Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

House Report Finds Evidence Matt Gaetz Paid for Sex & Drugs; Biden's Commutations Exclude Three Mass Murderers; Accused CEO Shooter Pleads Not Guilty. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 24, 2024 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. It is Tuesday, December 24. Merry Christmas Eve. And right now, on CNN THIS MORNING.

[05:59:16]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's important for the public to see it and draw their own conclusions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Report released. An ethics panel finds evidence that Matt Gaetz paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex and drugs while serving in Congress.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM BANKS (R), INDIANA SENATOR-ELECT: Panama is -- is taking advantage of the United States of America.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, hello, Arizona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Pandemonium over Panama. New reaction this morning over Donald Trump's threat to take back the Panama Canal.

Bill Clinton hospitalized. The former president taken to the hospital after developing a fever. We'll have an update on his condition.

And later --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Frankly, your honor, the mayor should know more than anyone of the presumption of innocence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Tainting the jury pool. The lawyer for the suspected CEO killer calling out New York City's mayor over that staged perp walk.

It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee, where it is 4:59.

And good morning, everyone. I'm Rahel Solomon, in today for Kasie Hunt. Great to have you with us, and good to be with you.

A new House ethics report is out, accusing former Congressman Matt Gaetz of violating state laws regarding prostitution, statutory rape, and drug use.

The 37-page report finds that Gaetz paid women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions, and includes text message screenshots, where Gaetz asked women to bring, quote, "a full complement of party favors" to his hotel.

The committee says that this was a code word for Ecstasy -- Ecstasy or other drugs. Another exchange shared by the committee, an unnamed woman and Gaetz seem to be arguing overpay when she asks Gaetz, quote, "So, I'm not to be taken care of for last week?

Gaetz responded saying, quote, "I gave you 250 today." And about last week says, quote, "You gave me a drive-by."

Now, Gaetz is striking back at the report on his X account, posting or reposting about it more than 30 times since its release, writing in part, quote, "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."

Members from both sides of the aisle, meantime, responding to the report and to Trump's former pick to lead the Department of Justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BANKS: The contents of the report -- this report are very serious. I expect the public to react to it in a serious way. But he's not -- he's not a nominee. He's not a congressman anymore. He's a private citizen of the country. The country expects us to move on.

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI): The reflection of this, on the judgment of Donald Trump is perhaps the most remarkable part of this whole story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Trump, meantime, continues to stand by Gaetz. Late last night, Gaetz posting this picture with the caption, "I got a great note from President Trump." The note is written on a printed headline of the story and reads, "Matt, very unfair."

Joining me now to talk about this is Alex Thompson, CNN political analyst and national political reporter for Axios; Leah Wright Rigueur, CNN political analyst and historian; Max Rose, former Democratic congressman from New York and senior adviser to VoteVets; and Brad Todd, Republican strategist. Welcome one, welcome all. Great to have you.

Leah, let me start with you. It's been a day. We've had a sort of a day to digest the findings of the report. What are your takeaways?

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: So, I think there are a couple of things.

First, that it was a bipartisan committee that released this report. And I think that it -- it speaks to something that we've talked about in the news before. We've talked about in larger kind of circles before, which is that Matt Gaetz is kind of universally disliked. There is a bipartisan agreement that he's not a great person.

We saw a lot of kind of -- and I think this is really important. We saw a lot of Republicans commenting on Matt Gaetz prior to the ethics report being released, saying things like, we don't actually care if the ethics report comes out. We don't know if it would be great if Matt Gaetz was A.G. We think this might be a problematic pick.

And I think part of it, especially what we saw with some of those reports from congressional members, was that they were incensed that Matt Gaetz was on the congressional force [SIC] -- floor, allegedly talking about these incidents and bragging about these incidents.

So, now they've come out to play. And I think part of the underlying politics of this is that a number of members of Congress, Republican members of Congress, were absolutely fine with this seeing the light of day.

