good morning. it is 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. new reporting this morning that former president donald trump was allegedly caught on a

recording pressuring michigan election officials not to certify the 2020 election results. overseas, police release body camera video about the shooting in prague that left 14 people dead. back here in the u.s., the humanitarian crisis at the border reaching record levels after a week of never before seen numbers of people crossing into the united states. and we begin this hour with yet another report of detailing former president trump's alleged efforts to halt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. new recordings reportedly detail trump pressuring canvassers in

michigan to not certify the state's 2020 election results, which he lost. he reportedly told them, quote, we can't let these people take our country away from us. the detroit news says the recordings were made by someone presen f the conversation, but were obtained by intermediary who was not present. nbc news has not heard or verified the recordings. in response, the trump campaign says, quote, all of president trump's actions were taken in furtherance of his duty as president of the united states to faithfully take care of the laws and ensure election integrity. joining us now, nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian, and paul butler, a former federal prosecutor and a professor at georgetown school of law. he's an msnbc legal analyst. so, ken, these recordings do have echoes of the infamous phone call to georgia secretary of state in 2020. what is the significance of this reporting? >> it is arguably worse than georgia, jose, because, you know in georgia, it was relatively close, 11,000 or so votes.

in wayne county, joe biden won by more than 150,000 votes. there were no credible allegations of fraud, and this was a totally ministerial move by this board of canvassers to certify the election for history of democracy. there were two republican holdouts that were wavering and those were the people that donald trump and rnc chairman ronna mcdaniels allegedly pressured. in the end, they went through with certification, but had they caved and had there been a problem there, you know, it really would have put potentially american democracy in turmoil. it is another example of how former president trump tried to gum up the works to stay in power, and he argues he was acting as president, but, of course, the president has no role in state and local elections leading to the presidential election. and if the president was

concerned about fraud, what he should have done and did do is go to the justice department and ask them to investigate. >> how could these alleged recordings play into trump's other cases? >> so, jose, once an elector has voted to certify, changing her vote is not a thing she can do, but that didn't stop trump from trying. so this is key evidence of trump's corrupt intent. the election interference indictment says that ag barr specifically told trump there was no evidence of fraud in detroit. but the very next day trump kept lying about it. so, this recording demonstrates how in the weeds trump was in advancing the big lie. when you hear trump charged with conspiracy theories, it sounds

kind of grandiose. but this is really retail level corruption. it is like a mayor putting a squeeze on a city council member. >> and, paul, meanwhile, special counsel jack smith is asking the supreme court to deliver an immediate answer on trump's immunity claim in the 2020 election case, emphasizing public interest. what do you see as the stakes here? >> man, jose, jack smith has to walk a really fine line here. prosecutors are not supposed to think about politics, or take any actions that could be interpreted as trying to influence an election. but jack smith needs this trial to happen before november 2024, because if trump wins, he could appoint an attorney general who would drop the charges. and even if that didn't happen, the prosecution will probably be stayed until trump leaves office, so not until 2028 at the earliest. so, jack smith doesn't say any of this in his court papers, but

that's what he means when he emphasizes it is not just donald trump -- >> i just lost you, paul. but let's re-establish communication with him. but, ken, turning meanwhile to colorado, according to a source, trump's legal team intends to file its appeal of the supreme court decision barring him from the primary ballot after the christmas holiday, but the court's hold on that order is only until the 4th of january. so, what do we know about how this could be playing out? >> so, the colorado supreme court has said that donald trump is an insurrectionist and can't be on the ballot in colorado. they have stayed that order until the supreme court intervenes. so there is two possibilities here. if the supreme court declines to hear this case, then their ruling stands and donald trump is off the ballot in colorado and has implications for other cases around the country. but what many legal experts believe is more likely is that the supreme court will take this

