good afternoon. it is 3:00 p.m. eastern, 12:00 p.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart in for katy tur. the manhunt continues. now on day three, as the nypd searches for the suspect who shot and killed unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson early tuesday morning in midtown manhattan. and new clues could be getting them closer. investigators believe the suspect came to new york ten days before the shooting, on a greyhound bus, arriving at 9:00 p.m. on november 24th, from atlanta, georgia. police say after arriving, the suspect checked into an upper west side hostel paying in cash and using a fake id. and it's at that hostel where we get these two photos. revealing the face of this person of interest. but despite this breakthrough yesterday, no identification has been made public. and no arrests have been made. joining us now, nbc news

correspondent priscilla thompson and retired nypd detective and director of the black law enforcement alliance, mark claxton. so priscilla, new details from the investigators, but give us a walk through of what we know as of right now. >> reporter: yeah, jose, so there's been a wave of surveillance video that has been coming out over the past several days, helping to begin to understand a timeline of what happened in the moments both before and after this heinous shooting. but also now, in the days leading up to it. obviously, the big news being that police are now looking at that greyhound bus ride from atlanta to port authority arriving on november 24th. so ten days before this shooting, and of course, those photos from that hostel where it is believed this person of interest, suspect, may have stayed, where he had that unguarded moment when he was talking to a woman there, taking down his mask so we actually see his face. and so investigators are undoubtedly right now

interviewing other people who may have seen or interacted with him, trying to figure out where he may have gone and what he may have been doing in the ten days prior, if he was in new york city during that entire time and if there are perhaps other unguarded moments where we again get shots of his face. we're also getting more surveillance video about what happened in the moments before and after the shooting including now this new video which shows a man dressed as the suspect was getting off of a subway, exiting a subway station in midtown, less than an hour before the shooting occurred. also footage of a man dressed in that way with that distinctive gray backpack walking down the sidewalk, not far from the crime scene where we are. at one point stopping and appearing to peer at trash bags there, and also this video showing someone, again, looking like the suspect riding an e-bike into central park. and so all of this is helping to build a more clear picture of what happened around the actual crime and also in the days leading up to it, with again,

the end goal being to be able to successfully identify who exactly this person is, a lot of threads to pull on, but at this point, we have not seen that identification coming from authorities here. jose. >> yeah, mark, why do you think we still don't have that identification? i know it's been three days but there is so much forensic photographic evidence. and you know, you think, if this guy has been in new york for ten days, and he's getting on an e-bike, and he's going to starbucks and he's staying in a hostel, he's going through the subway system, isn't there any way of tuning all of those bits of information down to an id? >> sure there is. and i can guarantee you that given the amount of evidence that's even been publicly been communicated there's a period where there has to be processing and evaluation and analysis of

all of these bits of evidence, whether it be video evidence, whether it be forensic evidence, that has to be analyzed. you have to have fingerprint analysis. there is a process for acquiring dna information itself. and just keep in mind that even if there is a tentative identity, these professional investigators are going to prioritize at this point insuring the integrity of this investigation. we have to begin to understand and look forward, and this is not only about arresting or apprehending the shooter, but also preparing a case that has to be successfully prosecuted. so these professional investigators are going to be analyzing all of the available evidence, acquiring additional evidence, additional witnesses, eye and ear witnesses, if possible. and taking the necessary steps to have all of that information cataloged, itemized, creating a timeline. and a positive identification,

solid enough so there will be a solid prosecution. i don't have any doubt there will be an apprehension and arrest of the shooter in this particular case, but this is a very diligent, professional investigation, although it's gotten a lot of attention, and it's somewhat sexy, if you will, given the circumstances, the timeline of it, but it's a process, and the process has to be respected or else you end up having a wonderful showcase of an investigation and that allows the prosecution and they can't allow that to happen. >> mark, what do you see behind some of these moments that have been captured on camera in different instances? so what do you see, for example, in that horrific moment, and we're seeing there, the suspected gunman was wearing, when we look at the videotape of the horrendous shooting that he carried out in the streets of

