♪ ♪

good morning, it is sunday, december 8. i'm charles coleman jr. in for ali velshi. breaking news out of the middle east, rebel forces and syria captured control of the capital of damascus. the syrian government of bashar al assad has fallen following 13 years of bloody civil war and 53 years of family role. a statement by russia's defense ministry said assad really just -- relinquish power and fled the country. this all follows an extremely rapid offensive that began just days ago and carries massive implications in the region and around the world. joining me now in tel aviv, nbc's international correspondent, raf sanchez and the host of msnbc --. thank you for being with us. what is the latest from the ground in syria?

>> reporter: it is now 6:00 p.m. in damascus, the sun is going down, the rebels have been in charge of the city for little more than 12 hours at this point. and they are trying to consolidate control, the leader of --, the largest of the syrian rebel groups is now in the city according to his spokesman. he will be asserting military control and beginning to take the first steps toward setting up a government there in syria end of the last couple of hours we have seen unbelievable pictures of syrian rebels throwing open the doors of some of the machines most notorious prisons including outside of damascus, that is a prison where over the last 13 years, and over the last 50 years of the assad regime, tens of thousands of people have been imprisoned, have been tortured

and have been murdered. and today, those doors are being thrown open. so charles, there is a lot of hope, but there's also fear, there is uncertainty in syria right now. let's start with hope. i want to introduce you to a man --, an english teacher from aleppo. i have known him for 10 years now. and in december 2016 i remember saying goodbye to him on the phone because i was convinced he and his family were going to be killed as the syrian regime closed in on east aleppo. he managed to get out and i want to play you some sound in the early hours of this morning as he realized the asad regime had long last been toppled. take a listen. >> no, you can't sleep. i think of tomorrow. -- no i can't understand how my

children will be raised under oppression. now, only now, i can say that we are free. syria, we are free people. >> reporter: you can see him there cradling his young son, saying his children will grow up in a country free from oppression, in a free syria. that is what these fast geopolitical events mean to individual people, all across the country. that is the hope, charles. there is a lot of fear. and especially among some of the minority groups inside of syria, who are concerned how this rebel group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the united states, how they are going to govern. but at this point hds is going to great lengths to try to show

the syrian people and the world that they are a government of edification and that they will govern for all the people of syria whether they will come in remains to be seen. >> one of the things that is so interesting about the story is that there have been multiple regional players that are part of this conversation and many of syria's aura assad's presumed allies did not step in to defend him . can you talk about the geopolitical implications of what we are seeing play out. >> that is a very good question. no doubt that over the course of the last 14 months, the entire middle east and certainly the axis of resistance as they identify themselves, which includes iran, syria, hezbollah and others, have been completely redrawn. in large part that has been because of the tectonic shifts that have taken place as a result of october 7th. specifically to answer your question, the syrian regime which has been embroiled in the civil war since 2014 more or

less come even though the uprising began in 2011, became really a civil war in 2014, 2015. since that moment it relied heavily on the military financial political diplomatic backing of russia, iran and on the ground, fighters of hezbollah, to repel this rebel group. and what has happened over the course of the last 14 months is that russia has been embroiled in the war in ukraine, for three years. it does not have the manpower or resources to be involved in a conflict in syria and a lot have been decimated or weakened in its ongoing war with israel. iran has been slowly weakened as a result of its confrontation with both the united states and israel across the region and its own internal political turmoil. as a result of those allies of bashar al assad being weakened, -- did not have anyone to turn

to, to provide weapons, to provide air support, to provide money and payment to troops to fight against the rebels moving quickly over the course of the last two weeks. there's no doubt that is lost legitimacy a long time ago but they have the ability to fight and as we've seen over the last 14 days, their willingness, their capability did not materialize into anything substantial. >> you are in tel aviv and we've been talking about the different pieces that are part of this conversation. in this region, what does this mean for israel? >> >> reporter: charles, israel is monitoring syria very closely. you saw benjamin netanyahu the prime minister went up to the occupied gollum heights earlier today and he says, on the one hand this is a moment of opportunity for israel. no one here is morning the down all of bashar al assad . a key link in the chain of the iranian axis of resistance

