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 decades.

we're also following the backlash fto president-elect trump's collusive interview today on "meet the press." where he made it clear what to expect in a new administration, including comments about the potential jailing of some of his potential opponents. and all of that plus new developments in the murder of the united health care ceo in new york city.ed as the police release brand new images of the gunman, we have new -- brand-new details on where investigators are now searching. we'll have more on that ahead. we begin with the latest on the breaking news in syria, stwhere people are celebrating in the streets of damascus. rebel forces seized control of the syrian capital after 13 years of brutal civil war and more than 50 years of assad dynasty rule. russian state media is reporting that assad has arrived in moscow

with his family and being granted asylum in russia. nbc news has not independently confirmed this. but we have confirmed that cent com launched dozens of air strikes targeting known isis camps in syria. that news came just after president biden addressed the fall of the assad regime this afternoon. for more on the president's remarks as well as this new cent com offensive in syria, nbc's ali rafah joins us now from the white house. ali, let's start with what was a significant operation by cent com. tell us about that. >> reporter: jonathan, well, we heard president biden during this speech at the white house earlier reacting to this news in syria saying that he is clear-eyed about the clear connections between these rebel forces that have taken over and terrorist organizations, also saying that he's clear-eyed about the window of opportunity that this shift in power could

provide isis in the region and then a isshort time after that speach was delivered, we learned that the military had conducted 75 strikes on isis targets in syria with the goal of preventing them from having this window of opportunity to resurge in power. and this really is putting a large focus on the roughly 900 u.s. forces that are currently stationed in different parts of syria. it is right now not clear that they're under any sort of increased threat but the syrian rebel groups but the president in that speech committed to keeping the forces there. but also committed to providing continued support and protection of those forces, jonathan. >> and ally, what did we hear from the president? >> reporter: well, he struck a very cautiously optimistic tone. i think that was the main takeaway. he basically said that the syrians would be the ones to forge their own future here, but

he essentially said that the u.s. would be the one lending a helping hand in helping them be able to do that. listen to some of his comments here. >> at long last, the assad regime has fallen. this regime brutalize and tortures and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent syrians. a fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice. it is a moment of historic opportunity. for the long suffering people of syria. it is a moment of risk and uncertainty. as we all turn to the question of what comes next, the united states will work with our partners and the stakeholders in syria to help them seize an opportunity to manage the risk. >> reporter: you heard some of those commitments from the president there. other commitments that he made would be to support syria's neighbors in this region, also he committed to sending u.s. officials to the region to work with the syrians as well as the

united nations in creating what he called a sovereign syria with a new igconstitution that he sa that syrians would write themselves. so this is definitely a long to-do list for a president that has a little over 40 days left in office. again, reaffirming this commitment to stay and help in syria. but that stands in stark opposition to what we're hearing from president-elect trump. who is essentially washing his hands of this crisis. really leaning on russia and china and saying they should be the ones taking action in the next steps of this crisis. and so it is going to be interesting to see how those two different visions end up acting out, especially with before inauguration on january 20th, jonathan. >> 34 days to be exact.be nbc's ally rafah, thank you very much. and joining us now now from london is megan fitzgerald.

megan, what have you been hearing out of syria? >> reporter: well, you know, jonathan, look, over the course of the day, we have seen those celebrations from people who are rejoicing in the street and celebrating the fall of the oppressive assad regime that has gripped the nation more than 50 years and we're seeing people being released from the notorious prisons and amnesty international called the prisons human slaughterhouses where mass hangings whand exterminations tk place. where people were tortured. many syrians believe that they are now free. and i want to you listen to a video that a syrian man sent our colleague raf sanchez.co take a listen. >> now, you can sleep. and think of tomorrow. now we can sleep while you know that 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're free. syria, we're free people. >> an emotional day for so many and a moment giving a lot of people hope. but the big question is what is next. how will the country be governed moving forward. hts has said that the syrian people don't need to fear them. that eethey will respect minori groups. but while there has been a lot of celebration, this is a moment of great uncertainty for the syrian people. how we got here is something that i think shocked a lot of people. we're talking about a lightning fast offensive which kicked off less than two weeks ago when the rebels captured aleppo. but it really accelerated over the last 48 hours and it is certainly appearing as though they were met with very little resistance. last night rebels took over hamas, which is the largest

