from here? >> from here, we have a lot of options. they are good options. now we have a suspect in custody. regardless of if this person is the individual, we can hold him -- law enforcement can hold him on the fake i.d. it's illegal to carry a fake i.d. as well as a silencer. he could be detained on that as well. law enforcement is trying to get other information from him, other evidence, dna evidence. these are fingerprintable charges. that's important. now we have the opportunity to run the prints through ncic and see what comes back. in the meantime, people should still be on the comes back. in the meantime, people should still be on the lookout until we have confirmation. >> thank you so much, jillien snyder and jim kavanaugh. thank you for joining us. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. always catch our show online

around the clock on youtube and other platforms. i'm anna cabrera. reporting from new york. andrea mitchell picks up our coverage right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports" rebel forces [ inaudible ] 14 years of civil war and half century of assad family dictatorship toppling the regime. with bashar al assad fleeing to vladimir putin's protection in russia and russia and iran on their back heels, breaking news in search for the person of the death of unitedhealthcare ceo a man in pennsylvania being questioned after being found with a gun similar to what was used in last week's shooting. nypd detectives are heading to the scene. in kristen welker's "meet the press" exclusive ominous new threats by donald trump who promises to end birthright citizenship in the institution and prosecute liz cheney and her

fellow january 6th members. >> honestly they should go to jail. >> you think liz cheney should go to jail? >> for what they did, anybody that voted in favor -- ♪♪ good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington on a busy day. a lot of breaking news. after 14 years of despotic rule in syria a coalition of diverse rebel force have taken control in damascus sparking hope for the syrian people. overlone leader bashar al assad is in russia. syrians have a chance of democracy as rebel forces face the critical task of doing something they've never had to do, govern, and unite syrian's multiethnic and sectarian

fashions. richard engel is in the heart of damascus where thousands are celebrating with nts of "freedom." >> reporter: there is tremendous optimism here. every person i've talked to, they all say that this is the start of a new beginning, a beginning that they hope will be free, open, multicultural, multiethnic. we'll see if they -- >> syria's power vacuum raising big concerns about who will control two key russian military bases and ports along the mediterranean coasts and the chemical weapons stockpile which the u.s. says he used against his own people, gassing his own people, a war crime including the horrific 2013 attack on damascus. the u.s. is working to keep isis from regaining a foot hold in syria, striking 75 terror targets sunday alone, assisted

by 900 u.s. special forces troops on the ground. but the incredible speed that finally forced assad out of power highlighting how weakened his allies are, mainly russia and iran. >> for the first time ever, neither russia, iran or hezbollah could defend this abhorrent regime in syria. this is a direct result of the blows that ukraine, israel, have delivered upon their own self-defense with support of the united states. >> we begin with nbc news international correspondent rafah sanchez in tel aviv. you were up around the golan heights looking out over syria today, earlier today. walk us through who is now in control of syria. talk to me about the rebel leader and the preemptive steps israel is taking. >> reporter: exactly as you said, this is a coalition of different rebel groups, but the

largest, most powerful and most dominant is called hayat tahrir al sham an islamist group that has origins in al qaeda. it is still to this day considered a terrorist organization by the united states, but this group led by its leader abu mohammad al golani is going to great lengths to try to show both the syrian people and the world that it is moderated. they have been stressing there is not going to be persecution of minorities. there had been a lot of concern as you said syria is a multicultural, multiethnic country. a lot of concern for christians, for shias, for aloeits, bashar al assad's sect. the hts group is saying there will not be persecution of them. they are saying they will not interfere with the civil rightings of women. there had been a lot of concern in more secular damascus about what this would mean for syrian

women. you heard the president yesterday saying that the united states will judge the rebels by their actions, not by their words, that the u.s. has not forgotten their long record of terrorism in some cases, but that the u.s. will engage with hts and others to try to shape the outcome in syria. now, you mentioned this preemptive israeli action. syria's neighbors all watching very closely what is unfolding there, but israel moving absolutely decisively over the weekend we saw israeli fighter planes in the skies over syria attacking targets all over the country and israel today confirming that they were striking chemical and biological weapons sites left over by the assad regime. the israeli foreign minister the goal here is to make sure the weapons do not fall into the hands of extremist and israel since 1973 is explicitly sending

its own forces into syrian territory they say to stop the chaos from spilling over into the israeli controlled golan heights. andrea. >> it's all extraordinary, rafah. thank you so much for all your reporting this whole weekend and today, of course. joining us now white house national security communication [ inaudible ] alignments in the middle east with iran on its back foot and russia clearly not bothering to protect the assad regime. they have air power and they could have used air strikes, drones. they didn't. and the syrian military collapsing. >> yeah. i think as the president said yesterday, andrea, this is a historic moment and it's also a historic opportunity here as the balance of power in the middle east is, obviously, shifting.

