i know we promise hope, but we have to talk about the real issues. shout out to alicia for making sure that we got to the newtown story today because it is important. and come back tomorrow, folks, because we do have another very busy show for you. wisconsin's democratic party chair ben wickler is running for chair of the democratic national party. he'll be here. we'll also talk about reporter gretchen carlson about pete hegseth nomination. all of that will start back here tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. eastern. follow us on social media @theweekendmsnbc. folks, we appreciate your time. our coverage with continue with "velshi." charles coleman is in for ali. take it away, charles. >> so good to see you guys. i want to echo your sentiments as well as thank alicia for being the one to bring up that

very, very important story. and for michael to echo the sentiments of so many of us in terms of where our priorities lie and what's important to us. so, even though it's not necessarily the most holiday-happy message, it's a very, very important one and one that is imperative that we do not forget. so thank you all for bringing that up. >> thank you, man. >> i wore candy cane earrings today. that's as much holiday cheer i get. >> i got deer, reindeertomorrow. >> she's trying to show you up, michael. >> have a nice show, charles. >> "velshi" starts right now. ♪♪ good morning. it's saturday, december 14th, and i'm charles coleman filling in for my friend and colleague ali velshi. we have a lot to talk about. this week marks the halfway

point between election day and inauguration day. and president-elect donald trump's path to remaking the justice department is clearer than it has ever been. fbi director christopher wray announced this week that he would be resigning from his role at the end of the biden administration instead of finishing his 10-year term. this clears the way for trump's pick, kash patel. now, patel is a long-time trump loyalist who has repeated lies about the 2020 election. last year on steve bannon's podcast he falsely suggested that president biden rigged the 2020 election results and vowed that a new trump administration would, quote, come after journalists and government officials who helped him. and listen to what patels said in an interview that aired just in september. >> i would shut down the fbi hoover building on day one and reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state. >> yeah. because that's not weird at all. this week, patel was on capitol

hill meeting with enators and the guardian hugo lowell is reporting he locked down broad support. now this is important, getting buy in from the judiciary committee is a strategic step toward making it politically harder for skeptical republicans in the full senate to vote against his nomination. meanwhile, pete hegseth, trump's pick for secretary of defense, spent this week meeting with potential hold-outs for a senate confirmation. now this comes as a pressure campaign continues to grow against those same senators like iowa's joanie ernst. as for trump's pick to lead the department of health and human services, well, trump said in an interview published thursday that he would discuss ending children's vaccine programs with robert f. kennedy jr. and yesterday, "the new york times" reported that a lawyer for rfk jr., who was helping him vet candidates for top health positions in hhs once petitioned the fda to revoke approval of

the polio vaccine, which has protected millions of people since it was invented in 1955. now, response to the story in rfk spokesperson noted that the lawyer in question has never discussed the vaccine petition with rfk jr. and that quote polio vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied. now this is a statement that doesn't do very much to reassure public health experts because the polio vaccine has already been extensively studied and shown to be safe and effective against a deadly disease with no cure. president-elect trump also announced kari lake this week as his choice to run voice of america. it's a government-funded but independent media outlet which broadcasts in 40 languages to more than 300 million people worldwide. now before her foray into republican politics, lake was a broadcast journalist at local fox stations in phoenix for more than 20 years. all right. that sounds good.

promising. but she's also an election denier who railed against the, quote, fake news even calling fox news a, quote, globalist network. joining me now to discuss all of this is jennifer ruben, opinion writer for the "washington post" and an msnbc political analyst as well as david a. graham, who is a staff writer for the "atlantic." jen, david, thank you for being with me. i want to start with you, jen. and listen to what pete hegseth walked back has been on women in the military from november until now. >> i'm straight up just saying, we should not have women in combat roles. it hasn't made us more effective. hasn't made us more lethal. has made fighting more complicated. i also want an opportunity here to clarify comments that have been misconstrued that i somehow don't support women in the military. some our greatest warriors, our best warriors out there are women. >> now, jen, one of the interesting things about this is