province, seizing control of the syrian lebanese border and cutting off the road between damascus and the syrian coast mawhich weakened the assad regi. hours later, the rebels led by hts said they were in control of damascus and the country. but how will syria be governed and these are questions that remain to be seen. >> megan fitzgerald, thank you very much. and we have the perfect person to ask about how we got here and he's former cia director john brennan, an msnbc security and intelligence analyst and author of the book "undaunted, my fight against america's enemies at home and abroad." thank you very much for being here. u.s. forces justice carried out dozens of precision air strikes on camps in central syria. what do you make of that action?

>> well, i think the biden administration and cent com are worried that they could take advantage of the territory in isis. clearly rythese rebels have had great momentum over the last two weeks and this is basically a coalition of rebel forces that are united in their animosity toward assad.ss and isis has contacts with a number of individuals within this coalition. as we know -- asham, the hts coalition has its roots in al qaeda. so there are a lot of islamist extremists there. and there are large swaths of syrian territory that are ungoverned and i think the concern is now given the great uncertainty that isis may try to capitalize on it. >> i was reading in one of the papers this morning, this phrase catastrophic success. that that was something inside of the american administration,

i can't remember if it was obama administration or biden st administration, but the idea that getting rid of the assad regime would be the success part. but the catastrophic part would be what comes next. director brennan, what does the end of bashar al assad's regime mean for geopolitics in the middle east right now. >> it means a brutal regime, assad and his father had valued are a iron hand and a bloody suppression of the syrian people for last 50 years so that is why we see the celebrations and emotional comments of father holding his son. but at the same time, syria is a patch work of religions and it is a diverse country and so now what happens now. it is one thing to be able to bring together the militia and para military forces in their shared animosity against assad, but whether or not there is going to be an effective

governing coalition that could take over power in damascus, we'll have to wait and see. but do you think that the landscape of the middle east is changed now as a result. we see the russians basically are pulling most of their people cally russia and soviet union before it. it is lone roots within the middle east. it has a port in the mediterranean and so russia has relied heavily on the relationship with syria over the years. you don't have that any more. clearly iran and hezbollah has had strong relations with the htm and this is a sunni islamist force oppose totd shia and and hezbollah and iran. so i think we're at the early stage of this and we'll have to see how this will evolve over

time. >> let's talk about how the rebels made this stunning breakthrough materialize. how were they able to capture damascus after a decade of no progress. >> well, for manufacturer years the rebel forces were fighting one another. they were undermining their own effectiveness because there were pitch battles between the various groups and the head of hts, gelani and his name is acmen ashasha, he's a clear leader that has put aside a lot of the tensions within the groups and to bring them together very effectively. the syrian opposition rebel forces have really changed over the years. at the very beginning of the arab spring there was a large sect lar component and the free large groups defected from the syrian military that were opposed to assad's continued rule over time the complex rebel forces become much more islamist and we've chseen over time,

whether it is isis or the al qaeda group within syria, these inare forces that really have continued to put pressure on the military and the will to fight was starting to evaporate over the syrians and the russians saw the writing on the wall and which is why they have not come to respond. they have launched missiles from the black sea. but the main backers of assad saw this was just a rapidly collapsing military within syria. so, again, the challenges ahead, because much of this country has been destroyed over the last 14 years or so, the syrian economy and the infrastructure is in shambles. so the hts is inheriting a country and it is going to be quite challenging to address the pent up needs of the syrian people. >> and one more question for you, director brennan.

