jen b asks, "how can i get fast download speeds while out and about?" jen, we've engineered xfinity mobile with wifi speeds up to a gig, so you can download and do much more all at once. it's an idea that's quite attractive. or... another word... -fashionable? i was gonna say- "popular! you're gonna be pop-uuuu-larrr!" can you do defying gravity?! yeah, get my harness. buy one line of unlimited, get one free for a year with xfinity mobile. and see “wicked,” in theaters now.

good morning. it's saturday december 7th. i'm charles coleman jr. filling in for my good friend ali velshi. we have a lot to talk about. we start this morning with breaking news. president-elect donald trump is in paris for the grand reopening of the cathedral of notre dame, which was ravaged by a fire in 2019. it's trump's first trip overseas since winning the election in november. he was formally invited to attend by the french president emmanuel macron. president biden was also invited but he declined to attend because of scheduling conflicts. first lady jill biden will be in

attendance. and joining me now, live from paris, is nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard. vaughn, take us through what's happening right now and what we can expect throughout the day. >> reporter: okay. >> vaughn, are you with us? >> reporter: hey there, charles. you're looking here at the courtyard of the palace. you see the republican guard here just down from where we are at the notre dame cathedral where president macron is set to meet momentarily with president-elect trump who flew overnight to arrive here for this introduction, the reopening ceremony here of the notre dame. this is, of course, a significant day on two fronts. number one and foremost the reopening of this cathedral in which we expect thousands here from across france to descend into the surrounding areas to watch this ceremony unfold.

but also politically here, this has become sort of an epicenter of world leaders and other dignitaries at a crucial moment for not only france, the united states, but the greater region at large. this meeting here between president macron came at his own request, inviting president-elect trump to fly here to france for his first international trip since winning this election. and that's exactly what donald trump did here. the two will meet here at the palace before president macron will then have a separate one-on-one meeting with president zelenskyy of ukraine. it is not clear whether president-elect trump intends to meet with zelenskyy himself. we do know, however that the president-elect will be meeting with prince william, first lady jill biden will be here in attendance and will also be meeting with prince william. there's a lot politically at stake, not only for the nato alliance, the questions over the trump administration's commitment to additional ukraine

supports and aid. donald trump has consistently said he would bring an end to the war, but what does that mean? would it require ukraine to cede land to russia. donald trump has not been explicit about his plans here. that is where you could expect president macron to have a great many questions for president-elect trump himself. of course the other major issue here for the greater region, the eu, but especially france is questions over donald trump's commitments to the tariffs that he has repeatedly promised to implement on all eu exported goods into the united states. president macron has publicly spoken about concerns about what well as a trade war with china could mean to at a t which france's own government here collapsed this week, the prime minister resigned two days ago. so there's a lot at stake here on what is a celebratory day here with the reopening of the

notre dame cathedral. >> vaughn, for context, there's been significant amount of instability with respect to france and its politics. then there's also a very interesting back story between the relationship with president-elect donald trump and president macron. so, can you just break down for our viewers how that political instability is playing a role in this overall visit that donald trump is making to paris in this moment? vaughn, are you still with us? >> reporter: this is where the questions about the political instability here are serious, charles. i couldn't wholly hear your questions. but along these lines here, this is for president macron a very important time. his term does not end until 2027

and he has said he will remain on as president of france. but his prime minister here, one of now numerous prime ministers other the last several years at a time in which the far right political party as well as the left all agree to remove the prime minister in his capacity just two days ago and the prime minister resigning from his position here. and with the collapse of the government, this is a moment for president macron in which he has said that the country needs to come together, much like with this cathedral, he said the word impossible is not a word in french. and he said just in five year's time they were able to effectively rebuild this cathedral, they should be able to take on other societal issues that this country faces. and that means building a coalition government here that would be able to effectively serve the people of france. and, yet again when you're talking about the eu at large, president macron has been on the front lines, working with the

president, with president biden and the biden administration to help negotiate just two weeks ago that cease-fire deal in lebanon between hezbollah and israel. and so president macron has taken an active approach to conflicts in the region, maintaining close relationship with president zelenskyy as well. and that's why there are even questions coming into today whether president zelenskyy would have a surprise appearance. yesterday morning president zelenskyy was not publicly on the list to attend this cathedral opening, but within -- by afternoon time, the french announced that, in fact, president zelenskyy would be here. again, though, i want to be clear here, the incoming trump administration, for president-elect trump, has been not very open about what the president-elect's intended meetings are, his own conversations, of course, justin trudeau as well as the new nato secretary general came to mar-a-lago to meet personally with donald trump. but there is very limited form