because one of the biggest question marks in whether hegseth will be confirmed is senator joanie ernst, who is the first female combat veteran to be elected to the senate. how do you anticipate this strategy of trying to sort of milk the judiciary first or put pressure on other holdouts is going to play out? >> first of all, you'll notice he didn't say that he supported women in combat. he only said he supported women in the military. so he really hasn't entirely walked back his comment. and it is frankly shameful as well as unsurprising that joanie ernst, who was a military veteran, who has been a victim of sexual assault, would bend the knee and accept such an unfit, unqualified character. not only is he a consperitorial nut, not only has he said bizarre and inappropriate things about women in the military,

gays in the military, he is utterly unqualified for this. he has no strategic, no diplomatic background. he has never run an organization of this size. there are serious allegations about alcoholism, about infidelity, both of which would be disqualifying for an officer in the military. it is an absurd pick. and it is emblematic of the depths to which the republican party has fallen that no one, not even joanie ernst has the nerve to oppose such an outrageous pick. so i'm not surprised anymore. i'm mildly disappointed. but frankly, anyone, including mitch mcconnell who now has taken upon himself the role of fighting america first, who votes to confirm this guy, is going to be responsible for the consequences. and those consequences could include a military disaster. a lack of preparedness, a terrorist strike. they are going to be responsible for putting such an unfit,

unqualified person in role. >> david, you had a piece titled "fill the swamp" less discussed picks for top roles. can you talk about who these people are and what we should actually know about them. >> you know, we're seeing lots of people coming into the administration who are exactly the kind of swamp creatures, quote unquote, who trump derided when he was running for office the first time. people who are lobbyists including his chief of staff and members of his cabinet. we have people who employed many lobbyists, titans of industry and exactly the type of people who can affect their own businesses, profit from their role in government. chiefly among them elon musk, who trump said he would pick out of office and stocking his cabinet with. an administration filled with people who are working to benefit themselves. >> now, one of the things i thought was interesting, jen, is that recently at a no labels event you had a senator, senator mccow ski, talking about the fact that the message to holdouts is basically cooperate,

fall in line with these nominations or we're going to primary you. at one point it seemed the time of midterms at one point that donald trump's notion of an endorsement had lost its luster in terms of the threat of a primary. has that completely disappeared? is this now sort of a sign that he is regained strength within the party to such a degree that someone should be worried about being primaried if they're an incumbent? >> of course. if your goal in life is to remain in office indefinitely. you have no choice to bend the knee. so that's why you see these people tie themselves in knots, twist themselves into etzels in order to please him. the response i think from democrats, from independents, from responsible republicans is fine. if you're going to play that

game, then we're going to go after you, hammer and tongues in 2026 if you're up for re-election, like susan collins is, like thom tillis is, like joanie ernst is, and you're going to be held responsible for the results. that's the only recourse frankly at this point because these people are imof appeals to kind of appeals to uphold their oath. so, the only thing one can do is expose, is to denounce and then hold accountable when they're next up for re-election. >> david, i'm old enough to remember -- >> charles, i would just say -- >> go ahead. >> i think this is a short-sighted political strategy. one thing that history tells us a president is much weaker two years into their term. there's a voter backlash. this is something republicans are going for political reasons and they may come to regret it in two years. >> i'm old enough to remember -- i appreciate that point. just a few weeks ago, everything around the conversation with respect to the election was the

economy, the price of groceries and the cost of living essentially being more affordable. no s new person of the year interview with "time" magazine, donald trump has been asked whether his presidency would be a failure if grocery prices dropped. then he said, quote, i don't think so. look, they got them up. i would like to bring them down. it's hard to bring things down once they're up. you know, it's very hard, but i think that they will. it seems like he's already hedging. so, how does the american public create any sense of measurable around a successful donald trump administration? >> well -- >> it would be nice frankly if the press -- >> i'm sorry. go ahead, david. i want david on this one. >> yeah. i think the question is successful for whom? it's a classic bait and switch. it's clear from exit polling and other data people voted because they're upset about the economy and voted for donald trump

because of that. what they're getting a donald trump who is not interested in the economy who instead is focussed on rewarding his cronies, the people who supported him and his loyalists and exacting retribution. >> jennifer, the last word on this same question. >> well, i'm shocked. shocked that he is a hypocrite and has no ability to carry out his campaign promises. listen, it would be nice if the press, rather than marveling at his superior political skills, would remind the american public over and over again that he's a fraud and that what he is doing is simply empowering the oligarchky. he's increasing the gap between the rich and everybody else and the american people will be worse for it. all those people who voted because the price of eggs are too high, well, they will have highs hie price of eggs plus deportations, tariffs and corruption the likes of which we have not seen in 100 years. >> jennifer ruben and david graham, starting us off with mic

