happens, these things get more serious when they don't necessarily need to because there is treatment available. and the other thing that we want to do is talk to parents. we talk about rsv, young children, infants, especially dangerous. if you notice your child is wheezing, you hear the child audibly wheezing, that's something you need to make sure you get immediate attention for. >> people aren't wearing masks, people have gotten out of those habits and kids are going back to school. it could potentially get worse. blay alexander, good to see you. happy new year to you. and thanks to blayne and that does it for this edition, the first edition of "andrea mitchell reports" in the new year. remember to follow the show on social media at mitchell reports and rewatch the best parts of our show now anytime on youtube, go to msnbc.com/andrea. "chris jansing reports" is next with alex witt starting right now. a very good day to all of

you. i'm alex witt in for chris jansing here in new york city. there has been a major development in the israel-hamas war. hamas says one of its senior leaders has been killed in an israeli strike inside lebanon. these are live pictures of the site of the attack in beirut. what it could mean for the war as israel's full cabinet considers a plan for gaza after the fighting is done. plus, the border crisis officially hits historic levels. roughly 10,000 people arriving every single day, simultaneously overwhelming processing centers on the border and packing city shelters 2,000 miles away. what will the white house do about it. and with new hampshire's first in the nation primary just three weeks away, an incredible 40% of voters there are undeclared. why that could lead to a result no one is anticipating. but we're going to begin with that major breaking news tied to the israel hamas war. a senior hamas official killed

in an israeli air strike in beirut. it comes as moments from now, the israeli cabinet is expected to meet to discuss what their plans are for gaza if they complete their goal of wiping out the terrorist group. for the civilians inside gaza, the prospect of this war lasting throughout 2024 is devastating. one family surviing in a tent city said they sleep in fear. for palestinians across the territory, the u.n. is sounding the alarm over a lack of access to food, saying more than 90% of people there have regularly gone without food for an entire day. one mother of four shared with "the new york times" how desperately hard it is to find food for her kids and that, quote, in a fleeting moment of internet access she once caught the children huddled around her phone to watch a youtube video of someone eating french fries. that's a painful concept. nbc's josh lederman reports from tel aviv from us. also with us, nbc news white

house correspondent allie raffa and former supreme allied commander of nato and msnbc chief international analyst admiral james stavridis. i welcome you all. josh, to you first, what do you know about the death of the senior hamas official, who is he and how big of a role did he play in the terrorist group? >> reporter: well, alex his name is sala a arori, the founder of the military wing of hamas. you can see why he would be a very large target for the israelis. the israeli military has not commented on whether they were responsible for this strike. in fact, a senior netanyahu adviser told andrea mitchell last hour he's not going to say one way or another. but it is clear there is only one nation that is in the middle of a war with hamas right now. and that, of course, is israel. the israeli -- the hamas official that has spoken to nbc news confirming not only that he

was killed, but saying it was an israeli drone strike and lebanese media say it was as part of an attack on a hamas office in the lebanese capital in which other hamas officials were also killed. the lebanese leadership said israel is essentially dragging lebanon into war, with them, with israel, but, of course, the big question how is hezbollah going to respond? they're a distinct group, this is an attack in the country where hezbollah is based and it is -- there is potential here this could be really enflame tensions as we already have been on the brink of another front in this war between israel and hezbollah here in israel people are really bracing right now to see what the response is going to be and whether this is really going to spiral into a war that now includes the various militant groups in lebanon. >> so, on that note, admiral, let me ask you about what josh just said, how much do you have concern this could spiral? how critical is this for israel?

>> i think josh puts it well, that it is a possibility. my guess is that hezbollah will bluster a bit about this. launch a few extra cruise missiles, if you will, but personally i don't believe there will be an overwhelming sudden escalation in violence. two reasons, one, in the end, there is not much love lost between hezbollah and hamas. those two, one is shia hezbollah, the other suni hamas, they cooperate because essentially they're forced to by iran, the sponsor of both. and second point, hezbollah knows israel can respond militarily, overwhelmingly against them. so, i think josh is right to be concerned about this. and it is a very significant blow to hamas. but i don't think it will lead to a sudden spike. i'll close with this. that decision will be made not

