thanks for being here. i'm steven romo. first it was colorado. now it's maine. the state's top election official has disqualified donald trump from its republican primary ballot, citing the constitution's insurrection ban. that decision from maine's secretary of state is getting a lot of backlash, though not just from the former president.

lawmakers on both sides of the aisle criticizing it as well. we're going to break down what donald trump's options are now that two states have determined he's not eligible to run. and what it all means for the election year, which is quickly approaching. and more developments on this front. hours after last night's decision in maine, bellows' counterpart in california announced trump would remain on the balin that state. i'll be joined by colorado's secretary of state in a moment to talk about where things stand with the supreme court, plus the latest request for the justices to speed up their review of the decision to keep trump off the ballot. we have a whole lot to cover. so let's start with the reporting. joining us now, nbc news justice reporter ryan riley, author of sedition hunters, now january 6th broke the justice system. so ryan, walk us through what happened in maine. unlike colorado, its state supreme court ruled this decision unilaterally was made

by the state's secretary of state bellows. what do we know about her reasoning behind her decision? >> that's right. that's why it puts us in a different category where you have this one official who is unilaterally making this decision as opposed to a board of justices and reviewing the evidence through a court process. that's the way things are set up in maine. what bellows said is she felt duty bound by the evidence presented to make this decision. take a listen. >> the weight of the evidence, all of the evidence, made clear that mr. trump was aware of the tinder laid by a multimonth effort to delegitimize a democratic election. the election of 2020. and then chose to light a match on january 6th. >> so what we have here is one individual who can sort of be the focus of a lot of ire we

have seen come from a lot of trump supporters in the aftermath of these legal setbacks. we saw threats against the colorado justices, for example, so that's something she had to keenly be aware of in the lead-up to this decision, and we can probably likely expect a lot of threats going forward because that's just the situation we have seen time and time again after donald trump has faced legal setbacks. >> unfortunate reality. ryan riley, thank you for that reporting. joining us now is criminal defense attorney and msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos for more on this. if you would first break down the difference strategies we're seeing to remove donald trump from these state ballots. some being deciding by courts, others like maine, the secretary of state, but ultimately, all comes down to the 14th amendment regarding his eligibility, right? >> we're getting a crash course in the differences in election law and other state laws within individual states. just look at maine for an example. if youstep back, you can see this is a lot like the colorado opinion in that there was a conclusion that number one,

trump engaged in insurrection, and number two, he's an officer within the meaning of second three of the 14th amendment. but when you look, there are major procedural differences, for example, maine, that was an administrative decision. the court was not involved. it will benvolved now in the appeal. in colorado, that was a hearing at the district court level. er for, for example, that the supreme court might conclude these issues are what we call nonjustticiable. they're not for the courts to decide. in that case, because colorado was decided by a court, that could be out. because maine did it administratively, maine could be in. there are so many different issues attendant to each of these findings even though they seem like really fundamentally two issues there are many more and each state decides individually according to its own state law. it's going to be really a question what even the supreme court can review should it decide to review. >> i have heard you say you would be very surprised if the supreme court doesn't hear this case.

it's obviously a lot of pressure for them to do that. what are the prospects for trump's appeals in each of these states and would the supreme court ruling be based on each individual state or something that covers them more broadly. >> your first question, yes, there's going to be some supreme court review, i'm almost certain of that, but then, the real question is what does that review look like? could it be as simple as deciding the two issues of whether or not trump is an insurrectionist and whether or not he's an officer under section three. i think it will be more complex than that because each state is deciding its own procedural issues and its own way. even if the supreme court wants to hear colorado, can it simply grab the maine case as well? what if other states are still pending? maine is technically still at the administrative level. it hasn't gotten to the courts yet. do they have to wait for it to wind its way through maine's appeals courts and its highest court before the supreme court even hears it?