case, because it involves a constitutional question, where state courts around the country have agreed, many courts have ruled that donald trump can't be blocked from the ballot under the 14th amendment, and so if they do take the case, then the ruling remains stayed until they decide. the thorny issue is what if they take a while and the ballots have to be printed. unclear to me what happens in that situation. but according to the colorado ruling, they -- it can't be enforced until the supreme court either declines to hear the case or rules on the case. >> and, paul, meanwhile, former trump lawyer rudy giuliani filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after being ordered to pay $146 million for defaming two georgia election workers. in filing notes, giuliani has other lawsuits pending against them, he says is total estimated liability is between 100 and $500 million. what does this bankruptcy mean for all the suits? >> so, the bankruptcy will force more transparency about rudy's

assets, it won't relieve him of his obligation to pay freeman and moss because there is an exception for intentional torts like defamation. jose, remember, rudy has assets, he's got the apartment in manhattan, the condo in florida, and money in the bank. so, freeman and moss will be in line with other people who giuliani owes money to, but at some point, they should recover some portion of the money that the jury awarded him. if the jury's verdict is upheld by an appellate court, rudy will be handing over his paychecks to miss moss and miss freeman until they get their $148 million. >> ken dilanian and paul butler, thank you, both, very much. and joining us now, democratic congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz from florida. it is great seeing you. i thank you always for your time. as this issue of the whole colorado ruling comes up, you

interest introdu introduced a bill last year. what would this legislation do, specifically? >> well, jose, thank you for having me. and, i mean, i know there has been a lot of chatter over the last few days since this court ruling about whether or not section three of the 14th amendment was intended to apply to presidents of the united states, foreign presidents. the section three begins, no person shall, i mean, it doesn't have an exception for other offices, and it applies specifically if you are an officer of the united states, and you swore to uphold an oath, to support the constitution of the united states. there is no shortage of evidence that donald trump, whether it was the calls into georgia election officials to find 11,000 and change votes, or the calls that have just come to light into michigan to

canvassing boards, to not sign, to certify the elections, and then, of course, january 6th, where he incited an insurrection. it is very clear that this section of the constitutional amendment is applicable to donald trump. we filed legislation in the last congress to lay out some criteria on how the amendment would be implemented, which included the courts reviewing lawsuits when they were filed. which is exactly what happened here in colorado. and, remember, the states decide who is going to be -- and state parties and states decide who is going to be on their ballots. it is not a 50-state uniform process to qualify to be on a ballot to run for president. it is in 50 individual state process. and so it is possible and this

process has begun with colorado's decision prohibits a presidential candidate from appearing on the ballot because they committed insurrection and are deemed to be violative of section 3 of the 14th amendment. that's what happened here and it could potentially and in my mind hopefully will happen in other states because donald trump is not an individual who should be trusted ever again to uphold the constitution because he clearly violated it multiple times and while he was president, in trying to hold on to office at all costs. >> so, should in your view there be a difference between if that person was found specifically guilty essentially of insurrection, or of other similar charges before that person is barred or just the fact that he is being accused of it. >> well, i mean, really the

section three 3 of the 14th amendment points to essentially there is evidence, it doesn't call for a conviction, it doesn't call for, you know, specific determination of guilt. donald trump, between the indictments that clearly are related to him trying to overturn the results of a lawful election, violative of the constitution and as well as just look at the impeachments that he's been through, the second one being directly related to inciting an insurrection on january 6th. a court looking at evidence, including the supreme court, certainly is well within -- has plenty of room to determine that donald trump would be -- that section 3 of the 14th amendment would be applicable to him and courts around the country could make that determination. >> and there is so much to talk to you about because you are involved in so many different aspects of policy and so much

more. i know you're also the co-chair of the congressional venezuela democracy caucus. this week, the biden administration released a key ally to nicolas maduro in exchange for ten americans. yesterday, i spoke about the swap. how do you see it? >> the barbados agreements call for exactly what happened yesterday. first of all, anytime we can get ten americans wrongfully detained in venezuela returned to the united states, that's a good thing. this agreement also included that venezuela sent us prisoners that are under indictment like fat leonard, which, you know, that's also a big win. if you look at what maria

machado said, who won most of the vote, she said this was a positive development, there is a long way to go, but to make sure barbados agreements are fully implemented and that she's eligible to run for the presidency in next year's elections. this is a step by step process while president biden leaving the -- most of the sanctions in place clearly if she isn't allowed to run, those sanctions need to be snapped back. but freeing prisoners and the united states having an opportunity to prosecute criminals like fat leonard is very significant. >> important and so glad you mentioned machado, she got almost the totality of the vote. but she has, as of today, as of the 22nd of december, it looks as though she is not being accepted by the maduro regime to even participate in these questionable elections next year. >> that's a deal breaker.