it's shifting away from assad's backers. iran and russia principally. neither country, not only unwilling, andrea, but in our view, unable to really prop up assad and keep him in power because both of them have been deeply hurt militarily specifically by the wars in ukraine and, of course, the ongoing conflict between israel and hamas and hezbollah. hezbollah wasn't there to back up assad either and neither hamas. this axis of resistance that iran has in place in the region is fraying at the ends and i think that speaks volumes about what the possibility is here for a real shift in the middle east and hopefully towards a government in syria that can really look after the people of syria who have suffered so much over the last 14 years. >> john, to that point, the leader of this group has a $10 million, you know, reward on his

head. he's on the terror list. this group includes elements that are both atheists and fundamentalists, all types, including some direct descendents of al qaeda and isis. how do you make sure these people can govern and this doesn't become tripoli? >> that's going to be the key. i can't lay out a plan here today because all this unfolded yesterday. [ inaudible ] but i can tell you in the region through counterparts at all levels to see what we can do in the united states to foster a process led by the u.n. that can allow for a government to form, again, that meets the aspirations of the syrian people. the president had a chance today to talk to king abdullah of jordan, and i suspect he will call other counterparts in the coming days to make sure we're all working towards that same end. do we have a game plan right now? do we have a framework?

of course not. it's going to be something we work togetherly with collaborative parts. >> austin tice was kidnapped in syria 12 years ago. why is president biden so confident as he said yesterday in prepared remarks he's still alive? >> well, that's still the assumptions we're working, he's still alive. the truth is, we want to get more information about him, about his whereabouts, certainly about the conditions in which he may be held, and then try to formulate a plan to get him home where he belongs with his family. that's the going assumption right now that we still have. we have no indication to the contrary, that he's not alive, so we're going to keep working on this very, very hard. >> and we have -- we are reporting at nbc news that u.s. special envoy roger carstons is in beirut right now trying to get more information and to try to secure his location. >> yeah.

that's right. look, we, you know, the president talked about this yesterday, a time of risk and uncertainty, but it's also a time of opportunity. not only for the syrian people and, of course, their future and what -- and what a freer, more democratic, better governed syria can mean for the whole region, but also for people like austin who are -- who have been held hostage, held captive, for all these many years and trying to get them restored back to their families, back to their lives, so there are opportunities here with respect to austin that we're going to explore. >> you only have 40 days left and the president-elect tweeted that we were not going to be involved, you know -- i don't have the exact words right now, but to paraphrase his point -- he wanted to withdraw troops from syria, from south korea, that that also, you know, end the war in ukraine. so in 40 days what can you

accomplish in terms of stabilizes syria? >> well in 40 days, which is still plenty of time, i can tell you a couple things. number one, we're going to stay focused on the counter isis missions. those troops in syria are there for one purpose keep going after isis and putting pressure on their networks. yesterday as the president announced we conducted some 75 strikes against isis camps and facilities. that pressure can't let up. it's not going to let up because they're still a viable threat and we want to make sure they, isis, can't exploit the situation. number two, it is in the united states' national security interests, president biden has determined that, that a -- that a stable self-governing syria can be helpful to our national security interests and quite frankly across the region. and so we're going to do everything we can with the time we have left to work with the u.n., to work with counterparts, to work with interlockers, to see if we can't help syria get to a level of governance that meets the aspirations of the people, people that richard

engel showed that are so happy right now, we want to capitalize on this moment and make the most out of it. again, not just for the region itself but for all those syrians. >> john kirby, thank you so very much. we appreciate it. >> yes, ma'am. >> joining me "the washington post" columnist david ignatius, retired commander admiral starve redus and former pentagon official jeremy bash. david, you spent time with the forces and others in syria. you were on the ground 12 years ago and since. talk to me about the chance that these people will create something functional, something more democratic and multiethnic, you know, multireligious, rather than resorting to something that looks more like the taliban. >> so, first, andrea, there is a sense of palpable joy among the syrian people that the nightmare of bashar al assad's rule, rule

