shocking video shows the moment a police officer crashed a motorcycle into a crowd. it happened last night during a holiday parade in palm springs, california. 10 people were injured, including a child. witnesses said officer lost control while attempting to do a trick. mystery drones the size of small cars i've been spotted above parts of new jersey and now city. the drums i've been seeing over infrastructure like powerlines, reservoirs, and military sites. right now, crews are reportedly searching a wooded area where a drone was downed, in hopes of getting some answers. and the notre dame cathedral hosted its first mass since the devastating fire five years ago. the historic landmark reopen saturday in a historic ceremony that featured several heads of state, including first lady jill biden and president-elect donald trump. in moments, the rapidly changing situation in syria. new reports about where bashar al-assad is right now.

a good day from nbc world headquarters in new york, welcome to alex whitney reports, i am christina. let's get right to it. we begin with breaking news from the middle east rebel forces have toppled the regime of the syrian president, bashar al-assad, after a lightning fast offensive over the last few days. >> [ cheers and applause ] >> syrian residents poured onto the streets of major cities, pulling down statues, and celebrating the end of more than 50 years of assad dynastic rule. residents ransacked the presidential palace in damascus, taking selfies and walking the great cause.

a short time ago, president biden in a statement from the oval office, outlined the uncertainty ahead. we will have more on that in a moment. russian state media is reporting that the assad family have landed in moscow, including the leader, and are being granted asylum. nbc news is not independently confirmed that report. meanwhile, rebel leaders are claiming victory. >> with god's help, the city of damascus has been liberated and the tyrant, bashar al-assad, has fallen, and all the unjustly detainees have been released from all the regime prisons. the operation room in damascus oz and appeals to all syrian fighters and citizens to preserve all the properties of the free serious statement long- lived free syria, which is proud of all syrians across the whole spectrum. >> and just moments ago, nbc news has learned that u.s. central command forces conducted dozens of precision air strikes, targeting i.s.i.s. camps in syria today, striking

more than 75 targets. of course, we have a number of reporters in place, covering all of these new developments, but we are going to start with london's nbc's meghan fitzgerald. megan, what we know about assad's whereabouts, how did he get to moscow, and what can you tell us about how his regime collapsed so quickly after such a prolonged civil war? >> christina, according to russian state media, bashar al- assad and his family arrived in moscow where they had been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds. russia has supported assad and his regime throughout the course of the war, so it is really not a surprise that assad and his family fled there. as far as his offensive is concerned, it certainly appears as though it wasn't much of a fight at all. we haven't seen any evidence of heavy fighting. and keep in mind, these rebels were lightly armed. we are not talking about rebels in armored and heavy tanks rolling through. so, the lack of resistance,

allowing them to quickly advance into the capital city of damascus, we are talking about a lightning fast offensive year, which kicked off less than two weeks ago when the rebels captured aleppo, but it really accelerated over the last 48 hours. last night, rebels took over the largest province in syria. seizing control of the syrian- lebanese border and cutting off the road between damascus and the syrian coast would significantly weaken the assad regime. that's when the rebels said they were able to control damascus and the country. so, over the course of the last day, we have seen celebrations of people rejoicing in the streets, celebrating the fall of this repressive assad regime, and i want you to take a listen to a video that in syrian man in our colleague, raf sanchez, take a listen. >> now we can sleep. i think of tomorrow. now we can sleep [ inaudible ] justice is achieved.

now i can understand that my children will not be raised under oppression. now, only now, i can say that we, we are free, syria, we are free people. >> an emotional day for so many. you know, a moment that is giving a lot of people hope, but the big question remains, what is next? and how would this country be governed moving forward? hts has recently said that the syrian people don't need to fear them, that they will respect the minority groups, but while there has been a lot of celebration, this is also a moment of great uncertainty for the syrian people. christina? >> megan, you are right, a lot of uncertainty, but also a lot of pure joy and relief to people who have been at war for about 10 years now.

