>> thank you. and that does it for us today. thanks for spending some of your christmas morning with us. jasmine picks up our coverage right now. hey, everybody. good to see you and merry christmas to those who are celebrating. i'm joining now on this christmas afternoon. breaking news on russian political prisoner and activist alexei navalny. he's been found at a penal colony in siberia. and a new filing from president trump's legal team over the weekend in the federal election case. a d.c. court of appeals scheduled to hear the case in early january after the supreme court denied jack smith's request to take up the issue. we're going to talk to a legal expert about where this is headed. plus, violence in the israel

hamas war escalating just days after the u.n. approved a watered down resolution calling for aid to the embattled region as the toll of the war caused christmas celebrations to be canceled in bethlehem. and getting down to the wire in iowa where a gop presidential candidate spent the holiday weekend trying win over voters. did he make any headway? we're going to find out. and if you've been dreaming of a white christmas, you're probably going to be disappointed. we're going to tell you why most people around the country will just have to keep dreaming. we begin this hour with the growing fight over whether former president trump can claim immunity to election interference charges. trump's legal team filed a brief with a federal appeals court in washington over the weekend asking it to toss out the federal election interference case against him. his lawyers arguing quote this. president trump has absolute immunity from prosecution for his official acts as president.

so, they say it must be dismissed. the new filing coming after the supreme court declined to intervene in the case leaving it to the lower court to decide first. want to bring in msnbc legal analyst, joyce vance, to talk more about this. thank you so much for joining us on this christmas afternoon. happy holidays to you and your family and thanks for taking some time out to talk us through some of this stuff. if you will, joyce, this was expected, right? this late night saturday filing to the d.c. court of appeals. especially after the decision from the supreme court to punt this back to the lower court system. >> right. that's exactly how this played out. trump's lawyers had called the government the grinch for trying to expedite the calendar for briefing. the d.c. court of appeals ordered trump to file saturda and his lawyers did at just about the last possible moment.

trump's legal team in part claiming this is a separation of powers issue saying the judicial branch cannot sit in judgment over a president official acts. the doctrine is not as they say controversial. in this filing. what do you make of some of the arguments being made in this filing, joyce? >> i think it's important to understand what the decision point is here. trump argues that presidents are kings and that there's no other branch of government that can look over or review his decisions and more to the point, not his political decisions but potentially criminal conduct for the remainder of his life. in other words, not just for the four years that he was president but he claims he has immunity in perpetuity. the government says this isn't the case. presidents don't have immunity for criminal acts. they can be indicted like anyone else. this isn't joe biden indicting

trump. it's a grand jury that looks at the evidence and makes this decision. in any event, to the extent there is immunity while in office, it does not last forever. >> this was a blow, this decision from the supreme court to punt it back to the lower court system. this was a blow to jack smith, the special council. to his expedited timeline as he wanted to hit that march 4th trial date. >> that's right. it absolutely is. because this case after the court of appeals decides it, will go to the supreme court. and that entails some delay. trump, if he loses in the court of appeals, will have 45 days to ask the full court to read here the decision by the three-judge panel. 90 days to ask the supreme court for cert. now, the courts could do something to shorten that timeline or end the stay on proceedings. right now, judge chutkan has a stay in place.

she can't rule on any of the additional matters necessary to get the case ready for trial. the appellate courts could end that stay, which could perhaps incentivize trump to appeal to the supreme court more quickly. but right now, this is a delay game and delay plays into trump's hands. >> so with the delay game, joyce, in mind, what is the likelihood this thing gets kicked back likely beyond march 4th, right? but what is the likelihood this happens before the election? >> it's hard to predict. there are too many variables. if there's a scenario where the court of appeals and supreme court moves quickly, orders an expedited briefing schedule, hears arguments and decides promptly, we could be close to the march schedule. maybe a month off the mark. but there is the potential for extended delay. it's important to remember that it took the court of appeals in the district of columbia a year to issue an opinion in the civil