not only is this the end of the bashar al assad regime, it is the end of the entire assad family's 53 year reign in syria. talk about mithe impact on that country over five decades. >> well it comes from a minority sect, which is a shia sect. and they've been able to control the government and the military. even though there were a lot of sunni and even christians that were part of the syrian government. bashar's father and then bashar have again ruled ruthlessly with the support of their external benefactors, russia and iran and hezbollah. so that is why we see that there is such jubilation in the streets. he, again, has blood illy suppressed and tortured individuals. the prisons are being opened up. there is hope that austin tice, an american journalist who has been missing for a dozen years

may come home. we can't overstate just how brutal and ruthless and bloody the assad regimes have been. but, again, we have seen brutality in syria in so many different forms in terms of isis and others. so, we still have a long way to go before we see that this really has been a -- a positive development for the syrian people and for the region as a whole. >> former cia director john brennan, thank you very much for coming to the program and your expertise. still to come, president-elect trump's wide-ranging interview with "meet the press" moderator kristin welker and new details about his thoughts on political retribution against members of the january 6 select committee. but first, new information just in on the investigation of the killing of a united health llcare ceo. we'll tell you about the area their searching now. we're back after this. ake it la. say hello to your fairy godmother alice, and long-lasting gain scent beads.

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welcome back. there is more breaking news this

afternoon. as the manhunt intensifies for the man who shot and killed united health care ceo brian thompson outside of the hilton hotel in midtown manhattan on wednesday morning. moments ago, nbc news learned that the nypd scuba team is in central park waters searching for evidence, including the gun used by the suspect. overnight, the nypd released these new photos of the suspect that appear to be taken from inside of a taxi cab. but it is unclear when. nbc's prescilla thompson joins us now from new york city. prescilla, what more are we learning? >> yeah, jonathan, so we know that this is a specialized team that is in central park searching the waters. they are very murky right now but they're using a grid formation and their specialized in knowing if they find evidence in the water to be able to recover that so the police can use it in their investigation. and we've seen nypd and central park over the past couple of

days since the backpack was found late friday night looking in that area for any additional evidence and the big piece of evidence being the gun that was used in the shooting. that is something that they have still not recovered. but they did find a jacket and also some monopoly money in that backpack and we know that it was sent to a lab to be tested for dna and also fingerprints. at the same time, overnight we saw the nypd releasing more images of the suspect. perhaps the clearest images yet of his actual eyes from when he appears to be sitting in the backseat of that taxi cab. and that comes as the nypd has really been doing an extensive scouring of video evidence throughout the city. they were able to put together this timeline to better understand this person's movements after the shooting that they fled through the alley on a bike in central park and at some point they did get into a cab ab head into the port authority building. so they believe that this person has taken a bus elsewhere and so getting those images out there,

hoping if anyone may have seen that person board a bus, perhaps more importantly saw them when they got off that bus, be able to help them locate this individual. we also know that the nypd has now sent detectives to atlanta where it is believed that the bus that the -- this person of interest took into new york city originated from and they're looking at video evidence from that bus station to see if they can see any sign of him there. and they're also going to be checking for the other bus stations along that route as it made stops heading into new york city. again, for any additional evidence to pinpoint where this person might be, who this person is. we heard mayor eric adams yesterday suggesting they may have additional evidence that their not sharing publicly about the identity of the person and possibly other evidence related to this case. but at this point their still putting the pictures out and asking for anyone with information to call the tip line. jonathan. >> one more question for you. there are about eight different bodies of water in central park.