thank you so much. we are going to go now to nbc's allie raffa at the white house were president biden gave his wrist comments on syria today. on those remarks, what stood out to you the most? >> reporter: hopeful, but cautiously optimistic tone. i can hear you, can you hear me? okay, he struck a very hopeful, but cautiously optimistic tone essentially, christina, saying that he would ensure that the syrians are the ones forging their own future here after this news, but essentially saying that the u.s. can provide a helping hand in doing so. listen to some of his comments here. >> we will help stability, insurance stability in eastern syria, protecting any personnel , our personnel, against any threats. and remain our mission against i.s.i.s. , maintained, including the security of detention facilities were i.s.i.s. fighters are being held as prisoners.

we are clear eyed about the fact that i.s.i.s. will try to take advantage of any vacuum to re-establish its capability and to create a safe haven. we will not let that happen. >> reporter: and christina, we are learning in just the last few minutes of new actions by the u.s. military to honor that commitment that you are the president talking about there, to prevent the resurgence of i.s.i.s. we are learning that defense officials are saying that u.s. forces conducted over 70 strikes in syria today, specifically targeting i.s.i.s. camps, leaders, and operatives with the goal to prevent i.s.i.s. from taking advantage of this situation in syria, and now, one major focus is of course on the roughly 900 american troops currently in syria with the main mission to prevent the resurgence of i.s.i.s. the president in that speech committing to protect those strips and all u.s. personnel in the region, also committed

to supporting syria's neighbors, u.s. allies like jordan, iraq, and israel, also saying that he would send officials to the region to be able to work with the united nations, to create what he called an independent, sovereign syria, so of course, this is a very long to do list for a president with just over 40 days left in office, but he is being very direct here, very clear that he has no intentions of pulling u.s. troops out of syria, and obviously, that stands in contrast to what we are hearing from president- elect trump and his plans once he takes office on january 20th, christina. >> that's right, allie, he is going to reach out allies and get them on the phone. thank you so much for setting that up for us. let's bring back nbc national security reporter dan. what are we expecting this new syrian government to look like and is it fair at this point to even call it a government? and what you make of the fact that even though assad has

left the country and now has set up shop in moscow, the prime minister says he is going to stick around and help with the transition. he apparently was escorted to a five-star hotel and he is going to work with the rebels to try to stand up some sort of a government. >> christina, i think it is too soon to call this a government. right? we are in a real moment of a vacuum of uncertainty. this is a rebel fighting force and those leaders are very experienced fighters, but have they ever governed a country or run a government? no, they haven't. they have tried to send the right messages of inclusiveness that our colleagues are describing and they are trying to say that they are renouncing violence, that they want to be governing all syrians, but it is interesting that there is not some kind of immediate reprisal, for example, of that prime minister, as far as we know. so, they are trying to show some kind of restraint, maybe, it is fair to say at this point. we haven't seen massive kind of reprisals against the assad

regime figures, but it is the very early days. and keep in mind, there are other rebel forces, there are the kurds, the sunni forces backed by turkey in the north, and a lot of other groups, and of course, as we know, there is i.s.i.s. in the east, which has just been struck by u.s. aircraft to try to send those extremists a signal that they can't take advantage of the situation. so, this is a moment of huge upheaval in syria and the middle east, and there will be many players and outside players like turkey, saudi arabia, jordan, and europe, the united states, all trying to shape this and hopefully nudge it towards a more stable future, but there are huge risks here. >> i was talking to some officials last night and they said, look, in the short term, this could be good for u.s. allies obviously, not fans of this particular regime, including jordan, israel, but in the long term, more unrest, more of a power vacuum in an already fairly unstable region is not good for israel or the u.s. or anyone else.

what is your take on that and when does this clock start, when do we start to need to see some sort of central government being set up for some of those groups you mentioned like i.s.i.s., like these other grids, start to try to contest power themselves? >> yeah, christina, the clock is already taking. and the more chaos there is, the more uncertainty and instability, the more there is the risk of violence, of another phase of a civil war, of terrorists exploiting the situation. i think there's going to be a huge need for diplomacy and coordinated diplomacy, and there will now be a lot of outreach to this group. and what we don't know is how this group, hts, is going to respond. how are they going to operate? and so, there is this moment of opportunity and risk, and so, you are right, israel and the united states, american partners and allies in the region, see this as a potential opportunity. finally, this regime, which was

very brittle and aligned with russia and iran, was seen as a huge fuel driver of instability, and so, there is this possibility of a different future, but it is very difficult in these situations to establish a stable government when there has been so much oppression proceeding it for so many years. there are so many festering grievances, and there are different groups, religious and ethnic groups, so it will be a huge challenge. >> and oppression that we are just starting to grasp the scope of as these people are coming out of prisons and secret facilities and reuniting with their families after decades. dan, thank you so much for being with us. all right, the search for a ceo killer spreads to another city. what we have learned from investigators in the past 24 hours. we will be back in 90 seconds. . the grid flexes where you need it, cradling all your pressure points.

