right now on ""ana cabrera reports" luigi mangione defiant, what his lawyers are saying about the evidence and new details about the suspect's life of privilege. >> plus a california wildfire

explodes in size. we are on the ground in malibu where thousands have been forced to evacuate. also ahead, the man accused of plotting to kill donald trump due in court this hour. why ryan ruth is asking to delay his trial by nearly a year. and america's top diplomat in the hot seat on capitol hill, secretary blinken set to be grilled in just moments about the chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan. great to be with you, it's 10:00 eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york, and this morning, the suspect charged in the targeted killing of a health care exec remains behind bars in pennsylvania. luigi mangione is fighting extradition from new york after being denied bail. the suspect shouted and struggling against officers as he was brought into court. >> and an insult to the

intelligence of the american people's lived experience. >> mangione's lawyer says his client will plead not guilty to the murder of unitedhealthcare brian thompson, dismissing the list of evidence police say links him to the crime. >> listen, i haven't seen any evidence that says he's the shooter. the fundamental concept of american justice is the presumption of innocence, and until you're proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. i have seen zero evidence at this point. >> nbc's stephanie gosk is in pennsylvania, also with us retired fbi assistant director and nbc news senior national security analyst, frank figliuzzi, and former federal prosecutor barrett berger, stephanie, where does this case stand this morning with mangione fighting extradition to new york? >> reporter: so, ana, he's fighting extradition which could slow it down for a couple of weeks, but likely is going to move forward at some point. officials in pennsylvania and new york thought it would be a little bit easier, but in that

hearing yesterday, his newly acquired defense attorney stood up and said his client was going to fight extradition. we were in that courtroom. mangione, it was interesting, he was calm, relaxed, smiling at times. that was totally different from how he presented himself on the way in, shouting at cameras. in terms of the investigation, law enforcement officials have not said what the motive may have been in this case, allegedly, but we do know that they're looking at his feelings about the health insurance industry in general, and nbc news has learned that there's an internal analysis of the investigation where investigators say that he may be looking at this as a kind of -- this murder of brian thompson as a kind of quote, symbolic take down. they are also analyzing those three handwritten pages that were found when he was arrested, broadly criticizing, according to three law enforcement officials, the health industry in general, but also

specifically mentioning unitedhealthcare, calling the industry parasites, but they have not said that he had a specific motive up to this point. he also said in those pages that he was not working with anyone, and while the nypd has not said they have found any evidence that he was working with someone else, they are keeping open that possibility. for now, as you mentioned, he's back in a pennsylvania prison. the next scheduled court date is december 23rd. >> stephanie gosk, thanks for bringing us the very latest. is it unusual for someone to fight extradition to a neighboring state? what's the goal for mangione to fight this? >> most defendants in an interstate extradition like this will consent. there's really only one reason to fight this, if you think that the requesting state has the wrong person. remember, the extradition process now is not concerned with the merit of the charges ultimately. it's about the identity. so right now the process is

governor hochul will sign a warrant, it will be delivered to governor shapiro, he will sign it. mangione will have a chance to contest it and say you have the wrong person. i'm not the person charged in the documents in new york. he will be extradited. this just delays the process. >> the cover of the new york daily news highlighting mangione's outburst during which he said, and i quote, again, it's completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the american people and their lived experience. what did you make of that moment? >> so, increasingly, and now with this latest statement, it's looking like mangione is a cause killer. he's a mission killer. what does that mean? he's driven by ideology and not necessarily a direct personal beef with his targeted victim. why is that significant? makes it harder for detectives because, you know, i'm certain

that nypd and unitedhealthcare security were combing through their threat files. every company keeps threat files, and as they're going through the names and they're saying, is this guy even insured by us, the answer might have been no, and he's never threatened us. that really causes a burn of resources. you got to do it. but don't expect a direct line. we haven't found that yet. moreover, he simply did research, it's quite possible, and found that united was the most egregious offender in his mind. so that makes it hard. the other thing is ympathy, a jury might look at this and go, i got my own terrible insurance story, so it impacts the investigation and possibly even the prosecution. >> mangione has retained an outside attorney who says he hasn't seen any evidence that says mangione is the shooter.