immunities case where trump was sued by congressman and members of the capitol police in connection with january 6th. it took them a year from argument just to issue an opinion. it's in the hands of the courts. >> what is though the likelihood on that? i think a lot of folks at home listening are like, what a minute, a year? we're looking at possibly into 2025. that's if he doesn't get re-elected as president of the united states. so what is the likelihood that this d.c. court of appeals could actually take a year in hearing this immunity appeal? >> so, look. i think it's important to say we don't know for certain what the court will do, but this court has given every appearance of being on a fast timeline. i think we'll see an opinion promptly after the oral argument and then the issue will be what does the supreme court do? they could affirm the court of appeals without even taking the case if they wanted to then things would be back in front of

the trial court for proceedings or the supreme court could decide to hear the case and it's an important matter. this is really a momentus issue, a first impression. the immunity of a former president from criminal prosecution. then again the question becomes how long will the supreme court take to reach a decision. >> quickly, joyce. the way jack smith and special council tried to sidestep the lower court system going straight to the supreme court. is there anything else they can go at this point to expedite that timeline? motions they could file to expedite this timeline in the d.c. court of appeals? >> there is. they can for instance, ask the court to order the stay in the trial for it lifted. that would be a big and significant step. they can try to narrow the time that trump has to ask the supreme court whether or not the courts will indulge those sorts of requests remains to be seen.

but it's a limited issue. it's been fully briefed in the district court now fully in the appellate court. they can certainly act to create a timeline that's maybe not the timeline that jack smith originally envisioned, but something closer to it than trump's efforts to delay trial in the case until 2026. >> joyce vance, it's great to spend a couple of minutes with you on this christmas afternoon. still ahead on this holiday, we are following breaking news out of russia. missing opposition leader, alexei navalny, found after weeks. plus, a new round of strikes on gaza as families cling to hope. and president biden having a quiet christmas but we'll have plenty to take on when h gets back to work. we're live at the white house to break down his busy post holiday checklist. we'll be right back. holiday checklist. we'll be right back.

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according to a spokeswoman who posted that navalny's lawyer met with him today and confirms he is quote doing well. his new home is known at the polar wolf colony. considered to be one of the toughest prisons inside russia. ali, my friend, as always, good to see you. talk us through what you're learning this hour about alexei navalny's position, where he's being held. his condition as well. >> hello, my friend. yeah, that's right. a spokeswoman for navalny says that he's been found. he is alive and he's being held in a penal colony in northern russia. now, as you mentioned, he went missing about three weeks ago at

the beginning of december. and there was no trace of him up until today. people were very worried about his well-being. but his supporters also say that it was no coincidence that he went missing when he did because it was only several days after he went missing that putin announced his intention to run in upcoming elections and navalny supporters say that putin's most outspoken critic is not somebody the kremlin wanted around when he's making another run for the kremlin. now those results safe to say will go in putin's favor, but nonetheless, he didn't want somebody who was able to mobilize supporters against putin with a voice at that moment. and that's why they think he went missing. >> ali, thank you. appreciate it. the death toll growing on both sides ofhe escalating israel hamas war. new strikes by israeli defense

forces on gaza following idf operations sunday responsible for dozens of palestinian deaths. at least 17 israeli troops have died on the battlefield since friday but prime minister netanyahu showing no signs of a shift in strategy. he iterating quote his country will fight until the absolute victory as long as it takes. hamas leaders are also doubling down on their rhetoric refusing to release more hostages unless there's a permanent cease fire. i want to bring in josh utterman in tel aviv for us. good to talk to you. happy holidays to you on this christmas afternoon here in the u.s. bring us up to speed on the latest when it come to this war and what you've learned about the hamas tunnels that were discovered beneath gaza. >> reporter: well, this has been a really deadly stretch of the war on both sides. we saw as you mentioned one of the deadliest strikes of the war last night at the refugee camp in central gaza.

