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making it bigger too? the president-elect floats u.s. expansion into greenland and the panama canal while taking shots at canada's potential to be the 51st state. it is a strategy, scare tactic or something else entirely breaking news, a u.s. official just told nbc news that the passenger plane that crashed in kazakhstan on christmas day may have been hit by a russian anti-aircraft system. the latest on that and the victims and survivors from that horrific crash coming up. and 20 years of pain and heartbreak brought back to the surface today on the anniversary of the massive indian ocean tsunami that killed nearly a quarter of a million people. straight ahead the deeply personal stories from those who lived through one of the deadliest disasters in recorded history. a lot to get to on this day, but we start with president-elect trump who spent his christmas dreaming of an expanding american empire.

in the past 24 hours he has doubled down on calls for the u.s. to try to buy greenland, retake the panama canal and strong arm canada into becoming america's 51st state, part of a series of messages trump has been sending for weeks now. what axios described as a blend of trolling, negotiation and intimidation. many international leaders don't seem sure what to make of it, but the heads of panama and greenland were outraged. canadian prime minister justin trudeau trump has mockingly called the governor of canada, suggested the president-elect is just joking. joking or not, eric trump summed it up just before christmas eve posting images of all three locations in trump's amazon shopping cart with the caption "we are so back." i want to bring in nbc's aaron gilchrist at the white house, john allen, politics reporter carlos [ inaudible ] a republican congressman from

florida and political analyst. aaron, give us some more context for these messages. i mean it isn't just coming out of the blue, right? >> not totally out of the blue, no, chris. there's still not real clarity around what the end game is here for these comments. this past sunday, president-elect trump was in arizona giving a speech there and brought up this idea of taking back the panama canal if panama doesn't make it less expensive for businesses that are maybe based here in the united states to transit through the canal. we know that this goes back more than 100 years when the u.s. was a part of the construction effort of this canal, but, of course, there was this treaty in the '70s where the united states started to give up control of the canal, which wasn't completed until the '90s, but today, panama owns, controls, the panama canal, but the president-elect seemed to indicate that it's just too expensive for american businesses to go through there and that if panama doesn't do

something about that, he might try to do something to take back control. there's also this talk about greenland, something the president-elect brought up in his first administration, the idea of buying greenland from denmark, a territory of denmark. the danes said back then no deal, not looking to sell anything and that is again the case, the response that we've gotten from the danes they're not looking to sell greenland. it's a place of importance in the arctic circle. the united states does have a military base on greenland, but it's something that is going to continue to be an autonomous territory of den mark it seems. >> jonathan, these are not the same three kinds of things. when trump talks about places like greenland and panama, saving americans money, accessing resources. can you explain the thinking there as opposed to what he's talking about when he says maybe canada should be the 51st state? >> yeah. chris, i hesitate to get inside

the mind of the president-elect exactly, but i think what seems clear is that he is having fun at the expense of canadian prime minister justin trudeau there, having fun at the expense of the canadian people. obviously, you know, canada is a large country with tremendous, vast resources. anybody would want canadian territory. as it stands right now, you know, it's the closest ally to the united states and it's a huge physical buffer. we've got oceans on our east, west, we've got canada to the north and, you know, mexico to the south that we're involved in serious economic treaties with. we're in a pretty good security situation. i'm not sure why anybody would want to mess that up. with regard to greenland and panama, there are economic reasons, but the danes, as aaron said r not interested in selling greenland and the panamanians are not interested in giving up control of the canal, obviously,

a huge economic driver for them. unless president-elect trump is willing to go to war with these countries, you know, i think this is mostly just talk and an effort to intimidate a little bit. >> no doubt, congressman, sometimes donald trump just likes to start a conversation or get attention for something he says, but let's talk about panama. i want to play for you what trump's former chief of staff mick mulvaney said about it. >> this is a negotiation. by the way, one of the reasons trump is so good at negotiating it's a credible threat. if he says, you know, look we're going to have problems with panama if they don't lower the rates, i don't envision american troops going in to retake the canal, but you got to think that somebody out there is scratching their head going is donald trump crazy enough to do something like that and it's that viable threat that's going to give him negotiating leverage not a lot of folks could come up with. >> is that the most likely thing, that this is all a negotiation? >> chris, i do think that's the

most likely scenario here, and donald trump has really managed to find an intersection point between isolationism and imperialism or expansionism which i think a lot of people around world are probably skrachlg scratching their heads. i will say in terms of negotiation tactics, obviously, if the president can extract some kind of benefit for u.s. industry, for u.s. exporters, that would be a good thing, but there is a risk in offending and embarrassing foreign leaders. these are people, at least in these three countries, who have to get elected to be in office. they have to be respected by their own populations, and these kinds of insults could provoke them into a confrontation with the united states. obviously, not a military confrontation because none of those countries could compete with us in that way, but it really does just kind of deteriorate the relations