drops indeed. thank you to you both. coming up, we're a few days away from a government shutdown again. democratic congressman adam smith of washington joins me to discuss the latest on the negotiations. and the next steps for the just-passed annual defense bill. plus, i'll be joined by the outgoing secretary of energy, this will be a great conversation. jennifer gran home. after the break, we'll go live to damascus, syria, for the latest on the chaotic political situation following the overthrow of the assad regime. first, breaking news on another government in turmoil. just hours ago, south korea's parliament voted to impeach president yoon suk yeol. our previous impeachment attempt failed after lawmakers in his party walked out of the proceeding. yoon is in the presidential residence but is suspended from state duties while the country's constitutional court decides next steps. the prime minister is now

serving as acting president, although he, too, could face impeachment other his role in the martial law declaration. we'll continue to bring you all the latest news on this fast-moving situation. you're watching "velshi" on msnbc. "velshi" on msnbc.

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reliable 5g, plus wifi speeds up to a gig where you need it most. xfinity mobile. xfinity internet customers, ask how to get a free 5g phone and a second unlimited line free for a year. ♪♪ now to the latest in the chaotic situation in syria, following the overthrow of bashar al assad's regime. secretary of state, anthony blijen, is currently the middle east for peace talks with officials from several arab nations regarding the best ways to support the political transition. while in jordan earlier today, he spoke about the future of syria and made clear that the u.s. is ready to assist where needed. >> i look forward to this opportunity to compare notes with the envoy and to, again, think through how we can support

the syrian people in this time of both opportunity, but also real challenge. >> joining me now live in damascus is nbc news international correspondent matt bradley. matt, good morning. the rebels who are in charge now seem to be trying to put an air of authority around themselves and the transfer of power appears to be going peacefully, at least for right now. but what is your take being on the ground there? >> reporter: yeah, charles. every moment, everyday we're seeing new signals that this is a permanent departure by bashar al assad and the arrival of these new rebel groups who really routed so fast, less than two weeks, lightning advance from the northwest of the country to taking this city of damascus, surprising the world that they are the ones who are going to be remaining in charge. the latest signal we have been seeing is new satellite images from yesterday showing russian forces packing up and shipping out from two bases in the

western part of the country. now the russian military here has kind of been the backbone of the assad regime's defense against various other fighting groups, including hayat tahrir al-sham, now that bashar al assad fled to moscow, looks like the russian forces are also packing up and preparing to leave. we also said just yesterday out in some of the main squares here in damascus and saw just ecstatic demonstrations, all of them called for by hts the same group that took over, waving flags, people dancing, a really euphoric situation and just a feeling that everybody felt and they also used the same sort of word, that they can finally breathe after 50 years of control by the assad regime. but, as you mentioned, charles, there are so many vexing questions about how this whole country is going to move forward, about how this group, hts, is going to move forward. it is a terrorist, designated

group by the united states and by many western nations. and it is -- has past allegiances to al qaeda and even to islamic state. they have since disavowed that and kind of made a makeover for themselves, stylizing themselves as liberals, inclusive people who will offer rights to women and ethnic and minorities. there's a lot of questions about whether or not this group can walk the walk as well as they talk the talk. charles? >> that was nbc's matt bradley in damascus, syria, thank you. coming up next, will congress give us a lump of coal this holiday season? we are on the verge of another government shutdown. i'm going to be talking with democratic congressman adam smith of washington about the latest negotiations to stop that shutdown shortly after a break. you're watching "velshi" on msnbc. you're watching "velshi" msnbc. when you're a small-business owner, your to-do list can be...a lot.

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♪♪ >> with just over a week until the deadline, house is closing in on a bill. mike johnson indicates he would like a three-month stopgap bill. schumer urged his colleagues to solidify something quickly and without controversy. >> the only way we prevent a shutdown is through bipartisan cooperation without any last-minute poison pills that create controversy. we can't have that, it has never worked in the past and adding poison pills at the 11th hour would only make the risk of a christmas shutdown greater. >> with me now for more on this is capitol hill nbc news correspondent gary. give me a temperature check from lawmakers. what has to happen in order to avoid a government shutdown?

