Meet the Press NOW — December 10

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And a new watchdog report criticizes Trump's Justice Department for violating its own policies during his first term, secretly obtaining the phone records of dozens of congressional staffers to top House Democrats and members of the media. Welcome to BE the Press Now. I'm Aaron Gilchrist in Washington. We begin with breaking news in Pennsylvania.

That's where the man charged with killing a healthcare CEO will remain in custody as he fight extradition to New York. Luigi Magione was denied bail during an extradition hearing this afternoon. This was the scene outside the courthouse in Blair County, Pennsylvania as Menggioni arrived for that hearing. As he entered, he appeared to buck against the officers there.

Lead him into that building while they were trying, while he was trying to yell those so that the people who were gathered outside. Mangian was arrested yesterday at McDonald's in Altoona. That's after an employee there spotted him. He's been charged with murder by New York authorities and forgery carrying a firearm without a license and other misdemeanors by Pennsylvania law enforcement as investigators look to piece together why he allegedly carried out this killing.

Police say they recovered a three page handwritten note that includes criticism of the US Health care system and United Healthcare in particular, according to senior law enforcement officials. That note includes this passage you see on the screen here. I do apologize for any strife or traumas, but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.

And NBC News NBC News can now report that in an NYPD preliminary analysis of the shooting, investigators are looking into whether the targeting of that CEO was the culmination of Mangioni's troubles and list of grievances and that the murder was a symbolic takedown in a fight against corporate power games. Mangioni, an Ivy League graduate from a prominent family in the Baltimore area, led authorities on a multi day, multi state manhunt as after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in Manhattan last week. I'm joined now by NBC News correspondent George Solis in Altoona, Penn. Also with me, NBC News law enforcement and intelligence correspondent Tom Winter for the latest on the investigation.

George, walk us through what's happened there today, important and what it means that Benjulia is now fighting extradition. Hey, I'm good to be with you. We're still monitoring activity at the Blair County Courthouse where Manzioni is still at this hour. We have been watching the camera feed that he entered this afternoon for the extraditionary, which we now know he fought.

So it is now a question of how soon will he be transferred back to the state prison here in Pennsylvania until they can secure some of the governor's warrant to get him back to New York City to face those charges there for the murder of Brian Thompson. As you saw, it's about that video in the open. This is about the most animated we've seen. Mandioni, he was very verbal.

He said some things before entering the courthouse. He's actually bucking, as you said, with some of the law enforcement there slamming against a wall. And then from what we can gather from the Martin inside the courthouse, again, he was denied by a little bit more fidgety within the courtroom today. He had counsel now.

So those are new elements. This is the same courthouse where he had their first appearance and yesterday and again, for the most part, he was very quiet. He appeared in a blue shirts and blue jeans. He was handcuffed and just answered yes and no to most of the parts.

The only point they really started to speak up was after he was denied bail there at that hearing for the charges they faced here at Penalia, which include some of those forgery and gun charges. He was questioning some of the points that the DA had brought up about some money in the bag that they found him with the McDonald, as well as a Faraday bag, which they labeled as a bag that's high in sophistication. Maggie only confessing, saying he didn't know where that money had come from, saying there was nothing high tech about that bag other than it being waterproof. Here in Altoona, police speaking with us earlier today, telling us they have been receiving threats here at the police office as well as some people in the community.

DA Telling us that they are looking into those claims of those sorts of things. It's not something they're used to dealing with here. Of course. Now the news becomes that he will be transferred back to that state correctional facility, and they're hoping to see when that governor's warrant will be issued.

They're hoping to expedite that process to get Mangioni back in New York City as quickly as possible. Aaron. All right. Torture police force in.

Penny, thank you for bringing us. Bring us up to see what's happening on the ground there. Tom, what's already you here. I understand you've got some new information on both the gun and the potential motive in this case.

What do you learn? Well, a couple different things. One, there's no doubt at this point, according to multiple senior law enforcement officials, that this gun was homemade. The question is, which home was it made in?

Was it made in the. In the home or in somewhere where Menjoni put this gun together? It's not immediately clear. Was it something that was given to him?

Was the gun made by somebody else and sold to him? So that's something that investigators are still looking into. We're told tonight that Benjioni, when he was taken into custody, asked for an attorney and so then wasn't questioned. So it doesn't appear that they're getting a lot of information from him.

This morning, the three multiple. Three senior law enforcement officials, I should say they've been briefed on this investigation with respect to the motive. You alluded to our reporting beginning the show, Aaron, and it's basically their preliminary analysis of all the evidence. When you look at his postings online and when you look at his writings now, they said it's three pages, but in reality it's approximately 300 words.