by imprisonment, torture, the brutal tactics has come to an end. there will be a moment i think when people in that joyous celebration will come together, but i've seen over and over in the arab world and around the world, that a power vacuum is often filled by different groups. there are many groups around the countryside of syria jockeying for position, trying to protect their own sect, their own community, so it's a period where [ inaudible ] there's going to need to be some ideally through the united nations that guides the process of transition, so far everything that the leader of the group we call hts, abu mohammad al golani, has done has pushed towards stabilization. yesterday when assad left

damascus and moved his forces in to protect the current prime minister of syria, to give him space in which to continue to operate a transitional government, he tried to assure the syrian army it won't be disbanded, in other words he tried to avoid making the kind of mistakes the united states made after it toppled saddam hussein in iraq. that's a good start. there needs to be quick movement by moderate arabs, uae, saudi arabia, qatar, egypt, to move ward the united nations with a package for transition that gives u.n. stamp to what comes next. if that happens, then i would be fairly hopeful that we'll see a transition to a syria that begins to come back together and work as a country. >> admiral, the syrian army collapsed. how involved does the u.s. have to be? there were 75 air strikes yesterday against isis.

do you also control the chemical weapons, russian bases, the ports, as well as the stockpiles of rockets and missiles that israeli are saying very concerned about. >> yeah. i think the united states has three interests at the moment. one is the chemical weapons and the israelis are in my view off to a good start, just evaporating those, but we need to make sure those don't end up in the hands of terrorists. er two, the islamic state still active in eastern syria. that's why we have several hundred troops there battling them. we don't want, as david said a moment ago, a power vacuum could emerge that could reignite the islamic state. we need to avoid that. that's in our interest rates. third and finally our military

partner israel is on this border. let's face it the israelis can handle themselves in any situation as we have seen, but we would not want a world they are put under pressure. in terms of what happens next, i am hopeful that this will turn out reasonably well, but as we look at the results of the arab spring writ large, we look at endings like afghanistan, like libya, where i commanded the mission that led to the overthrow of gadhafi by his own people, these things have a tendency not to turn out well. final thought, and david ignatius said it, it really has to be an international effort here to try and guide and shape this to have any kind of chance of an optimistic outcome. >> and jeremy, president-elect trump posted this, read this to

you, the united states should have nothing to do with it. this is not our fight. let it play out. do not get involved. that contradicts what the admiral says we need to make sure happens here and what david ignatius talked about here as well. >> it's like you're in a bar two guys fighting, stay out of it. it's not your fight. this is not a bar fight. this is an enormous country where there is al qaeda, isis, other elements that threaten the united states, and our allies and partners, and we have to stay on our front foot with counterterrorism separations. we have to maintain our troop presence in syria in the northeast part of the country to pound isis. we have to maintain an over the horizon air strike capability to hit terrorist targets, join with israel, take out some of the chemical, biological and other conventional weapons that might target us or our allies and partners. we have to work with jordan, with the uae, saudi arabia, our other gulf partners in the region to make sure that syria does not devolve into a power vacuum that can threaten us.

i am happy that russia turned tail and ran, i'm happy to see iran on the move out of there, i'm happy to see hezbollah decimated, happy for the syrian people but pessimistic, i would say a lot pessimistic, that a jeffersonian democracy will flourish in syria. it will take a lot of hard work by the international community to stabilize it fast. >> david, james, jeremy, thanks to all of you. in 90s seconds we have a breaking news from pennsylvania and new developments on the massive manhunt to find the person of interest linked to shooting death of the unitedhealthcare ceo. the latest details next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. reports" on msnbc. symptoms can sometimes hold you back. but now there's skyrizi, so you can be all in with clearer skin. ♪things are getting clearer♪ ♪yeah, i feel free to bare my skin♪ ♪yeah, that's all me.♪ ♪nothing is everything♪

