the u.s. army to strike and even destroy hezbollah and iranian target if required? and it took idf 70 days to reach the tunnel that was revealed yesterday. how long do you think it will take to dismantle the tunnel in gaza. the secretary was speaking about the day after the americans keep asking israel how we see the day after. so what do you tell them? who will rule gaza and will the idf be in gaza throughout the entire next year? thank you very much. e ((. >> which one of those 12 questions do you want me to answer? >> i have more. >> regarding the time line, this is israel's operation, and i'm not here to dictate time lines

or terms. our support to israel's right to defend itself is ironclad as you've heard me say a number of times, and that's not going to change. it's critical, as i said earlier, that hamas not be able to threaten israel from gaza or even threaten gaza anymore. you know, that's an interest that we all share. that's a common interest with all of us, and so today we had great discussions about the status of the campaign, about goals and objectives, and about how to reduce harm to civilians in the battle space, and to -- and the need to ensure a sustained flow of humanitarian assistance into gaza. you know, we can offer some insight based upon our own experience in fighting terrorist

groups and certainly that enabled us to have great discussions and we also have some great thoughts about how to transition from high intensity operations to lower intensity and more surgical operations, so we had great discussions on all of those issues. on lebanon, we've been clear that we don't want to see this conflict widen into a larger war or a regional war, and we call upon hezbollah to make sure that they don't do things that would provoke a wider conflict. >> yes, as to the -- >> and good morning, i'm josé diaz-balart. we begin this hour with the breaking news out of the middle east. right now, as you can see, secretary of defense lloyd austin is wrapping up his visit to israel after meeting with top officials about the need to

protect civilians in gaza as there is growing anger over the killing of three hostages in gaza by israeli forces. the idf released this image, which reads, help, three hostages in hebrew. they say it was found in a building near where the hostages were killed. the incident remains under review according to the idf. israel is continuing its operations inside gaza, and they claim to have discovered this massive hamas tunnel, which they say spans more than two and a half miles. it lice just a quarter of a mile away from the humanitarian crossing in northern gaza. and also new this morning, some possible signs of movement towards another pause in the fighting. cia director bill burns met with israeli and qatari officials in poland today to try and restart talks over hostages and humanitarian pause, according to a u.s. official. joining us now from tel aviv is

nbc's hala gorani. good morning. where do things stand at this hour? >> reporter: we heard from lloyd austin there in tel aviv, reiterating the u.s.'s support for israel, but also saying that some discussions took place between him and yoav gallant, his israeli counterpart, on ways to transition from a high intensity warfare situation to a more surgical tactical strike pattern, perhaps, and he reiterated the fact that what hamas did was an act of sheer evil. but there is some daylight it appears between the u.s. and israel in terms of certainly the intensity of the battlefield tactics, that israel is using, especially as we are nearing the 25,000 figure in terms of the death toll inside of the gaza strip. lloyd austin was also asked about the possibility of the u.s. getting involved in israel strikes lebanon in the north.

because there's always been, jose, this concern that this will become a multifront battle as far as israel is concerned and widen into a regional conflagration. right now this has not happened. there doesn't seem to be appetite on the hezbollah side for this, but the war of words is continuing and the tit for tat on either side of the israel lebanon border continues. but jose, importantly i think here as far as the u.s. is concerned, this is the second trip for the u.s. defense secretary, and our viewers will know he is only the latest very high level official to make a trip to the region. there was jake sullivan, kamala harris met with the egyptian president. we had, of course, the visit by the president himself in the days following october 7th. so there is a lot of diplomatic activity here, and some effort from the u.s. that is becoming more and more pressing to tell israel, look, you've got to scale back the high intensity portion of this operation.