based on your experience and how prosecutors build a case, how strong is the evidence? >> the evidence appears, at least from what we know right now, to be incredibly strong. i mean, if you look at just the fact of what he was actually arrested with when he was found in pennsylvania, he had the ghost gun with the silencer, the fake documents that were used in new york. i mean, just on that evidence alone, not to mention all of the security footage that captured him, and all the other evidence the prosecutors are going to be able to put together, it looks like their case is incredibly strong. >> and, frank, other evidence are his writings, right? nbc news got in touch with a sub stack writer. they exchanged 20 e-mails from april to june and spoke via video chat for two hours, along with sending direct messages on x and substack, and he says mangione complained about how expensive health care was in the u.s. the writer says mangione also expressed interest in the

ideology of ted kaczynski, the unabomber, saying mangione disapproved of his deadly actions but quote, shared his concerns about rampant consumerism gradually eroding our agency and alienating us from ourselves. frank, how does that fit into the investigation and a potential motive? >> yeah, this is eerily similar to the unabomber case, which i touched on. i was assigned to san francisco division and the fbi that was headquarters for the unabomber investigation. we all had a piece of that, and yes, the manifesto has been read by the mangione of the unabomber, and yes, he said i concluded that there are scenarios where it's ethical to murder someone. very damming, by the way, as is his own mini manifesto where he basically confesses, i did this, it had to be done. they deserved this. and for evidence, let's not forget, reportedly nypd got dna

off of the water bottle and possibly the cell phone, so they may have already -- pennsylvania may have already taken his dna swab. if that's a match, this fighting extradition is going to be real quick. >> berit, you just mentioned the gun investigators say mangione had on him when they took him into custody, and they're looking into whether he made the gun or maybe whether somebody sold it to him. how does that impact the potential charges here? >> yeah, so these ghost guns are guns that are sold as not fully assembled firearms. some of these can actually have components that were manufactured with 3d printers. there's been reporting that at least the casing was manufactured with a 3 d printer remains to be seen. that will form the basis of an additional charge. it's important to remember that these are guns that are so difficult to regulate, and for law enforcement to, you know, follow and be able to track, so that's why they are such a

pernicious threat. >> frank, how interesting is it or surprising is it that he was on the run for days after the shooting, and while we can't confirm that the gun he had on him was the gun used in the murder, how surprising is it that he didn't try to get rid of the gun. what does that tell you? >> yeah, my theory on that is, first of all, he may have been contemplating another target, thereby let me keep my weapon. number two, he's more about making a statement than evading arrest. hence, you know, all the money in his allegedly the cash found in his backpack, yet he didn't leave the country. he could have, $8,000 in cash, a passport. he chose to go to altoona, pennsylvania, trying to ponder what's next for me. didn't plan out this thing. tgs it's not about escape. it's out making a statement. >> people are selling merchandise, glorifying mangione, bullets and fake

christmas ornaments that bear the words, deny, defend and depose. what's the reaction to that? do you worry about copy cats, seeing that people seem to be connecting with this crime? >> my colleagues has security for fortune 500s and the insurance industry say this is a wake-up call for them and their . we have already seen concrete action taken, insurance companies taking exec utives' names off web sites, going virtual for annual shareholders and investors meetings, beefing up security. in some cases, there was nonexistent security on the ceo, and some saying, i'm rethinking this, i do need security. for police, there's a valid concern for copy cats out there. if this becomes the answer to society's problems in the corporate world, we're in for a lot of trouble, and i think we need to rethink how we approach this. the real heroes here are the folks at mcdonald's, who are under threat, by the way, but a

customer and an employee, they called 911. they should get the reward money. we should be lauding them, not threatening them. >> the nypd deputy commissioner addressed this glorifying the presence of the shootinger. here she was on "morning joe." take a listen. >> this guy is not a hero. he's not a hero. if you have any issues with somebody, we don't go out there and commit violence. this guy committed cold-blooded murder on our streets, and that's not something that we tolerate, and i don't think that he's a hero for that. >> and berit, on top of this, mangione's lawyers people have been calling in to his office, offering to pay mangione's legal fees. your thoughts about that, is that legit? can people do that? >> people can. i think ultimately this is all, i mean, this won't have relevance for his legal case down the road. what this could do is build some sort of jury nullification defense.

if the prosecution's case is as strong as we were saying, and it probably is, all of this, you know, he's a martyr, and he was doing this on behalf of, you know, the little guy. all of that goes to some sort of juror nullification, hoping that he could ultimately find one or two people on the jury that were sympathetic to his cause that, you know, found it. even though it wouldn't be a legal defense that they might find it some sort of emotional or moral defense. >> berit berger, frank figliuzzi, thank you for offering your expertise. tens of thousands impacted by a fast moving wildfire in southern california, including some celebrities. plus, capitol hill grilling, the hearing expected to start any minute with secretary of state blinken over the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. also, senate hardball, how trump world is turning the screws on skeptics of his administration picks. and another pro athlete experiencing a home break-in. is it connected to the others? we're back in 90 seconds. we're s