So this isn't some massive screen that he's put out there, but when you look at it, they're talking about the idea that this was a symbolic takedown in a fight against corporate power games. So definitely appears at this stage according to what law enforcement officials have said, according to Documents we've reviewed, according to the information that we've reported on that, this was definitely meant to be some sort of an attack or an incident that got people's attention. The question I keep having is, and nobody seems to have an answer on it, and of course, I don't expect that because it's still early in investigation, he clearly wants to make a statement not only with this act, if he is in fact the person that is responsible for it. And based on everything we've reported on about the fact that this was some sort of a statement, if it is in fact him, and we say that because he hasn't gone to trial yet, but if in fact it is him, then why all the effort not to be discovered in the first place?

And why drive around or be bussed around Pennsylvania for the better part of a half a week or almost a full week, and where else he may have gone from there? Still putting together that timeline. So a little bit of a head scratch error. Yeah.

But the investigation, you said, is ongoing. There's still an effort to build a case here. I know there's been some talk about his online presence over whatever period of time. What does that seem to reveal at this point?

How might it fit into any case that is ultimately brought against him? Well, they're definitely focused on that. I mean, they're focused on this Goodreads application and website that is out there, both not only what type of books he was reading, but also his comments about, take Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber, in espousing certain viewpoints. And so they're definitely focused on that.

As far as just an analysis, there's two things that are going on here right now, Aaron. So there's a case that's being built, as you said, and then there's also analysis of who is this person, why do they do what they did, and are there any others out there like it? And there's been a number of social media posts, we've talked about it on this program and many others over the last six, seven days of people that are not only cheering this effort on, but now we're starting to see some people say, you know what? This is what should happen to CEOs that we have a problem with.

This is what should happen to executives that we have a problem with. And that is something, is something that law enforcement is very concerned about, because this, if it is part of a new trend of these type of attacks, is certainly something that is potentially quite concerning. So I think at this stage, there's a lot of, a lot of anxiety about the sentiment that is out there in this country. Why that exists in the psychology of it all, I'm not qualified to speak to.

But certainly it's something that feels a little bit palpable at the moment. And it's something that law enforcement is, as I mentioned, quite concerned about. We do appreciate your point here, reporting here and helping us sort of talk through some of the questions that you have yet to be answered. Time with it.

Thank you. Let's turn to Capitol Hill, where some of President elect Trump's most polarizing Cabinet picks are back appealing to Republican senators for support. Following those meetings, some positive signs for Trump. Defense secretary picked headseth as he battles questions about his military experience and his personal conduct.

Iowa Senator Joey Ernst, who's previously expressed reservations about Hegseth telling reporters she's had, quote, really good discussions with him in supporting this process. She is supporting this process. Hexseth thanking Ernst earlier today. We are grateful that she said she's gonna support us through the process.

And that's what she talked about. And it's been substantially meaningful. And her background is significant on all these issues. And I welcome all the conversation.

Now, some Republican senators also indicating paths forward for Tulsi Garber, Mr. Trump's pick for director of national Intelligence. She has been accused of echoing Russian propaganda on Syria and Ukraine. And Cash Patel, his choice to lead the FBI, who has promot false claims of a deep state effort to overthrow Mr.

Trump during his first term. All of this after incoming Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley sent a letter to current FBI Director Chris Wray asking him to vacate the role, claiming the department has been politicized. Republican senator signaling their support for Patel's nomination today on the Hill. You think that should be fired?

I think he should this have progress started. The FBI, if you're going to clean up the FBI and actually get them focused on mission rather than politics, but then refocusing on actually putting America first, doing her job, Cash is the perfect person for that. I just think as he's meeting with members, talk about what he's going to do in the Department of Justice, how he's going to reform it, how he's going to be fair, how his past experience is relevant, those are the sorts of discussions will happen. I think most of the conversations will be successful.

All right, let's get into it with our team, NBC. Garrett Hickett has the latest from the Trump transition team and NBC Ryan Nobles is on Capitol Hill for us now. So Garrett, how is the Trump team feeling in this moment about the confirmation chances for some of these more controversial picks? Aaron I think they're cautiously optimistic about all three of those picks, particularly Pete Hegseth.

The difference between where we are now and a week ago is notable. The Hegseth rollout, transition officials will acknowledge privately, was pretty rocky. They were caught off guard by some of the claims against him, the 2017 sexual assault investigation where he was investigated but not charged and denies wrongdoing, and the letter that appeared in the New York Times from Hegseth's mom, things that the transition team were not aware of and certainly didn't welcome, but they've been pleased to see him fighting back, publicly, addressing the media more, addressing the skeptics kind of head on, and that these meetings with Joni Ernst in particular have been positive. As to the other two nominees in waiting, Tulsi Gabbard and Patel, there hasn't been really significant pushback that they have seen from the Hill.