of any read-out coming from the trump -- incoming trump administration's team. much like here we know about the meeting with president macron because of the french. we know about the meeting with prince william because of prince william's team informing us in the press of this meeting with incoming president trump. but this is a moment here in which joe biden had other obligations in washington, d.c. that conflicted with his schedule, including the kennedy center honors. instead, first lady jill biden will be here for the cathedral reopening. but, in large part this is a not traditional. we usually have a standard policy of one president at a time in the united states. but really a month and a half before donald trump is even slated to be inaugurated, he is really sort of taken the public and also private position of being effectively taking a much more assertive posture in terms of setting u.s. policy and even

beginning these conversations, steve wentcoff the envoy to the middle east, already engaged in conversations with israel and begun some of those conversations. i think that this is a real fraught time for the greater region at large and i think that this is where president-elect trump's decision to come here is notable because president macron took the initiative to begin these -- this dialogue before donald trump even takes office. >> that was nbc's vaughn hillyard in paris. thanks so much, vaughn. we will be talking to you throughout the hour as we are still waiting for president-elect donald trump to arrive at the french president's residence. now, we turn to washington where there are some serious doubts about some of president-elect donald trump's top cabinet picks. at the top of the list, of his most embattled choices is pete hegseth, who trump picked to be the next secretary of defense. now, there are multiple reports that have surfaced recently

about allegations of past and professional personal misconduct. the allegations against him include a sexual assault claim, financial mismanagement of organizations he once led, and stories about heavy drinking regarding the sexual assault allegation now hegseth denied the woman's allegations, saying the encounter was consensual and he paid undisclosed amount as part of the settlement with her and he was never charged. now, nbc news reported this week that according to ten former and current fox news employees, hegseth's drinking concerned his colleagues at the network. this week, hegseth was on the hill pushing back against these allegations and trying to drum up support for his nomination by courting republican senators who hold the key to his confirmation. he needs all the support he can get from the gop. nbc news also reported this week that the allegations placed his chances of being confirmed by the senate in serious jeopardy.

given the slim majority they have in the next congress, hegseth can only afford to lose three, that's just three, republican votes, assuming all of the democrats vote against him. but hegseth vows to keep fighting and in an exclusive interview with nbc's kristen welker for "meet the press" yesterday, trump says he remains confident in his pick. >> well now, peoplea little bit concerned. he's a young guy with a tremendous track record actually. went to princeton and went to harvard. he was a good student at both. but he loves the military. and i think people are starting to see it. so, we'll be working on his nomination along with a lot of others. >> since you bring him up, do you still have confidence in pete hegseth? >> yes, i do. i really do. he's a very smart guy. i've known him through fox, but i've known him for a long time. and he's basically a military guy. i mean, every time i talk to him, all he wants to talk about is the military.

he's a military guy. >> have you gotten assurances from senators that he's going to be confirmed? >> no. >> do you think he can make it? >> no. i think he will, yeah. i had a lot of senators call me up saying he's fantastic. >> you don't drink yourself. >> no. >> you talked about how devastating drinking can be. >> yeah. >> how concerned are you that the person who you picked for this top job at the defense department at least according to those who worked with him has struggled with drinking. >> but i've spoken to people that know him very well and they say he does not have a drinking problem. >> joining me now are jennifer ruben, opinion writer for the "washington post" and an msnbc political analyst as well as author of the book "resistance:how women saved democracy from donald trump" as well as kim wayly, former assistant u.s. attorney, professor of law at the university of baltimore school of law and author of the book "pardon power:how the pardon

system works and why." kim, jennifer, thank you so much for being with me today. i want to start with you, kim. there's been so much talk about pardons in the past week. can you just break down for us the idea of what it is to issue a preemptive pardon, a blanket pardon, if you will, as we have seen the idea discussed around president biden and what he might do for people who might be on donald trump's hit list. how would that even work? >> sure. so, pardon can be either individualized, name the individual who will be pardoned and the actual crimes for which they would be pardoned, which is a forgiveness by the government essentially. or there can be a broader pardon, like jimmy carter did for the vietnam war draft dodgers. didn't name any of them. listed conduct and a time period and the pardon has been roundly presumed to have been valid pardon. also, ford, president ford, pardoned richard nixon for a

broad period of time. no indictment that had been public, no specific crimes. this would be joe biden really -- in a protective measure to protect the rule of law and the sanctity of the process of holding officials accountable issue some kind of pardon for the people that fall within the bullseye it appears to be of donald trump's stated plans to use the department of justice in a vindictive and retaliatory way and given that the united states supreme court last summer held that crimes committed using the department of justice are now above the law, i think the biden administration is smart to think and realize that we're in a different frame of mind, a new historical precedent could be set by the new trump administration that this kind of protective pardon would stave off or sort of head off at the pass because desperate measures sometimes require radical

