Top Story with Tom Llamas - Monday, December 23, 2024

Episode Date: December 24, 2024

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Tonight, the House Ethics Committee releasing their long-awaited report on former Congressman Matt Gates. Their investigation finding that Gates engaged in prostitution and elicit drug use as well as having sex with a minor. The trobe of documents from text messages to travel receipts, the secret vote allowing that report to be released after it was poised to stay under wraps. And Gates' last-ditch effort to stop the report from coming out. So will he face any charges? We'll explain. Also tonight, the CEO murder suspect, Luigi Mangione, pleading not guilty inside of a New York courtroom. Mangione's lawyers blasting Mayor Eric Adams and police saying their client is being used as political fodder after the high-profile perp walk. Nearly two dozen supporters lining up in the cold to get a seat in the courtroom while slamming the health care industry. The next steps in this case. Breaking tonight, the rescues underway after a peer collapses into the ocean. Several people falling into the water as heavy waves pound the coast. The investigation into what caused the famed Santa Cruz Pier to give way. The holiday travel rush colliding with a winter storm and Arctic blast,

millions packing airports and hitting the roads, down wires and signal issues leading to significant delays at a major Amtrak hub. Meteorologist Bill Karen standing by with your holiday week forecast. Stuck on the slopes, more than 150 skiers and snowboarders rescued after a gondola a malfunction at a popular Colorado resort. The dramatic video as passengers are evacuated one by one to safety. We'll speak with one man who was stuck for hours. The legal drama playing out off-screen actress Blake Lively taking legal action against her.

It Ends With Us, co-star Justin Baldoni. Lively alleging Baldoni orchestrated a smear campaign after she accused him of sexual harassment during filming. The alarming text messages detailing a plot to bring down her reputation. And if you're scrambling for those last-minute holiday gifts, we're here to help. From cooks to travelers and even the ones that are hardest to shop for, we're breaking down the perfect 11th hour presence that are guaranteed to arrive just in time. Plus, we're following breaking news. Former President Bill Clinton hospitalized tonight.

What we're learning about is health scare. Top story starts right now. Good evening. Inside the House Ethics Committee report into former Congressman Matt Gates is no longer a mystery. That report released today after a year's long investigation into allegations against Gates, including that he paid for sex on numerous occasions, including with a 17-year-old. Gates has long denied the allegations. The same allegations that led him to ultimately end his bid to become President-elect Trump's next Attorney General.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways. Investigators traced payments showing Gates paid more than 90. $90,000 to women that was likely for sex or drug use. They found that he engaged in sexual activity with a minor. Detailed receipts show that he accepted gifts in connection to a 2018 trip to the Bahamas and that he worked to impede and obstruct the panel's investigation. It also details his alleged illicit drug use, multiple women coming forward, saying he purchased and used cocaine, marijuana, even ecstasy.

Gates blasting the report on X saying, quote, giving funds to someone you are dating, that they didn't ask for and that isn't charged for sex is now prostitution. 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. But not everyone was in agreement to release the findings. The chairman of the committee saying, quote, the decision to publish a report after his resignation breaks from the committee's longstanding practice and is a dangerous departure with potentially catastrophic consequences.

While another member of the committee said, I believe the conduct outline with it disqualifies Mr. Gates from being entrusted to hold public office ever again. The big question tonight is, will any of this, anything come out of this? NBC's Ryan Nobles has the latest from Capitol Hill. Tonight, a bombshell report on Capitol Hill. The House Ethics Committee revealing the results of their investigation into former Congressman Matt Gates, determining there is substantial evidence that Gates violated House rules related to prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, impermissible gifts, special favors or privileges, and obstruction of Congress. Democrat Glenn Ivy, a member of the committee, voted to release the report. We're releasing it all on the public can draw its own conclusions. Specifically, the committee pointed to a 2017 encounter, Gates had with a woman who testified she had just finished her junior

year in high school and was only 17 when she and Gates had sex twice at a party. Gates has repeatedly denied having sex with anyone under age, and the woman said she did not tell Gates that she was 17. The committee also detailed $90,000 in payments to 12 different women that investigators concluded was used to pay for sex and illicit drugs. While women testified the encounters were consensual, one witness testified that, quote, when I look back on certain moments, I feel violated. Gates has admitted to womanizing and drinking and smoking during his younger years, but says his conduct was embarrassing, but not criminal. But despite Gates's defense, the committee believes there could be enough evidence that Gates violated state laws.

I would think that they would give strong consideration to investigating the allegations. He also points to a lengthy investigation by the Department of Justice that was closed without prosecutors bringing charges. Despite these accusations, Gates' political future remains open, and he's not backed down from the idea of running for higher office. Maybe I'll just run for Marco Rubio's vacant seat in the United States Senate. Gates was no longer a member of Congress and was out of the running for Attorney General. The committee's chairman argued it would set a bad precedent to release the report. But a bipartisan majority of committee members believe the report's release was in the public's interest. Ryan Noble's choice is tonight from Capitol Hill.