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headache and sore throat may occur. ask your doctor if fasenra is right for you. breaking news, the nypd releasing two new images of the person suspected of killing the united healthcare ceo brian thompson. he can be seen looking directly into the camera on a vehicle. investigations are now underway in both new york and atlanta. we have reporters and analysts ready to cover all of these new developments. let's start with nbc's priscilla thompson here in new york near the shooting. priscilla, what are we hearing on day five of the search, any

big developments? >> yeah, christina, right now, we are hearing from our affiliate w nbc that there were drivers in the area today where they recover that backpack on friday night that they believe belongs to the shooter, so they are continuing an extensive search in central park to see if there is any additional evidence there about this crime. we know that they found that backpack, along with a jacket inside of it and that monopoly money, and they have been running that for fingerprints and dna, but of course, we now also have these new images that they released overnight after putting together an extensive timeline, scouring videos throughout the city to figure out where exactly this person may have gone, and these are perhaps the clearest images yet of his eyes in the back of what appears to be a taxicab there. and my colleague, tom winters, spoke with a former nypd lieutenant about that and about the people who may have seen him on the bus as he was

leaving town, and how they could be crucial in this investigation at this point. take a listen to what he had to say. >> it's inevitable that someone within the public eye would have seen this individual enter the location. in an urban environment that is so condensed and congested with people, it is absolutely possible or i want to say automatic that they would have seen this individual, and the more interviews that you conduct, the more susceptible your to gaining information. >> reporter: and so, we see the nypd today continuing to put those pictures out, hoping that someone will call their tip line about what was this person may have gotten on, where they may have gotten off at, and where they could be right now. we know the nypd has detected on the ground and atlanta right now, scouring video evidence at the bus station where it is believed the bus that may have brought this suspected shooter into town originated from, to try to see if there's any video there, and they are going to be checking all the stops along that route to look for

witnesses, to look for video, any potential evidence that could help lead to the arrest of this person. christina? let's priscilla, thank you, still a lot of questions. here within the studio is danny's criminal attorney and msnbc legal analyst. okay, last wednesday, on the day of the murder, you wrote in your sub stack, brief legal, that you thought the suspect would either be caught immediately or not at all. it is not immediately at this point. is it possible he could really get away? >> i am still considering this in my window of immediately. absolutely, because it needs to be from a subset column to work out. so, we're going for is still a media -- and i do believe it will be swift. i think authorities are not telling us everything they know, i think they are releasing things little by little, but i think in terms of identifying who he is, that step, we are either there or very soon going to be there, and then it is just a matter of tracking down where he has got into in the intervening days, but i do believe

one or the other. this is not going to be something in a couple months, it is either going to be pretty much right away, i still think we are in the right away window, or never at all. >> so, eric adams said this kind of strange thing when you said we know the guys name, but we are not going to tell it, because that might come from his investigation, which kind of tipped their hand anyway. do you think that was a tactic to try to get him to react, to make a bigger move, or do you think that is just really what it is at face value? >> it was a strange statement because your point is well taken. if you know who he is and you want to alert him to the fact that you know who he is, that is fine, but don't announce it at a press conference that we know who you are but we are not going to say so. this is a dangerous person, so there are strategic considerations into whether or not you announce who the person is or you do not, but either way, i mean, they have to be very careful about what they release in terms of information, including his identity, because there is some value in letting him think that he has gotten away with it if they are in fact closing in on

him, but you are right, with eric adams' statement, you might be out there thinking, oh, now i need to be even more careful. >> i also want to ask you, they found this backpack in central park and it was filled with monopoly money. a jacket and monopoly money. what is your take on that? is he just messing with the police at this point? >> my take is this is only one of two possibilities. one is he is a madman like the joker and he is just doing strange things, but i don't think that is very likely. i think far more likely as he is doing it as a kind of red herring, to confuse us, maybe trouble is, who knows? but whatever the reason is, it is something that you don't. he could have kept it with him. maybe on some level, he wanted police to find it. and i really suspect -- when he is caught, if he ever speaks, i don't think he would have ever anticipated that there was this much video evidence in midtown manhattan and that the police would be this good at tracking him back. not just days ago, but weeks ago, going as far as november