did the nypd specify which ones or whether they're looking at all of them? >> reporter: so, our law enforcement sources did not specify which one. but we know from wnbc, out there shooting video of the scuba teams that they're in the area with the backpack is found. so it is a body of water where the backpack was found. jonathan. >> nbc's priscilla thompson, thank you for that report. and joining us now, cedric alexander, senior law enforcement analysts. thank you for being here. as we were just discussing, the nypd scuba team is search it's the waters in central park for evidence near where the backpack was found looking for evidence including the gun. how difficult is it to conduct this type of search? >> well, any kind of water search is certainly going to present its challenges. and of course, there is also

some danger involved in that. but they have skilled, trained, certified divers that are going to go into that water as a team. and they're going to do a very extensive search of where they believe evidence may be found. but, their experts at that. but it is a daunting task. it is not an easy task. and it certainly does take some time, as well, too, jonathan. >> mayor eric adams said yesterday, that the net is tightening around the suspect. along with the new photos, authorities found what they believe to be suspect's backpack in central park. there was no gun inside. but it did contain a jacket and fake monopoly money. how will law enforcement use this new evidence to track down the suspect? >> well, that is the information that they have begin us that they have gathered from the backpack. but of course, there could be other forensic evidence such as body fluids, sweat, et cetera. it could be blood on it.

there could be a variety of physical evidence that they may be able to acquire and match that up with whoever they may have as a suspect. if there is some identification on file of this person, so it is a very critical piece of evidence should that be the backpack that belongs to him. and there certain is opportunity there to gather a great deal of physical evidence that is within and also on the outside of that backpack. >> what new challenges could law enforcement face as this manhunt now in its fifth day wears on? do you think they might already know the name of the shooter but just aren't telling us yet? >> well, you know, that is hard to determine and i can tell you, as a former chief myself, in these types of investigations, particularly very high-profile investigations such as this one, you have to be very careful in terms of how you share information.

you want to keep the community engaged in terms of here is what we know, here is the person we may be looking for. but they still have to be cautious to make sure that they do not in any kind of way impede upon that investigation as it moves along. and even though all of us are ready for this person to be brought to justice, it is been five days, they've got a lot of work still yet to do and even if they have identified someone, they have to be very careful in terms of releasing that information and sharing it because we don't know all of the circumstances and all of the information your nypd may be working with there. >> the fbi announced a $50,000 reward on friday for information leading to an arrest and conviction. but nbc news is reporting about how many people are angry about the state of u.s. health care and have said on social media that they won't help find the suspect. how could this be impacting the

investigation and do you think that the new reward could help? >> well, i said a couple of days ago, jonathan, that because of the vitriol messaging that is out there and people who have had personal negative experiences with insurance companies across the country, and when something like this happens, sad to say unfortunately should not be this way. people will be somewhat empathetic and people who have identified him or have recognized him may be somewhat hesitant because of their feelings towards our insurance industry. our medical insurance industry in this country. it should not be that way and i would encourage anyone if you know who this person is, if you have seen him, you think that you have seen them, notify your local authorities because we need to get in individual off our streets in this country. because that was a very brazen act of violence. that just should not have

occurred and should happen to no one, jonathan. >> cedric alexander, thank you very much for coming here this afternoon. and up next, what president-elect donald trump told kristin welker about his mass deportation plan in his 100 days including who he thinks should go and in what order. plus, more of our continued coverage of the ongoing regime change in syria. and the big risks that the nation faces moving forward as rebels -- as rebel groups jockey to fill the power vacuum in damascus. that is next. mascus that is next noom, the psychology 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. 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.

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i love that my daughter still needs me. but sometimes i can't help due to burning and stabbing pain in my hands, so i use nervive. nervive's clinical dose of ala reduces nerve discomfort in as little as seven days. now i can help again feel the difference with nervive. president-elect donald trump is shaking things up in typical trump fashion. in an exclusive interview with nbc's kristin welker that aired today on "meet the press." trump said he will, quote, likely pardon those jailed for attacking the capitol on january