>> hala gorani in tel aviv, thank you very much. with us now to continue our conversation, lieutenant colonel peter lerner, spokesperson for the israeli defense forces. lieutenant colonel, i thank you for being with us this morning. so i j want to focus on the situation over the weekend, the hostages were shirtless to show they were not wearing an explosive device. they were apparently streaming in hebrew, holding a white flag, yet, they were mistakenly shot and killed by idf soldiers. how, lieutenant colonel, could this happen? >> jose, thank you, good morning. this is a tragedy of the battlefield of the fog of war, of the reality of forces that have been constantly engaged with terrorists that have no regard for any sorts of norms or conduct, and this is, as i said, a tragedy that we have obviously come forward and announced to the israeli public and to the families of the fallen, and

indeed this is something that we need to learn our lessons in order to make sure that forces on the ground have the tools in order to prevent this from happening again. yesterday the idf chief of staff, he was in the field. he met with soldiers. he explained quite clearly that people holding a white flag means you have to think for two minutes. think for a second. take in what you're seeing, and act because we do not shoot people with white flags. we do not shoot people, even if they are people from gaza, even if they are hamas terrorists that have laid down their weapons in surrender, we do not shoot them. i think this is -- there's a lot to learn from this tragedy, and we are doing that. but it is the result of hamas's cynical abuse of the civilian arena, just to give you an understanding. what we're finding on the ground is a reality where hamas have set up combat complexes, which

are civilian homes that are interconnected with tunnels where in each home there is a setup of ak-47s, rpgs, explosive devices, and they can go from house to house without even carrying the weapon because they go into a -- one of these complexes. they use the weapons there, and then they drop off or jump over or go through a tunnel to the next house and continue their fighting from there. so it is a very unpredictable battlefield as the nature of urban warfare and the weaponization of hamas of said urban areas has developed and as we've seen are quite extensively over the last eight and a half weeks. >> look, you know, the war is a horrendous situation day in and day out, and the fog of war is very real, but my only concern, lieutenant colonel is if we're seeing that the norms or conduct

were not followed in this case with three israelis that were very clearly doing all they could, you know, under very difficult circumstances to show that they were indeed israelis, innocent, and yet, they were killed. i'm just wondering, the norms or conduct during war is never more important than it is here. i'm just -- is this something that you think is widespread? >> so i would be very cautious in judging from the comfort of my sofa the actions of soldiers that have just endured extensive battle. indeed we need to uphold the laws of armed conflict. we need to set a standard and we need to send a very, very clear message, and that is exactly what the idf chief of staff did yesterday. i don't believe that this is widespread. i believe that the norms are very clear to the vast majority of our forces, but mistakes can

happen, and we need to do everything we can in order to limit the mistakes. limit the realm of misunderstandings, but also understand that our enemy is not acting by any norms of the laws of armed conflict. we've seen where they're hiding. they're hiding in hospitals. they're hiding in schools. they're utilizing the civilian arena to put these questions to israel and create these unfortunate mistakes. we have to make sure that the civilians are kept out of harm's way. that is what we've been trying to do. that is what we continue to do. >> a u.s. official tells nbc news that cia director william burns has been meeting with israeli qatari officials to get more aid in. is the idf ready, preparing for anything like another humanitarian pause? >> so what i can say what we've done in the last few days, we've

opened the karem shalom crossing. for the international organization operation on the ground. we've had some 80,000 tons of supplies come into gaza with more than 4,600 truckloads. this is continuing, it is broadening its scope. the diplomatic efforts to bring home or to create another opportunity to bring home hostages is obviously ongoing. from our perspective, the idf believes that it is the use of military force that made hamas relinquish the 110 hostages that were released, 86 israelis, 24 foreign nationals and the last operational hold, that cease fire that took place for seven days, a cease fire hamas decided to stop. they decided by not releasing 19 women and children that they still hold up until today, but