between the u.s. and other countries and we know that can be important when it comes time to build international coalitions, when it -- [ inaudible ] new trade agreements so there is a risk here even if it's a negotiation tactic. >> yeah. i think, jonathan, corey lewandowski told newsmax trump's calls to have the u.s. claim the panama canal and greenland were purposely outrageous declarations, but if that's the case, is there danger in treating international diplomacy as some kind of game? >> i don't think corey lewandowski speaks for donald trump. cory is somebody that has been close to him at certain points but the idea that corey lewandowski -- >> i don't know if he speaks for him, but he has an opinion he thinks this is frankly -- >> sure -- >> -- purposely outrageous. >> here's the danger. this is what i think the dangerous is. i think the congressman is

right, the danger you end up alienating allies and end up putting these folks in a bad position and they may make decisions adverse as a result of it. the other things, if anybody took seriously that donald trump was thinking about using american military forces against canada, there's a whole group called nato and canada is a nato ally we have treaties, a, not to attack it, and b, defense of nato countries agreement among nato countries. he would not be attacking canada, he would be attacking the entire western alliance. i don't think any of that is going to happen for mostly that reason, but, you know, look, trump wants to cause trouble and stir up some chaos and see what falls out of the trees, he's going to continue to do that for the next four years. he campaigned on reducing inflation and campaigned on, you know, securing the border.

i don't think he was talking about the canadian border. but he now has the power to do all of the other things he would like to. >>, you know, i think there is another question, congressman, and that is, we saw when the country headed for a shut down, there was a line some members of congress were drawing, raises the question even if trump were to be serious about any of this, would congress support, republicans in congress, support him? >> chris, i think it's pretty clear that for decisions where congressional approval or support is required, some republicans, both in the house and senate , have already showna willingness to stand up for those institutions and say we're not going to support the president here, even though he's very popular right now, especially among republicans and did have a strong electoral college victory in this last election. of course in the senate, we saw how a group of senators

immediately shot down the matt gaetz appointment. some people were wondering if that was going to happen and the house, when the former and future president came together with elon musk to force them to raise the debt ceiling pretty significant said we're not going to do it. i do think when congress is involved, we're going to see more policy stability for the decisions that president trump can make on his own, i think that's where we're going to see more instability and a lack of predictability. >> jonathan, look, he's not even president yet, obviously. he is the president-elect. but if you're a member of the u.s. senate and you just got re-elected to a six-year term and he's going to be gone in four years, i mean, do you think that there's any doubt that we're going to have these situations where donald trump wants something and it's either going to be fish or cut bait?

they will have to decide whether or not they have a [ inaudible ] line? >> well, chris, let me say if i was a united states senator [ inaudible ] asking for time off for good behavior because that seems like a terrible -- kind of for the reason -- yeah they will have to make determinations about not only what do they do in terms of the places where they have power but what do they say about what the new president is doing himself. we have seen moments where they stood up to him and basically told him to take a flying leap when he nominated matt gaetz to be attorney general. we may see other nominees fall by the wayside. you have to wait and see what happens in january. but, yeah, i mean these senators are going to be put in a bad position and for the republican senators they're going to be put in a bad position of, you know, having to break with the trump base every time they break with him and his outside allies,

which have seen this before, steve bannon and others, who put tremendous pressure on those senators who are breaking with him every time they do it, every time they can be found out to be doing it -- sometimes it's behind the scenes they're not providing their votes for things without having votes on the floor -- so we're going to see that done and complain at the same time you're going to see democratic senators put in a bad position every time he does something that crosses party lines, crosses ideological lines and seems to appeal to democratic voters. >> aaron gilchrist and congressman carlos cur vel lo. john, you're staying with me. coming up in 90 seconds a plane crash that killed dozens even as others escaped with their lives. the footage that has some questioning whether this jet was, in fact, shot down. in fac. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ woah, limu! we're in a parade. everyone customize and save hundreds on car insurance

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if it was a russian strike that u.s. officials say would be more evidence of russia's recklessness in its war with ukraine. nbc's steve patterson has more on this. >> reporter: new images of that terrifying plane crash. witnesses capturing the final moments before an kazakhstan airlines passenger jet with 62 passengers and five crew on board start ds losing altitude and then seemingly straightened out before crashing in a kazakhstan field in a fiery explosion. a stunning survivor stumbling out of the plane's wreckage. this russian rescuer on scene told reporters we saw the plane crash with our own eyes and quickly packed up to head to the scene for rescue. at least 29 people survived the initial crash including three children. stunning video from inside the plane as it was still in the air shows people calm, even after oxygen masks dropped. the flight took off from azerbaijan wednesday heading to

the chechen capital of grozny in southern russia. the aircraft was diverted due to fog according to russian state media reports. tracking data from flight radar 24 shows the plane making a figure eight near the airport in kazakhstan and then gaining and losing altitude in the final minutes before impact. the russian aviation authority blaming an apparent bird strike for the devastating crash. birds famously struck u.s. airways flight 1549 the so-called miracle on the hudson, where all 155 people on board the plane survived the dramatic landing. the investigation remains ongoing as speculation swirls around a theory that the plane was shot down, including from a ukrainian national security official who says it was shot down by a russian air defense system. experts also pointing to the kind of damage to the aircraft and recent military activity. >> examination of the wreckage and circumstances surrounding