manhattan, you see there that they found three, according to police, three spent casings and three unused bullets at the scene of this horrible crime. the suspect, the shooter had to work on the gun almost after every single shot. it seemed that the clip was getting jammed. what do you see about the fact that that occurred? what stance the shooter took, how he just walked away afterwards, did not drop the weapon, and then, all of these instances where he is covered with the exception of these two pictures? what do you see in these instances? >> well, one thing, i know there was a lot of discussion about whether or not this individual was proficient at firearms, whether this was a, quote, professional, if you will. and that is highly subjective

kind of reference and framing. i think what's most significant about the shooting itself and the firearm that was used is that the police have tentatively identified the weapon. it's a unique style weapon that has a built-in noise suppresser, so that's been publicly reported by the police. and this particular weapon, after each discharge of a round, has to be chambered, you have to chamber another round. each time you fire it, you have to chamber a round in it. there you have this highly unusual weapon, i know i have never seen it, but i'm not claiming to be proficient at it. you have this highly unique weapon, with this noise suppressing device on it that requires a chambering of a round. you may have an individual who is scrambling around trying to chamber a round, not realizing or recognizing that the weapon is discharged itself. but all of this is part of

really creating a timeline and evidence trail, a framework in which to describe what occurred from the point in which the victim left their hotel room and ended up being shot and killed on the street itself. and stuff like this uniquely styled weapon will come out and come forward as this thing advances. and it will all add to the building of this particular case. >> and priscilla, we can expect more images, more information coming out from the nypd in the next hours or days. >> reporter: that's right. including my colleague who is in atlanta reporting that the atlanta police have now been contacted by the nypd. when we asked them about that yesterday, they said they had not been contacted by those authorities. so it appears that they are now in touch with them regarding this investigation, and again, trying to track down where that bus ticket may have been

purchased, who may have purchased it, and of course, what his movements were in the ten days that he may have been in new york city prior to this shooting. jose. >> priscilla thompson and mark claxton, thank you both so very much. still ahead today, as pete hegseth digs his heels in, alarm bells are ringing over another trump cabinet pick. with almost 100 former national security officials warning about tulsi gabbard leading the intel community. >> plus, it might not stop at hunter. why the white house is weighing a host of pre-emptive pardons. >> and later, president in waiting, what president-elect donald trump is doing that could overshadow president joe biden before his term has ended. we're back in 90 seconds. we're back in 90 seconds a... with rapid relief at 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission...

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with better nutrition, too. for us, it's eggs any style. as long as they're the best. eggland's best. 12 past the hour. after weeks of silence, donald trump has weighed in on pete hegseth, his embattled nominee to lead the department of defense. writing on truth social this morning that, quote, hegseth's support is strong and deep. much more so than the fake news would have you believe. but it's a battle over hegseth plays out in public, the resistant to another pick is building behind the scenes. nearly 100 former national security officials signed a letter calling for closed-door senate hearings to review the government's information about former democratic congressman tulsi gabbard, trump's choice

for director of national intelligence. joining us now, nbc news national security correspondent on capitol hill, we have courtney kube there, and ryan nobles as well as david drucker. i wanted to start with you, courtney. what do we know about this letter of more than 100 national security experts about tulsi gabbard? >> reporter: yeah, jose, so these are a number of officials who have served in senior national security positions throughout the u.s. government, and they're calling on capitol hill to hold closed hearings about tulsi gabbard's nomination. saying as you mentioned they are alarmed about the possibility of her holding this top level job in the u.s. intelligence apparatus. the reason they want the closed-door hearings is they're hoping that some information about her could be freely shared with the lawmakers in there. of course, her secret trip to

syria in january of 2017 has been the subject of a lot of media scrutiny, but jose, we still don't know much about it. she came back from that trip and then surprisingly made comments that were positive about the bashar al assad regime at a time when the world was condemning him for his actions going after killing civilians throughout his country. so these national security officials are asking that capitol hill lawmakers hold hearings where they can really get into the questions about some of the things that she has said and done in her past before they are able to confirm her to this top intelligence job, jose. >> and so, really, courtney, what they're asking for is really just a reaffirmation of the process that exists already, right? the senate's responsibility is to actually do this kind of search and to find out what may or may not be controversial behind any nominees or picks.