also, they launched an attack even before the deadline, and that cease fire, the due date of that cease fire had come to an end. they began launching mortar fire and rockets at us. so the reality is one that we understand that the military force is an enabler of any positive development. of course the humanitarian effort goes hand in hand, as i highlighted. we're operating on the ground, we're facilitating humanitarian access. we're engaging with the humanitarian actors. operating on the ground in order to alleviate some of the difficulties that arise from the war. >> lieutenant colonel, i mean, we remember also that right at the end of that extended pause was that terrorist attack where they went in with, you know, ak-47s and shot up a bus stop. you know, killing more than three -- killing three civilians. i mean, that's -- it's the reality of a very difficult

situation. >> absolutely, and we saw yesterday that the tunnel that we exposed a huge effort on hamas's behalf to try and create a network of terror tunnels, tunnels that they use only for one person for terrorism and attacks against israel. this is, you know, the footage you're showing now is -- they're driving in a tunnel they built. the man sitting in the passenger seat is mohammad sinwar. he was the manager of this project of creating this terror tunnel. four and a half, four kilometers long, wide enough for a car, 50 meters deep. this is the extent, i would say it's the most expensive and expansive construction project ever to be conducted in the gaza strip, not for the benefit of the people of gaza but for the detriment of the people, against the people of gaza that so desperately needs to have a sense of development of a government that actually cares for them.

hamas don't care about the people of gaza. we have to get rid of hamas. that is, i think, listening to secretary of defense austin's underlying message there. hamas has to go. that needs to be the strategic outcome of this war. we have to make sure it happens together. >> lieutenant colonel peter lerner, i thank you very much for being with us. really appreciate your time. >> good day, jose, thank you. up next, breaking news, we'll tell you how pope francis is making a major change to catholic church policy over same-sex marriages. plus, how president biden is marking a tragic personal anniversary. we're back in 60 seconds. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. n, opportunities follow. ♪ liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. with the money i saved, i started a dog walking business. oh. [dog barks] no it's just a bunny! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪

hi! need new glasses? only pay for what you need. get more from your benefits at visionworks. how can you see me squinting? i can't! i'm just telling everyone! ...hey! use your vision benefits before they expire. visionworks. see the difference. 14 past the hour, breaking news from the vatican, pope francis has approved a landmark ruling that will allow catholic priests to administer blessings to same-sex couples as long as

they are not part of regular church rituals or liturgies. claudio, what more can you tell us about this decision? >> reporter: hi, jose. well, this was officialized in a document that was sent out about a couple of hours ago from the vatican. very powerful doctrine. essentially in there it says from now on catholic priests around the world are allowed to bless same-sex couples, provided, as you mention instead your intro, that they are not mistaken or confused with an actual marriage, which in the eyes of the catholic church can only happen between a man and a woman. now, this comes with a couple of conditions. as you see related to this fact it shouldn't be confused with a marriage. first of all, the blessing cannot happen at the same time as a civil union, and also that during this blessing, the blessing cannot be accompanied with some rituals like clothing or gestures or words. there are more proper through an

actual marriage. still, despite these conditions, this will be a -- this comes as a major breakthrough for the lgbtq+ community, especially catholic lgbtq+ around the world. even though this is not entirely surprising because, this is exactly what pope francis said at the beginning of october this year when he responded to a letter written to him by five conservative cardinals to challenge him to be open to describe what the actual catholic church teaching on home sexuality is right now that came before a major meeting with the cardinals. back then he responded to a letter that said exactly that. he believes same-sex couples should receive a blessing provided that this is not confused, mistaken with an actual marriage. this of course will come as it will be become, this officialization of what he said by lgbtq+ catholics around the world but not probably welcomed

by these conservative cardinals who clearly were against this idea, jose. >> claudio low van ga in rome, thank you so much. senate negotiators will meet again today to try and hammer out a deal that will pave the way for more funding for ukraine and israel. republicans are demanding major changes to border security before sending aid to ukraine and israel. the congressional hispanic caucus chair told this to msnbc yesterday about what's on the table as part of these negotiations. >> republicans are holding hostage very critical funding for our allies, ukraine, israel, taiwan, because they want to basically end asylum and they want to give tools for people like trump to be able to do deportations. it's really unbelievable it's on the table. >> nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake joins us. good seeing you. where do things stand right now?

