take a number of days for it to be fully out. they are still trying to determine a cause of the fire, and again, some 4,000 acres have burned. evacuees are wanting to know when they will be able to be let back in. officials say you've got to wait for them to give the all clear. jose. >> dana griffin in zuma beach, california, thank you very much. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. reach me on social media media @jdbalart, and watch clips of our show on you tube. thank you for the privilege of your time. the great andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. and right now on andrea mitchell reports, fallout today from fbi director chris wray's decision to resign by january 20th, as president-elect trump's controversial choice of kash patel to replace him looks over the agency. i'll get reaction from jim

himes, the top democrat on the committee. and ringing the bell on wall street, and inviting xi jinping to join america's leaders at his inauguration next nth. >> president xi as well? >> very good relationship. and a miracle in syria, an american saying he was a pilgrim on the road to damascus, found alive after he had been imprisoned for months by the brutal assad regime, now freed by the rebels. >> the syrians who found him said he was walking barefoot down the road. >> out between lebanon and syria, i was living in that mountain. ♪♪ >> good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell, today in new york, in a sign of just how much washington is about to change, even before president-elect trump is taking the oath of office, fbi director chris wray says he will resign before the

chance to fire him, putting renewed focus on kash patel, mr. trump's controversial choice to head the bureau. the president-elect surrounded by family and top advisers today are ringing the opening bell at the new york stock exchange, and was greeted by chants of usa, usa for the floor. after also today being named "time's" person of the year. afterwards when asked by my colleague, vaughn hillyard, about wray's decision, trump said he wishes him well. mr. trump is heralding wray's designation as ending what he calls the weaponization of the united states department of injustice. wray announced his decision wednesday saying it is in the bureau's best interest. >> in my view, this is the best way to avoid dragging the bureau deeper into the fray while reinforcing the values and principles that are so important in how we do our work. this is not easy for me. i love this place.

i love our mission. and i love our people. >> had hand picked wray after firing then fbi director james comey back in 2017. but quickly soured on wray after the russia investigation. the classified documents search. in a comment that wray made after trump was shot in pennsylvania as he explained to kristen welker on "meet the press." >> i can't say i'm thrilled with him. he invaded by home. i'm suing the country over it. he invaded mar-a-lago. i'm very unhappy with the things he's done, and then when i was shot in the ear, he said, oh, maybe it was shrapnel, where's the shrapnel coming from, is it coming from heaven? i don't think so. >> we begin with nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent, ken dilanian, and "new york times" chief white house correspondent peter baker. ken, how is the fbi work force,

the bureau reacting to the director resigning before the inaugural? >> there's a lot of concern and trepidation and sadness. chris wray was a relatively popular fbi director. he tried his best to steer the bureau through one of the most tumultuous times in its history as it was being attacked by republicans as the very truth of its investigations was being put under question. and you saw it just there, the whole trump and maga movement, one of their founding principles is that the fbi somehow has been weaponized and politicized against them and against donald trump, and that these investigations were based on bogus information, and that's just not true. there's no evidence to support it. people in the fbi know it. chris wray knew it. at the end of the day, he decided the best course was to resign, instead of forcing donald trump to fire him. many people believe that would have been a way to underscore

what a norm shattering moment this was, the second fbi director donald trump is pushing out before having ved a full ten year term. he thought it would be dramatic for the bureau, and thought the best course was to leave quietly. >> wray had three years left in his term. fbi terms are ten years. they're not beholden to the president who happens to be in the oval office. decisions are supposed to transcend politics, span administrations. this is the second time in a row with donald trump. is this setting a bad precedent? >> i think the ten-year term is now over. that was a post watergate reform, meant to do what you said, take the fbi out of politics, not make it like a cabinet officer that changes every four years or eight years. that's now essentially done, a dead letter, if you essentially fire any fbi director if you come in, because you don't like

what he's done, you made him as every other political appointee, and the ten-year term has no meaning. it's important to note, chris wray is a republican. imagine what happened if this had been a democrat. joe biden kept the republican. this is donald trump's own appointee, recommended by chris christie, his ally at the time, and, so you know, when trump comes in and says he's going to get rid of chris wray, he explains very transparently why because he's mad at wray for coming after him as he sees it, right, invading my home. let's be honest, the facts will remind us that's a search warrant approved by a judge. in order to achieve classified documents that donald trump was not entitled to have and guess what, they found him there. the search was a successful search for a good cause. that doesn't matter to trump. he frames that as part of the persecution and witch hunt, and