i'm wondering, courtney, because was that a secret trip to syria or was that a codell, and if it was a secret trip to syria, then did she not tell anyone in the house that she was going to make it? >> reporter: that's been one of our big questions. we have been asking the same question, did she actually notify the u.s. government before going? it's really not clear at this point, jose. it's also really not clear exactly what she was doing there and who all she was meeting with. again, i think the concern that these lawmakers have is what she was saying when she got back. praising bashar al assad, saying he's not the enemy of the united states and even making positive comments about russia. these raised a lot of red flags with lawmakers, and think about the job she would be going into here, heading up the u.s. intelligence agency, having access to the highest levels of intelligence in the united states government, working with

allies and partners in the five is, and other senior intelligence officials throughout the world, and potentially having influence on how that information and that intelligence is conveyed to the white house. before they are able to confirm her for this top job, some of these officials are recommending that lawmakers get the real skinny of what happened to her in a closed door and potentially classified session. >> indeed. david, look, it's really important to find out, number one, if it was a secret trip, number two, it it was a codel of sorts. whether the rules and -- the rules i should say, were followed in every step of the way. i'm reminded that i have oftentimes seen with some concern how there are codels to castro's cuba and members go to cuba, and then come back and speak marvels about the regime

in cuba that has a 64-year tradition of trampling human rights. but if it was a secret trip to syria, that would be something totally different. but david, just your thoughts on how difficult will her confirmation process be? >> well, we're going to have to find out. look, this is part of the process. normally, a president-elect or president nominates somebody who is less controversial, but whether or not the nominee is controversial or not, there is a process whereby they look into the nominee's background. they look into their record if they have a record, if they're coming from the private sector, they dive deep into that. there are private meetings one-on-one with senators and then there are committee hearings where all of this is aired publicly. i expect her to go through the same rigorous process she would even if she wasn't a controversial nominee. now, because she is known to have coddled and parroted dictators like bashar al assad

and vladimir putin, i think th makes this post a very heavy lift for her to win. she's not going to find, i think, much love on the democratic side of the aisle. but even for republicans who want to support donald trump's nominees and allow him his team, there's going to be a lot of scrutiny because her foreign policy, even aside from these meetings and her past rhetoric, runs counter to what the majority of senate republicans believe. she can only lose three, jd vance, the vice president, would be the tiebreaker. one thing we have seen with senate republicans in this early going is instead of rushing out to announce they're going to oppose one of the president-elect's nominees, they let the public information sort of pile up and get out there and do the work for them so they don't have to get crosswise with trump and end up in an interparty spat. >> and ryan, meanwhile, there's

also the issue of the gaetz ethics report in the house, which will not be released following the committee vote. >> reporter: that's right. it seems pretty clear that we're never going to see that report, at least not anytime soon. there were two opportunities for the full house to vote to release that report. and republicans voted in the majority to refer it back to the committee. and the house ethics committee met yesterday and basically released a one-line sentence that said that they're continuing to have a conversation about the ethics report but there is no new information as to when it will be released. there's just no motivation for members of congress to take what would be an uncustomary step in releasing a report for a member that is no longer actively involved in the house of representatives, and especially because that member is no longer up for a post in the trump cabinet. now, if trump decides to appoint him to a position that is not senate confirmable, perhaps there could be a renewed effort to try to get that report out so trump has all the information

necessary before making that decision. but you can tell the energy around the push to get this report out has just died out, and it is likely that this information about matt gaetz will be under lock and key for the foreseeable future. >> courtney kube, ryan nobles and david drucker, thank you. now with breaking news out of new york city, where there's an update in the daniel penny trial. joining us right now from outside the courthouse in new york city, nbc news correspondent george solis. george, good afternoon. what do we know? >> reporter: yeah, jose. after the lunch break, the jury coming back with a new note saying look, they cannot come to a unanimous decision on the manslaughter charge, so now the debate inside is whether or not they're able to move on to the second lesser charge, the criminal negligent homicide. the judge saying wait a minute, maybe it's time i do exactly what i do this first go round when they couldn't come to a unanimous decision and charge them with an allen charge, let's wipe the slate clean, send the