>> reporter: the congresswoman is right, broadly curtailing asylum claims is one of the goals of this negotiation from the republican perspective, but it's one of several really thorny immigration issues that have bogged down this negotiation now. the senators were in this small group over the weekend, negotiated for hours on saturday, again on sunday. they're expected back today, but they're trying to break what's basically 30 years of an impasse on any significant changes to our immigration system on a very short time line with a carrot at the end essentially for this ukraine and israel funding, and you don't have to take my word for it, the senators involved who are pretty experienced deal makers, all of them, are describing this as one of the most complex things they've ever undertaken in a short time frame. here's a little of what we heard from those negotiators over the weekend. >> i think people don't understand the complexity and the number of decisions that had to be made on every single part. people see these big ideas and say that it's simple just to be able to settle that.

but underneath every big idea is 100 smaller decisions that all have to be made, every one of them's complicated. >> this is the most complicated area of law in the united states. it is very, very complex. you have to get it right, if you make a mistake, you fundamentally change law in ways you don't intend and you have years ask years of litigation. so it's very important to be careful and to do it correctly, and that's what we're doing. >> reporter: you can look at those as reasons to be pessimistic about a deal coming together here, at least anytime in the near future. one reason to be optimistic is the concern from some of those further on the left or further on the right who are likely to oppose any kind of compromise deal. we also heard from republican senators over the weekend saying that they want to be briefed on this urgently, that they're worried that democrats might be getting too much in this immigration deal, and they want to make sure that they don't get jammed. it's ugly politics, but that might be what it takes to get something that can get 30 or 40

democratic votes in the senate, 30 or 40 republican votes in the senate to try to move something that might actually stand a chance in the house. a lot of messy sausage making here, not a lot of time before the end of the year. i think this is looking increasingly like a problem that gets solved, if it's solved at all in january. >> the 18th of december and still no concrete agreement. thank you, garrett, it's great seeing you. i appreciate your time. new details this morning after president biden was taken to safety after a collision involving his motorcade which happened a few feet away from the president. take a look at this. >> mr. president, why are you losing to trump in the polls? >> you have the wrong poll.

>> there you saw it, and if you're listening to us on radio, what you could see is very clearly and you could hear that hit, the collision, and then the president was quickly moved to an armored vehicle by his secret service detail. the president and the first lady are safe following this incident. joining us now, nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli. good morning. what more do we know about what happened and there's clearly an investigation into the incident. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, jose. it appears it's a straightforward and quickly resolved investigation. an accidental collision. talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the wilmington police have charged a 46-year-old wilmington man with driving under the influence of alcohol and inattentive driving, happened to crash into a part of the motorcade that was there to literally serve this purpose, to block off the rest of the motorcade from an intersection here. and the secret service also issuing a statement saying that

there were no protective interests associated with this event. that's another way of saying that they quickly determined that there was no intended threat to the president directly here. you saw how quickly they got the president out of the scene. this all came as the president was visiting his campaign headquarters right in the heart of downtown wilmington, having dinner with his campaign staff. so jarring, of course, to see the president's own reaction and so rare you see this kind of incident happening with the president so close will. >> yeah, mike, also today marks 51 years since the president's first wife and their daughter were killed in a car accident. how is the president marking today? >> reporter: yeah, jose, for as long as i've been covering president biden more than 15 years at this point, i've known that this date, december 18th is such a sacred and protected day on his calendar. it doesn't matter what the issues he might be dealing with at the time or where else he might have needed to be, he's always here in wilmington doing what he did this morning, visiting the grave site of his first wife and daughter, as well as the place where his son beau