>> reporter: hey, good morning, charles. yeah, nobody on either side of the aisle has an appetite for a government shutdown this year. and people want to get back to their districts. they want to get back to their homes. they want to njoy the holidays. there are a few sticking points to figure out before they can get to that point. one has to do with disaster aid. the biden administration asked nor $100 billion in disaster aid related to hurricanes milton and helene. they want to get them that money. now members aren't saying, no, we don't want that money to go anywhere. they're just questioning about how much money should go towards disaster aid. so that's one of the sticking points. the other big sticking point has to do with irs funding. there's $20 billion in irs funding that's in this federal funding bill. donald trump has a very different view of what the irs should be doing, so that money is certainly up in the air, specialically as it relates to

doge and some of the government efficiency plans that donald trump has once he takes office on january 20th. so it's those two points that interest big issues. we do, however, think we'll get the text for this funding bill by the end of the weekend, perhaps. then both chambers will vote on it before the end of the week and send it to president biden's desk before friday night. charles? >> nbc's gary grumbach on capitol hill. thank you for being with us. now let's turn to the top democrat on the house armed services committee, congressman adam smith of washington. congressman, thank you for being with me this morning. how optimistic are you that your colleagues are going to be able to agree on a funding bill and keep the government open? >> well, i think it's likely and also think it's problematic. lost in all of this is that the government has been operating on a continuing resolution since october 1st. that means we're two and a half months into the fiscal year without appropriations bills and speaker johnson's proposal would take us to the end of march. we would go six months without

actual spending bills. there's an assumption that crr appropriation bill is out, what's the difference? huge difference. government functioning on a crr is not efficient and is incredibly problematic. the pentagon is other half of the iscretionary budget. they can't really plan for the future. i really want to emphasize that the only reason that we don't have actual appropriation bills right now is because speaker johnson is once again doing the bidding of the extreme right wing of his caucus. the overwhelming majority of members in the house and the senate could quickly pass actual priation bills and fund the government. speaker johnson doesn't want to risk alienating the far right and who might not vote for him for speaker on january 3rd. government is shut down. defense department is crippled is an overstatement but wounded.

we are harmed by doing a cr. instead of passing appropriation bills. the only we're doing this harm and applies to all the other discretionary funding programs. the only reason we're doing harm is because speaker johnson doesn't want to risk losing a vote for speaker on january 3rd. there's more damage going on here than what sbg reportsed. >> this $895 billion defense bill that passed on wednesday. that bill includes a ban on gender affirming care of u.s. service members and a lot of pushback from you and other democratic colleagues of yours. where do we go from here? what happens next with this bill? >> well, look, the bill is going to pass. it passed the house 281 to 141. the senate is keyed up to pass it. and the president will sign it. look, it's a really good bill

with one exception. you know, it has a lot of provisions in there, specifically to help enlisted service members who have been struggling to make it because of pay. we dramatically increase their pay in a variety of other benefits for them, to really improve the quality of life for our service members. that's good. there's a lot of other good things in the bill. but again, because speaker johnson wanted to make sure that he didn't offend the far right, he had to put in this bigoted, anti-trans provision which is a partisan wedge issue, which in the past on a bipartisan basis, those of us on the armed services committee have resisted putting those things in there. even mike rogers, my partner, colleague and chairman of the armed services committee said the anti-trans provision had no business being in this bill. so, it's going to pass. and it's really unfortunate that this provision is part of it. >> so congressman, you're the ranking member on armed services. we were just talking about a bill that, as you said, was

bigoted toward trans service members. we're talking about the potential confirmation of pete hegseth, secretary of defense, who in the past has not been bashful about his stances even as he tried to walk them back, about who should serve. is our country trending in the right direction around who we allow in the armed services and how we allow them to serve and welcome and support them? >> no, it's not. we have way too much of the culture clash going on. and on the right, you know, they have a hard time walking away from old policies. i have unfortunately read some of the excerpts from peter hegseth books that he's written, how he is critical of women, critical of gay people, critical of trans people serving in the military. and that's not good and not helpful. there are a lot of women. there are a lot of gay people. there are a lot of trans people in this country. they are highly capable.

