right now on "ana cabrera reports." mystery in the skies. the federal government sending help to new jersey and new york after thousands of drone sightings, but are authorities giving any real answers about what's happening? plus, a grand jury indictment could come any day for luigi mangione, what we are learning

about his new lawyer as he fights extradition. another controversial trump cabinet pick on the hill today. the pre-holiday push by rfk, jr. to convince skeptical senators and later, the u.s. confirming direct contact with the rebels now in control of syria as ousted bashar al assad appears to issue his first statement from russia. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ good monday morning, it's 10:00 eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific and i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york and we begin with growing demands for action following a series of mysterious drone sightings. the federal government now sending help to new york and new jersey where the first drone sighting happened a month ago and since then there have been more than 5,000 reports with the reaction online ranging from confusion to outright panic. >> dude! what? it's right above us. >> oh, my god!

it's so close! >> that ain't no [ bleep ] plane. i watch planes fly, bro, over here all the time. that is not a plane. >> first drone of the night. just getting home from work right above my backyard. >> let's get to nbc's maya egland in teaneck, new jersey. you went along with police this weekend as they searched for drones. what did you see? what more are you learning? >> hi, ana. i saw objects that appeared to be moving faster than a plane and when i asked a detective about it he could not explain what it was. we are in teaneck, new jersey, where there have been reported sightings and the local authorities are encouraging people to continue sending in those reports although the fbi and faa are saying there is no active threat to the public. we spoke to some residents. take a look. >> they're everywhere. >> growing calls for action over the mysterious objects being reported in the skies over new jersey and new york.

>> there's another one over there. >> an fbi official says they've received thousands of reports over the past few weeks with less than 100 of those warrantinging warranting further investigation, but whatever they're seeing locals want answers. >> our local people asking questions about the drones should not have to shake an 8 ball to get an answer. >> they are urging officials to use special drone technology like the robin radar. >> there is certainly technology that can track the craft with with precision and sdrm what the heck is going on. >> they're sending a drone detection system to new york. alejandro mayorkas says there is no sign foreign involvement. i want to assure the american public that we are on it. >> despite these assurances, people we spoke to today want more answers. >> are you skeptical when you hear that? >> i mean, it's a security threat to the whole world, so i don't know how they can say

that. >> meanwhile, eports of mysterious objects, and boston police are arresting two people who they say were flyinging a drone dangerously close to logan airport. the sheriff's office are showing us how they're using their own drones. >> maybe we can see where they're taking off from or where they're going to so we can gather more information. >> the faa now saying they've received multiple reports of people ning lasers in new york, new jersey and pennsylvania. >> i started seeing a flash around the cockpit of the plane. >> ken, a private pilot says in his 30+ years as a pilot he's never experienced a laser. >> they were tracking me. >> for some residents, answers about the growing confusion can't come soon enough. >> why haven't they, like, found the origin of the drone? i don't know why that's a hard

thing to do. >> ana, i have to tell you that one other thing that senator schumer added was the fact that that could be contributing to all of this is an faa rule change in 2023 that allowed people to start flying drones at night. from the folks i spoke to yesterday, a few of them were concerned and a few of them said maybe some of this has been blown out of proportion, all of them, demanding more answers from federal officials to try to get to the bottom of this sooner. >> maya egland, thank you for that. >> now i want to bring in new jersey assemblyman who attended a dhs briefing on the drone sightings and an faa drone pilot. thank you both for being here with us. assemblyman, you walked out of a homeland security briefing about the drone sightings. what did they tell you? did they have any real answers? >> no. at the time they didn't have answers and it was extremely frustrating and now we've got other politicians and officials in the government trying to tell

us that these aren't in and it was contributable to a 2023 rules change and come on, you guys would have tons of people on saying hey, i'm flying over all these drones at night, but you don't, because that's not exactly what's happening and the government doesn't know and they refuse to give us answers. it's very frustrating. >> how do you know that's what's happening? i know you're hearing frustration and concern from your constituents, but do you have evidence that they are something nefarious and not what the government is saying is something not to worry about? >> no. i don't have evidence of that, but how many people do you have calling to msnbc saying i was flying five six-foot drones over denville. don't worry about it. it's not happening. you would think by now with the amount of news coverage that people would come out and say that they're doing these types of things and by the way, these are large drones. the state police helicopter flew over a six-foot drone. i mean, this is crazy stuff.