in beirut, but in tehran. >> which begs the question, because we have spoken the last couple of weeks a lot about this, may i ask you your level of concern prior to a couple of weeks ago was about 10%, that iran and hezbollah might enter this war. it ratcheted up the last time we spoke to 25%, where does it stand now? >> i would say it goes up marginally. let's call it 30%, uncomfortably high. >> okay. back to you, josh, i'm curious what we know about the israeli government's plan for what a post war gaza could look like. and what it would mean for the people there. >> we know israel has previously ruled out any role for hamas, or palestinian authority. they tell me israel's current plan involves local clans within gaza overseeing basic governing responsibility for civilians like doling out humanitarian aid and basic municipal tasks. this kind of harkens back to a

plan that israel considered in the early 1980s, to try to devolve responsibility and power away from the time the plo and instead have local groups that they hoped might work better with israel be in charge. that plan did not work out. so this plan also facing a lot of skepticism. but it is a clear indication that israel is searching for who could actually be responsible for basic day to day governing within the gaza strip that does not involve entities like hamas and the palestinian authority that they say are not going to have a future overseeing the gaza strip. the other element in this plan, they also say the israelis, that israel is not only going to have security control indefinitely over the gaza strip, but they're going to have a security perimeter within gaza. the big question now, is israel planning to base that perimeter on israeli land that is near the gaza strip or to take palestinian land within the gaza strip to create a security perimeter. the united states government has already made clear that it is not going to accept any

reduction in palestinian land as a result of the aftermath of this war and whatever comes after hamas to govern the gaza strip. >> there is the question of what the palestinian clans would even have to work with in the aftermath of this war, given the destruction of everything. so let's go on to you, allie, the idf says they will begin to withdraw some troops from gaza. what does that indicate to the white house? >> this is welcome news for the president and top administration officials who we know have been working tirelessly behind the scenes on communicating to the israeli counterparts what the wishes are for the next phase of this war, that they're acknowledging is beginning with this news. and we know that both publicly and privately the president and those administration officials have been adding pressure on their israeli counterparts to make this move, to push for this. they have been pressuring them to shift to a more low intensity assault in gaza, to be more precise, more surgical in their

attacks in gaza, to prevent more civilian casualties there. so this is definitely what the administration had been hoping for in terms of next steps here. but there is still major concerns that remain, especially as we see prime minister netanyahu say that he's prepared to continue this war for, quote, many more months. we know that u.s. officials are still heavily invested in the potential for another cease-fire to be brokered, to be able to get more hostages out of gaza. and certainly the future of gaza as you heard josh mention, that is still a major concern. that's something u.s. officials have been saying since this war began. and as we know, that u.s. officials are more in favor of essentially an enhanced role by the palestinian authority to control gaza if and when this war does end. so, a u.s. official is telling us today in reaction to that meeting that you talked about, saying that they're not going to comment on israel's internal deliberations, but they add that

the u.s. and israeli officials have had constructive discussions on this issue over recent weeks. this is no doubt going to be a focus, a topic of concern, for the secretary of state when he visits israel at the beginning of this month. certainly for the president as he is set to return here to washington late tonight from st. croix where he's been over the holiday break. >> and let's move to militarily, admiral. what does this troop withdrawal mean for how this war is carried out inside of gaza? >> i think there is an important point to be made here, which is the economic side of this. at the end of the day, israel's ability to carry on this war is going to depend on its economy, which is in decline as a result. they're going to lose at least 2% of their gross domestic product, maybe more. and it is because they're a reserve army. all of these massive reserve call-ups, 400,000 troops, most of them reservists, that -- they

need their jobs, they need their shops, they lead their fields. to get two brigades back, that's 10,000. that would be like 500,000 people coming back into the workforce. i think that's a part of what is going on here. and militarily, israel has all the capacity it needs to manage this stage of the war and, frankly, the troops they need now are not the reservists. they need the specialized troops like the engineers who can blow up these tunnels safely. the special forces who can find the hostages. they need military police for crowd control. they're far less dependent on the reservist foot soldier at this point. i think it is a good move on the part of the israelis militarily and for their economy. >> well, one last question to you, admiral, several experts pointed out how difficult eradicating hamas would be and you worked with benny gantz on