Now, granted, they're starting with the friendliest possible means they can have first, but so far all the all the lights are green, all systems are go, and the transition team feels like they're going to get their people across the finish line, barring any additional surprises. I think that's probably the most important caveat to all of this. Well, Gary, you mentioned all the people I play here at this moment in time in terms of there being maybe potentially a little extra effort it takes to get some of them across the finish line. Is there one who the transition acknowledges might be a harder sell?

Among the three you just mentioned, there are different sorts of problems. I mean, Hegseth is the most well known, and his problems are also the most well known and the most serious. I think he's the person who can least afford another damaging story, especially given the way that he's hung his position now in this kind of redemption arc that he's a different person now than he was in the past, his success and is contingent on him remaining a different person and not being some sort of about bad behavior from 2022 or something like that. Tulsi Gabb and Cash Patel are just frankly much less well known to these senators.

They have more of an opportunity to introduce themselves if they take it. Gabriel in particular, probably the biggest break possible from the geopolitical universe this week with the dissolution of the Syrian regime, changing the conversation around Syria in a major way, an opportunity for her to perhaps recast her views on the Assad regime. But again, at this point, it's not about necessarily locking in yeses. It's about preventing no's.

And so far, these other candidates have been doing that pretty successfully. Well, Ryan, let me bring you into the conversation here. How significant is this tone shift among Republicans in the Senate on the Hill right now? Is there a sense that this is progress or might there actually be sort of some waffling that comes as the confirmation hearing is actually underway?

I think the answer to both those questions, Aaron, is yes. I think there probably is a bit of waffling that's gonna happen right up until the confirmation process concludes. But I also do think that to Garrett's point, the vibes have shifted. The fact that right now Hexapest is behind me having another meeting with the senator, perhaps a skeptical senator, and Alaska Lisa Murkowski, it is evidence, the fact that his confirmation is still a live ball.

And it's gonna take a much different path than that of Matt Gates, who was Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General, who unceremoniously pulled himself out of the running to be the Attorney General without even getting a confirmation here, without even going through an FBI background check. These are all things that Pete Hegsett is looking forward to doing. He said that he's agreed to the FBI background check. He said he welcomes a public hearing.

And one of the things we're hearing from these senators, even though senators are not guaranteed yeses, is that they've heard these accusations, they've heard these claims against petexp. They want more evidence. They want to hear from the accusers. If this veterans organization that he has said to run a financial m around.

Let's hear from the people that are involved in that organization to confirm the fact they actually did that, as opposed to just one report or a memo that was pushed out about it. So he certainly has some Runway here, Aaron, but it is a long process. The difference between him and Gates right now is that Gates came too quick again. Hexath is probably gonna continue on into the new year with every opportunity to win this confirmation, but it is no guarantee.

I understand this reaction coming into the comments that President Electron Trump made to Kristen Welker that members of the January 6 committee should be jailed. What are you hearing from lawmakers? Well, we're hearing from the former members of the January 6 elect committee, who don't seem all that concerned about possible criminal repercussions for their work, which they believe, which is their responsibility as a member of Congress. Listen to what the chair of that committee, Thompson, had to say earlier today.

There's nothing we did as a January 6th select committee that violates the law. Just because you disagree with the work of the committee is no way to threaten those members of the committee with jail. I'm comfortable with the fact that as members of Congress, we're doing our job. And as long as we do our job, there are certain guarantees that we have and I look forward to enforcing those guarantees.

And we know there's been some talk that the Biden administration might offer a preemptive pardons for some of these individuals that were involved in the January 6th investigation. Adam Schiff, who became United States Senator today, told reporters he's not interested in pardon because he did nothing wrong. All right, Ryan Noble, source on the Hill Garrett, hate force as well in Florida. Thank you both.

And coming up, a new Justice Department watchdog report criticizes the agency's actions during the first Trump administration. It targeted congressional staffers, Democratic members of Congress and members of the media in a league investigation. Plus, Israeli forces conduct strikes across Syria as that country begins to form a transitional government in the aftermath of toppling the Assad regime. While the latest on the situation in the Middle east, you're watching MEET THE PRESS now.

And welcome back. We are learning new details about the scope of a Trump era investigation by the Department of Justice that seized communication records of members of Congress and their staffs as well as reporters. Those seizures were broader than previously done, according to a report from the inspector general today. Now, in the case of lawmaker and staffer records, the report found that Trump's DOJ did not adequately take into account the constitutional separation of powers, but said career prosecutors in the department did not act with political motives.

But the report is more critical of the seizure of reporter communications records during that same period, saying the DOJ violated its own policies obtaining them. All the seizures part of the investigation into leaks of classified information during the first Trump administration report Comms is now President Electron prepares to take office again and seeks to fill the Department of Justice with loyalists who have signaled retribution on his behalf. Joining me now for more on this on this inspector general report is NBC justice intelligence correspondent Kendallanian. So, Ken, take us through the report here.