absolutely. she is currently still suspended, in quotes, by maduro's cronies. and, you know, who run the electoral process. and it was very clear that the -- in the barbados agreements she had -- the nominee that came out of that process had to be allowed to run. and she got 93% of the vote and if she is not, you know, validated as the nominee to run for the presidency, then we are committed and must snap back the, you know, sanctions that began to be eased to ensure that we can have free and fair elections in venezuela and venezuelan people can be free. >> and, of course, includs citgo and a whole lot more if this does not go forward? >> right. that relief with the leases that have begun to be let, that has

to be rolled back and president biden has committed to make sure that those are snapped back. they have not yet been snapped back, and these prisoner releases, ours that are wrongfully detained and criminals being held that are under indictment in the united states, like fat leonard, that's progress. but the key to progress to make sure that venezuelans can vote in free and fair elections and be free to choose a candidate that won't oppress them like maduro has, is to make sure that maria machado can be a valid candidate for office. >> thank you so much for being with us. very much appreciate your time. >> thank you. happy new year, merry christmas. >> to you as well, thank you. a live look in prague at growing public memorials outside the university where a gunman killed 14 people in a rare mass shooting.

new details from police as a stunned country pays tribute to those who lost their lives. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. is you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. 50 days!? and its refill reminder light means i'll never miss a day of freshness. ♪

17 past the hour right now. authorities in the czech republic are looking for answers after a gunman killed 14 people in prague and injured dozens more in the country's worst mass shooting. authorities released this body cam footage showing law enforcement searching the campus of charles university for the gunman. the police edited the video to blur portions of it. joining us now from prague is nbc's ollie arouzi. what is the latest on the investigation? >> reporter: well, it is an ongoing investigation and there is a lot of things that police don't know and there is a lot of things they're not telling us because they're still sifting through a lot of evidence to figure out what has happened. this is what we do know, he killed 14 people, this gunman.

he was a student at the university. now authorities here have named all 14 victims, amongst them a faculty leader at the music institute here at the university. and some extraordinary details are also coming out, jose. there was a cache of weapons that the gunman had hidden inside the university with a ton of ammunition. the police told us earlier today in a press briefing that he had come here to the university by public transport, carrying these weapons. we don't know if he brought them all in one go, or over a series of days. but he had clearly been planning this very carefully. the police are also saying that he had as many as eight weapons, some of them may have been legal, some of them may have been illegal. they're also looking into the fact that he may have converted a semi-automatic rifle into an automatic rifle and they're trying to figure out how he

could have done that, if he had the know how to do that. and then, of course, there is the broader investigation, as we spoke about earlier, jose, there was a murder that was -- a double murder that was committed in the forest just outside prague, ballistic tests now confirm that a weapon that the gunman had in his home is linked to those of ballistics they found in the forest where a father and his baby child were killed. now what is interesting about this, jose, is when that happened, the police had a huge broad investigation, they had 4,000 suspects they were looking at because there is no cctv in the forest, but now they were going to hone in on him, but it was too late because he had killed his father and went on this killing spree. >> ali arouzi in prague, thank you so much. still ahead, live to the southern border with new details about who president biden is now sending to mexico to discuss the record number of migrants coming to the u.s.

today, by the way, is expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the year. what you need to know if you get stuck at the airport. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. t you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. it's ripe in here. my eyes are watering. i'm a busy man. look how crusty this is. shameful. ugh, it's just too much. not with this. tide. tide can tackle any pile. that a tackle pun? just clean the pile, ron. okay. this too. that was easy. when stains and odors pile up, it's got to be tide. (man) mm, hey, honey. that was easy. looks like my to-do list grew. "paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get life insurance," hm. i have a few minutes. i can do that now. oh, that fast? remember that colonial penn ad? i called and i got information. they sent the simple form i need to apply. all i do is fill it out and send it back. well, that sounds too easy!

