his manhattan office. >> bone chilling. >> if this is true, he lied to us. >> he was just a normal guy. >> reporter: in july, he was charged with murdering three women along gilgo beach. police said he was strongly suspected of killing a fourth. he pleaded not guilty. >> a trial is still a long way off. are you confident he will spend the rest of his life behind bars? >> i'm sure he will never see the light of day again. >> reporter: keith morrison, "dateline," nbc. >> we have a lot more coming up. our second hour starts right now. ♪ ♪ thankful if your sticking with us. merry christmas to all those celebrating. the war is raging on in israel.

with christmas eventually cancelled in bethlehem, we'll get a live report from that region coming up. former president donald trump releasing a new ad in states where primaries are set to begin in weeks. could he be worrying about his opponent's gaining ground? plus, 2023 was a year of weather extremes. record heat across the country, with phoenix sweltering for 31 days with temperatures over 100 degrees. and from blue ivy to "barbie," some of the moments that blew up on social media this year. all that coming up. we begin with the escalation in the israel-hamas war. right now, the israelis are fighting on multiple fronts. first in gaza, where idf forces are taking casualties as ground and air operations killed dozens of palestinians, including civilians caught in the cross fire. israeli troops are also taking fire to the north in fresh exchanges with hezbollah forces while iran-backed militants in yemen ramp up attacks on u.s.

military and commercial ships, all signs that the violence could spread across the region, despite the mounting international concerns. prime minister netanyahu remaining steadfast in reaching his goal of eliminating hamas. he was seen today in the northern gaza strip surrounded by idf soldiers. i want to bring in nbc's jay gray who is standing by in jerusalem with more on all of this. jay, if you will, today is the christmas holiday. many people celebrating throughout the world right now, bethlehem is known as the birthplace of jesus. there are christians in gaza, as well. all up able to celebrate today, amidst this israel-hamas war. >> reporter: yeah, it's been a solemn day here in jerusalem and in bethlehem. and bethlehem, they are saying that christmas is canceled. by that, they mean they're not going to have the celebrations

you normally see with a huge tree with lights and ornaments. instead, what we have seen in bethlehem, and we spent most of the day there yesterday, is a lot of people who are subdued, who are watching things unfold in gaza and understand how that affects them, how that affects this region. instead of that tree, they had a nativity scene, wrapped in barbed wire. it was covered in rubble, and the wise men carrying not gifts but instead a burial shroud. here, today in jerusalem, during christmas, there was no big festivities either. no signs, no lights, no trees, but instead people just milling about. and very frustrated, you can tell their thoughts, their hearts are with the people less than 50 miles away, their friends and loved ones. all of that as benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister of israel, did visit with troops in the northern end of gaza today and made it clear that this fight is going to continue until

he says hamas is completely gone. we know that it is continuing to the south where it's been more intense than it has been in a long time. air strikes, as well as troops on the ground, seeking out command and control centers, according to the idf, and more of those tunnels, the web of tunnels that are underneath the ground there, they're trying to expos those. we have heard from the hamas controlled palestinian health ministry, who says at least 70 people were injured after a strike at a refugee camp in the north. the idf responding to that, says that they are reviewing reports of an incident there. and all of that unfolding while there continues to be a growing humanitarian crisis. one in four people are going without any food now in gaza. we're told close to 600,000, a quarter of the population, considered starving by the u.n. >> all right, jay gray for us.

thank you, jay for laying that out. i want to bring in now my guests to talk more about this. david, happy holidays to you. great to see you on this christmas afternoon. thanks for joining us on this. so we spoke of the weekend about kind of this increased fracture that we're seeing about the president and israeli prime minister webe netanyahu. we've also seen the strikes, images of netanyahu on the battlefield with armor on, as well. he's vowing to fight until the very end. do you think that has increased, this fracture, this fissure that we are seeing between the two leaders? >> yes, i do. i think that netanyahu has established a goal that no one thinks is actually achievable. you can't eliminate, you can't eradicate hamas. you can eliminate the leaders, you can make the organization