So, Ryan, let's start right there. Can Gates face any state or federal charges? What are you hearing? He absolutely could. there is no statute of limitations that it's expired yet, either the federal or the state level. So it's possible that an enterprising prosecutor could investigate these claims built on the work that's already been done by the House Ethics Committee. But we know that the Department of Justice has already done a lengthy investigation into Gates, mainly decided that the witnesses that could possibly testify in a trial against him may not be credible,

and therefore they didn't think they could win a conviction, which is part of the reason that they chose, not to press charges. At the state level, there's no evidence that it's ever been investigated. And of course, this would have to happen in Florida where Gates has enormous amount of political sway. So the answer is it's possible. But Tom, at this point, there's just no evidence that it's heading in that direction. Has President-elect Trump weighed in? No, he hasn't weighed in yet. And this is something that we've reached out to the transition to get their take on this. In this report, you'll remember that Gates, of course, was his pick to be the Attorney General. the top law enforcement officer in the country.

But of course, the preview of this possible report coming out was part of what led many of the United States senators to back off and say that they couldn't possibly vote yes for Gates for Attorney General. One of the reasons that he left being considered for that position. Okay, let's turn now to those vacant seats in the Senate, right? A lot has happened sort of over the weekend, if you will, in both Florida and Ohio.

Ohio, of course, Senator J.D. Vance, I should say, the Vice President-elect seat, and then Senator Marco Rubio, likely to be the Secretary of State. Let's start in Florida first. So we learned that Lara Trump has decided she no longer wants to be in the running for that Senate seat. What's going to happen there? And ultimately, we should mention the governors in both states will appoint those senators. They will. But that is part of the calculation, Tom, because they will only appoint the members for basically the balance of two years where there will be special elections to replace both. whoever wins those seats in both Florida and Ohio. So that will certainly be part of the calculation. In Florida, there's a long list of potential Republican rising stars

that could run for that seat or be appointed to that seat. Byron Donald's is an emerging Republican star in Florida. You, of course, have Rhonda Santis, who is the current governor. He probably wouldn't appoint himself to that seat, but he could appoint a caretaker to just have the seat for two years, and then he runs for that seat, or perhaps he holds off and just runs for president again in 2028. So there's a number of possibilities that could happen in Florida.

It seems unlikely that DeSantis would pick Matt Gates to replace Marco Rubio in Florida, but he and Gates did once have a very close relationship, so anything is possible. Let's turn now to Ohio and see what happens there. We know Ohio's governor who doesn't necessarily have the best relationship with President-elect Trump was down at Marlago with the lieutenant governor. There was some talk during the convention that maybe it was Vivek Ramoswamy. He has expressed interest in that position at times. Do we know what's going to happen in Ohio?

Yeah, it seems unlikely that it'll be Ramoswami, especially now that he has this new position running the Department of Government Efficiency or the Doge Committee with Elon Musk, which has taken on a much bigger, higher profile, given how much sway Musk clearly has with President-elect Trump. It does seem that John Houston, the lieutenant governor, would be the top candidate for the job. He and DeWine have a close relationship. They actually ran against each other for governor and Houston backed out

and then ran for lieutenant governor to pave the way for DeWine to win the primary and then ultimately the governorship. You're right that DeWine doesn't have the closest relationship with Trump, but it's not necessarily adversarial either. So I'm sure that he and Trump are having conversations about who Trump would like to see in that post.

Now keep in mind, the Republicans need to appoint a strong candidate to run for that job in two years because hanging out there is shared Brown, who narrowly lost a re-election bid to Bernie Moreno in this past election cycle. It may be a more friendly environment for a Democrat to run in two years, and Brown still has a lot of loyal support in Ohio, and he has not ruled out the possibility of trying to run for that Senate seat again.

Ryan Noble's covering a very busy Capitol Hill tonight as we enter the holidays. Ryan, we appreciate you being there for us. We are following more developing news out of Washington. Former President Bill Clinton has been hospitalized. on NBC, the 78-year-old was admitted to the hospital for testing and observation after developing a fever. A source close to the former president saying it is not an emergency situation. He is reportedly awake, alert, and in good spirits. Okay, another big story that we're following tonight. Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty here in New York today to state

charges of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangioni was arraigned in his first New York State Court appearance on charges of first-degree murder and active terrorism, along with second-degree murder and weapons charges while in court. His attorney accusing officials, including Mayor Eric Adams, of politicizing the case. NBC Stephanie Gosk has more. Luigi Mangione entered New York State Court for the first time today. Guilty or not guilty? Not guilty.

The 26-year-old faces 11 charges in the killing of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson, including first-degree murder in the furtherance of terrorism. Mangeoni already pleaded not guilty to four federal criminal charges. Outside, dozens of protesters voiced anger with the health insurance industry. The health care system is corrupt. We need to fix it. While in court, Mangione's defense attorney took issue with what she called an utterly political perp walk last week.

They are literally treating him like he is like some sort of political fodder. Attorney Karen Agnifalo taking aim at New York City Mayor Eric Adams over these comments. I want to look him in the eye and stated that you carried out this terrorist act in my city. Agnifalo accusing the mayor of possibly tainting the jury pool. Those are the people that elected him that he is talking to and calling this man a terrorist. A spokesperson for the mayor says Adams' priority is public safety and his goal was to send a message that violence and vitriol have no place in our city. Now prosecutors will have to prove the case. How unique are terrorism charges in a case like this?

Terrorism charges themselves are unique. And then given the circumstances of this case, it's very unique. And potentially more of a challenge. Not only does the prosecutor have to prove that this was an intentional crime, but they also have to show that there was an intent to cause terror. Stephanie Goss joins us now in studio. Stephanie, I want to talk about Luigi Mangione because we saw him today like we've really never seen him before.