it is a patchwork quilt of state law, which is the way the constitution intended it. it intended the states to handle this part of naming who will be on the ballot, but since it represents an election, the supreme court would have a challenge even if it wants to hear how much of the cases it can ultimately consolidate on what specific issues. >> of course, we can't ignore timing. we're right around the corner from these primaries. how much will timing weigh on the justices' decision here? ? timing is everything. in colorado for example, they had a very short deadline, january 4th, i believe is when they have t finalize who is going to be on the ballot. there are deadlines coming up. you see some of them right there. you see deadlines coming up by the week. i mean, people have to print ballots on the one hand, there are other deadlines coming up, and then of course, all of these appeals require briefings, sometimes oral argument, and each state is at a different procedural status, a different place in the timeline of dealing with this ballot issue.

some are at the infancy, some like michigan are arguably already done and so too are colorado. so there is a lot of complexity here that the supreme court would have to sort out, or any appeals court at this point. >> that clock is ticking. all right, danny cevallos, thanks so much. joining me now is colorado's secretary of state, jena griswold. she also serves as chair of the democratic association of secretaries of states. and jena, i want to get to what is going on in your state. first, i would like to hear your reaction to what's happening in maine? what do you make of secretary bellows' decision and her reasoning behind it? >> thanks for having me on, steven. i think in maine, the secretary of state makes determinations like this. by the way, in colorado, i would also be in the place of making a determination if a lawsuit wasn't filed so early. but in maine, i think shenna bellows made the right decision in agreement with the colorado supreme court. donald trump incited an

insurrection to try to steal the presidency from the american people. section three of the 14th amendment makes it very clear that elected officials can't do that and then serve in office again. i don't believe there should be some loophole in the constitution that puts only donald trump above the law and constitution when he incites rebellion or incites an insurrection. the other thing i would say is i do think secretary bellows is brave and courageous. she is the first individual by herself having to make this decision. and we are acutely aware of the threat environment that we work in. so i commend her for her actions and we'll see how the litigation inevitably plays out in the state of maine. >> and in turning to colorado, you have announced trump is staying on the ballot for the time being. that ballot goes to print on january 5th. so walk us through the ways that you see this going depending of course on what the supreme court

ends up doing. >> that's right. so trump was off the ballot, he's back on the ballot. and the reason why is the colorado supreme court disqualified him for his role in the insurrection. but said that its decision would be held if an appeal was filed to the united states supreme court. and that appeal was filed this week. so as of now, he is on the ballot i certify the content of the ballot, so which candidates will be on, on january 5th, which is next friday. and then in the week afterwards, the county starts sending the ballot content to print. so with the quick timeline, we are asking and urging the u.s. supreme court to act quickly, a quicker decision would be better so that we have certainty as soon as possible. >> so many people looking to what the court does right now. there's also a lot of criticism of this. what's your response to people who are saying, listen, you

should just leave it to voters to determine trump's eligibility, if they want him, they should decide that at the ballot box. what do you say to them? >> my job as secretary of state is to follow the law and uphold the u.s. constitution. and when there are big questions about the constitution, it's appropriate for litigation like we see in colorado, that is how our state is set up. but ultimately, all of us in these positions swear to uphold the constitution. and you know, for my vantage point, the wording is very clear. section 3 of the 14th amendment was put in place after the civil war to protect the nation from folks who would engage in insurrection or rebellion against it from holding office afterwards. that is its purpose. and that's the exact scenario that's happening right now. so as a nation, we have to follow the constitution. and ultimately, we are only in this position because of donald

trump. he tried to suppress the vote, stealing the election from the american people in 2020. he then continued his fight against democracy in so many ways and his attacks on democratic institutions have not stopped. so the only person to blame for this entire situation is donald trump himself because he was unable to accept his defeat at the ballot box in 2020. >> what about the question of a backlash here? there's been criticism saying these efforts could just end up feeding into trump's narrative that he's being politically persecuted. how would you respond to that question? >> again, my position is not to think about the politics. it's to uphold the law and constitution. i do believe the colorado supreme court got it right, that trump should be disqualified from the ballot because of his role in the insurrection. ultimately, i will follow whatever decision is in place on january 5th when i certify the

ballot and throughout the election. because unlike trump y believe in rule of law and will listen to the courts in this country. and you know, the president, the former president himself, continues to lie. continues to spew misinformation about this case, about his role in the insurrection. and i think we just have to stay focused on what our jobs are and do whatever the u.s. supreme court tells us what to do, if they weigh in, or our state courts determine. >> certainly waiting for that supreme court ruling on this. jena griswold, thanks so much for your time this afternoon. >> thank you. still ahead, trump's 2024 republican rivals coming to his defense over that maine decision. so what's the political strategy there? we have two experts joining me here in 60 seconds. (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!