the environment in southwest russia leads osprey to assess the flight was likely shot down by a russian air defense system. >> reporter: the kremlin responding it would be incorrect to make any hypothesis before the investigation comes to conclusion. >> thanks to steve patterson for that. joining us now is john cox, a 30-year veteran with u.s. airways and ceo of safety operating systems and an nbc news aviation analyst. i know you've had a chance to see that video just now. there's a lot of footage of the wreckage on the ground. does that look like a bird strike to you? >> absolutely not. the entire flight path of the airplane is inconsistent with a bird strike. there's a growing body of evidence that the airplane was subjected to an explosion nearby that had things penetrate the vertical stabilizer and some other areas so the investigators are going to have to look very carefully at the high

probability that this airplane was in the proximity of an explosion. >> a high probability that apparently leads this u.s. official who spoke to nbc news agrees with that this looks like it could very well have been part of an anti-missile system. what specific things, john, would they be looking for to tell them what the cause of this crash was? >> very specifically, if you look at particularly the tail of the airplane, you see a lot of punctures. this is similar in appearance to the malaysian airlines flight 17 that was shot down, that the russians shot down. there's consistency in this sort of damage. there's also some areas, a couple of hatchs that are blown open. this, too, would be consistent with the airplane being close to an explosion. also the flight path of the airplane indicates that the pilots had a limited -- very limited control of the airplane and that up and down pitching is

a natural phenomenon that airplanes do that flight controls are designed to dampen out, indicating the dampening is not occurring. there's a lot of circumstantial evidence that says the investigators need to look real closely at whether this airplane sustained damage from an anti-missile system. >> obviously, what you have here is a political element in the investigation, right. ukraine suggesting russian defense fire was behind it. russia trying to downplay say it's way too early, but even if -- and, obviously, you always want to be on scene, you always want to be able to look at and collect and then analyze anything that might be on the ground, is there any doubt in your mind that at least from most experts we'll get a clear answer about what happened here? >> i think there's enough circumstantial evidence, there's enough video evidence for us to be able to draw some pretty strong conclusions.

also, the kazakhstan investigative agency said they're going to comply with the worldwide standard for accident investigation, and if they, in fact, do that, then we'll have a report and it will be objective. that's the way that it's set up. so i'm hopeful. i think there's going to be representatives from embraer, from the united states because of the engine manufacturers, they're going to be trained, highly experienced accident investigators on-site and so with those people, those professionals on-site, i'm hopeful that we'll get a good objective clear report. >>, obviously, i'm an amateur but when i saw that plane i thought it's very likely there would be no survivors. obviously, there were. you've flown for decades. what do you make of the fact that the pilots were able to bring down this plane, with 29 survivors, even after something

clearly went terribly wrong? >> as i saw the airplane in that right bank, it's obvious that they're trying to get to the runway and they were able to reduce the rate of descent to where when you look at aircraft accidents this airplane didn't hit that hard and it was at relatively low speeds. both of those factors combined together to make this airplane or this accident much more survivable. so i was very pleased to hear there were survivors. i was, obviously, saddened that there were fatalities. the -- it appears that this crew was really fighting for control and once we get to cockpit voice recorder data recorder we'll learn how difficult this airplane may have been to control and what this flight crew actually faced. >> john cox, it's unfortunate we always see you in circumstances

like this. your expertise is invaluable. thank you for joining us. much appreciated. >> my pleasure. >> still ahead, the long journey home. 119 million americans on the move as the holiday season winds down. we're tracking the roads and the airports and some headache inducing weather. keep it right here. right here ♪ like a relentless weed, moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission... and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. healing is possible with tremfya. ask your doctor about tremfya today.

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the post christmas travel

rush is on, but extreme weather across the country is snarling millions as they try to head home by land and by air. 8 million people are bracing for snow in the south, the midwest and pacific northwest expecting a storm pattern packing strong winds, rain, hail, even potentially tornadoes later today. nbc's marissa parra joins us from hartsfield-jackson international in atlanta, dana griffin, in portland, oregon. marissa, you've been at the airport all morning how are things looking there? >> hey, chris, i can tell you that my answer right now is going to be a little different than it was when asked that same question a couple hours ago and that's because we are really seeing that weather starting to ramp up in texas specifically when we look at the flight aware misery map because we know just how miserable delays and cancellations r the main problem area really is those dallas airports. we're seeing hundreds of delays, cancellations for flights particularly those that are going inbound, supposed to be

making their way to dallas, including right here in atlanta. this is the busiest airport and i can tell you right now it is busy but we're seeing things run smoothly at airports around the country but those delays that we are seeing at atlanta airport all the flights supposed to be making their way to dallas. we knew the weather was going to start rolling in causing problems. dana will talk about the weather in the pacific northwest in a moment but the biggest problem spot that we are seeing when it comes to flights is in the dallas area. of course we'll just have to wait and see how it impacts other airports as that weather continues to move through the country. in terms of travel, we know the busiest day is supposed to be tomorrow and monday when it comes to the skies, but when it comes to the roads that is the most popular form of travel and we talked about how this is supposed to be a record breaking year for holiday 2024 travel, chris, and the majority of people take to the roads and so we do expect, as the last couple days where minimum traffic