the death toll estimates have ranged from somewhere between 70 to well over 100 people according to palestinian officials there. the israeli military not commenting. but israel also has been suffering a higher pace of losses than we've seen during most part of the ground war. with 17 israeli troops having died since friday. and this is really starting to take a toll on the public's psyche here. especially as so many parents, relatives, husbands, and wives have loved ones who are in gaza waiting for that call they hope they'll never receive from the idf informing them their loved one was the next one to die. i want you also to hear from the father of one of the hostages. his name is ruby chen. his son is an american citizen who's been stuck in gaza since the war started and he describes

his experience waiting for his son to come home. >> are you feeling hopeful right now? >> i need to feel some type of hope because if not, the alternative is not good enough. so, we need to keep on going. like i've been doing whatever i can to find my son and get some sign of life. >> do you know right now if he is dead or alive? >> no, it's pretty frustrating as a u.s., he's a u.s. citizen and friend of united states of america and they're not able to get some sort of sign of life. >> reporter: five of the hostages who had died in captivity in gaza were actually found in those tunnels you mentioned that israel is now revealing in new video that shows just how extensive this sprawling web of tunnels this is, two layers that had a

bathroom with a toilet, shower, water cooler. israel really saying this is an indication of just how extensive this subterranean network is. >> looking at those images, thank you. want to bring in now palestinian policy expert and journalist to talk more about this ongoing conflict and war between israel and hamas. as always, it's a pleasure to speak with you. happy poll holliday to you and your family. if you can as we are here on this christmas afternoon here in the united states, will you reflect upon kind of this ongoing war what you've been feeling, seeing, the death toll continuing to climb between israel and hamas. a devastation that we have continued to see as well. >> merry christmas and happy holidays. it's good to be with you. look, as an analyst, a journalist, i look at three major investigations i've been conducting this week and they

should have had an impact but didn't. one, "the washington post" investigation that revealed there was never a command and control center after the al shifa hospital. it was destroyed completely. it's the biggest hospital in gaza, but the whole system, healthcare system, collapsed completely. if you couple this with another investigation by "the new york times" that israel used 2,000 pound bombs so-called dumb bombs, and they were hitting areas where they told civilians to evacuate. the so-called safe zone. actually, they were sterile zones. they were killing people after they asked them to move to those areas. the third one, which is that president biden not only keep bypassing congress and delivering weapons to israel, which use these weapons to bomb hospitals, schools, courts, refugee camps. last night, christmas eve, hundreds of children died. so far, the death toll is 20,000

of which almost 9,000 children. this is, it's not only a humanitarian catastrophe, this is a man made humanitarian catastrophe. and now we have israeli official who talk about using the weapon of war, which is hunger, to starve more population and they think this is what kill more people even more than the people being killed. this is a failure of our international base order. failure of diplomacy and failure of america standing in the war. around the world, this is biden's war. not only netanyahu's, but biden's. >> do you think as we're talking about this, the number of people that have died during this war and some of the investigations in which you've talked about the role of the united states along with the role of the netanyahu government, that egypt, that qatar, that the united states, can work to kind of convince

netanyahu and his right wing government along with hamas as well to come to the table yet again for another cease fire? not only for hostage exchanges, but for relief for so many members of families that are trying to seek safety. >> well, arab countries put offers on the table consistently and continually. the one country that keep refusing cease fires and those conditions is israel and it's backed by the united states. we had an israeli officials going on television i believe two days ago and whoever consumes israeli television like i do, they can see clearly. so when president biden talks about oh, they care about palestinian lives, not only they don't care, behind the scenes, they're not putting red lines or pressuring israel to comply with international law when they drop their bombs on hospitals, schools, refugee camps, killing people in churches. we've seen this week two glimpse

of this war because we don't have international journalists. we have palestinian journeyists being killed at a rate we haven't seen since the vietnam war. the killing of hostages, israeli hostages killed by enemy fire and a lot of those soldiers you talked about before were killed actually by enemy fire. meaning israel killed them. those hostages were shirtless. they were waving a white flag. and they were calling for help. and then the killing of those -- engagement is to kill outside and there's no, to the table. that means they gave up on the hostages. netanyahu's ultimate game is to stay in power and this war will continue and from the standpoint of international community, this is not only a war on hamas. this is a war on the palestinian people. this is a war of extermination. >> it's interesting.

