Meet the Press (0s):
This week on a special edition of Meet the Press, Kristen Wilker talks with those working to find common ground in our deeply divided nation. Political figures and thought leaders come together to share their hopes for a path forward. Only on Meet the Press. Listen to the full episode Now wherever you get your podcast cast

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Tonight, the **scathing** new report about President-elect Trump's first pick for Attorney General. The House **Ethics** Committee **revealing** Florida Republican Matt Gaetz may have violated state laws on **prostitution**, statutory rape, and **illicit** drug use. Inside the pages of texts, checks, financial statements, testimony. The former congressman forcefully pushing back. tonight the record holiday travel rush as massive crowds head home for the holidays. Train service, **not yet back on track** in the nation's most congested corridor and the cold snap complicating last minute travel. The suspect charged with murdering United Healthcare. CEO. **Pleading** not guilty.

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Our first look at him in court as his legal team cries Foul President Biden **commuting** nearly every federal death row inmate to life without parole. Why now? And who was left off the list? The suspect arrested over a horrifying attack on a New York subway allegedly setting a woman on fire rescues in the Pacific Ocean after a pier collapses. The breaking news just in the dramatic light show ending in horror after drones fell into the crowd watching below a 7-year-old boy fighting for life. This

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Is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt.

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Good evening and welcome. He was once the president-elect surprise pick for Attorney General, but tonight, a years long report **lays out** in lured detail **accusations** against former Congressman Matt Gaetz accusations that ultimately derailed his bid to lead the Justice Department. Over the course of dozens of pages of chat logs and financial transactions, the ethics committee found that Gates paid tens of thousands of dollars for sex, including in Florida where he is illegal, had sex with an underage woman and took illicit drugs. The DOJ investigated gates for similar accusations, but in the end did not bring charges. Gates has denied breaking the law throughout, and as Ryan Noble's reports remains defiant as ever.

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Tonight,

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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 iy, a member of the committee voted to release the report. We're

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Releasing it all and the public can draw its own conclusions.

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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 underage 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 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.

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But **despite** Gates's defense, the committee believes there could be enough evidence that Gates violated state laws.

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I would think that they would give strong consideration to investigating the allegations.

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He also points to a lengthy investigation by the Department of Justice that was closed without prosecutors bringing charges. Despite these accusations, Gates's political future remains open and he's not backed down from the idea of running for higher office.

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Maybe I'll just run for Marco Rubio's **vacancy** In the United States Senate

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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

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And Ryan Gates attempted to delay the report's release this morning.

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Yes, Lester Gates filed a last minute motion for a temporary restraining order against the committee to prevent the report from coming out. But by the time the judge had a chance to review the request, the report had already been released. Lester

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Ryan Nobles, thank you. Now to the holiday travel rush and a record number of people **packing** roads and airports as train delays **frustrate** passengers. Sam Brock is at one of the busiest travel hubs in the country right now. Sam, Good evening.

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Yeah, Lester. Good evening. Passengers are still sprawled out here at Penn Station. There are so many people in spaces, it's difficult to move. Lester Amtrak did say tonight they have resolved their signal issues, but crew congestion right now, crew constraints is affecting trains from Washington DC all the way to Boston. They're trying to deal with that as we look right now at the heart of the Christmas travel holiday on the eve of Christmas Eve. Nervous

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For sure, quite nervous.

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A two day slowdown of Amtrak trains up and down the East coast is still grinding on

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A day delay Could mean that we don't end up home for

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Christmas and it's not just delays. Some Ella trains to DC and Boston canceled. Lucy Smith and Monty Wilson were at 90 minutes and counting. If

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Delays happen, there's only, there's nothing you can do. It's sort of out of our hands

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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 wheel 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 firsthand look at how they sort a hundred thousand 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.

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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

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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

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With days to go. The sometimes bumpy process of getting home, paying huge dividends for families, enjoying the **presence** of each other. Sam Brock, NBC, news, New York.

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And let us get to Bill Karen's now who's tracking the end of **a brutal cold snap and snow**, in least in this part of the country.

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Yeah, we're happy the cold air is leaving, but unfortunately we got a little bit of snow to come in. So we have winter weather advisories for a lot of people, about 25 million Washington, DC and Philadelphia included into this. We're gonna see this fast moving snow moving from Michigan through areas of northern New England. Tonight we are going to get a little glaze of ice tomorrow morning from Philadelphia to Baltimore to DC That's why you're under those winter weather advisories, New York City, another coating of snow for you. So as far as your travel forecast goes, we have that storm exiting, but then we have a storm early in the day on the west coast. We could have problems in San Francisco at the airport, and also in interstate five. We could have numerous issues driving north into the Pacific Northwest. So we do have still have some issues. Alright,

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Bill, thanks for the update now to New York where Luigi Mangione, the suspect charge, and the murder of United Healthcare CEO. Pleaded not guilty to the murder charges against him. Stephanie GOs was in court.