Very clean cut, well-shaven. He's wearing the fenex sweater there, the white collar shirt, khaki pants, a much different Luigi Mangione than we've seen over the past few weeks, including when he was paraded through the streets of New York and downtown Manhattan when he landed off that helicopter. That's right. You see him in the orange jumpsuit there. He's not really clean-shaven. He's looking a little bit haggard.

But this is the beginning of the court process. This is the opportunity for the defense attorney to take him in her hands, and she is very accomplished with a long history in this city, and get him on. on what she thinks is going to be the right track. They were almost dressed alike. Yeah, they almost had the same outfit on there. But clearly, like, cut his hair, make sure he's wearing good clothes.

Let's give a different impression of him in this moment. And then talk to me about those crowds outside. We saw it in your report, but it stood out to me because it is freezing in New York City. And these people braved the weather because they wanted to be out there in support of this alleged killer.

I could tell you, I was out there. It was really cold. I was out there because it was my job. There were dozens, is what I would say. I wouldn't say hundreds, but they were there and they were very vocal and they were upset about the health insurance industry. That was driving their anger, but it wasn't just that top. They were also there, some of them, to support Luigi Mangione. And this has been the thing that has been bothering New York City officials since this murder took place.

And that is that people are, in some ways, supporting at times even applauding grotesquely what happened on the streets. 50-year-old father of two from Minnesota, gunned down in Midtown Manhattan. Well put. Stephanie Gus, we thank you for that. Now to some other news, we're actually falling out of New York as well. Police arresting a man, they say, said a woman on fire while she was asleep on a subway train in Brooklyn. The woman dying at the scene. That suspect now charged with murder and arson. NBC New York's Brittany Miller has this one.

Sebastian, why did you do it? Dressed in a white jumpsuit and donning a blank face, Sebastian Zepenta was walked out of the 60th precinct in handcuffs. All of this happening just steps away from the Brooklyn subway station where Zepenta is accused of setting a sleeping woman on fire and burning her alive on an F train. The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim's clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds. This graphic video being circulated on social media shows what happened next. We've blurred part of it, but you can see Zepeta sitting on a bench watching the woman in flames. The suspect is now facing including arson and murder in the first and second degree.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers later found Zepete on another train with a lighter in his pocket after high schoolers recognized the suspect from surveillance images. But hours after this horrific crime, Governor Kathy Hogle posted this tweet. She mentions how subways have become safer for millions and then later said, make no mistake, any crime is too many, even with subway crime going down. Well, NYPD data does show subway crime overall is down 5.5. 4% compared to this time last year. But murders on transit have spiked. Ten people have been killed

this year compared to five the year before. All the years I'm riding in the subway. I never said no activity on my line, kill line. So I always feel safe. Pretty safe. Yeah, just got to watch what you're doing and be careful. At this hour, we still don't know who the victim was, but here's what else we know about the suspected killer. After coming to America illegally, Zepeta was sent back to Guatemala, but snuck into the U.S. again. We've learned he could be arraigned tonight or tomorrow morning. I'm Brittany Miller and Coney on in for Top Story. Tom. All right, Brittany. We thank you for that. We are also following breaking news in northern California, where part of the Santa Cruz Pier has collapsed into the Pacific Ocean,

taking three people with it. City officials say all of them were either rescued or managed to get to safety on their own. It all happened after a period of high surf along the beaches. NBC's Dana Griffin joins us now. Dana, thanks for joining us. I want to get right to that video to show some of the sort of dramatic video that happened. Officials warning about the dangerous surf? What's the latest out there? Yeah, so there's still warning because the high surf warning and also coastal flooding warnings will continue until Tuesday afternoon. So you've got areas in Santa Cruz, the harbor area plus just five miles south of there. The Capitola Wharf has also been closed until further notice. So this collapse, partial collapse happened around 1245

local time. Officials say that part or that section of the wharf was closed because they were making repairs on it because it had been previously damaged in another winter storm. They had three people on that wharf, including a parks and wreck manager and also two contract engineers. They went into the water. Two people had to be rescued. One managed to get out on its own. Officials say facilities, a bathroom fell into the water. It started floating away. You can see in this video chunks of that pier, about 150 feet of it has fallen into the ocean. And luckily, no major injuries. But officials are warning that the area could be dangerous throughout the week.

Dana Griffin for us on that breaking story. Dana, we thank you for that. Right now, the busy holiday travel rush is underway. AAA is projecting more than 119 million Americans will be on the move through the new year, but making things trickier a stretch of wintry weather that's been leading to delays and cancellations at airports and train stations up and down the northeast since Friday. NBC Sam Brock has the latest tonight. On the eve of Christmas Eve.

Nervous for sure. Quite nervous. A two-day slowdown of. VAMTRAC trains up and down the East Coast is still grinding on. A day delay could mean that we don't end up home for Christmas. And it's not just delays. Somersela trains to D.C. and Boston canceled. Lucy Smith and Monty Wilson were at 90 minutes and counting.

