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the combat symptoms and boosts immunity. biovanta really works. it is good to be back with you on this second hour of "chris jansing reports." ahead for us, the breaking news in iran. more than 100 killed, after explosions. israel was not behind the attack. growing concerns about american hostages in gaza as israel prepares for many months of war. battle at the border, a whole lot of republicans at the u.s.-mexico line taking aim the

president for a growing number of migrant crossings which are slowing down. in the count down to iowa, the ad wars are heating up and it is getting nasty early. the new lines of attack from ron desantis and nikki haley. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments. we begin with those deadly blasts in iran with nbc's teheran bureau chief ally -- ali arouzi. >> reporter: wounded 210 others near a cemetery in iran where a ceremony was being held to mark the 2020 death of country's top commander, in a u.s. drone attack. one blast and a second explosion during the ceremony in the southeastern part of iran. the first blast struck about

2,300 feet from the grave site. there was tight security around the grave site, and only officials were allowed in there. most of the people killed were civilians outside on the street. also according to officials the blasts were caused by a terrorist attack. there have been some conflicting reports as to the cause of the blast. it looks like an explosive laden suitcase was detonated remotely, but officials here say they have some information as to who it could be. but as the investigation is ongoing, they're not going to release many more details. however, a senior member of parliament here said that he is waiting for more information but the attack bears all the hallmarks of an operation. former head of the irgc said that this will spell the end of israel, this attack, and shortly

after the attack took place, large crowds suddenly gathered outside the cemetery, and they were chanting, death to the united states, and death to israel. >> ali arouzi, thank you for that. let's go to gaza now, and the push to free six american hostages. nbc's josh lederman reports from tel aviv for us. how confident, josh, is the u.s. about negotiations to bring them home? >> reporter: well, chris, the u.s. is confident that there are still six americans who are missing after october 7th and believed to be in gaza. they are less confident about whether all six of those are still alive. just a week or two ago, the number was eight, and then we learned that two of those american citizens, a married couple had actually been killed on october 7th in israel and then their bodies brought to the gaza strip by hamas, according to the kibbutz, where they are from. there have been delicate negotiations taking place to try to strike a new hostage deal

including in egypt, prime minister netanyahu has said that those talks are ongoing and that he is directly involved and engaged every single day in trying to advance those talks. so far we haven't seen any indications in the last few days that there is real progress there. now, the latest blow potentially to those hostage negotiations is this assassination in beirut of that senior hamas leader yesterday because hamas is already saying in the wake of that killing that the hostage talks are basically off for now. they're not going to entertain any new deal with israel. that is obviously very concerning to the israeli government. earlier today, i spoke with an expert on hamas, at he brew university in jerusalem who told me he does not believe that hamas long-term is actually going to walk away from these hostage negotiations because, he says, it is also in hamas's interest to strike a new deal because hamas has something to gain as well.

they want to get their own prisoners freed by israel as part of an exchange. right now, israel is really holding its breath to see whether the delicate talks to free more hostages, including americans are going to be able to continue despite the events of the last few days, including that israeli killing of a senior hamas leader in beirut. >> josh lederman, thank you for that. house speaker mike johnson is leading a congressional delegation to eagle pass texas, of course at the southern border. nbc's julia ainsley joins us now. what are we hearing if anything from the republican lawmakers? >> reporter: they are accusing the biden administration of slowing down the migrants, sending them to another part of the border so there's nothing to see in eagle pass. last month there were as many as 3,000 crossing in the very sector of the border. now we have as many as just 2,500 a day crossing the entire southwest border. so far fewer, and definitely far fewer there in the eagle pass,

del rio area of texas. democrats, including chuck schumer on the hill saying that, you know what, actually the real work is to be done in washington. here's what he had to say today. >> it's very nice that they have a trip to the border, but the only way to solve this is here working in a bipartisan way with senate republicans, senate democrats and house democrats to get it done, period, and i hope the speaker will realize that if he wants to solve the problem on the border. >> and of course he's talking about those negotiations that remain ongoing between democrats and republicans that tie ukraine aid, aid to israel and border security, which is really the hangup of all of that, those negotiations will continue and secretary of homeland security alejandro mayorkas will head to eagle pass on monday. >> julia ainsley, thank you. in iowa, republican candidates are blanketing the air waves with major ad spending and nikki haley and ron desantis have been ratcheting up the attacks on each other.

