joining us is richard engel and nbc white house correspondent chris theten welker. first to you, for the rational from the white house for doing this, kristen? >> well, as you point out president trump tweeted basically mission accomplished tweet. and this is what press secretary sand sanders is saying. she is going further than the president saying that we have started to return the troops home as as we are transitioning to the next phase of the campaign, and again, the president is saying that we have defeated isis in syria, and that is the only reason for being there in the trump presidency, and that is why president trump is going to make this move, but remember, andrea, he campaigned on a promise to pull out the troops from these various different foreign engagements. this is his america first foreign policy, and it has not been met without criticism. you have lawmakers on cap al tall hill including lindsey graham who said that this is not the right move and comparing it to the obama foreign policy. and you have other h lawmakers speaking out as well, and then

richard engel, nbc news, patagonia. >>> we're back in a moment with snakes, snakes, why did it have to, a guy in texas felt differently. bobby cohen and his friends saw a small rattlesnake disappear under a cabin so they lifted it up and guess what they found. more snakes, lots, lots more. the best part, they had to remove them cans. nonkou >>> if you live here in new york city, last night you may have seen a bright blue light illuminating the sky over queens, new york. it looked like something from a sci-fi movie. it turns out there was a problem at a power station that caused an electrical ark, basically really bright lightning that lasted several minutes. no one was injured but thousands did lose power. >>> when we come back, an $11 million gift from an unexpected source. the east bay. what this helicopter hit that forced it to make an >>> a midair collision over the east bay. what this helicopter hit that forced it to make an emergency landing. >>> plus, the college football championship comes to levi's stadium. the outrageous thing these fans are doing to win tickets. all coming u

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. >>> i'm richard engel. as troops in syria are ordered to leave, tonight several current and former military officials tell nbc news many american commanders are outraged as russia's vladimir putin sees an opening. >> they don't care about bashar al assad. they care about expanding their influence into africa and into the mediterranean. by the way, i think you're doing the wrong thing when vladimir putin says you're doing the right thing. that's dangerous. >> reporter: and some say immoral. for u.s. t's es ctly what many feel they have been told to do. abandoning kurdish forces who fought loyally with them against isis. today, turkey's president erdogan said an offensive, he's so far been able to carry out against the kurds is postponed for the moment, but kurdish leaders are convinced move against them. in desperation, they have threatened to release more than 3,000 isis detainees they captured with american help. and syria isn't the only front now in chaos. president trump announced plans to cut in half th

. >> reporter: this is richard engel. china is demanding the immediate release of one of the most powerful test executives. although huawei's ceo was detained in canada at u.s. request, allegedly for transferring american technology to iran in violation of u.s. sanctions, washington has broader concerns about her company and another chinese tech giant. >> as we've seen in the past, i.t. security threats. >> reporter: concerned echoed when i sat down for a wide ranging interview with the cia's top china analyst. he said china is trying to gain influence and intelligence through its tech companies. >> the chinese have laws within their own country that require companies, if called upon, to have to respond to the government's call for data for access that would create a vulnerability to anybody who has access to that. >> reporter: she was arrested the same day president trump met with china's president xi at the g20 summit to discuss resolving their trade war. today her company said it compiles with all u.s. laws and regulat

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel has spent time with u.s. troops in syria. he has the latest for us tonight. >> reporter: it's one of the most secretive and most successful military campaigns in modern history. the u.s.-led fight against isis in syria. and tonight the white house says, it's over, mission accomplished. president trump releasing this white house produced video on twitter. >> we have won against isis. so, our boys, our young women, our men, they're all coming back, and they're coming back now. we won, and that's the way we want it and that's the way they want it. >> reporter: u.s. forces have beaten isis far back. u.s. officials say the group has lost 99% of its territory, with more than 60,000 fighters killed. so when are the roughly 2,000 u.s. forces in syria coming home? it's unclear. the pentagon today issued a statement saying, the campaign against isis is not over, but is transitioning to a new phase, but gave no specifics. syria last spring thu.s. and kurdish troohe asis capital, raqqa. this is the main square in the center of raqqa toda

>> richard engel tonight. thanks, riyd. >>> tonight, with more than 100 million people expected to start traveling for the end of the year holidays, all eyes are on the skies as several powerful storms roll across the country. nbc's tom costello now on the big deluge that could threaten your travel plans. >> reporter: it's already started, high surf and heavy rains pounding the pacific coast, first of several storms this week. >> notice that widespread rain starts to push in during the evening commute. >> reporter: by midweek, just as 110 million americans start the holiday getaway, more rain will drench everything east of the mississippi. potential rain delays expected at atlanta's airport thursday and friday, along with just about every airport to the north, south, and east. on the highways, that heavy rain could make for a slow crawl on nearly all the arteries running ea east-west and north-south with snow expected in the upper midwest. volatile weather a top concern for the nation's shippers, now in an all