jury back to deliberate, weigh all the evident here. don't feel pressured to make a decision, but do your due diligence. you have been looking at this case thoroughly, it shows, so rather than throw this whole thing out, let's see if we can come to a consensus and find a unanimous finding on the manslaughter charge before moving on to the second lesser charge which carries a penalty up to four years if he's convicted. there's a little hang-up on whether they can do that. there are discussions. defense again moving for a mistrial, saying it seems like they're not going to come to a consensus here, but there is no give one way or the other whether that's going to happen at this point. some tension in the courtroom right now as the judge is waiting to see how he's going to rule on this, whether or not he's going to charge the jury to consider going back to continue the deliberations here, and of course, all of this comes after four days of deliberations, more than 20 hours now where this jury has been looking at the evidence. on wednesday, they were looking at the definitions of

recklessness and negligence. they were doing thorough homework, looking at read backs of testimony from the medical examiner, also reviewing some body camera footage, witness statements. they have been leaving no stone unturned, showing how clearly they're looking at every piece of evidence before making a determination. if they can't come to some unanimous agreement, whether or not they can move on to the lesser charge remains to be seen. >> george solis, we'll stay on top of that story. >> still ahead, a -emptive presidential pardon for those who may be persecuted or prosecuted by the incoming administration? what the white house is now weighing. plus, donald trump is having an effect 45 days before he's back at the oval office. what he's doing that breaks norms, ahead of inauguration. with better nutrition, too. we love our eggs any style. as long as they're the best. eggland's best.

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26 past the hour. the white house says president biden is, quote, reviewing next steps when it comes to pre-emptive pardons. this comes as nbc news confirms biden was discussing pre-emptive pardons for trump critics to protect them. names include but not limited to figures like senator-elect adam schiff, dr. anthony fauci and former republican congresswoman liz cheney. joining us now, chief white

house correspondent for "the new york times," peter baker, and msnbc legal correspondent, lisa rubin. peter, you were one of the first to confirm discussions of pardons. what do conversations look like right now? >> well, it's mainly happening at the staff level as part of a larger conversation about what pardons and commutations the president will choose to do before leaving office. every president generally at the end of his time in office has extended, you know, clemency to usually a large swath of people, often everyday criminals, nonviolent drug offenders and so forth, and go through a process. this would not be the same thing, this would be a whole different thing. we have never seen anything like this. it hasn't yet reached the president for a decision, although he has discussed it with senior aides. on the one hand, they think they have an obligation to protect some of these people being persecuted for doing their jobs

and speaking the truth or getting on trump's bad side but not committing any crimes. on the other side, there's an argument to be made it looks like they committed a crime, implies they have done something wrong. there are people who want pardons and some people who say i wouldn't take it because i don't want the implication. >> peter, how was the process for the president to go from, he is not going to pardon his son or commutation, to not only pardoning his son for those offenses including tax charges and the gun charge, but also for any possible, probable crime that may have been committed since 2014. how did that process go? >> yeah, there wasn't much of a process there. that was really joe biden and his family. and that's in fact one of the things you hear from democrats is they're upset he didn't really involve his staff and didn't involve anybody else

around him who might have given him different advice. we talked to jim clyburn, the congressman from south carolina. he said he very much supported the idea of a pardon, told biden that for hunter biden. you're right to focus on that specific provision of the pardon. that's different. it's one thing to say i'm pardoning you as a president does for this crime or that conviction, that specific allegation. in this case, he pardoned his son not just for the things he's been charged or convicted of, but things he hasn't been charged with. that's an 11-year get out of free jail card. there's no precedent for that since watergate, since ford pardoned nixon for any and all crimes even though he hadn't been charged with them. >> lisa, how is it possible legally or explain that, to pardon someone for a crime that they may not even have committed? >> i think jose, whether they have committed a crime is sometimes up to debate. what matters here is whether

they have committed certain conduct. and so in issuing pre-emptive pardons, for example, joe biden has already sort of done that as peter was explaining with respect to this son, hunter. the pardon he issued to hunter went over a ten-year period and it was any conduct he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during that ten-year-plus period. and if joe biden chooses to do that for others, there is some ample precedent for it, not only going back to the hunter biden pardon but also with respect to ford and nixon. and dating back to even the beginning of the republic, not everybody that george washington pardoned in connection with the whiskey rebellion had been tried, convicted, and sentenced at that point. >> is that, lisa, legally, is that where it ends? i mean, a presidential pardon for any crime that you may have committed going forward, if that pardon is that way, is that essentially set in stone?