we're going to be speaking with david in the next hour talking about the fracture that they are seeing it seems between the biden administration and the netanyahu administration and his government in israel because of the increasing civilian casualties happening on the ground. one more if i can because we know that president biden along with his administration has talked about wanting a two station solution after this is done. wanting palestinian authority to be a part of governing structure within gaza. do you think the palestinian authority has the ability to help govern gaza the day after, the months after, the years after? >> look, president biden has been talking about two state solution which the israeli counterpart are saying this is not going to happen. netanyahu bragged about lying to the international community for decades about a two state solution. israel just approved more budget to protect the settlements, not

to protect israel, their border. to protect the settlements. president biden, in the same time he used empty rhetoric in the eyes of the international community, in the same time, he is trying to pressure european leaders, european countries, to basically not hold israel accountable. especially switzerland, another country. so if you block the u.n. resolutions, pressure countries to prevent accountability and to curtail accountability then you only deliver weapons, that means you'll believe in one method and that is warfare. is war. starvation as a weapon of war. bombs as a weapon of war. there's no diplomacy. no solution. sadly, this is on president biden. >> thank you so much. merry christmas to you. >> thank you. coming up on msnbc reports, this season of giving. one family's tradition of helping those in need on

christmas. one meal at a time. plus, i hope snow was not on your list. it's not only not showing this holiday season, it's really warm. so why shouldn't you be that surprised? coming up. shouldn't you be that surprised? coming up. whenever you're hungry, there's a deal on the subway app. buy one footlong, get one 50% off in the subway app today. now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what are you doing?! get it before it's gone on the subway app. ♪♪

we're going to jamaica. get it before it's gone on the subway app. i really want to see that. i wanna go to jamai... where they make jam. ok, fine. whoa. can we land? you're old enough to do it in the sky now. we have a "number two" situation. but it's gross! we are not landing. there is no way we're landing! are you sure no one is watching? gwen mallard! do it now, or we leave without you. ok. ok. hi, welcome back. as in gather for a christmas feast today, tens of millions of americans are struggling with food insecurity.

for 12 years now, the miller family has been giving back with their annual meal service in west palm beach, florida. marisa is with us now with more on that. i'm wondering what sparked this tradition initially? and what are they serving up? >> they have food, hot meals, beverages, donations. we just saw someone drop off donated flip-flops, sandal, shoes. which speaks to the need of people who show up here. there's a wide array and variety of people who show up. this is a combination of people who might be without homes. this might be people who are food insecure. that makes up a large part of people who show up and this is as grass roots as it gets. we're not outside of a food bank. food pantry. this is someone's front yard. we're in a neighborhood surrounded by other homes. it's a brother and a sister who put this on.

they've been doing it for 12 years. i'll tell you the story behind it in a moment but just to speak to what a grass roots effort this is, their mother and father has been up since 3:00, 4:00 in the morning making this food. the sister who you're about to hear from said it started because she wanted to teach her daughters about the spirit of giving and what it looks like and feels like. clearly that went well. the daughters are now very hands on and involved. they're much more grown than they were then, but i asked the brother and sister, i said what is it that keeps you going? makes you do this? wake up early on your christmas day and do weeks of prep, handing out fliers, going to encampments of people without homes? what keeps you going? and this is what they had to say. >> it was different for them. to do something for others on christmas day. other than just opening up, receiving gifts of their own. and now, they're really excited

about giving back. the last couple of years, they've been very involved. hands on. it gives me joy. and happiness when i'm able to see happiness amongst others. >> they have enough plates to serve 600 people. this event just started and we've seen about 100. the definition of the spirit of giving here. >> that is awesome. something we can all learn certainly from the miller family. so there may be snow in parts of the northern and central plains today, but nationwide, get this. 1% of the country is actually experiencing a white christmas. our meteorologist has more. >> oh, the weather outside is not exactly what many were hoping for. >> just hoping for a white christmas. >> i would absolutely love to see a white christmas.