essentially irrelevant militarily or politically. you can defeat hamas, but this almost impossible goal of eradicating it gives him the opportunity to go and go and go. and in so doing, inflict greater and greater pain on gaza that has already endured unimaginable suffering, and at the same time, diverge further and further from the advice and the goals of the united states. so i -- listening to him today, i can only conclude this relationship is going to go a -- grow more difficult, grow more strained, and that 2024 will be a year in which it reaches a breaking point, unless netanyahu and those around him come around to realizing that what the united states wants is actually in the best interest of israel. what the united states wants in containing this war and trying to move towards the political settlement is the thing that will actually increase security

in the region, much more than what he is trying to do with this feudal and unimaginably destructive war. >> i was just speaking last hour, who said this is also joe biden's war. do you think along with the humanitarian crisis and the images that we're seeing on the ground coming out of gaza, the political pressure is starting to weigh on the president going into an election year, knowing how especially young americans peel about the israel-hamas war, and that he will start to create more of a public fracture with prime minister bebe netanyahu? this fracture we're seeing is coming from sources, but not necessarily the president or kirby or the secretary of state themselves. >> we're at a point where there's a generational tension in the united states. there's a reflective move to

support israel after october 7th that almost links back to an israel that doesn't really exist anymore. the young people have seen israel for a long time as a bully in this region, and i think the president and the people around the president recognize the tensions that are associated with that. but i would be very quick to point out that right now, the united states is the country that has the most chance of influencing israel to stop or contain the war, and secondly, and not unimportantly, donald trump would be an absolute disaster. he would give bebe netanyahu carte blanche. he doesn't care about the humanitarian consequences. this is the author of the muslim ban. you can't turn away from joe biden if you're frustrated with this, because he's not achieving the goals that are actually worthy goals and say oh, no, i'm going to embrace donald trump. that would be awful.

>> i know we talk a lot about foreign policy more so than domestic politics. but put on your domestic politics hat for a moment, david. do you think the president should be talking more about that, especially on the campaign trail? if this car continues, as we believe it will, because netanyahu says he will not give up whether or not hamas is eradicated. do you think he should be talking more about that? well, if you want to vote for the former president, this is how he will act on israel and hamas, and remind them of how he acted when it came to policies towards israel during his four years. >> absolutely. the republican party has lined up behind a guy who was impeached twice, who has 91 felony counts against him, who is, you know, one of the most despicable public figures we have ever seen in our lives, and if they're going to own that, and that's going to be the

choice next year, then joe biden has got to make it clear. he's got to do it on issue by issue. these are people who didn't want to reduce drug costs. these are people that didn't want to support people when the economy turned bad. these are people who are attacking democracy. i think each and every time an issue comes up where he can draw a clear distinction, he ought to do it, and i think his surrogates ought to be out there doing it in every battle ground state every day, between now and next november, because democracy is in the balance. and the future of american leadership in the world is in the balance, and the choice is absolutely just as dark as it can be. >> one last question, back to the war. do you think the palestinian authority has the ability to govern gaza realistically the day after, the weeks after, the months after?

>> the palestinian authority as it's currently constituted, does not. that is why everybody who talks about the palestinian authority assuming responsibility also talks about revitalizing it or revamping it. it needs new leadership. it needs new capacity, and it also needs the israeli government to stop undermining it. remember, they undermined it, they supported hamas in order to create decision. they have to be an effective leadership force. it's not just because that's good for the palestinians and it creates a political counterpoint. none of the countries in the region are going to step up and help with underwriting the rebuilding of gaza, unless and until the palestinian authority is a viable, respected spokesperson, leadership organization government for the people of palestine.

>> david, thank you so much. appreciate it. great to see you on this christmas afternoon. thank you so much. still ahead this hour, in trump world, the former president facing dozens of felony counts. we'll take you through all of it and what it means for his potential return to the white house. and speaking of presidential campaigns, other gop hopefuls are trying to make waves heading into 2024. who might be primed for a turn around. going to extremes, the record shattering year for our climate, from heat to hurricanes. a look at the wide-ranging impacts. we'll be right back. impacts. we'll be right back.