responses. >> now, jen, in a piece that you wrote for the "washington post" this week, you make the argument that president biden shouldn't just pardon specific individuals but rather groups of people that trump could potentially go after. writing, quote, the michael cohens, the e. jean carrolls and liz cheneys who went above and beyond the call of duty in the effort to hold trump accountable for his actions, not to mention journalists who revealed his misdeeds or grand jurors who indicted him or former aides he disparaged face the danger of malicious prosecution. biden need not, must not leave such individuals to the maga wolves. some people might think that's too broad. talk to me about what history and the constitution says about the president's ability to pardon groups like these. >> well, the constitution is quite broad. the pardon power is a plenary power. the president has a lot of

latitude here. the reason why there are broad categories that i suggest is because trump has made so many threats against so many categories of people. i'm not inventing this. donald trump said he was going to go after election officials, for example, who operated during the 2020 election. that's a broad category of people that he may go after. now, there are a couple of people who in one case he specifically named. they have sued him or rather his aides. but there are many people he could go after. he could go after georgia officials, for example, who refused to come up with the votes that he wanted. so, because trump himself has laid out broad categories, journalists, election workers, the military generals who did not do his bidding or said bad things about him after he left office, those people are the ones who are at risk. and they deserve protection.

think of someone like cassidy hutchinson, who put her career, frankly her physical safety given the threats she now faces, on the line by going in front of the january 6th commission. she shouldn't face vindictive prosecution. so, the president has the power to do that. he needs to lay out these categories with some degree of specificity. but it can cover the entire period of time that donald trump was in office. to be clear, it is not an admission that these people have committed any wrong doing. in fact, he can say in the pardon i do not believe these people have done anything wrong. however, they have been threatened. and in order to maintain the proposition that the justice department is not weaponized to use a phrase that the republicans love, i think president biden would say that these people are deserving of protection. we need to stop this cycle of

retribution. now, people don't have to accept the pardon if they don't want to. and there are many instances in which trump may seek to harass people going forward. he may try to audit them. he may try to send out subpoenas. he may try to come up with other crimes for conduct in the future. but at least for this period of time, for a great many innocence, i think a broad pardon would, in fact, give them protection, give them peace of mind and really kind of put trump and his crew on -- in the spotlight. threatening a whole swath of americans is un-american, is not in keeping with our democratic traditions and let him explain why he thinks he has to go after a whole cadre of americans. >> stay with me jen and kim. i want to continue this conversation in just a moment after a quick break. an important message for americans ages 50 to 85. - that's how it ended. - i remember that.

you talked her into it. - i did. now we all have life insurance. well, i had no choice. she really didn't. because i told her that if she didn't get it, we were going to put you in charge of her funeral. and i know how you hate to spend money. i bought life insurance, didn't i? it costs pennies a day. and that's just one reason i like colonial penn. what's another? unlike my sisters, they don't ask about my health. that's right. colonial penn doesn't ask a single medical question. and there's no physical exam. if you're over 50, you can't be turned down for guaranteed acceptance, whole life insurance, no matter what your health. you can apply in minutes just by filling out a simple form. options start at $9.95 a month, 35 cents a day. and the good news is, your rate will never change. a built-in rate lock guarantees it. call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today.

when life spells heartburn... how do you spell relief? r-o-l-a-i-d-s rolaids' dual-active formula begins to neutralize acid on contact. r-o-l-a-i-d-s spells relief. ♪♪ huh, noom has glp-1 meds now? yes, noom combines medications with healthy habits so you can lose the weight and keep it off. yeah, glp-1s starting at $149. that's noom smart. noom. the smart way to lose weight.

asthma. does it have you missing out on what you love, with who you love? get back to better breathing with fasenra, an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma taken once every 8 weeks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems. serious allergic reactions may occur. get help for swelling of your face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens or you have a parasitic infection. headache and sore throat may occur. ask your doctor if fasenra is right for you.

your business needs a network it can count on... headache and sore throat may occur. even during the unexpected. power's out! -power's out! power's out! comcast business has got you covered, with wifi backup to help keep you up and running. wifi's up. let's power on! let's power on! -let's power on! it's from the company with 99.9% network reliability. let's power on! power on with the leader in connectivity. get wifi backup for your business, or get started with comcast business internet. and for a limited time, get an $800 holiday bonus. call today.