joining me now from des moines is nbc news correspondent dasha burns. dasha, it used to be you save the hard-hitting ads for the end of the campaign. now we're getting them before the first votes are cast. tell us about it. >> yeah, it's getting really expensive out here in the hawk eye state, and pretty spicy on the air waves, too. firs just take a look at the amount of money that is being poured in here for ads for january 1st through january 15th on the tv and on the radio here. just look at this. all of this ads up to about $7 million between these candidates. nikki haley, both her super pac and her campaign pretty much out spending everybody here as she's trying to get ahead of her top rival right now, florida governor ron desantis, and it is really those two that have been going after one another. most of this ad spending on pretty much, as we see it here, as we're looking at the air waves, negative ads. just take a listen to what

iowans are seeing on their tvs. >> ron desantis is lying because he's losing. desantis called china florida's most important trading partner. desantis even allowed a chinese military contractor to expand just miles from a u.s. naval base. phony ron desantis, too lame to lead, too weak to win. >> as governor, she let institutes. >> we just can't trust tricky nikki. >> reporter: yeah, so if you're an iowan, and watching your sitcoms, soap operas, newscasts, that is what yoir seeing in -- you're seeing in between your content that you're trying to watch. the reality is, look at the polling, former president trump is still far ahead. the question is does any of this move the needle or make an impact. earlier in the race, candidates

like tim scott who pulled out did their calculus and decided it's not worth it to spend these dollars because these ads are not making a difference. maybe they will make a difference against desantis and haley as the two are going after one another, but the person they're not hitting is former president donald trump. as pressure mounts on president biden to be tougher on immigration, one democrat of texas, congressman juaquin castro has concerns about where all of this could be headed. he'll join me in 60 seconds. l j. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ when you walk up to the counter at the pharmacy and you have a new prescription, you don't know what it's going to cost. that's why i always recommend you check the singlecare app before you go to the counter. i found the cheaper price with singlecare! yes, you did. see. give it a try. go to singecare.com or download the free app today. 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. the biden administration is preparing to reopen several key ports of entry at the southern border tomorrow. those four border crossings in texas, arizona, and california had been closed as border control agents grappled with a record influx of crossings, which are now dropping. but donald trump is out with a ne op-ed, this is how i will

end joe biden's border disaster on day one. i will terminate every border policy of the biden administration and restore the full set of strong trump border policies. then we will begin a record setting deportation operation. joining us now, democratic congressman, juaquin castro of texas, always good to have you on the show. congressman, at the same time trump is attacking joe biden, house republicans are at the border, as you know, trying to put pressure on the president to agree to stricter immigration policies, where's all of this leading? >> well, it's been headed in a dangerous direction for a while. you have the leader of the republican party in donald trump who has talked about immigrants poisoning the blood of the nation. echoing nazi language, literally nazi language and hitler's language in how he talks about the issue of immigrants and immigration and the border, and then you also have governors like greg abbott passing or

signing the most anti-immigrant piece of legislation that this country has ever known just about, and so republicans have, for a long time, made the border and immigrants their number one boogie man issue, but they continue to ratchet up that rhetoric, and make it dangerous for people as the donald trump era continues. >> and as you know, they're also making it part of these negotiations for funding israel and for funding ukraine, so as border negotiations press on in washington, you've been among the democrats who have expressed concern that president biden might give up too much. how much are you willing to compromise? is there a deal you see with items you could support but that you think might also win the support of the republicans? >> yeah, i think the main thing, chris, is that you have the consideration of funding for two wars, ukraine, and then of course israel-palestine, and then you have this domestic

issue of the border and immigration. so what many of us have said is that we're absolutely willing to sit down and negotiate in a bipartisan way on compromises regarding asylum, the border and so forth. in fact, president biden has laid out a lot of those proposals, but those should be related to getting relief for dreamers and daca recipients, for example, reforming our visa system, and border security. so that issue and those things go together, and instead of getting serious about those reforms, republicans instead are holding that policy and those resources for cities like eagle pass and laredo and del rio hostage to funding for the ukraine russia war. and so, again, those things are unrelated and should be considered on their own. >> and at the same time, the house homeland security committee does plan to start impeachment proceedings against

homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas next week. you were an impeachment manager at one of trump's trials. you know what it takes to actually build a case. do you see republicans who are still in the majority getting this done? >> i don't. and they've got a very slim majority. i don't think functionally they can pass the impeachment through the house of representatives. maybe they can with their two or three vote majority at this point. it's not a serious effort. since donald trump was impeached and had a senate trial, republicans in the house have been trying to avenge that, so all of these actions, talking about impeaching joe biden, impeaching secretary mayorkas, they're not based on anything truly substantiative or real serious evidence. they're all to avenge donald trump, and so i think this effort will fail. >> you mentioned the slim majority republican congressman bill johnson has announced he'll be retiring on january 21st.