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. some breaking news this morning in california where a wildfire has ruthlessly devoured homes and forced thousands to evacuate in malibu. just imagine trying to evacuate on a road like this. the franklin fire has exploded now to over 3,000 acres. more than a dozen structures already damaged or reduced to piles of ash. local officials are urging

residents now to conserve water, so firefighters have enough. nbc meteorologist angie lassman standing by with more on the weather impacting these flames, but first, let's go closer to the fire lines where nbc's dana griffin is joining us in malibu. dana, what is the situation there this morning? >> reporter: ana, good morning to you. many of you may have seen us earlier today when we were live. there was an orange glow all around us, fire flaming up. firefighters have done a pretty great job on this section of the franklin fire. you can see some flames on the side of me. for the most part, they have been able to put enough water on top of it to try to stamp it out. those santa ana winds have kicked up overnight. seven homes have been destroyed, eight are damaged. there are 1,500 firefighters working around the clock to try to put out this destructive wildfire. overnight, the franklin fire exploding in size, growing to

more than 3,000 ache res, racin downhillsides, crossing the pacific coast highway and putting fire crews to the test. the fire fueled by santa ana winds gusting up to 65 miles per hour. the blaze shining so brightly on the coast it can be seen in this satellite image. as the flames raced down bone dry canyons early tuesday, thousands of residents in the area forced to flea. >> the winds coming straight down malibu canyon like a blow torch. >> just fire everywhere around us. >> reporter: linda michelle said she had just minutes to escape, flames destroying the guest house where she lived but sparing houses and other structures on the property. >> the smoke was so thick and just like all that, everything was just orange, orange, orange. >> reporter: multimillion dollar homes in jeopardy, some already burned to the ground. some residents like alec gelis taking matters into their own hands in an effort to save homes. >> the houses can go like

dominos, one goes and another can go. it starts with spot fires. >> reporter: celebrities, including cher, according to "the new york times" and dick van dyke among the evacuees. >> rest assured we're going to have a coordinated air and ground assault on this fire for as long as it takes. >> reporter: helicopters and fixed wing aircraft joining efforts of crews on the ground. to tackle these flames, two helicopters are now landing at pepperdine university, collecting water to carry it to the fire. the pepperdine campus narrowly escaping disaster, some 800 students forced to shelter in place in a fire resistant structure, flames visible through library windows. the low humidity, high winds and lots of potential fuel is keeping crews and homeowners on high alert. those santa ana winds are expected to die down later today replaced by a strong on shore breeze coming off the ocean.

that is likely going to put some much needed air and water, humidity into the air which is going to be a really big help for these firefighters out here. today all malibu schools will remain closed again. ana. >> dana griffin, thank you so much. stay safe, and appreciate your whole team being there for us. angie, talking about those santa ana winds, what's the outlook? >> we're going to see better conditions. dana mentioned it there. whistleblower going to see a switch of the direction the winds are coming from. a lot of times they're coming across the desert, brings dry air across the coast, which is where we have seen problematic conditions. that means lower humidity values as it moves down the hill as well. really dry air, really dry conditions. it's been a while since we have had substantial rain in the region. most of the locations across southern california are running at a 20% rainfall -- total amount since october 1st of where we should be. we need the rain, we don't have a whole lot in sight right now.

notice how many of those red flag warnings are up right now. this is a big difference from the expansive amounts we saw yesterday. still oxnard, malibu, santa clarita included in those. those are going to last through the day today. we will see improvements, especially as we get past say 2:00 p.m. today. we'll start to see the winds relax. in the meantime, the next couple of hours, we have elevated wind gusts, 20, 30, 40 miles per hour winds in a lot of places and the humidity stays low. then we'll start to see the winds switch. they come off the ocean and what that does is usher in warm moisture into the atmosphere. it brings our humidity levels up, of course. we're not going to see a whole lot in the way of rainfall across the region. you see the elevated risk will remain for today, and we'll see major improvements as we get into tomorrow. here's what we're looking at as far as the peak wind gusts through tonight. a big difference. again, i sound like a broken record, a big difference from what we were seeing yesterday when it was 30, 40, 50 miles per hour wind gusts. we've got santa clarita in the mid-20s. simi valley in the low 30s, ana,

