it is good to be back with you on this second hour of chris jansing reports. at this hour, seeing red. malibu wildfires roaring across nearly 4,000 acres as firefighters' job is exacerbated by those winds fuelling the fierce flames and forcing people out of their homes. we'll have a live report from malibu. new details confirmed by police just moments ago. what the nypd commissioner just

announced about the gun and fingerprints connected to the scene of the crime where the united healthcare ceo was killed and what it means for the suspect, luigi mangione. also, what we know about the man charged with attempting to take donald trump's life at a golf course this summer. going face-to-face with a judge today. the latest from court. while santa prefers hitting the skies this season, the mind blowing number of americans who are planning to get on the road. what you should expect as aaa unveils what it's expecting around the christmas holiday. our reporters are following all the latest. let's start in malibu where the enormous wind driven fire is being described as traumatic and destructive. david noriega is at the scene.

>> reporter: we have been at the canyon all morning. when we got here, there was a ton of smoke. we've been watching a remarkable display of strength and competence by the 1500 or so firefighters that have been assigned to this fire. they have brought the flames and smoke to a couple of small flames, smoldering remains of what was once a significant fire. it's been impossible to do that because the conditions with the wind have improved significantly in the time this fire exploded between monday and tuesday. we've seen multiple planes and aircraft flying low and they wouldn't be able to do that if the santa anas are blowing as strongly as we know they're capable of doing. authorities are fairly confident they're going to be able to keep pushing this fire in the right direction, but that said, we are still under red flag conditions. meaning windy and dry, until at

least 2:00 p.m. local today. as long as those conditions continue, things could take a turn for the worst. that side, officials here in malibu and l.a. county are starting to take a step back and start assessing the damage and starting to you know, have the sorts of conversations that happen every time there's a fire here. it's not unusual for there to be destructive fires in malibu. take a listen to what a couple of local officials had to say. >> the last two days have been extremely difficult. malibu strength has been tested once again. >> malibu's really a small town at heart. our residents know each other and we are truly a community as opposed to only a place to live. the homes that have been lost or damaged are people we know. >> reporter: chris, there are still thousands of people under evacuation orders or warnings so this is not over yet. especially as i said, as long as those red flag conditions continue. chris? >> david noriega, thank you.

we're getting new information from just moments ago about new evidence potentially tieing 26-year-old luigi mangione to the murder of a healthcare ceo. valerie castro is following this story for us. what's the latest, valerie? >> well, chris, the latest headline we received from the nypd is that the gun potentially used in the killing has been tied to a gun mangione was found carrying on him at the time of his arrest in altoona, pennsylvania. the commissioner speaking within the last hour about the connection made. she also touched on fingerprints found here the scene on evidence also seem to match those of mangione. take a listen to what she said a short time ago. >> we got the gun in question back from pennsylvania. it's now at the nypd crime lab. we were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in midtown at the scene of the homicide.

we're also able to, at our crime lab, to match the person of interest's fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the kind bar near the scene of the homicide. >> you'll recall last week when police were still searching for the suspect, they released surveillance video of the person of interest at a starbucks near the crime scene before the shooting, apparently purchasing a water bottle and those protein bars. that is apparently where they were able to lift those fingerprints from in this case. another nugget of information that we've learned about today is a notebook that was apparently found on luigi mangione's person when he was taken into arrest just a few days ago. two sources familiar with the investigation telling nbc news the notebook contained writings about targeting a ceo with one quote reading what do you do? you whack the ceo at the annual

parasitic counter convention. it's targeted, precise, and doesn't risk innocents. we're continuing to learn more and more information about the items mangione was apparently carrying with him on the day of his arrest. >> thank you. now to the suspect in court today charged with attempting to assassinate donald trump on a florida golf course in september. jesse kirsch is outside the courthouse in fort pierce, florida. we know court has ended. so what happened inside that room? >> reporter: yeah, chris, so this was a hearing in which both sides were going back and forth about how long of a delay they'd like to see. right now, a trial date is set for february but the defense is asking for it to be pushed back to december of 2025. prosecution says it is open to delaying the start of the trial but going all the way to december is too much of a delay, an unreasonable amount of time. the argument the defense is making is that they're looking at a mountain of evidence, of