once that happens, house republicans will only be able to afford two defections on any votes. border security, foreign aid, government funding, you name it. could that shrinking majority force republicans to compromise with democrats. do you see it having any real world impact? >> look, i hope so. i hope that it would or that it will. but, you know, they're in a real -- they're just in a place that's incredibly -- that's dangerous, that's still led by the very harsh and ugly rhetoric and thinking of donald trump. they're still deathly afraid of being primaried by somebody who gets donald trump's support instead of them. so, you know, all of that makes it tough to do sensible bipartisan rational policy with the republican party in congress today. >> well, there are, though, as you know, there are republicans who are in purple districts who

have in the past considered democrats' point of view, but now that we are in 2024, you don't see that happening? >> no, you're right, certainly, i mean, there are a handful of republicans who are in what are considered swing district, and historically, those have been the folks that have provided some of the votes to get some bipartisan legislation done. the thing is, until those people get past primaries in 2024. you know, i'm always optimistic and hopeful because i think you have to stay that way in this job. but i'm also skeptical that they're going to be willing to make real compromises in a bipartisan way with democrats. >> congressman juaquin castro, thanks for your time. happy new year, appreciate it. former president trump fight to go stay on maine's ballot. still ahead, i'll talk to the former republican lawmaker who challenged trump's eligibility to run. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. sing reports" only on msnbc

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donald trump is fightingo stay on the ballot in maine, slamming the secretary of state who disqualified him as a biassed lawmaker who doesn't understand the law. and with just over two months before maine's primary, his appeal to maine's superior court may be just a precursor to a much bigger battle in front of the u.s. supreme court. tom is a former state senator

from maine, a handful of people who reached out to the secretary of state to challenge trump's eligibility to be on the ballot. tom, thanks for being here. my understanding is you actually voted for donald trump twice, 2016, 2020. >> that's correct. 2020, i felt he was the right person. extremely disappointed how he acted after he lost. he fueled an insurrection against the country that i love and put a pit in my stomach, and that's why i've kind of stepped forward to do what i've done, exercising both my state rights and my constitutional rights, questioning his qualifications to be on the main ballot. >> well, let me ask you to respond to what his arguments are which is that there was no due process, and this was done by a biassed secretary of state? >> so let me answer the first question, the secretary of state ran a rate hearing, if anybody wants it take time to watch it,

it is on her web site. she outlined the expectations. now that they lost, they throw her under the bus. if they would a problem they should have octobered immediately when the hearing started. the second question about due process, the u.s. congress transported or committed all of the responsibilities around elections to the states. and we, then, set up a number of laws and assigned that responsibility to our secretary of state. in that law, we have something called title 21a, which defines how she determines who's qualified, and title 5, which determines if someone appeals a case, we have to go through. that's what she did, part of the process to test someone. she had the hearing where she acted as a judge, and the next step is they will appeal to the superior court and later to our maine supreme court. >> if this ends up in front of the supreme court, the public spotlight is going to get brighter, and some people including secretary bellos say

they have gotten threats. i wonder what kind of impact this has had on you personally? >> a lot of my friends, at least people i thought my friends were didn't take the time to understand what i have done. others have sat down and had constructive dialogues, we in the end may not have agreed. i give them credit for saying people stand down, let the courts take action. and i think that's very important. i will share candidly, i lock my doors at night, which i normally didn't do. >> so what do you say to people who maybe agree with you that trump is an insurrectionist, they don't like what happened on january 6th, but think that what you're doing is going to backfire, making trump even more of a martyr, even firing up his troops, his followers more. >> it's interesting, i just really did this because i felt the question had to be answered. those that know me well know that i ask questions like this,

and in this case, it's going to go to the courts, and no matter what i do, it's probably going to ultimately sit in the u.s. supreme court as a final decision. if they don't like what my actions were at this point, the courts are going to decide, and we'll all know. by the way, in maine, by the 17th of january, the superior court does have to rule on this case, and most likely it will go to our supreme court, and i suspect that will happen three weeks after the 17th. >> how confident are you this is going to go your way? >> very confident. she followed state law and followed the u.s. constitution. he created an insurrection, he has to deal with the consequences. >> tom saviello, we'll ask you to come back on again. we'll see how this plays out. thank you so much, sir. we have an update on the kim davis, the former kentucky county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. a federal judge has ordered her to pay another $260,000 to cover

the legal fees and expenses of a couple that sued her. that's on top of the $100,000 in damages she already owes them. davis is expected to appeal. she cited her religious beliefs as the reason she would not comply with the supreme court landmark decision to legalize same-sex marriage. and still ahead, from luxury watches to google searches about gold. the brand new bribery accusations against senator bob menendez, that's ahead. directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ ( ♪♪ ) constant contact's advanced automation lets you send the right message at the right time, every time. ( ♪♪ ) constant contact. helping the small stand tall. (ella) fashion moves fast. constant contact. setting trends is our business. we need to scale with customer demand... in real time.