was buried as well. this is a president, of course, whose political career has in some ways been defined and shaped by these personal tragedies. hunter biden, the only survivor of that accident, he and his brother were severely injured in that accident, also with the president today, and as the president, of course, is waging his final campaign that he is, you know, dealing with the concern he has for his son hunter who is such a target not just of his political opponents, but facing these indictments and criminal cases. it's so poignant to see the family at this time, especially we know how this has worked in the president's career in making him something of an ambassador of grief, jose. i spoke with somebody who was actually part of that meeting with last week when the president met with the families of the hostages in gaza, and the presidents actually raise thd anniversary talking about how he knows what it's like to get that call about losing your loved ones or seeing them in danger just the way he was able to relate with those in that room, jose. >> mike memoli in wilmington,

thank you very much. up next, nbc news goes on the ground in seven key counties, expected to decide the next presidential race. what voters here in south florida are saying. plus, what former president donald trump said on the campaign trail over the weekend that's got the white house comparing his words to hitler's. and later, brand new reporting about how supreme court justice clarence thomas allegedly pressed the congressman to raise the justice's salaries. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. é diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. a mystery! jessie loves playing detective. but the real mystery was her irritated skin. so, we switched to tide pods free & gentle. it cleans better, and doesn't leave behind irritating residues.

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race for the white house heats up. we are introducing a new reporting project focused on seven countys that will be absolutely critical in determining the results of the next presidential race. one of those counties right here, miami-dade where nearly seven in ten residents identify as hispanic or latino. hispanics, latinos make up the fastest growing voting block in the entire country. in miami-dade, republicans have seen more gains over the past couple of years, democrats clearly have their work cut out for them in florida. joining us now, nbc news correspondent marissa parra in miami-dade county. marissa, it's great seeing you, you spent months learning about this community, a community you are part of it. what are the issues that make this critical battleground tick?

>> reporter: hey, yeah, we know just how important the economy is to hispanic and latino voters across the board, and it's no different here in miami-dade county. when we talk about the importance of the county when it comes to presidential cam pans and also local elections, i want to give you the breakdown of what we see in terms of the demographics here. we know that hispanics and latinos make up 70%, roughly 70% of the county. half of those people are cuban, but the important thing to remember is the diversity here. we have also the largest populations of venezuelans, nicaraguans, colombians, peruvians, 66% of people say that they speak spanish at home. that is according to the census. so what we've seen over the years, the trend since 2012, is republican wins.

this has been an increasing momentumha they've been gaining here in the county. you can see here on your screen those wins tt have been shown. if you look at what former president trump leapt from under 34% to 46% between 2016 and 2020. you can see that was during his years as president. florida governor ron desantis, though, winning with over 55%. those are gains that the republican party has not seen in miami-dade since 2002. so in terms of strategy, what we've seen here. this dates back much farther than years ago. we've seen former presidents bill clinton, george w. bush capitalizing on famous landmarks, cuban favorites like versailles so it's not the first time we've seen this when former president trump, even christie making an appearance, a campaign stop, if you will, the former president doing it right before he was supposed to appear in miami court, we know that there have been billboards, spanish language attacks. we know that there have been spanish language billboards

written across neighborhoods and spanish speaking neighborhoods. this is something that we know the democratic party is going to have to focus on if they want to win back control over miami-dade county, and that is something that we're going to be focusing on, jose, over the next year with this new reporting series, the deciders. we're going to be looking at how effective those campaign strategies prove to be. >> it's really impressive, marissa, how many different people from so many different places make south florida what it is today, including the wonderful bolivian americans as well, not just the groups that you were talking about, marissa parra, thank you. it's great seeing you. meantime, new comments from the 2024 republican front runner, former president donald trump are drawing sharp criticism after he escalated his