discovery, that has been given to them by the prosecution. information that is still going in and that the defense has barely scratched the surface. we also learned about some of the details of a conversation between mr. routh and his daughter on a phone call. the prosecution reading some of that transcript and telling us that according to the prosecution, it involve him saying he wanted basically positive press. wanted to be viewed positively in the press to help him make his case. we also learned from the defense that a mental health expert has met with mr. routh on two occasions but has not made an opinion on his mental well-being. the defense saying that expert will quote, need several months to make the opinion, will need to interview people and review evidence, which goes back to how long we could see a delay. the prosecution estimates that once jury selection is complete,

they expect ten trial days to finish this case and the judge said that she will be issuing a ruling, a written ruling at a later date. but so far, no official word on if this trial will be delayed or when it will go until. >> jesse kirsch, thank you. an eye popping prediction from aaa. 107 million people now expected to hit the road to head home for the holidays. tom costello is following this story. we're used to stories about traffic around the christmas season, but wow, tom, wow. >> yeah, it's a big number. every one of the tsa's top ten record breaking days for travel has been this year. and the sunday after thanksgiving, that was the barn burner. the most ever. nearly 3.1 million tsa screenings and now the tsa and aaa say the surge in travelers, on the air and roads will continue through the holidays. a record breaking season. aaa predicting 119.3 million

people traveling 50 miles or more from saturday the 21st through wednesday the 1st and 107 million people are in fact, that's a wrong number, actually. 119 million people. not 199. and 107 million people will be on the roads. think about that. that's a third of the population. most people prefer the flexibility of driving, especially with kids in the backseat. and gas prices are lower than last year. the national average right now, we're at about 3.02 a gallon and a year ago, 3.12. over the last two weeks of 2023. we've got 33 states paying under $3 a gallon. as for air travel, the airlines suggest 2.8 million passengers will fly every day. that's 6% more than a year ago. 54 million people expected to be flying between december 19th and january 6th. the busiest days to fly, friday,

december 20th, sunday, the 22nd, then the thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday after christmas. florida continues to be the top destination for folks. the busiest days to drive, i will not be driving on these days. aaa says the weekends before and after christmas will be the busiest on the roads with delays expected to be 30% worse than normal. and sunday the 22nd, good luck with that. that's going to be the absolute worst. so you don't need me to tell you, but i'm going to remind you. leave early. whether you're flying or driving. chris, i had a friend who was trying to get from the airport, from the hotel in chicago to the airport to fly to europe and the valet took an hour to get his car to him. he missed his flight to europe. the moral of the story is don't cut it too close. pad your time. >> okay. my executive producer is listening because she and i always have this thing because i'm the person who gets to the airport, runs and goes on the plane just before they close the

door. >> me, too. yeah. but this is not the time of year to do that. >> we're going to be in trouble one of these days. tom costello, thank you. let's go to ryan riley. we have breaking news about chris wray. there has been speculation about whether he would stay on through joe biden's term. >> we know chris wray is holding a press, rather an event with staffers that's being broadcast to anyone within the fbi. that's what we know at this moment, but obviously what chris wray is going to be doing perhaps in the coming days and actually just now in a reportable fashion i can tell you that chris wray has just said at a town hall that he will, make sure i have this right. he will be, he is resigning per senior law enforcement official. that's according to ken dilanian is what he just announced. so that's what we know at the current moment. we don't know the timing. exactly when that is going to

happen, but kash patel has already been nominated and as we saw in donald trump's recent interview with kristen welker, he indicated that someone is going to have to leave for kash patel to go into that position. so the timing is unclear at this point but what we know now and is reportable is that chris wray plans to resign. that's what we know at the moment, chris. >> thank you so much for that. i want to bring in msnbc national security analyst. frank, chris wray had three years left on what is a ten-year term. there's a reason why there's a ten-year term. they want politics out of this fbi so i want to get your reaction to this announcement. >> it's a sad day for the institution. as you said, there's a reason why the fbi directors serve a ten-year term. it's to be able to stay out and above the political fray of washington, d.c. and to straddle administration so that they're loyal only to

the constitution and the american people. i can't get inside chris wray's head, but it may be that the constant bashing of the bureau was going to get even worse if he didn't step down before being fired. and if the firing process was to play out and it looked like it would, that trump would just publicly berate the bureau and wray. again, for fabricated conspiracy theories of a deep state, but nonetheless, it could be wray didn't want that to keep happening and wanted to allow the institution to avoid that kind of public bashing yet again. i had said my own opinion was that i think chris wray should let trump fire him, should make trump fire him, because trump would become the only president to ever fire two fbi directors of course in the last term of trump, it was jim comey. but here we are.