>> it depends on the breadth of the wording, and that's why folks like me will sit and wordsmith some of these things if president biden decides to do them, because they want to insulate these pre-emptive pardons from challenge. jose, a pre-emptive pardon is not without its own dangers. remember, if you pardon someone, you're removing their criminal exposure for their past actions. that means they can't invoke the fifth amendment, for example, with respect to that conduct if they're called upon to testify in other criminal proceedings or before congress. that would mean if joe biden were to preemptive ly pardon jak smith and others on his team, he would be subjecting them to lengthy congressional hearings at which they could not say i invoke the fifth amendment. they may have other privileges that applies to their work for the justice department, but it could expose other people to having to talk ad nauseam about what they have done and of course, subject themselves to future charges for perjury if

they're found not to be telling the truth. >> and peter, so what does this tell you about biden's strategy, the president's strategy for the end of his term? i mean, january 20th is in a way just right around the corner. any talk about the president considering pardoning any other family member? >> no, i don't hear any other family member being considered at this point. it is, though, a reaction to what they're seeing trump do right now, putting together his administration. pam bondi as attorney general, kash patel as fbi director, assuming either or both of them are confirmed, are people who are pretty vocal in going after people around biden or others who have gotten on trump's bad side. so they look at these appointees, particularly kash patel who has talked very openly, i will come after, unquote, people they believe were unfair to president-elect trump. and because of that, they say, well, that may justify this

rather extraordinary motion, these pre-emptive pardons. trump has signaled a desire to use law enforcement process to take retribution, of course, that's president-elect trump's word, retribution, against those who have angered them. >> lisa, thank you. >> peter, if you would, stick around with us. we have more to ask you about shortly. coming up, what donald trump is doing that seems to be crowding out president biden, as his term winds down. plus, thousands are fleeing in syria as rebels closed in on a third major city. what's happening in that country and why is it relevant to not only us here but to people around the world. world

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38 past the hour. 45 days until trump officially takes office, but to some, it may be feeling like he's almost already there. from the foreign leaders lining up to meet with him at mar-a-lago to the constant news surrounding his administration picks, the president-elect seems to be overshadowing many of biden's last few months as president. but for the president, that might not be such a bad thing. nbc's peter nicolas writes if biden is unhappy about being upstaged he hasn't offered any hints. trump's distractions may prove helpful to the degree they complement biden's larger goals. joining us from paris where donald trump is set to attend

the notre dame reopening this weekend. vaughn hillyard. peter baker is still with us. vaughn, is the president-elect's appearance there a strategic move? >> reporter: it absolutely is, jose. let's be clear here. the relationship between france and the united states is going to be paramount, not only to the u.s. and it's ties to the eu, in particular, nato. president macron has been a staunch defender of president zelenskyy and continued financial aid to ukraine in its defense against russian aggression, but also you're looking at here, again, for president macron, this is a moments in just this week their government collapsed and the prime minister resigned just yesterday. for him, the threat from donald trump about imposing tariffs on all eu goods imported to the united states, it's very serious at a time in which frankly the european economy can't afford any more questions about the stability of its foreign

markets. for donald trump, this is somebody in president macron, they have a long standing relationship. and back in the first administration, he threatened to put tariffs on imported wine that came in from france. but he understands he got this invite from president macron. he will be here. joe biden, the current first lady, will be here as well. prince william as well, as we should note, president zelenskyy, we're learning here, from president macron's team, will in fact also be attending this notre dame reopening ceremony tomorrow. and macron will be having a meeting with president zelenskyy. he will also be having a one-on-one meeting with president trump. for the president-elect, this is notable that it's his first overseas trip. he's not even in the white house yet, but it's important for these leaders to set a tone with the incoming united states president who is frankly been anything but a stable voice when it comes to committing to the

u.s.'s long-standing ties and relationships in particular commitment to nato as well as ukraine, as it enters the third year of this war. >> yeah, and i mean, in the past, macron had an interesting relationship with then-president trump. peter, i'm wondering how much of all this do you think is playing a part in president biden's thoughts and even some of his actions? because there's no doubt that for someone who has been involved for so many decades in public service, as he sees -- i'm talking about president biden, he sees that part of his life wrapping up, that he must be thinking about, well, what his legacy is going to be and what that legacy is going to be seen as in these final moments of his presidency. >> reporter: yeah, it's an odd situation. of course, the adage is that during a transition between one president and the other, there's only one president at a time. that's the phrase, except this time it doesn't seem like that. it feels like there are two