Is there any new information here, or does this really provide a better picture of some of the things we already knew about these communications records? What's really new here, Aaron, is the scope and extent of the inquiry into the congressional staffers and the lawmakers. It just wasn't known that the DOJ grabbed up the records of 43 congressional staffers, about half of each from both parties. And we did know about the two lawmakers, Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell.

But essentially, they issued secret subpoenas and other compulsory process requests to Apple and other providers, getting the telephone logs and text messaging logs for everybody who had access to the classified information. And what the inspector general found was that these people were just doing their jobs. There was no reason to suspect them of leaking. And in fact, no charges were ever filed in these cases.

Now, at the time, that didn't violate any rules. The attorney general was never even informed about those subpoenas. Today, there are rules requiring line prosecutors to inform senior officials that they want to subpoena the records of members of Congress or staffers. But some congressional officials today are saying it should go further.

Maybe Congress should be notified. In the case of the journalists, the issue was that, in fact, the DOJ did violate some of its own guidelines back then, according to this report. Now, the Biden administration put in new guidelines essentially prohibiting the Justice Department from secretly subpoenaing the phone records on journalists without first notifying the news organization so that they have a chance to contest it. But that's only policy, Aaron.

That could be repealed the second a new attorney general takes office. Which sort of raises the question a lot of people are kind of wondering here about the second Trump administration. Can could that return to the investigation that prompted these communications records to be seized in the first place and could expand on them? In theory, yes, because the statute of limitations has elapsed for practical purpose, it's unlikely that that would happen.

But what this report does sort of convey is a larger story, which is that the Justice Department has incredible powers of surveillance. They can do it in secret. And the only thing really protecting, for example, reporters from having their phone and text records secretly seized is a policy that was put in place. The trench Congress can be repealed by Attorney General Ham Bondi and the Trump administration.

So it's not a law, it's just a policy. And it's good to remember that the Justice Department has vast powers of surveillance there. All right. Can lay in for that Justice Department.

They can. Thank you. You bet. Up next, President Biden delivers one of his last major addresses speaking about his economic record, that as President elect Trump prepares a potentially massive overhaul of the US Economy with sweeping tariffs and mass deportations.

You're watching Meet the Press now. And welcome back. The economy may have been one of Democrats biggest liabilities in this election, but President Biden is also trying to make his economic record part of his legacy. In remarks here in Washington Today, the president touted the state of the current economy while warning about actions the next administration may take.

Next month, my administration will end and a new administration began. Most economists agree the new administration is going to inherit a fairly strong economy as my profound hope that the new administration will preserve and build on this progress. All accounts, the incoming administration is determined to return the country to another round of Triple 9 economics. And another taxpayer for the very wealthy that will not be paid for or if paid for is going to have a real cost once again causing massive deficits or significant cuts in basic programs for healthcare, education, veterans benefits.

Lots to talk about with our panel now. Joining me here on sense, Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA TODAY Ashanti Golar, Democratic strategist and president of emerge and Sarah Chamberlain, president and CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership. Lace. Thank you all for being here.

Susan, I start with you. I want to play a little bit more of what President Biden said during his economic speech today. Listen this. Within the first two months of office, I signed the American rescue plan, the most significant economic recovery package in our history.

And also learned something from Donald Trump. He signed checks for people for 7,400 bucks because he passed the plan and I didn't. Stupid. Obviously, the president is joking there, but should he put his name on some checks or something?

Well, frustrating time for the Biden team and for the president because we do have a good economy with the exception of inflation, a problem they didn't take seriously enough early enough. But look at the economy he is turning over to his successor. We have avoided the recession that almost everyone predicted we were going to have. So, yeah, I think he deserves some credit for that.

Should this be something, though, that he includes as a part of his legacy? Obviously, we're in these last few weeks of his presidency now and he's talking about his legacy. What he did, what he wants to be remembered for is the economic message, something that should be a part of that messaging around legacy. You know, the trouble for presidents is they don't get to choose what their legacy is.

History gets to choose what their legacy is. And sometimes there's a difference between what presidents want to cite as their legacy and what history shows endures after they're gone. I'll put something off the screen here. This is from University of Texas Professor James Galbraith.

He wrote this in the Nation. If voters are unhappy with the good readings on standard indicators, unemployment, the monthly inflation rate, economic growth, it must be because the indicators no longer connect to their sense of well being. What do you think of that messaging, that thought about the messaging. Is this really an issue where the economy is only as good as the messaging on it?