according to aa a the traffic expected to ramp up. take it easy whether traveling in the roads or skies because you will not be the only one, chris. >> well, since you mentioned, dana, let's go to dana. how are things looking in oregon and the pacific northwest in general? what are they bracing for? >> yeah. chris, right now the rain has stopped, but that is not the end of the storm system because we've got another one offshore making its way to our area. we've seen some heavy rain, some snow in the cascades and right now you've got a lot of saturated ground out here. reports of trees and power lines that have fallen. it snarled traffic on a local highway here. because of the impacts that are happening across the country as marissa mentioned it is impacting holiday travel. even if you're not in one of those areas impacted directly, you could feel it say if you're waiting on a plane coming from chicago o'hare because they had

dense fog there earlier this morning. right now we are seeing clear skies for the moment, but officials are warning people that the rain will start again some time this evening and bring more atmospheric rivers to our area. we've had back-to-back systems and that's what caused the high swells we saw earlier this week. remember that video of the santa cruz wharf that plunged into the ocean because the swells there were so high. well, that building seen floating in the water is sitting on the santa cruz beach. we were there yesterday and saw several on lookers on christmas day jumping on taking selfies. onlookers trying to see what has become a spectacle out there. and it's important to mention that because there is a new high surf warning in the pacific northwest, specifically in that bay area, because you're going to get more squalls that will last through sunday. officials are warning people to be careful, avoid those beach

areas. we did have a man die. he was near the santa cruz area on the beach and got trapped under some debris. chris. >> word to the wise. marissa parra and dana griffin, thank you so much. still ahead from despair to determination, how democrats are mapping out a comeback plan for the mid terms in 2026 despite some tough odds. ♪ febreze! ♪ when it comes to my space... i've got to keep things fresh and tidy. just like mama taught me. so i'm always spraying febreze fabric spray... to freshen up and fight odors. smells like home. smells like flowers to me, man. thank you, zeke. ♪ lalalalala. ♪

for democrats the end of 2024 can't come quickly enough, but here's the good thing about the aftermath of a bad election. two years can pass really quickly and they're already looking ahead to opportunities in the 2026 midterms. that's when every one of the 435 members of the house will be up for re-election, which means republicans will have to defend a razor thin majority. on the senate side democrats need a net gain of four seats to take control. there's good news for them, 20 republicans will be up for re-election, compared to 13 democrats. the bad news many of those republicans are running in deep red states. john allen is back with me, also with us michael hardway former communications direction for the current house minority leader, mark mckinnon served as an adviser to george w. bush and john mccain creator of the circus. john, only one republican senator is running in a state

won by vice president kamala harris, two democrats are up for re-election in states won by trump. break down the key senate races for us. >> yeah. i think we may have a graphic here, chris, to show folks. the republican running in the state that kamala harris won is senator susan collins of maine. i like to think of her as a charlie brown candidate, by that i mean, if the football is the senate seat she holds in maine, democrats are charlie brown. you know, thinking about kicking that field goal with that ball and susan collins and the republicans are lucy picking it up at the last moment and letting the democrats fall. there's been no indication she's in actual trouble at all. you got jon ossoff in georgia who was elected in a runoff in january 2021 at a time when donald trump was telling republicans not to vote. we've seen georgia move in the republican direction. midterm elections tend to cut

against the president's party so possibility that democrats hold that seat. i'm sorry and then in michigan garrett peters. a movement towards trump in michigan this last election and again that sort of natural movement of voters against the president's party usually happens, so, you know, both michigan and georgia will be interesting races to see. democrats have to come up with an economic message if they hope to hold on to those seats and hope to have incursions into republicaner arer to. >> excellent point he makes, michael. the people and then the message. take us behind the scenes. what's happening right now among democrats as they try to get candidates and their message in place and also maybe raise a little money? >> yeah. i think our party as a whole is looking for candidates who have more working class experience and more community-level experience that can translate at a national level. the reality is that we have a record to run on in terms of 50 million people with health care

because of obama care in terms of unemployment rate being cut in half under joe biden and these other things but i don't think we always have the best messages and the way we tell those stories ant always good. we have to be in the business of demonstrating instead of communicating what we tell people they should have. for instance, instead of saying, you know, we gave you tax relief, we should be sending people checks and those checks should say from joe biden. we have to be more in the business of that of demonstrating our value instead of telling people after the fact what we think we've done for them. >> well that was really what got donald trump re-elected in many ways, didn't it, mark? also, let's not forget the fact that disadvantage in fundraising. i wonder as we look forward is itt donations after the kind of november that democrats just had? >> no. i think that people actually see this as pretty cyclical, which it is. if you want to be on popular politics today get elected and

hang on to your seat because it will likely be in jeopardy next time up. in all the years of my campaigning i learned a lot more from losing campaigns than winning campaigns. winning is fun but losing is crushing and when you experience it you don't want to do it again. democrats are in the desert and you get better finding water when in the desert. but the thing that i've also learned is that parties tonight lead people. people lead parties. the democrats need not just the, you know, a hundred point plan, they need a moses to lead them out of the desert and that's part of what we'll see in the next four years and through the primary process. who understand what's happening in america right now. it's clear from the last election that things are a lot different than they used to be. >> michael, in the recent senate elections in key race, republicans were favored to win the party nominated, extreme candidates who went on to lose in the general, right. do you think that there are going to be similar issues with