If delays happen, there's nothing you can do. It's sort of out of our hands. While on the roadways, we're moving pretty slowly. Hopefully it picks up. A record number of drivers, like Richard Otto, are taking their best shot behind the with lower gas prices. If you're still traveling home, have a safe trip. And for those taking to the skies,

wintry weather contributing to a weekend long backlog. From Friday to Sunday, cancellations clearing more than 900 across the country, with delays approaching 28,000 in that span, though conditions and flights were smoother today. As American Airlines gave us a first-hand look at how they sort 100,000 bags a day at DFW. Of all the passengers,

that fly with American, about a third of all of their bags in some way touch DFW on a given day, which explains why there are literally thousands of people that are on the front lines making sure your bags get where they need to go. It's an industry-wide effort to keep plants and luggage on track. United Airlines now allowing passengers to share air tag information for the less than 1% of bags delayed. We get real-time information on the bag, just like you're seeing. And once the bag is reunited with the customer. That link goes away, so it's shared privately and securely. With days to go, the sometimes bumpy process of getting home paying huge dividends for families enjoying the presence of each other. All right, Sam Brock at New York City's Monaghan train station

tonight. Sam, give us the top lines. Any delays right now we should be worried about? Yeah, so the delays are ongoing still, Tom. I mean, it does feel like things are getting a little bit better, though I want to turn your attention to this information board. Look at the times when these trains were supposed to originate Chicago at 340 is now on standby for Washington, D.C. 4 o'clock, now on standby. Those were delayed all day, below that, delayed. Now this train is at 8.22, then about 8 o'clock, 830, all of them. This has been going on. There are folks that have been sleeping on the ground here all day. Here's the good news from Antrack. The signal issues they were experiencing have been cleared up. That was about 2.30 this afternoon, but they still have

crew constraints. What does that mean? The people and the trains that are not in the right position where they need to be the transport passengers up and down the East Coast from Washington, D.C. all the way to Boston, it's all clogged up. So the outcome of that is what you see behind me. Hundreds of people still stranded at Penn Station trying to get out here. It's been a multi-day process, but hopefully we're closer now than we were a day before. Yeah, you feel for those travelers spread out there all over the floor. I do want to go back to that video, right, Sam, because it was really great to see you there in the underbelly of a plane. I mean, you're the perfect size for that type of job.

First of all, what did that feel like, number one, and number two? What did you learn from that experience? It feels like appreciation. It's definitely not made for people that are six foot five. The harder part, to be honest with you, Tom, was getting up the conveyor belt to get into the belly of the plane. That said, the fact that there are thousands of people that do this, sort of like the unsung heroes of the airports that are working every single day

to transport, all of these bags. without basically losing a single one, scanning them a half dozen times or more. It really does give you a sense of how interconnected everything is, and that I most certainly did not find my calling in there. But from an efficiency standpoint and physically, I do not fit inside of the plane. So thank you for bringing that to my attention. Not sure if that's your side hustle. All right, Sam Brock, thanks for being there tonight with us.

Great to see you. I do want to bring in Bill Karens for more on what the weather is looking like. Bill, any potential weather impact for those traveling for the next two days? Yeah, those that waited to the last minute are going to have some issues. They are already happening in Michigan earlier today in Wisconsin, and now they're sliding in the northern New England. The blue on the map is where we're dealing with some snow. We have winter weather advisories now for about 26 million people,

including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia. So the problem was going to be early tomorrow morning. So here we'll start 5 a.m. Remember, the blue shows you where it's snow. So Scranton to Albany, you can deal with it. You've had snow already this year. But as we head towards 7 a.m., this is 8 a.m., this is 9 a.m. This is freezing rain around Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.

Notice Philly to New York. It's only like a period of like two hours with light snow, but it'll just be enough to put a coating out there. Untreated surfaces will be problematic. And then northern New England, that's where you're going to get enough two to four inches that you're going to have to do some shoveling. So as far as the Christmas Eve forecast goes, the West Coast early tomorrow time is a problem, and then it gets better later in the day. The Northeast should be fine after we get through tomorrow morning. So just a little coating out there. Be careful early on.

Bill, real quick, Christmas Day, any white Christmases anywhere? There's not going to be a lot. So we're going to be above normal temperatures in many areas. And as far as snow goes, Tom, if you don't have it on the ground, you're likely not going to get. I wish you would have lied to me. All right, Bill Karras, we appreciate it, buddy. Thank you so much. Still ahead tonight, the alleged real-life drama tied to the movie.

It ends with us. Actress Blake Lively claims her co-star, her raster and cross boundaries while on set. Lake developments tonight about actions just taken against Justin Baldoni will explain. Plus, lava thrown hundreds of feet in the air that concerns in Hawaii. Kilauea wakes up again. And what you need to know about the drug, the FDA hopes, will solve a major shortage. We'll be right back. We are back now with the explosive legal battle between actors Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Lively is accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of It Ends with Us and a coordinated

smear campaign to destroy her reputation. Here's Chloe Malas for the details. I love you. Hollywood reacting to those explosive allegations of sexual harassment on the set of the hit movie it ends with us. One day you had a dog, what will you say to it? After Blake Lively filed a legal complaint, saying her co-star and the film's director, Justin Baldoni, repeatedly harassed her on set and cross boundaries during intimate scenes. I'm so sorry. Lively's famous friends and family now showing support, including her sisterhood of the Traveling Pants co-stars,

America Ferreira, Amber Tamblin, and Alexis Bledell. Saying in a joint statement, throughout the filming of it ends with us, we saw her summon the courage to ask for a safe workplace. And Colleen Hoover, the author of the best-selling 2016 novel about domestic violence that the film is based on writing, Thank You for Being Exactly the Human That You Are, Never Change, Never Willed. The complaint accuses Baldoni of improvising physical intimacy that had not been previously rehearsed or discussed,

including allegedly improvising numerous kisses during a scene. In another instance, it says Baldoni and the film's producer suddenly pressured Ms. Lively to simulate full nudity during a scene in which her character gives birth. The complaint says a list of protections like a full-time intimacy coordinator on set were established to allow the film to finish shooting. As media and fans began to raise questions about a rift in the cast, the complaint says that Baldoni hired a crisis communications team to launch a retaliatory social manipulation campaign against Lively to destroy her reputation.