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Luigi Mangione entered New York State Court for the first time today. Guilty or

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Not guilty.

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Not guilty.

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The 26-year-old faces 11 charges in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, including first degree murder in the furtherance of terrorism. Manjii already pleaded not guilty to four federal criminal charges. Outside dozens of **protesters** voiced anger with the health insurance industry. The healthcare

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System is **corrupt** and we need to fix it.

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While in court, Mancini's defense attorney **took issue with** what she called an utterly political perp walk last week.

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They're literally treating him like he is like, like some sort of political fodder

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Like attorney Karen AG Nilo, taking aim at New York City. Mayor Eric Adams over these comments,

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I want to look him in the eye and stated that you carried out this terrorist act in my city.

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Ag Nilo accusing the mayor of possibly tainting the jury pool. Those

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Are the people that elected him that he is talking to and calling this man a

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Terrorist. A spokesperson for the mayor says Adam's 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?

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Terrorism charges themselves are unique and then given the circumstances of this case, it's very unique

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And potentially more of a challenge.

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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.

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Stephanie Goss, NBC News, New York.

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Also in New York, a suspect was arrested after a disturbing attack on a subway over the weekend. Sebastian Zape kil, a 33-year-old undocumented migrant from Guatemala is accused of lightning, a sleeping woman on fire on the train. An ice spokesperson says the suspect was previously deported in 2018, but managed to get past immigration officials again. There is growing **controversy** tonight after President Biden commuted the sentence of nearly every federal death row prisoner to life without parole. But the historic move is not sitting well with all Praise and anger today as President Biden commuted the death sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row to life without parole saying in a statement, make no mistake, I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, but guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death **penalty** at the federal level.

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He declined to commute the sentences of three men, the mass shooter at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, where 11 people died. The killer of nine people at the Mother Emanuel, a ME church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015 and the Boston Marathon Bomber. Can you reflect on the historic nature of this commutation decision by the president?

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It's unprecedented. We've never had a US president commute this many people who were awaiting execution.

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Brian Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and a leading death penalty opponent.

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The question is not whether people deserve to die for the crimes they've committed. The question is whether we deserve to kill. If we have a flawed, biased, unreliable system, we cannot impose this perfect punishment with an imperfect system.

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Today's move coming ahead of President-elect Trump's plan to resume federal executions halted under the Biden administration, Trump's **transition** team saying these are among the worst killers in the world. Calling it an **abhorrent** decision by Joe Biden and a slap in the face to the victims, their families, and their loved ones. Among those whose sentence was commuted Kaban Savage, a drug dealer involved in organized crime, convicted of murdering 12 people, four of them children during a firebombing incident at a house of a federal witness. Steve Mellon is a former assistant US attorney who helped prosecute Savage.

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We are sacrificing the safety and security and concerns of the American public as well and the family members of those that were adversely affected directly by this. While the president is giving a Christmas present to these 37 out of 40 death row inmates

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Also learning his sentence is being commuted today. Billy Allen sentenced to death at 19 for the murder of an armed security guard in Missouri. He has always maintained his innocence. We spoke to Alan today by telephone from prison.

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Honestly, it it shocked me, you know, and I'm like, okay, lemme make sure I'm reading this right. When they hid, I was excited and the people I thought about the most was my family. The Releaser would give them

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Death penalty opponents. Hoping tonight some Blue State governors may follow the president's suit and spare the lives of prisoners on their death rows in 60 seconds disaster at a holiday drone show after several crashed, nearly killing a 7-year-old. Next.

Open Book with Jenna (13m 25s):
Hi everyone, it's Jenna Bush Hager from today with Hoda and Jenna reminding you to check out my podcast open book with Jenna. And this week's episode I sit down with Oscar, an Emmy award-winning actor, Jamie Lee Curtis. She joins me to talk about her path to sobriety, what it was like growing up with famous parents and the books that changed her life. You can Listen to the full conversation now by searching open book with Jenna, wherever you get your podcasts.

Making Space (13m 51s):
Hey everybody, it's Hode copy from The Today Show reminding you to check out my podcast Making Space. In this week's episode, I sit down with fancy like country singer Walker Hayes to talk about his journey through sobriety. His life is a dad and the inspiration behind his music. You can Listen to the full conversation right now. All you have to do is search making space wherever you get your podcasts.

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Friday night on Dateline, a beloved doctor, an accused killer, how could they be the same man? People Aren't putting this puzzle together. I was Stunned. Pursuing Justice is Worth it. Friday night on Dateline at nine eight Central, only on NBC.

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Now to the terrifying scene at a holiday drone show in Orlando. As Morgan Chesky reports, several drones crashed into a crowd nearly killing a 7-year-old.

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In Orlando, Florida, a festive scene turned frightening in seconds.

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What the oh

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Thousands watching Saturday as a holiday drone show went haywire, sending drones tumbling to the ground below.

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Oh no, I don't think they're supposed

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To be falling the FAA confirming several of the small aircraft collided mid air. And upon impact, Adriana Rogen says one of them struck her 7-year-old son Alexander.