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donald trump, who has been attacking his former u.n. ambassador more frequently. we want to bring in our next guest joining us from new hampshire with more on this. emma, if you will, give us a sense of haley's plan to try to catch up to the former president. >> reporter: hey there. so the key for her might be this big voting bloc here in new hampshire called the undeclared voters. they're essentially independents who get to choose whether to register with the republican or democratic party on primary day, and then vote in that primary. they make up about 40% of the voting bloc. now, a super pac that's backing nikki haley is planning to spend $1 million to directly contact these voters. they say that is 15,000 to 30,000 of them show up at the polls on primary day, it could make a difference and push her momentum forward. >> i also want to talk about

chris christie, as well. because haley has been playing this balancing act when it comes to the former president, and also chris christie speaking out. >> reporter: we hear that in her rhetoric when she gives her stump speech here in new hampshire. she off says chaos follows trump, and that ambiguity shows the tight rope she has to walk. but to chris christie, that's not enough for him when it comes to going against the former president. voters here in new hampshire after seeing the latest polls have been asking him why don't you back out and support nikki haley and your combined numbers might get you closer to beating former president trump? but he's not into it, and take a listen to the sound bite. here's why. >> if she's really against trump, show me. show me. don't hedge. if you show me, then maybe i have something to think about. but if you don't show me, i have

nothing to think about. because i'm not doing this in order to get in league with someone who is in league with trump. >> reporter: nikki haley is really in this catch 22 here in new hampshire, because if she speaks out against trump, she might lose support from people who are trump loyalists, who loved his policies but also are locking for a new generation of leadership and are debating whether to vote for her. if she doesn't speak out against trump, she loses this independent crowd that is looking for a candidate to speak out against the former president. >> thank you. thank you for being out there on this christmas afternoon. joining me now is jonathan allen to talk more about this. specifically, jonathan, by the way, happy holidays. good to see you, my friend. i want to talk about haley and the surge we're seeing in new hampshire. i want to have a real talk about this moment and what you make of it. do you think she has a real

chance here of getting ahead of the former president? >> happy holidays to you, and merry christmas to everybody celebrating today. and happy new year. hope you have a great 2024. here's the real talk about nikki haley. the surge is real. she's absolutely distinguished herself in one state, in new hampshire, from the rest of the republican candidates who aren't donald trump. the problem for haley, and you saw the poll there, to beat donald trump, she has to get all of her voters, all of chris christie's voters, and at least half of ron desantis' voters to just get to a 50-50 point with trump. trump has been polling around 44% for his entirety of his campaign in new hampshire. new hampshire's electorate is much more moderate than most of the republican states. so nikki haley has a chance in new hampshire. she could come in second in iowa, but being able to string together a bunch of victories, that seems to be out of reach

for her. >> so then there's ron desantis. "the new york times" had this piece what went wrong for ron desantis in 2023. we talked about this repeatedly. the struggles that desantis has faced on the campaign trail. he's somewhat like comparable to jeb bush, the train that could but they have really got over the hill. what did go wrong for ron desantis, and is there any possibility here he could turn it around in the election year? >> it would have been a much shorter story if they had written what went right for ron desantis in 2023. he didn't get in the race, his own donors were upset that he was getting hammered by donald trump without fighting. he took almost $100 million that he had raised for his florida re-election, handed it to a super pac and seems surprised that that created conflict with his own actual campaign. then he got out on the campaign trail and he was awkward at

best. you may remember his first trip to new hampshire. he had this moment where he was yelling at a reporter, are you blind, are you blind? he just seemed very unnatural on the trail, he didn't take a lot of questions at town hall meetings. it is, i think, too late for ron desantis. it's not just a political earthquake. you have to see all of the natural occurrences happen at once, be it an earthquake, a tidal wave, a cyclone, you name it for him to come back here. >> i've got one last one here, what's happening on capitol hill. who is going to win over this immigration deal, republicans or democrats? you have dems wanting ukraine and israel funding, some of them wanting stricting border policies, as well. and you have republicans that want to stump on the immigration deal. they've been holding up a lot of legislation in congress because of it. who wins out on this thing? >> great question. i think there's been a delay

because joe biden is feeling such a squeeze. he's got democrats who want stricter border policies. he would like to campaign on doing something that cracks down on illegal immigration. and at the same time, his base is very angry about that and warning him the bill would be political repercussions. he's in a tight spot. democrats in congress are in a tight spot. and republicans in congress, even those who want to fund ukraine, and the reason we're talking about immigration in the context of ukraine funding is there needed to be something that was a lure for republicans. it may not be enough to lure them to fund ukraine. and also, again, to your point, if immigration isn't solved, if there isn't a fix that happens, that's something that republicans are going to be talking about on the campaign trail and that we have seen record numbers of people coming across the border. >> jonathan allen, merry christmas again, my friend. coming up, i'm dreaming of a