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24 past the hour. there is no place like home for the holidays, but getting there may be a challenge. aaa predicting around 115 million people will travel between december 23rd and january 1st. airports are bracing for a record number of flyers, about 2.5 million a day according to the tsa. and nbc news correspondent kathy park is at atlanta international airport. how is it looking? >> reporter: hey, jose. good morning to you. yeah, as you said, we are at the busiest airport in the world, and certainly is busy today. but it has been pretty manageable. the airport staff have done a really good job corralling the crowds and we were told at the airport anticipates seeing roughly 86,000 passengers today

alone. and when you factor in the whole holiday season, that number is closer to 3.3 million. you mentioned the tsa also screening 2.5 million passengers, each and every day, until january 2nd. and earlier today, we had a chance to speak with one air traveler who decided to get a jump start on her flight. here's why. take a listen. >> we got here early, my cousin told us it was, like, three and a half hours. our flight is not until 11:00. >> reporter: you came really early. >> i'm not -- i don't want to get into the madness. >> reporter: have you been caught in crazy holiday travel before? >> no. >> reporter: always pretty good about coming early? >> we haven't really traveled during the holidays. i wanted to be prepared. >> reporter: so, if you want to be prepared like danielle, you want to arrive at the airport, especially if you have a

domestic flight two hours in advance. not a bad idea to download your airline app if you have last minute changes. and if you want to save some time, you might want to consider reserving a parking spot as well, you can shave off a lot of time by doing that. jose? >> kathy park in atlanta, thank you so very much. and joining us now, the managing editor for the points guide, clint henderson. great seeing you. we're hearing from kathy, clearly, if you are planning to go on an airplane in the next couple of days, arrive to the airport early. what are some of the things that you think we should all know if we are indeed planning on going to the airport in the next couple of days? >> yeah, record crowds, but they're doing a much better job this year than they were last christmas. i think mother nature is helping a lot because there haven't been any major storms disrupting travel. your reporter touched on it a little bit, have the airline app installed on your phone, know the customer service phone number so if things go wrong, you can be among first to get rebooked because, remember,

you're going to be competing with all the other people on your canceled or uber delayed flight. so you want to make sure that you're using all the tools in the toolbox to try to get rebooked first, run to the customer service desk, have the airline app, get on the phone with them, you can do everything in your power because these days you have to be your own best advocate when it comes to air travel. >> and, clint, i was just thinking, you know, just a couple of weeks ago, in one of the airplanes i was taking, supposed to be an 8:30 a.m. flight, ended up not leaving until 11:15 and that was lucky that they were able to find the crew that needed to come in, because they weren't -- all of these things. and when you do reach out to customer service, i don't know that you can reach a human in any time that will help you. what are -- what are some of the ways that we can reach out to these airlines and companies when they just -- there is no human there? >> yeah.

you really want to -- if customer service is overwhelmed, if there is a big delay or cancellation or weather event, a lot of times the 1-800 number you can't get through. here is a trick we use in the industry. if the airline has a foreign call center, sometimes if you get that number, google the number for the australia call center or whatever, they're not going to be as busy. you can get through on the phone that way. my favorite by far is using x or instagram, direct messaging the airline, sometimes they'll get back to you right away within ten minutes. and you can get on the phone for an hour, an hour and a half sometimes. you need to be prepared. have the 1-800 number in your phone already, follow the airline on social media and have the app installed. google can be your best friend. sometimes you can make other arrangements. have a backup plan too, know what other airlines are flying that route, you want to get rebooked potentially if things go sideways.

>> now this is information we needed to hear. clint, thank you so much, really appreciate it. >> merry christmas. likewise to you. up next, from ukraine to israel, 2023 was a year that saw our world at war. richard engel, who has been reporting on the ground in both conflicts, looks at what is next for those regions. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. r. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. s.