the war cabinet. how should the government go about planning for the realities after war that could lost for a very long time. >> they're going to have to do all the things that josh and our other correspondent just mentioned, they're going to have to plan for it, recognizing that the difficulty of putting together a coalition and, frankly, the clan idea that is being booted about, i think it is going to be very difficult for a lot of obvious reasons. but politically and militarily they have got to maintain security there, whether that is israeli boots on the ground i doubt. i think it is going to have to be palestinians, the arab league, u.n. force, more to follow, but i know that's on everybody's mind in the war cabinet today. >> okay, thank you all. we have dramatic new video, this is from japan, and it

captures the moment a passenger plane bursts into flames. that's right when it collided with a coast guard aircraft. it was landing, of course, in tokyo today. five crew members on that coast guard plane were killed in the crash, but remarkably given what you're seeing here all 379 passengers and crew on the commercial flight were evacuated safely. we have reporting from tokyo on this. this is extraordinary. take us through what happened. >> reporter: well, it is extraordinary and the images you're seeing of this fireball, japan airlines skidding on the runway at haneda airport, this happened at around 6:00 p.m. local time. and japan airlines is saying that they understand that the pilot had all clear to land at haneda airport. there was no visibility issue, there was no fog, there was no rain, no thunder. but as it was making the approach to land, shortly there after, it collided with a

coastal guard smaller plane. and as you pointed out, there were six members in that coastal guard plane that was getting ready to take off to take relief supplies to the quake hit area. that tragedy occurring separately on monday. five of those members have been confirmed dead. the sixth member who is a pilot is in serious condition. as you pointed out, this airplane, which is an airbus, exploded into flames, it was moving along the runway, but miraculously as you pointed out all members and crew including eight very small children were evacuated safely. now, this is an ongoing investigation. transportation authorities, japan airlines, have not told us any more detail, including what kind of communications there may have been between the pilot and the control tower at the time at haneda airport. i should point out, this is probably the busiest time at haneda during the year. because primarily serves domestic airports.

this is a peak travel season for domestic travelers here in japan. and you would assume that a coastal guard airplane taking relief supplies to emergency area would not have been a scheduled flight, but beyond that, we don't know. this is an ongoing investigation. we do know that 70 fire trucks, it took 70 of them to control the flames, which is now died down about six hours later. and you see the skeletal charred remains of this airbus, a harrowing sign, tragedy after tragedy, this new year's holiday here in japan, alex. >> absolutely. cannot believe that all of those passengers, given the fireball that was that airbus, were able to evacuate safely. i have to say too, the vantage point we're looking at, you couldn't see that coast guard plane. you have to wonder if the runway lights were on. it is a small plane. it is hard for us to see if it was able to be viewed by the pilots. anyway. it is an extraordinary tale.

thank you so much for bringing it to us. still to come, the last month of 2023 shattered records at the southern border. we're going to explain in 60 seconds. er we're going to explain in 60 seconds.

16 past. the harvard crimson and boston globe are both reporting university president clauddine gay will resign this afternoon. nbc news has not confirmed this news. gay's reported resignation comes as she faces allegations of plagiarism and criticism over her response to anti-semitism on the campus. when she resigns, she will have had the shortest presidency in the university's history at just over six months. let's go now to the extraordinary eye popping numbers at the southern border, roughly 300,000 undocumented immigrants arriving in december alone. this is according to dhs officials and that's more than any month in american history.

far surpassing the previous record that was set in september. but as they arrive, the texas governor is sending more and more of them away to democratic-led states and cities around the country. nearly 500 arrived by bus in new jersey over the holiday weekend. more than 350 others sent by plane to rockford, just outside of chicago. they arrived after midnight on new year's day. and george solis spoke to one migrant who has been living in limbo since last summer. >> reporter: he has lived here for six months, telling me he's illegally selling coffee on the street, but with good reason. he's not going to just sit around and wait for a handout, he's going to work to provide for his family. >> let's bring in antonia hylton, jonathan lemire, host of "way too early," julian castro, msnbc political analyst.

