right now on msnbc reports,

israel vowing to intensify its war against hamas, even as there's a call for more aid. and netanyahu heckled by families of hostages, demanding for loved ones to be saved now. and then strikes against iran-backed militants, and what it means for the region and u.s. it has been a rocky year for the president. a look back and a look forward to his 2024 campaign pitch. later as well, the anti-vaxx movement on the rise. a rave of lawmakers that oppose vaccine requirements, and what it means as the covid infections keep ticking up.

hey, everybody. good morning to you. we begin this hour with new developments in the israel-hamas war. this morning plumes of smoke can be seen over the skies of gaza, and a senior adviser of the prime minister bibi netanyahu. he will meet with secretary of state, tony blinken as well, and he met with israeli forces telling them do not stop. he vowed to continue the war to the end. and let's bring in nbc's ryan nobles at the white house, and a retired four-star general and nbc news military analyst. josh, if you will, start us off and give us a sense of what has been happening on the ground in the last 24 or so? >> for those that hoped at the end of the year, israel lost 17

troops on the battlefield since friday, and the palestinians lost 250 people in a 24-hour period, and today we are hearing about 80 bodies of palestinians killed during the conflict and they are being returned to the gaza strip by the israelis, and apparently they were taken into israel, and the reasons are unclear. today they are being returned through the crossing into gaza where we understand they are being buried in a cemetery, possibly in a mass grave during a burial ceremony, and we are continuing to see the images that we are showing right now of utter destruction and despair throughout the gaza strip.

the pressure has been growing on prime minister benjamin netanyahu to change course here, and not only from the nations calling for a cease-fire, and also from the hostage families, and so far the prime minister is defiant and not suggesting there will be a shift in tone or direction. >> ryan, i want to talk about the meeting. we just learned the adviser to the prime minister bibi netanyahu will be meeting with tony blinken today. what is expected to come out of the meeting? >> this meeting is with ron durmer, who is a key ally and aide to netanyahu, and he's the former ambassador to the united states, and he's scheduled to meet with jake sullivan and

antony blinken. we are told these will be face-to-face consultations to give an update about the situation with the war against hamas from israel's perspective, and what israel thinks is the path forward, and the question is going to be how strongly will the american advisers top cabinet officials press upon to durmer, and that the hostilities to be somewhat muted, and there's not necessarily been a forceful move in that direction to try and quell the violence that is happening right now. this will be a face-to-face opportunity for administration officials to make that case, and of course, it's important to keep in mind that the united states continues to be a key

supplier to israel in terms of arms and weapons as it relates to the conflict happening right now in the region peufplt yeah, make this case on american soil. general, i want to talk about the objectives here of netanyahu and the israeli government. and netanyahu said yesterday as well, he will continue to fight, israelis will continue to fight this war until hamas is completely eliminated, and when it comes to the days after, and the weeks and months after that israel will retain, quote, unquote, responsibility for gaza for the foreseeable future. two things here. can you eliminate -- can you eradicate hamas from gaza, from a military perspective, considering it's also an ideology? how difficult of an undertaking is it to retain security control of a place like gaza for the idf or israeli military? >> well, look, there's no question this is a tragic and

complicated situation. it's going to get worse. the israelis offered a temporary cease-fire to try and get some of the hostages back, and many of whom i assume will never be recovered. hamas has declined it and hamas reiterated their objective is the elimination of israel, so we're seeing a civilian population, 90% of which essentially has become refugees one or more times, and it's winter in this region, and it's a terrible situation. i don't see how netanyahu stops the ground war and, indeed, when the fighting finally stops, who will be in charge of security? i can't imagine they would leave hamas to emerge again from the tunnels and take charge of a

devastated gaza infrastructure. i think what we are going to see at some point is the arab community has to come together, and there has to be some pan arab peacekeeping force on the ground so the israelis cannot dominate gaza in the longer run and provide security, so there has to be some other group that comes in to provide security and peace. it's a grim situation. i can't imagine it will get much better in the near term. >> ryan, what we have, what is going on in israel and on the ground in gaza, you have the retaliatory strikes, the u.s. launched retaliatory forces on the iran-backed proxies in iraq. talk us what through we should know. >> the attack happened on christmas day, and the president met on a strategic call, a prive call, with the secretary

of defense lloyd austin, who gave him options and the president authorized a strike against the iran-backediran-bac groups, and there was an american injured commit klee, critically. it does come at a time when the tension in the region is at an all-time high, and of course, iraq is very close to the situation in the middle east in general, and the fact that you have this nexus connected to iran with an irabased militia, aacked militia that is operating in iraq, and forecast, iran backs to the north, and the

