right now on "ana cabrera reports," two candidates, two events, two very different messages. president biden and donald trump both holding campaign events around the anniversary of the january 6th attacks. one warning about the stakes of this election, the other remaining defiant. plus, next week mr. be a big one for trump's legal calendar. i'll preview a high stakes hearing in washington and the dramatic conclusion of his civil fraud trial here in new york. also ahead, a winter storm threat for the east coast. millions under weather alerts. who can expect what and when? and later, breaking economic news this morning, new jobs numbers beating expectations. what it signals about our economy in this new year. ♪♪ happy friday, thanks for joining us. it's 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. great to be with you.

we begin with president biden and donald trump both returning to the 2024 campaign trail as we prepare to mark three years since the attack on the capitol. president biden will speak today in valley forge, pennsylvania, in a speech intended to set the stakes for this year's election. a senior biden adviser saying the president will pose a, quote, fundamental question to the american people. is democracy still a sacred cause? . meanwhile, trump is preparing for his own rally tomorrow in iowa on january 6th itself with just ten days until the iowa caucuses. nbc's ali vitali is standing by there in des moines, iowa, and gabe gutierrez is standing by for us in the white house. set the stage for president biden's speech later today. >> reporter: hi there, ana, good morning. this is the president's first campaign stop of the new year and his third public campaign stop since announcing his re-election bid last april and

invoking george washington's words, the president is expected to say that the fight for democracy remains a, quote, sacred cause. a senior adviser says that the president plans to point out that donald trump on january 6th tried to exploit any weakness in democracy, but that democracy held. and democrats had been concerned that the president's message on the economy perhaps wasn't taking hold, but his senior advisers now say that this speech today is a sharpening, not a shift in strategy. but ana, for the last several months, the white house here has been trying to brand republicans as maga extremists and the campaign is out with a new ad this morning essentially making that point. take a listen. >> there's something dangerous happening in america. there's an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy. all of us are being asked right now what will we to to maintain our democracy. history's watching.

the world is watching. most important, our children and grandchildren will hold us responsible. >> reporter: still, ana, a recent "washington post" university of maryland poll shows that perceptions of january 6th breaks down largely along partisan lines. still, biden's advisers say the speech today is an opening salvo for 2024. ana. >> okay, so gabe, that's what we're going to hear from president biden. meantime, on the other side, ali, the man who was president during the insurrection is set to hold a very different type of campaign event. what can you tell us? >> reporter: look, it's his first time back in iowa in over two weeks. typically around this time you would expect candidates to basically make camp in the hawkeye state in the lead up for the caucus. for trump he's been running ahead the entire time. polls show him with a consistently comfortable lead. nevertheless, he is back in the hawkeye state tonight making one of his final pitches to iowa caucus voters.

i do think it's important for us to underscore the stark contrast that we have between the front runner on the republican side and the president right now joe biden. you have one person who when he was president refused to accept the election results, and someone who continues to refuse the election results that he lost in 2020. then you have someone like joe biden who is, of course, accepting those election results. there is nothing more fundamentally american than that. the peaceful transfer of power, nevertheless when gabe mentions the fact that polling shows that views of january 6th break down along party lines, the overflow, frankly of mis and disinformation that we've seen around this catastrophic event in american history, it leads to voters having opinions like this which are frankly equally as stark as the contrast in candidates. watch. >> no, i would probably never vote again if biden wins again. that means they cheated two times in a row, and then there's no use. then your country's gone. the day that it happened, i knew it was all fake.

i knew it was infiltrated from the day. >> trump didn't put a gun to anybody's head. they did it for themselves, and that america's building. >> and look, ana, you know i'm someone who covers capitol hill in my other capacity here at nbc. of course i covered the january 6th hearings. you walk around the capitol, and january 6th is not some day in history. it informs the very way that congress and lawmakers relate to each other or rather not in this current capacity in congress. it is not some far off thing, and certainly, as we move forward with trump legal hearings, january 6th is going to be a critically important day whether or not people want to believe what actually happened. >> right, and trump has a couple of court dates next week as we await the supreme court action on whether trump can be on the ballot in colorado. ali, if you can just keep that capitol hill hat on for a moment longer, house democrats are now calling on justice clarence thomas to recuse himself from