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former president donald trump's 2024 republican rivals are coming to his defense now that he's been barred from maine's primary election ballot. >> makes him a martyr. you know, he's very good at playing poor me, poor me. he's always complaining. this should be decided by the voters of the united states. it should not be decided by courts. >> it's anti-american. it's fundamentally unconstitutional. not only unconstitutional. it goes to the heart of who we are. >> it opens up pandora's box. can you have a republican secretary of state disqualify biden from the baled? >> joining me is political analyst brendan buck. he was former press sakesary to john boehner and paul ryan. also joining us is political analyst and former white house press secretary in the obama administration, robert gibbs. brendan, starting with you here, what do you make of trump's primary opponents lining up to defend him over this, rather than using this as a potential

line of attack? >> chris christie has never been anybody who hesitated to attack donald trump. the fact he's not attacking here tells you this is an absolute gift to donald trump. i think on the substance, on the process, i think they think that this is overreach by democrats. but this plays absolutely into donald trump's narrative that he is a victim. i think most republican voters will see this as overreach, and all it does is make donald trump the center of attention again, all it does is make him the victim again, which is exactly where he wants to be. this is a terrible day for anybody who is running against him because there isn't a way to go after him other than to pivot and remind people he's facing significant legal trouble. but all of these candidates maybe other than chris christie have long ago cedeked this ground to donald trump. they defended him every step of the way. we shouldn't expect anything different now because they're voters. >> robert, let's bring you in

here. what is th republican reaction to this, what does it signal about the state of the primary race right now? >> it's emblematic of why donald trump is so far ahead. every time donald trump gets in some level of trouble, the people that seek to replace him as the republican nominee rush to his defense. i don't think brendan is wrong that this makes him even more of a martyr. this makes him -- this plays into the grievance and retribution that's quite frankly right now central to his message. if republicans had taken a stronger stand on what happened on january 6th, they could draw a line back to what's happening now and say that you have somebody that didn't follow the rule of law, that was trying to overthrow the will of the people, was trying to overthrow the results of an election. but in reality, they have apologized for the actions of donald trump nearly every step of the way, and here's where we

are. we are with somebody who is nationally in the 50s or 60s, trailed by a bunch of people in the low teens. i'm wondering why those campaigns have spent tens of millions of dollars and wonder why they're not in contention. >> brendan, ramaswamy says he will remove his own name from the ballots in the states where trump ends up disqualified. what do you think of that strategy? >> well, ramaswamy will do anything to get attention for himself. i don't think that too seriously, he's been donald trump's biggest defender every step of the way. probably the more disappointing thing is when you have someone who has a plausible case for the nomination, or at least did, ron desantis and nikki haley, both refusing to take him on. as we have seen in every single debate, ramaswamy has been running interference for donald trump for a long time. the challenge for all of them though is how do you go after him and not sound like a

democrat? i think that's been the problem all along and therefore upset republican voters. chris christie has been the only person who has consistently gone after donald trump, and his unfavorable rating with republican voters is in the 50s or 60s, like astronomically high unfavorable rating with republican voters because he so often sounds like the secretary of state you just had on. they realize they can't do that. it's really a no-win situation for them because they're turning off the very voters they need. however, i think if they had taken a different tact early on, it would be a different story. at this point, it's very difficult to see any of them coming back. >> yeah, some of the contenders more afraid of the rino label than others. that's for certain. robert, ron desantis said after the colorado ruling that he believed it was part of a plot to solidify support behind trump in the primary. there's no evidence of a democratic plot, of course, against desantis. do you think it could end up being the result, that it helps him with the legal decisions