♪♪ welcome back. i'm charles coleman jr. in for ali velshi today. right now president-elect donald trump is in paris for a meeting with french president emmanuel macron ahead of the reopening of the notre dame cathedral. their meeting is expected to happen at any moment, and we are going to bring that to you live when it happens. for now, let's go to nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard, whose live with us in paris. vaughn, can you tell us what's happening right now? >> reporter: well, we're waiting for donald trump, the president-elect, to meet with president macron of france at the palace which is where president macron lives. you're looking at a shot of the republican guard that is awaiting president-elect trump's arrival. we were expecting him about 22 minutes ago for this arrival. and we've been seeing the republican guard waiting ever since then. and you can expect once the motorcade of president-elect trump arrives, which our

understanding he was staying just down the road from the palace there, we should expect president macron to step out and meet for what is going to be a one-on-one meeting between the leader of france and the incoming leader of the united states of america. at that point in time, the two will separate. we are told. and has been indicated to us from the french that president macron will have a one-on-one meeting with president zelenskyy of ukraine. it's not clear. the trump team has not indicated to us whether president-elect trump will meet with president zelenskyy himself, but really this is a day of celebratory day, here in paris for the reop cathedral, five years since the fire nearlystructure. but it's also a day of suddenly huge political ramifications. a month and a half until donald trump is inaugurated into office with president zelenskyy here but also prince william in attendance and other kings and

presidents from several other countries. there is a lot at stake here in the hours ahead. the ceremony itself here is supposed to begin at what time? at 7:00 p.m. local here. so that's two and a half hours away, but president macron has a lot of meetings ahead of the ceremony, so, charles, i guess we're waiting at this point in time for the president-elect of the united states to show up for this meeting with president macron so the two can begin their own conversation. >> well, vaughn, stay vat waiti and stay warm and stay with us. we'll be back with you throughout the hour as things develop. that nbc's vaughn hillyard. and we will be checking in with him, so please stay close. but for now, i want to bring back our other guests, kim wayly and jennifer ruben for a conversation that we were just having with respect to the pardon fiesta, if you will, that seems to be taking place around the transition between president biden and donald trump. one of the things that i am concerned about, kim, is the

idea that this could become a normal part of doing business in washington when you're talking about transitions. and can you just sort of speak to whether we should be expecting this to happen more and more frequently. and the reason i ask is because donald trump is likely not the last of his kind but rather the first of his kind. and if so, if we do get more candidates who run on themes like retribution and revenge, the protective pardon could be a measure that we could see employed more and more often. so is this sort of an anomaly as you see it historically? or a shift that we should expect to see more and more frequently? >> well, gosh, you know, i do hope this isn't the future of the justice department that it is an arm of retribution and vengeance. after the nixon administration, there was a sort of norm established that there would be a separation between the president and the justice

department that we've enjoyed and taken for granted for decades. there, of course, have been corrupt pardons since common law england, the fight about the power of the pardon has existed for centuries, but the framers of the constitution adopted it and it really wasn't until the 20th century, maybe george h.-w bush pardoning folks that had participated in the scandal, some believe that was to silence them so they could not testify against him in particular. then of course bill clinton pardoned his brother, also pardoned a guy by the name of mark rich, a wealthy tax evader who fled to switzerland but had financial interests associated with the clintons. there was congressional oversight of that pardon. there was a u.s. attorney's office in the southern district of new york opened an investigation into that clinton pardon. then we fast forward to trump the pardon of his cronies paul manafort, roger stone, steve bannon, mike flynn, all these folks that were at the center of

what the mueller report demonstrated was a real problem with coordination with the russian government, an enemy of the united states, and those pardons got barely a shrug by the american public. people haven't really focussed on the pardons. so now with joe biden coming in potentially using the pardon to stand up to what donald trump is threatening, terrifying idea of using the massive power of law enforcement, ive power, prosecutorial power with the blessing of the united states supreme court, it seems that this is standing up to what's coming which is, in my mind, a new day for the justice department and potentially very damaging to the constitution itself. >> jen, we're looking at these images of us waiting to see president-elect donald trump visit french president emmanuel macron. and it just strikes me as very interesting that, yes, president

biden was invited. he's not able to make it. but president-elect donald trump isn't even in the oval office and here he is sort of making these international, diplomatic visits in the context of him being the leader or the next leader of the united states. can you just sort of put into context how significant that is given the fact that president biden is still, in fact, the president? e. >> it's a little peculiar. we have a saying that we have one president at a time and particularly for international affairs. for whatever reason, president biden chose not to go. and that was his choice. i think europeans are very concerned about donald trump. and they are doing what they can now to try to grease the skids, to keep him calm and keep him in an amenable mood towards them. they know he that is easily