so the good news is we will see improvements as the day goes on. >> that is good news. angie lassman, thank you. any moment now, a man accused of plotting to assassinate donald trump right secretary of state blinken in the hot seat, set to face toug questions from house lawmakers on the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. we'll take you there next. we'll take you there next. s felt most comfortable up here, with the folks that made me who i am. i'm right at home, out here on the land. and i'm in my lane on the shoulder of the interstate. because this is where i come from. i've been showing up here for nearly 200 years. and i can't wait to see what's next. hats off to the future. nothing runs like a deere™

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any moment now, the man

charged with plotting to assassinate president-elect trump at his golf course in september will be back in a courtroom. ryan ruth was arrested after secret service agents spotted him with a rifle along the fence line of trump's golf course. agents fired, and ruth fled. he was caught a short time later. ruth is asking to delay his trial by nearly a year. he has pleaded not guilty to all charges. nbc's jesse kirsch is outside the courthouse in fort pierce, florida, what are we expecting from today's hearing? >> reporter: good morning, we are expecting to see the judge respond to the defense's request and this, the prosecution's response to the request. the prosecution says it's open to the idea of this trial being pushed back from what is currently scheduled, which is february of 2025, but at the same time, the prosecution is saying it doesn't understand how delaying this all the way to december of next year, effectively a year from now, is possible. prosecution does acknowledge

that there are still items of discovery, including video, as well as testing results, which are still forthcoming. but again, the prosecution underscoring that it does not think that long of a continuance is needed. we'll be looking to see how the judge responds to all that today. >> the house task force released its final report into the two attempts on trump's life earlier this year with more of a focus in a butler, pennsylvania, rally. they have made 25 recommendations, i understand. walk us through it. >> reporter: yeah, so let's take a look at what some of those are, ana. i think some of these when people see them are possibly going to wonder why it wasn't in motion. for example, the recommendation that all radio transmissions be recorded. the question is should more attention be paid to u.s. leadership instead of focusing on foreign leaders as well. in-person advance activities must include all relevant subject matter experts. translation there, everyone

who's involved with the protection of an event should be represented at a planning meeting. so that's something that you might wonder why that wasn't already happening, provide a more robust training for non-secret service personnel that are assisting on site and formalizing a process, those are some of as you mentioned more than two dozen recommendations put forward in that report, and obviously there's been a lot of additional scrutiny on the secret service in recent months because of these two attempts on the former president, now president-elect's life, ana. >> jesse kirsch, thank you very much, and now we have more breaking news in the case of luigi mangione charged with the murder of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. nbc's sam brock is joining us. sam, what are we learning? >> reporter: this is a significant development, ana, courtesy of thorough work done by our friends at wnbc. a senior law enforcement official has confirmed there was a finger prints match between luigi mangione, and those found on scene. now, where exactly is not clear.

we know that after that starbucks trip, the police talked about a kind bar wrapper that had been recovered, a water bottle. a cell phone found in the alley behind. we don't know which object it comes from. they are confirming there was a finger print match. this is material for a number of reasons. mangione's attorney yesterday saying quote, in his words, he had not seen a single bit of evidence that would have linked his client to this crime. now we have learned about the fingerprints, we know about the fake i.d. with the name mark rosario, the same name used on a fake i.d. at the upper west side hostile. you have that element as well, and the ghost gun, which bore a strong resemblance to the one on mangione's person to the one used in the crime. this is another connect ive tissue, brought to the table. finger print confirmation, the latest development linking mangione to the person at the center of the man hunt for days.

>> thank you so much, sam brock, appreciate that update. turning now to capitol hill, where secretary of state blinken is set to be questioned on the afghanistan withdrawal. plus, pete hegseth, amping up his charm offensive with skeptical senators, the major meeting set for this hour that could be make or break. make ork t 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.