give trump more support? >> well, i think we have seen whether it's been indictments, whether it's been stealing documents from the white house, all of that stuff in the end has helped solidify his strength and helped solidify quite frankly again his message of revenge and retribution. i would remind ron desantis that republicans frequently and for good reason discuss the democratic party as being highly disorganized. i think the likelihood there is some top down plot that includes the colorado supreme court double bank shotting to protect donald trump here is a conspiracy theory that is rich with irony. but no, i think there's no doubt this has made trump stronger. this has made him quite frankly almost inevitable as the nominee. >> and brendan, nikki haley regarding all of this, she said in a statement about the maine

decision that she wants to beat trump fair and square. and it should be up to the voters to decide who gets elected. she's not spoken about this maine ballot decision when she's out on the trail today. do you think she should actually speak about it? >> probably not. honestly, that's probably the right strategy. this is had same challenge all of them run into, that donald trump blocks out the sun, sucks up all the oxygen, and you end up talking about everything in the context of him. as i said before, i don't know there's a really good way to go after him on this. i'm sure nikki haley and ron desantis each one of them were pretty upset when they saw this happening because they know it's a win for donald trump. the best thing she wants to do is move on, talk about something else. that's probably not going to work either, but i don't think having this conversation where donald trump has clearly established himself as a victim is going to make any positive difference for them. >> yeah, a lot of calculus at play. brendan buck, robert gibbs, thank you both. meanwhile, new york officials gearing up for a

massive new year's eve spectacle as the final weekend of 2023 approaches. we are live in times square for an update on all of the security protocols going into this year's event. that's next. taking charge of your health. so every day, you can say, ♪ youuu did it! ♪ with centrum silver. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand. and wakes up feeling like himself. get the rest to be your best with non-habit forming zzzquil. ♪ ♪ 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. ava: it is my first time having cancer, and it's the very worst. woman: you just have to give. you have to give someone that hope. because of st. jude, she has a chance at life. narrator: every gift counts, and whatever you can give

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welcome back. with just two days until new year's eve, security preparations are under way for all those big celebrations, and here in new york city,

barricades are already going up in times square with a massive police presence planned. joining us now from times square is nbc news correspondent antonia hylton. what kind of security are we looking at for new year's eve? are there any changes? and do we know anything about potential threats? >> reporter: there are definitely some changes this year. anyone who is planning to be part of the party on new year's eve, expect to see an increased police presence, of officers in uniform and officers in plain clothes, and part of the festivities, in the crowd among you. then there's also going to be a whole host of technology that gets deployed. what that typically looks like in these countersurveillance efforts is drones flying overhead, looks like robots, there are going to be cameras, both that you can see and that you cannot see that are monitoring what's happening here in the crowd. then of course, those thousands of officers are going to be engaged in crowd control methods. anyone who has been here knows

you can't walk up and down around times square. there are controlled areas, the use of these fences that go up days in advance and a perimeter that stretches for avenues. as we look at the security threat that's been here since october 7th, the concern is both protests, we have seen hundreds since october 7th, but also of the lone actor type violence. still when i talk to people who are here, they tell me they're not worried. they feel like the police, like the city has it under control. take a listen. >> there's a whole lot of security. there is at our hotel especially, there is, you know, people trying to -- they monitor the doors. they make sure, like, people that don't have card keys can't get in. but it's been very smooth sailing, i will say, compared to last year. >> reporter: and that is the universal reaction we have heard both from locals and from tourists who have come from all over the world.

it's important, steve, for people to note there's a difference between a heightened threat level, that there's a threat environment and a concern given what's going on in the middle east, and an actual confirmed and credible threat. at this time, there is no confirmed or known threat. the party is still going to go on. >> a lot of optimism for that party. hear some alicia keys behind you. thanks for that update. >> all day long. >> all right, still to come, were those three hostage deaths in israel by israeli soldiers preventable in gaza? more on that investigation live from tel aviv coming up right after this. after this when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend countless hours volunteering to teach people how to reach their financial goals. it felt good. it felt like i could take on the whole world.