secretary of defense made it clear that if these attacks continue, the u.s. will continue to respond. the question is how much this could escalate in the next days and weeks. >> general, pick up on where ryan left off. how effective are the retaliatory strikes on the iran-backed proxies kind of inquelling this war expanding beyond israel and gaza? >> well, the larger picture is that the biden administration, fortunately, has been very effective in trying to prevent horizontal escalation to the conflict. these are most tit for tat responses, and the iranians have not dialed up the pressure in a major way on the u.s. or israel. the x factor is hezbollah. if 100,000 fighters in the north

escalate and attack israel in a serious way, i think we will see an immediate catastrophic widening of the conflict. that's what biden is trying to avoid and so far he has kept a lid on it. the only real penalty for iran is if we go after iran itself with u.s. air force and navel air power. we are prepared to do that. there's a massive force available to conduct these strikes. it will be ruinous to the iranians. biden is doing a remarkable job in keeping it from going through the roof. >> so long as these -- what i am hearing you say, so long as these proxy wars, these back and forth launches and strikes happen outside the borders of iran, you don't expect this to expand to a direct u.s./iran

conflict? >> well, i don't think it serves the iranian interest, that's for sure. but we have to take into account there's two vital economic lifelines for the global economy for the persian gulf and the access to the red sea, and it's by the revolutionary guard or the houthis and the red sea, and again, you would see major u.s. intervention if they were cut off. we are in a dangerous situation. i cannot imagine in the short run that hamas will back off their objective for the destruction of israel, nor do i think the iranians are actually willing to risk a catastrophic escalation to this conflict, so

perilous time, and it's going to get worse. >> retired general mccaffery, thank you very much. ryan nobles will be back with us after a quick break. we will talk about what is on the line for the biden white house in 2024, and we will look at how the administration is preparing for the new year. the presidential election waiting at the end of all of it. we are back in just 60 seconds. you are watching msnbc. also try for fizzy fast cough relief. narrator: time is running out to give a year-end gift like no other, a gift that can help st. jude children's research hospital save lives. woman: cancer doesn't care how old you are, and it's devastatingly scary.

if you're donating to st. jude, you're supporting finding a cure, because the fight never stops. narrator: every gift counts, and whatever you can give will make a difference for children like gideon. make your donation today to help st. jude save lives. president biden hoping to extend his stay in the white house for another four years, but after a year of wallet-busting inflation, a record-breaking number of migrants at the southern border and a host of other issues, the president is gearing up for a re-election battle. mike memoli now with that a look back. >> for president biden, 2023 began with democrats wondering will he run? as the calendar turns to 2024,

they are now asking can he win? he started the year with political momentum. republicans took control of the house, but democrats won key senate races, and running on abortion rights and protecting democracy. >> when i ran for president four years ago, i said we would battle for the soul of america and we still are. >> but the months ahead, there was immigration policy -- >> every town is a border town and it's crystal clear to everybody but the white house. >> and then student debt relief struck down. >> ukraine's fight against russia stalled, and war erupted between israel and hamas. now the president's approval rates are at all-time lows.

2024 presents fresh challenges, not one but two budget deadlines loom that could trigger government shutdowns. >> the resolution is adopted. >> house republicans long focussed on hunter biden's business deals, teeing up an impeachment trial. >> i have been the target of the unrelenting trump attack team shouting where is hunter? here's my answer. i am here. >> he faces indictments on gun and tax charges, and a special council continues to probe if the president mishandled classified documents, and after ordering a spy balloon shot down, relations with beijing remain fragile. biden's early support for israel

will continue to test his political coalition at home. >> under biden i think we have made grave mistakes that have led to the death of almost 20,000 people. >> and there's a rare challenge for the democratic nomination, and potential third-party challengers that could complicate that path. >> that's bidenomics. >> and selling accomplishments like the infrastructure. >> we have a record to run on. we are not only changing the country, we are transforming it. there's an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy, the maga movement. >> voters will keep a close eye on the 81-year-old incumbent, with every misstep adding to democratic worries, and kamala harris figures to be a big part of the re-election fight. >> so many of our hard-won