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at least four state capital complexes across the u.s. have been evacuated after receiving bomb threats this morning. the first was georgia, followed by kentucky, michigan, and mississippi. the threats appear to be part of a larger pattern. this week, three other state capitals, connecticut, montana and minnesota received similar threats. federal officials including attorney general merrick garland have warned in a surge of threats against public servants at all levels in recent years. new jersey senator bob menendez is facing a new set of bribery allegations. in a revised indictment, prosecutors say menendez brokered a multimillion dollar real estate deal between a qatari investor. the senator and his wife were allegedly paid off in gold, cash, and other gifts, including formula one tickets and a selection of luxury watches

worth between 10 and $24,000. the documents also say that after the trip to qatar in 2021, menendez used his computer to search this phrase, how much is one kilo of gold worth. with me now, msnbc legal analyst, and former assistant d.a. in the manhattan district attorney's office, catherine christian and in studio, nbc's tom winter. walk us through what's going on here, what it could mean for this case with bob menendez. >> if the senator was to be found guilty of the charges against them, it doesn't necessarily mean more jail time. it just means new allegations, and the new allegations, the thrust of it is that the senator, according to this indictment was involved with an effort to get a developer friend of his, fred davies, from new jersey, a multimillion dollar investment into a project that davies was undertaking, and according to the indictment, menendez made a connection

between a member of the qatari royal family who works for a qatari investment fund, it doesn't say which one, but those funds are connected to the qatari government. at the same time, according to the superceding indictment, me menendez made pro-qatari statements of the government. that was also in exchange for this. so that's what we learned yesterday or the crux of what we learned yesterday. as far as this case going forward, it's important to note that daibes pleaded not guilty, the senator of course pleaded not guilty and strongly denied the allegations against him. but it's another effort by prosecutors here to really kind of tie it all together as to what the senator was doing at the time, and of course it raises serious questions as to the use of his office, which is, you know, tied to also the political question as well.

>> catherine, this revised indictment comes on accusations that he was acting as an agent of the egyptian government. what do you see in this new information? >> well, it makes it a much stronger case for the prosecution, and it also ensures that this evidence, should there be a trial, will be allowed to come out at trial. they could have not put this in in the indictment, and argued that it's part of the plan and scheme and completes the narrative. this way, going back into the grand jury, having them vote on the indictment with the new allegations, this evidence will be able to come out at trial. it's also interesting, the new allegation is that the senator and his wife allegedly tried to cover up the bribes. after a search warrant was executed and after they received grand jury subpoenas, they suddenly, the payments that were being made for her mercedes-benz stopped being made by the codefendant, and then a check was written to the codefendants who gave money and in the memo section, it says repayment of

loans. so that's also another new allegation that as soon as they, you know, were found out, they tried to cover it up, and say these weren't bribes, these were loans, but again, he's innocent until proven guilty, and he also, as you know, was on trial once before and a jury didn't return a verdict and the prosecutors decided not to continue with the prosecution. so here we go again. >> it's interesting that you note that, though, catherine, because i note it on page 41 of the indictment, there are these new allegations that the senator and his wife tried to cover up the bribery after that search warrant was executed. how do alleged cover ups typically play in a case like this? >> well, it's consciousness of guilt. to immediately, as soon as you get the grand jury subpoena and execute a search warrant, say let's write checks and repayment of a loan. of course they have a defense and they'll come up with a reason why they did that. but, you know, there's a saying that often the cover up is, you know, worse than the crime.