It's particularly interesting, given that Matt Gaetz stepped down from the attorney general position. So, there's no blowback retrospectively for these Republicans to actually release the report.

Now, the next part of this is how can -- you know, what comes of this? He is a private citizen. He is no longer -- I believe he is now employed by a different media outlet.

But aside from that, you know, this may be one of those things that simply was about ensuring that he stays in his box, that he is not in a position of power like the attorney general. And there was wide bipartisan agreement on that.

SOLOMON: Yes. Alex, talk to us a little bit about how this all went down. I mean, we knew sort of initially that the fact that this was released had to mean that at least one Republican on the committee had voted to release it.

But Axios's reporting is that it was actually two. It was two centrist Republicans on the panel who unexpectedly voted to release it. Representatives Dave Joyce of Ohio and Andrew Garbarini [SIC] -- - barino from New York, who sided with the committee's five Democrats in voting to release this report.

Talk to us a little bit about what we make of this sudden change, especially among the Republicans who voted for this. ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it does show what we just

talked about, which is that there is bipartisan, in some cases, hatred of Matt Gaetz within the House. While Donald Trump is still very close to Matt Gaetz, he has really alienated a lot of his colleagues.

[06:05:12]

And also, I think this report highlights how rushed the process was in picking him as attorney general. You have to believe that, if Trump's inner circle knew every single detail of this ethics report, which the Senate, even if it wasn't going to become public, senators were insisting that they read before voting on him, they -- he would not have nominated him as attorney general.

This would have been, you know, a fiasco if he was actually going through attorney general hearings the next month or two.

SOLOMON: Yes. And, Brad, let me get your thoughts sort of -- sort of how you -- how you interpret this. And does this, does this impact Trump at all? Does this have the impact of hurting him at all?

BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Matt Gaetz is not only a stray dog, he's the straightest dog in Washington. I mean, he probably has 4 or 5 people who wish he was back in Congress who are elected currently.

And, you know, I think one thing about Donald Trump is he does like his people around him to win. I don't know that he will view Matt Gaetz as a winner over the long haul.

He also values people who can be personally in control. You know, he's -- famously doesn't use drugs, doesn't use alcohol, and never has. And so, you have to think that -- that the revelations in the report probably lower him in esteem with President-elect Trump.

SOLOMON: Yes. Max, let me let you have the last word here. Your thoughts.

MAX ROSE, FORMER DEMOCRATIC NEW YORK CONGRESSMAN/SENIOR ADVISOR TO VOTEVETS: Look, I mean, Matt Gaetz is obviously a troubled human being with a checkered past.

But what the real test here will be, the real litmus test is how does the MAGA base continue to receive Matt Gaetz going forward?

And what you see from him is actually this exuberant confidence that he will be stronger amongst the MAGA base than ever before. How far we have come from the wholesome values that once was the Republican base.

So, we're going to see this play out in Florida statewide politics, perhaps a gubernatorial campaign or a Senate campaign. But I suspect that Matt Gaetz's days in Washington, D.C., are not coming back anytime soon.

SOLOMON: Yes, it's interesting, because he's sort of been toying with the idea of maybe he'll come back. Maybe he'll run for this seat, or maybe he'll run for that seat. And it's unclear to -- it's unclear, at least to me, whether he's being sarcastic or whether he really means it.

Panel, stick by. We'll get to you in the next block. Thank you for being here.

But in the meantime, coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, fallout after President Biden grants commutations to dozens of Death Row inmates. Why some say he went too far, and others claim the opposite.

Plus, former President Bill Clinton taken to the hospital. His condition this morning.

And investing in Trump. More companies backing the president-elect, donating to his inaugural fund.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: All over the world, people are investing now.

They're calling it the Trump effect. Because even before taking office, we're already bringing in the jobs and opportunity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:12:14]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. Donald Trump's team criticizing President Biden after his decision to commute the sentences of most federal Death Row inmates to life in prison.