across the middle east, many of the weapons that went to hezbollah and southern lebanon traveled from iran via iraq and syria, toward hezbollah. but on the other hand there's a lot of concern about chaos inside of syria, a concern about the potential of the conflict spilling over. the islamist rebels are certainly not fans of israel and just today, benjamin netanyahu who has actually ordered his forces to occupy what used to be the buffer zone in between israel and syria, this is a buffer zone set up by the united nations after the 1973 war. you had israeli troops on one side, syrian troops on the other and a no man's land in between. netanyahu's argument is one, severe reinforces -- but the syrian regime does not exist anymore and so this decades-old agreement is null and void and you have israeli forces now moving further into syria and netanyahu says that is to make

sure that none of this conflict inside syria poses any threat to communities on the golan heights. >> raf sanchez, thank you so much. we will see you and just a little while. amon, stay with me for more on this conversation. i want to bring in collin clark, director of research, associate fellow at the international -- at the hague and author of after the caliphate, the islamic state and the future terrorist yes bra. many groups are involved in syria. theirs u.s. back kurdish forces, kurdish forces, there are islamic rebel forces. they were mostly responsible for the current offensive that led to this. can you explain these different groups for us and who's in charge of syria. how do we get here? >> whose is in charge of syria is the million-dollar question. right now it looks to be

mohammed -- but as you referenced, charles, there is a number of groups, there is the syrian national army, who is a turkish group, there's the islamic state, right, located in the central body of desert. there is kurdish forces in the northeast. you have a collection of nonstate actors overlaid on top of that you've got great powers that are jockeying for position. you got turkey and iran, russia has material interests in the country. the united states is real. there's a free-for-all at the moment and i think we are on the precipice of something huge obviously after five decades of strongman rule by bashar al assad and his father. >> you posted something on social media that is important. you said, i know a lot of people are celebrating the downfall of a side. he's a tyrant, i get it. be wary of the second, third hour -- order of impacts and

failed states in the middle east. if you thought the acs offensive was hard to predict, just wait to see what happens next. in syria, i think that is such an important point that i would love to elaborate on because a lot of times, you have a tendency to look at what is right in front of us and celebrate that because what we are coming out of, without a recognition or a contemplation of what we are going into. >> and a lot of times these things don't unfold in a linear fashion. look, there's the opening segment which showed the pure joy of syrians that now have the taste of freedom for the first time in their lives. that is something to celebrate. we celebrated that to a certain extent in iraq and libya and both of those countries are arguably failed states with active terrorist groups operating from within. so what comes next is really difficult to predict. and sadly, as bad as assad was, we may not be in a case where the grass is greener. we may be

in for a pretty rough ride and i suggest that we are, as different groups, different countries fight for supremacy within syria. >> looking at this in a big picture lens, you have millions of syrians displaced by the civil war and that led to a massive grant crisis across the region and throughout europe. what is this going to mean for them and in terms of where they stand now, that assad is gone. >> this is an important question and i think with everything else they can go in a few different ways. you look at what is happened in the last 12 hours or so, there have been scenes of utter jubilation in various points of entry around syria. and on, for example and even on the highway that leads into day. you see thousands of cards returning to their homes. there are videos on social media of syrians celebrating this and wanting to go back because as a result of the civil war over the last nine or

10 years or so, many syrians, especially those that have means, that can get to europe and others who were able to flee to jordan or lebanon went. lebanon officially, according to the u.n. has 700,000 syrian refugees that are in lebanon. those are the ones that are registered as refugees. you also have a turkey, you have some in jordan. the ability for those refugees to return to their homeland, will undoubtedly alleviate some pressures that has created in those countries and certainly can help in trying to create a post transition period that allows people in syria that have the capability and resources to help rebuild the country. certainly some of those who made it to europe and elsewhere, decide to come back and participate in the process. but at the same time it does open a lot of immediate pressure and concern on the syrian government. the transitional government, whatever shape or form that takes over the course of the next several weeks, to provide for the citizens basic services, to be able to provide