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some top stories we are follow thing hour. one person was killed and two injured in a shooting at a mall in colorado springs, colorado, on christmas eve. police saying the incident began when two groups got into a fight that turned violent. police emphasize this was not an active shooter situation. no innocent bystanders reportedly hurt. a christmas mass from st. peters basilica. pope francis will mention the suffering in the middle east and called for a worldwide peace, telling a crowd of 70,000 people "our hearts are in bethlehem where the prince of peace is once more rejected." the futile logic of war that even today prevent him from finding room in a world, despite a recent case of bronchitis, the 87-year-old pope appeared in good health with only the occasional cough. and spirit airlines apologizing after putting a child on the wrong flight during the holiday season travel rush. the 6-year-old was supposed to fly from philadelphia to ft.

myers, florida, on thursday, but ended up on a flight to orlando instead. the airline says as soon as the error was discovered, the child was reconnected with his family. it was a year of extreme weather events that is set to shatter all-time records. nbc's al roker looks back at 2023, the year in climate. >> reporter: 2023, the hottest year ever on earth. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: a year of climate and weather extremes. in the u.s., the number of billion dollar disasters tallied 25, more than any other year. new years rang in with thousands of record shattering across europe. at least eight countries had their warmest january day ever. back home, things were no better. a siege of atmospheric rivers lashed the west coast through march. destructive flash floods swept through parts of california, burying the sierra under 60 feet of snow. and brought a historically dry

lake back from the dead. when spring arrived, so did the tornadoes. the strongest and most devastating twister of the year was an ef-4, tearing through mississippi, carving up 59 miles, and packing winds as high as 195 miles per hour. just days later, a two-day tornado outbreak spawned the third largest outbreak in u.s. history. a shift to the east, in what's known as the traditional tornado alley, is making higher density and more vulnerable populations a target for these types of disasters. in june, wildfire smoke was choking the big apple, shrouding the statue of liberty and empire state building. chicago and new york had the dubious distinction of worst air quality in the world during that hazy week. climate change making wildfire smoke outbreaks more frequent,

as northern cities suffocated, southern cities broiled under relentless days of dangerous heat. at the end of july, phoenix hitting a record 31 straight days of 100 degrees or hotter. the previous record, just 18 days. miami's heat and humidity registered 46 days registering a heat index over 100 degrees. more than a dozen u.s. cities recording their hottest summer on record. the tropics lit up in late august, when hurricane adelia intensified over the gulf of mexico, striking north florida as a high-end category 3 with winds of 125 miles per hour. fueled by record warm sea surface temperatures, the fourth most active in history. by november, the brutal heat plaguing the u.s. was now boiling the southern hemisphere. the heat index in rio de janeiro hitting 138 degrees, the highest

ever recorded there. and for the third year in a row, deadly tornadoes ripped through the south just days before christmas. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: 2023 experiencing so many extreme weather events, we couldn't include them all here. climate change driven weather, leaving its mark all around the globe. al roker, nbc news. >> thank you to nbc's al roker for that. just ahead, the year that was and the year that will be for donald trump. which of his four indictments carry the biggest impact? plus, we're living in a "barbie" world with, buthe hit film wasn't the only trend to take hold. we'll take a look back. trend t take hold. we'll take a look back