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right now secretary of state antony blinken is testifying

before the house foreign affairs committee about the deadly withdrawal from afghanistan in august of 2021. republican law enforcements have been trying to secure this testimony for months, and it comes after years of partisan finger pointing over who was ultimately to blame for the chaotic exit. president trump initially signed the deal with the taliban for u.s. troops to leave by may of 2021, by the time he left office. he had drawn u.s. troop levels from around 13,000 to 2,500 service members in afghanistan. and then once president biden took office, he pushed the withdrawal back a bit to august of 2021, but he stuck to that time line in the face of increasing concern that afghanistan's security apparatus would crumble without a bigger u.s. footprint. experts and former officials say both administrations ultimately are to blame for the results. let's go to nbc news correspondent ali vitali on capitol hill. for a while, it was unclear if this testimony would ever

happen. it is expected to be contentious, what have we heard so far? >> certainly that has been the tone at this early point. they are just getting through their opening statements now. when you listen to the way that chairman mccall opened this hearing, this is something he has been trying to do since the spring. he tried to play it nicely, asking the secretary of state to come to capitol hill and give this update. of course ultimate little that was -- ultimately that was escalated to a subpoena and a contempt referral to the committee itself. just before the referral was set to be voted on by the full house, it was pulled back because these negotiations were still ongoing and ultimately leave a settled on blinken, coming to the hill today for the hearing that we're watching right now. the tone and tenor at this early point, and you can see the ranking democrat, gregory meek's giving miz giving his open remarks here, chiding the secretary of state for putting the committee in the

situation they're in to have this tense of a hearing on an already tense topic. listen to how chairman mccall set the tone today? >> i have been disappointed, ignored my request for your testimony, forcing me to subpoena you. not once but twice. and rather than accept my good faith efforts to accommodate your schedule, you failed to show up for your september hearing, and i don't like this probably more than you do, but while your presence here is dually noted, you are showing up only after violating a congressional subpoena. >> reporter: we have a sense from the report that this committee released on the afghanistan withdrawal in the last few months, the way the questions here are likely to go, but we're probably in for a tense next few hours, ana. >> keep us post, ali vitali, thanks. staying on the hill now this morning, pete hegseth is making his pitch directly to a small

sliver of on the fence republicans who decide whether he gets confirmed as trump's secretary of defense. he's set to meet with maine senator susan collins this morning. you can see him moments ago, and watch closely. you'll see him kind of flash an american flag lining to his suit as he's walking through before his meeting with senator bill cassidy. he also met with alaska's lisa murkowski, another senator who has expressed hesitation about supporting him. take a listen to what she said after their meeting. >> i had a good exchange with mr. hegseth. >> are you ready to support him? >> i had a good exchange, and we'll see what the process bears. >> nbc's julie tsirkin is joining us from capitol hill, and jeff mason, white house correspondent for reuters. what's the lay of the land there? is hegseth winning over skeptics? >> reporter: not yet, and that's why he's continuing to meet. this is a gender divide that's

emerging among senate republicans. he's continuing to try and make his case specifically to those senate republican women. not all of them. but those seem to be the senate republicans that care the most about those sexual misconduct and assault allegations that hegseth and his lawyers have repeatedly denied. these are the senate republicans who are perhaps being more outspoken in their consternation, saying publicly, perhaps, they need more information for hegseth before they commit to backing him. you mentioned his meeting with senator lisa murkowski yesterday. this is somebody who does not say something unless they feel like what they're saying is what they truly believe and how they will act going forward. it's telling that press repeatedly by my colleagues, all she said was that it was a good meeting with mr. hegseth. in a couple of minutes from now, he's set to meet with susan collins of maine. she is somebody who's very close to lisa murkowski, the two have broken before, but often they

kind of go in the grain together. they often cast similar votes. they sit next to each other on the senate chamber floor. this is going to be really telling. collins is somebody who was telling reporters up here, local reporters in maine that she does find the sexual misconduct and assault allegations very troubling, also of course his potential drinking, his alcoholism, so all of this is just still the very beginning of the process for hegseth, just about how much he's going to get from president-elect trump in terms of an endorsement telling him to keep going. the rest of the work is cut out for hegseth alone. >> let's talk about the pressure campaign we're seeing from trump and some of his allies to try to get these republican senators to come on board. take ni ernst, you saw donald trump going after her saying maybe you're in the wrong political party. also a popular iowa conservative talk show host said he was ready

to challenge her in 2026 in the primary. iowa's own attorney general came out with an op-ed, also with a not so subtle message to try to urge ernst to support trump's picks. it's important to note that it's been ten years since an incumbent elected senator has lost a primary. could these threats be effective, this pressure campaign? >> it's certainly a sign, a, of how much they want hegseth on the trump side. fact that they're unwilling to leech that, and they're unleashing it to use that verb again. that's a sign for senators like joni ernst and others about what awaits them if they defy trump. i think that will be a test that not only for this particular nomination and moment, but also for how they deal with the president when he's in office again. >> it's not just hegseth also facing some heat on the hill. director of national intelligence pick, tul si