that colorado case. what's their argument? >> reporter: i never leave my capitol hill hat far behind, ana, but when it comes to clarence thomas on these pending cases, look, all of these ballot battles are eventually likely to end up at the supreme court. they are the highest court in the land, and they will decide potentially one of the most important precedent setting cases in presidential election history. so the fact that democrats on the house side now are coming forward and urging justice clarence thomas to recuse himself, it's because of past cases that we've seen -- excuse me for the bus going by under thes a -- us at ill timing -- because of his wife ginni thomas who is conservative activist who after seeing from the january 6th committee and other reporting around her role in planning the january 6th rallies for stop the steal, it's important to note her role in those things and why democrats are saying they don't feel clarence thomas can be unbiased in ruling on a case regarding

trump and regarding the role he may have played in fomenting the january 6th insurrection. so of course democrats making that argument, republicans playing defense, but at the same time really important to understand all of these different political ramifications and political aspects to the supreme court, which really should be apolitical. >> we should note that justice thomas did recuse himself from john eastman's case. never know what happens with this trump case. thank you very much, ali vitali and gabe gutierrez, appreciate you both. colorado's not the only legal battleground for the former president who has a packed january of courtroom appearances ahead of him. so on tuesday trump's set to appear in federal court for an appeals court hearing on presidential immunity in his federal election interference case. then on thursday you can see there closing arguments begin in the new york civil fraud trial against trump and his company and the week after that, it's the second defamation trial brought by e. jean carroll. joining us now is "new york times" investigative reporter suzanne craig and former federal

prosecutor michael zeldin. so nice to see you both. happy friday. michael, let me start with you and the big hearing on tuesday. trump expected to attend the appeals court arguments on the question of presidential immunity. again, this is the d.c. election interference case, and this is just after his team sought to hold the special counsel in contempt for filing motions ahead of deadlines and continuing to provide trump's team with discovery. so again, they're turning over evidence as quickly as possible, and his team doesn't like that. they seem to be going with a strategy either to try to get the whole case thrown out or delay, delay, delay until after the election by any and all means possible. how do you see it? >> i see it that same way. the immunity case is the most important case because if the court were to find that donald trump is immune from criminal prosecution because of actions he took while president, that throws out most of the cases that are against him federally

and perhaps in the state courts as well. so that's a critical case, and i think trump has an uphill battle to win that case, but you just never know it. before the d.c. circuit at the moment who has ruled already against mark meadows who argued immunity in his case. so that's the biggest case that is going. after that, the big case that is going to be pending is can trump be removed from any state ballots. the arguments are complex on whether or not this 14th amendment section 3 applies to the president. if it does apply to the president, whether congress has to have enacted legislation to implement it. all those things could get this stuff tossed procedurally before you get to the fundamental question of was this an insurrection and did donald trump incite it. there's so much stuff going on here. and then of course you've got the civil cases in new york.

>> there are a lot of cases, a lot of layers to each individual case. and michael, it does sound likely, very likely, that the supreme court will have to rule on this case about presidential immunity. the others including the colorado ballot eligibility question we were just discussing. should justice thomas have to recuse himself given his wife's role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results? >> so appearances matter. i'm not sure that he has a technical, legal conflict of interest that would require him to recuse himself, but this court has been suffering in the political realm among americans to think that they are acting in a non-apolitical way. and so if clarence thomas stays on the case, it does add to this impression that the court is a political body and not an apolitical body. so while i don't think he has to, i think probably he should. >> suzanne, trump is also expected to attend the closing

arguments in his new york civil fraud trial this week, at least next thursday is when that picks back up. you've been following this case very closely. he's raged against this case, the judge, the attorney general, but has his team actually put forth any real defense as this trial nears its conclusion? >> we're heading into closing arguments on thursday next week, and it's been a long few months. it's been difficult for them. just to remind readers, this started -- or readers, i meant newspaper reporter viewers, this started in october, and even before it got out of the gate, the judge had a ruling saying he already found them liable. so really, most of this trial there's still a few counts outstanding, but most of this trial, what they're doing is they're setting the table for what the potential damages might be, and donald trump's looking at fines, penalties of up to 200