blamed it on chris wray, his own former appointee. >> that was after months, six months, really, of the archives, asking him to turn back what they believe was there. and when the fbi finally went, they only served that warrant after he had been warned to turn everything over, and they realized that he hadn't yet. they found even more, and they also have video of some of his aides, his, you know, former white house butler and valet helping to move things from one room, and we saw them in the pictures of them in the bathroom, the classified documents. so there was a lot to that search. ken, deputy director of the fbi, paul abbate is the likely replacement, he's set to retire this spring. could somebody else leave the department while trump's nominee moves through confirmation, what about a recess appointment, what do you see as the likely future here? >> that's very possible. this is a complicated legal situation, but the plan right now is for paul abbate, an fbi

lifer, he specialized in counter terrorism, deployed to iraq and afghanistan, very well regarded in the bureau. he has been running the bureau, essentially for the last few years. the plan is for him to take over as acting director on january 20th when christopher wray resigns. donald trump will no more like that than he would like christopher wray. he was instrumental in the decision to search mar-a-lago. if donald trump decides he wants to remove paul abbate, he would have limited options because of the vacancy reform act. it has to be someone senate confirmed in another job, who had worked at a senior level inside the fbi for 90 days or whoever abbate's deputy is at the time. he can't just install kash patel or whoever else in an acting capacity. that's not how the law works. there will be someone running the fbi for some period of time, before kash patel is confirmed, if he is confirmed early next year. >> does chris wray's resignation before the inauguration make it

more likely that abbate can take over? rather than being fired, in other words. it's supposed to be a senate confirmed, someone high enough level that it was actually senate confirmed to take over. >> that's right, and as you know, there is a debate among legal scholars playing out online and in social media about whether the resignation had any implications for the rules under the vacancy reform act. the consensus i'm detecting, esteemed legal scholars, it doesn't matter whether he resigned or was fired, the rules are the same. trump had limited options under the vacancy reform act to install an acting director, andrea. >> and peter, kash patel has been over the hill meeting with senators. is momentum changing, is he becoming normalized, even though he was a qanon supporter, believer, an election denier, pledging retaliation against all sort of sectors, including

reporters, and a list of targets. by the way, i was just yesterday interviewing samantha power of u.s. aid and she's on his list as someone who should be gone after. and i asked her about that, and she pivoted right away to say, the president-elect should support a lot of what u.s. aid is doing because we're doing, you know, very important foreign policy, and doing it in a really efficient, economic way. but privately a lot of people i have spoken to in the national security field are really really nervous. democrats as well as republicans. lifers. >> yeah, there's nothing nothing about kash patel as a nominee for the fbi, absolutely not. he doesn't have the profile that previous nominees have had. he's a much more partisan ideological warrior than we have seen in that position for a long time. he has made very clear, as you say, that he intends to use the position to exact retribution, that's trump's word, not ours, against his adversaries, and like you said, he has 60 people

he has listed as deep state actors in the book he published last year. you're right that he does seem to be cruising through the confirmation process as it is now. he hasn't gone to a hearing. we'll see what happens, especially once democrats have a chance to, you know, confront him on some of the things he has said over the years, but right now, republicans are predicting that he will get confirmed. >> peter baker, ken dilanian, thanks to both of you for starting us off. and joining me now is congressman jim himes of connecticut, the top democrat on the intelligence committee. congressman, in a statement you said that wray's resignation risks normalizing any president's desire to fire fbi directors at will. they're supposed to have ten-year terms. wouldn't trump have the right, though, to fire the fbi director, once he's in office? >> i mean, we learned this when he fired james comey. he has the right to do it. why is he doing it? is he doing it because chris

wray was incompetent or biassed? no, he's doing it because chris wray was independent and competent and thoughtful. that is not what donald trump is looking for, especially when you consider his nomination, kash patel is an individual who's distinguished mainly by his 120% loyalty to donald trump. it's clear what he's trying to do here, which is to get his guy in to our domestic federal police force that, you know, i'll leave it to you to recount what kash patel says he would do with such power in terms of an enemies list and all that kind of stuff. >> kash patel made it clear, he wants to gut the fbi, use the agents to attack trump's rivals, even the media. should we take it seriously, even though now he's trying to soften the rhetoric to get confirmed, i guess? >> yeah, i mean, you know, one thing you must take seriously, which is that is fbi like any other organization is made up of senior people, many of whom are hanging on or love their work.