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indeed you do. when you sponsor a job on indeed, it's easier for talented candidates to find it. which makes it easier for you to hire them. visit indeed.com/hire the investigation into last week's killing of unitedhealthcare ceo nbc news reports a man in central pennsylvania is being questioned by law enforcement after he was found with a gun similar to the unusual gun, the weapon used in the shooting. joining me law enforcement and intelligence correspondent tom winter and fbi agent clint watts. tom, tell us about this development and how it relates to the evidence found by nypd over the weekend. >> we want to be clear, this individual has not been charged with any crime, they have not been formally arrested. they were taken into custody. the police based on probable cause the ability to detain this

individual, but again, no charges have yet by filed. here's how all this went down. we are told that this person was at a mcdonald's in altoona, pennsylvania, when a number of customers saw this person, clearly [ inaudible ] the photo of his face last week all through the weekend and today, been on every television network and social media around the country, they see him, call police. police move quickly we're told, a arrive on scene and start questioning this individual and take him into custody. in the course of doing that we are told they find a gun very similar to the weapon that was used to kill unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. so that was a huge clue for the law enforcement officers that arrived right away. they, obviously, contacted the nypd. nypd detectives are racing to altoona, pennsylvania, right now. in addition to that, andrea, my colleague jonathan and myself, all the information that he, and

i are co-reporters on, there are additional items that may have been on his person that, again, are giving police some confidence they have their man, but nobody is arrested yesterday and in custody and that's the reason, of course, we're not sharing his name. that is where the investigation stands at this point. we'll see if we get any updates from police officials this afternoon. they have not announced anything, but, obviously, this has been a hot, hot investigation since moments after 6:46 a.m. last wednesday when brian thompson was shot outside the hilton just four or five blocks from where i am sitting and talking to you. i know, andrea, you know the area well. from that it started off a massive manhunt. one of the things that was so difficult and confounding for nypd detectives is the fact that for only several second we're told did he take down the mask he was wearing, a surgical mask you're looking at it from a taxicab, the taxicab he took to go to a port authority bus station near the george washington bridge. he takes it down for several

seconds, kind of flirting a little bit with the person working the counter at the hostel in new york city where he had been staying, and that's it. several eyewitnesses that we've spoken to and multiple senior law enforcement officials confirm eyewitnesses at that hostel say even when he was eating he kept his mask up only taking it down for a second or two to put a bite of food in his mouth. really a lot of discipline by this person to try not to be caught. not enough because here he is identified by people at this mcdonald's and, obviously, if this is, in fact, the person, and he is charged, it must be a huge sigh of relief to unitedhealthcare and a number of people in this country that have been concerned about this individual's movements. this investigation has seen nypd detectives go to georgia where it is believed he traveled from or the bus that came here to new york that he was on traveled. they put together an incredible timeline, dozens upon dozens of images, believed to be over 100 tracking his movements off

surveillance cameras in new york city. you're looking at six of them right here. we have probably double this just on our own. so that's where this investigation has been going. it had gone a little bit cold. it went cold when he goes into that port authority bus terminal and they don't see him board a bus. that was a bit of a challenge for them. whether a camera was not working that was supposed to or he happened to evade where the camera was pointing we don't know. the searches that occurred over the weekend if this is this person are moot at this point because they -- if they charge him apparently they have their guy. >> clint watts, it's hard to believe he could stay for a couple days in that hostel with roommates where he wouldn't have left dna somewhere. now they won't tell us everything they know, but do you think that they have dna or was he -- was he wearing gloves and never changing clothes? hard to imagine. >> yeah. i don't know. i wouldn't be surprised if they did have some sort of evidence,

maybe a fingerprint or some sort of dna evidence from the hostel that they could continue to use and they might be very useful right now that they've taken this person into custody if they're trying to match, they could do that. the one piece of unique evidence which would be a major break was the gun. it was a [ inaudible ] discovered the divers in central park over the weekend there was no information to say maybe that gun had been recovered. if that gun was with this individual and matches the type of gun that was there and if they do have some other physical evidence this is probably a major breakthrough in the case. just looking at it across the board there wasn't much to go on. those pictures have been out now in the open as tom said for many days, and this could have been the dividend that paid off. any time another picture another hour with people around the country seeing it likely you can match that person if they do show up in the public.