welcome back. the head of the u.n. agency for palestinians today accused israeli soldiers of firing on an aid convoy in central gaza. and that convoy wasapparently traveling on a route designated by the israeli military. tens of thousands of civilians are traveling south along these corridors. but there's no guarantee of safety once they arrive there. just today, a hospital in rafah reportedly had an israeli air strike hitting a home where civilians were sheltering, reportedly killing at least 23 and injuring dozens more. joining us for more, josh lederman from tel aviv. what more can you tell us about the situation unfolding right now? >> reporter: well, steven, the hope from the u.s. and certainly

from some palestinians is that israel is going to be moving into a lower scale intensity version of this conflict. away from the kind of widespread air strikes we saw in the early stages of the war, as they have made a lot of progress in eliminating hamas, particularly in the north where israel says it is nearly finished clearing hamas battalions from the northern part of the gaza strip. we really have not seen a reduction in the the tensity of the war that israel is waging. in fact, we have seen these continued air strikes you mentioned that have killed dozens of people, sometimes even larger numbers. including according to palestinian health officials, a large number of civilians. and as the war continues to grind on, with few opportunities for humanitarian aid to get in or for civilians to get to safety, the health crisis is really deteriorating, with new statistics from the world health organization showing that there are some 180,000 cases of upper

respiratory infection, 136,000 cases of diarrhea, about half of them children under 5, as well as significant numbers of cases of lice, scabies, and chickenpox. that is a real concern given how limited the supply of medicine and other medical supplies has been into the gaza strip. and at the same time, these additional humanitarian concerns are coinciding with israel acknowledging some serious mistakes made in the war, including in that air strike on christmas eve in the central gaza strip where israel now says civilians were killed as a result of its fighter jets striking some buildings adjacent to wre the hamas targets were, and israel also acknowledging that friendly fire incident in which israeli troops mistakenly killed three hostages a couple weeks ago should not have occurred, steven. >> a lot of outrage about those missteps. josh lederman, thanks so much. let's bring in aaron david miller, former arab israeli

negotiator and fellow for international peace. thanks for being here. these accusations that josh was talking about, the israeli soldiers firing on that aid convoy, they follow the christmas eve strikes on the refugee camp that the idf now says it regrets. and the earlier accidental killing of those three hostages. the idf has already been under pressure to change the way it's fighting this war. how do these accusations play into that? do they ramp up this pressure? >> probably not. steven, thanks for having me. i think when we're talking about the israelis changing their tempo of their operations and the breadth of them, we're talking about moving from a high intensity kinetic campaign with air strikes and artillery to more intelligence driven set of operations particularly in southern gaza. that change is supposed to occur in january. i think there's more than hope on the part of the biden administration that in fact that

change will occur, because the humanitarian situation in gaza is appalling. and the only way we're going to be able to surge, not dribble humanitarian assistance in to hundreds of thousands of people, both in the south and the north, is to create the time and the space and predictability for corridors so that aid can get in. the other reality is, and the israelis obviously grasp this, or they should, without the u.n., the chances of surging this assistance are probably slim to none. so tensions, and there are many, the u.n. reports that over 100 of its workers, aid workers have been killed since october 7th. so i think that's critically important. we'll wait and see if in fact the tempo of the israeli operations change next month. >> with the numbers we have just

heard, the health situation we justeard in gaza, it makes sense it's getting so much attention, but in ways has overshadowed the increasingly violent situation in the occupied west bank. 504 palestinians killed there this year, according to the u.n., making it the deadliest year there since 2005 when they started keeping track of this. what should israel be doing to lower the temperature? >> 280 palestinians since october 7th, largely as a consequence of israeli defense forces raids in an effort to get at armed groups, particularly in a city like janeane. you have an israeli government that is committed in everything but name to annex the west bank. they see the gaza operation as cover in order to accelerate those plans and aspirations. so it's no surprise on the

israeli end that the israelis are trying to do everything they possibly can or certain members of the government,o push palestinians off of their land. it's estimated over 1,000 palestinians full shepherding communities have been intimidated and forced to leave their land. so i think that's no surprise on the palestinian side, of course, you have armed groups operating, and hamas' popularity as a consequence of prisoner releases and profound support for what hamas did on october 7th, hamas' popularity there has tripled, which i think is a serious threat to the palestinian authority, if in fact the biden administration has any hope that that authority could be used over time to govern gaza. >> certainly a lot of moving parts going on right now. aaron david miller, thanks for your insights. >> thanks for having me.

