from nbc news, this is a special report. here's savannah guthrie and

craig melvin. >> hi there, everybody. good morning. we come on the air with breaking news. it's president biden in his final hours, his final morning in office has issued several high-profile pardons. >> among those pardoned this morning, dr. anthony fauci, general millie, liz cheney. >> and police officers who had spoken out as well from the capitol police. let's go right to peter alexander. this just broke tone minutes ago, peter. what do you know? >> president biden even yesterday was seriously considering using this extraordinary presidential power to preemptively pardon some individuals. he has decided to do that to guard against any potential revenge by the incoming president trump. president biden just announcing, as you know, that he is pardoning dr. anthony fauci,

retired general mark millie and members of the house committee including liz cheney, adam schiff, adam kinsinger. he writes, they are the life blood of our democracy. yet alarmingly, he adds, public servants have been subjected to i don't know going threats for faithfully discharging their duties. notably, his last comments in this statement adds these pardons should not be mistaken that acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance by them be considered an admission of guilt for any offense. he says our nation owes them a debt of gratitude for their

tireless commitment to our country. incoming president trump, as you know, has been a fierce critic and has really railed against so many of those individuals that are receiving these pardons today. most recently in late december of last year, donald trump verbally attacked liz cheney, saying that she committed, quote, egregious and unthinkable acts of crime. that was december 22nd, less than a month of. of mark millie in the past, he suggested he deserved execution and the fact some of the actions he had taken in the past would have been worthy of execution. to be clear, joe biden, some of his final actions now to preemptively pardon those high-profile individuals. >> i want to turn to kristin welker and hallie jackson. i mean, peter really raises the point that needs to be made here. there were sometimes explicit, sometimes implicit threats, serious threats against liz cheney, mark millie and others

by members of his team. this pardon potentially has real life consequences for these people. >> it absolutely does. he was quite clear. he thinks members of the january 6th committee should go to jail. he did not mince words. never said what the crime was, by the way. and sense then has not laid out the crime. what's notable is that you have committee members like a liz cheney, like senator adam schiff saying we didn't do anything wrong. we don't want a pardon. but here is the key thing to know. once the president issues these pardons, that's it. you don't get to reject it. the pardon is there. and, so, this is a significant historic moment because it speaks to the concerns about the threats of legal repercussions of the january 6th committee and what other folks may be facing. he said sometimes threats are

clear against mark millie saying he should in effect be executed for treason. so this is a significant moment because i think it does underscore the very real concerns about what might happen. >> a lot of this is unfolding in the next ten minutes. are we hearing anything at all? >> a little bit. i just spoke with somebody connected to the events of january 6th which is subject to receiving this pardon who said it was one of the lines that president biden talked about, that these individuals did nothing wrong that resonated with this person, who only found out about this through the grapevine, has not officially heard from the white house yet in the overnight hours. it is all moving quickly. it is not altogether unexpected. kristin talked about this being a significant legal point, a significant milestone. this idea that president-elect trump could enact political revenge on people he considered quote, unquote enemies.

his fbi director wrote a book and put in dozens of people who he described as members of the deep state, which also raised that concern. you are reporting 50 people may have their national security clearances revoked because of concerns raised about their involvement in tossing down the hunter biden laptop story. there is a lot here that democrats are worried about. it is a big deal by president biden. >> on a day like this, that rare day when we have two presidents. we have president biden issuing pardons on the way out. the pardon power is sweeping, it is complete and it cannot be undone by the next president. if you are wondering could president trump unpardon those pardons today, no. the answer is no.our nbc specia report. stay tunedozens of executive orders, close to a hundred, to be exact.