A spokesperson for Trump's transition team saying, quote, "These are among the worst killers in the world. And this abhorrent decision by Joe Biden is a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones.

President Trump stands for the rule of law, which will return when he is back in the White House after he was elected with a massive mandate from the American people.

Early yesterday, the White House announcing Biden is taking 37 people off a federal Death Row, not commuting three individuals: one of two brothers responsible for the Boston Marathon bombing; Dylann Roof, who killed nine people at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina; and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue.

In a statement, Biden pushed back against the use of the death penalty at the federal level, saying, quote, "Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all of the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss. In good conscience. I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted."

My panel is back. Let me begin with you again here. I wanted to play for you a clip from a family member of multiple victims from that Charleston church shooting.

Take a listen to what she said. Her name is Reverend Sharon Risher. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. SHARON RISHER, MOTHER, COUSINS KILLED AT CHARLESTON CHURCH SHOOTING: If you're going to commute 37 and not 40, now you're playing judge, President Biden. And I need you to understand that when you put a killer on Death Row, the families are left to be hostages for the years and years of appeal that will continue to come.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: I mean, it's hard to even hear that, honestly. You can still clearly hear the pain and the agony that these families are going through.

But -- but does she have a fair point? If you're going to commute 37 of 40, why not commute 40 of 40? If -- you know, if you have this strong belief about it -- strong belief about it?

RIGUEUR: Well, I think part of what Biden was trying to do is to acknowledge that those three particular commutations that he chose not to do have a particular resonance in this kind of larger American context.

You know, we were talking about three incidents that changed the trajectory of American history. Not just American history more broadly, but American racial kind of ethnic and religious history. These are really important, I think, in large-scale swaths of acts of domestic terrorism and acts of -- that were connected to international ideas of terrorism that had widespread consequences.

[06:15:04]

And so, I think part of what we see is -- is somebody like Biden really trying to wrestle with that.

I do think that it is important that somebody like Bryan Stevenson, who has been working on, essentially, kind of the freedom and fairness within the Death Row -- within Death Row and wrongfully convicted individuals, who's really quite known for this, has come out and said that this was an important first step.

This is different than any other president that we've seen before.

For Biden -- And I would also keep in mind that Biden did make a promise in 2020 that he would abolish the death -- the federal death penalty. But for Biden to actually do this and do this in a way that is radically different from any of his predecessors, I think, is an important step in understanding how the federal death sentence, federal death penalty works.

But also, justice. What does it mean, as, you know, as a -- as a believer in commutation to do this? And how do you reconcile it with a much larger implication? What would it have meant for -- for -- I think what is the message going forward that many people would have received?

So, we hear from some of the families who are like, this is -- this is horrific. But we also hear from a number of families who say, this is -- this would have been the -- this is the right thing to do.

So, it is a -- it's a tricky moment, but I think Biden has upheld the promise that he made four years ago.

SOLOMON: Brad, does this come back? And I'm glad you're shaking your head, because I was planning to go to you anyway. But does this come back to hurt Democrats? What are your thoughts on this?

TODD: Well, I think all Biden is doing here is he's trying to bury his pardon of Hunter in a sea of other pardons. He's nearing 2,000 pardons and commutations here, which is more than anyone since Jimmy Carter. He's just trying to cover up Hunter's pardon.

Now, a lot of us who are -- have pro-life convictions and don't like the death penalty could have respected it if Joe Biden had started his term and said, look, I'm a devout Catholic, and I'm not for the death penalty. I'm going to end the federal death penalty. I'm going to commute them all on the first day, every one of them.

But to come here at the end and say, I'm going to commute this death sentence and not that one, and do so after he shielded from the voters when it can't hurt him politically, it's just a cynical play.

I just don't buy it. I don't buy that this has anything to do with his Catholic social teachings, because he's -- didn't do it up front. He didn't try to make -- he didn't try to make some consistency and make it -- make it a key part of his presidency and let the voters judge him. I think this is all about Hunter.