they could retire, and they may very well do that. somebody who is obviously unqualified and inconsistent with the bureau's values is going to impose a huge brain dane on the fbi, and this is true at other organizations where trump has nominated unqualified people. that's a big deal, right. the fbi is the entity, and kash patel's belief notwithstanding that it's a corrupt organization, it's a competent organization. have they made mistakes? of course they have like any group of human beings, but they keep us safe from terrorist attacks, from violence and crime. when you start screwing around with an agency that is about keeping america safe, you know, you're really playing with fire. >> now, tulsi gabbard for dni, she's alarmed former national security and intelligence officials, they say she has parroted russian propaganda, aligned herself with bashar al assad in the past, can she be trusted with the nation's secrets? >> well, i have two concerns about tulsi gabbard, i'm not a

senator, and this is something i would hope senators would do and take into account when they reflect on their advise and consent rule, the dni is a massive administrative management job. it's the individual who sits atop our $90 billion intelligence community made up of 17 different agencies, huge management. has tulsi managed big businesses, big departments? no. and then this is more serious, as you pointed out, she was promulgating experience theories about russia invading ukraine because ukraine was doing biological warfare. stuff that is fantastical. the reason that troubles me is the leadership of the intelligence community has one job to give the unvarnished, unbiassed, unconditional truth to the president of the united states, and i worry somebody that's promulgated conspiracy theories might have a challenge doing that. >> finally, mr. trump has invited china's president, xi jinping to his inauguration. we think it's unprecedented, if she would accept, do you think that's a good idea or bad idea? >> well, you know, it's

interesting, you're right. i'm not sure we have ever had a foreign leader at a presidential inauguration. that would be something. you know, here's what i think and i haven't thought a lot about it. sometimes i worry that we are overly aggressive in the way we talk about china. there's a lot of reasons to be angry at china, stealing our ip, the way they treat their minorities, but, you know, we're going to need to find an accommodation to live with them, and number two, you know, what would that send the world a message about if xi were to show up to the peaceful transfer of power in a democracy. it sort of runs against his notion that democracy doesn't work, doesn't it? >> well, we'll have to leave it there, an open question indeed. congressman himes, thank you very much for being with us today. >> thanks a lot. in 90 seconds a live report from pennsylvania as investigators continue to connect the dots linking murder

suspect luigi mangione to the shooting death of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. you're watching andrea mitchell reports, this is msnbc. you're w reports, this is msnbc plus, superior nutrition. for us, it's eggs any style. as long as they're the best. eggland's best. [♪♪] did you know, asserums are concentratedst. with powerful ingredients to visibly improve your skin? try olay super serum. for five powerful ingredients in one, it hydrates, improves texture and evenness, while also firming and smoothing. try olay super serum.

when i hear cancer, i hear death sentence. every 15 seconds, someone will hear the words, “you have cancer.” at the american cancer society, we're here... to help people through their entire journey. and today, we're asking for your support. your gift helps fund important research that saves lives. [bell ringing montage] i owe it all to the american cancer society... ♪♪ we can't do this without you. donate today. the suspect accused of killing the unitedhealthcare ceo remains in jail, resisting extradition to new york. new york governor kathy hochul said this morning she will issue a warrant to expedite luigi mangione as soon as the manhattan d.a. puts forth an

indictment, which the governor says she expects any day now. this as police say mangione's fingerprints match those on a water bottle and snack bar found near the crime scene. joining me now is nbc news correspondent george solis, and former manhattan d.a., catherine christian. first police say the gun they recovered matches the shell casings they found. now they have matching fingerprints, what else are investigators looking for, they tied him to manhattan and the crime scene? >> reporter: hey, andrea. good to be with you. that is part of the trail of evidence that's starting to build. you heard from governor kathy hochul this morning that the prior it priority is building the ironclad case. his defense attorney filing a writ of habeas corpus, something we expected to happen, to get him appear before the court to get the wheels in motion. in the sense that that's what we expected after he chose to fight