Here's the thing. We know that a lot of people aren't feeling the impact of the good economy. But as President Biden has said, he has done a really good job. So I definitely think that he should be speaking about it more and making it a part of his legacy.

I feel how we had thanks Obama. I'm excited for thanks Biden for all of these fabulous things that you have done for not having us in a recession, for helping build up the middle class. And I do think people are going to remember the great economy under President Biden once we get into the economy of President Trump. Susan, I'll ask you jumped in.

I mean, this idea of the message that is put out there, obviously, I was on the campaign trial for president. I listened to these speeches he would give on what his economy had done and what he wanted to do, and it didn't resonate. Is there what needs to change around messaging for these things, for people to actually feel? And here watching people hear these things, it all makes perfect sense.

And the numbers are exactly what you expect them to be. To say there's a good economy and yet you want to talk to people. It just doesn't. It doesn't judge.

So in all of our polling, we have the squad women and women, we poll them regularly. It did not add up. They were much more concerned about the price of gas and the price in the grocery store. Their economy to them is what are they paying at the grocery store?

And their groceries are three and four times more than they used to be paying under the Trump administration. And that's what they voted for. It is true, though, when Trump has something good to say about his record, he talks about it over and over and over again. And there is something about selling a message is part of what you need to do when you're a president or a politician.

And I think there's frustration among Democrats that is not something that President Biden has successfully done. And what we also saw in our polling is they actually think President Trump sent them the money. And so when Biden, President Biden laughed about that, he's not wrong. He should have signed those.

Very smart to do. People remember it when Oprah said that when she was about to go do the event with Vice President Harris, a man stopped her. He said, I remember that check from Trump. So we also have to think about that those checks were delayed because he wanted to sign those Checks and what would happen if people received them earlier.

I do want to put up something, Sarah, that the President Elect posted last night. See on the screen here. It was a pleasure to have dinner the other night with Governor Justin Trudeau, the great state of Canada. I look forward to seeing the governor again soon so we can continue our talks on tariffs and trade, the results of which will be truly spectacular for all.

So, obviously, there's something that maybe he's just controlling here, who's trolling, I guess. But is this something that's smart to put out there in the atmosphere when there are talks about tariffs and trade, wars potentially with other countries? Absolutely. This is what Trump is doing.

He got the prime minister to rush right down there and talk with him about this. He negotiates, and he's the king of negotiation. That's what he's doing here with Canada. And the prime minister jumps and arrived right away.

Susan, is that the way you see this? I mean, is this something that is going to be a feature of the next Trump administration where, you know, you should have governed by. Used to govern by tweet, is the fact that we thought about it, we should put these things out there and then expect world leaders or members of Congress or governors whoever to react and take action and it works. Right?

He does govern by tweet. I'm sorry. By how different the reception of foreign leaders is now of Trump from his first election. Then there was some shock and some dismay.

And this time you see even Justin Trudeau, who was caught making fun of Trump on an open mind at a summit meeting, you may remember, to Trump's anger, making his way to get on the good side of this new president coming from, of course, the great state of Canada. Shanti, we talked a little bit earlier about this inspector general report from the DOJ that showed the first Trump administration obtained these text messages and phone records from members of Congress, from the staffers, from the journalists as well, during his first term in office with the Republican Congress. Now, for this president and the Supreme Court decision that we got last year, earlier this year about the presidency, are there any guardrails? Yeah.

This is gonna be wild to see how this plays out. And we have to make sure that we continue to have the checks and balances. And I absolutely think that is a concern. When we see the people that he is nominating for several of these cabinet positions, are they going to respect that rule of law, which is something that has come up a lot.

So we're definitely going to have to see how far they're going to be able to push, but also are people going to push back? Are they just going to continue to let him do what he did during his first administration, during his second administration, even though we do have these rulings? So a lot is going to play out. But what I'm interested to see is because this report has just come out, is who is going to step up to make sure that this does not happen during the second term.

Sarah, are we going to see pushback? Are there going to be Republicans who will step up? Well, actually, member Main street has already stepped up. The chairman McTurner gave her an interview today.

So this is appalling. We cannot have this. So I think you absolutely will see the member step up. And I'm not sure there's evidence that President Trump didn't know that this was going on at the time.

Susan, I want to talk about Senator, Senator John Yarns of Iowa seems to be coming around on PTEXF as we've been watching this Defense Secretary pick go through the process on the Hill. Are you surprised by that for him about how he would act in that role? He may well have made some promises about how he would act in the early about the role of women in the military. That's an important issue for Senator Ernst.

But I think this is basically a case of him putting up a fight. Reminds me of a lot of Brett Kavanaugh's fight to get confirmed and Republican senators simply not being willing to confront Trump when it's clear that he's gonna stand behind somebody making a fight. You know, with 53 senators, 53 Republican senators, you can lose three senators and still confirm your nominee. And that looks like what's not gonna happen with Pete Heff.