>> clint watt, tom winter, you've been all over this for days. thank you so much. up next, the jury in the daniel penny trial reaching a verdict. more in a live report flex. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. a mitchell reports" on msnbc. thanks for swingin' by, carl. no problem. so, what are all of those for? ah, this one lets me adjust the bass. add more guitar. maybe some drums. wow, so many choices. yeah. like schwab. i can get full-service wealth management, advice, invest on my own, and trade on thinkorswim. you know carl is the only frontman you need... oh i gotta take this carl, it's schwab. ♪ schwaaaab! ♪ have a choice in how you invest with schwab. dry eyes still feel gritty, rough, or tired? with miebo, eyes can feel ♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪ miebo is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye: too much tear evaporation. for relief that's ♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪ remove contact lenses before using miebo.

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choked a homeless man jordan neely to death on the new york city subway last year. the jury has ruled unanimously today that penny is not guilty of the second lesser charge he was facing. criminally negligent homicide. joining us now nbc news correspondent antonia hylton outside the new york hilton. the jury was deadlocked on the manslaughter charge and how did they arrive at this verdict and what was the reaction inside? >> andrea, this happened quickly this morning. the jury arrived. they went into deliberations, and one person made the comment they barely had time to take their coats off before they came back to render this not guilty verdict. and it has been incredibly emotional here. protesters broke out into chants and arguments on the street, inside the courtroom his family and supporters burst into tears exclaiming that this is america,

describing this as a racist country. the supporters of daniel penny were elated, celebrating. one person described inside the courtroom seeing him crack a smile, although he's been quite stoic throughout the entire trial. the emotion, the fear, the concern wrapped up in this story has even extended to the lawyers, the teams working on this trial. in fact, the manhattan d.a.'s office released a statement talking about their work on this trial, and it reads in part, unfortunately over the duration of this trial, talented career prosecutors and their family members were besieged with hate and threats. on social media, by phone and over e-mail, simply put this is unacceptable. andrea, look, what i'm describing here is also reflective of the larger intensity of the debate in the new york area at large, as new yorkers have since may of 2023, when this first happened, debated whether this is a case about a hero who was protecting his neighbors on a -- on public

transportation and keeping them from potentially facing physical harm or if he was someone who essentially did extrajudicial justice and decided to murder someone on the train in broad daylight. that is the emotion, the intensity that you feel here. it's reflected in the broader debates here in the city over access to health care, the treatment of people who are homeless, have nowhere to live where jordan neely was experiencing in the months and years leading up to this incident, and then just the safety and security that new yorkers feel in public spaces, all of this coming to head and represented by this case and just a moment ago, i had time to speak with jordan neely's uncle, some of the family has been here, devastated by this, and he said he was surprised by this but a family friend spoke up and sounded like he was less surprised. they see this as a case representative of american history, the feeling, of course, that this is a case that you can't deny the dimensions of racial and social justice here

in their view, and so while this comes to an end, the criminal trial for daniel penny today, certainly the debate and the pain over this case is not at an end here in new york, andrea. >> it's such important context. thank you so much, antonia hilton at the courthouse. next, more than a decade after the former marine and journalist was taken captive in syria, i'll be joined by two siblings of austin tice, about how the fall of the assad regime has brought them renewed hope. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. mitchell reports" on msnbc. in as little as seven days. now i can help again feel the difference with nervive. liberty mutual customized my car insurance so i saved hundreds. with the money i saved i thought i'd get a wax figure of myself. cool right? look at this craftmanship. i mean they even got my nostrils right. it's just nice to know that years after i'm gone this guy will be standing the test of ti... he's melting!

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the collapse of assad's regime in syria is raising new hopes that american journalist austin tice could be released after having been abducted 12 years ago. this as u.s. special envoy roger carsons arrived in beirut as part of an intensive effort to bring the former u.s. marine home. president biden saying he's committed to returning tice to his family but the u.s. needs to identify where he is. >> we believe he's alive, we think we can get him back, although we have no direct evidence of that yet and assad should be held accountable. >> austin tice was covering syria's civil war when taken captive closer to damascus in 2012. he freelanced for the "washington post" and other news outlets. the fbi is offering a reward for up to $1 million for information

that leads to tice's safety return. joining me now austin's sister and brother meghan tice malone and simon robert tice. meghan and simon robert, thank you so much for joining me. i spent the years talking to your parents, but it's good to meet the two of you. meghan, talk to me about what you know about your brother and, you know, probably not his whereabouts but how he is being held? >> we know that he is in syria. we know that he is alive and we believe that this is the time to bring him home, that this in chaos that there is opportunity and that this is the moment now to bring him home and reunite him with us. >> how were you told that he's alive? >> unfortunately, we can't dive into too many of those details. >> okay. >> but we have had independent and verified confirmation. it's been verified in many branches of the usg --