security and safety. certainly across the border points that have been over the last several years, completely weakened as a result of the ongoing civil war. it's going to be essential and we heard already from the prime minister, the prime minister who served under assad. he called on and so has the leader of the rebel forces, to preserve the institutions of the state and to collins point, one of the things that happened in the collapse of libya and as well as yemen, is the state institutions basically imploded. these were state institutions run by the dictator and the regime in those countries and they collapsed. what we are seeing right now and this is very, very early, we are seeing a slightly different code -- tone. we are seeing the leader of the rebel forces as well as the prime minister of the outgoing government, call on the syrian people to preserve the state's institutions in order to allow for a smooth, safe and secure

transition. of course, that is the objective. whether or not it actually happens, that is a different question. >> following up on that, the objectives and what happens, collin, we were talking about the idea of who is in control of syria at this point. went to that very point, there's concerns or could be concerns that assad 's stockpile of weapons, chemical weapons and conventional weapons could be in the hands of islamic rebel forces. how big of an issue is that and how much of a problem could that be when you are talking about this transfer of power? >> it is a massive issue and we saw the same after libya and after qaddafi's armed depots were looted. anytime you have a nonstate actor in control of chemical weapons, that is something the u.s. intelligence community and allied communities will be focused on intently, as they should be. also, abu mohammed al golani has a $10 million bounty on

his head through the rewards for justice program. so the united states is going to have to do some really hard thinking when the trump administration comes in and, in january, of how we approach the situation in syria. i would also say while mohammad ghazi al jalali seems to have reinvented himself, there's bad individuals -- it is no longer affiliated with al qaeda but there are members of the turkish and islamic party, rebels and insurgents and terrorists from central asia, and this is part and parcel of this kind of quote unquote rebel group work this is all going to have to be sorted out as united states figures out how they deal with damascus going forward. >> amon, we have been focusing on syria moving forward and that makes sense at this moment. with respect to bashar al assad, where do you think the priority is in terms of apprehending him and trying to hold him to account for the various war crimes he has been charged with? he's been accused of abusing

chemical weapons, on civilian. how much of that should be a concern right now and quite frankly, who leads the effort? >> you know, that is such a good question and again, you can look at the history of some of these arab states that have gone through similar days. you got tunisia, libya, egypt and lebanon. the president of tunisia bled and died in exile. the president of egypt stayed in egypt and ultimately arrested, put on trial and acquitted without meaningful consequence for his years of corruption and authoritarianism. in libya, a very different story. a dictator brought to and killed at the hands of the rebels that were fighting. in this case, he managed to escape. there will be undoubtedly, at some point in the process, as this country goes through reconciliation, and a desire to hold him accountable for what him and his family have done. i know means was bashar al assad and the assad dynasty who ruled syria for 50 years, a

benevolent dictatorship. they were oppressive. there were years of brutal crackdowns, chemical weapons as you mentioned, tens of thousands of syrians disappeared. so there will be undoubtedly be a strong desire, from what emerges in syria to hold bashar al assad and his family accountable. whether or not that translates to materialistic accountability on the ground inside syria. it remains to be seen, because we don't know what kind of state institutions that country is going to have and to his point, -- although he changed his tone in the last couple of weeks, he is done interviews with cnn and is speaking the lingo people want to hear, about state institutions, he's hardly a thomas jefferson or a pro-democracy advocate. certainly not the people around him either. whether or not they're going to languish power, allow for a secular civil society driven by

institutions to emerge, remains to be seen. i can't imagine there would be any kind of legal accountability inside syria unless syria is self demonstrates that it has the institutions, the legal framework to be able to give him a fair trial in the way that other countries have sought to do, with their previous dictators. >> collin clark, and amon, thank you both. we will follow this breaking news throughout the program and throughout the day, here on msnbc. plus, this is all happening as president-elect donald trump re-enters the world stage. he spent the weekend in france meeting with world leaders and he's weighing in on the top -- bashar al assad. we will have more on that, next. it doesn't overwhelm like: it's campfire leather musk overload. because downy light is gentle and balanced. it's a nature inspired scent, to breathe life into your laundry. ["the glory of love" plays]