impressed by pomp and circumstance and this is just the sort of thing that he loves. so, macron is happy to do this. and by the way, macron himself is in a heap of trouble. the premier that he appointed has just fallen. he's going to come up with someone new. the french government is not functional at the present. so, he probably would like a little bit of distraction from his own political problems. and we shouldn't ignore the fact that europe has a lot of unrest and economic problems themselves these days. the german government is going to be facing an election in which a very right wing party may seize control. the french government has fallen. the german economy, for example, is contracting. so, europe and france in particular is not a happy place right now. so i think everyone is looking for this very historic and beautiful ceremony to distract everyone. it's a common tactic, of course,

of politicians to wrap themselves in the flag, and this certainly is the peak of this with the reopening of notre dame. >> certain occasion for everything to play out on an international stage. that was jennifer ruben and kim wayly. thank you both for being with me this morning. we're going to keep tabs on donald trump's visit to france and bring that to you as soon as it happens. coming up next, there is now a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the unitedhealth ceo killer and investigators are now saying that the suspect may no longer be in new york city. that's coming up on "velshi." stay tuned. uned ♪ with verizon, trade in any phone, any condition. for a limited time, get iphone 16 pro, on us. and ipad and apple watch series 10. all three on us. only on verizon. -bye honey. -(groans) morning breath, huh. dr. garcia?

wooo. ♪♪ that's millions of bacteria growing overnight. crest pro-health helps prevent oral health issues before they start. i'm so much fresher. crest.

♪ limu emu & doug ♪ woah, limu! we're in a parade. everyone customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. customize and sa— (balloon doug pops & deflates) and then i wake up. and you have this dream every night? yeah, every night! hmm... i see. (limu squawks) only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪♪ welcome back. i'm charles coleman jr. in for ali velshi today. the fbi is now offering a $50,000 reward for any information that could lead to the arrest of the gunman who

killed unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. new york city officials now believe they may have found the suspect's backpack in central park. they're currently working to verify that. now on thursday, authorities released this photo of a man they are considering a person of interest. law enforcement has t yet identified him. they say he may have left new york city. nbc's priscilla thompson joins us now from midtown manhattan, just steps away from the scene of the crime. priscilla, good morning. thank you for being with us. investigators are now putting together what they think is a timeline of events. can you take us through what it is that we know so far? >> reporter: yeah, charles. very robust timeline of events. so investigators do believe that this suspect was on a bus that originated in atlanta, georgia, and made its way up to new york city with several stops along the way. he arrived at port authority on november 24th, so ten days before this crime occurred.

and they also say that they caught him on video just a little over an hour after he arrived, that he came to the hilton hotel where we are where this crime occurred. we also know that he was staying at that hostel on the upper west side. they were able to get photos of his face, the only photos that we have because apparently according to witnesses he wore his mask most of the time when he was in new york city but when he was talking to a woman at the front desk at that hostel, he may have flirt and flashed that smile. we have that photo of him smiling. the other part of the timeline, they have a good timeline of what happened after this crime. he fled the scene. he got on an e-bike, went into central park, came out of central park on that bike and at some point they pick him up on foot and they see that he gets into a taxi and then he makes his way up to port authority. they have him on camera going into port authority. they do not have him coming out.

so we know they're looking at the cameras inside port authority, still trying to figure out what bus he may have gotten on, if that is what he did. but really trying to piece together where exactly he is now. what is clear is that police do not believe he is still in new york city and why we're seeing this investigation widening. now you have the fbi coming out publicly saying they are involved, offering that $50,000 reward for any information leading to this suspect who at this time remains unidentified. we also know that police in atlanta have been contacted by the nypd and are assisting. and that minnesota police where brian thompson, that ceo, is from. they're also in touch with the nypd as are family members and colleague. the one thing that nypd said they do not have a motive but do not believe this is connected to thompson's personal life right now, charles. >> nbc's priscilla thompson, thank you. we'll bring in retired nypd detective marq claxton.