candidate quality again in 2026, particularly if maga candidates do feel emboldened after trump's win? >> i do, but again, to the point you made earlier, the real issue for us as democrats is, many of those seats that are up are in deeply red states. i don't know that those things are gettable. i look at north carolina and say that is a seat that democrats can win in 2026, but i think whether the person is a maga candidate or whether they're reasonable, i think our biggest challenge for '26 in trying to take back the senate those are in deeply red states that will be difficult to win. >> mark, history suggests republicans will be on defense, right. the party of the sitting president has lost house seat in i think 18 of the 20 midterms since world war ii. how much of what happens, though, on the congressional side do you think will be driven by what donald trump does or does not do? >> well, a lot of it, and that's why trump as being advised and

understand whatever he wants to get done in the first 100 days or the first year because the second year -- people, you know, smart people in public and party like karl rove thought the democrats would get congress and they didn't. they're almost certainly going to have congress, a majority in congress next time, which will thwart the trump agenda. i think that's real politics an looking at it realistically and doesn't matter what trump does. i think given the challenges that he faces it's only going to make it harder. even if he's pretty successful the reality is the pendulum will swing in two years. >> that brings me to president biden. 25 days left in office. "the new york times" reports he's been hoping to go out on a high note. give something to the democrats, right. obviously, he's got -- let's -- a very complicated situation in the middle east. they've been trying to sound hopeful about a peace deal. who knows what will happen there. it wasn't necessarily tremendously popular, the fact

that he pardoned some folks on death row. i wonder what you're hearing about his goals, about his state of mind, and whether or not, frankly, whatever joe biden does in the coming several weeks, will make a difference potentially? >> well, there's things he could do to make a difference. the pardons he's looking at, the pardons he's given, can't really be revoked whereas most of the other things he would try to do, you know, probably have an ability to be revoked. it will be interesting to see if he tries to issue blanket pardons for particular types of crimes, particular sets of people here over the end. that's sort of a permanent thing you can do. things he does by executive order can be rolled back by the president, by the new president, when trump takes office. i would be watching the pardon power in particular but also, you know, as much as joe biden wants to have a full presidency and, you know, make use of all of his time, what we've seen in the last, you know, month or so

is that president-elect trump is more of a fact tore, more of a figure right now than the actual sitting president. >> michael, we only have a short time left, but i wonder if you think there's something that the democrats you're talking to think, hope joe biden might accomplish or might do or if that's not even part of the conversation to be honest? >> yeah. listen, i think pardons he should go deep on those. the criminal justice system is brown. -- broken, and he knows that. he should do more. to john's point those can't be undone. that is the one way he can calcify his legacy on the way out. >> john allen, michael hardway, mark mckinnon, great to have you here today. happy holidays. >> happy holidays. >> an anniversary marked with prayers and tears. survivors of the thailand tsunami share their stories 20 years after one of the deadliest

events in recorded history. here's nbc's hoda kotb reporting from that disaster zone days after it happened. >> just look at it now. many hotels destroyed. others washed away at sea. what took just an instant to wipe out will take years to rebuild, and the force that did that, seemed to come out of nowhere. >> we were absolutely certain we were going to die.

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this century's deadliest natural disaster so far happened 20 years ago today when a tsunami crashed into coastal communities around the indian ocean. commemorations of that devastating tragedy are under way across southeast asia. as the lives of an estimated 230,000 people killed that day are remembered. nbc's janis mackey frayer spoke to survivors. >> reporter: it was the day after christmas 2004 and resorts here in thailand were busy with tourists. >> it was a beautiful day. we had gone hiking that morning. >> we walked up to the beach and it was a few steps up about six steps. >> reporter: by then, disaster had struck across the indian ocean. a magnitude 9.2 earthquake under the sea near indonesia lasting

ten unrelents minutes. the power of it felt hundreds of miles away. there are hotels and resorts along here and people were doing what they do at the beach or at the swimming pool unaware of what was going to happen. first the ocean pulled back from the shore revealing the seabed. then, a mountain of waves came crashing in. captured on video by people who made it to higher ground. two american survivors vacationing at different resorts in thailand that day can still recall every detail. >> it was squeezing me, and i can't quite describe it. i heard after that the water was traveling 250 to 500 miles an hour. >> my body was being crushed and

contorted. my right hand was essentially amputated. it was just an unbelievable moment to realize this is happening to you and that you're going to die instantly. >> reporter: wave after wave at times higher than 100 feet demolished coastal areas in 14 countries. within hours, an estimated 230,000 lives were lost from indonesia to sri lanka, india and thailand. >> i was calling out for my good friend, and i didn't hear anybody's voice. everything was silent. >> reporter: abls, from chicago didn't survive. 20 years on, life around here has in many ways recovered and a shelter set up in the tsunami's wake for orphaned children is now a permanent home for kids in

need. this is a place that has given me everything, says this man, who was 12 years old when the tsunami changed the course of his life. now with two college degrees, he is running the orphanage where he grew up raising 93 kids with help from donations and fundraising. i remember the goodness, he says, of the past. i always till the children, if the tsunami didn't happen we wouldn't have this home to stay together. the worst tsunami in recorded history survival brought unexpected second chances. >> i was 34 years old. i had a life to live, and i did not want to be disabled in any way. i'm an avid skier, mother of three teenagers, i've had a wonderful life. >> i think one of the biggest things is to not blame yourself if you have that survivor's guilt, you've got to let it go. you truly were allowed to

survive for a reason. >> reporter: here every december, volunteers gather at the cemetery for tsunami victims who were never identified. they sweep, clean, and remember the day the water changed everything. janis mackey frayer, nbc news, thailand. still ahead, the new vow from donald trump's incoming border czar. what he's revealing about plans to hold immigrant families with children in detention centers as they wait for deportation. stay close. more "chris jansing reports" just after this. only when i see flakes. then i switch back to my regular shampoo. you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. —he's right, you know. is that tiny troy? the ingredients in head and shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. microbes, really? they're always on your scalp... but good news, there's no itchiness,