giving. [♪ you've got to give a little ♪] [♪ take a little ♪] giving without expecting something in return. ♪ giving that's possible through the power of dell ai with intel. so those who receive can find the joy of giving back. ♪ [♪ that's the glory of love. ♪] narrator: at this very moment, children at st. jude are fighting to survive. with a gift right now, you can join the battle to save lives. katy: without saint jude, i don't know where we would be. can we see snuggles? they have given children with cancer, like my winston, a chance. christine: she has neuroblastoma and it has spread to her liver. i try to enjoy every minute with her because i do not know when would be my last moments with her.

narrator: time is running out to give a year-end gift that can help. st. jude children's research hospital save lives. because cancer doesn't stop during the holiday season. please call, go online, or scan the qr code right now and give $19 a month to help make it the season of hope for families at saint jude. tammie: just that feeling that was, like, so hard on your heart that my kid's not going to live. every day now, it's like a gift. narrator: for just $19 a month, you can make a difference. please become a st. jude partner in hope right now. franchet: those that donate, it's more than a miracle for me. it's more than a blessing. (voice breaking) they have done so much for me and my family. narrator: join with your credit or debit card for only $19 a month, and we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt you can proudly

wear to show your support. katy: all these children deserve to live, and i would love for it to be the day where no other family has to fear losing their child to cancer. you've given us hope. narrator: please don't wait until the last minute. make your donation now to help st. jude save lives.

welcome back to velshi. you are watching msnbc and i am

charles coleman jr. pain. you are looking at two photos of the person being sought in the killing of united health care ceo brian thompson. these images demand -- the man wanted for questioning seen in the back of and outside of a taxicab. these photos were released by the new york police department just last night. the nypd says investigators have been able to track some of the man's movement be a taxi. the man has not been identified or located, but york city mayor eric adams spoke with the press yesterday and struck a confident tone about the progress of the investigation. >> the manner in which they were able to follow his hey footsteps, to recover evidence of some of the known, some of the unknown. but -- we are going to bring this person to justice. >> nbc's priscilla thompson joins us from midtown manhattan steps away from where the killing occurred. glad to have you back. let's start with the photos. what do they tell us?

>> reporter: we know the nypd has been working to put together a robust timeline of when the suspect got here, what exactly he did before his time and the moments leading up to and right after the crime. and i think some of what we are beginning to see is the fruit of that labor with these new images coming out. the clearest photo perhaps of this person's eyes in the back of a taxicab. a clear look at his face despite the mask and that image where he is walking, appears to be captured walking on the sidewalk. working to get these images out to the public in addition to the ones we saw that were captured at the hostel where he stayed and flashed that smile at the woman who was working there. authorities are still asking the public, that if you know this person and you have seen this person or you see this person, to contact them because as you noted, there's been no public identification of who this person is nor has this

person been arrested, located and arrested. >> nbc's priscilla thompson, thank you for staying on top of the story. still to come, donald trump is 43 days away from being sworn in but he's already re- emerged on the global stage. the world leaders are preparing for his return as conflicts flare up in ukraine, israel, gaza and now syria as well. we will have more after the break on velshi. stay tuned. stay tuned. easy guys. easy. hey guys, come on, time to eat. time to eat. ♪♪ i don't want this. i want corndogs! [children chanting] corndogs! corndogs! corndogs! ♪♪ i need another corndog! the virus that causes shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50.

it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. i'm not a doctor. i'm not even in a doctor's office. i'm standing on the streets talking to real people about their heart. how's your heart? my heart's pretty good. you sure? i think so. how do you know? you're driving a car, you have the check engine light, but the heart doesn't have a hey, check heart sign. i want to show you something. put both fingers right on those pads. there you go.