and that's what's being reported. i'm really thinking about the men and women of the bureau and whether they're breathing some kind of momentary sigh of relief that they're out of the microscope for a second, but i know they're wondering what's next for them and what's next for a new director that may not have the dedication to the constitution and the rule of law as chris wray has demonstrated. >> the official, frank, who told ken dilanian that director wray had said he was stepping down, that he's resigning, says he told the workforce when he was talking to them just a short time ago that he will leave by the end of the administration. but i do wonder, i want to pick up on what you were just saying. there were some conversations that were being had about what this had been doing to morale. this sort of limbo they were living in. i don't know if you're checking your phone to see if people are sending you text messages, but what do you imagine the

conversations are like inside the agency? >> yeah. i did. i've got two confirmations now that it will be by the end of this year. the end of the administration, to be more precise. look, i know in my talking with folks still on board, that some of them are absolutely leaving. i'm aware of two assistan directors this week alone that have announced their retirement. now, they're eligible for retirement and they're looking at great jobs in the private sector, but were they mandatory? did they have to go? no. so i predict we'll see more of that. some of it forced, some unforced. but the real concern is for the institution and whether or not they will be bent on a president

on pursuing his political enemies. we've seen that in the language of kash patel who's been nominated, and even in the nominee for attorney general, pam bondi. >> we just got, i want to get your reaction to it. a couple of quotes of what he said to folks when he said he would step down despite having three years left on his term. i'm going to read the longer quote. it's deepest one. when you look at where the threats are headed, it's clear the importance of our work, keeping americans safe and upholding the constitution, will not change. and what absolutely cannot, must not change is our commitment to doing the right thing the right way every time. our adherence to our core values, dedication to independence and objectivity and rule of law, those fundamental aspects of who we are must never change. that's the real strength of the fbi. the importance of our mission. the quality of our people and their dedication to service over

self. it's an unshakable foundation that stood the test of time and cannot be easily moved and it, you, the men and women of the fbi, are why the bureau will endure and remain successful long into the future. but as you just said, you have two assistant directors, now maybe they were nearing retirement age or at retirement age, and they have options. they're going, as you put it, to great jobs in the private sector. but do you worry about the institutional knowledge that there may be a large number of people who, if not already considering it, will consider and maybe will leave the fbi? >> yeah, their resumes are out there. they're already circulating. people see what's coming, which is again, the concern about pursuing political enemies. the question remains for rank and file particularly in the field offices. let's face it. that's where the fbi does its

work, right? and the concern i hear from the field is they're waiting to see, waiting and watching to see if the politics of this new administration is going to impact their case openings, case closings. remember that they work closely with u.s. attorneys offices in each district. so you're going to have a complete turnover of u.s. attorneys throughout the country. now the fbi field offices are wondering, you know, are we going to have a turnover in our special agents in charge? are u.s. attorneys who are loyal to trump going to tell us to not open corruption cases on republicans? to not open counterintelligence cases on russia? what's going to happen to us? they're waiting to see. >> all right, if you would stay with us, i want to bring in vaughn hillyard who covers the trump campaign. i want to play part of what the president-elect said about chris wray. he did this interview for "meet

the press" with kristen welker last friday. let's take a listen. >> can't say i'm thrilled with him. he invaded my home. i'm suing the country over it. he invaded mar-a-lago. i'm very unhappy with the things he's done and crime is at an all time high. migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons and mental institutions as we've discussed. i can't say i'm thrilled. i don't want to say, i don't want to again, i don't want to be joe biden and give you an answer and then do the opposite. >> we're going to talk about that. >> so i'm not going to do that. what i'm going to say is i certainly cannot be happy with him. >> but was there any doubt based on other things he said and just the fact he named kash patel, there was no doubt trump would fire him if he didn't step down. >> let's set the table here, chris. 2017, james comey left the fbi, fired by donald trump.