welcome, all. antonia, we talk about these numbers, 300,000 people, but if you think about it, these are men, women, children, they're looking for shelter, for food, for safety. what is the real world impact of this surge on the migrants and the officials who are trying to help them? >> as you mentioned, many of them are family units who made a harrowing journey through central america to our southern border together. and they arrive and they need a whole lot of help from a network of nonprofits and lawyers and city officials here. and that is, of course, things like financial opportunities you just heard from the man who george spoke with, but also, you know, they're dealing with traumatic incidents, extreme hunger in some cases and the heart break that all of this -- i think anyone can imagine that all of this brings. and when you talk to them, you often hear the same patterns of violence, of these criminal

entities and cartels really taking over their homes in countries like guatemala, honduras and ecuador. listen to a conversation i had with one father from ecuador who is here at the roosevelt hotel. >> reporter: the reality is these families, they're very familiar with the laws and they understand the challenges and how long it is going to take for them and how unlikely it can be to become a legal citizen. when you're fleeing conditions like that, you heard him describing there their family had received death threats, and you have two small children with you, they feel they have no other choice. that is the pattern you hear

from the families. they know they're coming from desperate conditions. they know their chance is very slim when they arrive here, but they do not feel there is another way to care for themselves or their families and their hope is to get jobs, to try to contribute to this country. that family tried to head to albany to stay in the home of family members, relatives who are already here, and they don't want to be in shelters for long. they don't want handouts for long. their hope is to find resettlement and really it is going to take action from congress to create a faster path, a more viable path for so many people and to better our relationships and our strategic collaboration with these other countries in the southern border because it is a local problem we're seeing here, but the reality it is global forces and so it is not like the mayor of new york can solve all this on his own. >> absolutely 100%. it is an international global problem for sure. thank you so much. i know it is cold out there. we'll let you go. moving to you, jonathan, here is what democratic mayor of

chicago said about the situation in his city just last week. take a listen. >> we're housing currently nearly 15,000 asylum seekers, providing mental care, healthcare, educating 4500 students, while also creating a pathway to sustainability. but we cannot do this alone. we need more support from the federal government. >> and he's not alone. mayor adams in new york, he's been very vocal about demanding help from the federal government. what is the response from the administration? >> the white house knows this is a real issue and they're hearing it from fellow democrats. big city mayors, the two you just mentioned, and some governors who say this is untenable, there is no way to support all the migrants pouring over the border. and secretly there is the biden administration who have known from the beginning they haven't had a handle on the beginning

and this is escalating into a humanitarian crisis and a civic one and a full blown political crisis as we head into an election year, the early days of 2024. the administration is trying to show they're treating this with urgency. secretary of state blinken, homeland secretary mayorkas. the president himself is set to speak on this, we believe in the days ahead. they know this is an issue. they think the best thing that can happen a deal be struck on the other end of pennsylvania avenue, where congress will be reconvening next week to work out a deal. the hope is that supplemental funding will that will trade border security for aid for ukraine and israel. we heard from the president before the holidays saying he would support real changes there. that worries some in his party who fear it might go too far. it is a recognition from this white house that something has to get done. and that there is a limit to what the president can do on his

own, some speculation he could take some executive orders, certainly the hope is that congress will provide more funding and additional powers. >> secretary castro, there is a new poll out of the associated press, it shows the number of americans concerned about immigration, that has gone up from 27% last year to 35% this year. it is clear voters are paying attention. politically speaking, jonathan did a good job of laying it all out, what faces president biden, but how big a problem is this for him? >> well, that remains to be seen. there is no question that it is on voters' minds. and, of course, the president and the administration know that, we're only 11 months away now from the general election. so this is adding to the pressure on the president and his administration to demonstrate that they are working on this issue, that they're trying to ensure the resources are there so that migration is managed effectively and also humanely because as jonathan noted, this is not just the issue for the president, the

challenge is not just on the right, on his right, and republicans creating a boogie man out of this situation, which they always do, but also on the left, and a disappointment among some in the democratic party that he hasn't done more for dreamers or to try and push immigration reform, even if ultimately that wouldn't happen. so, he's trying to walk a very fine line here and the devil is in the details as it often is, in legislation, can he make changes to the system but then also not remake the system in the image of steven miller or donald trump. early on, some of what the white house seemed to be contemplate to compromise on was things like essentially title 42 authority, bringing that back, or something that looked like it. and ending or limiting parole authority, which would give the president the authority to allow

people who normally wouldn't be admitted to be admitted temporarily. and other things that seem to most asylum system in a direction that just a few years go before donald trump would have been unthinkable, not only to democrats, but to people in the middle. so the devil is in the details. we'll see how that goes. and the biden administration, i think overall, you know, hopes that something can get done here. >> jonathan, here comes some political cynicism or reality, you tell me, because house republicans are eager to put this issue front and center, right? speaker johnson is leading a contingent of 60 republicans to eagle pass, texas, tomorrow, they'll talk about all this. nbc news learned that a bipartisan group of senators is back in d.c. to resume talks on this issue. but do republicans have any actual incentive to fix the problem? or is it more politically advantageous for them to just keep blaming the white house in this election year?