33 past the hour.

right now and you're seeing it there on the screen, we're awaiting the meeting at the united nations where the security council is expected to vote on a resolution calling for the cessation of hostilities in gaza. they're taking a break it seems like right now. but meanwhile, this morning, we are learning new details about a 73-year-old hostage identified as israeli american who officials now say died in the october 7th massacre. gadi and his wife judy were shot and taken in the october 7th attack. gadi died, but judy is still being held according to a hostage advocacy group. last hour i spoke with senior adviser to prime minister netanyahu, ambassador mark regev, about efforts to free the hostages. >> the military pressure that we're placing today on hamas as we attack them and as we slowly take a part their military machine, they're more and more desperate for a time-out.

and they can have a pause in the fighting if they agree to release more hostages. >> the israel-hamas war is not the only conflict that shook the world this year. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has this look at wars that dominated headlines including in ukraine. >> reporter: ukraine's military this year faced a harsh reality check. russia fortified its grip on eastern ukraine and is refusing to let it go. with some of the fiercest fighting taking place in the city of bakhmut. russian forces have now surrounded bakhmut on three sides. and this is the only remaining route in and out of the city that ukrainian forces can use. civilians who remained were driven into underground bunkers, without power or heat.

ukraine threw everything it could at russia in a long anticipated counteroffensive. the united states backing president zelenskyy with weapons and money. vladimir putin turning to mercenaries from the wagner group, led by his one-time caterer, the mercenaries fought or were shot. and the caterer, yevgeny prigozhin, turned so powerful that he turned against the kremlin and marched on moscow, before having second thoughts. he died when his plane exploded in midair. u.s. officials believe putin had him killed. and the war continued with ukraine and russia firing so much artillery, both sides nearly ran out. zelenskyy pleading to washington for more. putin turning to north korea's

kim jong-un, but so far ukraine's counteroffensive has accomplished little more than a stalemate. political support in the united states is now in question. >> several republican presidential candidates are expressing concerns about support for ukraine. >> reporter: and then israel had its 9/11. on october 7th, hamas-led militants stormed israel from gaza, killing more than 1200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 240 hostages, including many women and children. the militants reigned fire into

israel, israel responded with a ferocious military assault on the gaza strip to root out hamas for good, flattening entire neighborhoods. president biden has insisted that the u.s. can and must support two allies at once. >> we cannot and will not let terrorists like hamas and tirants like putin win. >> reporter: the war in israel brought to the surface long held pain and anger with massive pro-palestinian protests calling for a cease-fire. and pro-israel demonstrators raising their voices against rising anti-semitism. >> bring them home. >> reporter: a week long cease-fire between israel and hamas brought a brief moment of calm, and saw more than 100 hostages freed in exchange for palestinian prisoners. but negotiations collapsed, each

side blaming the other. more than 20,000 people have died in gaza so far. about 70% of them women and children, according to the health ministry run by hamas. aid agencies say with 2.3 million people in gaza suffering a humanitarian collapse. as pressure is mounting on israel to bring the war to an end. but there is no agreement on who will run gaza if or when hamas is defeated. richard engel, nbc news. >> the horrors of war. richard engel, thank you for that report. joining us is evelyn farkas of the mccain institute and former senior adviser to the supreme allied commander europe. thank you for being with us. great seeing you. the u.n. security council is expected to vote on this resolution that calls for a sustainable cessation of hostilities in gaza. israel is under increasing global pressure for a pause, but how do they move forward?