in 30 seconds we're gonna have a medical-grade ekg reading. there it is! that is you. look at that. with kardiamobile, you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds from anywhere. kardiamobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. and it's the only personal ekg that's fda-cleared to detect normal heart rhythm, bradycardia and tachycardia. how much do you think this device costs? probably a thousand. $99! wow. that's impressive. get kardiamobile today for just $79. and check out our holiday offers for you or a loved one at kardia.com or amazon. don't wait! these offers won't last. (♪♪) why use 10 buckets of water

when you can use 1 fire extinguisher. and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids

throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn. welcome back. this weekend marked donald trump's return to the world stage. the president-elect is on his way back to mar-a-lago today after making his first international trip since winning the election last month. trump spent the weekend in france where he attended the grand reopening of the notre dame cathedral. but more importantly, the event offered him a chance to reconnect with world leaders as he prepares to return to the

white house just next month. ahead of the event, trump met with french president emmanuel macron at a palace in france. and later come ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy joined the two of them for a meeting. afterward, zelenskyy posted on social media the meeting was quote, good and productive. he also added quote, we agree to continue working together and keep in contact. peace through strength is possible. trump transition official told nbc news that the three of them had a general discussion and quote, there are no ground broken. official also added that trump remains optimistic about ending the war in ukraine by the time he takes office. but that meeting took place before the syrian government fell last night. in his latest post trump wrote russia and its president vladimir putin were no longer interested in protecting syrian president bashar al assad. he added quote, they lost all interest because in syria,

because of ukraine. the latest example of how trump is taking up the mantle of the presidency even though he won't be sworn in for another 43 days. it also demonstrates how world leaders are preparing for his return as conflicts continue to flare up in ukraine, israel, gaza and now syria. for more on this, i'm joined by stuart stevens, senior adviser for the lincoln project and author of the book, the conspiracy to end america, five ways my own party is driving out democracy to autocracy. thank you for being with us. i want to get started with the idea that usually america only has one president at a time. donald trump is not yet the president and he's already getting involved in america's foreign affairs. can you just talk about how unusual this is and how much of a departure from the norm we are seeing. i think we're going to break. we are going to get stuart back and be with more on velshi. stay tuned. stay tuned. based weight loss company?

yes, noom combines medication and behavior change so you can lose the weight and keep it off. and it starts at just $149. noom. the smart way to lose weight. (children speaking) conflict is raging across the world, and millions of children's lives are being devastated by war, hunger, disease and poverty. we urgently need your help to reach children in crisis. please call or go online to give just $10 a month. only $0.33 a day. we need 1000 new monthly donors this month to help children in crisis around the world and right here at home. you can help us provide food, essentials, and lifesaving medical care to children in the most need.

in the darkest times children suffer the most. you can help by calling right now and giving just $10 a month. all we need are 1000 monthly donors. please call or go online now with your monthly gift of just $10. thanks to generous government grants, every dollar you give can have up to ten times the impact and when you call with your credit card, we will send you this save the children tote bag as a thank you for your support. your small monthly donation of just $10. could be the reason a child in crisis survives.

show them they're not alone. please call or go online to givetosave.org to help save lives. you've got a pepto predicament, ace. you overdid it on the loaded fries. undo it with pepto fast melts. ♪ when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, ♪ ♪ upset stomach, diarrhea. ♪ when you overdo it... ...undo it with pepto bismol.

welcome back. we were able to get stuart stevens back and we are glad to have him. senior adviser for the lincoln project. stewart, thank you for being here. i was just asking you the question that usually america pretty much has one president at a time. how unusual is it to see, and an incoming president essentially eject himself into -- inject himself into foreign affairs before they are sworn

in and inaugurated. >> it is extraordinarily inappropriate and it is dangerous. in a time of crisis, the key element in any relationship between a superpower and other countries is stability and here you have president trump out there acting as if he's president. he's not. but then, he would assert he didn't lose the last election and he's been president all this time. you know, i think with syria, it points to the incredible danger of having tulsi gabbard, and national intelligence director. he's someone -- she is someone who denied that aside ever used chemical weapons. she went to assad and shared a photo op with assad and nikki haley articulately attacked her. i just think it shows this great blind spot of trump, that

he has for russia and putting her there, i hope she's not a concern, but she is danger to it, too. >> you mentioned donald trump's ties to russia and we are aware of his ties with russian president a putin. let's talk about the statement he put out on true social. he ties assad's fall to putin no longer being interested in protecting him. what you make of that statement and where do you think that is actually trying to go? >> i'm trying to guess what donald trump is trying to go, that is a dangerous business. there's just no consistent worldview with donald trump. except the affection he has for russia. and a lot of speculation about this, we know that russia did try to help elect trump in

