battles for former president donald trump. there were two big developments last night. maine decided donald trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on the ballot. the secretary of state citing the 14th amendment which bans from office those who engage in insurrection. on the west coast, the california secretary of state deciding to keep trump on the ballot. all this putting even more pressure on the supreme court to weigh in. we want to bring in vaughn hillyard and former rnc executive committee member jennifer horn. vaughn, start us off with maine. reporter: in the state of maine the decision of the secretary of state last night was much awaited. she had heard challenges in her role as secretary of state. this is where you get into the differences in what state law allows or puts the onus on a secretary of state to ultimately agent on. that s where the role of the maine secretary of state says it is her responsibility to determine whether a candidate is qualified to
a very good day to all of you. i m alex witt. our top stories this hour, israel says the war on hamas could last for many months as it carries out new deadly strikes in gaza, including on refugee camps. that s despite growing pressure from the biden administration to change course. michigan s supreme court rejects an attempt to remove donald trump from the 2024 primary ballot. the opposite of a ruling by colorado s supreme court. we will dig into what that means for the former president s campaign. top u.s. officials led by secretary of state blinken set to arrive in mexico to try to tackle the record number of migrants crossing into the u.s. 8,000 moving right now toward the southern border. new storm warnings on the east coast threaten holiday travel plans. a blizzard pounds colorado as more than 6,000 flights are delayed nationwide. we begin this hour with israel and the u.s. at odds over the war in gaza. a top advisor was at the white house to talk about what come
plus, israel is barring refugee camps as part of new efforts to find hostages. the head of the idf insists the war will go on for months but some critics think that will not be enough time to wipe out hamas. and jack smith calling on the d.c. court to do something that sounds almost unthinkable. stop donald trump from injecting politics into his election interference trial. we re going to start with secretary of state blinken. all right. we re going to start with blinken and dhs secretary set to meet with mexico s president as we speak. the two countries grappling with what the u.s. is calling quote unprecedented levels of migration as well as security challenges on both sides of the southern border. now, these discussions taking on even more urgency as a massive new caravan of roughly 8,000 mie migrants or more are making their way to the united states. the u.s. is already struggling to deal with a record number of migrants. nearly 50,000 arriving last week alone, overwhel
what we are learning tonight. a family s nightmare. a 6-year-old traveling alone to be with his grandmother for the holiday put on the wrong spirit airlines plane arriving in the wrong city. the tense moments for his family and what the airline is now saying this in the middle of a record breaking holiday travel season with millions hitting the roads and taking to the skies. we re following a cross-country storm making its way in the south. millions on alert for potential flooding and the blizzard warning in the northern plains. christmas celebrations canceled in the traditional birthplace of jesus where the fighting in gaza hangs over a time that is usually a time of joy. as relentless combat in the israel-hamas war takes a toll on civilians and both sides of the fighting and the grim death toll. prime minister benjamin netanyahu under pressure inside israel, rick clement from bethlehem. fear that the israeli-hamas conflict will spread as tensions escalate in the red s
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