or even more, $250 million, and severe restrictions on his business that could essentially put him out of business in new york. i expect this to go to the appellate court, and we're going to be looking at this case for a long time. he is -- from his point of view, he's rightly very upset about it. his money, i always think of it as sort of his life blood. he really cares about this business and its -- you know, what's left will go to his children. there's inheritances involved, there's a lot at play here, and i think we're going to see a pretty fiery thursday. you know, he's come to court before. there's one decided not to testify at the very end, but i expect him to be sitting there on thursday to see this sort of to its finale. >> you hit the nail on the head about why it matters so much. it matters to him. it is his essence, this billionaire businessman brand that he presents as well as his livelihood, as well as his legacy with his family. before we go, i do want to ask

you about this new report from house democrats alleging trump received $7.8 million from foreign governments while in the white house. trump has assets all across the world, right? he stepped back from his businesses while he was in the white house, but was it ever really clear cut as far as a separation? >> well, he did step back from it, but he still owned it all, and i think now we're seeing -- this story i got to say really took me back to 2015 and '16 and '17 because one of the big concerns when he came into office, rightly, was how was this going to be managed? he's got all these properties and he has got ties to foreign governments, and it was a big issue, and his total -- he doesn't own it anymore but the old post office and hotel on pennsylvania avenue, you know, became a very popular spot for a number of people who wanted to curry favor with the president, including now we're seeing some granular detail about foreign governments that stayed there.

i always remember when we were covering this, my colleague who covers the finances with me, he always used to say you don't really need to give donald trump a bribe. you can just book a bunch of hotel rooms at one of his hotels and not show up and he gets the money. this is really a big concern. we're seeing just a fraction, i think, of potentially what the trumps made from these properties while donald trump was president. there's four properties involved. we're not even looking at mar-a-lago, and you know, russ butten and i, my colleagues, when we got trump's taxes for the period that included the period this report is looking at, we saw memberships at mar-a-lago spiked. he made a lot of money off of that, and this report doesn't even include that. i think we're just at the beginning of really trying to understand exactly how much money donald trump made while he was in office. >> and of course this report only covered two years of his presidency because republicans shut down the investigation and the efforts to get more information when congress was

looking into it once it changed hands and the chamber became republican dominated. thank you so much for your time, and your reporting, suzanne craig, michael zeldin, thank you so much for your expertise and analysis. i just got some breaking in this morning regarding the president's son. it's reported first here on nbc news, republicans on capitol hill are moving forward now with contempt proceedings against hunter biden after he defied that subpoena to testify on the hill last month. let's go to the hill and nbc's julie tsirkin, what can we expect? >> reporter: this news first reported by our colleagues, ryan nobles, sarah fitzpatrick. republicans there planning to take this step, that is not necessarily a surprise to us, but it is an escalation in their investigation of hunter biden, in their impeachment inquiry as well into the president. they will hold a markup next wednesday in the oversight and judiciary committees marking up a resolution to hold hunter

biden in contempt of congress. remember, that needs a full house vote in order to actually pass and hold hunter biden in contempt because he did not show up and testify before the committee behind closed doors in early december. you'll remember we were all surprised to see hunter biden arrive at the capitol, speaking outside, making a statement, but not going inside for that closed-door deposition. his lawyers said he would be more than happy to testify in a public setting. that is not something the republicans on these committees have said they will accept, so they are moving forward for this contempt markup in the panels before a later, yet to be announced, full house vote. again, this is something republicans have said they will do. they also plan to come out with two full reports indicating why they believe hunter biden should be held in contempt, ana. i should note this is coincidental. the committee says this is because the house is just returning next wednesday for their full first day, but it does come just a day before hunter biden is expected to be

arraigned in los angeles on those federal tax charges stemming from the special counsel investigation. >> okay. we'll see where this goes, and if it goes anywhere i do recall jim jordan at one point also refused to comply with a subpoena, so it's rather interesting that he's pushing this contempt proceeding. thank you very much, julie tsirkin for your reporting. when we're back in 60 seconds, what the new jobs report out this morning signals about the state of our economy heading into a big election year. also, we're tracking the storm that could make your home a winter wonderland this weekend and snarl travel. plus, he's free, oscar pistorius, the first double amputee to compete if the olympics later convicted of murder is out of jail. and later, the las vegas judge attacked by a defendant speaks out about this shocking situation in the courtroom.