>> u.s. government. >> only supports what president biden has said multiple times now, that he is alive. >> and he said that in his speech before he was leaving and answered another question. simon robert, let's talk about your brother. help us to better understand this, the courageous reporting that he did and more about him as an example of someone who would go into a conflict zone -- >> thank you for asking. i think for me not having austin around is the biggest story because we haven't had an opportunity to develop our relationship and i've heard a lot about the amazing things he's accomplished in his life but when he was taken three days before my 19th birthday my awareness of those sorts of things was different than what it is now at 31. being aware that he's been gone

and we've been missing him is kind of the biggest impact for me, and at this current opportunity, we see a chance to bring him home and kind of fill that hole in the story and in our family. >> if i can step in and say, when austin first told me he was planning to go to syria we were together in egypt in 2021 in the spring, and the words that he said to me, i'll never forget, he said, you know, "i have to go. i have to tell the story of what is happening in syria. no one else is there and if anyone has the skill set to survive, it's me." >> because he was a former marine. >> yes. and he -- even before he was a marine, he is just the kind of person who is so intelligent and so compassionate. >> and what has been your contact -- you've met with secretary blinken. >> yes. we met with secretary blinken on

friday, and, you know, we had multiple meetings at the state department, at the white house. unfortunately, you know, our brother still isn't home, but we are hoping that they will continue to press and take the action necessary to bring him home. >> do you think that the government is doing enough to try to find your brother? >> i think that the evidence kind of speaks for itself in the sense that he hasn't been returned to us yet, and we have a strong faith in the american government and we're all raised with the faith in the american government and we believe that as long as he's not home, there's always more to be done. >> meghan, what's the impact on your mother and father? >> oh, my goodness. well, i mean 12 years is a lifetime. there have been five grandchildren added to the family.

birthdays, graduations, countless holidays and things to celebrate, and, you know, their ability -- my mother especially, to be able to be the grandmother that she wants to be and to be able to plug into our lives. i mean, her huge and obvious clear focus is getting austin home, as it should be, and so, you know, i tell people all the time, i don't just miss my brother. i also miss my mom, you know, because it has stolen her life away from her as well. >> she's a fierce advocate, and i can't tell you how many times i've seen her at journalism gatherings, "washington post" has embraced her cause. >> yes. >> very vigorously. simon robert, what example do you think that austin tice provides for journalists and for people covering conflict zones? >> for me, i think it's -- he exemplifies the work is

necessary and something we cannot give up on and has to remain a top priority to keep journalism front of mind and not only as our ability to be aware of what's going on in the world, but how to impact it as well. >> and, you know, there's great opportunity, certainly joy, richard engel, who himself was held for days in syria by one of the groups and thankfully returned to us, unharmed with his camera team, but there's great opportunity in the change, the rebellion, taking control of damascus, there's also -- there has to be fear. these groups include many who are descendents of isis and al qaeda, terrorists in this group, the leader saying all the right things right now, but we have a $10 million reward on his head because he's on the terror list. so you don't know what could happen in the chaos. >> it is true we don't know and the only thing we can say is

that we are appealing to anyone that has the authority and the ability to reunite our family. you know, i can't speak to middle east affairs. that's not my area of expertise. but we are appealing to anyone who has the ability to make this reunion happen and we are hopeful that in this chaos the opportunity is created and the right people will do the right thing and bring him home to us. >> meghan tice malone and simon robert tice, we thank you so much. thank your parents. our wishes are with you. >> thank you so much. >> definitely pass that along. thank you. >> thank you. and up next, "meet the press" moderator kristen welker joins me to dig into her wide-ranging interview with the president-elect. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc.