In a text message exchange between two PR experts working for Baldoni included in the filing, one wrote of Beldoni, he wants to feel like she, referring to Blake Lively, can be buried. You know we can bury anyone, the other replied. This really reveals a new playbook for waging a far-reaching and largely undetectable smear campaign in the digital age. A lawyer representing Baldoni and his production company, Wayfair Studios, called Lively's allegations categorically false and another desperate attempt to fix her negative reputation. The attorney said in a statement, quote, these claims are completely false, outrageous and intentionally salacious, with an intent to publicly hurt and rehash a narrative in the media. And with that, Chloe Malas joins us now on set. I also want to mention and bring in Molly McPherson. She's a PR and crisis management expert to talk about where this story is going.

I thank you both for being here tonight. Chloe, I'm going to start with you. I know there's a bit of breaking news that you have. Also some developments in the story. Baldoni's talent agency, WME, has now dropped him, and they also represent Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Talk to us about that. Yeah, I mean, Ari Emanuel, who runs William Morris' endeavor, he cut ties in the wake

of this New York Times story over the weekend. And then an organization called All Voices that gave Belmont. Doni an award the other night for his advocacy for women and abuse victims. They've rescinded that award just in the last hour. So there's been a lot of fallout. He also has a really successful podcast and his co-host of that podcast. She has now quit the show. So as you can imagine over the coming days, we might even see more fallout. But this is just the immediate aftermath. Molly, I'm holding the New York Times here on the front page of the New York Times today is this story, basically about the whole PR effort and the, and the, you know,

what's called like, I guess, a social media war combat they did on Blake Lively because Baldoni wanted to do that, apparently. I'm bringing this up because it feels now like the tide is turning against Baldoni. This is an example showing how public opinion is indeed fluid, and it can move so quickly, you know, with Blake Lively, you know, taking all the PR hits, you know, coming out of that movie and Baldoni, so certainly holding on to the narrative. Even the New York Times in their It's not really about, you know, Lively, you know, versus Beldoni. It's really more an indictment, you know, on the PR tactics, you know, behind it. So, yes, the needle has definitely moved back into Blake Lively's favor.

And, Chloe, for our viewers who may not be super familiar with what happened here, take us from the beginning of what happened. Blake Lively starts to get bombarded before this movie even comes out. What happened? So there were rumors while the movie, it ends with us, it ends with us, was being filmed. And there were pictures behind the scenes that allegedly showed Blake Lively having some sort of an argument with Justin Baldoni on set. There were rumors of a rift between the two of them. And then the internet just kind of broke out of themselves on TikTok when the premiere happened and they didn't pose for any photos together. So the rumor mill was just swirling.

And then videos about Blake Lively painting her as a bully, not being maybe the best person to interview? Videos of her smiling during interviews when this is a movie about domestic violence. She was labeled tone deaf, old interviews of her appearing to be difficult and not wanting to answer questions during junk and interview surfaced. But it felt as though this campaign was going on that Blake lively was this unlikable person who was once best friends with Taylor Swift. This very likable person was now falling out of favor. And then Molly, we now know that this was not by accident, right? I want to show you a few quotes from the New York Times and to our viewers. The movie came out on August 6, 2024, and according to the New York Times, this exchange occurred just a few days before.

Quote, he wants to feel like she can be buried, a publicist working with the studio, and Mr. Baldoni wrote in an August second message to the crisis management expert, Melissa Nathan. Quote, you know we can bury anyone, Ms. Nathan, wrote. And another exchange from Jennifer Abel, a public relations executive, involved in the campaign, saying, quote, I think we need to put the social combat plan into motion. and Melissa Nathan responding, so do I. So walk us through this. I mean, I'm aware of how this world works. Is this the way the world of celebrity crisis PR works? Sort of.

And I know that's not the direct answer that you want. But I think it's important to understand that this isn't all against Justin Beldeni because there is a fine line when it comes to publicity. During the campaign when Blake Lively was struggling, there were a lot of strategically placed stories on behalf. of Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds. So though it's true that Justin Baldoni hired a firm specifically working with someone who worked with men who were accused of, you know, different sexual allegations in the past.

So there was clearly a narrative there. However, both sides, you know, were strategically using publicity and publicity placement. But it's just at this time now it's like on Blake Lively. And, Chloe, you're always on, you receive a lot of this because you're an entertainment correspondent. You know about all this. But I just want to break this down for everybody and to agree with you, Molly, here on this. So in the world of Hollywood, you have agents, managers, publicists, right? But you hire crisis PR.

And this wasn't something I knew until I started working in this business 17 years ago. When there's a problem, Brad and Angelina Jolie, they're divorced, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They have crisis PR. When you're a politician and there's bad stories about you. Isn't there a show called scandal about this entire thing? And so the idea of planting stories or publicist advocating for you, the royal family has dealt with that. You've seen that since the beginning of time in Hollywood. But this is a battle.

But this is in the digital age. But this is different. This is crisis PR. This is cutthroat. And this is a different level of PR. It's not traditional public relations. This is strategic to push a certain narrative. That is why you hire crisis PR.