>> oh, goodness. it's been a while. >> people on the east coast dreaming of a white christmas are disappointed this year. there are no major snowstorms forecast for the holiday. in fact, some cities may be 30 to 40 degrees warmer than last christmas. chicago, cleveland and columbus, ohio have seen their odds plummet in the last few years. compared to past decades, a drop in white christmas chances from 41% to 34% and cleveland's chances have dropped from 43% to 40%. this year, many of the locations used to a white christmas like the upper midwest and great lakes are racking up record warm temperatures rather than inches of snow. >> winters are not like when i was a kid back in the '70s. no blizzard of '78 or anything like that. >> about 3.6 million people could get a white christmas this

year. that's only 1% of the country. >> where is the snow? i don't know. i look like al roker? >> some northern and mountain locations like part of the rockies, cascades and sierra, may enjoy a picture effort christmas day. for many, it will be more warm and wet than white. >> the hope that maybe it will snow in a little bit. you sit there and hope and wait and maybe it will be a few flurries coming down. >> my kid put on his sweat pants and sweatshirt this morning and said where's the snow. we're still hoping for a christmas miracle. still ahead this hour, it may not cold outside, but the political world sure is frosty. what impeachment inquiry could look like in the coming months. plus, how serious is the idea of a third party candidate in the race for the white house and of course, president biden is part of that road ahead. what's on his agenda as he heads into a very busy 2024. we'll be right back. into a very busy 2024. we'll be right back.

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welcome back. so house republicans, they may have launched this impeachment inquiry against the president, but actually impeaching the president is a whole other difficult thing. the lack of any hard evidence linking the president to any wrong doing, it's a hard pill to swallow, but slow walking a vote could also backfire and anger hard right republicans in the

house. i want to bring in don callaway. founder of the national protection action fund and congressman. happy holiday to you both. thank you for joining me on this christmas afternoon. i'm going to start with you on this one and kind of just wondering, the upsides for the democrats in this impeachment inquiry, how they combat this from the president's point of view? >> you know, there's very little you can do in the house other than use one of your greatest gifts of oracle skills of breaking down why this is not based in logic. it's difficult for democrats to combat what's happening on the house side and there's no real rational basis other than you impeached our guy, we're going to get yours. the danger is the bar becomes lower and lower for partisan

impeaches going forward. this won't get you any level of conviction. >> would you be surprised by that, congressman, if in fact the house executes on this impeachment inquiry has don just put it? if they do, what are the risks if this doesn't pass? i voted in favor of launching this inquiry, but the evidence is not there. they have said that outright. >> it seems that the sweet spot for house republicans is to keep these controversies surrounding hunter biden as prominent as possible without actually taking the step of initiating a formal impeachment process. why? because of those 18 house republicans who are in districts that president biden won and who really don't want to see the house move in that direction

unless there's some concrete evidence of wrong doing, of crimes and misdemeanors, which is the standard for impeachment. i suspect that speaker johnson, for as long as possible any ways, is going to try to keep this difficult balance in the house republican conference between those swing district members and the hard liners who would have liked to see president biden impeached months ago. it's a difficult balancing act but it seems to me that the sweet spot, the lowest risk solution is for republicans to keep these stories in the news without actually taking that step. >> i want to pivot while i have you guys to the race in 2024. we are days away from the new year. days away from the launch of the primary calendar. carl, i'm going to start with you on this one kind of talking about the new hampshire polls. nikki haley, climbing to second place. is there any possibility here she could surpass the former