the extradition to manhattan to face those murder charges. now, again, that will happen, it's just a question of when now. we expect, as we heard from governor kathy hochul, she will declare that governor's warrant to get him back in new york, but again, the priority, building that case. as you mentioned, they had the fingerprints, they have the shell casings, they also found a notebook, a spiral notebook with writings in there, again, all of that, again, sort of pointing and painting a picture as to where this suspect's mind was when he allegedly carried out this shooting of brian son. what we have seen here andrea, occasionally you will hear hollering from the inmates inside. you heard them say some things about luigi mangione, some not worth repeating on air. they are aware of what is happening here, and again, we're all just waiting now on when that extradition happens, there is no exact time line, but we of

course await that decision, andrea. >> just one quick question, george, is he in solitary? is he in any kind of protective area? >> reporter: so some of our guidance here is that he is in a cell by himself. he is by himself at this point. we understand that there's no extra security or watch on him after this point, we are working to clarify more details from the prison itself about some of the conditions that he may be in. again, as i mentioned, the inmates obviously know that he is in there, so occasionally you will hear the occasional free luigi mangione from within the chambers here. but, you know, we will definitely work to track down some more details about his conditions inside, andrea. >> thank you so much, george solis in pennsylvania, and catherine, how does this train of evidence impact the timing? do they have enough for an indictment now? are they just trying to get everything pulled together? >> exactly. they do have enough for an indictment now, because this is

not a trial. we don't need proof beyond a reasonable doubt for an indictment. if the manhattan d.a.'s office wanted to cross t's and dot i's. they will take their time until the last moment. >> from his writings and what you have read about the case and what, you know, that one friend in hawaii had to say, what kind of a defense do you think they could be building? we understand that this local attorney in pennsylvania is a very aggressive, very effective defender, and we've seen already in challenging, well, there's no evidence, and then of course the evidence was developed, but what could the defense be? >> what i'm thinking is probably some sort of insanity defense in new york. it's called lack of criminal responsibility for mental disease and defect. without knowing more, but that's a very hard defense to win, but that would be their best route and also to aggressively, you know, challenge the evidence.

>> the mipd deputy commissioner for intelligence, and counter terrorism, said that the killing is similar to that of what she calls a domestic terror incident, a terrorist attack, and she worries it could have a contagion effect, copy cats? >> well, basically, if you believe that he is guilty, but he's innocent until proven guilt, he hunted down the ceo, was waiting for him, shot him in the back, and then shot him again. so that's terrifying. and there, unfortunately, are people who are quite a fan club of this person who allegedly did this, which is very distressing. >> catherine christian, always great to see you. thank you. and pardon power, next, a closer look at president biden's historic commutations today, and the political impact of his decision to pardon his son hunter. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ing "andrea ml

reports" on msnbc. th fasenra, an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma taken once every 8 weeks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems. serious allergic reactions may occur. get help for swelling of your face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens or you have a parasitic infection. headache and sore throat may occur. ask your doctor if fasenra is right for you.

craig here pays too much for verizon wireless. so he sublet half his real estate office... headache and sore throat may occur.

[ bird squawks loudly ] to a pet shop. meg's moving company uses t-mobile. so she scaled down her fleet to save money. and don's paying so much for at&t, he's been waiting to update his equipment! there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to an incredible 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities.

with just weeks left in his presidency today, joe biden commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 nonviolent offenders and pardoned 39 others. it's the largest act of clemency in a single day for a modern day president. it comes after the president pardoned his son hunter biden who was set to be sentenced on federal gun charges today. joining us now is nbc news white house correspondent, mike memoli, nbc capitol hill

correspondent, ryan nobles and marc short, former chief of defense. the reason for so many acts of clemency is there were a lot of nonviolent people who were sentenced to house arrest because of covid because they couldn't be put in prisons. and so that's why this is such a large group. but correct me if i'm wrong here. >> that's exactly right, andrea. you know, since the election and certainly since the president issued that part for his son, we have seen democratic interest groups. we have seen a number of democratic lawmakers call for the president to be just as robust and spansive in expansiv in the use of his pardon power as he was in the case of his son. that's why some of these are interesting. it's 1,500 individuals out of a group of more than 13,000 individuals who because of the c.a.r.e.s act, which i'll mention donald trump, then president, signed into law. we saw a significant transfer of individuals from the prison system into home confinement.