thank you for being with us. why has there been that gap between giving the picture of the person of interest and actually identifying him. usually we see this happen much more quickly. why do you think it's taken so long? >> well, priscilla indicated there is this robust timeline that the investigators have been working on to establish it. but they want to be very careful and very diligent. you don't want to go out early trying to satisfy the public hunger and misidentify an individual because, as you know as a former prosecutor, that jeopardizes the integrity of the investigation and could also have a negative impact on any eventual prosecution. so you have to be very mindful, very careful, very diligent about the process. this is a very high profile case. there's a lot of exposure and there's a lot of interest worldwide on this particular case because it has all the elements that are intriguing. you know, you have this shady

character, streets of new york at the holiday time and the ceo of a major corporation being killed, assassinated, if you will. but remember for the professional investigator, this is a homicide investigation. the idea -- the objective is to apprehend, arrest the person responsible for the killing and bring them in for a prosecution. and you don't want to do anything in any way that would jeopardize that ultimate goal. >> marq, i wasn't expecting you to run my former bio as a former prosecutor. i appreciate you. he may not be in new york. we are hearing that from authority. if he is not, if he has gotten out of new york successfully and potentially out of new york state k state, can you explain how difficult it is going to be in terms of finding him now? >> there are some challenges associated with that, but that's why it's very important as you indicated in earlier reporting that the fbi is now involved in

this -- in the investigation itself. they've actually been involved from the very beginning. but now they really have a stronger role in it which is why they have offered this $50,000 for the apprehension and arrest of the individual pictured on their posters. so they will have resources outside of new york city, new york state and it seems as if there are elements of this particular case, of this investigation that lead to other states whether it be minnesota or atlanta or other states possibly there was conversation about the travel from atlanta to new york. so there may be a series of other states that may have some information about who this person is. and you have additional reporting that's coming in about the conversations and the interactions this person had with a host of people whether it be from the hostel or perhaps other commercial establishments. so all of that is being handled

by the law enforcement professional investigators and compiled so we can create and establish that robust timeline that we now have. so, there's nothing unusual, untoward about the amount of time that it's taken. this is an investigation and sometimes, oftentimes, it takes a little while in order to really close these things out. but i have all the confidence in the world that they probably have a list of individuals or individual who is a person of interest specifically. but they're looking to really have that forensic evaluation, all of the evidence come in, additional eyewitnesses and earwitnesses to put that into a nice package and make an apprehension. >> you know, you raise a good point. it is very possible that what we as the public know with respect to the investigation may not be the totality of what is known by law enforcement as they are looking to close in on any person of interest. but, i want to ask you a question that is being

circulated among community advocates and a number of other groups. the nypd has about a 6 million budget and this is another manhunt in recent years where the suspect has been at large for more than a day. the other one being the brooklyn subway shooter back in 2022. how does that happen? you have as much surveillance as anywhere in the world it seems. you've got officers everywhere. so, what is the thing that actually allows for someone to sort of slip through the cracks so easily in a city that's so heavily policed with a budget as large as this one is? >> yeah. i think people have really adjusted their expectations to match what is normally projected on television screens in shows such as like "first 48". if you don't do it in the first 48, there's something unusual or wrong with it. but it's my experience, my practical experience that apprehending individuals who are suspected of committing these

offenses takes time because you don't want to go based on assumptions or gut feelings. you want to go based on evidence and evidence sometimes takes time to process and quite frankly even in a city such as new york where you really can't escape being on camera at any point in new york at different times, there are places that people can hide and secrete themselves with difficulty for people to locate them and find them. i think the ultimate goal has to be that you have expectation that your law enforcement professionals will find, apprehend, arrest and prosecute the offenders. and if it takes a little time, people have to just understand that this is not a tv show. this is for real. >> this is for real. and as things broaden with respect to this investigation, marq, can you talk about what it's going to mean or look like when nypd begins to involve other law enforcement agencies, whether that's police in atlanta or on a federal level the fbi?

>> well, the nypd will, of course, be in charge of the investigation and the other agencies that support and compliment the ypd will be tasked with all sorts of different things. you may tap into some of their particular resources. >> excuse me, marq. i'm so sorry. we are now getting images from france. we're going to paris where we are now looking at french president emmanuel macron, who is waiting for the arrival, which is imminent, of president-elect donald trump, who is about to arrive at the french president's residence in paris for meeting. we're going to bring back vaughn hillyard who is live with us from paris. vaughn, can you talk to us about what we're seeing? walk us through it. >> reporter: right. i'm watching this feed come in live with you right now. the president-elect trump stage, about a block from the palace of

president -- i think we'll let you listen in here.