freedoms are under attack, and this is a moment for us to stand and fight. >> part of her focus, women, young voters. >> biden's run for senate came in 1972. after more than five decades of political upsets, setbacks and comebacks, his last campaign may be his toughest yet. >> mike memoli, thank you for that. i want to bring in nbc's ryan nobles once again to talk more about this. we just kind of saw the headwinds the president is facing in his re-election bid. what will be his pitch for 2024, ryan? >> reporter: his pitch will be similar to the one he made in 2020, and that's that he is not donald trump. his advisers truly believe while trump maintains a core and reliable level of support amongst particularly republicans

in the united states, that when push comes to shove and it's a binary choice between joe biden or trump, and even if you say in a poll you don't approve of president biden's work in the united states, you like him more than trump in the chaos and legal issues following donald trump right now. and president biden needs to just continue to play the commander-in-chief, and we do expect that once the new year turns he will start to do more physical campaigning, actually holding campaign rallies. for the most part his campaign activity has been just reserved to raising money, and he's raising tens of millions of dollars for his re-election bid. once the actual campaigning starts, we do expect he will run on his record, and unemployment is at historically low numbers

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welcome back. lawmakers staring down a challenging opening to the new year with 2024 promising to bring tough times at the bargaining table. they have border negotiations still unresolved and two potential government shutdowns in the first of the year, and the start of the primaries are less than, wow, three weeks away. i want to bring in michael chanel. talk about the priorities when you have so much going on, border negotiations, ukraine and israel funding, and a government shutdown potential. what is number one on the list? >> it's a long list when congress returns to washington next month.

the top of the list will be averting a government shutdown, and they extended government funding and that first deadline will come on january 19th, where we will see four appropriations bills due to be passed. there are significant differences between both parties and among both chambers when it comes to the speaker bills. johnson does not plan to be another short-term spending bill on the floor, and lawmakers have to come to a consensus on the spending bills or there will be a government shutdown. that deadline will be staring them down when they return to the capitol. >> it's interesting, because you bring up this kind of idea of what the speaker put into place, which is a cr, and part of the reason was to punt it past the

holiday, and what is the likelihood they can get something done? >> i think we will likely see something happen and will not see a partial shutdown, and nobody wants to see a shutdown and nobody wins in a shutdown, and as i mentioned, lawmakers within both parties and chambers are in a different place when it comes to the appropriation place. even within the house, republicans have not been able to pass some of the partisan spending bills because of various policy writers causing concerns. congress has their work cut out for them, particularly, you know, the house when we talk about the appropriation bills when they return in january, but at the end of the day as it typically happens in congress, there's a lot of movement when you are right before that deadline, nobody wants a

shutdown, and historically they are not good for either party. as i mentioned, it's going to be a heavy lift because there are extreme differences when it comes to the appropriations process. >> carlos, you have the primary calendar, which is unbelievable to even think about. we will see clearly who will become the republican nominee, and how much of a focus do you think the rhetoric coming from the former president of the united states running for re-election to gain back the white house, how much of that will play into the ongoing negotiations into capitol hill? >> that's always an x factor. what does the former president do? sometimes he takes a pass and doesn't get too involved in what is happening on the hill, and sometimes he takes a stand and puts pressure on the house republicans who are the quickest to respond to his requests and commands, so it will be interesting. if he perceives any potential

gain to highlight what is happening in congress, which could complicate matters for speaker johnson, and the key thing to watch in the house in these early weeks of 2024 is going to be how does speaker johnson handle the squeeze. you have some hard line republicans, which in some cases don't mind the idea of a government shutdown. of course you have the moderate or centrist republicans who are facing tough re-election battle battles in 2024, and they don't want to get involved in a shutdown, and if the former president weighs in, he could make it more complicated for speaker johnson within his own conference. >> i don't think it's a question of if. i am pretty sure he will weigh in on the ongoing negotiations, and he urged his republican

colleagues to shutdown the government, and we know speaker johnson was a supporter of donald trump when he was in the white house, and obviously helping him out in his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. when you think about that, and the influence he has over the republican party and the right wing freedom caucus, there could be real snags in their ability to fund the government? >> for sure. we could see a shutdown again. there are a lot of house republicans that don't want that and it will make it less likely to keep their majority after the next election, but they will do whatever trump asked them to do and that makes life difficult for speaker johnson because he will be in a position where he will have to rely on democrats to help pass legislation, and we know how toxic that has been for past speakers, john boehner suffered because of that, and

mccarthy was ousted because of that, and republicans have been more patient and lenient with speaker johnson, but that will run out at some point. >> thank you, and carlos will be back with us after the break, because coming up next why a wave of anti-vaxx lawmakers are winning re-election. nning re-el. (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. ♪ the winter play was really coming together. ♪ until... disaster struck. ♪

