If it's Friday, President Biden considers preemptive pardons for some of the most likely targets of Trump's political retribution,

as the president-elect defends his embattled Pentagon pick and sits down with NBC's Kristen Welker.

Plus, the manhunt enters its third day as police release more photos of the suspected gunmen

who killed the United Healthcare CEO amid new clues about his whereabouts leading up to

the shooting.

And a federal appeals court upholds a law that could ban TikTok before Trump takes office,

setting the stage for a potential Supreme Court showdown

as the fake of the Chinese-controlled social media app

and its 170 million users in the U.S. hangs in the balance.

The United States Welcome to Meet the Press now. I'm Gabe Gutierrez in Washington.

As sources have confirmed to NBC News that President Biden and his senior staff are discussing the possibility of preemptive pardons for potential targets of President-elect Trump's vows of

retribution. The discussions potentially opening a Pandora's box of presidential power.

Sources familiar with the discussions say no decisions have been made by Biden or his team

and that there's no consensus. There's also no official list of names, but among the names that have come up

so far are people Donald Trump is singled out for potential revenge, like Senator-elect Adam Schiff,

former Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Dr. Anthony Fauci. This afternoon, White House Press Secretary

Corrine Jean-Pierre saying she would not get ahead of the

president on any potential pardons, but signaling that more pardons or commutations will be made.

The news comes after President Biden drew backlash from both sides of the aisle for his sweeping

pardon of his son Hunter, after repeatedly and unequivocally pledging he wouldn't.

Jean-Pierre addressing that decision at the first White House briefing since that pardon and

ensuing backlash.

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