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My daughter found my son on the floor. Unconscious blood coming out his face. The drone hit him so hard in his chest that it messed up one of the valves in his heart.

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Agen says, the impact forced doctors to perform emergency heart surgery on Sunday. Sky Elements. The vendor behind the Drone show says they're diligently working with the FAA adding, we regret any distress or inconvenience caused. Now, as Edgerton presses for answers, she says her son will be spending Christmas and ICU.

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No family should be going through this off of, you know, trying to watch a show and have a good time.

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And tonight we've learned the NTSB is now launching their own investigation. Meanwhile, the FAA says they plan to take a very close look at the software used to control those drones. Lester.

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Okay Morgan, thank you. When we return our investigation into the shadowy world of the body parts trade, how one man learned about his brother's death by watching our report,

Deadly Mirage (16m 16s):
They called it the happiest place on the high desert home to a tight knit group of 30 somethings who liked to party. It starts as a Playboy channel fantasy, but this is real life Where passion leads to murder and a killer seeks God's help with the coverup. I'm Josh Minowitz and this is Deadly Mirage, an all new podcast from Dateline. All episodes are available now to listen ad free. Subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or dateline premium.com.

The World (16m 52s):
The world with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakeem is a brand new podcast from Sky News with me, sky News's, lead world news presenter, Yalda Hakeem And me Richard Engel, chief former correspondent for NBC News. Every week we'll be reporting from the frontline of the world's trouble spots and asking the big questions to the world's most important and influential people. Join us for the ground truth to help you understand what is happening in the world today and why it matters to you. So that's The world with Richard Engel and Gal de Hakeem. Listen, every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts.

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We're back now with a scary scene in California where part of a pier collapsed into the water. After a giant ocean swell crews had to rescue two people. Part of the pier has been undergoing repairs. After damage from storms, we turn out to our series Dealing the Dead. We have previously reported on a Texas medical school using unclaimed bodies for research without consent. And tonight Liz Kreitz has the story of a man who learned of his own brother's death. Through our reporting

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We're home, settled in and we turn the news on.

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For Tim Legett, it was the most unexpected way to find out his brother Dale had died.

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We like to get here in time to see Lester and the story comes on about dealing the dead.

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It is a disturbing story out of Texas. A, a

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Medical, a Nightly News that night. Our investigation into a local medical school, the University of North Texas Health Science Center, and how it made millions in part by taking in unclaimed bodies from Dallas and Tarrant counties and then leasing out those body parts often without consent for medical training and research at times as their own family search for them. And then back

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To mind. I'm thinking, well, it has been a little while since I've seen Dale and I know he lives by himself. I know he is very, very much a loner.

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Tim went to the NBC news website to learn more and to his shock, there among some 1800 names of unclaimed bodies given to the center was his brothers Denzel Dale Legget.

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I had a moment of crying in tears because it was 'cause that's how I found out about my brother's death, right?

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Eventually Tim learned that his brother died of respiratory failure Here at the John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. About 30 minutes from Tim's home, he says it's still unclear what efforts of any were taken to try to reach him or other relatives Before Dale's body was deemed unclaimed and handed over to the Health Science Center. Tim is among at least 11 families who have learned the grizzly details of what happened to their relative, not from a Medical Examiner hospital or the health science center, but from NBC News and six, who found their missing relatives name on the list we published of unclaimed bodies, including the mother of a 21-year-old murder victim, Arimar Igo Viegas, who was killed in a road rage shooting outside Dallas.

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Despite documents showing authorities in Texas had her family's phone number in Venezuela. There's no evidence they attempted to call before her body went to the Center for Medical Training invoices showing her body parts assigned prices, $900 for her torso, $703 for her legs. Her mother saying she still can't accept it for Tim. After he reached out to the center seeking answers, officials sent him a letter saying his brother's body was used to train anesthesiologists, omitting that it was sent to a for-profit medical education company in Kentucky. A detail revealed in documents obtained by NBC News. How does it make you feel to know that somebody was making money off your brother's body?

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Parts?

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I, that's the highest level of being disgusted that I could possibly be.

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He also received a box containing what he was told were his brother's remains. Do you believe that those are indeed your brother's ashes?

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I, I'm not positive, but you know, emotionally, psychologically, I, I'm gonna pretend they really are because there's somebody in that box and whoever's in that box needs to be in my mind, set free. So I I set them free.

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The center suspended its body donation program and fired the officials who ran it. The center declined to comment on Dale's case, but said in a recent statement. In part, it will take necessary actions to address any additional failures and that it continues to extend its deepest. Apologies to the family's impacted. My brother.

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He never hurt anybody. He was a unique personality, but he never hurt anybody

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And he never would've wanted this

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And he never would've wanted to happen to his body. Happened to his body.

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Liz ROIs, NBC News, Justin, Texas.

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And that is Nightly News for this Monday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Holt. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.

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