24th when he allegedly or supposedly arrived here in new york, so he has planned out, but i don't think he fully appreciated how much we are all on video at all times, including now. >> a couple celebrities and lawmakers have learned that the hard way. thank you so much for joining us. coming up next, what to make of donald trump's big weekend in paris and his shocking statements about the january 6th committee. some takeaways coming up. some takeaways coming up. 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. [music playing] tiffany: my daughter is mila. she is 19 months old. she is a little ray of sunshine, one of the happiest babies

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new today, donald trump is lashing out at members of the january 6th committee, accusing them of unfairly targeting him and destroying its records, which of the committee to nines. -- denies. >> she is behind it, and so was betty thompson and everybody on that committee. for what they did, honestly, they should go to jail. >> so, you think liz cheney should go to jail? >> for what they did -- i think anybody that voted in favor -- >> are you going to direct your fbi director and your attorney general to send them to jail? >> or not at all, i think they're going to have to look at that, but i am going to focus on drill, baby, drill. >> for joining us now, we have that set them up political reporter for axios, and melanie, punch bowl news senior congressional reporter, and msnbc political contributor. melanie, i'm going to start with you. we have got 43 days antle trump's in operation, and he

appears to be suggesting he supports jailing current and possibly former members of congress. is this just trumpian blustered or do we think this is a real threat? >> listen, it's hard to say, right? because trump made some very conflicting statements about that entire interview. in one breath, he said he is not focused on the past, he is not focused on retribution, this is not a top priority, he is not going to direct people to go after his enemies, but then in that interview, you heard him say these people deserve to go to jail and it is something they have to look at. so, i'm not going to make predictions about what trump is going to do, but i will say that if he does choose to go down that route, the people who he has nominated for his cabinet are going to fall in line to deliver on that. people like kash patel, pam bondi, his attorney general nominee, they have all echoed similar things in terms of going after his political enemies, is perceived political enemies. and what i will also say is i do think this is going to renew

conversations in the biden administration about potential preemptive pardons for some of trump's critics. we knew those conversations were already taking place among some high-level aides, but i expect those conversations to really pick up in the last few weeks here. >> on that note, seth, donald trump was responding to a question from kristen welker about reports that president biden is considering those preemptive pardons of people who have criticized trump publicly like liz cheney, senator elect adam schiff, and dr. anthony fauci. john said he could pardon the committee members if he wants to and "maybe you should." now, this would be a relatively novel move. is it gaining traction and what you make of trump's suggestions there? >> i mean, there is no question that biden and his advisers are taking very seriously the threats that trump has been making. it is not the first time we have heard the president-elect make clear that he intends to go after the people who targeted him and various

investigations, whether the area are congressional investigations or justice department investigations, so they are going to look carefully at whether it is worthwhile to kind of provide protection for some of these individuals, but this is a politically tricky situation to navigate, because do you just further so doubt into the justice department, and does an action like that end up making a political situation even worse? or is it worthwhile to protect people if you feel that the incoming president and his leaders at doj are going to go after people unfairly? i do think it is interesting the way trump seems to be talking about this, where he seems to say what he would like to see happen, but seems to also be different quite frequently to his cabinet nominees, people like pam bondi and kash patel, but of course, he has been very careful at selecting the kind of people who are very loyal to trump and are going to fall in line with his orders. >> and melanie, speaking of those potential nominees, trump's picked for director of

national intelligence, tulsi gabbard, is set to make the rounds on capitol hill this week. now, she is expected to have to address this controversial trip she made in 2017 to meet with none other than syrian president bashar al-assad. given what is happening in syria and now that assad is gone, does this make the situation better or worse confirmation chances? >> i think she was already going to come under very heavy scrutiny for her views on syria, her past comments she has made, this secret trip she took, and at the time, saying she doesn't believe that assad is an enemy of the united states. he has also openly questioned the united states intelligence, assessing that he carried out chemical strikes and attacks on his own people, so that was going to be something that she had to answer for already, but i do expect it to come under even heavier scrutiny now as she makes these key rounds with senators this week. but i will say is she is a very controversial nominee. i think a lot of people, republicans included, have deep reservations about her past and her views, but you know, republicans right now are