it clearly, if it's true and proven beyond a reasonable doubt shows consciousness of guilt, that they knew that, you know, they're going to find out about these bribes, these alleged bribes. >> that old saying, the cover up will get you every time. tom winter, catherine christian. tom told me it was okay to say happy new year until the end of this week. happy new year, thank you to you both for coming on the show. appreciate it. a federal judge has dismissed a wrongful death claim against former president trump and two other men brought by the long time partner of a fallen capitol police officer. sandra garza was seeking damages related to the death of brian sicknick. you'll remember him. he died after responding to the january 6th attack. another portion of her lawsuit has been cleared to move forward. nbc's ryan reilly is following this for us. he of course author of the book "sedition hunters." ryan, walk us through what the

judge is saying and what it means for the former president and these two january 6th rioters. >> that's right. the plaintiffs still want to depose donald trump, but the situation is that essentially because of her standing, she was not deemed to be a domestic partner of brian sicknick, so did not have standing to bring that wrongful death claim, but this case will continue on, and they want to depose donald trump. if you'll remember, julien cantor was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison after having been found guilty of spraying officer sicknick, that day, and george tenios got a time served on a misdemeanor. different situated defendanted. cantor is still behind bars today. so this case is going to continue to proceed from here, and the plaintiffs here would still like to depose donald trump. so another legal case that donald trump is still facing as we get into 2024. chris. >> ryan reilly, thank you for

that. still ahead, the biden campaign says he's running like the fate of democracy depends on it. the latest as they outline their campaign plans including a big speech this weekend to take on donald trump. but first, a spectacular launch to start the new year. spacex overnight fired the first set of satellites into orbit that can beam phone texts directly from space to smartphones on earth. similar launches are coming with a big goal of plugging cellular dead zones. 2024 is massive for spacex with plans to launch 144 missions this year. that's nearly one every three days.

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the biden reelection campaign is sending a forceful message today that it is ready to go full on into battle, and making it clear even before the primaries that their target is donald trump who they see as a grave threat to american democracy. on saturday, the president will mark the third anniversary of the january 6th insurrection with an event at valley forge, where george washington rallied troops into a unified army in the late 1770s. on monday, he's going to speak at the charleston, south carolina, church where an admitted white supremacist shot and killed nine people. i want to bring in kelly

o'connell. robert gibbs is former white house press secretary under president obama. and an msnbc analyst. good to have you both here. kelly, what more do we know about the president's campaign plans? >> places and points in history do carry impact, emotional impact. sometimes campaigns look for optimistic and uplifting moments, and there's a pace in campaigns where that takes place. but the biden administration, the biden campaign in this case, is looking at these key dates and historical, recent historical points as a way to frame the plan for the election. it is a more grim reminder for many americans when you talk about january 6th and the threat of democracy and the assault on the capitol. when youal about the shooting in the church in south carolina that shattered lives and really shook the nation, these are things that the president has long argued have been influences

in how he views this election, in the case of the church shooting, he certainly considered that part of the work he wanted to do on healing the soul of the nation, bringing the country together. voters will decide how he's accomplished that in his first term. when you look at what they're trying to do, make issues of democracy, authoritarian tendencies and outright impulses of donald trump, they want to highlight that, they want to link it also to reproductive rights because they believe that is a part of the democratic process as well, and that donald trump was directly involved in the selections that changed the shape of the supreme court, that led to the overturning of roe v. wade. and so you'll see them starting out by choosing those places and those points of recent history as a way to argue that there's still more work to do in terms of bringing the country together, and democracy has to be tended and protected on an ongoing basis. so that's where it will start.

you get a sense of what the image and the sort of motivation of the campaign is with this clip from a top official from the biden campaign from just a short time ago. >> our campaign believes that it is a moral obligation that we paint the picture of the threat that donald trump and the republican party pose to america and so for us, it's that simple. we have to communicate that this isn't a game. this isn't just rhetoric. this is who donald trump is. this is what the republican party stands for, and we're going to paint that picture bright and clear. >> at times, expect to hear president biden and the biden campaign talking about what they believe are accomplishments of their time in office. but they are starting off and will make a major focus, the contrast between the biden point of view, the biden leadership style, the biden belief in the country, and what they say are the threats associated with donald trump. chris? >> robert, i wonder if valley

forge as the backdrop matters a lot less potentially than a courtroom. we're not just getting ready for the primaries to start. we are potentially getting ready for former president trump to stand trial various places on 91 felony counts. i wonder what you make of this calculation about democracy, and can that stand apart from the economy, the border, reproductive rights. >> great questions. first and foremost, i think this speech and the activity by the biden campaign will calm the nerves of a lot of anxious democrats who are watching and seeing the president join this political year, this important political year and meet it head on. i think a framing speech is tremendously important. i think all evidence points to the fact that they're going to run against donald trump, and framing the priorities and the choices and the ideas of what another trump administration looks like versus the priorities