And celebrities do it all the time with divorces. Joe Jonas hired crisis PR. I mean, you name it. I can go down the list. But this was a movie that two actors were both trying to release, which is sort of strange about this. But I think what's interesting, though, is that this specific crisis PR team with Melissa Nathan, she was formerly not working for herself and she was at another company. They handled the crisis PR for Johnny Depp against Amber Heard.

So it's unclear if there was a smear campaign going on with Amber Heard. But she came out today with this exclusive statement to NBC News saying that she felt as though she was part of a smear campaign. campaign. She moved to Spain in the wake of that defamation suit. And she obviously has just fallen out of public favor ever since 2022. But real quick, in this PR war, it looked like Baldoni was on top in the beginning, right? He had gone on the offense and it was working for him up until today, right, when this story breaks her last night. And the subpoena shows all these text messages and the very public campaign against Blake Lively, right? I mean, yes. I mean, obviously, it looks as though there was a lot more going on behind the scenes.

than it was just the internet making their decision. And it warped people's minds, right? It convinced people that maybe she wasn't. These publicists say that these are just texts, that they were just speculating, that they never acted on it, and that the internet did what it did, that they did not influence it with bots or fake websites. How does this impact Blake Lively's career?

She is one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, like I said, Taylor Swift's best friend, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool star, billionaire. They are just fine. But Hollywood is Hollywood, and you care about your image. Hollywood is a forgiving place. And what you're noticing and what Molly is pointing out, one day you're in and you're on top, the next day you're out.

So just because Justin Baldoni is out right now doesn't mean we can count him out forever. Well, that's my next question of Molly. Molly, you work in this world. If you were advising Baldoni, would you tell him to surrender or should he keep going and fight back? The first thing he does is he dumps his current PR team. That would be the first thing because that's not. longer the strategy that he needs to use. But both sides need to deploy something that is so easy to use and that is genuine, authentic communication. So many times in Hollywood, these teams

want to engineer their reputations when they can simply go out and give simple interviews, straightforward interviews, to show who they really are. So this in the end turns out to be a black eye for the PR industry, but we want to advocate for just good, honest communications. I do think he can come back if he tells his side of the story. All right. We thank you both for being here. Really great conversation. I know it's not the end of it. Coming up, nightmare on the slopes, nearly 200 people trapped on a broken ski lift. The rescue effort happening one by one. The last person down takes us through the ordeal. That's next. We're back now with Top Stories News Feed. The FDA making a move at hopes will reduce the short

shortages of diabetes drugs in the U.S. It approved the generic version of Victosa. That drug has been in short supply since last year. The daily injection is approved for anyone over the age of 10 with type 2 diabetes. So far it has not been approved for weight loss like other GLP1 drugs, including OZAMPIC. It's not clear exactly how much a drug will cost patients. And Hawaii's Kilauea erupting for the first time since September. Lava started spewing out of the summit around 2 a.m.

The U.S. Geological Survey says lava was thrown more than 200 feet into the air. The main concern across the big island is volcanic gas. Lava flows are confined to Hawaii volcanoes, national parks, so homes and businesses right now are safe. Okay, we want to turn out of the scare on the slopes. In Colorado, almost 175 people were left stuck on a malfunctioning ski lift for hours before help arrived. Luckily, no one was hurt. NBC's Dana Griffin again for us tonight. A frigid and daring rescue at a Colorado resort. Nearly 175 people brought down from a stalled ski lift that automatically stopped after detecting a crack in the system.

Key Patrol had started a lift evacuation. These four passengers stuck in the air for three hours before finally being brought down. Everyone's feeling good? Yeah. Ski patrol arriving on the scene to instruct this gondola group on how to repel to safety. Today, which rope will we use? Which rope? You're going to use the rope that we have right here.

This big orange one. Slowly, one by one, the would-be skiers made their way to the ground. The seven-year-old ski student making the first journey down. You're good. Last out, Alexei Dmitriev. It was interesting to repel because I've never done it. And it was interesting. and I'm not scared of heights too much.

And while this was Alexi's first time repelling, the experience was also a first for some on the ski patrol. Ski patrol guy, he admitted that they only practice. They've never done it for real. And they kind of tried to figure out how that repellent device works exactly, which way to put the rope in and all that. Really is calm, professional, talks us through, you know, what's going to happen, the sequence.

and it was really positive experience as much as it can be. A spokesperson for Winter Park Resort says the mishap was caused by a malfunction at the gondola's base. There was a failure in the structural operational parts of the lift, and so we're not sure why it failed. That's what we're looking into. The lift is back up and running for testing after a new part was installed. The resort hopes to get it back open to the public as soon as possible. Dana Griffin, NBC News. Now to Top Story's Global Watch and a look inside of one of serious prisons that operated under the Assad regime.