it was chris wray who was nominated by donald trump to be the fbi director. this was his selection. fast forward though. in 2019, it was an ig report from the department of justice that said that the investigation in 2016 into the trump campaign's alleged affiliations and conversations with russian nationals was legitimate. chris wray defended the work of the fbi, the doj, and the opening of that investigation. at the time, donald trump said i don't know what report chris wray was reading, but it wasn't the one given to me. he said he'll never be able to fix the fbi which is badly broken, despite having some of the best men and women working there. that was in 2019. two years after he nominated wray, that he determined he should no longer be running it. you fast forward to 2021. after the january 6 capitol attack. wray went to capitol hill and called it an act of domestic terrorism. the fbi investigated not only the january 6th attack, but the

fbi also, chris wray's fbi, authorized the search warrant execution of mar-a-lago to go and retrieve the classified documents that donald trump allegedly attempted to obstruct justice and attempted to hide from the fbi who had privately worked with donald trump and his aides at mar-a-lago to turn over. but instead, when donald trump did not turnover those documents, those classified materials, that is when chris wray and the fbi authorized that attack on his home. ever since then, chris wray has been in his direct line of fire and it has been clear that if he were to win the presidency again, he would seek to have him not only removed, but replaced by somebody like kash patel to go and eliminate others who were allied with chris wray within the department who he is considered to be part of the deep state to undermine him politically. >> let me bring in former director for the office of public affairs, senior adviser

to ag merrick garland. anthony, he told the town hall, made the announcement. told the staff there what he was planning to do. i read a little bit of what he said. he says this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reenforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work. it should go without saying but i'll say it any way. this is not easy for me. i love this place. i love our mission and i love our people, but my focus is and always has been on us and doing what's right for the fbi. i want to get your reaction and the idea that this is what's best for the fbi given the circumstances. >> i think chris wray saw the writing on the wall. there was no circumstance under which he was going to be the fbi

director in donald trump's second term. so the question before him was do i take the hard way out and force donald trump to fire me or do i take the easy way out and do i do what i think is in the best interest of the men and women of the bureau? and i think what you have just read in terms of his message to his, to the tens of thousands fbi employees, he thought it would not be in the best interest of the bureau to force them to go down this road. i would have made a different decision, quite frankly. i think vaughn hillyard was absolutely right that for donald trump, the straw that broke the camel's back was the search of mar-a-lago. but i want to be clear here. it was not just the right thing to do and the results of it bore that out, but this was a court authorized search for mar-a-lago. the fbi and justice department

had to go to court and a judge had to sign off to allow that search to take place. and the fruits of that proved them out to be right. there were tens and dozens and dozens of highly classified documents that donald trump refused to turn over after months and months of repeated attempts. and his keeping those documents in unsecured places including in his bathroom. you remember those photographs of classified documents even in the bathrooms at mar-a-lago. the fbi was absolutely justified in going in and retrieving that information because it was in the best interest of the nation's national security interest. >> anthony, frank, vaughn, ryan. stay with us. again, this is the breaking news that we are covering. fbi director wray held a town hall for his workforce and said after weeks of careful thought,

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without the sensitivity, because they are proven to be enamel safe. you can find lumineux at walmart and target. lumineux is a healthier way to whiten. we are continuing to follow the breaking news just over the last couple of minutes. fbi director christopher wray telling the agency workforce that he will resign his position before the trump administration takes over in january. these are his words, quote, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reenforcing the values and principles that are so important to how we do our work. this, of course, clears the way for trump's pick, kash patel, to be the next director if he can get through the confirmation process. he's a man who has signalled massive changes once he takes control. >> the fbi's footprint has gotten to fricking big and the

biggest problem the fbi has had has come out of its intel shops. i'd break that component out of it. i'd shut down the fbi hoover building on day one and reopen the next day as a museum of the deep state. >> let's bring in nbc justice correspondent, ken dilanian. david rode, and former fbi general counsel, former senior member of the robert mueller special counsel investigation and msnbc legal analyst, david weissman. david, you and i had a conversation a week ago when we were talking about kash patel. we just heard him say he wants to shut down the hoover building, turn it into a museum of the deep state, but what else in your reading should people know about the man who may replace chris wray at the head of the fbi? >> thank you so much. i think in recent days, patel

has said he's not going to shut down the big headquarters building in washington, but it's the term deep state. in the memoir, he lists 60 members he said are members of the deep state. there is alarm, i would say, about what kash patel would do as fbi director. this is the most powerful law enforcement organization in the country. it had a problem for decades under hoover of being used by hoover and presidents to persecute their enemies and persecute certain groups in this country. the thing i'm hearing at least from current and former fbi is that kash patel is the wrong person to lead the fbi. there are other people, committed conservatives, republic would be far better and that he will come in with an agenda, conspiracy theories, and start launching

