was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady, not referencing the girl's age, saying it was kissing and petting, adding it was wrong. morris says he returned to the church in 1989 after two years of counseling, claiming he resumed preaching with the blessing of clemesha family, which she denies. >> he didn't come forward and confess he was turned in, and when someone turned in, what are they sorry for? are they sorry because they got caught? or are they truly repentant of what they did? >> morris founded gateway church in southlake, texas, attracting 100,000 congregants across numerous locations. in this 2014 video, he spoke about his past, quote, immorality. >> i looked for girls that did not have a good relationship with their father. i learned to spot that i looked for girls that were insecure. >> at first, the church stood by morris s

. >>> so i want to thank pastors robert morris and steve dulan. they're great people.ave to say. great reputation. >> yeah, one of those people, great people with great reputation that you heard donald mention there is texas megachurch pastor robert morris, who just this week resigned from his church after admitting inappropriate behavior amid allegations that he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl for years in the 1980s when he was in his 20s. besides being a former spiritual adviser to trump, morris has also been a staunch supporter of conservative efforts throughout the years, preaching about the dangers of critical race theory and lgbtq inclusion in schools. even calling on parishioners to support an anti-trans bathroom bill pitched by texas governor greg abbott as a way to, quote, protect the safety of women and children. it comes as today trump gave his full support to the new louisiana law that requires the ten commandments to be displayed in all public school classrooms writing on his failing social media site, i love the ten commandments in public schools, priv

disgraced texas pastor robert morris has resigned days after he admitted to engaging in sexual behavior with a child over the course of more than four years in the '80s, starting when the girl was 12. the church's elders confirmed the departure. morris did not respond to request for comment. it's unclear what investigations he would now face. he is known for his efforts to promote a christian majority agenda. now many of his former allies are distancing themselves from him. >>> "the associated press" suggests that chuck hand has lost the republican primary runoff. he was defeated . he admitted to breaking off a piece of metal fencing before entering the capitol. >>> let's get a check on the brutal heat wave. good morning, michelle. >> we're going to see those dangerous temperatures continuing, not only today but through the weekend to early next week. and we are looking at 71 million people under heat alerts, whether it's a heat advisory, heat watch, from detroit, pittsburgh, philadelphia, hartford, boston. temperatures soaring into the 90s, the triple digits once again. we we're lookin

it's a story of abuse at the hands of gateway church senior pastor robert morris klemmer, shy or told cnn affiliate wfla that he molested her from 1980 the two to 1987. it started on christmas day, klemmer shy or says when she was just 12-years-old and he was in his 20s according to klemmer, shi'a morris was a family friend who was married and already working as a traveling preacher. >> it's just happens to be gotten time, i think for it to come to light. >> pastor morris isn't just any pastor in 2016, morris was part of candidate donald trump's evangelical executive advisory board. >> here's question well thank you. mr. president, in 2020, when then president trump held a roundtable at morris's dallas area mega-church morris led a prayer before the event. >> trump's spokesman, steven chung, told cnn in a statement that morris does not have a role with the 2024 campaign decades after the abuse, morris resigned today as senior pastor yesterday, he admitted engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior, but did not name klemmer shire or give her age in a statement to wafa morris said in par

. >> cindy clemesha, appearing on cnn, accuses gateway church pastor robert morris of molesting her between2 and 1987, when morris was a traveling pastor. after clemesha went public, morris acknowledged he was involved in inappropriate sexual behavior with a young lady, not referencing the girls age, saying it was kissing and petting, adding it was wrong. morris says he returned to the church in 1989 after two years of counseling, claiming he resumed preaching with the blessing of clemesha family, which she denies. >> he didn't come forward and confess he was turned in, and when someone's turned in, what are they sorry for? are they sorry because they got caught? or are they truly repentant of what they did? >> morris founded gateway church in southlake, texas, attracting 100,000 congregants across numerous locations. in this 2014 video, he spoke about his past, quote, immorality. >> i looked for girls that did not have a good relationship with their father. i learned to spot that i looked for girls that were insecure. >> at first, the church stood by morris saying he shared publicly from t