>> yeah, i mean, jose, thank you for having me on. clearly the way to go is to ratchet down the military operation. israel doesn't have to have a complete cease-fire, but they need to shift now to using precise means to ferret out as much as possible the hamas leadership, understanding that they're not going to get every one of these terrorists. but they have -- they have in the process of their military operation caused 20,000 palestinians to die. now, it is not entirely their fault, i think the world needs to remember that the palestinian hamas terrorists are the ones who allowed their people to die like this, because, of course, they could make a deal with israel and say we give you back all the hostages and in exchange we surrender, we will not try to destroy israel tomorrow, you know, and we will save the lives of thousands of palestinians. the hamas leadership has refused to do that. so i think there is a lot going

on here. there is public pressure that needs to be applied, there is diplomatic pressure, and, of course, there is military pressure that is being applied but at a high cost. >> none of this happened on the 6th of october or the 5th of october or the 4th of october. 7th of october meant something and it was this horrible massacre. i'm wondering, evelyn, how do you, when an organization like hamas, which in its charter calls for the death of jews, in black and white, how do you look at a future, if you're israel, look at a future where in some way or other hamas still exists? >> well, the thing is, jose, you just had on the screen the pictures of the united nations meeting. it ultimately, the solution to this has to be diplomatic. it has to involve those rich gulf states.

the ones that frankly have the hamas political leadership sitting in qatar, sitting in their countries. they have incredible pressure that they can apply on hamas and get them to capitulate and, of course, they have the resources to create some sort of peace, at least initially some security, reconstruction, and ultimately work with the united states and israel or european allies to come up with a peace plan that moves the palestinians and the israelis back to a two-state solution. there are impediments in the way right now including, you know, prime minister netanyahu himself and his political party, but all of this is doable if there is enough political will, jose. it is a matter of the media putting pressure on hamas, reminding people as you just did, that they're responsible for the situation we're in. but also putting pressure on the israeli government to be more precise and to go to the negotiating table, so there is a lot for outside actors to do. unfortunately the israelis and

palestinians themselves cannot solve this. >> evelyn, thank you so much. really appreciate it. >> thank you, jose. up next, we're going to go to chicago, which has been scrambling for months to process thousands of migrants sent there from the border. our next guest is helping some of those migrants who are being crammed into shelters, sleeping on streets in many cases. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid for twice as long as pepcid. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day.

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46 past the hour. we're looking at the new dangers the migrants face as they make the journey to the u.s. a warning about what you're to see, it is disturbing. so, three men and a young boy got stuck in a swami area of the rio grande near brownsville, texas. they were trying to get to the u.s. side of the river when one of the men starts to drown, he panics, he pulls the other two men down with him. they were brothers.

two of the three of them drowned. so far authorities have not commented on this incident. this comes as the white house says secretary of state antony blinken and alejandro mayorkas will visit mexico in the next couple of days to discuss the humanitarian crisis with the president of mexico. it also comes as a historic number of might ra migrants arr the border this week. guad venegas has more. what is the story there? >> reporter: good morning, such a difficult video to see. a reminder of how dangerous this river can be. sometimes migrants cross the river when the current isn't as strong and it changes, of course, it will sometimes be deeper, sometimes it is just less dangerous. so it is really unpredictable to know what dangers migrants have to go -- get across when they cross this river. now, we have information coming

out of mexico, this morning in the press conference he said he expects to meet with dhs secretary mayorkas and secretary of state blinken on december 27th. so in just a few days we can expect that meeting to take place in mexico according to the mexican president. he also said that he's propose the two different things to president biden among other things, but two main things he mentioned, one, he does believe that there has to be more contention or they have to do a better job at containing the flow coming into mexico from central america. but, too, he says he has repeatedly brought this up to the american authorities and this is an economic plan to develop countries in latin america. so, he's talking about investment in countries in latin america where many of the migrants are coming from to improve conditions there. economic conditions he says needs to improve for a lot of migrants to remain in their countries.

he also sent a message to governor greg abbott here in texas indicating that greg abbott, he said, forgets that texas at one point was part of mexico and a lot of immigrants formed this state. we know that he has spoken against the policies that texas has been authorizing under this lone star state plan. among those barriers at the border, the busing migrants to other states and this new law where local and state police will be able to detain individuals in texas and also request documents and detain anyone that's undocumented. they will also be able to take them to the port of entry, jose. >> not one drop of irony behind his request for money to solve a question. i guess he is asking for more money for the venezuelan regime where more than 7 million people have left, or the cuban regime, or the gangs in haiti.