we need that talent. if they want to serve in the military, we should allow them because they are perfectly capable of doing so. in this sort of bigoted, outdated thinking that peter hegseth has exhibited -- i'm not talking 20 years ago when he was college student or something, i'm talking in a book that he put out a year and a half ago, two years ago maybe. now, allegedly he has been saying behind scenes, oh, no, i would never do such a thing. but i don't trust him, and i don't trust the trump administration to not give in to the far right. and they do it under the guise of the anti-wokeness. look, i represent seattle, king county. some of the extreme left wing identity politics stuff i think is really problematic in the way we govern around here. it's not happening in the military. but the military is doing is they're very intelligently figuring out we need women. we need gay people. these are communities that have

hisser torically been discrimi against. people like peter hegseth are conflating those things and advancing bigoted thinking that will harm the readiness and capability of our military by excluding people from it for no good reason. >> thank you, congressman, on behalf of feds -- i was a fed for many years and sat through two government shutdowns, i really hope that you and your colleagues on the hill can do everything possible to keep the lights on. coming up next w the clock ticking down until donald trump returns to power, energy secretary jennifer granholm joins me for what i'm super excited to discuss around the biden administration and how it's handling its last days on the way out. ing its last days on the way out. big news for mahomes! i'm switching to iphone 16 pro at t-mobile! it's built for apple intelligence. that's like peanut butter on jelly... on gold. get four iphone 16 pro on us, plus four lines for $25 bucks. what a deal.

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♪♪ as president biden's time in the white house draws to a close, his administration is racing to safeguard as much as they can before donald trump takes over. under the biden administration, tackling climate change and developing a strong, green economy was a top priority. and while the biden administration set records for oil exports, its record also included a number of investments in materials of green energy. the inflation reduction act was a defining achievement for the biden administration. it jump started the process of

investing trillions of private and public dollars into clean energy and climate resilience projects. in the last two years alone, the inflation reduction act and the bipartisan infrastructure bill have created hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs across almost every state. more than 90% of the funds from those bills has already been paid out and major climate projects are already under way. but trump and his allies have promised steps that could essentially undo much of this progress. the incoming administration wants to redouble emphasis on fossil fuel production, not sure if you heard the whole, drill baby drill, thing. now trump's pick to lead the department of energy is oil industry ceo chris wright. wright has repeatedly down played the threat of climate change and has even said that a warming planet is a positive thing. joining me now to discuss this is the energy secretary for the biden administration, jennifer granholm.

secretary, it is such a pleasure to talk to you. >> great to be on. thank you so much. >> really excited for this conversation. these are -- these have been some very ground breaking ideas and strides that have been made under this administration. >> unbelievable. >> but some of them have yet to come into fruition entirely. >> yeah. >> how do you respond to folks who have seen the investment but not the return. >> this is such an important thing. so there's three laws that were passed, as many of your viewers know, under the biden administration that really created an industrial strategy which we have not had before as a nation. as a result of those laws, just in the past 2.5 years since the inflation reduction act was passed, there have been over 950 announcements of factories. now i'm coming from the midwest, the industrial midwest. >> that's right. that's right. >> we saw all of those factories leave.

we're reindustrializing america which is amazing. we had the sidewalks roll up when the factories left are now seeing investment. to your point, contracts are being left. maybe there's been some ground breakings. haven't been a whole lot of ribbon cuttings yet. the factories aren't opening yet and people -- just because it takes time to build a factory and people may not be being hired yet. i say 950 factories. that's so far. every two days there's another announcement of a factory being opened as a result of these ten-year laws. so, we're going to see a lot of the fruition of this in the next few years. and i think that's one of the reasons why because 85% of the investments are actually going to red states and red counties. that's one of the reasons why there's some durability of these laws. >> so, what do you say to the coal miners and the folks who work in the oil industry who are saying, yeah, that's great, these factories are coming back.