president in this primary cycle? >> it's a narrow path for nikki haley, but it's also a pretty clear path if she does get an alignment of the stars, she could really shock the political universe with a victory in new hampshire. i mean, think about it. if she comes in second in iowa, trump's going to win iowa, but if she comes in second, desantis drops out of the race. chris christie drops out of the race. probably endorses haley. christie's got decent numbers in new hampshire. she could really give donald trump a run for his money and frankly, even if it's close in new hampshire, i think that's a big deal going into south carolina, her state. number three on the republican calendar. so, yes. nikki haley is a real threat to donald trump. a lot of republican donors are starting to make note of that and starting to put some heavy bets behind her. >> and nate, i want to talk about the potential pitfalls for the president as he's running

for re-election. we've seen some of the polling out. the supreme court has decreased. it's gone down when it come to black voters as well for president biden. en we talk about kind of this new threat that we're seeing from no labels. this third party candidate. and they're floating this idea of a coalition, quote unquote coalition government if no candidate reaches the number needed to win in the white house. what do you make kind of these parallel threats of black voters lessening their support for the president. young voters and now this no labels party and how does he combat that? >> i'm going to take issue with the premise of the question. i'm trying to figure out where to start here. first of all, black support for the president is still the most highest and most loyal voting block that any candidate of either party receives. yes, black male votes are slipping a bit. but we're talking about margins

and insignificant amounts. young voters are leaving, yes, but a bunch have turned 18 since the last election and i guarantee you they're not voting for trump or trump in heels, whatever that looks like. >> no, but the issue is do they, i don't mean to step in, don, but i wanted to say one thing, which is the issue is not necessarily them voting for the former president. but it's not voting at all. >> i understand that. as you approach october and the last 30 days, there becomes an alternative. which is continued democracy. that is the choice of why no labels were really not making impact. you remember, this is not a new phenomenon. it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. it's ultimately just saying we're not excited about biden. none of us are excited about

biden but when you're in a race against some form of hitlerism, the choice is clear. it's joe biden. no labels will not be a factor. black people will continue our support of not only joe biden and the democratic party, but of upholding the fundamental tenants of american democracy and you'll see none of that until about 30 days when democratic constituencies start being active. >> don, thank you. carlos, thank you as well. happy holiday to you both again. we'll be right back. y holiday t. we'll be right back. a better pls verizon! (vo) that's right! plans start at $25 per line guaranteed for 3 years. only on verizon. my name is caron and i'm from brooklyn. i work for the city of new york as a police administrator. i oversee approximately 20 people and my memory just has to be sharp. i always hear people say, you know, when you get older, you know, people lose memory.

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welcome back. the president and first lady are celebrating christmas at camp david. the president wishing america a merry christmas this morning, posting this special christmas card on x. his brief holiday get away will soon come to a close at the president is expected to return to the white house tomorrow and that is where we find aaron gillcrist with more on that. good to talk to you. happy holidays. merry christmas to you. walk us through what's on the president's agenda when he heads back to the white house tomorrow. >> merry christmas to you, too. the president is big on family and he is with his big family at camp david right now, where he spent the weekend celebrating the holiday. we'll be back tomorrow as you said here at the white house then will continue his vacation heading off to where he has spent the last several new

year's in the virgin islands. obviously this is a busy time for president biden and his administration. he still has to deal what is happening on the ground in israel and gaza. that is something the administration has said is constantly on the president's mind and agenda as his teams have been working to we know try to restart negotiations with hamas in order to have more hostages be freed in gaza, but the president will also in addition to that, have to deal with the ukraine funding issue that congress is going to revisit when they are back in session with a new year as well as starting a campaign. obviously, president biden is up for re-election and we know from sources close to the campaign that he will be sort of ramping up his efforts around campaigning around going after the presumptive republican nominee, donald trump. >> thank you, aaron. appreciate it.