coming up next, 2023, a year that saw two major wars, a former president's arrest, catastrophic weather events, monumental court rulings, and much, much, much more. we're taking a look back at the most notable moments in the last 365 days or so. that's coming up next. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today.

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dominated by war in the middle east, a house speaker's ouster, historic indictments of a former president, and that hunt for missing submersible, that was this year too. and that is not all. we of course cannot forget taylor swift, beyonce, and barbenheimer. joe fryer has a look back at all that happened in 2023. >> how do you define a year like 2023? was it the year of the strike? or year of the swift. did it offer a glimpse of the future with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and the weight loss drug ozempic or a blast from the past. >> hi, barbie. >> hi, ken. >> with the pink coated resurgence of a classic doll. was it the year a speaker was muted or simply a political prelude to 2024? and a campaign trail lined with pit stops in the courtroom. 2023 can be defined in so many

ways, to much of the world it was a year headlined by war in the middle east. major breaking news tonight. war erupts in the middle east. a stunning surprise attack by palestinian militants. >> it started on october 7th, the day many now call israel's 9/11. a surprise attack, hamas militants stormed into israeli towns and military bases. >> they were just all around me and going three by three and shooting, pow, pow, pow. >> israel's foreign ministry says about 1200 people were killed, more than 200 taken hostage, including young children. >> it's something that no parent can ever imagine to see a child in the hands of terrorists. >> israel's response was swift and relentless, but with thousands of palestinians killed and a humanitarian crisis growing, israel faced mounting

criticism. those tensions seen on american streets. and college campuses, with reports of both anti-semitism and islamophobia spiking across the country. as the middle east war raged on, the one between ukraine and russia trudged on. ukraine's longawaited counteroffenses stallin american support waning. in january, it took 15 ballots -- >> a speaker has not been elected. >> has not been elected. >> has not been elected. >> to elect kevin mccarthy as speaker, a position he held just nine months before he was ousted. >> i fought for what i believe in, and i believe in this country of america. >> like a reality tv show, new contenders came and went. >> we're a ship that doesn't have a rudder. >> before louisiana's mike johnson got the gavel. >> the house will be in order.

>> an election followed by an expungz. scandal plagued representative george santos became only the third congressman since the civil war to be ejected from the chamber, but no controversy it seemed could shake the gop's support for former president donald trump, who in april made history too. >> it was a legal spectacle never seen before in america. the former president being fingerprinted and being charged with 34 felonies. >> mr. trump's appearance in a new york courtroom created a media circus that was repeated with indictments in florida, then washington, then georgia. where he mugged for this shot. >> we did nothing wrong. i did nothing wrong. >> he has pleaded not guilty to all charges, while preserving a vast lead for his party's presidential nomination. skipping debates. >> donald trump's a lot different guy than he was in 2016. he owes it to you to be on this

stage. >> leaving the rest of the field to squabble for second. >> to you want a leader from a different generation who is going to put this country first or do you want dick cheney in three-inch heels. >> they're five-inch heels and i don't wear them unless you can run in them. >> on the democratic side, president joe biden announced his re-election bid in april. >> are you saying you would be taking part in our upcoming election? >> i plan on running. >> inflation dropped in 20d t p rating, hitting an all-time low. now, voters are bracing for a potential 2020 rematch that's leaving many disenchanted. a wave of labor discontent swept the country in 2023, pushing unions to the picket line. united autoworkers went on strike against detroit's big three, eventually winning record pay hikes. while hollywood was effectively

shut down with writers striking, then actors, before reaching deals with studios. >> this is the best day ever. >> it is the best day ever. >> amid the strikes, the box office got a boost from an unlikely couple, barbie and oppenheimer. >> we're in a race. >> both movies opened at the same time, inspiring a cultural phenomenon dubbed barbenheimer. >> the doublefeature is legendary. >> now they're picture, and its star michelle yeo became the first asian woman to win the academy award for best actress. there were firsts that were far less desirable in 2023. the united nations declared in late november this was virtually certain to be the planet's warmest year on record. a year with the most billion dollar disasters in history.