gabbard. reporters asked if she views russia as a u.s. adversary, and they asked her about her meetings, her conversations, her visit to syria to meet with assad, and she stone walled. here it is. >> do you believe russia is a primary adversary? how important is it for her to answer those questions? >> well, i think that certainly there's only one answer that most senators in the u.s. senate will be looking for, and if they ask her that and she stone walls them, then that will be more significant. not speaking to reporters in the hallway is upsetting to us as reporters, but maybe not as big of a deal. >> it also seems like it should be an easy question to answer. >> 100%, it should be an easy question to answer and i would add to that the fact of the developments in syria this week, puts that more in the spotlight. she has a history of gone to syria before and met with assad

who is no longer the leader. >> donald trump is still making announcements of people he wants to serve in his next administration, including just yelled, including kimberly guilfoyle, don jr.'s fiance as his pick to be ambassador to greece. what kind of experience does she have for this role? >> she has experience fundraising for donald trump. and being close to him, and that was apparently the criteria most important to them. >> and former fox news contributor. >> exactly. >> there's a theme here. you've got a former fox anchor in line to become the next defense secretary. the president-elect has rewarded people who have been his supporters in his family circle, in the tv circle. that is an important universe to him, and among donors and others. >> good to see you. thank you very much for coming on. next up on ""ana cabrera reports,"" how the regime change is causing headaches for

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sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! back now with that breaking news in the capitol hill hearing underway right now with secretary of state blinken. we have heard several protesters erupt during his opening statement. take a listen. >> usa i.d. employees. >> you're killing so many kids. >> suspend while the capitol police restore order to this committee. >> again, that was just moments ago. these are live pictures right now. you can see secretary blinken's testimony is back underway. we will keep an eye on that hearing throughout the morning. meanwhile, right now in syria, a rebel coalition hurries to prevent a power vacuum after ousting bashar al assad. syria's care taker prime minister, delivering his first

tv address saying one of his first goals is to bring back the millions of fugees who have been displaced in more than a decade of war. at the same time, the u.s. is warning regional powers not to interfere in the transitional process stressing that the syrian people must determine their country's path. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in damascus, and chief international correspondent keir simmons is in the region speaking to leaders. first to you, richard. you got an inside look at assad's palace after his ouster. you have been in multiple places where all of this went down. take us inside. >> reporter: so we are still in this transition phase here where syrians are exploring what was hidden behind the curtain, what was hidden behind the dictatorship. they knew the repression. yelled i yesterday i was inside the prison, the notorious, human

slaughter house, as amnesty international described it, and saw the torture rooms and some of the hideous devices that were used to execute and break political prisoners here. today we went and saw the other side of the coin, how assad and his inner circle and his guests lived in the lap of luxury. damascus is a city that is surrounded by hills, by rocky, outcroppings, and there are many palaces bringing the city and some of the footage that you have now shows me going through one of his guest palaces. we also saw his private palace, but the guest palace was vast, we had to go through the window. i will say the rebels were guarding the entrance. they checked our cars. we went in to make sure we didn't take anything. they checked us when we went out so we hadn't looted anything. they are trying to keep these palaces under control.

but it was a surreal experience walking through these vast palatial compounds and seeing them completely empty. they had been looted quickly, but the palaces are still in tact. i turned on the taps, the water is still flowing. the art is still on the walls. it was more of a smash and grab looting, people went in, they opened the doors, they flipped over beds looking to see if they could find any valuables. and what was interesting about these guest palaces is that they were still working on them. there was construction underway. some o.f the furniture was wrapped in plastic. chandeliers looked like they were in the process of being hung. some were just cables. so this regime, right to the end, was still building palaces, was still renovating palaces, and according to iranian officials, iran backed up bashar

al assad, and people close to assad. bashar al assad didn't see this coming. he had been winning for the last several years, winning in this civil war and right to the end, he was in his palaces, building new ones, receiving guests, and now he's gone. as an exile in russia, and people are able to see how the other half lived. so you have people going into the prisons looking for remains of their loved ones, and the lucky few, and we were one of those today, we were able to wander through his palaces and see how he lived in seclusion, literally, high on the hills above the city that he ruled. >> truly, truly fascinating, richard. thank you so much for being there, and for bringing your reporting to us. keir, you spoke to russia's deputy foreign minister, he confirmed assad is in moscow. syrian's no doubt would like him