really taking the posture of deference towards trump's nominee is. i will say pete hegseth, the nominee to lead the pentagon department and probably the most embattled nominee, is really acting as a heat shield right now, so gabbard and kash patel have not really come under as heavy of scrutiny, but there are still a lot of concerns and a lot of questions she is going to have to answer for, starting this week. >> and staff, trump's picked for fbi director at kash patel is supposed to do the same thing, go to the hill, meet with senators this week. donald trump set on meet the press, he will direct the fbi to investigate his political enemies, but patel will do "what he thinks is right." that does not sound like it is going to be too reassuring to senators who maybe have reservations about whether or not to confirm him. what is your take? >> i mean, certainly not. just look back at the kind of language kash patel has been using publicly for a while now. he is the kind of person who is

a trump loyalist through and through. he has worked on true social, he has been someone who has been by the president's side, who has been very aggressive in his language talking about people who have investigated the president-elect. and so, we expect him, you know, if he does get confirmed, we do expect him to be quite serious about following through on some of these ideas, following through on investigating, whether it is members of congress or investigators within the justice department, and really digging into how these trump investigations came to be. and i would note, it is interesting that at least the initial response to the nomination of kash patel was pretty positive among senate republicans that i spoke to at least. he has certainly had some controversial takes and he will face questioning, but people like joni ernst, for example, who has kind of withheld support from hegseth, even she expressed to me that she felt kash patel is going to be a good choice, and a lot of

republicans see merit [ inaudible ]. thank you so much, we have to leave it there. and it is no simple thing, the end of the assad regime. the impact this could have on the rest of the middle east and beyond, next. ast and beyond, next. [♪ 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. ♪]

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breaking news today, president biden framing the fall of president bashar al- assad as a step in the right direction for syria. at the white house this afternoon, the president warned

serious future is uncertain, but that changes on the horizon. >> our approach has shifted to balance the power in the middle east. with this combination of support for our partners, sanctions, and diplomacy, and targeted military force when necessary, we now see new opportunities opening up for the people of syria and for the entire region. >> let's bring in a bar, former director for syria and lebanon. a couple surprising things in that statement, but one of them was that the u.s. today constructed strikes against i.s.i.s. targets inside of syria. 75 targets were hit, and the question i have for you is there are still 75 i.s.i.s. targets that need to be hit inside syria, is i.s.i.s. still alive and kicking to that extent? >> sure, it's a good question. we defeated i.s.i.s., as you know, in 2018, and they controlled the amount of territory that took up the size of the uk.

between the territory they controlled in syria and iraq. and while we defeated them, by the way, we did that thanks to the kurds on the ground, our most valuable alliance, that's why we still have troops in the area, we have 900 of them, that doesn't mean that all the fighters were imprisoned or disappeared, they just basically retreated, and some of them have kind of remained in these sleeper cells, if you will, something like that. so, the u.s. goal of staying there, those 900 troops that remained there, are in part to protect the kurds, and ensure that they remain supported and safe and strong, not just in the face of i.s.i.s., but against turkey as well, and also to prevent the re- emergence of i.s.i.s. so, in a situation like this, when you have a situation where assad has fallen and things in syria are going to be unstable in this near future, you're going to have many grits try to take advantage of this vacuum and pursue their own agenda, and so the u.s. is likely in this case preemptively pursuing these strikes to ensure that i.s.i.s. is back on its back yields. next the messaging from the white house today was this is a

good thing for the syrian people. this bloody regime is finally over, but the problems aren't over. how would you describe this rebel group that ousted assad? my understanding is they are adjusting it a terrorist organization by the united states, right? >> that's right, i was actually at the white house handling syria when this group was sanctioned. not just sanctioned by the united states as a terrorist organization, but by the united nations as well. which means it is sanctioned technically by every member of the united nations. and that said, it has no relationship to really with the outside, other than with turkey. turkey has somewhat back to this group, if you will. they do not exactly fond or build them, but they support them, they have given him advice and cooperated with them, and they are certainly happy on the turkish side to see them leading to the tumble of assad and see their control and influence. so, that said, when i was in