and so these 1,500 individuals are now being completely released of any confinement going forward, but this is part of an issue called mass incarceration that some of these interest groups and lawmakers have been calling on the president to address within our criminal justice system. of those 13,000 individuals who were transferred into home confinement, the statistics show only 22 of those individuals have since had a second offense that has brought them back into the prison system, so what the president is doing effectively with these mutations are saying the prison system doesn't need to be as crowded as it is, and nonviolence offenses don't need these terms. >> talk to me about pete hegseth, he spoke to me about past comments, especially past comments about gays in the military. >> that's right, and he's going to meet today, andrea, for the first time with a democratic member of the senate in john

fetterman of pennsylvania who seems to be at least a little bit more open to some of these trump cabinet picks than democratic colleagues. hegseth is now being pressed on some of these past statements that he has had, specifically about pentagon policy and the comments that he made about gays serving openly in the military. he tried to explain that away during a gaggle with reporters earlier today. hegseth's nomination really hasn't moved very much at all. it certainly doesn't appear that he has the votes. but he also doesn't have a group of senators who are outright telling him that it's time to end the confirmation process. in fact, exactly the opposite. most senators are saying publicly that they want to see him sit for a public hearing. they want to see the results of a background check, and after all of that is done, they will make their final assessment of hegseth. he has met with that group of senators, many of the group of senators who we believe to be in the skeptical camp.

joni ernst of iowa, lisa murkowski, the work is being done on hegseth's part, whether or not it will get him over the finish line remains to be seen and the other wild card that exists is there's something else in his past yet to be revealed that could come up between now and a vote for confirmation. >> democrats who criticize him are counting on the fbi report to come up with more information. they say things like with a smokeless fire, and there's a lot of smoke. marc short, on pardons, all presidents pardon. donald trump has talked about pardoning all of the -- more than a thousand january 6th defendants who have been convicted and some others, in fact, but your reaction to these clemencies, and whatever it is, 69 pardons in all of these 1,500 clemencies, 39, excuse me, 39. >> well, andrea, i just feel like joe biden is the gift that keeps on giving to donald trump, and i think that, you know,

campaigning throughout is saying that there's not a two-tier system of justice and we're the ones fighting to protect democracy on the democrats' side, and doing what he promised not to do, pardoning hunter, i think, was a huge gift to the trump team because it showed the hypocrisy of the democrats throughout the campaign cycle. people ve a lot of presidents on their way out the door. the size of this is if it was about covid home confinements, it's been done for a couple of years, and it could have been done before this. and the biden administers is saying they plan to do pardons still. the nature of assaulting police on january 6th and the violent crimes there are very different, but the news story will still be that biden pardoned or commuted thousands of sentences, and if trump decides to do the same when he comes into office, it at least clouds the picture for a lot of americans. >> clearly it gives donald trump, you know, cover to do whatever he wants to do politically. and, marc, also, president-elect

trump seems to be moving the goal post on a major campaign issue, lowering grocery prices. he tells "time" magazine in the new interview published today because he's been selected as the person of the year. it's hard to bring things down once they're up, it's very hard. how is that going to land with his supporters? >> americans are going to look for inflation to keep coming down. there's numbers that show it's elevated at 2.7%. the reality is that inflation have come down from the peak during the biden administration: i think it is what a lot of voters wanted as they expressed their disdain with the bidenomics, they want to see a change of pace. if the economy is growing and inflation stays stable, that will be a huge boon to president trump. if you see it spike back up, then certainly voters will hold trump accountable for that, too and i think the driver for this has been enormous government spending and the first administration, trump did not

show a significant financial constraint. we'll see if he's able to tighten the ns in a second term. >> and if he'll go ahead with the level of tariffs, because that could be inflationary. mike memoli, ryan nobles, and marc short, thanks to you guys. stunning images from syria as an american is found among thousands freed from jails there, and growing questions about the future of a nation undergoing such mass ifr ive ch. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. mass ifr ive . this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis held me back.