anti-immigrant rhetoric. listen to this. >> when they let the real numbers, i think 15, 16 million people into our country, when they do that, we got a lot of work to do. they're poisoning the blood of our country. >> joining us now, the former chief of the refugee center for immigration and legal services, the former press secretary for political outreach for bernie sanders, and stewart stephens, romney's chief strategist for 2012, he is now a senior adviser at the lincoln project. erica, you have spent your adult life trying to follow your american dream, standing up to whoever was in the way of people's american dream. trump has a political career where he's said all kinds of things, when you hear this latest comment, what do you hear, erica? >> dehumanization. i think i hear someone who is actively trying to continue to

dehumanize immigrants, people of color, and it's dangerous. it is dangerous. we have seen the consequences of this type of rhetoric in the past. we have seen it not just in policies, right, he has enacted the former president, but also he has inspired people to commit terrible violence against immigrants, against people of color. i mean, we cannot forget what happened in el paso, and you know, the reasons why this person went and did everything that he did to, you know, end the lives and kill so many people because of the type of rhetoric that trump has been using against immigrants. this is absolutely dangerous, and as an immigrant, it makes me so concerned of our lives and our safety in this country. >> stewart, what is donald trump saying when he talks about poisoning the blood of people? >> yeah, you know, i don't think this is really complicated. i think he's talking to white voters. his -- hopefully an increasingly

smaller percentage of white voters, but 85% of trump's coalition in '20 was white, and a country that's 59, 60% white, and this is language that's been used by those who are appealing to the worst amongst a certain segment of the election for a long history of this. i mean, it was used certainly in the '30s in europe. you have viktor orban in hungary, who has become a darling in the right. he talks about the purity of the blood. look, the only blood that has been shed here is all the americans who have sacrificed to defend the country. hispanic americans have a higher percentage of service than any other group in this country. it's really fundamentally anti-american. it's hateful, and it's appealing to the worst in people, and we

would be very naive to think that it's not extraordinarily dangerous. >> yeah, and erika, this is not new. you know this more than most, donald trump has been attacking immigrants from the first day he announced his presidency in 2015. i'd like to kind of -- you know, things are important to look back, listen to this exchange i had with him in 2015. listen to this. >> from what you said about the united states becoming a dumping ground for everybody else's problems, and you say when mexicans send its people, they're not sending their best -- they're not sending people like you and like me, to quote you a little further, they're bringing in drugs. they're rapists, is this what you think of the latino community in the united states, many who have come across the border to participate in this country that have american dreams and that participate in the economy of the united states? >> not at all, but many bad people are coming in, and i'm

not talking mexico. i'm talking about from all oaf over the world, and i say that, they're coming from all over, many bad people are coming in. >> that was 2015, erika. he'd just come down from those steps in trump tower. my question is, erika, does this hurt him? it doesn't seem like among a lot of people this is concerning. >> well here's appealing to his base, right? his base has already been hearing this kind of rhetoric for so many years. not only that, he used that rhetoric to move the needle on how a lot of people who have followed him, a lot of people who hear him and he has grown his base, right? a lot of these people really have believed that immigrants are less than them, right? he has used his rhetoric to let people know, right, when you think of immigrants, don't think of them as human beings.

think of them as less than you. so when this happens, it allows him to create policies like when he did when he was president, right, like getting rid of daca. i'm a daca recipient. i remember that moment so clearly, you know, separating babies, children, toddlers from their mothers as they're crossing the border. all of this has been accepted by a lot of his followers and his base because he has said all these things over and over again and i'm really afraid of a 2024 election where, you know, he's going to continue this rhetoric, and i mean if we were to have another term of trump, i really worry that the type of dehumanization -- dehumanization that he has created for the immigrant community, mostly people of color could be opening the door for more terrible policies, right? and policies that i just don't even want to think about and

what they would do to people like myself and my family. >> thank you very much for being with us today. really appreciate it. >> thank you, jose. up next, a powerful storm slamming into the east coast putting millions at risk of flooding and power outages. we'll get the latest on the storm's path next. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. we just wait till we get to the school. so, yeah. right now here in america, millions of kids like victoria and andre live with hunger, and the need to help them has never been greater. when you join your friends, neighbors and me to support no kid hungry, you'll help hungry kids get the food they need. if we want to take care of our children, then we have to feed them. your gift of just $0.63 a day, only $19 a month at helpnokidhungry.org right now will help provide healthy meals and hope.