>> this is one of the great beltway questions right now there does seem to be a good faith effort in the senate to try to get a deal done. enough republicans there, first of all, many want to get the ukraine and israel aid passed and there does seem to be, they want something real, it is going to be tough, tougher than the white house wants. they want something at the border. the house is another matter. there are some republicans who are in biden districts, they represent districts that biden won in 2020 who probably would want a deal. there are others more mainstream republicans who also had good faith hopes for governing and want to get something done. but it remains to be seen where johnson will come down. he's such a slim margin in terms of holding on to his speakership. he has -- the white house is feeling him out as a negotiator, hasn't gotten much done just yet. and now we're barreling into the next few weeks, where not only

is this border security supplemental foreign aid funding deal need to be discussed, but so does a deal to keep the government open. that first deadline is rapidly approaching two plus weeks away. >> i want to ask you, finally, secretary castro, this question. is there anything the white house can do to deal with this crisis without congress' help? >> very limited. and the administration to their credit has tried, i think, about as much as they can. for instance, with regard to the migrants, they made it easier for some of them to actually be able to work. that's something that big city mayors brought to their attention and said look, a lot of folks want to be able to provide for themselves and also take some of that strain off of our budgets. the white house pushed for that and had limited success. there are some things. but congress is the one that needs to get the job done here and republicans have been obstructionists when it comes to doing that.

>> all right, jonathan lemire, julian castro, important conversations. we have developing news during the legal fight over the border. the justice department is giving texas until tomorrow to announce that it will not eorce a new law that gives state police the power to arrest suspected undocumented migrants. according to a letter, sent to governor greg abbott, obtained by nbc news, the doj says if texas doesn't stand down on the law they will sue to stop it. they say the law is unconstitutional because it interferes with the federal government's responsibility to regulate immigration and control the border. still to come this hour, the unsure future for donald trump on two state primary ballots. just how high will this ballot battle go in the american court system? you're watching msnbc. le go in system you're watching msnbc. a force to be reckon with. no, not you saquon. hm? you! your business bank account with quickbooks money,

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donald trump could take multiple fights over his 2024 ballot eligibility to the next level. as early as today, they're expected to make appeals to rulings in maine and colorado blocking him from their primary ballots under the constitution's insurrection clause. trump's legal team would appeal the maine secretary of state's decision to that state's highest court and appeal to the u.s. supreme court the colorado supreme court's decision to keep him off that state's ballot. the colorado republican party has asked the u.s. supreme court to intervene in that case. vaughn hillyard is reporting for us from des moines, iowa.

also with us is carol lamb, former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst. welcome to you both. vaughn, how is the trump team expected to approach this? >> reporter: at this point here, the colorado republican party is already appealed the colorado supreme court's ruling which puts him on the ballot until the u.s. supreme court were to, if they were to do so, affirm the colorado supreme court's decision. and then in the state of maine, we're expecng the trump legal team to file their appeal in the coming days as we. under maine's statute, they have the superior court will have until january 17th to issue their decision in maine. we should get that decision pretty quickly and there is no reason to believe the u.s. supreme court would hear the colorado case any sooner than that. and there really is no timeline for the u.s. supreme court to take up the appeal. it could be weeks, it could be months. despite colorado voting o super tuesday on march 5th and despite

caucus and eight days after that voters in new hampshire going to their state's primary, there is nothing that says the u.s. supreme court will have to decide the merits of this case before most republican voters will have their say on who their nominee should be. >> so, carol, does donald trump have a strong case to get either of these ballot decisions overturned? >> whether he has a strong case or not is really an issue that is up for grabs at this point because this is a institute, this insurrection ban, this was enacted in the 14th amendment to address confederacy, to address situations where soldiers and supporters of the segregationalists in the civil war were talking about running for office again. and so, it has really not been used since that time and that was about 150 years ago. so there are a lot of issues