Matt Bradley takes us through the abandoned facility with a former inmate, the memories of torture and terror, still lingering in the underground chambers. We do want to warn you some of the details you're about to hear are disturbing. So this is your first time coming back here? It's my first time. And how do you feel coming back now, after? all this? It's courage, happy, because I never imagined that they will come. This was a Syrian Air Force base, but like so many of the Assad regime's military and

government facilities, it had its own prison. In many ways, this place was ordinary, a regular nightmare factory for those who were imprisoned here. But now there's something unusual about it. Two men who ran it are facing justice in the United States for their alleged crimes in Syria. Last month, Jamil Hassan and Abdul-Slam Mahmoud, both former Syrian Air Force intelligence officers were indicted in Illinois for conspiracy to commit cruel and inhuman treatment of civilian detainees, including U.S. citizens. But both men are still currently at large. Tarek says he

didn't meet any Americans during his time at the Meza military airport. The foreigners were held separately. Like so many Syrians, Tarek was arrested for the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tell me about how you got arrested. I was from the, I was from the, I was from, so, I was a taxi, and I was with him,

he went to the jama, the chauffeur, the chauffer, he was his, he was his, he was his own, all right. And we're in the

For the car from our car from us, from us from our left us, and they were on us. They were down from the car, they put us in the ground, and they're going to speak any harf. For months, Tarek says he was regularly beaten. The interrogators were never satisfied that he didn't know the taxi driver. The prison, tachio, it's a room of the tachique, and days it would be be azeb. Yes.

You can't these dreg these dregs. How the vases of it? I'm from the chariot of the from the insurie But you, you feel with the shoole here.

We're, we're, we can... We can't dune in the the of the sinning, all the all the zikryat that was going to

make It's, Taurik lived in this room packed with 83 men for months. We were You could sort of sit while you were here. There was, even though there were 84 people in this room. Yeah, 84 people.

And still just one meal a day, one bathroom a day. But... No, but... During the four months that he was detained in this cell, Tarek said as many as around a dozen prisoners would die each week. Their corpses would remain in the cell for days until they were removed. He says he only left the cell for interrogations and regular. and regular torture.

Tarek told me it took two years of physical therapy to recover. We're here, where? This, this, this, they were up up up. They put us here. They're just like,

and they're up up. Tarek never met the men who were accused of running this prison, the ones under indictment in the U.S. They're facing justice far away, Injustice far away, but for their victims, their torture continues inside their minds. I mean, it's a lot of the chasyn, from the zakryasas, and it's a farraha, that this place, that's not in the massagin' abadden. Matt Bradley, NBC News, Damascus, Syria.

That was Matt Bradley reporting for us. We thank Matt and his team for that one, and we will be right back. We are back now with the battle. over the future of TikTok. In a little less than three weeks, the Supreme Court has scheduled to hear a challenge to a law that could see the popular social media platform banned here in the U.S.

That law goes into effect on January 19th. So if the Supreme Court doesn't save TikTok or its Chinese owners don't sell it by then, it goes away for some 170 million Americans. Now, there's a group waiting in the wings called Project Liberty, saying they have at least $20 billion to make what they're calling a people's bid to buy the app. For more, I want to bring in the president of Project Liberty. He's Tamika Tillman.

Tamika, thank you for joining Top Story tonight. My first question, how much is TikTok in America worth? Is it worth $20 billion or is it worth much more? Well, we're looking for bite dance to define what exactly will be for sale, and it's certainly going to be challenging to put an exact price tag on this asset until they do so. We believe that it's going to be a significant transaction, but we also think it's a lot less than some of the very sky-high estimates that have circulated in the media. So for the time being $20 billion seems like a good starting point for a conversation. What does divesting from ByteDance actually mean? And have you had any conversations with the Trump administration about your effort?

Well, ByteDance faces a very clear mandate under U.S. law. And our assumption, based in part on the unanimous ruling of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, is that that law is not going away. And what the law says, as you outlined a moment ago, is that by January 19th, they will either need to sell or shut down. We don't want to see the app shut down. We agree with President Trump on that, and he's spoken out repeatedly on that point.

And so that means that there needs to be a deal. And we are very eager to pursue a deal, and we think at the moment we are far and away in the best position to do so. Who would approve the purchase? How would that work? Ultimately, this is a process that will run through an unusual committee called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. They go by the acronym SIFIUS.

And if you think of this a little bit like selling a sports team, Sipheus is going to function like the league. They're going to determine who are the qualified bidders and ultimately have a big say in determining which bidder ends up with this asset. Would the app change and would China and Bight Dan still have a level of access to information? Well, in the near term, we want to keep the app and the experience as consistent with the user experience that folks enjoy now as possible. Over the medium term, we do see an opportunity and a need to make some changes for TikTok. The first is we believe that individuals should control their own information.

They should control their own content, and they should control their own relationships. They should also be able to move that content and those relationships across other apps. and publish their information and their content across other apps. Ultimately, we'd also like to see TikTok move from its current attention-based economy, which is focused on making the content as sticky as possible if you're being diplomatic, as addictive as possible, if you're being a little more blunt, and moving to a place where people are able to, on a deliberate basis, identify the type of experiences, content, goods, and services that they would like to interact with.

I'm glad you brought that up. And we think that move from an attention economy to an intention economy will yield a much better user experience for everyone involved. But that's, you know, that's been one of the theories that TikTok actually was sort of invented because it's different in China, but that it was sort of invented here, the app here, because it makes people at least a little more addicted and they can't get off the app. Is that what you're talking about? Give me that one more time, Tom. I'm sorry? No, it's okay. I'll ask you the question again. It looks like your IFB fell out there.

I'm glad you brought that up, right, because there is this theory that the American version of TikTok is more addictive than the version in China, and that's on purpose to keep sort of Americans, to make them less productive, if you will, to keep them on the app, just doom scrolling all day and losing precious time. In your version of TikTok, you'd like to sort of eliminate that? Well, it is true that the U.S. version of the app isn't even available in China. It's very different. It runs on very different parameters. And the Chinese version of the app, I think it's fair to say, feeds people vegetables. The U.S. version of the app is a lot more like junk food. We think that it's possible to have an incredibly engaging dynamic experience, preserve the vitality and the creativity that have made TikTok the cultural engine of the Internet.