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42 past the hour this morning, millions of people from virginia to maine are under flood and wind alerts as a strong storm sweeps up the east coast after dumping nearly half a foot of rain on florida over the weekend. take a look at this, and charleston, south carolina, streets look more like rivers after the city received more than 4 inches of rain in the last 48 hours. look at this. nbc news meteorologist bill karins joins us. bill, what does today look like?

>> you know what, bill, i'm having a tough time hearing you. as a matter of fact, i can't hear you. let's see if we can reestablish. bill, let's say hi there, bill, can you hear me? >> yeah, you got me, jose? >> no, i still can't hear him. can y'all hear him? apparently everybody hears you, so tell us what we can expect today. >> i'll take it from here and signal you when i'm done. the worst of the flooding is happening now in new jersey and the mid-atlantic, northern new england is who we're worried about. the storm itself is south of long island. it's been like a tropical storm. it's not considered one because it's not that time of year, but i mean, it is warm. it is humid all the way into northern new england. this is the warm and windy side. the snow is melting in northern new england, along with torrential rain, that's a horrible recipe for flash flooding. the back side is snow and cold returning to winter. this is the life-threatening situations right now, flash flood warnings, the mountains of maine, southern portions of

connecticut, all under flash flood warnings. that's where rivers are out of their banks and there's dangerous flow all over those regions. the wind alerts, 23 million people are in those, and the strongest winds are in the coastal areas of new england. look at the winds right now, boston at logan, 66 miles per hour, we had a gust last hour at 68. we have about almost half a million people now without power because of the strong winds in the coastal areas, and logan airport right now is under a ground stop, so all under the plains that were supposed to go to logan from all the airports around the country and even internationally have been told stop, don't go. you're not allowed to take off. the winds are too dangerous. no flights are allowed here. that's a huge issue. the airports are doing better, especially around new york city after a rough morning. the cold side of this storm, snow is now starting to fall, and we're going to get a nice storm here, cleveland to buffalo, some of those areas will get about a foot of snow, jose. the worst of the storm is in the

northeast and new england, and then later tonight and tomorrow it will be cleanup time. >> okay, bill, thank you very much. appreciate it. now back to washington where the nation is saying farewell to the first woman to serve on the u.s. supreme court. sandra day o'connor is lying in repose in the great hall of the u.s. supreme court building. moments ago vice president harris and her husband paid their respects to the late justice. this follows a private service attended by the justices, members of o'connor's family and other invited guests. there you see the vice president arriving. o'connor's former clerks line the steps of the supreme court as o'connor's body was brought into the supreme court building. tomorrow 11:00 a.m. eastern, we'll bring you special coverage of her funeral services at the washington national cathedral. justice o'connor died the 1st of december at the age of 93. up next, the results of a year-long nbc news investigation into the child labor industry in

the united states. new details about how children are getting jobs in slaughterhouses, which in some cases led to their deaths. you're watching "josé diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ée diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. - was that necessary? - no. neither is a blown weekend. with paycom, employees do their own payroll so you can fix problems before they become problems. - hmm! get paycom and make the unnecessary, unnecessary. - see you down the line. vo: illegal immigrants rush our border in record numbers. more get away than are detained. leaders of “sanctuary cities” spend billions on migrants - creating a magnet for more illegal immigration and fueling the crisis. all while americans struggle to pay for food and housing. and what is the biden administration doing? closing more immigration detention facilities. tell your member of congress:

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a 4949 past the hour. now to an nbc news exclusive. we're taking a closer look at child labor in america's food industry. with the release of slaughter

house children. a new documentary out today from our digital docs team. joining us now, one of the journalists behind that investigation. julia, thanks. what did you learn? >> gosh, jose, it's been such a long time investigating this. it started a week ago. our colleague came to us and said the labor department just found over 100 children working for slaughter houses. cleaning slaughter houses in the middle of the night. i thought that was a one off thing but as we continued to investigate, we found the problem was pervasive in beef and poultry in cities in the midwest, the southeast. everywhere. this problem of migrant children. particularly those from guatemala, working inside u.s. meat packing is really pervasive and it's something that's now caught the attention of federal investigators as they try to really weed out what employers might be taking advantage of and how these children end up here in the first place. take a look. look.

>> things happen in the plant that adults aren't comfortable seeing. you walk through the plant. you can't walk through without getting the animal parts on you. or blood all over you. >> you walk into the building but the operation's enormous. and as we walked, i was just like, that's a kid. that's a kid. >> keep your head down. stay low. don't get noticed.

you have to be very naive to look at some of these kids and go, they're over 18. >> and i'd encourage anyone who wants to learn more including learning about the life and death of a 16-year-old who came from guatemala from his family to work in a poultry plant in mississippi. he unfortunately was killed earlier this year when he was pulled into a processor. you can learn more about it and watch the full 60 minute documentary on nbcnews.com. >> you and i have talked about this issue over and over and over again. and yet, it seems as you're uncovering it, this is just more than a one off. i thank you very much for being with us and if you can, it's a very tough thing to watch but it's important because it's real and it's happening. you get a chance, please check

out slaughterhouse children. julia, thanks. up next, more possible ethics concerns surrounding clarence thomas. we'll talk to one of the reporters behind the latest information on that. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports on msnbc. watching joset reports on msnbc choose acid prevention. choose nexium. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ [bell ringing] and doug says, “you can customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual.” he hits his mark —center stage— and is crushed by a baby grand piano. are you replacing me? with this guy? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache! oh, look! a bibu. [limu emu squawks.] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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added quote, thomas repeatedly talked about removing a ban on justices giving paid speeches ch join us now, justin elliot, one of the reporters behind the piece. what else did you learn? >> we and others have been reported this year on these extraordinary series of gifts that justice thomas has gotten from wealthy businessmen, private school tuition paid for a child he was raising. free vacations. an rv a friend loaned him money to buy and the loan was forgiven. what we found with this new story, imimportant context, which was that justice thomas was feeling financial strain and trying to find more ways to make money, asking congress to raise money for salaries. they never gave justices a major raise but justice thomas in the years following that conversation around 20 years ago, did get his lifestyle

subsidized by these wealthy businessmen. >> there are all sorts of ways they're able to get more money. what are some of those? >> yeah, they already make a good salary by normal people's standards. around $300,000 today. they're allowed legally to teach on the side. they're not allowed to make money from speaking fees because of the ethical concerns that could arise from private groups paying them to speak. and that ban on speaking fees is one of the things that justice thomas we found was pushing to get lifted 20 years ago or so. congress never did lift that ban. it's still in place. you know, this was exactly the period when these relationships with wealthy businessmen like harlan crow, the dallas billionaire, started really blossoming and various aspects of thomas' life were getting paid for by these friends so the salary issue became less important. >> interesting. then they can make money on

books, for example. >> yeah. absolutely. that's another thing that justice thomas and really most of the justices at this point have done. justice thomas i believe got a $1.5 million book deal which obviously helped his financial situation. in the last 20 years. but also these relationships were you know, basic living expenses. things like batteries for his rv. tires. private school tuition. all these things were paid for by friends. and many of them political donors. which is something other justices have not done to our knowledge. >> justin, thank you very much for being with me. really appreciate your time. that wraps up the hour. you can always reach me on social media at jd balart. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news r