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welcome back. this year was unlike anything we've seen before, as political legal worlds collide. president trump was charged with 91 felony counts in 2023, as we brace for lots of new activity in these unprecedented legal cases this the n year. nbc news senior legal correspondent is taking a look back at how we got here. >> we are coming on the air with breaking news sent to rattle the 2024 presidential campaign and our country's legal landscape. >> reporter: after years of

investigations -- >> they're not coming after me, they're coming after you. >> reporter: -- 2023 will go down as the year it all came to a head. >> we have one set of laws in this country, and they apply to everyone. >> reporter: the 45th president, now a criminal defendant. donald trump indicted in multiple jurisdictions. >> an unprecedented moment in history. the fallout far reaching. >> this is a grave day and a serious one for our country. >> reporter: first charged in new york. for what prosecutors say he did to get into office originally. president trump stands accused of doctoring his company's books and records to cover up an embarrassing story ahead of the 2016 election. >> the grand jury voting to indictle former president trump president trump. >> then in washington and georgia. >> we look at the facts and bring charges. >> reporter: allegations of a conspiracy to stay in power and steal the 2020 election. >> it's not about calling the election rigged or saying that he had won, it's about the means

he used to do that. >> reporter: the former president also charged for what the justice department says he did after he finally left the white house. >> the new photos released showing boxes of documents stashed in a ballroom, even a bathroom, at his mar-a-lago home. >> reporter: his arrest and arraignment playing out live. mr. trump treating his court appearances almost as campaign events. the sole mugshot taken in fulton county, another surreal first, along a steady stream of attacks. >> the attorney general of this state is a disgrace. >> reporter: against the prosecutors, judges, and witnesses against him. >> i did nothing wrong. and everybody knows it. i've never had such support. >> reporter: but with each passing indictment, his poll numbers have grown. his fund raising numbers through the roof. but his legal woes have become increasingly complicated, with several alleged co-conspirators pleading guilty in georgia and

cooperating with prosecutors. >> if i knew then what i know now, i would have declined to represent donald trump in these post election challenges. >> reporter: but 2024 could pose the greatest challenge yet. with the first criminal trial against the republican front-runner set to begin next spring. laura jaret, nbc news. >> i want to bring in a criminal defense attorney and msnbc legal analyst to talk more about this. happy holidays, merry christmas, danny. thanks for joining us on this christmas afternoon. you and me together, buddy. let me look at this calendar. as laura was talking about in that piece, many of these situations which he was being indicted or arraigned, it seemed as if it was a campaign stop, as well. if you look at his calendar starting on january 6th, ending november 5th, culminating on election day, all is laid out as

to how things could play out for the former president, amidst this year in which he's running for re-election to the white house. what is the likelihood we're going to see the former president in court for all three trials in 2024, danny? >> in 2024, i would say approaching zero, especially because i don't think the georgia case will get to trial in 2024. the new york case, who knows? the blue dates that you had up there are political dates. those may remain. but when it comes to trial dates, and even hearing dates, anyone's guess applies here. i mean, as it is in normal cases with normal defendants that nobody has ever heard of, things happen. these cases, these criminal cases involve some of the most undefined constitutional legal issues in the history of criminal law. they're going to take a while to be decided on appeal. so things are going to happen.

it's like an old saying, we can plan, but god laughs. i mean, these dates are likely not going to stick. >> so then talk to me about the impact, if we can. i had to write down notes of my own to remind myself of what we're talking about. we have the federal case in washington, d.c., when it comes to january 6th and the 2020 election. we have the federal case in florida, when it comes to the mar-a-lago documents. we have a civil case inew york, and we have the georgia election interference case, as well. which of these four do you think amidst these 91 felony counts, is going to have the biggest impact on the former president? and also the discourse in this country, danny? >> well, let's start with the weakest of the four. that's the new york hush money documents case. that's barely a case. i wouldn't be surprised if it didn't even make it to trial and was tossed on pretrial motions. that's how low an opinion i have on it, but don't take my word.

read a book by a former prosecutor by the name of pomeranz, who called this case the zombie case. if you read his book, the insider's description of the new york investigation, it highlights the weakness of the new york case. that's the weakest. when you're dealing with state and federal cases, the odds are always with the federal case. they have a 90 plus percent conviction rate. the feds don't ordinarily lose. most criminal defense attorneys, if they are being honest, will tell you they don't want to be in federal court. but at the same time, the federal cases could go away if they're still pending when donald trump is elected, and more specifically, inaugurated, then he can appoint an attorney general to dismiss them or try to pardon himself. >> i want to talk -- we have about 60 seconds, but the state supreme court in colorado saying the former president is barred from being on the primary ballot