investigations that are politically motivated. this is what critics say and trump says biden did, but i have not found evidence of that. so it's really who replaces wray that is the key question at this point. >> let me ask you this question because right now, he is the person who donald trump says he wants to replace chris wray. and a source familiar with the trump transition team's thinking just said the following when asked for a response to wray's resignation. this is the quote. the transition team is confident in kash patel and confident he will be ready to serve the american people on day one if he should be confirmed, which seems to be against the odds, david. is there any doubt he will start taking some of those actions on day one? >> i think there's no doubt. he has said the 2020 election was stolen. he has said the trump russia investigation by robert mueller never should have been carried out. he's talked about you know, firing large groups of people. i've talked to people who he

cites in his book for allegedly committing these deep state crimes and they don't even understand what he's talking about. they seem more to be people who he disagrees with politically or people he's had bad interactions with earlier in his career. so, i don't want to be too harsh here. it's up to the senate, but i cannot, i just want to emphasize the level of concern among current and former fbi officials that kash patel is the wrong person to run the fbi is very, very high. there are other appropriate directors that trump could choose. more appropriate people, more qualified, who don't use these deep state conspiracy theories who could, i think, you know, or they think serve the trump administration well. but kash patel is alarming a lot of people. >> david, thank you very much. and ryan, i know you want to jump in here so go ahead. >> hey there. yeah, so i think one of the things to look at here as well is that kash patel has these

relationships with a lot of these whistle blowers as they describe themselves. these conservatives who have a lot of complaints about the fbi and now they call themselves the suspendables. been talking with a lot of folks about what their view on kash patel is. he has close relationships with them. in fact, he supported a number of them financially through his group, the kash foundation, when a lot of them were pushed out of the bureau. the inspector general, i discovered that in fact the justice department had been using this suspension of their clearance process as a way to push them out of the bureau, so there was some legitimacy to some of the claims they were making about the way the process had been used. what you have now is a lot of people in kash patel's circle who really do want to see a lot of, a huge change to the bureau. huge change to the fbi. that is really as david was highlighting there, really

worrying a lot of folks within the bureau and what the future is going to hold for them, chris. >> andrew, let's go back to today and the decision chris wray made. i want to remind folks that back during his own confirmation hearing, he said very clearly, and i think repeatedly, that he would not pledge his loyalty to donald trump, which is the appropriate response for an fbi director. i want to read part of what he said at that time, andrew. if i am given the honor of leading this agency, i will never allow the fbi's work to be driven by anything other than the facts, the law, and the impartial pursuit of justice, period. full stop. my loyalty is to the constitution and to the rule of law. those have been my guide posts throughout my career and i will continue to adhere to them no matter the test. the fact that he is essentially pushed out from the fbi directorship three years before his term was going to be up,

what does it tell us, andrew, about this moment, and what might it tell us about what's to come? >> sure. well, you know, i think from chris wray's perspective, he knows that the fbi director, in spite of having a ten-year term under this congressional provision, that you can serve no more than ten years, but on the other hand, the whole signaling of it being a ten-year term was to, was congress saying this is an apolitical position that's supposed to span multiple terms of a presidency. even a president who would serve for eight years, the fbi director has this ten-year term. but having said all that, obviously a president can fire an fbi director. in the past, it has been for cause except for donald trump. in other words, but for donald trump, we've never had an fbi director removed except when

it's for cause and it's very rare that that's ever happened. i think that chris wray was trying to say look, i'm currently going to serve out the time that the current president, president biden wants me here. i'm going to serve that out, but he doesn't want to drag the fbi or himself through a sort of confirmation hearing for the next fbi director where he and his conduct and the fbi's conduct would be one of the things under scrutiny. having said all that, i'm not sure, as anthony said a moment ago, i'm not sure that is the better call here. if the fbi did something right or wrong, it should be subject to scrutiny. that's not something that should be hidden from the american people. if chris wray himself has done things right or wrong, that also is something that should be the subject of hearings.