but what about me? i need to make sure that i'm protected, i can feed my family in this sort of changing environment that you described. >> yeah, it's hugely important that people realize the people who powered our nation for the past 100 years have an opportunity to power our nation for the next 100 years in future jobs in clean energy, just as an example, geothermal power the heat beneath our feet. and the same skill set used to extract oil and gas is the exact skill set you would need to extract that heat beneath our feet. you need drill set mps you need people who understand rigs, et cetera. there's a lot of transferable skills in the clean energy space that pay really well. and these communities can also see benefits in nuclear power. there's a lot of interest on the part of former coal plants that have been shut down to be able to host small modular nuclear reactors, for example, or long duration energy storage and

combined with renewable energy as an opportunity for people to be able to be employed. there's just a huge amount of skill sets that are needed in the clean energy economy. and the kicker is that of these investments i mentioned, 81% have gone to communities that have below average weekly wages, 86% have gone to communities with below average college graduation rates. so the point is on this reindustrialization, we are really healing a lot of the breach that happened when factories were lost and when coal plants are shut down. >> you know, i just moonlight as a tv guy, but my alter ego is a civil rights attorney. so i have to ask you about energy justice. can you just talk for a moment about what has been done in this space around energy justice, how important it is, and very quickly the threat of what it is to not continue to invest in that space and what it means. >> we know that communities of

color and disadvantaged communities have been disproportionately negatively impacted by both not having in the past -- not having investments for job opportunities in this clean energy space, and by bearing the burden of the pollution that is when you have oil and gas industry concentrated in areas i think of cancer alley, for example, in louisiana. here is the interesting thing about the way the inflation reduction act was developed and is executed. if you're a developer, and you want to put in solar development, you get 30% tax credit just for doing that. you get another 10% tax credit if you pay prevailing wage and have fair labor standards. you get another 10% if you locate in a disadvantaged community. so consequently in the past two years, just because of these laws, 49,000 projects have been located in disadvantaged communities from last year and this year it will be 50,000. that is amazing when you think

of the opportunity that these laws are creating. really preparing a lot of the inequity that has occurred to get investment into communities that have been left behind. >> madam secretary, thank you so much for this conversation. it has truly been amazing. that was u.s. energy secretary jennifer granholm. so glad to have her today on "velshi". still ahead the latest on the killing of ceo brian thompson. what they learned from luigi mangione's mother the night before his arrest coming you have after a short break. stay tuned. stay tuned

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♪♪ we turn now to the latest development in the killing of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson. the nypd says they did not

identify luigi mangione until after he was arrested, but we now know authorities spoke to his mother the night before he was taken into custody. she confirmed after looking at the photos that the suspected gunman could be her son. nbc news correspondent priscilla thompson has the very latest. >> reporter: this morning, new details about an urgent tip identifying luigi mangione as the possible shooter of unitedhealthcare ceo brian thompson four days before he was arrested. two senior law enforcement officials tell nbc news that san francisco police thought the man caught flashing a smile inside a manhattan hostile looked similar to the 26-year-old in this missing person poster and notified the fbi. one of hundreds of tips the nypd says it received in the days following the murder. mangione's mother filed a missing person's report in november, after having not spoken to her son since july, the report says. the new information comes as the fight to bring mangione back to

new york intensifies. >> he should be and i will continue to say, be prosecuted here in new york city. >> reporter: manhattan district attorney alvin bragg suggesting the 26-year-old may soon drop his fight against extradition from pennsylvania to new york. >> we'll be ready whether he is going to waive extradition or whether he's going to contest extradition. >> reporter: mangione's attorney has not responded to nbc's request for comment. mean while, investigators are still working to identify a mote i have. united healthcare says mangione was not insured by the company, but the nypd says written pages found on mangione mention the company by name. suggesting the murder was more ideological than personal. he also wrote about suffering from debilitating back pain, police say. >> the injury that he suffered was a life-changing, life-altering injury. and that's what may have put him on this path. >> reporter: the why of this horrific ambush fueling a larger conversation around a flawed healthcare system.