government, they were viewed as al qaeda in iraq, syria branch. and it was sanctioned for that reason. it had close ties as well to another terrorist organization. and its leader, most importantly, its leader is a former leader of al qaeda who spent time in a prison in iraq for fighting the u.s. presence in iraq, so this is not some group that is fighting for democracy of syria and welcoming freedoms as much as they would like to say that. that said, since that time there has disavowed global terrorism and cut ties with al qaeda, but make no mistake, this is an islamist militia. the area they govern in the northwest of syria, the government with conservative, if not extreme sunni ideology. they cracked down on dissent, they don't believe in freedoms. so, i would be very wary of what this group will seek to pursue in its dealings now, and also, like i said, other groups and rebels across syria that will try to take advantage of the situation. >> hagar, thank you so much for

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is it your expectation, though, that kash patel will pursue investigations against your political enemies? >> and no, i don't think so. >> do you want to see that happen? >> if they were crooked, if they did something wrong, if

they have broken the law, probably. they went after me and i did nothing wrong. but that is president-elect donald trump speaking exclusively to nbc news today, answering questions about his plans for kash patel, is pick for a new fbi director. i want to bring in molly john fast, special correspondent for vanity fair. does that seem like conflicting messaging to you, given how many people trump has vocally accused of being "corrupt?" are you expecting action against his political enemies? >> well, i think that, look, it is very good to keep norms and institutions, to protect them, so, the norm is that the doj is separate, that the fbi is separate, that the president does not control these other parts of the federal government. the hope is that that will continue, and if it doesn't, the congress and the rest of us are going to have to push back. so, i was in some ways a little bit heartened that you said

that, because that is a norm that needs to be protected, but obviously, we have seen this man say things, and then say other things, and then say different things. so, it is hard for me to imagine that you could necessarily take what he says to the bank. >> fair enough. i'm wondering what your reaction was to what you said about january 6th, in particular the plants to pardon those who took part in the storming of the capitol, as well as saying the members of congress who served on the house committee should be prepared to serve jail time for themselves. is this an empty threat or should you take them seriously? >> this is the big question, is this an empty threat or should he be taken seriously? and again, this is a person who says many different things, depending on where he is. so, it's a really important question. i would say absolutely, again, you want to protect the norms and institutions, which means not going after the president's political enemies, not using the federal government for that, and i would also say that pardoning people who have done violent crimes in the name of

trump, i mean, every sort of expert on preventing this kind of thing says that it is quite dangerous to go -- to find people who have done political violence, and then, you know, pardon them, because you're saying ultimately that these crimes are not actually crimes. >> you wrote that we, the media, need to cover trump differently this time, that everything cannot be a five alarm fire, or at some point, people are just going to tune it out. was there anything in this interview that did seem like a five alarm fire? and where does the focus need to be, not just for people reported on this administration, but for democrats who are trying to push back against some of these policies? >> yeah, that is a really good point. look, for sure, there are definitely things he said in his interview, like the stuff about liz cheney, that is really scary and is really not a norm, a democratic norm, for

sure. but you know, we are in this period right now before the administration, and this often happens when there is a little bit of a wall. so, the focus should probably be reporting on this cabinet nominees, and sort of vetting them, real reporting about them, which we are seeing, and real stories come out, and that kind of stuff, i think, is really, really helpful and important. nbc reporters -- that is the thing, there is a lot of criticism of the mainstream media right now, but -- and i am on the opinion side, so i don't even have a horse in this race, but reporting is so important and we are seeing such good, important reporting, stuff that we otherwise would not know about. and if you want to stop corruption and you want to keep the federal government in line, the best thing you can do is have reporting. be reporting, have that sort of sunlight as the best disinfectant. so, that is really important norm and a really good way to

hold power to count. places like propublica and that kind of stuff is actually quite expensive because you need to pay for lawyers and how textures. >> going through reams of documents is like not -- you know, it is a hard sell sometimes. >> but it is so important, and it really is just crucial to keeping democracy going. >> molly, thank you so much. coming up, why there is new optimism about an american missing in syria. american missing in syria. tmas. the guy who got a brand new truck from mom and dad. or the guy who got all the weathertech protection for his truck. like laser measured floorliners... the under seat storage system... no drill mud flaps... impact liner with shock absorbing rings... and top it off with the alloy cover. find these american made gifts or get a gift card instantly at wt.com. (♪♪) (high five)