6. trump offers his thoughts on the fate of the january 6 committee members including former republican congresswoman liz cheney. here is part of what he had to say. >> and cheney was behind it. and so was bennie thompson and everybody on that committee. >> we're going to -- >> for what they did. >> yeah. >> honestly, they should go to jail. >> so you think liz cheney should go to jail? >> for what they did. >> everyone on the committee. >> i think everyone on the committee, everyone that voted in favor. >> are you going to direct your phish director to send them to jail. >> not at all. i think they'll have to look at that but i'm not going to -- i'm going to focus on drill baby drill. >> joining us now, april ryan, seen year white house correspondent and washington bureau chief for the agreo. she's also an msnbc contributor and author of "black women will save the world, an an them." thank you for being here. let's start off with what the president-elect had to say about the members of january 6 committee. do you believe this is a clear

example of him making good on his campaign promises about seeking political retribution? >> you know, this is kind of controversial and two sides of the coin if you will. he is saying, no, that he's not going to tell his people, if they're confirmed like kash patel and others and the head of doj, to go after liz cheney and bennie thompson, but, yes, he feels that they should be held accountable for voting against him in the january 6 select committee. any time donald trump puts your name in his mouth, there are people who go after you. that is a fact. it is not myth, it is not conjecture. so i'm not surprised that he made those comments to "meet the press" today. but, at the end of the day, this is who this president is. his whole campaign was about retribution. and that is what he spoke about

this morning. >> and as we know, cash patel, his nominee for fbi director, has an enemies list in the back of his latest book. to the president-elect doesn't have to ask kash patel to do something. he has written what he would do. listen to trump's comments about those who were arrested for attacking the capitol on january 6. watch this. >> i want to look at everything. we're gointo look at everyone, individual cases, but i'm going to be acting very quickly. >> within your first 100 days, first day. >> first day. >> for these pardons. >> these people have been, how long is it. three or four years. by the way, they've been in there for years. and they're in a filthy disgusting place that shouldn't even be allowed to be open. >> april, you're reaction.

>> january 6 was something that we all saw. it reverberated around the world, not just in the nation. these people were not going for a pleasant trip with a picnic basket to celebrate the statues and the fallen heroes. they were trying to go after the current government leaders, and trying to secure donald trump as president at that time. as that was the day that they were securing the electoral college votes. even donald trump's then vice president mike pence was in their target. there was a gallows erected, they were looking to hang mike pence. and, yet, these people are considered honorable? it is beneath them to be in jail. it's something different than what we understand what we saw in our history books. >> what we saw live on that day and what we saw just in the pictures we were showing as you

were answering that question. i want to turn now to trump's immigration plan. here is some of what he had to say on that. >> first of all, they're costing us a fortune. but we're starting with the criminals and we have to do it. and then we're starting with others and we're going to see how it goes. >> who are the others. >> others people outside of criminals. we have convicted murderers. people that aren't even on trial. we have people that have murdered numerous people are on our streets and in our farms. and we have to get them out of our country. >> do you think trump will be able to execute the plan that he has laid out? >> others outside of the criminals, that is the piece. who are the others? when you talk about immigration, there are so many facets to the immigration system. it's the broken border, but at that border, it is not just mexicans. we talk about this. it is el salvador, it is

haitians, africans, brazil, people from all orn the world. so -- it is even asians. who are ott others? and the question begs, for those who are here legally and there could be some confusion if they are here, did you need to keep your immigration papers with you at all times? because who are the others that donald trump is speaking of? you know, i talked to someone, i just did a story this week on immigration. i talked with someone, after african who left and went back to west africa, he was deported, one of the first trump term, and he said, because of a -- a glitch there the system, he had to be sent back. he was sent back but i asked would you ever come back to this state and he said no because the system is broken. and we see it already. but who are the others that the president is talking about? that is what we need to know. >> april, also in the interview, kristin asked him about families