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welcome back. this hour, did russia bring down that passenger plane over kazakhstan? a u.s. official tells nbc news that early indications say yes. potentially pinning the blame for dozens of deaths on moscow and the kremlin. so now the question is, what happened and why? plus, split up or stay together? the excruciating choice that donald trump's new border czar says migrant families will have to make if children are here legally but their parents are not. and the vaccine for whooping

cough has been widely available for 80 years. so why are cases of that disease nearing record levels? we'll talk to a health expert. a lot to get to on this thursday, but we begin with that deadly plane crash. a u.s. official telling nbc news early indications show the plane may have been hit by a russian antiaircraft system. right now, 20 people remain in the hospital according to kazakhstan's ministry of emergency services after their flight made that sudden descent killing 38 of the 67 people on board. we want to warn you, the video you're about to see is disturbing. take a look, the view of the flight in its final moments, and then it goes down, and it crashes into a ball of flames in kazakhstan. joining us now is nbc's danielle hamangen. >> this top u.s. official is saying there are indications

this was caused by russia. this has been speculation that had been circulating online for 24 hours now as more video surfaced, as we heard from the survivors of this plane crash and a theory that is now being supported by independent experts who have told us that when you look at the footage of the wreckage of the crash site, there appears to be what looks like holes and damage that looks like it could be caused potentially by shrapnel. they also reviewed footage that was shot by the passengers in the flight, when it was still in the air. they examined the air space at the time of the event, they also as they say listened to what the survivors had to say. they said they heard a loud explosion, that they saw shrapnel pass through the fuselage in the cabin area. all this combined has led experts to believe that this was not caused by bad weather.

this was not caused by a bird strike as had been suggested by russian state media, that this was in fact likely caused by russian air defenses that were activated and launching, trying to shoot down a ukrainian drone in the region. >> chris? >> danielle, thank you for that. meantime, in ukraine, russia launched a wave of attacks on christmas day, targeting the country's energy grid, according to ukrainian officials. president zelenskyy says russia aimed more than 70 missiles and more than 100 drones toward ukraine, sending thousands of families looking for shelter. raf sanchez joins us now with the latest. what can you tell us? >> reporter: hey there, president biden is vowing to continue surging american weapons to ukraine in his final weeks in office. that coming after a widespread russian attack on ukraine on christmas day. ukrainian officials saying

around 70 ballistic and cruise missiles were fired along with more than 100 attack drones and they are saying that the target here was ukraine's energy grid. president zelenskyy accusing vladimir putin of deliberately trying to cripple the power system, to cut off heat and light to ukrainian civilians in the depths of winter. ukraine says that some half a million people were left without power as a result of these strikes. those are mainly in the kharkiv region in the northeast of the country right up against the russian border. now, this has been difficult year for ukraine. they're continuing to lose ground in the east, the toe hold they had managed to capture is under increasing pressure, putin throwing russian troops at it with a lot of support from some 10,000 north korean soldiers who are fighting alongside the russians.

hearing from president biden he remains committed, but he's only in office until january 20th and the big question is then is what will the policy of the new trump administration be? you heard president-elect trump say he's determined to make a deal at some point, he said he thinks he can end this war within 24 hours, and the big, big concern among ukrainian officials is that he may cut off the flow of weapons and support and effectively force the ukrainians to capitulate in front of the russians. i'll send it back to you. >> raf sanchez, thank you for that. joining u.s. now, marc polymeropoulos, an nbc news national security and intelligence analyst. couple of things to get to, marc. let's start with what ukraine's perspective is. they say that this christmas attack was inhuman, but it is happening as u.s. weapons are surging to ukraine, but also as donald trump is weeks from returning to the white house. so, what is russia's strategy

there right now? and what does this attack tell us? >> well, it is clear, chris, that, you know, russia is using this onset of winter and going after the energy infrastructure in ukraine. and it is humane. it is barbaric because this is going to cause incredible suffering, not in terms of the ukrainian military, but the ukrainian civilian population. this has been part of russia's strategy. this attack on christmas certainly is a part of this, but i think you're right, chris, when you sense that, look, in kyiv, officials in ukraine right now are really nervous on what is to come. president biden, you know, announced a surge of equipment but is less than a month left. and so what president -- incoming president-elect trump decides to do is still a mystery. there is a lot of trepidation in kyiv now. >> yeah, a lot of the unknown, but we are approaching the third anniversary of russia's full scale invasion of ukraine. i think that's in february. so, where is this conflict right now and where do you think it is