2016. we know that he won and is just extraordinary that with the decades, the -- the element of american politics with the conservative element of the conservative party and that is the heart of the pro-putin trump movement in american politics. we've never seen anything like it and it is very destabilizing and dangerous. >> you mentioned concerns about tulsi gabbard, who is trump's pick for director of national intelligence. there are a number of different concerns around her but perhaps most relevant to where we are today, is something that's been raised about the fact that she met syrian president al assad during an unannounced trip in 2017 and also previously defended his regime. given all of that, could we see this being the thing that perhaps does not get her confirmed with respect to that nomination, to

lead our country with respect to national intelligence? >> let's hope so. she would be a disastrous pick. compared to dan coats, who was previous under trump, the difference is unimaginable. look, what is the role of america in the world? are we going to continue to be a force of stability and strength and this is all tied together with this isolationism that trump has, with going back to the '30s and america first and charles lindbergh and henry ford. in the post-world war ii era we have had this americana that brought tremendous prosperity to america. it helped us. is stable for america and donald trump said over and over again, statements that threaten says, that threatens the relationship with nato and this is all tied together.

it is very concerning and if there is an element of republican party still out there, and i think there is to some degree, that respects america's role in the world, then they really need to step up here and rain in trump's worst instincts. >> stuart, you are someone who has seen the inside of the republican party and one of the concerns i have is that as we are discussing trump's potential cabinet picks, i have heard a lot of folks say, no, no, no, and don't get me wrong, that may be very valid because many of these pics are plain awful bad for a number of reasons and you have alluded to them. but the alternative, sometimes if you are telling someone to not do one thing, you have to give them an alternative of what they should do. are there viable candidates who you would believe, could get past without the biggest issues that gabbard and patel and hegseth and others have had to

these positions because our countries depend on them. >> the reason the people are saying no to these people is they are nutty, bad choices. you don't hear that with marco rubio. you can say i disagree with marco rubio but i don't hear anybody saying in either partner -- party actually that marco rubio is not qualified to be secretary of state. there was talk if hegseth went, they would replace with governor desantis. i think he would go through a nomination process. he has run a big organization called florida, he is a veteran, he has experience, he doesn't have these deep personal problems that hegseth has. there is a world of people in foreign policy, that could be national intelligence director, who have experience in it. who aren't -- the reason you know tober -- tulsi gabbard is because she has these nutty views. and trump did this because -- this is her reward, same with rfk. you put someone in charge who's not anti-polio vaccine -- put

them in charge of our health. that person is going to get confirmed. so i don't think that this is an effort to stop trump. i think it is an effort to stop really bad choices that are dangerous for america. >> you raise a good point, but part of why we have heard of certain candidate is because they put out these wonky conspiracy theories about lord knows what and the quieter candidates who have been more mainstream and centrist, more normal if you will, those are the folks that stand the best chance of getting confirmed but we have heard the least about. that is very important point to make. i want to center in on marco rubio. you mentioned him, as a potential secretary of state. he's going to have a lot on his plate. is that the middle east, he's got china and now the fall of the assad regime. can you talk about how someone balances that and why he might be a great pick in that space, given everything we are seeing on hold on the geopolitical stage. >> greatness and marco rubio,

rarely found together. but i think he is a solid choice. he is someone who has experience in this. i think he looked at this seriously. it was the rubio run senate intelligence committee, that came to the conclusion that agreed with all u.s. intelligence agencies that russia was helping elect trump in 2016. and in fact, it's not surprising in spite of that that trump appointed him. there is, this idea that foreign-policy stops at order's edge. there's more of a consensus on these issues among those that are in the democratic party and those that are still in the same republican party, then you would imagine. but when you have these views like trump has, trump is really to the left of bernie sanders on ukraine. that is just extraordinary for the republican party.