this is not -- very easily available stuff. this is isn't off the shelf stuff you buy at best buy. these are legitimate aircraft. it's very, very concerning, and just reported today there was an airport in ohio that had a shutdown and up in nuremberg that was shut down because of drones in their airspace and this is legitimate stuff that's happening and they're not giving it nearly enough attention. >> we don't have enough answers. you're right about that. mike, you heard senator schumer say in maya's piece say you shouldn't have to shake an 8 ball to get answers. it's not just republicans, democrats, we are hearing it from local, state and law enforcement as well as public officials and because we don't have definitive answers. >> right. >> people are jumping to conclusions, sometimes inaccurately. we've already seen some claims debunked and as you see here, these are some of the posts claiming to spot drones and it turns out these were regularly

aircraft flying at night. why do you think it's reached this level of rumor, of concern? are you surprised it's gotten to this point? >> a little surprised and it's important to think of a friend or foe of what was in the sky and we do vulnerability risk assessments and we look at what's up there, and most of these reports is reception. you know how the moon looks bigger in the horizon, people think these units are bigger than they are and now people -- the trolls have taken to the skies and the internet is imitating life. life imitates the internet and now people are coordinating, they're flying chinese lanterns and putting drones into them for effects and people are doing coordinating on group chats of doing different drone shows to mess with the public and there's also that, as well. >> do you think there is a lack of transparency, though, from officials or is it complicated to get the answers that everybody is seeking? >> there's no group chat for officials and maybe it's a small team saying hey, there's a

missing nuclear warhead and we don't want to tip our hat to the public and let them know that's what it is and it's a military aircraft, and we put american lives at risk if we share what's at risk and communicating with everybody as politicians and everybody else kind of likes to say, let's shoot them out of the sky. they're looking for attention and click bait themselves. there's not a necessity to share with someone that will risk american lives. >> assemblyman bergen, there have been calls for the u.s. to shoot down these drones. >> i was a helicopter pilot in the army and i've been in combat. i've seen bullets fly through the air. you shouldn't see anything shot out of the sky. i can tell you that much and i should be following these things to where they came from. as time goes on, more aircraft are up there, personal drones are up there looking for these things and there is more

aircraft flying in the sky overnight and other planes and a lot more activity over new jersey right now and this is a byproduct of a government not acting fast enough and this has been going on for too long and they should have followed these things and figured out what's going on. let's just be honest. there was a new jersey, state police helicopter hovering above what the state police said was a six-foot drone and they let the thing go. instead of following it to where it went, here we are. and are a lot of people seeing planes and helicopters and stuff? of course. there's a lot of that in the sky and it is confusing to the average person, but that's not to discount the fact that there are drones out there. it is a big concern. i've seen them with my own eyes. i know what the drone looks like versus a plane or helicopter and it is a real reality here in new jersey. >> mike, your thoughts on the idea of just shooting down. >> do not shoot them down, the a federal offense to shoot aircraft out of the sky and

personal property and this is where we need think about our own water supply and our own electrical grids and we're seeing bigger larys and they're using the drones to see if the lease are cominging and there's no clear jurisdiction over who has that. say it's over the stadium. is it the local police? is it the federal police? is it faa? this something that we need to look at as a threat. i don't think it's a threat, but long term this is something that we need to prepare for because guess what? amazon is delivering in phoenix, walmart is delivering in arkansas. we love getting our stuff. we need pills fast and defibrillators fast and these are drones that we're all going to love and get ready because it will become white noise in the sky. >> do we talk about regulation, and we heard from secretary mayorkas and there's been a approximately see policy change, given what's going on, should that be rolled

back or are there other regulations that you think could help sort all of this out? >> i don't know if you're going to be able to stop it, right? i don't believe that regulation will stop it. if you want to 3d print a drone, put some ai into it and fly at night and no one will be able to detect it or stop it, right? you can play whack a mole with these regulations andity matly, it will prevail where we see the cool uses that we'll say that 100 to 400 and the drone zone where we are flying by delivering our stuff for us, that you would start regulating and now you're regulating invasion. >> so what do you tell people then who are looking up and saying, is there a drone and is there a way to tell the difference? >> i've seen people sharing blatant pictures of airlines and saying it's a drone. you can see what's in the sky and it's federally regulated right now. if there are red and green