to face justice. how far is russia willing to go to protect him? >> reporter: a long way, i would say, the split screen to that extraordinary description you heard there from richard is utterly chaotic geopolitics. as an example, you have the biden administration talking about possibly taking that rebel group, which was talking about hts off its list of terrorist organizations. you've got america's close partner, israel, being condemned by the arab world by it, but clearly israel's view is we're not going to weight to find out who might lead syria in the future. we're going to take out chemical weapons plants, ports, anything, in order to defang whoever it is who's in charge. so clearly israel is not optimistic. you have to read that from what it is doing. aside from what it's saying. and then russia. russia is saying that it is

trying to talk to the rebel group, to negotiate, has a port where according to reuters its ships were off coast now. it wants to hold on to those. and at the same time, it is protecting the man we must now call former president hasan. that exclusive interview with the deputy foreign minister. he confirmed to us for the first time that is what russia was doing. >> resident assad is -- president assad is in russia. in such a situation, it would be very wrong for me to elaborate on what happened, and how it was resolved. but he's -- he's secured. >> if the international criminal court called for him to be put on trial, would you send him for trial? >> russia is not party to the

convention that established internationa >> reporter: of course the international criminal court has an arrest warrant out for president putin, and also has an arrest warrant out for prime minister netanyahu of israel which is rejected by israel and by the united states, so this is all happening amid a febrile political environment in the middle east and what's happening in syria is just a catalyst for all of that. the hope is that there will be stability led by the civilian people, the fear is that there will be more chaos. >> really important context you bring us. thank you, keir simmons, for that. up next on ""ana cabrera reports,"" another one, it was travis kelce, and patrick mahomes, now joe burrows home was broken into. is there a link? what are authorities saying? li? what are authorities saying?

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now to another high profile break-in reported at the home of a professional athlete. cincinnati bengals quarterback, joe burrows home was burglarized while he was playing at an away game monday night. this after similar incidents at the homes of chiefs stars travis kelce and patrick mahomes. authorities haven't confirmed if this one is connected. nbc's shaquille brewster has more. shaq. >> reporter: authorities are not connecting this break-in, at least officially to the others that have targeted professional athletes, but the resemblance is

abundantly clear. these are break-ins that authorities describe as fast, efficient to victory in dallas y night. >> someone broke into my house. >> reporter: police say his cincinnati area house was broken into. >> we do have a shattered window into the bedroom. >> reporter: the latest in a string of high profile burglaries appearing to target professional athletes as they're competing on the road. according to an incident report, sports illustrated model, olivia ponton who works for the quarterback arrived monday night and called 911. >> can we please send other people? >> reporter: her mother also making the call. >> my daughter is there. this is joe burrow's house. she is staying there. he's at the football game. >> reporter: police not detailing what was damaged or taken, but it comes as several professional sports leagues are warning players and teams of burglaries by organized and skilled groups.

in october, the homes of super bowl champions, patrick mahomes and travis kelce were broken into within hours of each other. >> it's frustrating, disappointing. >> reporter: multiple nba stars also hit in recent months. milwaukee bucs forward, bob by portis saying his home was burglarized in early november. >> they took most of my prized possessions. >> reporter: while no suspects have been identified in any of the cases, the nba sent a letter to staff saying leaked security received an fbi briefing that connected many of the home burglaries to transnational south american theft groups, and the groups are primarily focused on cash and items that can be resold on the black market. two senior law enforcement officials telling nbc news last month the fbi is working with local authorities to find suspects. >> they can do reconnaissance, they fly a crew in to do the physical break-in. none of these poem are in the country when they start investigating it. >> reporter: the nfl's memo

suggests athletes activate their security systems. as investigators work to track down the suspects before the next away game heist. and the county sheriff says there was actually an off duty deputy stationed at burrows' home. they are now talking to neighbors to see if there's surveillance video or images of the suspect or suspects involved. we have reached out to borough, he has not responded to our request for comment. but the nfl says it's in close contact with the cincinnati bengals. that does it for us told, see you back here tomorrow same time, same place, thank you so much for joining. i'm ana cabrera from new york, jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. balart picks ♪♪ good morning, 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific, i'm jose diaz-balart, and we begin with breaking developments in the fatal shooting of the unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. just in the last hour, nbc