so, for instance, one of robert morris's justifications for proposing a land tax was its anticipatedffect on reducing economic inequality, noting that the burdens of a land tax fall hardest on owners of large estates. morris argued that the tax would incentivize property owners to sell uncultivated lands, creating new for americans in the lower classes. he explained, quote, a tax would have the salutary operation of an agrarian law without, the inequity by which he meant of forced redistribution. it would relieve the indigent and aggrandize the state by bringing property into the hands of those who would use it for the benefit of society. and morris's protege, hamilton, similarly took a progressive when it came to taxation. both in the tax policies he promoted in new york and also the tax policies he promoted at the national level. you him calling for exemptions of the poor and the graduated of taxation, and in particular taxes on luxury items would have been bought only by those at the very top. now, whether these and other examples, i think what these and other examples show is tha

charles sumner and robert morris, a black lawyer, and charles sumner fought, that case, they lost. the legislature to repeal it. so anyway, let's move forward and move forward law. so yes, 7 to 1 decision, a single dissent, famous dissent. i, i out one quote from that ca a flavor of it. if one race being inferior to constitution united states cannot put them inherently rejee ideahat la problems of social discrimination. and as cheryl pointe enormous se period of jim crow laws that parents like my parents grew up in. my mher grew up in birmingham alabama. my told me many stories of not being able to stay here or drink from that water fountain. what's po remember, that's not a generation ago. tha's e so we fast forward near0 years we brown. where the supreme court is going to bewhether but equal is unconstituti in e ext of public schools and of course the man who wilthis case a lion of the law and your former bo jlater, thurgood marshall. before we get to t■w case, let's talk about him. tell us about what drove him in this work? strategize about getting to the supreme court? he did a

sumner and robert morris, a black lawyer, and charles sumner fought, that case, they lost. buthin five years, they succeeded getting the e legislature to repeal it. and move forward law. r.so yes, 7 to 1 decision, a single dissent, famous i, i out one quote from that case just gives yo a flavor of it. if one race being inferior to the other soctution united states cannot put them upon the same inherently rejecting the idea that the law would try to cu problems of social discrimination. and as cheryl pointe enormous six decade period of jim crow laws parents grew up in. my mother grew up in birmingham alabama. my told me many stories of not being able to stay here or drink from that water fountain. what's important tober, that's not a generation ago. that's one generation ago. so we fast forward nearly 60 years and we're on the door brown. where the supreme court is going to be asked a new twhether but equal is unconstitutional in the context k of public schools and of course the man who will this case a lion of the law and your former boss justice. later, thurgood marshall

resigned after a woman came forward to accuse him of molesting her when she was just 12-years-old, robert morris admitted to what he called an inappropriate relationship with a young lady hi, and you she was 12. that's happened in the 80s when he was 20 and already married. now the board of elders of gateway church says it's appalled to learn the full details and expressed a sympathy to the victim in a statement obtained by cnn affiliate wfaa, they say, quote, the elders prior understanding was that morris's extramarital relationship which he discussed many times throughout his ministry, was with a young lady and not abuse of a 12-year-old child the accuser told wfaa she informed the church of what happened back in 2005. the current elder say they have retained a law firm from independent review and new this morning, a russian court has sentenced a us soldier to nearly four years and a russian penal colony, state media reporting stuff. sergeant gordon black was found guilty on charges of theft and threatening murder. he was arrested i can may accused of stealing about hundred and $12 from a woma

dallas megachurch pastor robert morris resigning after allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a 12-year-old was admitted to it in the 80s, but at the time described as a quote, young lady. but her age was just revealed this week a lifeline for senator bob menendez in his federal corruption trial philip sellinger. now the us attorney for new jersey, testifying to the senator never asm to influence an ongoing going case. salinger previously told the court, menendez as a to quote, look carefully in an investigation into one of his co-defendants a russian court sentencing us a staff sergeant gordon blank to three years and nine months in prison on charges of theft and threatening murder. likes lawyer says he plans to appeal hi, there had any day now the supreme court could weigh in and donald trump's claim of absolute immunity posit putin and jam embracing in north korea there are deepening ties. a real concern for the west this election season stay with cnn with more reporters on the ground and the best political team the business follow the voters, follow the results follow the