>> richard engel sonight, thank you. >>> inprise announcement, the supreme court said ruth bader under went surgery to remove cancer lumps from her lungs. our pete williams has more. >> reporter: the supreme court says doctors found two lumps last month on her left lung when they were threatening her for three broken ribs. surgeons at the cancer center in new york removed the lumps today. they were cancerous so g part of the left l was removed.an done after the surgery found no other sign of cancer, so no further treatment is anned the court says. >> justice ginsburg had early stage lung cancer that was successfully treat with the gold standard surgery. >> reporter: she was treated for two other cancers. r her daughter said mother is deceptively tough. >> she's tiny and looks frail but she's very, very strong. >> reporter: one sign of her determination, she voted before the surgery as the court toy a 5-4 margin refuseet the trump administration enforce its plan to restrict access to asylum by people crossing illegally no doubt adding to her ro star image in a just released movie starri

as that hunt for a radicalized killer expands, richard engel is in strasbourg, france, tonight. >> reporter: tonight french police are imposing a nationwide dragnet the shooter they say who opened fire at the strasbourg christmas market, killing at least two people and injuring more than a dozen. elizabeth osterwich from los angeles was in the market. she says people went from shopping to panic in a split second. >> they were just looking over their shoulder, sort of in a state of confusion, running from all directions. >> reporter: tonight, police identified the alleged shooter as cherif chekatt, 29-year-old career criminal, born in france. 27 convictions for theft and violence. police say he became an islamic extremist in prison and was on a terrorist watch list before tuesday's nightmare. police tell us the gunman first opened fire on them, that they were the targets. police returned fire, injuring the suspect, who then hijacked a taxi in this area and made his escape. police today cordoned off chekatt's home. officers raided his apartment yesterday to arrest him for burglary. he wasn't

richard engel, thank you. >>> the senate issued a strong rebuke against the white house.'ll have the latest on that up next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ this holiday season, families near you need your help. visit redcross.org now to donate. but he has plans today.ain. hey dad. so he took aleve. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve. all day strong. >>> we have breaking news from the u.s. senate. they've passed a resolution holding the saudi crowned prince responsible for the murder of jamal khashoggi. i spoke with bob corker this morning about whether he feels the crowned prince of saudi arabia has received adequate punishment for his alleged role in the killing of that journalist, jamal khashoggi. it's an exclusive on msnbc. >> do you think that saudi arabia has been punished enough for what happened in the killing of jamal khashoggi? >> no. and so we have a difficult situation here. we have a relationship with a country. i think people blow out of proportion. it's

also joining us is richard engel in our loaned everyobureau. >> this is a very significant moment. there are many allies who will see this as a great american betray betrayal. what is happening right now, when you look at the president's tweet, when you look at statements to nbc news by military officials, this administration, the president, is going into the holidays and taking a mission accomplished moment, saying the u.s. under president trump defeated isis, so now it's time to withdraw a significant portion of the u.s. troops in syria out of the country, out of the harm's way, if not all of the troops. on a certainly level isis has been pushed back. it hasn't been entirely defeated, but it has been pushed back. u.s. military officials say the fight against isis and syria isn't over. then there's the other problem about our allies that we've been fighting with in sir use. we have had the u.s. military has had a very close ally, this is a kurdish-led force that's been fighting hand and glove with the u.s. troops. they have lost thousands of men, thousands of women fighters have b

richard engel reports from strasbourg. >> reporter: the manhunt across france intense find to find theled at least three shoppers at a christmas market in strasbourg before he attacks again. police asked the public for help and blasted out an apb to find this man. sharif chekatt, a 29-year-old born in france, 27 convictions for theft and violence, radicalized to extremist islam while in prison. he had been on a terrorist watch list. elizabeth was in the market but changed direction at the last sfwlekd second. how does that make you feel that you were one step away or one place away from being in the wrong place at the wrong time in. >> feel lucky and also feel sad because it was someone's life. it was someone's vacation. it was someone's journey here. >> police say they exchanged fire with chekatt and wounded him in the arm and he managed to escape and the driver tells us the attack was to avenge his brothers in syria where isis had been taking a beating. france is mourning there as another act of terrorism. moments of license in government, and the sign of ultimate grief, the eiffel t

nbc's richard engel reports from strasbourg. >> reporter: a manhunt is under way in strasbourg, and allfor a man identified partially as sharif c. police say he came to strasbourg last night and opened fire, first firing on police, but killing at least two people who were at a christmas market in the area. sharif c., who is a known criminal in this country, had been convicted 27 times for burglary, violence. he had also become an islamic radical during one of his stints in a french prison and had been on a terrorist watch list in this country. the sequence of events began yesterday morning. police raided his house here in strasbourg for an unrelated burglary charge. they found grenades in his house. he wasn't there. but that apparently set him off. it made him determined to carry out his attack. now france has put this country on its highest terror alert, tightened security at the borders and issued an alert to police officers nationwide that sharif might be in a blue ford as the search for the suspect continues. richard engel, nbc news, strasbourg, france. >>> federal agents trying to