that remain to be cleared up, and so the supreme court is well aware of the stakes, i think if they do accept one case for review, either the maine or the colorado one, they will probably accept both for review. and they could make a decision that knocks all of these challenges pursuant to the insurrection ban, knocks all of them out because they could say that a candidate for president is not subject to the insurrection ban. that's one of the issues that is just not clear in the constitution. they could also decide that congress has to act first in terms of setting out the criteria for how states should consider the insurrection ban. this is also not clear in the constitution. so, whether donald trump has a good case or not again is not clear as well. but it is possible that the supreme court could make a single decision that applies to

all states, but it is also possible that they could consider the state laws and the implementation of those laws on a state by state basis, which means that one state might be correct in leaving donald trump off the ballot and another state may be incorrect. very tough to say right now. >> that it is. it is a federalist approach versus the state approach, considering every state has its own election laws. donald trump's lawyer says his legal tactics in all of his cases have one major strategic objective, delay, delay, delay. do you agree with cob and where does his absolute immunity argument fall on the spectrum of frivolous? >> well, there is no question that delay is to donald trump's advantage. that's why he doesn't file paper until the very last minute, last

deadline he has. that's his right under the rules. i will say that with respect to the ballot issues, the courts do have very strict deadlines. state courts have strict deadlines as vaughn was saying, with respect to when they have to rule on those issues, 14 days, 20 days, but they could rule faster. and that will take away some of the delay that donald trump is obviously trying to take advantage of now. the presidential immunity issue is most likely to be decided in a way that perhaps doesn't make anybody happy. there are a lot of aspects to the presidential immunity issue. one thing that does seem to be pretty clear is that there is not going to be a supreme court opinion and, of course this is speculation on my part, but it does not appear that there is going to be a ruling by the supreme court that a former president is immune from prosecution for any and all

actions that he took while president. that's a very, very broad kind of immunity that president trump is trying to get at this point. and there are lots of nuances that can be applied in any analysis, was this a truly presidential act as a former president as opposed to a current president immune from prosecution. those are a couple of the big issues that the supreme court is going to have to decide. >> and good luck with all that. thank you so much, vaughn hillyard and carol lam, appreciate you both. coming up in the next hour here on msnbc, we're going to continue this observation with ethan strimling, a former state senator. he filed one of the challenges to trump appearing on that state's ballot. but, first, more breaking news from harvard, the letter from claudine gay about stepping down and who we now know will replace her. we'll explain after this. o we ne her. we'll explain after this

the 2024 primary season officially kicks off in iowa in 13 days. it will be the first test of strength for candidates not named donald trump to see whether they even have the support to make it to the first in the nation new hampshire primary the following week. 40% of the new hampshire electorate is made up of so-called undeclared voters who can choose in whatever primary they want to vote. nbc's emma barnett spoke to some of those undeclared voters to get an idea of the power they could hold in the nominating contest. >> so i know you a group chat. is there a name? >> we like to think of ourselves as the first in the nation friends. that's how we became friends. if it wasn't for the first in the nation primary, we wouldn't have met. >> first in the nation. >> reporter: these three women have become close friends, participating in what new hampshire is known for, politics. >> what makes the first in the nation primary so special?

>> the incredible access to the candidates. when the candidates recognize you, you know that you've been to a lot of their events. >> reporter: they have attended dozens of town halls similar to this one, where they get to meet presidential candidates face to face. they know how consequential this election is, and they take their role as early primary voters very seriously. that's why all these ladies are registered as undeclared voters in state, they can choose to vote in the democratic or republican primary. thalia and hela just changed from democrat to undeclared this cycle. >> the whole point was to stop trump and make sure he's not the nominee. that was the impetus for changing my affiliation. >> reporter: is this your first time voting in a republican primary in the state? >> yes. >> reporter: they're three of many voters but their mentality is similar to a lot of others i've talked to in the state. the big question is do their views signal a broader trend, a potential liability for the former president and current

