battle ahead could take many more months. plus, just hours from now secretary of state antony blinken and homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas are set to meet with mexican president just as thousands of central american migrants make their way to the united states southern border. we ll break down what this means and the key issues up for discussion. and also ahead the detroit pistons made nba history but for all the wrong reasons. the record they just broke that has everyone talking. good morning and welcome to way too early on this wednesday, december 27th. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. we get right to the news and the israeli military has expanded its ground offensive into urban refugee camps in central gaza. the idf is also focusing on southern gaza s largest city as part of its stated mission to destroy hamas. officials say progress has been made in the north and that troops will continue to, quote, preserve and intensify t
this was the view across the israel lebanon border earlier today where we ve seen a thick plume of black smoke in the sky as hostilities continue in that border area. so, let s start this hour by hearing from israel s prime minister. translation: last night, - i talked again with president biden. i do appreciate us steadfast position at the security council a position which backs our war effort. yesterday, i told president biden that we will fight until total victory, as long as it takes. the us understands this. i saw false reports that claimed the united states has prevented us from operational activities in the region. this is not true. israel is a sovereign country. our war decisions are based on our operational considerations. this is the live scene over the israel gaza border, where we ve seen continued bombardement this weekend. an israel military spokesman says it s expanding its ground operations in the southern and northern parts of the gaza strip. reuters is
israel vowing to intensify its war against hamas, even as there s a call for more aid. and netanyahu heckled by families of hostages, demanding for loved ones to be saved now. and then strikes against iran-backed militants, and what it means for the region and u.s. it has been a rocky year for the president. a look back and a look forward to his 2024 campaign pitch. later as well, the anti-vaxx movement on the rise. a rave of lawmakers that oppose vaccine requirements, and what it means as the covid infections keep ticking up. hey, everybody. good morning to you. we begin this hour with new developments in the israel-hamas war. this morning plumes of smoke can be seen over the skies of gaza, and a senior adviser of the prime minister bibi netanyahu. he will meet with secretary of state, tony blinken as well, and he met with israeli forces telling them do not stop. he vowed to continue the war to the end. and let s bring in nbc s ryan nobles at the white house, and a retired f
[national anthem] will: fox news alert, growing concerns this morning over overcrowding at u.s. facilities across the southern border as migrants pour in at a record rate at the end of title 42. rachel: the top border patrol union calling this worst disaster any agent has ever seen and warns that the worst is still to come. pete: matt finn live in el paso with the latest. reporter: pete, when you re referencing overcrowding, i mean, we re standing in the middle of it right now here in downtown el paso. this is the sacred heart shelter. as the sun has come up, many of these migrants who slept on the streets last night are now waking up. sadly, there s a lot of coughing going on, so some migrants who are showing symptomses of illness. inside the shelter right now, we re told there s about 140 women and children, and outside is overflow, you know, maybe two or three city blocks of migrants who slept outside overnight. i spoke with a few of them yesterday, they say they
Cade of the nations best minds, we begin with gordon chang. Go. Freeman of New York Times he has praised the chinese system. The one party they know how to get things done. While condemning the american system. Has he turned out to be right . What is going on in china . Well, Thomas Friedman has been wrong, so has klaus schwab head of World Economic forum who said that china was a model for the developing world, they are wrong, weve seen the fire on the 24th. Immediately there were protests, they were not coordinated. People were on the streets. They were on Streets Protesting Covid Rules which contributed to deaths in that fire, they said down with xi jinping, and down with the Communist Party. The mood on the streets in china, is they realize the root cause of the problems is the Communist Party, the system does not work. And if they thought about it, they would have said, Thomas Friedman is wrong. Mark yeah, New York Times, and cnn, have both praised the communist chinese handling o