heading? >> well, look, russia, first and foremost, has taken a staggering number of casualties. u.s. officials have thrown out numbers like 600,000 over the course of this conflict. of course, ukraine is suffering terribly as well. but you have an incoming administration that has said flat out they want to end the war. now what does this mean in terms of on whose terms? ukraine in some sense has some leverage in that the u.s. has approved the use of this u.s. kit, these atacm missiles, but president-elect trump said he does not want to do that. that takes away some leverage. he claims he can stop the war in 24 hours. there is this pending apparent meeting that is going to happen between russian president putin and trump in the early days of the administration, that's going to be very telling to see, first of all, what trump comes to the table with in terms of any peace proposal and how vladimir putin reacts. and so really interesting days ahead. >> yeah, you have the other big story today involving russia,

the crash of this passenger jet in kazakhstan on wednesday and investigators are still trying to obviously determine exactly what happens, that will take a little time. but an expert with an aviation security firm described to nbc what his team saw and let me play that. >> all right so basically he said that the circumstances around this leads them to believe that it was shot down by a russian military air defense system, in addition to that we also heard, we said this at the top here, that there is a u.s. official now saying that those are the indications, people have looked at both the trajectory of the crash and some of the wreckage on the ground have come to similar conclusions. what happened here, marc? >> right, so, it looks like there was, you know, ukrainian drone activity over grozny and in a case of mistaken identity, the russians shot the plane down. now, in classic russian fashion, this has all the earmarks of a cover-up now.

the notion of a bird strike seems a little preposterous when you do see kind of the shrapnel and some of the fuselage and, of course, as you noted these aviation experts, but, chris, what was most telling to me is that the initial comments of the u.s. official, the u.s. intelligence community where i used to work probably has a very good idea of what happened now, and communication intercepts of russian officials likely saying, you know, my god, we did this, and so i think that, you know in the hours and certainly the days ahead we're going to get a sense the russians were responsible and this ends up being just deeply embarrassing for vladimir putin because in effect he killed many of his own citizens. >> in the meantime, this spokesperson for the israeli airline ll said they're suspending flights to moscow in light of this. i wonder what you think this might mean for other airlines that operate in that region generally. >> well, chris, you know, when there is this kind of drone activity where there is military activity, ordinarily the russians would close their air

space. they seem not to have. and so el al took this position probably with the idea they're not sure they can trust the russians to close air space when their aircraft -- their civilian aircraft would be coming in. i think you'll probably see the russians try to do it best they can to reassure the international community. but the el al move just now, which i certainly noticed as well, was telling because i don't think they trust right now that their aircraft, their civilian aircraft, their national airline is safe arriving in moscow. >> marc polymeropoulos, good to see you. thank you so much for coming on. coming up in 90 seconds, new details on just what donald trump's plans are for the southern border. e southern border. ♪ like a relentless weed, moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms

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a longer and happier life. the farmer's dog makes weight management easy with fresh food pre-portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come. donald trump's new border czar says the administration's plans for mass deportations will include moving entire families into detention centers and deporting parents even if it means separating them from young children who were born in the u.s. i want to bring in nbc's aaron gilchrist in washington. so, homan's interview with "the washington post" goes further than what we heard before on how the mass deportations might work. what can you tell us? >> the plans are still very much being developed.

he just finished talking with nbc's sam brock and laid out a little more detail, similar to what you saw in "the washington post" there, and he explained that there is a need to remove dangerous people who are in this country without documentation. he also talked about the concerns around families and whether they might be put into what we have been calling detention centers. he explained they're more -- they're less like jails and more like tent structures potentially that could be set up similar to what we saw, he said, during the obama administration where families would be able to be in these spaces together, where there would be immigration judges brought in to deal with some of these asylum requests and cases for permission to stay here in the united states. but he said there will be an effort, very quickly, to remove people who don't have permission to be in the united states and that part of the process that perhaps now allows people to come into the united states, to start these immigration proceedings, and then be released into the country as

they await these hearings is something that the trump administration doesn't want to be doing and so you would see potentially these families put in these detention centers as we have been calling them. it is also important to note, i think, from the interview he did with our sam brock that there are discussions happening now about what would happen when you have a case where there is a parent who is not in the country with permission and a child who is born here becomes a citizen and whether those families might be separated. i want you to hear a little bit of tom homan's response to that question. >> we have no plan to separate children and parents. the parents will have to make a decision. that's parenting 101. but you, if you -- i'll say it again, if you choose to have a child here in the united states while you know you're here illegally under court order to deport, that's on you. i think most parents will keep their families together and will do what we got to do, but i'm hoping the parents make the right decision.