i think the damage of what chris wray is doing is that it undermines the congressional intent that but for there being cause, that an fbi director is apolitical. >> can i interrupt you for a second? this is just handed to me when you talk about congressional intent. is it possible there are members of congress who want to undermine what a previous congress wanted to do? i say that because chuck grassley, republican from iowa, just issued a letter that he sent today to chris wray calling on him, as well as deputy director, to accept accountability for what he says is their failed leadership and mentioned something we've been talking about over the last 20 minutes since this decision was announced. the fbi raid on trump's mar-a-lago residence.

the politics of this that is showing itself again, andrew. in an agency that is supposed to be allowed to be above the political fray. >> yeah. senator grassley had issued this letter a few days ago saying, with a litany of critiques of christopher wray. and also his deputy director. clearly signaling that he was going to support a new fbi director being put in place. but again, that's only one senator and the issue is is it really serving the fbi itself and the american public by having chris wray do what he's doing now. or is it undermining the very idea that the fbi director is not supposed to be a political appointee who changes every four years as the presidency changes.

that was the whole goal of congress enacting this ten-year term was to make it clear a little bit like the federal reserve that this is supposed to be something that is apart from the sort of winds of politics and having worked at the fbi, i have to tell you it is really palpable when i was there, just how apolitical that institution is. it does not run like congress. it is not the senate. it is not the house. it is not the, the white house with a political agenda. i don't mean that in a derogatory way. it's just following the facts and the law. so the other option for chris wray was to just continue serving his ten-year term and if and when donald trump were to decide as president that he wants a new director, make him have to fire him and let the american public see that he's treating this position and as a

sort of political position when that was not congressional intent. that i think is a good message for the fbi personnel as well, that you want the director to be seen as apart from the political system. i fear without casting any aspersions on chris wray's intent, i'm sure he's got good faith on what was probably a very difficult decision, that i'm not sure in the long-term that what he's doing isn't sort of capitulating in advance in a way that undermines the goal of keeping the fbi apolitical. and just to make a fine point on this. i can't imagine that any fair minded person wants law enforcement to be thinking about politics when they're deciding who to prosecute and who not to

prosecute. it's what separates us from many, many authoritarian countries where law enforcement is just an arm of the political state and is not operating in that independent way. >> yeah, the facts and the law. i should say that this letter that was sent out on monday by chuck grassley, he sent it out again suggesting perhaps by saying he's resigning after my letter on monday, that somehow that might have influenced him. there's no suggestion of that. but i think to andrew's point, if i can, ken dilanian, what do we know about the decision making process that chris wray went through and what did he have to say about that today? >> andrew laid out the choices that were facing wray. as soon as announced kash patel to be the next fbi director without commenting on the fate of the current director, the implication was that wray would have to resign or he would be

eventually fired by donald trump as president. so there was a debate among the people around chris wray about the best way to play this and as chris wray said in his statement, he ultimately came down on the side that resigning would be better for the bureau and the workforce and i think one of the factors as my reporting suggested, one of the factors that went into this, if you look at chuck grassley letter, it makes a litany of baseless charges against chris wray and the fbi. it accuses them of ignoring bribery charges that could have been brought against joe biden and his children and of politically prosecuting donald trump. it's one thing for grassley to make those charges. what wray wanted to avoid was donald trump making those charges to the public in a letter. those charges are false, but they just thought that that experience would be extremely traumatic for the bureau workforce. the way it was when donald trump

fired james comey back in 2017. that was a shocking moment for people at the fbi. and some people still haven't gotten over it. comey was a very popular director. chris wray is a popular director. so that was the calculus. historians will second guess because the argument on the other side is wray could have made donald trump fire him to underscore that this is a norm shattering moment. that this is the second fbi director that donald trump has pushed out before serving the ten-year term, undermining the whole idea of a ten-year term that's supposed to be independent of politics. but that was not the way chris wray decided to do it. it was a tough decision for him. he's got plenty of money. he doesn't need to go back into private practice. he was enjoying himself. at the same time, he spent years trying to keep the bureau out of partisan politics, but during the biden administration when the trump investigation

surfaced, there was no way to do that. and chris wray approved the search of mar-a-lago and donald trump never forgot that and brought it up in the interview with kristen welker over th weekend. he just could not live with chris wray as his fbi director. >> ken, thank you so much. frank, back to you in a second, but i want to remind folks, and i'll go back to you, vaughn. to go back to 2017 in june. many people remember the phrase when donald trump said he was only going to have to best people. he thought chris wray was one of the best people. when he decided that he should be the fbi director. >> right. since the selection with senate confirmation who was going to be the replacement to comey, i was going back to that moment in time, june 7, 2017, in which trump posted i will be nominated chris wray to be the new director of the fbi. details to follow. well, there's been a lot of details over the course of these years that led to this moment

