good day to our virs iewers the united states and around the world. i m danny freeman in for kasie hunt. it is 4:00 a.m. in mexico city where secretary of state antony blinken is set to meet with the mexican president. they will discuss ways to stem the surge of migrants at the southern u.s. border and they will be joined by homeland security secretary mayorkas. more than 11,000 migrants are still waiting in shelters and camps as they have for years for a chance to enter the u.s. legally, but this one border patrol sector which includes eagle pass, texas, migrant encounters have dropped significantly. more from rosa flores. reporter: as a migrant caravan forms in southern mexico with thousands, the scene in eagle pass, texas has changed. the area where thousands were waiting to be transported last week were emptied out this week. the flow appearing to be down a trickle. a senior customs and border protection official telling cnn that while the scene at eagle pass has improv
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
good morning. welcome to morning joe. that s a look at times square. we re a heart of hours the ball the will drop and we ll turn the page to 2024. good morning. joe and mika have the morning off. a lot to get to this morning, including another state remove donald trump from the republican presidential ballot. we will have expert legal and political analysis on that big decision from maine s secretary of state. plus nikki haley s attempt at cleaning up her highly criticized answer on the cause of the civil war. also forces continue to strike refugee camps where it believes hamas terrorists are hiding. this comes as the biden administration is putting more pressure to protect civilians. plus we ll take a look at the stories that dominated 2023 from two wars overseas to chaos on capitol hill, as well as the former president s many legal battles as he enters the presidential election. a lot to go through. with us for all of us is nbc news national affairs analyst john heilem
bret: good evening. i m bret baier. president joe biden vacations in the caribbean as republican presidential candidates return to the campaign trail. police in texas investigate the deaths of a pregnant teenager and her boyfriend in what they call a perplexing case. and doctors are warning about a tripledemic this winter as a new covid strain spreads throughout the united states. dr. marc siegel joins us to discuss. but, first, breaking tonight, another massive group of migrants is making its way through mexico as immigration officials work to process the thousands already waiting at the border. many of those who have been allowed to enter the u.s. are being sent further north where local officials say president joe biden and his administration have ignored their pleas for additional assistance. the president, meanwhile, is heading south to the caribbean for vacation as his top cabinet officials meet with mexico s president to discuss the crisis. we have fox team coverag
baier, breaking tonight the conflict in the middle east escalates across the region. israeli forces are expanding the war zone, threatening more targeted attacks amid international pressure for a ceasefire. u.s. officials are asking prime minister benjamin netanyahu to deescalate in gaza, as the administration says, it s ramping up pressure on iranian backed groups. we have fox team coverage tonight chad pergram looks at the u.s. response to a drone attack that left three service members injured in northern iraq but we begin with trey yingst live from tel aviv. good evening trey. reporter: bret good evening. there is concern tonight about the possibility of a broader conflict with iran and its proxies as the war in gaza rages on. israeli forces in northern israel are on high alert as attacks from the lebanese militant group hezbollah continue. today a church took a direct hit from an anti tank guided missile injuring one civilian. when israelis troops arrived to evacuate th