>> that address will happen in the capitol rotunda for the first time in 40 years. the ceremony moved indoors because of dangerous weather. nbc's garrett haake is there. >> we won! >> reporter: donald trump returning to washington as president-elect, holding a victory rally in downtown d.c. >> tomorrow, at noon, the curtain closes on four long years of american decline. and we begin a brand-new day of american strength and prosperity, dignity and pride. >> reporter: trump vowing to take dramatic action on signature issues, within hours of returning to the oval office. >> we have to set our country on the proper course. by the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt. >> reporter: the rally capping 24 hours of pomp and ceremony

after trump touched down with a fireworks show at his golf course, meeting with republican leadership. and laying a wreath at arlington national cemetery. swearing-in set to take place inside the capitol rotunda. the theme, strength, unity and fairness. >> it is going to be very, very cold. president trump made this call in the best interest of his supporters, and it's strictly due to weather. >> reporter: even before the day's celebrations end, the new trump administration's transformation of government will begin, with what the president-elect told kristen welker would be a record-setting number of executive orders. according to a document reviewed by nbc news and a person familiar with the planning, immigration raids are planned in the chicago area for later this week. that plan is now under review. >> chicago's not off the table. but we're reconcerting when and

how we do it. >> and our thanks to garrett for that report. you can catch our full coverage of the second inauguration of donald j. trump right here on nbc this morning starting at 10:00 eastern. president biden spent his final full day in office visiting an african-american history museum in charleston. this year, inauguration day is on the same day as martin luther king jr. day. president biden spoke about king's legacy. he also thanked his supporters in sth carolina. saying his presidency started, because of this movement. >> there's been a long line of black patriots who have helped make the promise of america real for all americans. >> president biden also delivered some final acts of clemency, pardoning the late black nationalist garvey. tiktok is back up and running after going dark for less than 24 hours over the weekend. the white house calling it a

stunt, after the biden administration said they would not enforce the ban set to go into effect yesterday. restoration came after president-elect trump took to truth social, asking companies not to let the app go dark and promising to issue an executive order extending the time before the ban goes into effect. mr. trump saying he would like the u.s. to have a 50% ownership in the chinese app. many tiktok users celebrating. >> we're back! we're back! we're back! >> ah! ah! we're back! >> it's been a long 12 hours! >> we are so back, and the vibes are absolutely -- >> tiktok says they are working on a long-term solution with mr. trump. the search for two hawaii teens who went missing on oahu's

shore have continued. they have been looking for them for two days now. the car and belongings were found after the teens disappeared. waves were said to be reaching 40 feet. the search will last three days, which is the protocol for missing persons at sea. let's get back to michelle grossman who is watching the return of strong winds in southern california. >> we are going to see those winds gusting up to 80 miles per hour, increasing that fire risk. also talking about snow in the south. 82 million people impacted by winter alerts. we'll see the snow moving out of the northeast, lingering in portions of new england. but it's the south where we're going to see an area of low pressure combining with cold air bringing scattered snow and ice developing in the southern plains, skirting across the gulf coast tomorrow and moving offshore wednesday. but we could see up to 6 inches of snow in some spots,

especially where you see the pink and going to feel like min5 in some spots. cold too along the southwest. 41 in charleston. that's your monday forecast. michelle, thank you. today we celebrate the birth of reverend martin luther king jr. across the u.s., many offices and services are shuttered for the federal holiday. this includes most non-essential governmental offices and libraries. major bank branches will also be closed. the postal service and most u.p.s. shipping services will not deliver today, although fedex will have modified delivery service. major retail chains, including

walmart, target and kroger will be open, as will many restaurants. this is one of several free days for national parks this year. coming up, the bills and gloangeaes sri into division championships. and back in a minute with a literal fallout from spacex's explosion last week. this mucus won't move out. you're gonna love this property. the guy's congestion remedy? harmless. try this. mucinex 12 hour treats the mucus that causes chest congestion for all-day relief. don't leave! it's fine! ugh! i was worried about this side of town! mucinex in, mucus out! don't mask symptoms, treat the cause. premier protein is my secret weapon. my ride or die. this stuff changed my life. (♪♪) high protein? check. 1 gram of sugar? oh, yeah. and a flavor for every vibe. ♪ we all just want some... ♪ premier protein. sweeten the journey. when bad allergies attack...

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east of cuba. renaldo rivera was playing and says it was a close call. >> i feel something over my head. and it was a piece of the rocket. it feels like a little hot, like, if you just came out of the oven. >> reporter: now remnants of men's biggest dreams for the stars are washing up on the sands. >> so i went on a morning walk in turks and caicos and found pieces of starship seven. >> reporter: island residents collecting debris by the bagful. >> eight pounds of stuff this morning. if you're telling me it's hazardous, don't touch it, what does that mean for the coral reefs in the ocean? >> reporter: elon musk has captained spacex to take big wins nd big risks. there is a new investigation into thursday's mishap.