because of the 14th amendment. let me play for you quickly lindsay graham's response and we'll talk. >> this colorado supreme court made a political decision, and in my view, there is no constitutional basis for the decision they rendered. i think it will be a slam dunk in the supreme court. donald trump will eventually be on the ballot in colorado. >> so we know the former president and his team after christmas will appeal. lindsey graham saying there's no constitutional validity being made by the colorado supreme court. what do you make of this? >> i agree with lindsey graham and i disagree with him. i disagree that this is simply a political decision by the colorado supreme court. but it is true for that opinion to survive, a number of things have to happen. if any one of them fail, the colorado supreme court opinion fails. a quick example, the lower court concluded that donald trump was an insurrectionist, but

concluded he's not an officer within the 14th member. so you need that additional officer finding to ban him from the ballot. there's so many other things about whether or not this is even right. whether or not it's even an issue the courts can decide. any of those fall and the entire colorado supreme court opinion falls. so if you're just playing the odds, no matter what side you're on, the odds are that the colorado supreme court opinion will be overturned by the supreme court. >> danny with elf on a shelf behind him, merry christmas to you. we'll be right back. ristmas to you. we'll be right back. his #2s are perfect! he's a brand new dog, all in less than a year. when people switch their dog's food from kibble to the farmer's dog, they often say that it feels like magic. but there's no magic involved. (dog bark) it's simply fresh meat and vegetables, with all the nutrients dogs need—

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welcome back. 2023 was a banner year for pop culture, from beyonce and blue ivy to ufo hearings and billion dollar "barbie." savannah sellers takes a look at the moments and social media posts that left everybody buzzing. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: he was a year full of unforgettable trends. things we loved, and things we love to hate. viral moments filled our lives and one star stood out all year. >> welcome to the renaissance. >> reporter: queen bee dominated social media, and when her daughter blue ivy joined her on stage, we all cheered.

beyonce ended the year on a high. her concerts topped the box office on opening weekend, earning $21 million. earlier this year, our group chats blew up during the super bowl and not because of the game. reiana rocked the show with a 13-minute performance, revealing her second pregnancy on sport's biggest night. and then country legend dolly parton had her moment on social media, when the 77-year-old stunned while performing in a dallas cowboys cheerleader uniform and bedazzled from head to toe. and these red boots prompted a flow of memes. before the movie was available in theaters the #megandance blew up on tiktok.

and from futuristic to the ancient, how often do you think about the roman empire? and social media with the death of logan roy. but there was one moment that commanded our attention, and the big screen, the long-awaited double feature did not disappoint at the box office, earning over $200 million in just one weekend. the stars of the film joined in on the film. margot robber and the director supported "oppenheimier." >> i'll be going to see the fun. and the star of the bio pick expressed his about assignment. in i'll be seeing "barbie" 100 respect. with all the buzz, it was like living in barbie's dream house. pink outfits popped you will up a over the streets and our phones. the blockbuster made the first female director with a billion dollar film. >> this is the best day ever.

>> and 2023 might be the best year ever when it comes to girl power. thank you to nbc's savannah sellers for that. after the break, we'll say thanks to the people behind the scenes who make shows like this happen each and every day. stay with us. (mom) that's a bit dramatic... a better plan is verizon. it starts at 25 dollars a line. (dad) did you say 25 dollars a line? (sister) and save big on things we love, like netflix and max! (dad) oh, that's awesome (mom) spaghetti night -- dinner in 30 (dad) oh, happy day! (vo) a better plan to save is verizon. it starts at $25 per line guaranteed for 3 years and get both netflix and max for just $10/mo. only on verizon. honey... honey... nyquil severe honey. powerful cold and flu relief with a dreamy honey taste. nyquil honey, the nighttime, sniffing, sneezing, couging, aching, fever, honey-licious, best sleep with a cold, medicine.

before we go, we want to thank everybody who works here at msnbc reports behind the scenes to help get these shows on the air. without them, we would not be here. to those who celebrate, a very merry christmas. ♪♪

good to be but. i'm richard lui on this monday. we'll start with the trials of donald j. trump colliding with the political calendar. his attor