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
been in decline for many years. we are hoping for him, that he has time to just relax, be with his family, recuperate his health and just be a normal person again. thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your this moment you are having as a family. we appreciate it. that s going to do it for us. see you back here tomorrow. andrea mitchell picks up our coverage right now. right now on andrea mitchell reports, ready for a rematch. presidents biden and former president trump, cramming in their own ways, focusing on the tactics and their opponent s triggering ahead of the first presidential debate now just two days away. israel s defense minister at the pentagon today after criticizing prime minister netanyahu. the man behind one of the most damning leaks of u.s. classified documents in history, setting julian assange on a path to life as a free man. good day, i m andrea mitchell in washington. biden campaign insiders telling nbc news the president is prep
joe biden and donald trump heading to a showdown, but traveling very different roads. new nbcs reporting on how biden is aiming to get under trump s skin, while team trump s wild pregame accusation may be revealing a case of nerves. we got details on what is happening behind the scenes leading up to thursday s big debate. plus, the debate in a florida courtroom over the raid at the center of the mar-a-lago documents case. eye opening new photos of exactly where classified documents were found in donald trump s home. the judge now makes a consequential decision. what can and cannot be used in court. and the end of the years long legal battle in the u.s. versus julian assange. after the wikileaks founder agreed to plead guilty in a deal sparing him more prison time. what this may mean for when something like this inevitably happens again. but we begin with new nbc reporting that president biden is in intense preparations for thursday s crucial debate. getting ready to f