so look, this shouldn't be about rewarding people who endorsed you. it should be about who is best qualified to serve. and a lot of these positions, if you don't know the person, and they are well respected within that community, is probably a good sign because they are not doing it for the headlines. >> that is an excellent point and thank you stuart stevens for being with us for this and important conversation. stay tuned, we will be back with more velshi after a short break. break. [music playing]

tiffany: my daughter is mila. she is 19 months old. she is a little ray of sunshine, one of the happiest babies you'll probably ever meet. all: yay mila: [giggling] tiffany: children with down syndrome typically have a higher risk for developing acute myeloid leukemia, or just leukemia in general. and here we are. narrator: st. jude children's research hospital works day after day to find cures and save the lives of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. tiffany: she was referred to st. jude at 11 months. they knew what to do as soon as they got her diagnosis. they already had her treatment plan drawn out, and they were like, this is what we're going to do. this is how long it's going to take. this is how long in between. this place is like a family to us now. like, i can't say enough how grateful we are to be here. medical bills are always a big thing to everybody because everybody knows that anything medical is

going to be expensive. we have received no bills since being at st jude. we have paid for nothing. narrator: thanks to generous donors like you, families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food so they can focus on helping their child live. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the lifesaving research and treatment these kids need. join with your debit or credit card right now, and we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt that you can proudly wear to show your support. tiffany: anybody and everybody that contributes anything to this place, no matter if it's a big business or just the grandmother that donates once a month, they are changing people's lives. and that's a big deal. dexcom g7 is one of the easiest ways

to take better control of your diabetes. this small wearable replaces fingersticks, lowers a1c, and it's covered by medicare. not managing your diabetes really affects your health for the future. the older you get, the more complications you're gonna see. i knew i couldn't ignore my diabetes anymore because it was causing my eyesight to go bad. for my patients, getting on dexcom g7 is the biggest eye opener they've ever had. i couldn't believe how easy it was. this small wearable sends my glucose numbers right to my phone or my receiver. with just a glance i can see if i'm going high, low, or steady. so, i can make quick decisions in the moment. now, i'm a superstar. my a1c is 5.7. my a1c has never been lower. no other cgm system is more affordable for medicare patients than dexcom g7. don't wait! call now, and talk to a real person.

welcome back to velshi on msnbc. i'm charles:-- charles coleman jr. henefer ali velshi. i meet the press, donald trump had his first interview since winning the election and the president-elect sat down with nbc's kristen welker for a

conversation about his plans once he returns to the white house next month. one topic they spoke about is whether trump will direct his administration to pursue investigations against his political enemies. let's listen. >> you named kash patel to be the next fbi director. he has a list in this book of 60 people he calls numbers of the so-called deep state. a good includes democrats like joe biden and hillary clinton, former members of your cabinet from bill barr to christopher wray. you campaigned on destroying the deep state. do you want kash patel to launch investigations into people on that list? >> no, he's going to do what he thinks is right and -- >> do you think that is right, sir? >> if they think that somebody was dishonest or crooked or corrupt politician, i think he probably has an obligation to do it. but -- >> are you going to direct him to do it? >> not at all. we have too many people. we have him and pam and pam bondi has been like a rocket

ship. she's very popular and very good and very fair and kash patel is very fair. i will tell you, i thought he might be difficult because he's a strong conservative voice and i don't know of anybody that's not singing his praises. the other day i was watching and trey gowdy, was a moderate person, very smart and respected in the party, he is his biggest fan. he said, this is the most misunderstood man in politics. he's great. i guess they worked together on the russia hoax or something and he became a fan. you know him, everybody respects them. and you know, just like him, others also dished i don't know if -- i don't think he's going to have any negative votes. >> is it your expectation kash patel will pursue investigations against clinical enemies? >> no, i don't think so. >> the want to see that happen >> if they were crooked, they did something wrong, if they have broken the law, probably, they went after me and i did nothing wrong.