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i want to talk about a movement start gain traction in state lislators across the country. the anti-vaxx movement. a slew of lrs opposing vaccine requirements areinning elections, and in louisiana just this fall 29 candidates endorsed by a national gro that works to deat mandatory vaccinations won their election ande are seeing an anti-vaccine law, and in iowa republicans passing a bill eliminating required school curriculum on the hpv vaccine, and lauren weber is out with a piece entitled how the anti-vaxx move is gaining. let's talk about why these anti-vaxx movements are gaining

so much ground on the state level. >> so it's really inspired by covid. many of the folks promoting the legislation is the covid was the catalyst that got them the numbers to have success. as we are seeing in iowa, tennessee and florida, they are already gaining ground. what happened in louisiana, is that it's not only that folks that are anti-vaccine or stand against vaccine requirements won, it's that moderates lost, folks that stood in the gaps against the vaccine legislation are no longer in office, so we will see more of the anti-vaxx legislation come to bear next year. >> are you surprised, carlos? >> i am not because it's part of the culture wars. during covid, of course, there

were deep divisions in our country, and there were some on the right that did feel that the government was too heavy handing in encouraging and in some cases requiring covid vaccinations, and this became part of the culture wars. in a lot of issues as they move away from the signs and they become part of the culture conversations, then we see this dynamic where a significant portion of the population starts resisting, and of course, the victims here are people who are going to get sick, and hopefully not but people who may pass away as a result of this, so hopefully we can kind of get back to the science here and depoliticize the issue of vaccinations as soon as possible. >> laura, expanded on this if you can, in addition to the anti-vaxx movement and the policies being put in place at the state level, there's more to

come as lawmakers are telling you. what does that more look like? >> well, many of the folks that propose bills this year are looking forward to reproposing them next year with more folks in the statehouses that agree with them. i think what is important, and carlos touched upon this, is 3% of kindergartners got vaccine exemptions, and what is scary about that, just last year we saw a large measles outbreak in ohio, and some were hospitalized, and the concern is in different states as this anti-vaccine fervor seeps into state houses, and you will see more children suffer for that. >> i want you to talk more about that. i think it's a really important

point that you bring up which is the medical impact of this rise of young children that are not being fully vaccinated. i know you spoke to a lot of folks in the community, and we saw that measle breakout in new york a couple years ago, and how concerned are they that the children will not be protected against some of these diseases and what that could do? >> it's very concerning. nobody wants to send their child to school and have them be exposed to something that is, in fact, preventible. the catch-22 of public health, when the job is done right, people forget about it, so people forget how many lives were saved, and now this disinformation seeped into the childhood vaccinations. i think that has become part of

the culture wars. we are seeing it seep into the legislative races. more and more legislation could come across the u.s. >> how much influence is rfk having on this movement on a national level? >> well, he was the founder of one of the most prominent anti-vaccine organizations in the u.s. currently, and it got a surge of donations during covid, and in louisiana is where i went for the story, he spoke in 2021, and he spread disinformation about the covid vaccine at the state legislature and killed a covid vaccine requirement for louisiana schoolchildren. you know, he's continued -- he told "the posts" for this story that he is anti-vaccine but stood by his statements that were misleading previously, and

i think his -- the machine that he created through children's health defense is continuing to help support these legislators that are anti-vaccine. >> carlos, rfk is running for president and is not expected to make a dent running as an independent, and this is happening at the state level but this concern that this could creep towards a national level, a more national policy with folks coming into power and being put in place to enact these laws? >> governor ron desantis perceived it would help him politically in a primary to attack president trump for getting a covid booster. trump took a lot of credit for

the vaccines, and ron desantis thought he could gain an advantage over trump by highlighting trump getting boosting despite that the former president is an elderly man and probably made the right decision by getting a booster, and it's no longer a state issue, but a lot of these people running for national office perceive there's a community out there that might support them for rejecting vaccines. >> former representative, carlos cabello, thank you. coming up next, everybody, a deep dive inside the push to get more latinas in the industry workforce, and which companies are taking notice. you're watching msnbc. it's filled with pro-vitamins to help hair lock in moisture,

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welcome back. across america latinos make up 17% of the workforce, but in the tech world they make up less than half of that and that gap is larger for latina women. we look inside a texas nonprofit looking to change that for the next generation. for these high school and middle school students in austin, texas -- >> ready, set, go. >> the gears are turning. >> so these are robots you all built? >> yes.