now with skyrizi, i'm 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 ♪ ♪♪ with skyrizi 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. and most people were clearer even at 5 years. skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lower ability to fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu-like symptoms or vaccines. ♪nothing and me go hand-in-hand♪ ♪ nothing on my skin, that's my new plan.♪ ♪ nothing is everything ♪ now's the time ask your doctor about skyrizi, the number one dermatologist-prescribed biologic in psoriasis. learn how abbvie could help you save. ♪

dermatologist-prescribed biologic in psoriasis. like a relentless weed, moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission... and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. healing is possible with tremfya. ask your doctor about tremfya today. ♪

it's time. yes, the time has come for a fresh approach to dog food. everyday, more dog people are deciding it's time to quit the kibble and feed their dogs fresh food from the farmer's dog. made by vets and delivered right to your door precisely portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come. ♪♪ mopping is hard work, but then i tried the swiffer powermop. it has a built-in solution that breaks down dirt on contact. plus, it's 360-degree swivel head cleans up along baseboards and even behind the toilet. bye, bye bucket. with the swiffer powermop.

an american man missing for months has been found alive today in syria. he says he was detained by authorities and released from prison by the rebels after the collapse of the assad regime. travis timerman said that he was on a religious pilgrimage on the road to damascus when he was arrested crossing into syria from lebanon. the missouri man says he was treated fairly well and was not tortured. richard engel spoke to t him afr he was found in damascus. >> i was in prison for seven months. i was on a pilgrimage and that's when i was arrested. >> reporter: you were arrested by the former government? yes. >> reporter: what did they do to you? >> i was interviewed to' if i was a political actor, but then they cleared me, essentially,

and then i was just held in prison. i wasn't beaten or anything like that. >> reporter: and then how did you get out? >> on monday, two men broke down my door. >> it is remarkable. joining me now is evelyn farkas, executive director. the announcement that timerman was released. around 4:00 this morning, a lot of us were getting excited this could be the american journalist, austin tice, then when people saw the video, they realized it was not austin tice, but it was another man, an american. president biden has said that tice is alive, he's been there for all of these years since 2012 but that the u.s. is not sure where he is. here's what secretary blinken had to say before leaving

earlier today. >> no update on austin tice except to say every single day we are working to find him and to bring him home, making sure that the word is out to everyone that this is a priority for the united states. >> tice's mother deborah said she has been assured that he is alive and has been treated well. their confidence, and i talked to the siblings the other day, the brother and sister, they are very encouraged by this. what do you think is happening behind the scenes trying to find him? >> yeah, i mean, andrea, we know from the phenomenal, you know, media coverage including richard engel there on the ground that people are -- the syrian people, and of course some media with them are just going, basically from jail to jail. they're looking for hidden prisons. obviously austin tice was somebody that the syrians wanted to hold on to and did not want americans to free him, so i would imagine that he wouldn't

be easy to find, but i would hope that this new government, this new -- the organization that's now in control of the syrian government, the so called hts, their initials, that they would be motivated as a gesture of goodwill to really put out every effort to find austin tice and to bring him home. he has been there way too long. he was there of course chronicling the brutal civil war in syria that assad unleashed on his people and he has been one of the longest held americans now in captivity that's currently still in captivity. . >> and the biden administration says it's exploring whether or not to remove the foreign terrorist designation from this group, the leader has been saying very moderate things, but he does have roots in al qaeda, isis, there are radical groups in that, you know, coalition, that's a very diverse coalition indeed, they are leading the most powerful of rebel groups of course.