And somebody's how hard do Democrats need to fight? How much they need to speak up? They definitely need to fight and speak up. Because at the end of the day, with so many of these people that he's nominating with these moral issues, it's also trying to normalize it, to make it okay.

And I absolutely was also thinking about Justice Kavanaugh. This is just so insane, the number of sexual assault allegations that continue to come up for people that we are putting in positions of power. And I want to see that spoken about more because we cannot normalize this behavior, especially west similar reasoning to women. All right, we'll leave it there for now.

We'll watch what happens on the Hill. Thank you all. We'll say what this after the great President Elect Trump on possibly protecting TikTok as the social Media giant fights to stop a ban on that app from going into effect. I'll talk to a top Democrat in the House Intelligence and China Select Committee about that and much more.

You're watching me, the president now. And welcome back. TikTok is now calling on the Supreme Court to review legislation that would ban the app in the US unless it's China based parent company ByteDance sells it by next month. The federal appeals court upheld the legislation last week.

In her exclusive interview, my meet with press colleague Kristen Welker asked President elect Donald Trump, a one time antagonist turned enthusiast of the app, about his view of the ruling. This week a federal court upheld a law that could result in TikTok being banned. You said you're going to rescue TikTok when you get into office. Are you going to take steps to Detective as you.

I use TikTok very successfully in my campaign. I have a man named TikTok Jack. He was very effective, obviously, because I won youth by 30%. All Republicans lose youth.

I don't know why. Maybe it's changing. And last time we were down 30% with youth. This time we're up 35% with you.

And I use TikTok. So I can't really, you know, I can't totally hate it. It was very effective. But I will say this, if you do do that, something else is going to come along and take its place.

And maybe that's not fair what they're doing. And really what the judge actually said was that you can't have Chinese companies otherwise have the right to manage it if you can prove that Chinese companies own it. That's what the judge. So are you gonna try to protect tech just very quickly once you're in office?

I'm gonna try and make it so that other companies don't become an even bigger monopoly. Joining me now is Illinois Congressman, Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamurthy. He is the ranking member on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, we appreciate you making time today.

Sure thing. Thank you so much for having me. I do want to start with last week's appeals court decision on TikTok. I know you applauded that ruling, but TikTok we know, is now appealing to the Supreme Court and has added Donald Trump's former Lister General to his legal team.

Anticipating that there will be a Supreme Court fight here. What's your read on this? On this moment that we've heard at this point? What does it tell you about potentially a fight ahead?

I think it's time for Bite Dance and Tick Tock to accept the law. It's time to sell. And I saw just today Frank McCourt has put together a group to purchase Tic Tac USA from Pytedance. I know there are numerous others that would be interested and Donald Trump should help to, you know, bring this deal together.

It'd be the deal of the year if he could make that happen. I think that's the way to proceed. This law has been upheld now, now and the D.C. supreme Court of Appeals.

I expect it will be upheld in the Supreme Court. And now all three branches of government has basically given ByteDance the instruction, it's time to sell. You heard the President Elect there tell Kristen his thoughts about TikTok. Right.

Trump said that he would, he's on the trail that he's going to save TikTok. Kristen asked him about that. Is there something he can do along those lines? What do you think that might look like?

Sure. He should encourage bidders, you should encourage ByteDance to sell to accept the law. We can't have a CCP controlled app with access to, with the CCP having access to millions and millions of Americans data. This court made it very clear that this particular law puts in place kind of a situation that minimizes interference with the First Amendment, allows TikTok to survive, but at the same time mitigates against the threat which is the CCP's control of the app.

I will say on the topic of China for a moment here, if we can, according to Reuters, there are Chinese officials who signal that they are ready to spend money and to go into debt to try to counteract any U.S. tariffs that might come their way in the Trump administration. If the President Elect raises tariffs on China, what do you expect? Are you going to take that lightly?

What sort of escalation would you anticipate what might look like from China? Well, I think that strategic tariff thing that has been adopted in the first Trump administration and then the Biden administration and now adopted in Congress makes sense. That means, means where there's economic aggression, where there are economic and security concerns or there's dumping or other types of violations of trade rules, we should level the playing field. However, across the board tariffs on all Chinese stuff or for that matter all other countries goods could invite retaliatory tariffs and then we have a full blown trade war and inflation, not to mention cleaving the relationships that we have with friends, partners and allies that are necessary for countering aggression by the ccp.

Let's move on. Here we know this morning that we got this IG report that outlined how the DOJ, before President Trump at the time, President Trump at the time, obtained text messages and phone logs from members of Congress, from your staffers, from members of media as well, during his first term in office. What's your reaction to that report? Do you think this sort of previews what could happen in a second term?