lights, an alien will probably not follow faa rules when they come to visit us or mother ships, right? it's also, think about the con seng. it looks bigger when it's closer. so i think people really need to think about that it's most likely an aircraft. >> i appreciate the conversation, both of you. thank you very much. new jersey assemblyman and brian, agree that it's an issue we want to get to the bottom of. thank you much. a grand jury indictment could come any day about luigi mangione and what we are learning about the new attorney he's hired and rfk jr., as he faces new scrutiny over his beliefs about vaccines and trump's win over abc news. a $15 million defamation settlement. what's the ripple effect? and l.a.'s new d.a. speaking out about the menendez brothers. his potential impact on their fight for freedom. we're back in 90 seconds. is syms define me... emerge as you,

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♪ ♪ holiday memories made by alexis brought to you by etsy. developments involving the suspect in the murder of united health care ceo brian thompson. authorities in new york are not letting up in their efforts to extradite luigi mangione back to manhattan. also this, a source familiar with the investigation tells nbc news a new york grand jury could hand up an indictment against mangione as soon as this week. and while mangione is still in a pennsylvania prison, he just hired a new prominent new york

city lawyer to represent him. nbc's priscilla thompson joins us from pennsylvania. priscilla, what more do we know about this change in representation and just how soon mangione could be transferred to new york? >> yeah, ana. let's start with representation. he now has a high-power new york defense attorney on his side in karen friedman agnifilo. she's worked for seven years in the manhattan attorney's office before going into private practice so she has decades of experience in new york's criminal justice system and of course, this addition to the team comes as this indictment appears to be imminent. you may remember that mangione's attorney stood in the courtroom behind me just this week saying they were going to fight extradition. they were going to fight all of these charges and we have reached out to his now new attorney who has been added to the team agnifilo to see what her position is on that, but

she's declined to comment. they are not making any public statements about the matter, but we do know that according to the pennsylvania department of corrections, she and her husband who is also an attorney visited with mangione in prison on friday and you may also remember that friday was the day that the manhattan d.a. alvin bragg came out and said that he had some indication that mangione may not try to fight this extradition, that he may wave extradition. as for a time line and what comes next, he is scheduled to be back in the court just behind me later this month, but bragg, again on friday suggesting that if he were to wave extradition, the soonest we could potentially see him in court would be tomorrow to do that paving the way for him to make his way back to new york which experts tell us what happened pretty quickly after that. ana? >> priscilla thompson with the very latest. thank you. joining us now retired nypd detective and black law enforcement alliance director mark claxton and former

manhattan assistant attorney and msnbc legal analyst catherine christian. let's start on the grand jury indictment we're anticipating. mangione has already been charged here in new york so explain the grand jury. why go in that direction? >> it's a requirement. in order to proceed with a felony you have to present to a grand jury. the next step is to have a groour hear evidence and diet whether or not they need to indict him and whether or not he'll be indicted the case will move forward. >> does that accelerate the time lean if they come out with an indictment? >> yes. it's the reason why it's good to have an attorney like karen friedman agnifilo who knows new york state law and she knows the longer he stays in pennsylvania gives them more time and if they get an indictment.

>> you know her personally. >> i know her very well. >> how do you see her role here. >> what you want to do as a defendant, you should always particularly from out of state, you want someone who knows new york state law, who knows the criminal justice system. karen has her entire career just practiced new york state law. so she knows the criminal justice system. she knows that office. she did not work with alvin bragg, but she has a good professional relationship any he will take her phone calls and this was a good choice on behalf of mr. mangione and his family. >> she's not commenting to nbc about this case, but i do want you to hear what she said before she took on the case regarding evidence in this case. watch. >> as a former prosecutor in that office i would be concerned that you have someone who is a valedictorian of his class and brilliant his whole life and something changed, right? significantly something changed and they're going to, i think,