what do you think about this, the $10 million reward on his head, the u.n. and the u.s. have them on their terror list, but it's very difficult legally for the u.s. to provide any kind of humanitarian aid as syria tries to stabilize. if they're led by a terror leader. >> andrea, this has to do obviously with the history of this organization. they were a terrorist organization. allied with al qaeda, but a while ago, i don't remember how many years ago now, the organization severed ties and said that we no longer espouse the values, you know, the agenda, the terrorist agenda of al qaeda, when they first took control in syria in the idlib area, they essentially resay sured the christians who were living there, and frankly they have reassured christians throughout syria, they will not be persecuted. one of the things you look at when looking at a new government

that's creating a government, a government in formation is how do they treat minorties. they have said the right things, they have not conducted to our knowledge, i guess, any recent terrorist activity, so i would, aside with our former ambassador, robert robert ford, the last ambassador in syria, who said, you know, we should probably take a hard look and seriously consider removing the designation because these folks are in control, and so farther demonstrating, again, inclusivity, and that they really might be able to rule syria in a way that is of course mindful of human rights, and will uphold the sovereignty of the entire nation. >> and jake sullivan is in israel today. listen to what he just said in tel aviv because there is talk about a possible hostage deal even with only, you know, 30 days left before january 20th. >> we have been close before,

and i can't make promises or predictions to you, i wouldn't be here if i thought this thing was waiting until after january 20th. i'm here because i think everything matters. to try to close the deal as soon as we can. >> consider a cease fire and this is blinken's 13th visit to the region. and jake as well has been going repeatedly. >>. >> well, i think, hamas, andrea, realizes, hamas is not on their side. the hezbollah fighters were dealt a massive blow by israel, because they join in the fight against israel. as a result of that, iran was weakened substantially militarily because of israeli strikes against iranian weapons depots. iran was not available to help out assad and syria. hamas sees the writing on the wall. iran is not going to help us out. russia is not going to help us

out. we need to make a deal. the future will get only worse for us. if we can make a deal, get back, they intend to get back several hundred, i believe, hostages that the israelis are holding, prisoners are holding, in exchange for the hostages, they're holding, which are up to 100, maybe a little bit fewer because some of them may have perished. but the hamas folks realize time is not on their side. i'm not surprised to see a deal in the making. i will also add that of course president biden wants this to happen on his watch. interestingly president-elect trump has also said, you know, i want this taken care of, so i think the, you know, variables are aligning in the right direction here, fingers crossed. >> we really are out of time. i know that as someone who is a global leader in 2023, for the mccain institute, arrested, i know you're awaiting word, and if there's any breakthrough on

that, let us know. everyone of course is very concerned. >> thank you, andrea, very much. >> evelyn farkas, thank you so much. and coming up next, i'll talk to new york senator kyrsten gillibrand, member of the intelligence committee about the confirmation battles heating up on the hill. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. reports" on msnbc. no middleman. just quality tools you can trust at prices you'll love. whatever you do, do it for less at harbor freight. ♪♪ ♪ (animatronic santa) ho, ho, ho! (vo) time to move? make it easy with opendoor. sell your home in any season, for any reason. (animatronic santa) look at me! i am festive! when i hear cancer, i hear death sentence. every 15 seconds, someone will hear the words, “you have cancer.”

at the american cancer society, we're here... to help people through their entire journey. and today, we're asking for your support. your gift helps fund important research that saves lives. [bell ringing montage] i owe it all to the american cancer society... ♪♪ we can't do this without you. donate today.

house speaker johnson, senate staff as well, are getting briefed today about those mysterious suv-sized drones spotted in the skies over new jersey. more drones were reportedly spotted over warships off the west coast, over nuclear sites across the west, even over the cia in langley, virginia. an official with the white house national security council saying there's no evidence the drones are a national security threat or linked to a foreign government. joining us is democratic new york senator, kyrsten gillibrand who serves on the intelligence committee. i'm sure you're getting a lot of calls from constituents, as well in new york, but this is an issue for the intelligence committee. you have asked the fbi, and the homeland security department to brief congress. what do we know so far, what do you know about the drones that you can share? >> we know very little about these drones, which is the problem. we don't know who is sending them, who's controlling them, whether they are spying, citing

targets for future action. we have no idea the purpose of these drones, who's controlling them, and whether they are putting the american people at risk. >> the pentagon has denied a claim made by a republican new jersey congressman that quote, an iranian mothership is behind these drones. that does seem a little farfetched. does it ease your concerns that they say there's nothing to that. >> i wouldn't say that either, andrea, they have had drone incursions over langley, and did not see them coming, did not know where they are from and they are using technologies in these instances that are familiar. the size of these drones are unusual. it's a size not commercially available or readily commercially available. there's a questions about this