let's talk congress for a moment from the white house heading to the capitol on recess for the end of the year. negotiations continue on sweeping border negotiation. that includes aid for ukraine and israel. but as the clock the ticks, the pressure mounts and a long to do list awaits. how optimistic, julie, are members right now that they can get a border deal done in early january? >> merry christmas to you. look, so the idea that they hav so many must-pass items, things they have to do or else the government shut downs or allies overseas don't get that critical funding in a matter o weeks when they come back, not months, but weeks. you have the first deadline. yo see that long to-do list on your seen. you also have the national security supplemental package that erin was just talking about, humanitarian assistance

to israel and gaza, ukraine aid. that is paired to historic reforms to our immigration system, to our border policy. these are things and conversations that are ongoing now with senate negotiators. i'm told they still have major sticking points, key gaps on areas of parole and asylum. so these are all things that need to be figured out and they don't have a lot of time to do it. >> julia, happy holidays. merry christmas. thank you for joining me on this christmas afternoon. coming up, everybody, the gripping, the headline grabbing trials and crimes in 2023 that no one will soon forget. that's after a very quick break. .

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idaho murders to the gilbo beach murders and the disappearance of natalee holloway. keith morrison has more. ♪ ♪ >> disturbing details in the killing of four idaho students. >> accused of being the gilbo beach killer. >> reporter: every year across this great land, there are stories which we cannot simply look away. and this year was no exception. >> alex murdoch, why did you kill your wife? >> reporter: in january, all eyes turned to a south carolina courtroom for one of the biggest trials in decades. once powerful attorney alex murdoch stood accused of killing his wife and son. >> we have reached the conclusion that he murdered his wife and son. >> he didn't do it. >> reporter: the case hinged on one piece of evidence, cell

phone video that proved he lied about where he was when the murders took place. >> come here. >> reporter: alec took the stand for two days of riveting testimony and admitted he hadn't told the truth about that night. what is a tangled web we weave. >> reporter: but he said he was not a killer. >> are you a family annihilator? >> you mean, did i shoot my wife and son? >> yes. >> no! >> do you think putting him on the stand hurt their case? >> i don't think it helped it. >> reporter: it took just three hours for the jury to convict him. >> i sentence you for a term of the rest of your natural life. >> reporter: this year also brought us face-to-face with the map who police say committed acts of up speakable horror in idaho. bryan kohberger has been charged with stabbing to death four college students in the middle of the night. >> the maximum penalty for this offense is death and/or

imprisonment for life. do you understand? >> yes. >> reporter: victim katie gonzalez's heart broken parents were there in court to watch him. >> if he is, indeed, the person, no mercy should be given to him. >> reporter: police say dna ties kohberger to the murders. as to the car he was seen driving here, it was also captured on security video near the crime scene. >> all rise. >> reporter: the judge has entered a not guilty plea on kohberger's behalf. the victim's family and friends now wait for a jury to decide his fate. >> it hurts. they should still be here, you know? >> we wake up knowing that we have reached justice for natalee. >> reporter: 2023 also saw the end of a near 20-year mystery. the disappearance of teen natalee holloway in aruba. the source of so much pain for her mother, beth, who spoke here in 2008. >> not knowing is the daily

torture. joran van der sloot was expedited to the u.s. charged with trying to extort her family and he agreed to confess. >> i'm actually with her walking along the beach. >> reporter: he said when natalee rejected his sexual advances, he hit her in the head with a block and then -- >> i walk up to about my knees in the ocean and i push off her off into the sea. >> it's been a long and painful journey, but we finally got the answers we have been searching for, for all these years. >> did you do it? >> reporter: another years long saga took a stunning turn this summer when police discovered the identity of the long island serial killer. >> an architect, i'm an architectural consultant. >> reporter: police arrested 59-year-old rex hurman outside

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