potentially have a not guilty by reason of insanity potential defense. so the prosecutors will try to shore that up, as well. >> not guilty by reason of insanity. >> exactly. >> that's the defense. and we should hear that because as she said, you have someone, ivy league, brilliant and then suddenly is hunting down someone and shooting them in the back. so it's very hard in new york that defense. you're basically asking a jury to say, we know he's guilty, but he really isn't guilty because he was suffering from a mental disease and defect, but sometimes and she's going to try this, but she's going to y to convince the prosecutors with a plea, but we are a long way away from that. we don't know whether or not he's been seeing a psychiatrist. >> so many unanswered questions, mark. we are learning new details of the investigation. mangione was reported missing last month in san francisco and

after thompson was killed a san francisco police officer apparently noticed similarities between the photos of the person of interest in new york and mangione's missing persons report. on sunday, a day before mangione was caught, his mother told san francisco police that man could be her son. new york authorities say he wasn't even on the radar and apparently he office the fib. was this a tip that slipped through the cracks? what happened here? >> not necessarily. sometimes there's some lag time between communicating between agencies themselves, but make no mistake about it, the investigation continues with the focus on trying to close up the time gaps that exist in mr. mangione's travel and even prior to the shooting itself, so the investigators are busy just making sure that they're kind of closing those gaps and providing as much solid evidence and information to the prosecutors, the eventual prosecutors so that

the case has kind of this linear fact pattern which is easier for juries, easier for anyone really to understand, and not be focused too much on what the motive may be, but really focused on wherever the evidence leads you and what evidence you can get to close out the tick-tock, the day by day of mangione's existence even prior to the shooting itself. >> we have so much information about him because he had a lot on social media, on just the internet in general from blogs and substack letters to reddit posts to, you know, what we are also now learning from friends and people who knew him well. he was a social person and wasn't a recluse or anything, mark, but leading up to the shooting. mangione allegedly did go dark. loved ones desperately tried to find him reaching out to former classmates and trying to plea

for any word on his whereabouts. how do police fill in those blanks of that time that he just was sort of mia to everybody and what are the key questions you think investigators need to answer? >> well, one thing for sure is that the investigators are not going to overly rely on social media to get some information or some fact pattern in regards to mr. mangione's movements. there will be extensive interviews with individuals who normally have contact during the period that some people are saying that he kind of went dark and just to get an idea of his movements and perhaps give more of an idea about what motivated him or what led to this alleged action there, but the investigators will be focused on picking up whatever evidence crumbs existed on the grounds and at this point, what they're going to be doing is really keying in on those things that

support a successful prosecution and kind of keeping outside those distractions such as social media and the rumor mill and a lot of conjecture that comes from out of the actual fact-based investigation. >> mark claxton and katherine christian. we have to leave it there, guys. thank you very much. up next on "ana cabrera reports" rfk jr., makes a public show of support for pete hegseth and we'll talk to a transition expert who compares the picks to the star wars bar scene. plus donald trump's $15 million defamation settlement from abc news. are the president-elect and his allies ady to pursue more lawsuits?es r

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welcome back. starting today, robert f. kennedy, jr., the highly controversial pick to lead health and human services in the trump administration will begin meeting with senators. more than two dozen senate republicans will sit down with him as his stance on vaccines faces new scrutiny especially after reports his close adviser was part of an effort pushing to get approval of the polio vaccine revoked. not notably absent from rfk leader mitch mcconnell. west palm beach tracking the trump transition, but first,

let's go to capitol hill and our senior national political reporter sahil kapur. fill us in. who is meeting with rfk jr., and should we read into mcconnell not being on the list? ? hey, ana, rfk, jr. is expected to begin meetings with republican senators this week. all in all, he expects to meet with over two dozen senators through the course of the week. that includes names like john thune and john barrasso, the incoming number one and number two republican leaders and rand paul and the senior member of the health committee and they'll be doing a hearing on his nomination and lisa murkowski as well as thom tillis, the north carolina republican who faces reelection in 2026 and a key senator to watch in these nominations. one key figure to watch, as well is senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, the outgoing republican who put out an interesting statement on friday responding to a new york times report that a key kennedy adviser once asked the fda, and

mcconnell is a polio survivor himself who was still impacted by the disease. the polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and eradicating a terrible disease and proven cures are not just uninformed. they're dangerous along with vaccine skepticism. the issue of abortion is also likely to come up as abortion rights and a number of republicans, and he should expect to face questions on that. >> so von, is the trump team expecting the rfk nomination to be yet another battle for every yes vote? >> absolutely. and that's why you are seeing kennedy spend so much time with such a significant number of senators. for kennedy, this is not necessarily a question of whether the senators will vote to confirm him based off of the -- you know, tumultuous relationships that he had had in the past and questions over infidelity and questions of that