above schools, above communities and there's no direct law that denies them to do that, so we need to look at our laws, we need to reform them. who's controlling them at all times, if it's a foreign adversary flying over places throughout the united states is illegal. it is something that we can do something about. i'm working with senator cotton right now on legislation that when these drone incursions take place over military bases or nuclear sites or sensitive areas, that the dod will have the authority to take them down. my letter to the faa, to homeland security and to the fbi is sking what are you doing, are you going to follow the drones to find out where they're coming from, if there are ships off the coast launching these drones, we need to know who's controlling the shifts, whether they're foreign adversaries. we know that iran, that china, that russia have extremely

sophisticated drone capabilities. we have seen drones used as a weapon of war in ukraine and so these are the reasons why i have high concerns and am quite dissatisfied by the response by homeland security, fbi, and faa to my request that we need to have answers. they need to know where these drones are coming from, and we cannot simply say, well, they're not causing any harm. well, do we know that? what are they doing? and who's sending them? >> well, now, you have given me a lot of information here. so i should roll bamy skepticism about that, but do you really think there could be an iranian mothership that close, off the coast of the u.s., the atlantic coast, to launch something over langley. >> there's reason to believe that drone incursions that have happened over many months, over the last few years at different places in the united states could have been launched from ships, particularly if you look at the drone incursions we have

seen in virginia, the drone incursions at ley, the places easily accessible by sea. they need to be launched from somewhere. if it's a foreign adversary, a ship might be a very convenient place to launch a drone from. that's why you have to look at these questions. we don't have any evidence of a specific iranian ship. the dodd has said they don't have evidence of a specific iranian ship. we don't have evidence they didn't come from a ship, and we don't know who's building them, and who's flying them, and we don't know their purpose. as someone who sits on the intelligence committee and armed services committee, that causes me grave concern because as we know, with the chinese spy balloon, our adversaries have been using our airspace. the lack of regulation in these airspaces to gather intelligence against us. and because we know that is true, we have to look at these drone incursions and ask the simple questions, whose are they

and why are they there? >> are you assuming they are unmanned or is it possible they could be manned drones? >> it seems to be unmanned. although the size is unusual. >> that's why i'm asking. >> the size reported of the drones over langley were quite large. they are being identified as drones, unmanned aerial systems. we believe they are unmanned. as you know, because you cover war, the drones used in ukraine have been able to deliver lethal munitions. they're used as a weapon. they're used in many contexts and they certainly can be used as spy craft, where they gather intelligence, getting signals intelligence, getting reception from cell phone, other digital communications. we know this is feasible, and with the size of the drone, they could carry any payload they wanted to carry. any kind of weapon they would need to carry. so these are questions we should be asking. we should not be looking at these in the way we would look

at a kite or a balloon. these are drones. unmanned aerial systems that have been used as weapons of war around the globe. we have adversaries who have high levels of sophistication in manufacturing of drones. we should be asking very serious questions. >> and you are certainly raising those questions. i appreciate your being with us. you provided a lot of information for our viewers. thank you. >> thank you, andrea. and that does it for this edition of andrea mitchell reports. follow the show on social media @mitchell reports. watch the best parts on you tube, msnbc.com/andrea. "chris jansing reports" starts after a short break. you can count on me. please have snow and mistletoe and presents

under the tree. right now all over the country, kids at shriners hospitals for children™ are able to go home and be with their families for the holidays. and it's only possible because of the monthly support of people just like you. thanks to a generous donor, every dollar you give, will go three times as far to help more kids. with your gift of just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. we'll send you this adorable love to the rescue® blanket as a thank you and a reminder of the care you'll be providing so kids can be with their families. christmas eve will find me where the love light gleams. it only takes a moment to call the number on your screen. or you can visit loveshriners.org

right now on your phone or computer. your gift of $19 a month will have three times the impact in the lives of kids like me. because every child just wants to be home for the holidays, and your gift makes that possible. your call is the best gift of all. your gift will be my favorite christmas present this year. please call the number on your screen or go online right now with your monthly gift. and when you become a monthly donor, your first gift will be tripled. thank you for giving.

good day. i'm chris jansing live at nbc headquarters in new york city. person of the year. how president-elect donald trump's wild political ride landed him on wall