I think they're trying to signal to Smollett that they know he's lying and they're giving him a chance to confess and claim that a mental breakdown caused by Trump forced him to make the story up and highlight a problem that is actually very real but made up in his specific circumstances. And he still lives in fear that the invented story could become all too real in the days ahead. Then MSNBC can put together a special where they show how the lie actually was good for the country because it brought attention to something that could happen, probably very soon, because Trump and MAGA hats.
There's a LOT of this going around since 2016!!!