richard engel is on this story for us. richard, how many troops do we have in syria, first of all, and what are they contributing to in the mission? what are we going to lose by having them pull out? >> so there are at any given time about 2,000 u.s. forces in syria right now. officially, they are there on a counter isis mission. they are working with kurdish allies, kurdish allies they have a very close relationship with that they've been working with sharing space, fighting in battles, riding in the same vehicles for the last four years now. these have been the closest partners, the most loyal partners that the united states has ever had in its fight against isis, and with this kurdish partner and with american protection, the kurds have formed a little state and they have carved out an independent republic right on the turkish border. they are fighting isis, but they are also sustaining this kurdish enclave which is under threat. just to the north of this kurdish enclave are turkish forces poised to destroy them. there a

richard engel joins us with the very latest. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. french prosecutors say the shooter was shouting al al akbar here in downtown strasbourg as he opened fire during the christmas market that christmas market today has been cancelled and france has raised its terror alert nationwide to its highest level n. strass bourlg, a balcony with a terrifying view. witnesses say a gunman opened fire on shoppers and pedestrians near the city's famed christmas market. a market which has been targeted by islamic extremists before. visitors scrambled for cover. some helping the wounded as they waited for help to arrive. >> i was taking a walk at the christmas market. i heard some shots, six or seven shots, then i saw two people on the ground and many, many people, of course, are streaming and i started to run. >> reporter: the gunman, police say armed with a pistol killed at least two, wounded 12, nine of them seriously. police engaged the suspect in a shootout and believe they wounded him. he

. > this is richard engel, china is demanding the immediate release of one of the most ivowerful test execut. although huawei's ceo was detained in cana at u.s. request for transporting u.s. technology to iran in violation of u.s. sanctions, there is broader concerns about her company and another chinese tech giant. >> as we seen in the past they are national security threats. >> reporter: concerned echoed when i sat down for a wide ranging interview with the cia's top china analyst. he said china is influence and intelligence through its tech companies. >> the chinese have laws within their own country that reqre mpanies, if called upon, to have to respond to the government's call for data for access that would create a neviability for an that has access. >> reporter: she was arrested the same day president trump met with china's president xi to discuss resolving the trade hear. todacompany said it compiles with all u.s. laws and regular -- regulations. regulations. it's turn to a race against time, the second day search fo five u.s. marines after their planes crashed in midair off j

richard engel wi that story. >> reporter: is this decorated green beret a war hero or a war criminal? the army has charged major matthew goldstein, awarded the isilver star in afghn with premeditated murder in the death of a suspected taliban bomb maker whthe suspect was in custody nearly a decade ago. e alleged bomb maker was detained right after an explosion killed u.s. marines, sergeant jeremy and lance. president trump is weighing in saying he's reviewing the case of a u.s. military hero. he could face the death penalty from our erown government a he admitted to killing a terrorist bomb maker. goldstein admitted to killing the suspected bomb maker. in 2014 heeceived a reprimand, his honor stripped. but then goldstein spoke about the incident on fox news 2016. >> did you kill the taliban bomb maker? >> yes. >> you willingly offered up these details. >> right. >> speaking by phone, ldstein told nbc news he believes the interview led to the charges. >> major goldstein told us he dn't want to talk about the specifics of what happen in afghanistan but he doesn't belie d anything wrong.

tomorrow, the christmas market that is so central to this city's identity and economy, richard engel, nbc news, strasbourg, france. >> one more note here. police arrested five others in connection with the at investn, including the suspect's parents and two brothers. >>> new at 11:00, u the. senate took a stand today against saudi arabia and president trump's relationship with that country. a bartisan group passed a resolution recommending the u.s. stop helping the saudis fight the war in yemen. a second measure blames the saudi cwn prince for jamal khashoggi's death. president trump has avoided directly blaminghe saudi leader for the killing of the journalist. u. intelligence reports show mohammed bin salman knew -- at least knew of the plot orib ly even ordered it. the two separate measures face an uncertain future in the house. >>> alp sre swiped. the pricey piece of art vanishes from a local man's yard. tonight, the victim with a clearer picture of what went down. >>> metro's locked in a battle with d.c. over late night hours. ra'll reveal if the transit agency is on to expand ser