nature. instead, this is largely going to come down to significant policy conversations and not just on the vaccine front, but also around big ag policy and some past comments of his also in the aftermath of the january 6th attack when he minimized the impact of the january 6th attackers, and of course, during the covid pandemic, he'd openly questioned whether any single vaccine was ultimately a net positive on the population that it served. and so they think you will see not only from democrats' deep scrutiny and also by republicans and still by and large, vaccines are popular and for robert f. kennedy, jr., he -- including telling me and others that he would not seek to remove vaccines off the market or quash the authorization of any new vaccines from becoming available to americans, yet that runs counter to largely his work over the last three decades, and so, of course, when you line up his past statements with what he

intends to represent in these behind closed doors meetings as well as in the public confirmation proceedings there will be a deep line of questioning that of course, is going to be a serious question for the trump team to the extent he can get the votes needed. >> and the pete hegseth nomination is still up in the air and he's still meeting with senators later this week. trump has spent a lot of political capitol on trying to improve hegseth's prospects and even in the army-navy game this weekend and is it working? >> there's been a shift regarding pete hegseth and that as a result of his full-court press has put on republican senators and threatening some of them with challenges in 2026 if they don't vote with the team, vote for the donald trump nominees. the jury is still out on the hegseth nomination. take a listen to how lindsey graham put it to our colleague

kristen welker yesterday. >> i'm in a good place with pete unless something comes out. these allegations are disturbing, but they're anonymous. >> pete hegseth did sign a non-disearn non-disclosure agreement with this person that came forward and do you want to see that? do you want that information to be released? >> he said -- yeah. he told me he would release her from that agreement. >> now i am told that republican senators are hearing is there going to be another shoe to drop? bottom line, ana, we'll not know until the hearing and they can only lose three and the fourth defection tanks the nomination unless they swoop in to rescue it. >> signaling hegseth's sexual assault accuser, but there's a catch. they're still threatening to sue her? >> right. lindsey graham telling kristen there that he would seek through this confirmation process to allow her to publicly speak and

break that previously signed nondisclosure agreement and at the same time tim parlatore had spoken just a few weeks ago suggesting that if she were to make false statements about pete hegseth that there would be consequences. she is threatened to file a defamation suit, and of course, that runs counter to the argument that she should be allowed to publicly speak. of course pete hegseth's account is much opposite from what the accuser's is based on her own memo here and there's some consternation here if she were to publicly eak much like kavanaugh senators would have a difficult time of repudiating her when she's willing to put her name to the allegations with the defense secretary nominee. >> von hilliard, and the

peaceful transfer of presidential transitions. trump appearing alongside pete hegseth this weekend. we know he was previously calling senators, is that typical for a president-elect to take a very hands-on role in lobbying for their cabinet picks like this? >> it's very typical. what you're seeing is a normal process where presidents advocate for their nominees, and the senate engages seriously in the advice and consent process. what's unusual about this is that you have four or five nominees who are wildly controversial. typically, a president has one, maybe two nominees who have problems. here, there's a whole handful, and that's why in one interview i said that this is like the star wars bar scene of nominees. >> we've had two announced trump

picks for ag and dea drop out over concerns with an experience with personal issues. hegseth has sort of touch and go, maybe, for similar reasons. what does that tell you about the trump team's vetting? >> well, i think there's been a total lack of vetting in this process. it seems what's happening is people meet with the president-elect at mar-a-lago, they have dinner and they put out a tweet often between 6:00 p.m. and 12:00 midnight. there has not been a lot of vetting, and i think what you will see not only in addition to the controversy is the collision course in terms of process and timing. every nominee needs to have an fbi background check and an office of government ethics agreement to deal with conflicts of interest. to my knowledge, there have not been any oge processes where the nominees have submitted information and the office of