here today where chris wray before donald trump is sworn into office. the question is who serves as acting director, not only over the course of the next coming weeks, but also come january 20th. and until kash patel, if he were to be confirmed, is installed into that position. >> frank, i wonder having so many people connected to the fbi and i think it was interesting to hear the word ken used, which was that the transition the last time was traumatic. is that how you would see what's happening right now and it's one thing to be able to say they're professionals, they're going to do their jobs, they're going to move forward. which all may be true, which is not to suggest that it's not necessarily a traumatic experience. that in fact, does have an impact on their ability to do their jobs.

>> i think the word trauma certainly applies to comey's termination because it was unexpected. this one, you could see coming. we knew something was going to happen with chris wray. more of a dull blow than something than a sharp trauma. we talked a lot about the mar-a-lago search as something that really got the bureau sideways with donald trump and how it was totally justified, signed off by the u.s. magistrate. when "the washington post" reported rather contentious meeting between doj executives and washington field office executives about whether or not to search mar-a-lago and then wray issued a statement in response saying he didn't know that that contentious meeting occurred. that's a deliberate effort for him not to call shots and let investigative processes play out as normal. the other thing, the thing we

haven't spent enough time talking about which i think is also a cardinal sin in trump's eyes was that wray had the audacity, in trump's eyes, to go to capitol hill and repeatedly say that what happened on january 6th was domestic terrorism. that really, really stuck in trump's craw. that would not go away. so, you know, we've got a president-elect saying he's going to pardon some, if not all of the january 6th defendants. we've got an fbi director who said they're domestic terrorists. that's a problem. >> so let me go to mike memoli who is near the white house right now. at least i haven't seen a formal statement from the white house or from joe biden about chris wray's decision, but give us some context and what does your reporting tell you about this? >> well, chris, we've reached out to the white house to comment on director wray's decision. they are not commenting at this point but i think it's likely they will look for an opportunity to praise him for

his years of service to this country. obviously, the white house has not always necessarily agreed with the decisions law enforcement has taken. we've heard the president in the form of that statement explaining his pardon for his son talk about at particular case. in other words, this is an administration that has stressed its commitment to the institutions. to the principles behind them. to the rule of law and impartiality of the justice system. and director wray has been somebody who has been part of the operations at the white house. briefing the president on important law enforcement matters. now, it's also important, i think, as i mentioned the hunter biden pardon, i was thinking, chris, of when i was on air force one just about a week and a half ago traveling back with president biden from nantucket where he had spent the thanksgiving holiday. the news of kash patel's appointment as president-elect trump's choice to lead the fbi broke while we were in the air

as we were landing at andrews air force base is when we learned of that selection. so this is something that has been on the mind i think, of the president at this moment, and it brings to mind our own reporting at nbc news about whether the president would move forward with the discussions that have been happening about some preemptive pardons for people who have been in the cross hairs of trump world figures. the likes of adam schiff, the now senator from california. liz cheney, a very vocal critic of the president. anthony fauci. these are people who had been on patel's radar in particular. so now is director wray somebody, especially when you look at the statement you referred to earlier from chuck grassley who would be the chairman of the judiciary committee in the new congress, is that somebody they want to add to that list of somebody who may want to be protected here? it's something that continues to be under consideration at the white house, but they have not moved forward with any plans at this point. >> we are starting to get reaction from capitol hill. a couple of democratic senators.