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we're back with breaking economic news this morning, the first jobs report of the year, and we're learning in december the u.s. added 216,000 jobs. that's far above what economists expected. nbc's christine romans is here to break it down for us. great to see you. what does this tell us about the state of the american economy? >> you know, it ended the year resilient. last year was supposed to be the year of the recession, remember? that was the big forecast. that never happened, and even into the end of the year, you still had strength. that jobless rate, 3.7%, this is still in a band of 50-year lows for the unemployment rate. december adding a stronger than expected 216,000 jobs. that brings the net gain for the year, ana, at 2.7 million jobs added. when we put it in context, as you know, i like to say the trend is what's important here, right? you can see it is slowing job growth, but still a robust performance. and picking up speed into the end of the year. so i would call this still a resilient labor market despite

all those concerns in 2023, it ended out quite firm. >> now 2024, here we are. it's an election year. can you put this into broader context for us? if it comes down to trump versus biden, how do the two match up on job growth during their presidencies? >> so look, this is already something that is fodder for the campaign trail, right? and i think it's incredibly important to use context here. there was a once in a hundred year crisis, health care crisis, a pandemic that really blew out these numbers. you can see so far in the biden administration about $14.6 million have been added. the that is in large part the economy shut down under trump. millions of jobs were lost. this is a recovery. this was the crash. this is putting it in perspective with barack obama, his first term, the first couple of years was really slow economic growth but managed to put in 10 million jobs there. you can see bill clinton and ronald reagan, by the way, had very strong job performance on

their watches. i would caution presidents get too much credit and too much blame for what happens in the economy on their watch quite frankly. you know, the pandemic, for example, really skewed a lot of these numbers, but you'll be hearing a lot of slicing and dicing, i think, as we head into the election year. >> okay. and i like that last slide that you just are giving us a glimpse of, wage growth up 4.1%. beyond where we're seeing inflation right now, thank you so much for all of that. >> you're welcome. mother nature's wake-up call for this winter season is now barrelling towards the east coast with millions bracing for the new year's first significant winter storm. at least 33 million americans from north carolina to maine are under winter storm watches through the weekend and in the big apple, new yorkers might need a big shovel for the first time in close to 700 days, if you can believe it. other big cities also likely to end their dry run. nbc meteorologist angie lassman has the latest forecast for us. angie. >> ana, millions of people now under these winter alerts in

preparation of that system working across the country and eventually impacting folks in the mid-atlantic and the northeast this weekend. there's the alert that you see now. but the system still down to the south. this is where we're going to see it through the day today. we do see the potential for some heavy rain, some strong storms right along the gulf coast, and kind of a wintry mix a little farther north into portions of the central plains and moving east. by later today, that's what we're watching. the system racing along the gulf coast. we'll see the potential for some flooding concerns, and then it quickly lifts to the north as we get into the evening hours tonight. notice we see this kind of wintry mix that's leaving us with the potential for sleet, freezing rain, travel will be difficult, specifically in parts of virginia as well as the carolinas. by the time we get into tomorrow, this is when we'll start to see the kind of impacts for parts of the northeast. the time line for washington, d.c., morning to noon, is going to be snow and sleet. we then transition to rain. not looking at a lot of accumulation as far as snowfall for some of these cities along the i-95 corridor, washington, d.c., philly is also one of those spots.

noon to 4:00 p.m. for the snow and the sleet. it will be difficult for travel, but beyond that, as we get beyond 4:00 p.m., we'll start to see that transition to rain. new york a different story. noon to 7:00 p.m. for the snow and the rain, and then we transition to heavy rain. it will still lead to some difficulty with travel for your saturday evening plans. boston is really the city, the major city, i should say, along the i-95 corridor that could pick up some snow. it will transition to heavier snow as we get into the overnight hours saturday into sunday. there's the snowfall accumulations. anyone really north and west of i-95 is where we'll see the better chance of some accumulating snowfall. if you're looking for the higher amounts, you have to look in portions of upstate new york, northwest pennsylvania, we'll see vermont, new hampshire, boston, i mentioned pickup anywhere from 6 to 8 inches of snow, and on top of that, we could see some of that ice accumulation i mentioned, including places like asheville, charlottesville, allentown, all on the table for difficult travel in that region as we go through the weekend. ana. >> okay, we've been warned, and we will be ready. angie lassman, thank you.