>> watching ing images of president-elect donald trump enter into the residence of french president emmanuel macron. some very firm handshakes there. and we're going to bring back in vaughn hillyard who is joining us live from paris. vaughn? >> reporter: yeah, what you just watched was, i think, very reminiscent of first administration donald trump and president macron. the two presidents had a very deep relationship during those first years of the trump presidency. one in which there is a mixture of flattery but also at one particular ceremony back in 2018, commemorating the end of world war i, there was an indirect rebuke of president macron against the idea of what nationalism meant. that rebuke came without naming donald trump directly but just days after the then president trump referred to himself as a

national list. and it's a relationship that will now spawn a second trump administration with the now president-elect taking office just a month and a half from now. this is an important meeting between these two men on multiple fronts. not only under the threat of imposing additional tariffs on all eu goods, including those from france, that president macron is publicly spoken about. he has concerns what it could mean to the french economy, knowing that there would be a questionable demand on french goods coming into the united states, understanding that u.s. consumers could roll back the amount of product that they buy, that markets could be closed off, that american consumers could no longer turn to french markets to the same degree. but also there's the question about the trump administration, incoming trump administration's commitment to not only nato but the extent to which it will provide additional aid to ukraine. president zelenskyy is going to be meeting one on one with

president macron right at the conclusion of this meeting, we are told here. president-elect trump was arrived here at the palace about 40 minutes after he was initially scheduled to meet with president macron. it is not clear from either side what prompted the delay but we know that the reason that president-elect trump is here in paris in the first place is because of the celebratory reopening of the notre dame cathedral. and the ceremony, the reopening ceremony is slated to commence just over two hours from now. so, for president macron, he still has a lot politically in terms of meetings that he will have before he makes his way here to the cathedral. but for president-elect trump, he will also, we are told, along with first lady jill biden, we believe in separate meetings, they both will be meeting with prince william who is also here for this ceremony. we've also -- it's been indicated to us from the french that elon musk will also be

arriving here to paris for the festivities this evening. so, there is a lot in terms of a celebration of the reopening of this cathedral, five years after it nearly burned down and after thousands of citizens of france helped reconstruct what was a nearly $1 billion reconstruction project, but then also a lot politically here at stake with -- you watched those two men with their rather intense handshakes heading into the palace to begin this one-on-one meeting. >> yes, intense handshakes, indeed. i was struck by that in that it was showing, like you said, a reminiscent comradery that they shared in previous tenures with respect to president donald trump. that was nbc's vaughn hillyard in paris. thank you for staying with us this morning and being with us as we cover this historic event. we now turn to politics. it's been just over a month since the november election. and the democratic party is trying its best to move forward and figure out what the future

of the party and its opposition to donald trump could look like over the next few years. and they're starting with the restructuring of the party's leadership. come february, democrats will elect a new chair of the democratic national committee to replace outgoing chair jamie harrison. five democrats have so far announced their bid for the job and you may recognize some of these names. starting off, there's former maryland governor martin o'malley, also a candidate for president in the 2016 uten the former candidate for u.s. senate in maryland. there's also new york state senator james skoufis, essentially an unknown in national democratic circles, but he is a democrat who has consistently won voters in his red district in new york. and then, there's also ben wikler the democrat party chair from wisconsin who is known for his successful efforts that led to democrats having statewide

victories in wisconsin over the past five years. and ken martin, who has led the minnesota democratic former labour party since 2011. now he is also a dnc vice chair and the leader of the association of state democratic chairs. as for the moment, martin seems to be the leading contender for the job, who is already receiving at least 100 endorsements from dnc members, and that's nearly half of the votes that he needs to win. more candidates are likely going to enter the race. but before we get to that, we got breaking news. [speaking in a global language] president, it's a great honor for french people to welcome you five years later. and you were at that time president for the your first time. and i remember the solidarity and your immediate connection.

so, welcome back again. >> thank you. >> we are very happy to have you here. >> thank you very much. very great honor. and we had a great relationship as everyone knows. we accomplished a lot together. and the people of france are spectacular. one of our largest groups in the united states, french people. and we respect them and we love them. very talented people. extremely energetic people, as you know very well. >> yeah. >> and it's an honor to be here. we had a good time together. and we had a lot of, a lot of success, really great success working together on defense and offense, too. and it certainly seems like the world is going a little crazy right now. >> yeah. >> and we'll be talking about that. thank you very much for being here. [speaking in a global language] >> thank you. >> still following president-elect donald trump's visit to paris, france, today where he is visiting with french

president emmanuel macron. but now we are going to go back as we follow that throughout the hour to our conversation about the restructuring of the democratic party. and for that conversation i am now joined by democratic strategist and political analyst with siruis-xm and as well as tom hartmann. and author of the upcoming book "the hidden history of the american dream." thank you all both for being here and bearing with us as we have been following the breaking news of the day. michelle, i'll start with you. as you look toward the future with respect to the party and its different elements, who is it that sticks out to you as far as the race for chair is concerned? >> well, right now i can only look towards the people who officially announced. there's still some whispers of other joins. i'm on the side of wikler here. we have to pay attention to folks who have shown to be victorious and hard to