where they are status discordened families, where some are u.s. citizens and some are not. and the president-elect said, well then the whole family has to go. the political and social impact of that, if you were to fulfill that promise? >> it is not just political and social. there is an economic component, jonathan. this country has a balance, as i've said before in the article. we have a balance in this nation for illegal immigration. this immigration system works through that. and if they are gone, if there is a mass deportation, walmart, the heads of walmart even said that it would cost prices to rise from your groceries at the store, your favorite fruit to your breads. also if you are in need of a car in the next couple of months, and there is a tariff. let's talk about the tariffs

too. where they're talking about the immigration system and punishing countries because they're not doing the right job. if there is a 25% tariff on parts in mexico and those go to the cars that are made here, the prices of cars will go up. so, who are those people when you pull in families, those families work on farms, landscaping, and factories in different places and it will cause a impact to ripple impact all of us. >> april ryan, thank you very much for coming to the show today. up next, big questions for the future of syria following bashar al assad's ouster and the stark warning for u.s. officials for keeping isis from rising back into power. you're watching msnbc reports. y. . ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ask your doctor about farxiga.

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more now on the breaking news out of the middle east this hour. rebel forces in syria have

toppled president bashar al assad's regime forcing him to flee to russia. earlier a commander wrote on what's app wrote we declare us free to the displaced people around the world, free syria awaits you. assad was there power for almost a quarter of a century after the death ever his father who took control of syria in 1971. now, with the long time leader gone, questions are swirling about syria's future. joining us now, bobby gosh, senior editor at bloomberg. bobby, talk to us about the frig illity of this moment. as they begin to forth a new path forward. >> jonathan, i would like to start by opponenting out the opportunities before we get to the risks. you're talking about a country that are people that have been traumatized for generations, as you pointed out, the two father and son have ruled in decades

and in the last years they have endured incredible trauma under the hands of the most brutal regime in the world. and yet they perseveres and came back and yet they overthrew the regime with remarkably little actual violence. that is something to hold on to. and this movement, this whole crisis in syria began in the arab spring and it seems way back in the rearview mirror now, but these people have had an opportunity to see what happens to the other arab spring countries that went wrong. they saw what happens in egypt and in yemen and in libya. they've had now plenty of opportunity to learn lessons. and you have to allow the possibility of these people will have learned those lessons and going forward will do things differently from those countries and will get it right. that having been said, as you point out, the situation is fragile. we're talking about a country

that has been devastated and it will take enormous resources, human as well as financial to build this country back up. millions of people have been displaced from their homes for over' decade. millions of them live abroad as refugees and in places like jordan and turkey. but also father afield. bringing them all back. the groups that have overthrown assad, they are not been united. they have a history of disgraemt and even violence between them. so you have to watch out for the risks of backsliding. but in this moment of optimism, you have to cling as most syrians are doing and all of my syrian friends that i've spoken to across the spectrum, they're clinging to the possibilities rather than the -- ahead of them. >> bobby, talk to me about this. nbc news has confirmed that u.s.

forces just carried out dozens of precision air strikes on camps in central syria. will this help deter isis from filling the power vacuum that is -- that now exists in syria? >> it certainly will. isis controls a small part of syria compared to 10, 15 years ago. and they're quite hemmed in by the kurds in the north, by the rebels from the east and the u.s. backed forces from the south. so they are tightly contained. but they will be looking, isis would be looking at this as an opportunity to quickly expand their reach. so the u.s. bearing down on them from particularly from the air will help a lot. and clearly these rebel forces will also be on the lookout for any chance that isis might want to break out of that constricted area and try to expand their influence. they will take all of the help

they could get. and it seems to be the right thing to do. you let the rebels who have done most of the hard work and overthrowing the regime, you let them work with other groups to try and figure out what to do next with the country. but in the meanwhile, you help with just to say we, as the u.s., we help by keeping a lid on isis and making sure they don't take advantage of the situation. >> one more question for you, bobby, the rebel coalition appears to share leadership with an islamist relationship to al qaeda. there is still a possibility that a hard line islamist government could fill the power vacuum? >> there is a possibility. i find that unlikely because there is a core of islamist-sunni group within this coalition, but it is a coalition. that group by itself could not have won this stunning victory, they're aware of it. they have evolved quite a bit