nbc ease maggie vespa is just north of boston in chelsea, massachusetts, where the preparations are already underway for the storm. sounds like that area could get hit a little bit harder, maggie. what are folks getting ready for here? >> reporter: yeah, speaking of being warned, ana. this place has been warned and they are prepping hardcore. we're talking about groceries, we're talking about runs to the hardware store for things like shovels that people haven't had to have on hand for, in some cases, years up and down the east coast, and we're talking about salt. we're in a massive salt area here. you can see the bulldozers have been moving this pile around basically. trucks have been coming through. this is the size of their stockpile that they have on hand for winters in boston. but again, we've been talking a lot throughout the morning about the dry streak that a lot of the east coast has been experiencing, close to two years, almost two full winters of no snow for a lot of cities including d.c., philly, and new york. some of those cities could just see rain, as angie talked about.

places like boston bracing for 8 inches. other cities bracing for up to a foot. they've seen a preview of what's coming. we have video of the snow falling earlier today in kansas. the system kind of making its way across the middle of the country right now giving people kind of a preview of its strength as it builds in realtime. so while we're back here on the east coast, people are now telling us as much as they don't want, of course, dangerous road conditions, as much as they don't want up to a foot of snow that could snarl roads and keep them stuck at home, they're kind of ready for this dry streak, this snowless streak to be broken. people telling us over and over, they would like to see at least one solid snowfall this winter, especially after how weak last winter was. so a lot of people hoping this system indeed breaks that dry streak. back to you. >> maggie vespa, stay warm, stay safe. thank you. up next here on "ana cabrera reports," new details about the suspect who opened fire at that

iowa school on the first day back from winter break. plus, he has spent a decade behind bars for killing his girlfriend. now oscar pistorius is out of jail. what's next for the double amputee track star once known as the blade runner? rer skin. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla.

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with this great offer. plus, ask how to get up to $1000 prepaid card with qualifying internet. the community of perry, iowa, is in mourning, and we are learning more about what happened at a central iowa school on the first day back from holiday break.

police say a 17-year-old opened fire killing a sixth grader and wounding five others. officials say the shooter then took his own life. residents paid tribute to the victims at this vigil, and according to the gun violence archive, this mass shooting is already the fifth this year. just five days now into 2024. nbc's adrian broad dus is in perry, iowa. you're on the ground there talking to residents, how is everybody processing this? >> reporter: folks here, ana, are in pain. if you live in this town or even come to this town, it's likely you will meet someone not only who goes to the high school but maybe their parent graduated from the high school or a grandparent. this high school is a corner stone of the community. it's friday. students are supposed to be inside learning, but the high school is a crime scene.

on thursday when they walked into the school instead of making it inside of the classroom, students were met by terror. ♪ lord send your spirit ♪ >> reporter: this morning a community coming together after a dark day at an iowa high school. >> we've got an active shooter activation at perry high school. >> reporter: before class started thursday, police say a 17-year-old student started shooting. >> there was a bunch of kids that ran out, and they were like go back. go back to your car. there's a guy with a gun. >> reporter: the first 911 call came around 7:37 in the morning. first responders arriving about seven minutes later discovering multiple gunshot victims. >> officers immediately attempted to locate the source of the threat and quickly found what appeared to be the shooter with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. >> reporter: officers found some students sheltering in place while others ran for their

lives. a sixth grader killed. >> he was a neighborhood kid that would come and play with us. the sweetest kid ever. >> reporter: police say four other students and a school administrator were injured. this morning a post from the daughter of the principal dan marburger saying her dad was in surgery all day and was stable calling him, quote, a gentle giant and amazing person. police identifying the shooter as dylan butler. they say he was armed with a handgun and shotgun and posted on social media around the time of the shooting including one post saying, quote, now we wait. other students have said butler was bullied and struggled at school. >> didn't expect any of what he did today. >> reporter: overnight, the perry residents gathering to mourn and finding strength in unity. >> we are perry strong. we'll get through this because we have each other. >> reporter: and that's what we have seen, a community showing