let me start with richard blumenthal who put out on x, this. wray's resignation has resulted from raw political pressure that is repugnant to our justice system. it vastly heightened the hazards of weaponizing the fbi for political or personal ends, which should be an et ma to all my colleagues regardless of power. party. we also just heard from vermont senator, peter welch, let me play that for you. >> to the news about chris wray announcing his resignation. >> really unfortunate. the ten-year term should be a ten-year term. the whole point is to have that position be outside of political influence. it's disappointing. >> what are your thoughts on kash patel, who's now going to take on the helm of that agency? >> the big concern i have is his public statement where he wants to use his authority to go after people who disagree him. political opponents or

journalists. there's no place to abuse the authority of high law enforcement powers to go after people because you disagree. so that's a concern. >> and do you think president biden should consider these preemptive pardons for members of the january 6 committee and others president-elect trump has categorized as criminals? >> i didn't hear the question. should president trump consider those? >> president biden consider preemptive pardons for members of the january 6 committee. >> what i prefer is the president looking for a clear intention of using the -- >> thank you, sir. >> thanks. >> and so there you hear words like unfortunate, disappointing, adding to what we heard from senator blumenthal, which he calls, says it resulted from raw political pressure. frank, let me ask you to take us inside the agency once again

because one of the things you here from a lot of folks is listen, what we saw in the first trump administration, there are guardrails. institutional norms that operate regardless of who the president is. regardless, sometimes, of who is leading a particular agency. if a kash patel or another person who might be similarly inclined becomes the new fbi director, is that the kind of thing that some people could take, solace may be the wrong word, but continue to operate in a way that is true to their mission? >> i've got discouraging news there. the guardrails may not hold. many of the things we're concerned about are not written in law. they're not legislative proannouncements or mandates. just this week, we've learned from nbc news and other that is

the doj ig has made a report public that during the first trump administration, the trump doj improperly spied upon and gathered communications data on two sitting members of congress over 40 congressional staff members, and by the way, let's throw in kash patel. what was that about? they went forward with opening criminal cases on members of congress and staffers because they kind of had access to the information that was among information that was leaked. they bypassed the absolute protocols and guidelines on working this all the way up the chain at doj. you don't open criminal cases on congress members without high level approvals and discussion, but that, according to the ig, this week, never happened. so, we're talking about ag

guidelines, not g mandates. not law. so we could see absolutely abuses take place when people are in leadership that don't want to adhere to the rule of law and constitution and doj guidelines. >> so anthony, we only have a minute left but i want to get your final thoughts on this and in particular, what you'll be watching for as kash patel continues to go to the hill, go through the process, and what you're going to be hoping for in terms of preserving the rule of law. >> yeah, well my hope here is that the united states senate will uphold its constitutional duty and reject this rather extreme nomination that trump has put forward with kash patel. i'm not hopeful that that will happen, but this is what they should do. and i got to tell you though, chris, we, i think senator blumenthal really hit the nail on the head.

this is a raw political moment. unfortunately, chris wray, as much i respect him, and as much i understand that he was driven, in his words, to make this decision because it was in the best interest of the bureau. to me, it feels like, you know, he's not going to get a profile in courage for this step. he is depriving the public of a real conversation of everything the bureau has done over the last seven years under his tenure to adhere to the rule of law. and you know, he's paving the way for donald trump to use the justice department and the fbi to go after his perceived political enemies. i think what we are witnessing now is a systematic unraveling of the rule of law. and that's rather disheartening, chris. >> i want to thank all of our guests and before we go, we have

just gotten a statement of the truth social, i believe, from the president-elect. i'm not going to read the whole thing, but i will read the beginning of it. in which he calls the resignation of wray a great day for america. as it will end the weaponization of what has become known as the united states department of injustice. i don't know what happened to him, he says of wray. we will now restore the rule of law for all americans. under the leadership of wray, the fbi illegally raided my home without cause, worked diligently impeaching and indicting me and has done everything to ere with the success of america. he says he looks forward to the nomination of kash patel. chris wray served this country for many, many years. the fbi did not illegally raid donald trump's home at mar-a-lago. they did not do it without cause. what they found there were

highly classified documents that were in an unsecured area. he was not illegally impeached and indicted. that he was indicted through the system that is enshrined in this country. and in fact, in one case was found guilty of 34 counts, but donald trump saying he is happy to see christopher wray is gone. that is our breaking news. that's going to do it for this hour, but katy tur will pick up the coverage right after a short break. p the coverage right after a short break. it's shrimp your way. choose 3 flavors for $20*, like crispy dragon shrimp. . with dexcom g7, managing your diabetes just got easier. so, what's your glucose number right now? good thing you don't need to fingerstick. how's all that food affect your glucose? oh, the answers on your phone.

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good to be with you. i'm katy tur. the fbi director just resigned. christopher wray announced a moment ago that he will leave by the end of the current administration. three years before the end of his ten-year term. he made the decision public at a town hall for the fbi's workforce