and ideas of a biden administration are imperative. i think it's imperative for people to understand that set of choices. i think you'll see the message expanded to include the economy. clearly it's going to include reproductive freedoms. i think all of those together are important, and i think it's tremendously important that the president frames this message, frames this campaign, and is active in doing so. >> do you think there's any realistic chance that joe biden runs against somebody who is not donald trump? and i ask that because this morning you may have seen it on "morning joe," chris christie basically said that part of the reason he's going to stay in this is because he believes the calculus could change if and when the former president ends up going to trial. >> look, i never say never in politics. i've watched it for too long to say that. but, look, there's no credible

evidence right now that anybody is in danger of toppling donald trump. look, i think we're all watching right now to see not whether he wins iowa but by how much, right, and the discussion is going to be who finishes third, and who finishes second, and those are likely to be distant. so right now i think it's really -- i think it's smart for the biden campaign to be out there against donald trump. i think there's a, you know, 9 in 10 chance or 9 1/2 in 10 chance that he's going to be the nominee, and it's important to get on with making that choice. >> well, you raise a good question which is that does second matter if you're 30, 40 points behind? >> second will matter in iowa because at some point this race will slim down, and it may slim down quite frankly, quickly, to a one on one of donald trump versus somebody else. the big number after iowa, obviously, is going to be new hampshire. if donald trump blows out both

competitors or all other competitors, in both iowa and new hampshire, there's little to believe that he's going to be stopped on his march to the nomination. south carolina and nevada would certainly be next. and maybe you'd think nikki haley would do well what do you

see legitimately as her role? >> may be more so, given most of the contestants are on the older end of the spectrum for presidential candidates, right? if donald trump wins, he would be the oldest ever inaugurated, so i think that's something to keep in mind. that sharpens the contrast, but look, i'll bet you this that vice president harris is going to drive electoral coverage in the markets she visits. las vegas in nevada is the largest, most important media market in one of the four or five states that's going to decide this election. so having her out there, having her in the big media markets in those four or five swing states is going to help drive voters,

and help voters make choices. she'll be imperative to out there making this choice in this election. >> robert gibbs, good to see you my friend, thank you. in japan, a race against the clock to find survivors of the devastating earthquake. we've got the latest on rescue efforts next. [dice dreams game] yes. ready? everywhere you look beautiful people. oh my gosh! eva. eva, love the dress. -thank you. -what do you think? mommy's going to steal the show, right? she steals everything especially money. she steals my friends. she steals from everyone. it's dice dreams. i don't steal, you know. dice dreams,

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in japan today, the search for survivors of that devastating earthquake is being complicated by rain and the threat of landslides. at this hour, at least 73 people have been confirmed dead, tens of thousands more are without water or power or evacuated from their homes. and for the unknown number trapped in the rubble for a third day, time is running out. journalist joins us now from japan. where does this recovery effort stand right now? >> that 72-hour critical window that people always talk about in rescue missions like this is closing in very quickly. the next 12 hours will be very critical if they want to reach some of the people that are still trapped, believed to be still trapped under the rubble. the government says they know of at least 130 people awaiting rescue. prefectures have announced dozens of people they can't contact.

as the death toll increased to 73, the next day is going to be very critical in this rescue effort. the japanese government has said they have doubled the amount of rescue workers in that area. they are using sniffer dogs as well, but the after shocks have been so frequent and so strong, every time they're trying to go in there and rescue people and get under the rubble, they have to stop the missions, stop the search. so that has been extremely frustrating for people on the ground. and on top of that, as you can see, it has been raining, sleet, and these are very precarious conditions because after a magnitude seven earthquake, like the one that hit the area on january 1st, the ground is very soft. any kind of rain or sleet or snow makes the potential for landslides that much more possible. and some of these areas, remember, are very remote, and they haven't been able to access some of these areas on the peninsula. and they haven't been able to

move in the trucks and the heavy kind of equipment that they really need to get water, critical supplies out there. so thousands of people have spent their third night in evacuation shelters across the region. many are still without water and power. so i think the next 12 hours is going to be critical if they want to find more survivors after this huge earthquake. >> yeah, those pictures are absolutely devastating. kaori, thank you so much for that update. we appreciate it. and that is going to do it for us this hour. make sure to join us for "chris jansing reports" every weekday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. our coverage continues with "katy tur reports" right now. good to be with you. i'm katy tur. we are watching the border where speaker mike johnson is touring eagle pass hoping to drum up attention on a record number of migrant crossings last