its best during the worst moments for this city. meanwhile, i want to share some more from that facebook post that was uploaded by the principal's daughter. she writes in part that she was not surprised to learn her father approached dylan. that was the shooter. she says he tried to talk the shooter down, and also tried to talk to him long enough to keep him distracted so the other students who were in the cafeteria could escape, ana. >> so brave, also sad and tragic. adrienne broad dus, thank you. another batch of documents related to late convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein became public overnight. the federal court in new york unsealed 19 exhibits totaling some 327 pages, and these documents primarily include depositions detailing how girls were recruited to go to epstein's florida home and then asked to bring friends for additional payment.

one of the women deposed testified that she was just 16 or 17 years old at the time. this disclosure of documents is part of a settled lawsuit against epstein confidant and socialite ghislaine maxwell by virginia giuffre who alleged she was a victim of sex trafficking and abuse when she was a teenager in the early 2000s. this morning a paralympic gold medalist turned murderer is out of prison. oscar pistorius, the former south african olympic sprinter known as the blade runner was released on parole this morning after nearly a decade behind bars for murdering his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. this was a story that has captivated the world. the once beloved athlete convicted for shooting his girlfriend in their pretoria home in 2013. this just a year after he made history as the first double amputee to compete in the olympics. nbc's meagan fitzgerald joins us from london with more now. meagan, what do we know about the release and the conditions

of his parole? >> reporter: ana, good to be with you. what we know is that oscar pistorius was released from a pretoria prison early this morning. he's believed to be staying with his uncle in a suburb just outside of pretoria. this is possible because of the south african law that allows convicted felons to be eligible for parole once they have served half of their sentence. but look, he's got a lot of conditions around his parole. we know that hcan't drink alcohol. he can't leave the community that he's living in without getting permission from the department of corrections. we know that he has to notify them of their -- of his movements and also that he will be receiving these spontaneous visits from department of corrections officials. he will have to serve community service and undergo anger management courses until december of 2029 when his sentence is officially over. and should he violate any of these orders and these conditions around his parole, he

will be sent back to prison, ana. >> this has been a dramatic case from the beginning. how is steenkamp's family responding to his release? >> reporter: yeah, you know, we heard today from reeva steenkamp's mother. this is an incredibly difficult time for them, though they respect south african law,he says. they knew this momenad been coming. they had been preparing for this moment. but is still very difficult. i want to read for you part of the statement that she put out today. she says, has there been justice for reeva? has oscar served enough time? there can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring reeva back. we, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence. and you know, i had an opportunity to speak with the family attorney, the family attorney says that reeva's mom june doesn't believe that oscar has been rehabilitated because to this day, he says that he did not mean to kill reeva, and he insists that it was an accident,

and she doesn't believe that if you can't admit that you did something that you can begin the process of healing and being rehabilitated. but she does say that at this point she just wants to try and live the rest of her life in peace and to remember her daughter's legacy, ana. >> meagan fitzgerald reporting for us, thank you. up next on "ana cabrera reports," the specter of a wider war in the middle east, why there are growing fears this conflict could spread and what secretary blinken whirlwind trip to the region could establish. accomplish.

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welcome back this morning, secretary of state antony blinken is on his way back to the middle east and this is his fourth visit to the region since the israel-hamas war began. it comes at a time of increased fear that the war could spread into a wider-scale conflict. we're also learning new details about the next course of action for israel in gaza. a targeted approach in the north

contained fighting in the south. plus, plans for gaza when the war against hamas is over. let's bring in nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley in tel aviv and our pentagon correspondent courtney kube. matt, what can you tell us about secretary blinken's visit? what can we expect when he lands in the region? >> reporter: well, he can expect to enter into a situation that is on the precipice of war, and not just in one or two countries, but really throughout the entire region. that's why it looks like this is going to be one of the broader trips that blinken has been making to the middle east ever since those october 7th terror attacks by hamas. and you know, this is a situation that, you know, we've seen war in the middle east throughout my entire lifetime, and the fact is is that this is the closest the entire region has come to the precipice of war all throughout that time. you know, we're seeing these events in various countries including the assassination in beirut of a top level hamas official. the massive twin bombings in iran, the american attack against an iran-backed group in