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third and four. they'll run out of it. big opening, barkley, there he goes. barkley going to ring the bell again! >> the l.a. rams will be seeing saquon barkley in their nightmares. the electric eagles running back followed up his hihistoric november performance in l.a. with two touchdowns in sunday's divisional matchup. one of those scores was a game-sealing 78-yard dash through the snow. matthew afford attempted to lead his squad to a

season-saving comeback. but philly held and sent the rams packing 28-22. the eagles will host the commanders in next weekend's nfc championship game after washington's shocking upset of the top-seeded lions saturday. the snowy conditions traveled to western new york later in the day, for the clash of mvp frontrunners. lamar jackson's raven fell behind josh allen's bills, with allen matching the turnovers with two touchdowns of his own. baltimore bounced back after jackson found isaiah likely in the end zone. in the final minute and a half, giving the ravens the chance to force overtime with a two-point conversion. >> he'll roll, roll, flip it. got it! he had the two-point conversion in his hands! >> the ravens' season ended at the hands of mark andrews who couldn't haul in the tying

score. the bills punch their ticket to the afc championship, and they will renew their epic playoff rivalry with the kansas city chiefs. and while there are two more games until the super bowl, a historic college football season comes to an end tonight. the ohio state buckeyes meet the notre dame fighting irish at the college football playoff in atlanta. the action kicks off at 7:30 tonight. when we come back, why legal ps uble is bubbling up for pei. and new data shows more americans may be losing their taste for wine. mr. lee! hi zoe. how can i help you today? do you know if there's a less expensive option for my new medicare prescription? medicare? really? i might have to see some i.d. mr. lee. here, let me check on that for you. okay, so i will give your doctor's office a call... this is not just help with a medicare prescription. thank you zoe. anytime. bye! this is the human kind of help. walgreens. ah mornings! cough? congestion? i'm feeling better.

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dramatic change in the nfl. steve kornacki has the story. >> lamar jackson is gone! >> there was this 48-yard touchdown run from lamar jackson. >> going to run for it. >> this clutch touchdown run from josh allen. >> oh, the play of the year! >> if you thk today's nfl quarterbacks are running the ball more, you're right. >> he's in for the touchdown! >> hurts with the moves. >> tom brady even lamenting this trend. >> just hate seeing quarterbacks run the ball. we call more runs in the nfl now to quarterbacks. not my favorite play in the world. >> but here's how much the game has changed around brady. this is this year's quarterbacks. jayden daniels almost 900. jalen hurts, 650. if you took tom brady's career

average as a player, look where he'd be. 54 yards. almost the bottom of the list. >> in the short term, the running quarterback has added juice and excitement to every snap. >> spectacular touchdown! >> mike tirico leads sports nfl coverage. >> what is the future, though, the way football is heading for a stay in the pocket, drop-back passer? >> steve, those days are over. >> steve young says it all started with a change to the nfl rules. >> about ten years ago, they changed the rule where defenders could not launch, lead their head to make a tackle. >> that meant it was safer for quarterbacks to make a run for it. >> it's a huge deal. and it opened up, it basically made the field so much bigger. it's the quarterback's legs that make the difference. >> the change has been huge. 15 seasons ago, playoff quarterbacks are averaging a total of 31 carries. this season it's almost 80

carries for nearly five times as many yards. and that has tom brady worried. >> i don't think really goes with the theme of protecting the quarterbacks. >> he's going to run for the first down. >> tua tagovailoa took this big hit on a run, his third concussion in two years. >> second and 20. >> of course, a hard sack can jr. a qb, too. >> running, scoring again! >> this new way to play? changing the game on the field and how we watch it. >> as a broadcaster, a mobile quarterback, does it make calling the game trickier for you? >> oh, it makes it more fun. that's where the magic happens. that brings you to the edge of your seat. so, as a broadcaster, i'm all for it. keep

four more years in the white house, and