presidents going on right now for all the reasons vaughn just talked about. president biden, oddly enough, seems to be ceding the stage. he's not in fact trying to command the conversation the way a sitting president usually does. he hasn't spoken to reporters virtually at all since the election. he hasn't given a single news conference, a single interview. i was with him this week in angola. he said all of six words in response to a single question from a photographer. the words being, he was being briefed on the south korea martial law. in his trip to south america a week ago, he spoke one word to the pool that followed him. he's kind of ceding the stage as trump is emerging as the leader. it's confusing in a way for a lot of foreign leaders. who should they be dealing with? but president biden doesn't seem to mind, and he seems to be content with wrapping things up and turning things over in as good of shape as he can.

he's trying to accomplish a few things. particularly in the middle east. if he can get a cease-fire that would release the hostages, that would be a major victory for him. he did go to africa, as i said, this week to celebrate a new rail corridor down there. but broadly speaking, he seems to be allowing trump to dominate the picture right now. >> and before we wrap up this conversation, vaughn, i'm just thinking, you know, you're going to be seeing there this weekend the reopening in a sense of the great notre dame cathedral. which burned down, and was devastated just five years ago. i'm just thinking, what are you thinking, and as someone who has the privilege of shining a light on these so amazing moments, what are you thinking as you're looking at the notre dame cathedral, 2024?

>> reporter: right. i'm blessed to have the opportunity to be here. we're actually on a balcony of the diocese here right next door to the cathedral. i was talking to a gentleman who works here who was here on the day back in 2019 when the burning led to the collapse of the roof and the steeple that came down and questions over whether the walls would fall in. ultimately, president macron committed to putting in the resources, nearly a billion dollars worth of finances had to go into this reconstruction. but they were able to effectively clean off the ash and the grit and go and rebuild the roof, polish the grounds, were able to clean effectively the arts and murals inside from everybody who has been inside, they say it's absolutely stunning what has taken place. this is a moment of not only a comeback for this cathedral but also people here in france hoping a comeback for the country at a moment of political instability but one in which they understand there are a series of world leaders coming here and this is a really

important time for france, for the eu, nato, the region. there's a lot at stake tomorrow here on this weekend of this reopening. >> absolutely. and vaughn, the lights are being tweaked behind you as we speak. let's really a cool thing to witness together. vaughn hillyard and peter baker, thank you both. >> we turn now to developments in syria, where rebel fighters have taken over two major cities in their rapid continued assault on government forces there. they're now closing in on a third. nbc news international correspondent raf sanchez has the very latest. >> reporter: jose, that's absolutely right. we're seeing the syrian rebel forces making just a lightning advance as part of this surprise attack that has really stunned the middle east and the world. overnight, they captured the city of hama in central syria, and they're now threatening the next big city south of that, which is homs, the third largest city in syria, and if they take

that, jose, there is very little standing in between them and the capital, damascus, the seat of power of bashar al assad, the syrian dictator who has been holding on for 13 years now since his people first rose up against him during the arab spring. this is an absolutely stunning reversal of fortune because for the last four years or so, jose, the battle lines in syria appeared to be frozen. assad with a lot of help from russia, from iran, from hezbollah, seemed to have driven the rebels into one small corner of the northwest of the country, and they were basically stuck there for four years until last week when they burst out, and what is very clear is the syrian rebels are paying attention to the global geopolitical situation. they understand that russia is distracted in ukraine, that iran and hezbollah are both weakened

after fighting with israel, and they chose this moment to strike. they seized aleppo, the second largest city in syria, and they're now pushing south towards the capital. assad's forces say they will fight to protect homs, they will not allow the rebels to keep pushing south, but so far at this point, the assad regime's forces have largely been melting away in the face of this rebel advance. we should say, jose, the rebels are led by an islamist group. they are considered a terrorist organization by the united states. they have their origins in al qaeda, but the leadership of this group have really been trying to stress that they are moderating, that they are no longer a threat to the region. russia is pulling its civilians out of syria right now, and here in israel, they are sending more forces to the syrian border to stop this conflict spilling over.

jose. >> raf sanchez, thank you very much. you want to talk about the relevance of what's going on in syria today. think about this. since the arab spring, 6 million people have been forced to leave that country. 6 million refugees since the arab spring. still ahead, back here at home, a job creation bounceback. what today's jobs report could mean for the fed's upcoming decision on interest rates. oh! right in the temporal lobe! beat it, punks! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ eggs make all our family moments better. especially when they're eggland's best. taste so fresh and amazing. deliciously superior nutrition, too. for us, it's eggs any style. as long as they're the best. eggland's best.