But while doing so, ideally give people the opportunity to identify what they are looking for from the app in their lives. To Myga, real quick, in a year, if I'm talking to you, will you own TikTok? We certainly hope so, and we are in position to do a deal. We very much hope that ByteDance and President Trump enable us to move forward with a transaction. To Micah Tillerman, we thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. Coming up after the break, some good news for those procrastinators out there. If you've left holiday gift buying for the very last minute, you're in luck. After the break, we're going to show you some gifts that can be downloaded instantly for the rest of the people on your list.

They may become the best gifts that these people receive on Christmas. We'll explain why right after this commercial break. Finally, tonight, if you haven't finished your holiday shopping, you might be out of time. Maybe you forgot someone or just can't figure out what to get that cousin you only see once a year, a neighbor, a coworker who brings you so much joy. But don't worry, we've got you covered with the best digital gifts you can easily buy online right now and get delivered instantly. for those very last minute gifts. Oscar Hardsog joins us now. He's an e-commerce writer for Rolling Stone.

Oscar, thanks so much for joining us. Hey, Tom, thanks for having me. Yeah, man. So you put out a holiday guide in Rolling Stone for the best digital gifts of 2024, and you break it down into the different kinds of people our viewers might be buying gifts for, right? We've got the travelers, the cooks, the bookworms,

and, of course, the gamers. Let's start with the traveler. So what do you recommend for them? So I think if you're gifting something for a traveler, or, you know, if they've assumedly already been several places and they've been on fun adventures, you want to get them something a little special. So I like, on the digital side, I really like Airbnb.

They're still a great place. You can go on their home page, they have a category called OMG stays. And that's a really fun thing to look around. And there's just kind of weird houses all over the world. And I think that's something fun that they might not know about. You can get a gift card for Airbnb. I didn't even know this.

Exactly. Yeah, you can get a gift card. You can even, you know, gift cards are great, but you could even book a whole stay and, you know, surprising with something specific like that. But then the other one I really like is a boat setter and I just learned about this this year, but it's essentially Airbnb for boats. So you're renting a boat from an owner and maybe the owner is even captaining it if it's a bigger ship. I did it earlier this year in a like a 60s schooner. It was very cool. So it's just something. more unique than, you know. Do you go anybody with anybody on that 60 schooner or just solo? I did. I was a captain by this very cool suave French guy, and he took me and my friends out just a day in L.A. was very cool. That does sound very cool. You've got the cooks as well. It can be hard to know what to get people who love to be in the kitchen. They might already have all the latest kitchen gadgets and knives.

So what do you suggest people buy? Well, you know, there's two kinds of cooks. There's ones that know a lot or those that, you know, want to learn more. So I think those are the two categories you figure out which one you're gifty is. If they really know what they're doing, I like to just give them the ingredients. So you can get a gift card to this place called Fresh Direct. That's a good one. It's just a way to order fresh produce and anything else online.

Yeah, it's popular in New York City. Fresh Direct is huge. Yeah, for sure. So that's a good way to give something to somebody that already really knows what they're doing. And if they don't, there's a really good website that's on there called this one, the chef in the dish. And this one lets you do virtual and cooking lessons. It can be in a group, which is fun.

You know, if you could give it to yourself and somebody that wants to do it with you or just solo and they're taught by professional chefs, they'll set everything up, give you a shopping list, and, like, hook you up. That actually sounds really, really cool. As for big bookworms, you've got something a little different than just the bestsellers. Yeah, that's right. I've been getting kind of back into audiobooks. I loved them as a kid.

You know, I just drove home for the holidays, and I was listening to an audiobook on the way down. And it's something a little different than just another book on their shelf that maybe they read, maybe they don't. Kind of a different way to consume books. It's smart, man. I've been listening to Sonny Boy, which is the Al Pacino autobiography, and he reads it. It's excellent, so that'd be a great gift, too, if people like Al's movies. Finally, if someone doesn't fit into the categories, what are some good sort of all-around gifts if you can't get anyone on your list?

Well, obviously, we love music here at Rolling Stone, so I really think a concert is a good one. You don't have to know specifically which concert they want to see. StubHub has a good gift card program. That's really smart, yeah. You can pick up a gift card. They can go see whatever they want. There's lots coming up in 25, too. know, Coldplay, Kendrick Lamar, Metallica, Gracie, there's all these great tours coming up

so they can go see whichever one of those they want. AMC, also, you know, can get a gift card for them. I really like the AMC as a A-list program where you can basically sign somebody up and they can go to as many movies as they want for a monthly fee. And then the last one, this is maybe my favorite one, is the class pass, which for those who don't know, it's basically a membership program where you pay. you pay for credits that you can then spend at local studios or gyms. Yeah, it's great if you have a fitness buff and you can try out different things.

It's so much fun. It's great if somebody wants to figure out something new. So like a buddy of mine, you know, he's tired of lifting weights, so he wants to learn something new. So I'll probably give him this and he can try boxing, cycling. Orange Theory, jump into one of those popular classes as well. Oscar, thanks so much, man. I'm really glad we did this segment. I'm sure you're going to help out a lot of people and you can read Oscar's story in Rolling Stone.

We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yammis in New York. Stay right there. There's more news on the way.