front-runner? >> if you don't get out and vote, we can put this to bed. >> reporter: the poll shows trump miles ahead of nikki haley, christie, everyone else in the field right now. do you believe that to be an accurate reflection of what you're hearing and seeing on the ground and among your friends in new hampshire? >> no. i think nikki haley is going to perform a lot better in new hampshire than the polls are showing. a lot of independents are going to come out. >> a good percentage of voters that are undecided, they make up their minds in the voting booth, like right then and there. >> and our thanks to nbc's emma barnett for that reporting. let's discuss all this with susan del percio, msnbc political analyst, good friend to us. let's get into this, susan. how crucial could those undeclared voters be for the new hampshire results because how many do you suspect might be like that one woman who is sitting in the center who said i reregistered for a different

party so i could ensure by my vote that donald trump would not win? >> that number is going to be very influential i believe because i think there are a lot of democrats who did become undeclared, so they could stop donald trump. but also it is interesting, we have to keep in mind there is no official or sanctioned primary on the democratic side. so that 40% isn't going to split in any shape or form. if they come out to vote, they're going to vote in the republican primary. and that in itself will probably give nikki haley a much better chance of being competitive. and when it comes to new hampshire, you just -- you just don't know how it is going to break. but i think if she has a good night in iowa, she may have a shot at it. >> you advised plenty of candidates, republicans and democrats i might add, with three weeks left before the new hampshire primary, candidates, they want to avoid the viral moments like nikki haley's

answer. whatfor candidates to handle the final stretch? >> no matter how exhausted they are, they got to stay on their game. this is it. this is the final. it comes down to being can you perform under these circumstances? because certainly you're going to have to perform if you're president. there is no excuses. nor is there an excuse for nikki haley's answer, it was very calculated and it backfired tremendously. but that being said, i think nikki haley will probably be given a pass in iowa for it and if she does well in iowa, which i think she could beat ron desantis in, i think that will give her a ton of momentum going into new hampshire. >> the wind at her back, it appears. thank you so much. still to come, a sustainable and generous solution to indigenous communities without home heating. we're going to look into the program helping families through the most frigid months of the year. months of the year

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it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. back now to that breaking news out of harvard university. in a new letter, the president of harvard says she will resign. the provost will be serving as interim president. he is an economist as well as a physician. rehema ellis is following the story. i know this news has just broke. this comes as gay has faced

allegations of plagiarism over her response to antisemitism there. so what did she say in her letter? >> we just got this letter. i'm going to read a little bit of it. it says this is not a decision i came to easily. indeed, it has been difficult beyond words because i have looked forward to working with so many of you to advance your commitment to academic excellence that has propelled the great university across centuries. but after consultation, it has become clear it is in the best interest of harvard for me to resign so our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge on the focus of institution rather than any individual. this comes just a matter of days, almost hours, of a scathing editorial in the crimson harvard. the newspaper for harvard university. it had said that essentially it

was time for president gay to step aside. she's been under intense scrutiny and criticism since that scathing hearing in congress back on december 5th. she is the second university president and female now to resign. there were three women from elite ivy league colleges as you remember who sat in on that congressional hearing and asked questions about the conduct of students on campus around antisemitism. the president of the university of pennsylvania already resigned. in fact, she resigned just a matter of days after the hearing and now, we have this resignation by claudine gay. she was heralded when she was appointed to this position just six months ago. it was an historic appointment for her and now it is

interestingly enough, announced unanimous support for gay after extensive deliberations on this and now just days later, we're finding that it's a unanimous conclusion on the part of the corporation that they're accepting her resignation. >> yeah. absolutely. it has been hard for harvard to get out from under the tremendous bad press and publicity. she's not leaving the harvard campus. she was a professor of government and african-american studies. she'll be returning. it was at the end of that letter you were reading through for us that. and make note that the provost, he has since 2011, been the chief academic officer of the campus. he will be the interim president. serves as a professor in four different dwiss. medical school, arts and

sciences, kennedy school and chance school of public health. you know -- >> it's historic in a lot of ways. she was recruited to harvard in 2006 as a professor from government. she had come from 2000 to 2005. she was at stanford university. assistant of political science in the political science department and she was heralded. this was a highly celebrated decision to appoint her as the head of harvard university college and now as i said earlier, it is also historic that she is stepping down. the controversy seemingly too much to bear. >> i think you're right. thank you so much for this breaking news coverage. next hour, we'll get back to the deadly plane collision in tokyo. how one plane heading to a disaster zone ended up part of its own disaster. you're watching msnbc. d up partf its own disaster you're watching msnbc.

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