>> thanks to a nonprofit that teaches tech skills in after school clubs like this one. hoping to close the ethnic and gender gap in technology. >> do you all see a lot of latinas in tech? do you think people expect to see latinas in tech? >> no. >> why not? >> because they see more guys instead of girls, especially, like, latinas. >> even though hispanic workers make up 17% of all employees, just 8% are working in stem fields, and 3% of those workers are hispanic women. >> we are hearing from students that didn't know these careers are possible. >> now she is studying computer science in college and earning a living with a job in information technology. >> let me back it up.

you wanted to do computer science. >> yes. >> and somebody told you? >> i was not able to do it. >> because? >> because of who i am as a person and who i am as a woman. >> what did you think when you met other latinos who were coding and doing robotics? >> seeing women like me was so inspiring, and it made me want to keep doing computer science. >> and keep cracking the code to create a tech future for everyone. >> to morgan for that report. coming up, today is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. what you need to know if you need to return any holiday gifts. we'll be right back. right back. ♪ using our technology to power different ways of learning. ♪ harnessing ai to plant new beginnings.

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likely amongst many aricans that are making returns today. it's also expected to be america's sixth busiest shopping day of the year. brian chung has all you need to know before heading to the store. >> with the holiday season comes the season of returns, whether it didn't fit rig or maybe you neething different, no shame at all. a lot of storesffer flexible return policies throu as late as the end of january, january 31st. if you look at macy's, walmart, amazon. in some cases, it's target's deadline is january 24th. best buy and apple, their deadlines are january 13th and january 15th respectively. check the fine print. tips for those that are going out to return. try to avoid any restocking fees by perhaps going directly to the store as opposed to mailing it back where the likes of jcpenney might charge you a few dollars to cover the postage.

amazon, you can bring the item back outside and unpacked from the box to a kohl's location. they will send it back for you with no extra fee associated with it. other tips for you, consider reading the fine print on things like buy now pay later. one of the buy now pay later requires you to apply for a refund, during which you might have to makepayments. something important as the popularity of the products increases. one final tip for those considering what to do if you can't return something. consider regifting. there are plenty of websites where you can find community groups that are in need of clothing or food, for example, or you can consider resale like ebay. a lot of options for those

trying to figure out what to do with the goods that they simply might not need. >> always a fan of regifting. thank you for that. appreciate it. the stockings are empty. the wrapping paper is in the trash. we are looking at how americans spent their money this year. good to talk to you, julia. what are you seeing out there? what do you make of the numbers? americans spending despite high inflation. >> there's a healthy labor market and wage gains. because of that, people have been shopping. they have been shopping across many categories this season. whether they went out to stores or shopped online. the period from the start of november through christmas eve, total retail sales increased 3.1%. that's according to the master card spending pulse survey. that measures retail sales online and in store.

that does not account for inflation. if you look across different categories, restaurants, they saw the biggest leap. 2.4 increase in apparel spending. grocery spending up 2.1. not every category is spending. electronics and jewelry declined. electronics, home furnishing and toys that boomed during pandemic, they saw discounts, though not as much as last year. this year's sales growth is slower than the last two years, but it's a positive surprise given people were concerned that we wouldn't see any growth. >> julia, thank you. appreciate it. christmas looks different in hawaii. nearly five months after wildfires caused one of the worst disasters in modern history. dana griffin has that story. >> reporter: overlooking the

scar of lahaina here. >> when families come, it brings them comfort and not just sorrow. >> reporter: these two made a pledge to maintain the memorial. while the holiday brought another wave of tourism in maui, the west side of the island is still struggling. >> we were living a nightmare. four months later, it sometimes feels worse. >> reporter: more hotels will relocate people to accommodate bookings. frustrated fire victims left in limbo rallying just before christmas for long-term housing. >> my family have had to move around five times, live out of suitcases and not know when or where the next move will be. >> reporter: to get more families housed, the governor threatened to ban vacation rentals if more don't volunteer for a program that would pay

them and offer tax breaks to house displaced fire victims. >> i'm sure we will face litigation. but i will do it if we don't get 3,000 units for our people living in hotels. it's not civilized. >> reporter: rebuilding will take years. now that the epa completed the cleanup, the photo map created by a company empowered by a.i. is being used to see details of the disaster zone. >> a road needs to be rebuilt. they can plan that reconstruction inside of the model before they go out and do it. >> reporter: this christmas, the community is clear, they will not turn their backs on each other. >> that's what christmas is all about. loving your neighbor. >> that's what christmas is all about. dana griffin, thank you. right now on msnbc, president biden ordering strikes on an