over the past 15 years, the language they have used in the last few days seems much more inclusive. it is not the kind of language we've heard from the past. are they bluffing? there is always that possibility. but, within the dynamics of the syrian opposition to assad, there are -- there is a wide spectrum of different groups and at the moment no one group has complete dominance over every other group. so there is the awkwardness, that some of the groups regard as terrorists, that some of the commanders that led this fight back are -- have a price on their head from the united states government. that is a real awkwardness that will get in the way of diplomatic initiatives in the days ahead. but right now, i would say, you never say never in situations like this, especially after a traumatic several years in a country, but at the same time, it seems unlikely that we're going to see this group slide all the way back to where they

were 15, 17 years ago and return to the worst manifestation of themselves. >> senior editor at bloomberg, bobby gosh, thank you for coming to the program today. coming up, breaking news, liz cheney responds to donald trump's assertion today that she and other members of the january 6 committee should be in jail. we'll head to capitol hill for a live report. live report.

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we have some breaking news from former congresswoman liz cheney who is responding to president-elect trump's comments about sending members of the january 6 committee to jail. let's goo right now to nbc's julie cirque live from capitol hill. what are you hearing. >> reporter: we've covered the january 6 select committee investigation into what happened on that day extensively and certainly z cheney is no longer a member of congress and lost her position on the house leadership structure when she joined this panel. when she made some disparaging remarks about the president's -- then president trump's conduct on that day and the two have had bad blood for years. liz cheney's statement is coming after trump told our own kristin welker that members of that committee should be jailed. he, of course, this is not the first time he suggested that. about liz cheney and now she's responding. saying that donald trump attempted to overturn the 2020

presidential election and seize power. he mobilized an angry mob and sent them to the united states capital where they attacked police officers, invaded the building and halting the official counting ever electoral votes. trump watched on tv as police officers were beaten and the capitol was assaulted and donald trump's suggestion that members of congress who later investigated his illegal and unconstitutional actions should be jailed is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic. trump also said in that same interview, with our kristin welker, that he may pardon some of the january 6 defendants, his supporters who were arrested and charged for storming the capitol for breaching this building and for trying to stop that certification process from takes place. so all of this is definitely important to watch. anecdotally as i was walking into this building today, capitol police officers noticed that and they made some remarks to me about that. so this is going to have some practical effects on the people

here getting ready for a second trump presidency, jonathan. >> julie, let me get on one more thing. i understand you have new reporting on cha chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, ben cardin, his reaction to the fall of the syrian regime. what are you hearing. >> key leaders members of the foreign relations and intelligence committees are still waiting to be briefed by the administration. they expect to be briefed in the coming hours, maybe even tomorrow. as everybody learns more about what is unfolding in syria. cardin saying in a statement for the first time in decades, syrians have a real opportunity to move past the horrors inflicted by al assad and beyond the decades of suffering under his family's brutal rule. we heard from the other side of this capitol, the top republican on the house foreign relations committee, michael mccaul, who spoke out about this as well, of course. he kind of echoed what cardin is saying. every leader that we've heard from, of course, has said the same thing. this is a moment in which russia

and iran are seriously weakened but there are real question marks that remain on the future of this. they want to know how syrians will rebuild their government and you heard biden say today that the u.s. will assist them militarily and of course with those isis targets that they started today. >> julie, coming to us from capitol hill. thank you very much. and does it for me this hour. thanks for staying with us. dope forget to join me at 6:00 p.m. eastern for the sunday show right ear on msnbc. i'll be talking to new jersey senator andy kim, just appointed by the new jersey governor on his top priorities and what is next for the new congress and get his thoughts on trump's cabinet picks. but don't go anywhere. "politics nation" are the reverend al sharpton is coming up after a quick break. nd al shg up after a quick break

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