>> joining me is white house correspondent and author of important book black women will save the world, an anthem, contributor april ryan. so good to have you. i'm going to get your immediate reaction to that clip we played about donald trump talking about kash patel and the department of justice. >> it took the president a long time, several seconds or even a minute before he said if someone broke the law. he was talking about it, they did something wrong or et cetera. where was the law that came ways down the road. we are a nation both on the constitution and -- for president trump during his campaign was to go after those he felt wronged him. those who talked against him. and you know, i would be

surprised, understanding the loyalty of kash patel, that he would not go after those, to check into their past, et cetera. i would not expect anything less than those who are the clinical opponents or the opposition of donald trump to be on kash patel's top list, as soon as he comes into office, if he is confirmed as fbi director. >> i want to stay on this point for a moment because i feel like you can't square what donald trump has pushed with respect to the loyalty he's looking for, from the doj and whoever he appoints as ag, and how that has been weaponized against him. it is hard to imagine a world in which donald trump does not direct the doj to go after his political enemies, even if he doesn't necessarily find them to be crooked. but is that expecting more than what we have already seen, or would you say that is in line with everything that donald trump has already put out throughout these months on the campaign trail? >> it is something he put out

throughout these months and as you know, as a lawyer, there is a fine line between the justice department and the white house. and it remains to be seen if that line will be crossed with donald trump. i remember so many other ags who would not talk to the president about different issues. that they were always in lockstep on certain issues and didn't have to talk about it. so the question is now, will there be conversations and what to do or will there be a fine line in the ag understanding where donald trump is and follow the constitution, follow the u.s. laws and do it is supposed to be done for the american people. versus following donald trump's thought process. >> we've been talking about donald trump, and let's not

forget as i'm sure you know, that joe biden is still president of the united states of america and a lot of people have been talking about the conversation around pardons and there's reporting that there are discussions going on right now about whether president biden should issue link it pardons for certain people who have been targeted by the incoming president. what have you been hearing about this quite >> charles, i am glad you brought that up. the way i understand, the white house counsel's office is working around the clock along with the pardons office and doj. this is some thing that they are really paying attention to her. after the pardon, for hunter biden, when i -- everyone started saying, this person should be pardoned. so they've got that list. then, charles, there is another list, the pre-emptive pardon list and i understand it is very long and they are taking it very seriously. this is not a joke. there so many people on this list that donald trump has said, things about, his minions have gone after.

charles, i will make it real clear, there are people from prior administrations, who to this day, have drivers in these secured vehicles with security. and that is real. some of the highest ranking names that we know from other administrations, because of some of the words of donald trump. and some of those people, without saying their names, are on this pre-emptive list. so this is a very real concern. the biden administration is taking it seriously, understanding january 6, understanding what donald trump puts a person's name in their mouth, in his mouth, what happens after. and the threats that were made on the campaign trail, and you have that list of those who feel that they deserve pardons, that -- excuse me, president

biden is working on. there are two lists. the white house and department of justice are working actively around the clock because time is short. january 20th is next month. >> thank you april ryan, as always, for being with us. coming up after a quick rake we will have the latest on the breaking news out of syria. stay tuned. stay tuned. ♪ 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. —no peeking. —okay. okay. ♪♪ open. ♪♪ ♪♪ over 600,000 usps employees working in sync

to ensure everything sent on its holiday ride ends with a moment of joy. ♪♪ the united states postal service. have you tried these new febreze car vent clips? the new intensity dial gives you total control. i can turn it up... that smells good! or turn it down... hmm. nice and light. enjoy 40 days of freshness, your way. ♪ lalalalala ♪ take an ekg from anywhere, but with 6-times the data. can your smartwatch do that? introducing kardiamobile 6l, the fda-cleared ekg that provides six-times more heart data than any smartwatch. and it detects three of the most common arrhythmias in just 30 seconds, including atrial fibrillation, bradycardia and tachycardia.

get kardiamobile 6l for just $109 this holiday season at kardia.com or amazon. (♪♪)