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we've got another update out of new york in the daniel penny trial. joining us now, msnbc legal analyst lisa rubin. what is it? >> so jose, we're learning now from an nbc reporter inside the courtroom that the district attorney of manhattan has moved to dismiss the first of two charges against daniel penny. now, these two charges, one for manslaughter in the second degree, the second for criminally negligent homicide were never brought with the intent he could be found guilty of both. he could only be found guilty of one or the other. in moving to dismiss the manslaughter charge on which the jury represented to the judge they were hung, they have essentially taken out of the equation the more escalated offense with which daniel penny could have been found guilty. that's a class c felony here in new york. it carries penalties of 3 1/2 to 15 years in prison. now, the sole charge before this

jury is criminally negligent homicide charge which is a class e felony carrying a penalty of one to four years. the judge has dismissed the jury for the weekend. he's told them it's up to them to move to count two but not today. they'll come back monday and begin deliberations anew. and in order to find daniel penny guilty, what this jury will now have to do is determine did he fail to appreciate the dangers that his actions may have posed to jordan neely and his life? and if so, has the d.a. proved beyond a reasonable doubt that there was no justification for daniel penny's actions. it seems based on earlier reporting today from our nbc news and from others that the place where the jury got stuck as to the first count was on this question of justification. so it remains to be seen whether this jury will be able to reach a verdict at all, even on this lesser charge. jose, we'll wait until monday to see what the jury comes up with.

>> lisa rubin, thank you very much. and the november jobs report is out. the u.s. added 227,000 new jobs, more than expected. unemployment ticked up to 4.2%. joining us now, cnbc senior analyst and commentator and ceo of ifiai. great to see you. listen, this was a really good jobs report, wasn't it? >> absolutely. it's right in line where where we have been. aside from last month's numbers which were affected by hurricanes and strikes, we're back to kind of growing nearly 200,000 jobs a month. the unemployment rate still stuck nearly at 4% which it has been now for quite a number of month, almost two full years. these are numbers we haven't seen since the mid-1960s in a certain respect and wage growth is solid at 4% year over year. still a goldilocks scenario as far as the economy is concerned. >> so what does this portend for the feds that are meeting in a couple weeks? >> there's some who would argue

the fed probably shouldn't lower interest rates given the strength of the economy. however, the market is expecting the fed to cut rates between december 17th and 18th when they meet again by a quarter point. a lot of us are beginning to think that after this rate cut, we will see a pause, given the uncertainty over both fiscal policy, monetary policy, immigration policy, trade policy, all of the things up in the air in 2025 may slow the fed's hand. some are inherently inflationary so the fed may take a wait and see approach to policy after december given some of the uncertainties we have and the lingering strength of the economy as well. >> yeah, and meanwhile, the stock market is still doing pretty well. they have slight ups and downs but it's really on a great run. >> yeah, we're sitting near record highs for all the major averages. up about 28% for the s&p 500, up 30% for the nasdaq. bitcoin is up 40% in a month. it's over $100,000. so there's a little bit of enthusiasm in financial market.

today the dow is pulling back a little bit. again, we're coming off record levels. we closed above 45,000 two days ago for the first time ever and the s&p and sdaq have been enjoying record levels. although some prices are still a little stickier than some consumers would like. >> but man, bitcoin, plus $100,000. just unbelievable. ron, always a pleasure to see you, my friend. >> thanks, jose. >> thanks, buddy. that does it for me today. thank you for the privilege of your time. "deadline: white house" starts after a quick break. after a qui. (♪♪)

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hi, happy friday, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. we are, once again, following the minute-by-minute twists and turns of pete hegseth's pursuit of becoming donald trump's secretary of defense. that is despite a gr