least three people are dead after a shooting at a popular france.as market in strassrg, nbc's richard engelill have the developments on the massive manhunt on the suspect nt on today. >>> jurorsed indic that he be sentenced to i lifetime prison. the judge will decide the final sentence in march. >>> president trp's forme ttorney michael cohenill be packam ignba finance and tax evasion crimes. cohen said the president told him to pay off two w claimed they had affairs with him. cohen also admitted to lying to congress on the "today" show, former u.n. ambassador. >>> and there's your five day forecast. sunshine, mid 40s today. sunshine tomorrow. mid to upper 40s. just in time for the weekend. no surprise. more rain chances on the weekend. >> yuck chopper 4 right now over the outer loop of central four mile backup starting at andrs. >> thank you. that is the news four today" >> the "tohow is next. y.'ll be back in 25 minutes. enjoy your da >> make it a great wedne hey, batter, batter, batter, batter. [ crowd cheers ] like everyone, i lead a busy life. but i know the importance of having time t

richard engel has more. >> reporter: it's one of the most secretive and most successful military campaigns against isis in syria. and the white house says it's over, mission accomplished. president trump releasing this white house-produced video on twitter. >> we have won against isis. so our boys, our young women, our men, they're all coming back and they're coming back now. we won and that's the way we want it and that's the way they want it. >> reporter: u.s. forces have beaten isis far back. u.s. officials say the group has lost 99% of its territory with more than 60,000 fighters killed. when are the roughly 2,000 u.s. forces in syria coming home? it's unclear. the pentagon issued a statement saying the campaign against isis is not over, but is transitioning to a new phase, but gave no specifics. we were on the front lines in syria last spring with u.s. and kurdish troops after they took back the isis capital raqqah. this is the main square in the center of raqqah today. isis used this place for public beheadings, even crucifixions. u.s. commanders told us repeatedly, unless isis is co

let's go live to the city of strasbourg, where richard engel is standing by. there is word that the police have identified the suspect. what can you tell us? >> reporter: they have identified the suspect. they've named shareef c., that's typical in france where they'll release the first name and last initial when a manhunt is underway. they've described him as a known criminal with 27 convictions. convictions for violence, convictions for theft. in fact, he'd been arrested in several european countries. germany, switzerland, he was deported from germany for crimes in that country, also theft. that according to french police that he became radical i'd. he became an islamic extremist while serving time in a french prison. and that he has been on a terrorist watch list in this country since at least 2015. what happened yesterday morning, that's when the sequence of events here started. police raided his home in connection with a burglary charge. and they found grenades there. they did not find him. but it appears that once he knew that the police were on to him, h

and richard engel reports, quote, seems like all my military contacts worried about an unconstrained president trump taking a baseball bat to national security strategy to divert attention, or for whatever motivates him. two former four-stars just told me widespread concern. we are on dangerous ground. the explanation for all this mayhem as described to me today by a close trump ally, quote, he's scared. he's scared of mueller. he's scared of his base. he sees it all crumbling around him. joining us to discuss the extraordinary developments, some of our favorite reporters and friends, ben rhodes was the deputy national security adviser to president obama. mark jacobson, served as a senior adviser to secretary of defense ash carter. retired u.s. army general barry mccaffrey also joins us. and here in d.c. in the studio, bureau chief for the boston herald, kim atkins and alecia menendez. we have a couple days this week. your reaction to the resignation and what happens next. >> i think it puts us on very uncertain ground. it looks as if the u.s. government doesn't know what it's doing.

richard engel is there for us. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the death toll in this attack went up this morning. five people remain in serious condition. and police here want to find this suspect before he carries out another attack or tries to go out in some blaze of glory. the manhunt across france intensified this morning to find the shooter who killed at least three shoppers at a christmas market in strosbourg before he attacks again. police asked the public for help and blasted out an apb to find this man. a suspected isis inspired career criminal, french police say, a 29-year-old born in france. 27 convictions for theft and violence. radicalized to extremist islam, police say, while in prison. he had been on a terrorist watch list. elizabeth oserwitch was in the market. she almost ran into the gunfire but changed direction at the last minute. >> if i had stayed a second longer or done something differently, you know, i could have been right there. >> reporter: how does that make you feel that you were one step away or one place away from

jeffrey engel. richard norton smith. jeffrey rosen, president and ceo of the national constitution center. koki roberts, journalist at pbs. please join me in welcoming our guests here today. [ applause ] susan, i'll turn oifver to you. it's delightful to be with you. welcome to my panel of shrinking violets. we're going to talk about presidential myth making and disruptions to the factual history that all of us in this room and whatever capacity we are in strive to tell. we had a really lively organizing conference call and some wonderful back and forth e-mails. my job was to try to organize that for the next hour and a half. what i've done for this morning is to think about the techage. we always hear about disrupters. what i've done is organize our discussion and their thoughts into six disrupters of presidential history. popular culture, current events, research, constituent groups, digital technology and funding. bring in so many scholars but this most successful had nothing to do with that. >> yes. it's called hamil