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breaking news about the rebel insurgency toppling the syrian government. russian state tv reporting today, president bashar al- assad and his family have fled to moscow and been granted asylum. nbc news as not yet independently confirmed these facts. earlier today, president biden expressed optimism that the u.s. will be able to get journalist austin out of syria where he was abducted 12 years ago. >> what did the u.s. know about where austin might be and if he is safe? >> we think he is alive, we think we can get him back. we have no evidence of that yet. [ inaudible ] we have to identify where he is. >> joining us now is former u.s. ambassador to russia, and affairs analyst michael mcfall. ambassador, president biden a

little while ago was able to broker that very large multi country, very complicated prisoner swap with russia in august. this is not like that. what are the challenges of bringing austin home, especially since even if he was held by the syrian regime, the syrian regime is no longer in control. x well, i really hope it is going to be true. even when i was in the government a decade ago, we tried to negotiate with the syrians and with the russians to free mr. tice. and what is happening, you are seeing with other prisoners, they are being liberated every day. in the last few minutes, we have seen them crawling out of different prisons, and the hope is that adam tice will one day be released from one of those prisons, so it won't be a negotiation, it will be a liberation. >> yeah, the images on social media have been very startling, some really traumatized people not knowing what was going on,

who has been charged, and why they have been let out because they have been in those cells for so long. russia has been a key ally throughout this long civil war. what was your reaction to the days -- the events of today and that assad has reportedly fled to moscow ? does he even speak russian? >> you know, i had two reactions. this is a horrible dictator that has killed tens of thousands of his people, slaughtered his own civilians. it is great that he is no longer in power, and you know, too bad that he doesn't face consequences from the international community, but better that he is not in power in moscow. but my second reaction, i have to tell you honestly, was sadness, because i was in the government, i was u.s. ambassador in moscow when we tried to negotiate with the russians an end to this civil war. we tried to negotiate exactly what we are seeing today. i talked with my counterparts in the ministry of foreign affairs about this very moment,

where there might be a place that assad and his people could go, and tragically, it took a decade to do. that is a decade of killing inside syria, and in my view, that what is on vladimir putin's hands. >> yeah, i mean, most analysts have said that work could not have continued as long as it did, especially at the outset, without russian support. so what you make of the fact that when he needed him post -- most, assad got no support from vladimir putin? >> it is typical. i hope that mr. majora and venezuela is thinking about that, i hope belarus is thinking about that, remember when he had to flee in 2014 in ukraine, he most certainly do not have the backing of the russians when he needed it. and again, i want to emphasize the tragedy of it, because this could have been done a decade ago. this could have been done without countless numbers of syrians being slaughtered by

assad. better than it is happening now than before, but this is because putin back to this guy. remember, he used his air force in 2015 to rescue assad. he was on his last legs in 2015. putin came in with the iranians, with hezbollah. that no longer is true, but it also is a great tragedy that so much killing has taken place over the last decade. >> how do you view the toppling of assad's resume for scow's influence, not just in the middle east, but in other places where it is trying to exert its power? is this a bellwether, is this a sign that moscow is overextended or is this a one- off and kind of in a vacuum in regards to other places like ukraine, like africa, other places russia has troops? >> you know, i think it is too early to tell. obviously, this is a big blow to putin in the middle east.

this was his trusted ally. like i just said, he used his air force for the first time ever, brought his air force into syria to prop up this dictator. and i think in the middle east, you're going to see a real winning of his power and his influence, especially with iran added seals, especially with hezbollah on its seals. how it affects ukraine and how it affects africa, i think it is too early to tell. >> ambassador, thank you so much for joining us. and that will do it for me on this edition of alex whitney reports, thank you so much for letting me fill in, i'm christina ruffini. alex will be back next saturday and sunday at 1:00 p.m. eastern, and my colleague jonathan take part is next with more breaking news coverage. take care. i'm jonathan capehart coming to you live this hour as we follow some major breaking news on several fronts. the fall of syria, the country is now in the control of rebels who have chased out the dictator who led the country for