iraq. we're seeing attacks against commercial shipping by the houthis in the red sea, and of course the ongoing fighting between israel and hamas, which is also backed by iran in the gaza strip. we're seeing all of these different nodes of conflict and the main issue that blinken is going to have to be tackling when he comes here as he travels around the region to places like turkey, which is his first stop and other places that he's going to be trying to tamp down regional tensions, an entire almost continent is near war, and that is a huge task for him. >> and matt, what are we learning about israel's plan moving forward in gaza? >> reporter: well, we just heard from the cabinet. they tabled an idea basically, and this has been o of the big missing pieces of isra's war in the gaza strip. what happens after or if they accomplishhe goal of complete dismantling hamas? well, the idea wouldeeartial control by the israeli, security control in the gaza strip. they're trying to enli some sort of palestinian governance

body, and the earlier thing we heard from my colleague josh lederman from the cabinet would be they would be entrusting clans to take over various parts of the gaza strip. that's not really what we heard just today from the cabinet. it looks as though they're trying to find some alternative to hamas in the gaza strip, which they intend to dismantle and the palestinian authority in the west bank who it doesn't sound like they really have the trust of many palestinians or the israelis. so this is still a plan that sounds a little bit half baked, but we've also heard from various top level officials including benjamin netanyahu himself that this war could go on until the end of this new year. so there's time to implement this plan, ana. >> and courtney, matt touched on this. i want to dig a little deeper about the concerns of escalations with iran-backed groups in the region, especially after this recent u.s. air strike or strike, i should say killing an iran-backed militia commander in baghdad yesterday. what more do you have on? >> yeah, and why this is so significant right now, ana is, yes, there are the concerns

about this war in gaza spreading throughout the region. but it's significant that the u.s. took this strike, a targeted strike against an individual inside baghdad. also, the timing of it. it was almost exactly four years to the day after the u.s. took a strike also in baghdad killing qassem soleimani, the head of the kuds force at the time. the individual who was killed was a leader of one of the iranian-backed militia groups there in iraq. they're called han, we hear a lot about another militia group that operates throughout iraq into syria, they've been behind the recent attacks against bases in iraq and syria. this other group han has also been responsible not only for some of these recent attacks but for specifically targeting americans and a bu tack wa, which is his nickname or how he's known, he is, according to

u.s. officials, directly responsible for the planning and the execution of attacks on american personnel in recent days, ana. so he was targeted in this precision strike. iraqi government is condemning this strike in very strong terms already, so we'll have to see if it has any real impact on the u.s. and iraqi relations, ana. >> keep us posted, courtney kube, matt bradley, thank you both. let's bring in middle east adviser aaron david miller. aaron, great to have you here with us. secretary blinken headed to the region during a very sensitive time. how concerned are you about a much broader conflict given all the recent developments and strikes outside of israel and gaza? >> ana, first, thanks for having me, and happy new year. look, i know it looks bad, and there's reason to be extremely concerned, but i have to say -- and i hate making predictions -- i don't think we're on the cusp of a major regional war. when we're talking about a regional war, we're talking

about at a minimum a main event between israel and hezbollah, in which you could see hezbollah using the tens of thousands of high trajectory weapons in varied ranges and lethalties against israeli military targets and israelis responding with massive ground incursion, air strikes and sea. i don't think we're on the cusp of that because i think iran and hezbollah understand right now that they do not want to waste their assets in a -- what could prove to be a very counterproductive confrontation, not just with the israelis but with the united states as well. it certainly could get there, but right now i think a lot of the -- i won't use the term hysteria, but a lot of the reaction that was somehow in the cusp of a major conflagration every war in the middle east, i'm not so sure it's well-placed right now. >> so israel defense minister