government ethics has figured out a way to recuse or to require the nominees to divest. the senate typically will not act or not even hold a hearing until those processes have been taken away, and those typically take 45 days and we have less than 45 days before the inauguration. there will be a high likelihood that trump will take the vote of office before january 20th with one, two or three cabinet officers in place and bush andbook had seven each. >> what do you see are the ramifications of that? >> well, from the national security and the government perspective, people want a new president-elect whether they agree with him or her or not, whether they voted for him or her or not. they want the government to be fully staffed and what we saw going back to president george w. bush is that because of the short transition, he didn't have all of his national security

people in place and eight months later, 9/11 happened. and the 9/11 commission said in their autopsy that there was a lack of effectiveness in the response because bush did not have his people in place. so whether you voted for trump or not, we want an effective government and we want senate confirmed people in place and we want government to be staffed for the benefit of the american people. >> david, thanks so much for joining us. i value your insights and expertise on this. over the weekend, president-elect trump notched another big legal win. abc will pay $15 million as part of a settlement after trump sued abc news and anchor george stephanopoulos for defamation. trump's lawyers brought this suit after stephanopoulos said multiple times during an interview in march that trump was, quote, found liable for rape. he was actually found liable in a civil case for sexual abuse. joining us now, former federal

prosecutor barrett rger. i want to highlight what the judge said in this ruling when he rejected an appeal from trump's team, quote, the finding that miss carroll failed to prove within the meaning of the new york penal law does not mean that she failed to prove that mr. trump raped her as people commonly understand the word. the jury found that mr. trump did exactly that. couldn't that have been used by abc to fight in this case? are you surprised that abc settled? >> i am surprised that they settled. i think one, because there is a very historically very high standard for holding media outlets responsible for defamation both because of supreme court precedent and because i think they want to leave room for journalists that are -- even if they make a mistake are doing their jobs within good faith. here, given this added layer of the sort of the narrow defamation that new york had of what constituted rape at the

time this lawsuit was brought, right? that law has since changed. we have now expanded the definition of rape, so now the conduct that the jury found did not constitute rape in this lawsuit if it was brought today, it would. >> so that again, it seems like semantics to the layman. however, abc is paying $15 million to settle this so this settlement will go forward and my understanding is that it will help to pay some future trump presidential non-profit which hasn't fully been established at this point. so what happens with that money in the meantime and do you find it unusual that the settlement terms were made public? >> so i don't know if it's unusual or not for the settlement terms to become public. here, i think it was probably done for a reason, right? to make a statement that this is not just a cash win for president-elect trump. this is going to the better good, and i think the entire lawsuit was really to make a statement and if you want to

take it even more broadly to send a message that, you know, this president-elect and now this administration is going to be very aggressive in holding journalists and holding everybody accountable for what they say court systems to try to accomplish those goals even though here i think it was surprising that abc didn't take it further and fight this even more. >> do you think the courts will be a backstop? >> they could, but again, you have to, there is a high standard, remember, for a public figure such as trump, he has to show that a reporter making statements was doing this with actual malice. that's the standard that's set forth by the supreme court in this seminal 1964 new york times case. they have to show that either the reporter knew that the statement was fault or acted recklessly and not finding out whether that information was false. if this is something that is an opinion, that's not defamation.

if it's something that the reporter really, honestly had a belief that the statement was true, that's not going to be defamation. so the standard still is quite high for bringing these type of lawsuits. so the courts will be effective and the law will be effective in weeding out frivolous suits, but it is chilling and you see a their $15 million verdict. >> thank you for talking about the settlement that abc will pay president-elect trump. >> next on "ana cabrera reports," the first public comments from bashar al assad since he was forced to flee to russia. >> the l.a.d.a a. has tough words for the menendez brothers as he dives into their file.

new developments in syria this morning. ousted former leader bashar al assad speaking out in his first public statement since he was forced to flee to russia, although it hasn't been independently confirmed if he is still in control of his social media accounts. this as secretary of state antony blinken confirms the united states has been in direct contact with the rebel leaders now in charge. joining us from damascus, nbc news international correspondent matt bradley. matt, what is assad apparently saying and could it have any impact on the current situation in syria? >> well, i can tell you that last question first. it's not going to have any impact and it sounds like the death rattle of a failed leader