nationalize races. i think somebody who has shown statewide to be able to really fight for and win in places that are typically seen as republican areas is somebody who we should be looking towards, especially someone from a battleground. but i think beyond the personhood, we have to look towards a dnc restructure in terms of who it reaches. because for a party that is supposed to speak for the working class, that has the policies that have uplifted the working class and expanded the middle class to get a clear shellacking for a group of basically billionaires who want to take over the country and reshape it in their own image, that's a real problem. and i think that that is bigger than the person who leads the dnc. that is an issue with the dnc in its entirety. so i would say that there's a huge shakeup that has to happen and it's not just for the next dnc chair. >> tom, before we get to amesha's point about the ideological shift of the party, is there someone in that field or someone who is not in that field who particularly sticks out to you as far as actually serving as the leader for the

dnc moving forward? >> well, i think -- i don't think you can disaggregate them. the policy changes and the personnel are kind of together. we have two, good strong progressives, ken martin and ben wikler. i endorsed ben. i've known him for years. he's a brilliant guy, young guy and has been fabulously successful in wisconsin but ken martin has been very successful in minnesota as well. and you can't diminish that. but the democratic party over the last 40 years roughly, since reagan started really introducing knee owe liberalism and shifting america to the right, the democratic party during the clinton and obama administrations moved to the right somewhat, embracing low taxes and free trade and not really going to toe to toe on behalf of unions. and now that's changed. president joe biden was really

the first president arguably since jimmy carter to reject knee owe liberalism or reaganism and walk -- first president to walk a picket line, for example. i think as the democratic party goes back to its roots, back to its fdr roots, it really needs leadership that reflects that. and i agree that the entire party top to bottom needs to be basically reformulated. >> ameshia, sticking with this ideological question, we saw in november a real push toward america as a centrist and somewhat right-leaning nation where as we have been talking about on the left things in terms of being more and more progressive were rejected by voters. how does someone who is leading the party square that to keep everyone under the same tent? >> well, i think that we have to reframe this a bit because i do think that we can't take that specific notion away as the sole factor as it relates to the

losses in the most recent election, in particular because the head winds of the post-pandemic era were seen by every incumbent party across the globe. so i do think that we have to take that into consideration. the democratic party has not only a messaging problem but have a who their messengers are problem as well as a outreach problem. reaching out towards a consistent and media strat is fear no longer behooves, the american public, more people are getting their news from a variety of sources, where the democratic party and many of its surrogates only speak to a cable news audience or a traditional print media audience that has fractured in many way. i think there has to be a speaking to people where they are and speaking the language that people actually know and respond to. democrats have largely developed a hierarchy they're speaking to a college-educated public and at the end of the day, two thirds of the american public does not have a college degree and a

growing number of people aren't looking to go in the near future. we have to speak to individuals who are working class, individuals who are a growing diverse pollation but also speaking the language they want to hear. i think it matters to reach people where they are but also to acknowledge that it no longer is it the case just because you're a younger voter you're going to vote for the democratic party or show up to the elections. the democrats have a huge task in front of them, but not a task they cannot achieve. they have to lean in on the messages that work for individuals who care first and foremost about being able to pay for their rent, being able to afford childcare, being able to ensure that their job is going to be one that provides them health insurance. we have to make sure we're making those conversations heard in the places where people are listening. >> a messenger problem and a messaging problem to be solved all at the same time. ameshia and thom, thank you for that consideration. another hour of velshi starts right after a quick break. stay tuned. just gonna take what the markets gives me?

no. i can do some research. ya know, that's backed by j.p. morgan's leading strategists like us. when you want to invest with more confidence... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management hi, my name is damian clark. if you have both medicare and medicaid, i have some really encouraging news that you'll definitely want to hear. depending on the plans available in your area, you may be eligible to get extra benefits with a humana medicare advantage dual-eligible special needs plan. most plans include the humana healthy options allowance. a monthly allowance to help pay for eligible groceries, utilities, rent, and over-the-counter items. the healthy options allowance is loaded onto a prepaid card each month. and whatever you don't spend, carries over from each month. plus, your doctor, hospital and pharmacy may already be part of our large humana networks. so, call the number on your screen now, and ask about a humana medicare advantage dual-eligible special

needs plan. and remember, annual enrollment ends on december 7th. humana. a more human way to healthcare. for more than a decade farxiga has been trusted again and again, and again. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ask your doctor about farxiga.