It does. And also it basically talks. It tells you about kind of the excesses associated with leak investigations. Leak investigations are a way potentially, if they're abused, to basically go after journalists and then to go after their sources.

And that's apparently what might have happened here. Not only did they fail to notify journalists whose information had been seized or whose records have been seized, they'd failed to notify the attorney general. I'm talking about the DOJ prosecutors who initiated these investigations. And then they actually went after sources.

And I think, ironically, Kash Patel might have been potentially caught up in that whole investigation that might have gone too far. While I have you, I do want to ask you about some of what's happening inside your party there on the Hill. You're on the House Oversight Committee. There's this race now between Jerry Connolly of Virginia and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York, the ranking member slot there.

I see you smiling. Who do you think should get it? I think you're trying to get me into trouble. I'm listening to everyone who is entering this race.

They are both my friends and colleagues. I respect them greatly, and I look forward to hearing their vision for how they both conduct oversight with regard to a future Trump administration, but also how we work together on certain issues with the other side, such as on PBM reform, which has commanded a lot of support on both sides of the aisle and needs to move forward. I want to ask you generally, though, there's one member of the House Democratic Caucus who told us that if Alexandria Ocasio Cortez wins, it's the end of seniority. Do you agree with that?

Do you think that the process needs some shaking up? Do you think We've talked so much about the campaign that we just ended about age being a factor in some of these sorts of decisions, about who should be leading and passing the baton to the next generation was something we heard from Vice President Harris. What's your thought about that? I think that age is a factor, but it's not the deciding factor in terms of who we as Democrats select as our leadership.

You see that up and down the line from Hakeem Jeffries to others. I think that the most important thing is who's gonna be most effective, whose vision will resonate with the caucus? And, and, you know, how do we move forward in a way that reflects the reality of the election? And we do the business of American people.

That's what is most important. How do we solve problems for our constituents, the American people going forward? Would you like to see the Democratic Party do more to cultivate next generations of leadership or do you feel like enough is being done in that regard? I think we can always do more.

And I think that's exactly what's going to happen going forward. And I think that our caucus is blessed with, I guess, a cornucopia of wonderful leaders of all ages. All right. We will leave it there for now.

Councillor Roger Christian Murthy, we appreciate your time today. Thank you. Thank you, sir. And still to come, the latest on the political upheaval gripping Syria as that nation looks to chart its path forward after the fall of the Assad regime.

You're watching Beat THE PRESS now now. And welcome back. There is growing concern about stability in Syria following the stunning collapse of the Assad regime over the weekend. Today, rebel groups in Syria began to form a transition government, appointing a caretaker prime minister as someone with close ties to hts.

That's the main group responsible for Assad's ouser. HTS is also a globally designated terror group. Now the leader of that group is vowing the new administration will seek extradition of Assad regime officials involved in the torture of Syrian civilians, accusing them of war crimes. NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard England visited one of those torture prisons today and filed this report from Damascus.

This is now day two of Syria without the dictator Bashar al Assad. The first day Syrians came here to Damascus to celebrate, to celebrate the overthrow of the dictator, to celebrate the end of the civil war, a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. And today was a day of discovery. They were beginning to peel back the secrecy, the veil of secrecy that this dictatorship hid behind.

We went to a secret prison that was a one way facility. When Syrians were locked up in this detention center, the Sayyidinaya prison, one of the most notorious prisons anywhere in the world, certainly in the Middle East. They were never heard from again. When we approached this prison, which is just outside of Damascus on a hilltop surrounded by stones and desert, we saw thousands of people, Syrian families who were there looking for their relatives, looking for missing family members, many of them missing for a decade or more.

A Lot of people were arrested in this country during the start of the uprising again against bashar Al Assad 10 years ago and haven't been heard from since. And when we arrived at this prison, we saw these thousands of people. Some had digging tools with them, pickaxes, crowbars. We saw a few bulldozers.

And they were breaking the ground and breaking through walls and searching in rooms in the hopes that they could find some tunnel or secret door or hidden passageway where perhaps there was a subterranean level where the prisoners were being kept. The prison doors were open. The rebels here, who took over in a swift takeover, had already emptied the prisons. But relatives are still looking for their loved ones.

So they were hoping that maybe they're in the prison, just in a place that they hadn't been found yet. We saw people on their hands and knees going through documents, handwritten documents, searching for names, thinking perhaps there was a mention of a son, a brother, a father. We didn't see any happy endings. We didn't see any reunions.

There were no secret passages or tunnels as far as we could tell. And it was a bit of an act of desperation. But that is what you're seeing here. There is hope, there is optimism, because the brutality of this civil war was over.