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♪ maybe i'm foolish, maybe i'm blind ♪ ♪ thinkin' i can see through this and see what's behind ♪ ♪ 'cause i'm only human after all ♪ me to dig into her wide-ranging me to dig into her wide-ranging

♪ i'm only human after all ♪ ♪ oh, some people got the real problem ♪ ♪ some people out of luck ♪ in an exclusive interview with nbc "meet the press" moderator kristen welker, in his first broadcast interview since winning the election, mr. trump promised pardons for january 6th defendants and mass deportations. >> you've talked about prioritizing people who have criminal histories. >> correct. >> is it your plan to deport everyone who is here illegally

over the next four years? >> well, i think you have to do it, and it's a -- it's a very tough thing to do. it's -- but you have to have -- you know, you have rules, regulation, laws, they came in illegally. >> the president-elect also insisting he will end birthright citizenship, despite the 14th amendment guaranteeing it, while being open to a solution on dreamers, people brought to the u.s. illegally as children. mr. trump saying families with mixed immigration status could be deported together. that means deporting children who are legal u.s. citizens if their parents don't want to leave them behind. >> well, i don't want to be breaking up families so the only way you don't break up the family you keep them together and you have to send them all back. >> and joining us now with congratulations from all of us is nbc's kristen welker, moderator of "meet the press." it's really hard to do that. you spent an hour and a half with the president-elect.

his first broadcast interview since he was elected. >> thanks, andrea. >> got him to talk about a lot of his campaign promises, creating a baseline for our -- you know, future reference. just incredibly helpful and fact hp checking him in realtime. what are the obstacles facing trump on mass deportations? >> well, first of all, thank you for that. thank you for having me on. there really are a lot of obstacles. he acknowledges it. it is complicated from a resources perspective to try to deport everyone who is here illegally. it's complicated from a manpower perspective. it is complicated when you think about the cost of it. by some estimates it could cost a trillion dollars a year. the president-elect telling me in an earlier conversation there is no price tag because, quote, unquote, you just have to do it. that's the sentiment he reiterated to me in our conversation on friday.

so there's all of that. and then that last piece of it, andrea, so significant, the fact that he said that yes, families who are of mixed immigration status essentially they would consider sending them back to their countries together. that gets very complicated. so there's that piece of it. then there's the dreamers piece of it, and i found this to be notable the fact that the president-elect said yes, he is open to trying to work with democrats to find a way for dreamers, those brought here illegally as children and grown up here to be able to stay. and then there's the birthright citizenship piece of it. he wants to end it on day one. birthright citizenship is guaranteed by the 14th amendment of the constitution. i said how do you get around that? he said whether it's through executive action or constitutional amendment. both of those processes are incredibly complicated, andrea. we'll have to see how this unfolds. he says it's a day one priority and something he wants to focus on in his first 100 days.

>> he also promised parnz for january 6th defendants and said committee members should be jailed. let's watch that clip. >> honestly they should go to jail. >> so you think liz cheney should go to jail? >> for what they did -- >> everyone on the committee -- >> anyone that voted in favor -- >> are you going to direct them to send them to jail. >> i'm going to focus on drill baby drill. >> in a statement liz cheney said in part this is a continuation of the assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic. what else did he say about his perceived enemies? >> well, andrea, i really did try to drill down on are you going to direct the fbi director, the attorney general to go after these people who you perceive to be your enemies, and as you heard him say there he wants to stay focused on the policies. i continued to press him, saying

that out loud, are you not sending a signal to those in charge of those top law enforcement agencies to pursue your political enemies. he says they are going to do what they think is necessary, but that statement saying those who served on the january 6th committee should be in jail, obviously, raising a lot of eyebrows. it comes as we have our own reporting that president biden is considering preemptive pardons for people who have clashed with president-elect trump from liz cheney to adam schiff on down. so that is an ang le we continu to track and you saw liz cheney with that forceful response making it clear she believes the words of president-elect trump are unconstitutional. >> well, so much more in here on his cabinet choices and robert f. kennedy jr., all of that, watch all of it on line, it's all been posted and more fresh material from that big interview today at 4:00 on "nbc news now" with kristen welker. thank you so much.

>> thanks. >> that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow us on social media. watch the best of our show any time on youtube. go to msnbc.com/andrea. chris jansing reports starts after a short break. nsing repors after a short break. she smells so good i'm actually paying attention! smell unstopable. now is the time to go back in time. and shine a light on the family journey that led to you. learn when they said, “i do.” ♪♪ when they became heroes. ♪♪ how they ruled the school. ♪♪ and what you got from your parents— the places on mom's side, and dad's side. ♪♪ detailed dna results. inspiring family history memberships. now's the time to save at ancestry. carl: believe me, when it comes to investing, you'll love carl's way. take a left here please. driver: but there's a... carl's way is the best way. client: is it?

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♪♪ good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. could this be