here are the top stories we re covering this hour. israel says its war effort to eliminate hamas is entering a new phase with the new year. but is it going to reduce civilian casualties as the question has been questioning. this as prime minister netanyahu suffers a major political setback from his country s supreme court. i ll teak to ambassador mark regev and the democratic senator. and in tokyo, a five-man crew of air national guard claimed dead but all 400 on board a wide-body passenger plane escaping safely in just minutes after their plane exploded on the runway. and we ll look at the surge of respiratory illnesses over the holiday season. as flu, covid and rsv give families a rough start to 2024. and good day, everyone. i m andrea mitchell in washington. israel is starting the new year by launching intense attacks against central and southern gaza, even as the idf begins the process, it says, of bringing the first several thousand of its troops home. that includ
republican rivals are crisscrossing early voting states, attempting to cut into his support in the new year. but they are battling their own conflicts. backlash grows for nikki haley over her response to a question on the civil war. we will dig into the latest on the race. new developments in gaza. israel is accused of hitting the same area they told people to seek refuge. they are facing allegations of firing on an aid convoy. as we gear up for the ball to drop in times square to ring in 2024, we are taking a look back at the biggest stories of 2023, the entire year, and what a year it has been. we begin the hour with the big pre-new year s push on the campaign trail. the republican presidential candidates are spread out across the early voting states of iowa and new hampshire today, as they try to find enough support to turn the tide against frontrunner donald trump. the clock is kicking as we are just 17 days away from the iowa caucus, and 25 days from the new ham
morning joe. it is tuesday, december 26th, i m jonathan lemire. alongside me former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments elise jordan and the haass of msnbc s politics nation reverend al sharpton. president biden and first lady jill biden spent christmas eve fielding phone calls for the norad santa tracker. the president posted this picture on social media writing that he spoke to excited young americans worried about santa s whereabouts. then the president and first lady called units from each branch of the military to wish them a merry christmas and thank them for their service. republican front runner donald trump, on the other hand, spent the holiday weekend in a very different fashion, taking on his political enemies. the former president posted several, shall we say, unusual christmas messages on truth social that criticized people like joe biden and jack smith. in one post the channeled home alone kevin mccallister. merry christmas, y
spokesperson from the israeli defense forces. new this morning, supreme court could soon tackle trump s eligibility to run for president in colorado. how it could affect the 2024 election across the country. plus, house republicans ramping up their impeachment probe of president biden. what they re now demanding from the white house about biden s son hunter. and new video of the horror of the maui wildfires, what nbc news has learned about what went wrong as the flames destroyed a beloved community. hey, everybody. and good to see you. welcome to our second hour here on msnbc. we re going to begin this hour with breaking news out of the israel-hamas war. a second american hostage in gaza has been declared dead. judy weinstein, a 70-year-old, was fatally injured in the october 7th attack. her husband was also killed. this is happening as israeli forces are expanding their new battle zone today as they push further into central gaza, where many civilians sought shelter
Good afternoon. I am richard lui in for yasmin. The christmas dozens of Flights Canceled due to weather in the mid let leaving airline scrambling to get Travelers Home for the holidays. A live report on the situation just a moment. And, a brandnew falling by Donald Trumps legal team on the issue of president ial immunity, essentially their clients commute completely immune from prosecution. This sets up a showdown of what the Special Counsel and the hearing set for early january. Breaking news for you as well, the Israeli Military revealing the fate of five hostages whose bodies were found in the tunnels of gaza. We will get the details with that just into. Us with record breaking numbers of migrant the board of this week, some negotiators working the phone lines through the congressional recess to find a deal on immigration. Well also look back at the Culture War Bottles of 2023 when america appeared to be a war with itself. That is coming up, later this hour. We are going to start th