There was the reality of what this country went through and that is sinking in. But I will say there is also fear and trepidation of what is to come. The rebel group that took over here is led by hardcore Islamists. The leader used to be the leader of an Al Qaeda group.

He's now promising moderation. And just today in his first interview with the international media, he said that the world has nothing to feed. But already countries, primarily Israel, are taking military action to disarm Syria. Israel carried out several hundred airstrikes over the last 24 hours to target Syrian weapons stockpiles, missiles, chemical weapons.

It sank most of Syria's navy. It wants this new rebel held government, this new rebel controlled country, effectively to be disarmed. So Syria has many challenges to come. Richard Neglect reporting for us from Syria.

Let's bring in now Faras Makh Saad, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute. Faras, appreciate you being here today. We know that Assad is now in exile in Russia. Syria has named this caretaker prime minister who has these close ties to hts.

We talked about this group that's responsible for toppling the Assad regiment. So I guess the question is, what happens now in Syria? From your perspective, what does the future of Syria's governance look like? Well, Aaron I would say it's definitely a moment of great hope, perhaps the most hopeful moment in over a decade for the people of Syria, but also for the Middle East.

Many people around the region, millions are watching this. However, it's also a moment of great peril. Syria is a country that is a patchwork of communities, communal groups, ethnic groups and different religions. It is also in a rough neighborhood.

It sits smack in the middle of that neighborhood, which is why it's so important for the fate of these neighboring countries. Lebanon to its west, Turkey to its north, Israel to the southern border, Iraq to the east. All of them have a faith that is intertwined with that of Syria. And the great risk here is that we, after the winning the battle of Kaplan Bashar al Assad, there will now be the struggle to win the aftermath of Assad between all these competing factions, both internally in Syria, but also the regional factions.

Richard mentioned Israel. Israel has over the past 24 hours been conducting the most intensive air campaign in Syria, expanding its zone of occupation in southern Syria for fear of what might come after Assad. The Turks have the most influence with this rebel group. And the US is present in north northeastern Syria and the Kurdish areas, again supporting the Kurds there.

In the midst of all that potentially toxic group is also the remnants of the Islamic State. All things that we need to watch out for in the coming weeks and months for Syria. Let me ask you a little bit about those last couple things you mentioned here. First, hts we know that this is a group that tried to reinvent itself as being a more moderate force in Syria.

Do you see that as the case? And how long do you think that will last? Will they have any legitimacy? Well, this is a group that originated from Jihad Al Musra, which was the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria.

So they will have to go a long way from where their beginnings and origins were. They have, they have broken with Al Qaeda. They're saying all the right things about wanting an inclusive government, about Syria being a melting pot of great history and civilization, and that they want the rule of law and state institutions to set in after this Assad period. However, to say that is one thing and then to demonstrate that through actually governing Syria is an entirely different matter.

I think the US is currently taking the right approach, making noises about willingness to delist as a terrorist group if they in fact follow through on the promises and pledges that they've been made, that they want an inclusive state, institution based rule of law. And I think it's important for the international community to Give them these incentives and put them to test. There's also a major concern right now about what happens with serious chemical weapons, with the biological weapons program there. Israel says it's working to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

Is it clear at this point who's in control of those sites? What are your concerns? Yeah, no, it's not at all clear. I think that's very fair.

It's a fear and a concern that not only Israel has, but others share, too. I mean, whether it's Turkey or Lebanon or the United States for that matter. There's a joint interest in making sure that the remnants of the Assad regime's weapons of mass destruction program is handled and taken care of. But I think what we also got to be very aware of is that these regional states have an agenda of their own, an agenda of wanting to tear away at the tapestry of Syria and exert influence.

And so a lot of them might be looking to use pretexts about chemical weapons and otherwise fears of terrorist organizations to expand their control and territorial control within Syria. Turkey comes to mind. Israel comes to mind to an Iran that has been deeply sorry, deeply undermined as a result of the toppling of the Assad regime. They too might have a strong interest in undermining whatever new rule is emerging in Syria.

Really so many questions left, so many things to consider here in this evolving situation in Syria and really the large Middle east region. Farrakh, we appreciate you guys for teasing your time tonight. Thank you. You, thank you.

And we are back with more Meet the Press now. Tomorrow, of course, the news continues right now with Tom Costello in for Hallie Jackson. Hey, everyone, I'm Dylan Dryer, co host of the third hour of Today and mom to three wild boys. I've learned a lot my years as a parent, mostly that I don't have it all figured out yet.

And I'm not the only one. This is my new podcast, the Parent Chat. Each week I sit down with someone new for honest conversation and real world advice about parenting. I am over here just, like, winging it.

Hey, I'm trying not to screw my own kids. I might give you a screw yourself search parent on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.