thank you. some of the new migrants are likely to end up in cities across the country, including chicago. earlier this week, texas governor greg abbott sent a flight with more than 100 migrants on board to the windy city. the shelter system is housing more than 14,000 migrants. joining us now is the president and ceo of the institute de el progresso. tell us what the situation is like for migrants in chicago today. >> thank you for having me. today is an environment where we have individuals who are being

flown on chartered planes. and we have a situation where we have no communication with governor abbott, and we have a crisis of great magnitude, because you have to -- let me paint a picture. remember where we were last year this time, november and december, where we had eight buses. now this november and december, we have had over 109. putting it more in perspective, since august of '22, we have had 607 buses, more than 500 of those were more recently in may. we are in a time crunch to get folks into shelter because of the winter conditions that, thank goodness, have been unseasonably warm. while the mayor has done a great job at removing individuals that created these tent cities you are looking at outside of police

stations, we still have a crisis where you have no communication. you have chartered planes. you have the inability to have a coordinated effort at least into arrival times for buses. it's unacceptable when we know that our individuals are struggling. as you stated previously, this is -- let's remember why this is happening. it's a humanitarian crisis at the border. folks are coming because of economic collapse, mrits cal turmoil in south and central america. you are fleeing persecution or torture. this is what we're doing? we are then creating situations where we experiences losses of

life. rest in peace, a 5-year-old that died at one of the shelters. is unacceptable. >> how can we all help to make a difference in the efforts that you so valiantly are carrying out? i'm thinking, it all boils down to people. right? politics and numbers and -- but it's all about people. if they are here, if they are already inside the country, how can we help? >> the solution is simple. let us not lose our human dignity. let's do work permits for all. this is really what everyone is asking. they don't want handouts. they want a job. we have the ability here to be on the right side of history. we need to be able to remember those faces that you saw. these are children. as an immigrant myself, i know more than anything, we have the

intelligence, the intellect, the dedication, work ethic to contribute to the economic success of our country. now more than ever we have to do work permits for all. we have to be able to prioritize health, well-being, safety and dignity, and be that beacon of hope we once were for individuals who are fleeing persecution and looking for asylum. many of the individuals are victims of trafficking, victims of serious crimes to which they are entitled legal remedy. >> thank you for being with us. i so appreciate your time. thank u. >> thank you, jose, for having me. up next, right now, the u.s. and canadian militaries are gearing up for a critical mission. it has to do with someone with a big red suit with unlimited amounts of toys and stuff. we will be right back. we will be right back.

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57 past the hour. in a couple of days, santa is coming to town. thanks to norad, we will again be able to track his journey. here is my colleague, lester holt, with that. >> reporter: the remote arctic is north america's front door and guarding this sprawling expansion from adversaries is the job of the north american aerospace defense command or norad. not every object on norad's radar is an intruder, especially when santa takes flight on christmas eve. i spoke to a lieutenant general to learn more about the critical mission of tracking santa. i know your main job is to protect the north american airspace against intruding aircraft or bad guys. how do you use that technology

to track santa? >> our main job at norad is to defend. we use our systems to track santa. we use our north warning system. we use worldwide global satellites. finally, our fighter aircraft. >> reporter: the santa tracking mission began in 1955 when a child trying to reach santa instead called an unlisted number for the military's continental air defense command. the commander on duty realizing what had happened assured the child they would guarantee santa a safe journey. a promise norad has kept every year. >> santa just left. >> throughout the years, many fighter aircraft have intercepted santa. we will normally give him a wing waggle as we peel off. >> would you like to know where santa is right now? >> reporter: thanks to that technology, millions of kids are able to call in to the santa

tracking hotline or logon via social media for real time updates, making sure santa is indeed on his way. >> make sure that everybody in your house is sleeping, include ing moms. merry christmas. >> thanks to lester for that report. i have that tracking app on my phone. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on social media @jdbalart. watch clips on youtube. thank you for the privilege of your time. chris jansing picks up with more news right now. good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. new reporting about donald trump's push to overturn the 2020 vote in michigan and what it could mean for special counsel jack smith. americans on the move