senator lizabeth warren making headlines with these remarks on wednesday. >> violence is never the answer, but you can only push people so far and then they start to take matters into their own hand. >> reporter: thompson's boss the ceo of united health group also speaking out, acknowledging in an op-ed the health system does not work as well as it should. calling for changes that make the health system work better for everyone, to honor thompson's life and legacy. >> that was nbc's priscilla thompson reporting. and for more on this, i am now joined by my friend and colleague, super lawyer and msnbc legal analyst, dannisy value loes a criminal defense attorney as well. i get to take off my glasses and talk to a lawyer. first things first for our audience may not understand, mangione's attorney is currently defending against -- he's filed a motion for habeas corpus. can you explain to everyone who may not know what that actually means and how important is that. >> petition for habeas corpus is a legal means of challenging the

legality of someone's detention. it's used in so many other ways in the law, but this is a very narrow use of it, and it's to contest his detention for purposes of extradition. so, if he wins, and i'm going to let you in on a little secret, he is not going to win. there's so much coverage of this extradition hearing as if it's a real event. i'm a pennsylvania lawyer. i'm familiar with the procedure. he is going to lose. this is an assured outcome. it's a constitutional requirement that pennsylvania turn him over to new york. the only possible outcome is, in theory, governor shapiro under the law could choose to keep him because pennsylvania separately charged him with f 2 forgery. in theory they could keep him and prosecute him first. they are never going to do that. they're going to turn him over. the only thing the government has to show at the hearing is that he is who they say he is, that new york wants him on a criminal case and that he was in new york at the time of the shooting. that's all they need to show. and most of it can be done by

hearsay. he's going back to new york and that is it. >> alvin bragg will be waiting for him when he does. danny, one thing that struck me about what we know about this case so far. it seems awfully well packaged for the prosecution. you're talking about guy whose got presumed murder weapon on him, a week after the crime is alledgedly committed. and he's got this manifesto that sort of lays out alongside with the monopoly money, that's a whole different thing. >> sure. >> that lays out potential motive and intent around this crime. as a defense attorney, is there something that goes off in your head that says, wait a minute, i don't buy or something about this seems a little bit too perfect for the prosecution. >> let's go back a couple weeks. i think the reason i've been hearing this sort of dialogue that it seems too perfect. it may stem -- this is just my opinion. at the outset, there was a lot of discussion this hit was something out of the jason bourn or some spy novel. the only thing i saw remotely

clever is he may have gone into central park. it's true, central park has less cameras than midtown manhattan. but probably still more cameras that altoona, pennsylvania. in central park, they added more this last summer because of attempted rapes that happened there. there are cameras there and they tracked him. the only thing he successfully did was get a good head start. you can hop on a lot of buses and trains and get out ahead of law enforcement. once you scratch beneath the surface, this was really appears to have been a very clumsy crime. i mean, anyone who will put monopoly money in a bag is not thinking about evasion. yes, he got out of the city. but there are a lot of things he did he committed the crime, if it's him, in full view of a camera, ten feet away and there were plenty of other cameras that caught him. so i think at the end of the day we may conclude that this is anything but a professional type hit. it was actually, i think, we'll find once we see all the evidence the government has, it was actually rather clumsy. even though it was thought out, it wasn't thought out for evasion. >> really, really quickly, got

30 seconds. what's the one piece of evidence you as a defense attorney are going to be examining most closely in preparing for this trial? >> one of two thing. you go for insanity defense, start hiring your doctors now. going to go with some other dude did it, then you have to attack all of the images and all of the dna and all this powerful circumstantial evidence from which a jury could probably pretty easily conclude that that's the guy that may have done it. >> as always, my friend danny cevallos, let me take off the glasses and talk to a lawyer on a saturday morning. coming up, president joe biden issued dozens of pardons and commuted hundreds of sentences this week as he prepares to leave office. while president-elect donald trump says he's going to pardon most of the people accused of or convicted in january 6th insurrection on his way in the door. this is just in his first minutes as president. plus, what trump's pick to lead the civil rights division at the department of justice tells us about how trump plans to do business in his second

term in office. and the pulitzer prize winner creator of the 1619 project nikole hannah-jones will join me on set in new york to discuss what the future of journalism looks like in a new trump era. another hour of "velshi" starts right after a quick break. dad: a perfect day with the family! shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects! only shingrix is proven over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix doesn't protect everyone and isn't for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. tell your healthcare provider if you're pregnant or breastfeeding. increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can happen so take precautions. most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling where injected, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor about shingrix today.

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