and so many people that i've been speaking to here in damascus are just so glad to see the former dictator is back after 50 years of iron fisted rule of the assad family, but in a statement it sounded like somewhat of a pitteling defense of his flight from damascus and finally to moscow where he has been granted asylum by the russian government. he said my departure from syrian was neither planned nor did it occur in the final hours of the battle as some claim. at no point in this did i consider stepping down or seeking refuge. he said he remained in dam of course us until the morning of december 8th last sunday and that was when the city fell. he also said he was spirited away from the western city of latakia from a russian base. that seemed somewhat of a contradiction on that same date. so it is kind of unclear what he's getting at. it seems like the story isn't quite straight. >> israel has launched a new round of air strikes in syria,

right? what can you tell us about that? >> that's right. the syrian observatory for human rights said the air strikes by the israelis overnight against points all across the country and mostly around here in damascus have been some of the worst that they've seen in the week since the assad regime fell and the israelis began striking targets here in syria. the israelis say they're doing it because they're trying to hit major weapons that they're worried they're going to fall into the wrong hands as the country moves through a period of instability and they also launched a ground incursion and taken the buffer zone just past the golan heights into mainland syria. this is something that's attracted criticism from the international community and the new leader from syria and the man who leads the islamist group that took over damascus a week ago from the assad regime. he said that the israelis need to withdraw back into the golan heights, but he said the new government here has no appetite to fight against the israelis

and they'll be focusing on rebuilding syria. ana? >> matt bradley live in damascus, syria. next here on "ana cabrera reports," there is a new d.a. in los angeles that could have a major impact at the menendez brothers resentencing. what he is now saying about the case. g. what he is now saying about the case no, not that talk. about what the future looks like. for me. i may have trouble getting around, but i want to live in my home where i'm comfortable and my friends are nearby. i can do it with the help of a barber, personal shopper and exercise buddy. someone who can help me live right at home. life's good. when you have a plan. ♪ ♪

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you think we should wait — or... open it! it looks just like him. holiday memories made by alexis brought to you by etsy. now new information on the menendez brothers and the effort to get them out of prison. the new l.a. district attorney is speaking out about the case for the first time since taking office, and striking a skeptical tone. nbc's laura jarrett has more. laura? >> it's been two weeks since the new d.a. in l.a. took the reins and already nathan hochman is combing through a mountain of evidence in a case that captured the nation's attention more than

30 years ago, even though his work is not done, it could signal a tough road ahead. with the menendez brothers' case now on his desk, the new top prosecutor spikily pushing back on a key claim from eric and lyle's defense attorney. >> if they were the menendez sisters they would not be in custody today. >> in a new interview with deadline nathan hochman saying that the years of sexual abuse that the other brothers they said they suffered at the hands of their father was not taken seriously in the 1995 trial when they were convicted of murdering their parents. saying i think it's a bit simplistic to say that society back in the '90s didn't recognize sexual abuse of young boys or men adding the issues we'll look at from the trial was whether or not these two men faced an immediate threat to their life and how they got to the point is irrelevant to the trial. erratic and lyle's cousin is

speaking out. >> i hope that he will broaden his view a little bit, and see that that is a relevant factor of this case. >> the brothers have long maintained their parents' murders with the product of a horrific childhood filled with abuse while prosecutors argued they wanted their inheritance money. >> we did it. >> and while a netflix series and other documentaries thrust the brothers back into the spotlight, hochman says in a new interview with lester holt that the fate of eric and lyle may not go hand in hand. >> do you leave open the possibility that their cases could be handled differently? that they would be split. >> they are called the menendez brothers' case and there is an eric menendez case and a lyle menendez case and we will look at this case separately which is the way they actually should be handled. hochman's recommendation expected to come in advance of a key hearing late next month where a judge could decide to set them free after more than 30 years behind bars. >> d.a. hochman says he's spoken

to the original prosecutors on the case and also invited members of the menendez family to meet with them, many of whom support the release and are eager to sit down with you. laura jarrett, thanks. that does it today. thanks for joining us. i'll be back tomorrow same time, same place. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart is next. new yok jose diaz-balart is next mfya®, most people saw 100% clear skin... ...that stayed clear, even at 5 years. 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. emerge with clear skin. ask your doctor about tremfya®. ♪♪ (cough cough) (sneeze) (♪♪) new alka-seltzer plus cold or flu fizzy chews. chew. fizz. feel better fast. no water needed.

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