laid out a plan for gaza after the war against hamas saying that gaza residents are palestinian, therefore palestinian bodies will be in charge and saying that no israeli civilian presence will be in gaza after the war. but he did add that israel will reserve its operational freedom in the gaza strip to ensure there's no threat to israel. what do you make of this vision? >> you know, i think the fact that the israelis are publicly dealing with the day after and the day after and the day after because this is not -- this is not a short-term proposition. we're talking months, if not years. i think that's a good thing. i think some of the israeli ideas, however, aren't tethered to reality. i don't think in the end there is any alternative to a different kind of palestinian authority to return to governance in gaza. and i think the key to the israeli plan, which is somehow an international force with arab state participation, i think frankly, that's magical thinking. the real problem here is that

until the israelis end their operations or at least decide to deescalate them and switch to a much less intensive series of ground operations, we're really not going to be able to know, let alone plan, for what's going to follow that conflict. but one thing is clear, israel will probably be in gaza operating hopefully at a much reduced level but for months to come. >> aaron, we're seeing all these developments this week, right? we had the u.s. taking action in the red sea. we just reported about the u.s. strike killing militia commander in baghdad yesterday. things are escalating. what do you make of the u.s.'s involvement specifically in the region? is it helpful? >> i think it's extremely helpful. i think the americans are involved even now as you and i are speaking, to an effort to find a diplomatic off ramp to at least lower tensions between

israel and hezbollah along the border. that's one. i think they're doing what they can in the red sea to deter, and they're building a case, ana, i think, by warning and by enlisting as many allies as possible. that if the houthi strikes continue, i have absolutely no doubt that the united states plans to strike houthi targets in yemen directly. we're not there yet. hopefully we won't get there because no one wants to see yemen -- which is already combustible explode again into violence. i think freedom of navigation is key here, and i think the administration will prefer diplomacy, and they're acting to see if they can createrestraint think when it comes to the houthi and the red sea, i think the administration is building a case for military action if it proves necessary. >> that's something we'll be watching very closely. aaron david miller, always value your experience and your insights. thank you so much for joining

us. happy new year, happy friday. >> thank you. >> up next, here on "ana cabrera reports," chaos in the court. what this judge, who was attacked by a defendant in the middle of a sentencing, is saying now. now and a gangster's out of style. i got back to my roots. we come from a long line of cowboys. my grandfather, my great-grandfather, my aunt even rode horses. when i see all of us out here on this ranch i see how far our legacy can go. now on sale at ancestry.

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online today and get your free decision guide. humana - a more human way to healthcare. welcome back. we are hearing for the first time from a judge who was violently attacked inside her las vegas courtroom. nbc news correspondent liz kruts kreutz has the story. >> reporter: the attacker now faces a slew of new charges. >> hey! >> reporter: after that brutal attack in a las vegas courtroom, officials providing a highly anticipated update on judge mary kay holthus. >> judge holthus was injured and received medical attention. she remains sore and stiff, but

thankfully not more severe. >> reporter: releasing a statement, thanking well wishers, writing i am excrete extremely grateful to those who took brave action during the attack. the seasoned judge was sentencing deobra redden to prison for attempted battery. the defendant, who has a history of violent assaults, jumping over the bench, tackling her to the ground and sending a court-martial to the hospital. the terrifying episode calling into question security procedures in our nation's courts. how common is it to have attacks or threats like this in a courtroom? >> attacks like this, these emotional impromptu acts of violence occur probably daily in courtrooms across the country. >> reporter: like this incident in mississippi, a suspect caught on video, throwing things at the judge. but las vegas officials say they have never seen anything like this. >> there is plenty of instances where somebody is, you know, becomes rowdy in the courtroom. this is the first one i've seen

where somebody supermanned over the judicial bench. >> reporter: redden faces multiple new felony charges of battery, including battery against a protective person, meaning the judge, and her court staff. according to court records, he refused to appear in court thursday to face those new charges. clark county's district attorney says the court is now reviewing its security protocols. >> redden's reaction happened so quickly, i don't know if anything could have been done to prevent him from what he did. >> reporter: according to court records, redden is set to return to court on tuesday. the judge is still planning to oversee that hearing, where she will sentence redden for his initial crime. the court plans to add another court-martial for extra safety and we reached out to redden's lawyers, but they're not commenting. back to you. >> just wild. just wild. thanks. much more on our next hour including how lawmakers are marking january 6th. stay right there. g how lawmaker marking january 6th. stay right there

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