SOLOMON: Max, your reaction to what Brad just said there?

ROSE: Yes, it's a pretty far stretch to say that this is about Hunter Biden. I mean, what this is about, ultimately, is a moral statement that the death penalty is largely wrong and immoral.

To say that any action by a president of the United States towards the end of his term is political theater, is obviously ridiculous.

It remains to be seen whether or not this is good politics, but suffice it to say, the politics of 2026 and 2028 will have very, very little to do with the politics of the holiday season of 2024.

SOLOMON: OK, we'll leave it here. Panel, thank you. We'll see you shortly.

And ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, after a years'-long investigation, the House Ethics Committee releases its report on Matt Gaetz.

Ahead, Congressman Glenn Ivey, who sits on that committee, joins me to discuss. Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOEL SEIDEMANN, PROSECUTOR: I have never seen a case with such volume of evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: The suspected killer pleads not guilty to murder and terrorism charges. Why? His lawyers are concerned he won't receive a fair trial. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:22:55]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. The man accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO made his first court appearance in a New York courtroom.

Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty, while his attorney casts doubt that her client can receive a fair trial.

CNN's Kara Scannell was there and has more.

(BEGI VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Luigi Mangione, accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, arriving to a New York City courtroom, escorted by police officers, his wrists and ankle shackled.

LUIGI MANGIONE, ACCUSED OF MURDERING BRIAN THOMPSON: Not guilty.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Mangione entering a plea of not guilty to the 11 New York state counts he is facing, which include murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism.

KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILO, ATTORNEY FOR LUIGI MANGIONE: I'm very concerned about my client's right to a fair trial. Like every other defendant, he's entitled to a presumption of innocence. But unfortunately, the way this has been handled so far, he -- his rights are being violated.

SCANNELL (voice-over): His attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, telling judge Gregory Carro that Mangione was being used like, quote, "political fodder."

AGNIFILO: He's a young man, and he is being treated like a human ping- pong ball between two warring jurisdictions here.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Saying last week's now-infamous perp walk, with Mangione stepping off a helicopter surrounded by heavily armed law enforcement officers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams trailing behind, was inappropriate.

AGNIFILO: Frankly, your Honor, the mayor should know more than anyone about the presumption of innocence.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Noting Adams' own legal problems over federal charges, including bribery, to which he has pled not guilty.

AGNIFILO: I submit that he was just trying to detract from those issues by making a spectacle of Mr. Mangione.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Agnifilo also asking for expedited discovery, but prosecutors warning that may not be so easy.

SEIDEMANN: I have never seen a case with such volume of evidence.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Saying there are thousands of hours of video tracking Mangione.

Mangione is also facing four federal charges, including murder through use of a firearm.

SEIDEMANN: As we understand that we have primary jurisdiction, we have been informed by the U.S. attorney that they intend on allowing us to try our case first.

[06:25:07]

We will comply with our ethical obligations with respect to trying this defendant's guilt in this courtroom, in this courtroom alone.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Mangione has not entered a plea yet on the federal charges. Prosecutors could decide to seek the death penalty in that case. Members of the public filling four rows of the courtroom to watch the hearing unfold.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Luigi, do you want to say something?

SCANNELL (voice-over): While outside, protesters rallied in support of Mangione and against insurance companies like UnitedHealthcare.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We shouldn't have to fight. We shouldn't have to fight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We shouldn't have to fight. We shouldn't have to fight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We shouldn't have to fight. We shouldn't have to fight.

SCANNELL: Kara Scannell, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, it's not Santa's sleigh that NASA is tracking this morning. They're keeping a close eye on the Parker Solar Probe as it attempts to make history near the surface of the sun.

Plus, territorial expansion. Donald Trump jokes about taking back the Panama Canal. And some say we should take him seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always take the president seriously, and it's -- it's a legitimate threat to Panama. He wants a better deal.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)