hurricane idalia. >> we just lost power here right now. >> reporter: the firestorm that ravaged the island of maui. >> local people have lost everything. they've lost their house, they've lost their animals and it's devastating. >> reporter: it was the deadliest u.s. wildfire in more than a century with more than 100 people killed. gun violence plagued the country again with cities like lewiston, maine, joining the long list of communities linked to mass shootings. >> why would he do this? why in lewiston, maine. >> reporter: 18 people were killed there, while six were gunned down at a private elementary school in nashville, three of them children. >> how are our children still dying and why are we failing them? >> reporter: tragedy also reached the depths of the ocean. >> let's get right to the story the whole world is watching. the urgent search for a missing submersible. >> reporter: in june oceangate's titan submersible vanished on a sight seeing tour of the titanic's wreckage. a search offered hope five

people on board could be rescued but crews determined a catastrophic implosion killed everyone. in the sky the u.s. military shot down a chinese spy balloon flying over american air space heightened tensions between the two countries. the crisis at the border widened in 2023 with new york and chicago running out of room to house migrants bussed to their cities. >> indict, convict, send the cops to jail. >> reporter: in january, protesters took to the streets following the death of tyre nichols. >> i want to go home. >> reporter: the 29-year-old black man kicked and punched during a traffic stop in memphis dying three days later. five police officers were fired and charged with state and federal crimes. one has since pleaded guilty. the others not guilty. in the courts the supreme court handed down a historic decision in june gutting affirmative

action effectively ending race conscious college admissions. >> this is a really disappointing decision. >> reporter: perhaps no court case generated more attention in 2023 than the trial of alec murdaugh, the disgraced attorney from south carolina accused of killing his wife and son, took the stand in his own defense. >> take this gun or any gun like it and blow your son's brains out? >> no, i did not. >> reporter: the jury deliberated only three hours before finding murdaugh guilty. king charles iii was officially core nated in may. prince harry was there for the event. his wife meghan markle notably not in a year when the royal rift between the couple and palace spared no one. harry's memoir -- and the south park parody. >> thanks for having us on the show. >> reporter: for many the year

2023 was the one we lost a friend. >> hi. it's chandler. >> reporter: actor matthew perry died in october at the age of 54. ♪♪ >> reporter: the music world said goodbye to an icon, tina turner. ♪ wasting away again in margaritaville ♪ >> reporter: the mayor of margaritaville jimmy buffett. senator dianne feinstein, first supreme court justice sandra day o'connor and former first lady rosalynn carter. ♪ don't know what you waited for ♪ >> reporter: a huge year for women in entertainment. stadiums were ruled by queen bey, beyonce, won a 32nd grammy. and by taylor swift who became a billionaire and "time's" person of the year. the artist crossed over into football showing up at chiefs

games to support her new beau, travis kelce. speaking of sports, simone biles returned to gymnastics vaulting to her sixth world title a comeback on the mat, matched by one on the field. buffalo bills safety damar hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest and medics restarted his heart. >> this event was life-changing, but it's not the end of my story. >> reporter: hamlin didn't just recover, he returned to the game he loves, a symbol of resilience and strength. that just might be the best way to define 2023. >> so much of that feels a lot longer ago than one year. thanks to nbc's joe fryer for that incredible report. and still ahead, u.s. intelligence officials just figured out the shocking way that infamous chinese spy balloon was able to communicate. that brand new exclusive reporting is coming up when our coverage continues. stay with us. stay with us

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