they made a bad decision in the beginning, i hope they make a better decision on the follow-up. >> this is a key focus of tom homan in his work before the he did say that there is still development of an exact plan that is happening right now, chris, and that he would be sitting down with other leaders in the department of homeland security or incoming leaders in the department of homeland security and, of course, president-elect trump before these plans are fully rolled out to the public to understand exactly what it is he plans to do as border czar after january 20th. >> aaron gilchrist, thank you for that update. meantime, tragic news out of the middle east. israel and hamas blaming each other for delaying a cease-fire deal. palestinian media reports that five journalists were killed overnight in a gaza strike that hit their broadcast van. three newborn babies also reportedly died in frigid temperatures. they froze to death. a heartrending look into the dangers for those trying to survive the winter in gaza's

tent camps.orani joins us live from the ground in beirut. hala, what can you tell us about the tragic deaths of these journalists and these babies? >> reporter: well, we're seeing which was parked according to the hospital outside of hospital grounds of the hospital in the central part of the gaza strip. we understand that there were five journalists inside that vehicle and that the vehicle was targeted while they were sleeping inside of it. one of the journalists according to reports was at the hospital because his wife was in labor, about to give birth to their child. so the five journalists were killed, they worked for a gaza-based tv station. the idf said it targeted in that

part of gaza a palestinian islamic jihad target there, without really providing evidence of that, of the fact that it was militants that it was targeting. we actually, for nbc news, over the last year have conducted investigations into the record number of journalist deaths in the gaza strip. right now the committee to protect journalists is saying that the number of media workers and reporters killed in the gaza strip since october 7th of 2023 has now risen to 141, which is a record number since it began counting in 1992. and many instances where the idf, the israeli military said they targeted militants. one example, an al jazeera reporter, produced documentation that showed he was a hamas militant, when he would have been 10 years old, for example.

so a lot of this evidence whether poured over by journalists and by investigators sometimes don't hold up and there are accusations among palestinians that there is an attempt to deliberately target media workers, i guess. >> we have been here before. we have talked about tragedy after tragedy after tragedy. and it does come to a point, you know, whether we're talking about what is happening in afghanistan, whether we're talking about what happens in gaza that people can become exhausted, immune, to the horrors of war, the very real horrors of war. do you think any of this breaks through? does any of this give any impetus at all to a deal that we keep hearing is close, but never quite comes together? >> thanks for having me, chris. i wish i had better news for the new year. i don't think it does.

i think this simply hardens the positions of the two major combatants. the israelis are determined. look, the war in gaza for all purposes should be over. the issue is whether or not they want to prevent hamas from emerging as any sort of organized entity at all. and it centers around the reality that this is really government simply determined to prevent hamas from gaining any political victories and as a consequence, i think, you have a hardening of israel's positions and hamas', by the way, in terms of any sort of hostage deal. the major issues separating the two combatants now are the character and number of palestinian prisoners, many with blood on their hands to be released, and then the numbers of israelis that will be released in a first phase. hamas can't provide proof of life on the numbers of israeli

hostages being held and where the bodies of those who have died are buried. so this whole issue is now caught up and even made worse, i think, to a degree by the transition that we're about to experience to a new administration. and i think this figures -- could figure in part the prime minister of israel has accepted invitation, according to reports, to attend the inauguration. i hope his calculation is not to wait until the new president is inaugurated in an effort to either give donald trump a political victory, in claiming he was responsible for the release of the hostages, or to use donald trump as justification for making the kinds of concessions that the israelis are having a hard time making with respect to the numbers of palestinian prisoners that are going to be released in a first phase. it is complicated and meanwhile, chris, the hostages, the

families, 2 million palestinians in gaza have suffered far too long. all of these -- it is tragedy and innocents are caught up, including journalists. >> so, you understand negotiating. you've been involved in very complex negotiations. so let me ask you this question. when you get to a point like this, and, you know, maybe there aren't exact parallels because as you say, we're going to have a transition from two very different kinds of administrations with very different relationships with prime minister netanyahu, but if there is to be a breakthrough, how does that happen? >> you know, from my experience in negotiations, and this is one that is different, i've never been involved in a negotiation between two combatants, one, an organized terror group, which willfully and indiscriminately killed israeli civilians and took them hostage, and

government of israel which has visited in an effort to prosecute their war against an organization that embeds their assets in and around and below civilian populations has been -- has expanded their target sets clearly with respect to civilian targets. never been a part of that kind of an organization. but the one thing that rings true about all negotiations, chris, is deals happen when both parties are in a hurry. when there is urgency. and i still believe that hamas needs a deal in order to reset and to free itself from the pressures that it is under, and i think benjamin netanyahu emboldened by recent israeli military activities about to enter into a relationship with the president who is far more inclined, i think to accept israeli arguments on this particular question, i think

netanyahu actually has more capacity to accept a deal than ever before. but, as you get to the end, the end state, the positions of the two parties necessarily harden as each understands the difficulty of explaining to their constituents the concessions that they're about to make, and whether or not the deal was worthwhile. >> very hard reality check. aaron david miller, always good to have you on the program, thank you. an unthinkable return. why the rates for a preventable disease are now soaring to new highs. and later, the weather creating delays for holiday travelers, whether you're going by plane, train or automobile. we'll have an update. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc 's time t. align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional bloating and gas. when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. ♪

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well, we're in the middle of the holiday season, it is also cold and flu season, when the gatherings with family and friends can mean respiratory illnesses spread easily. and now cases of whooping cough also known as pertussis have soared to the highest number in the u.s. in a decade. more than 32,000 cases have been reported this year, five times the number of cases last year. joining me now, dr. natalie azar, rheumatologist at the nyu langone medical center. what are the risk factors and

symptoms for whooping cough? why so many cases now? >> yeah, so, you know, basically, christine what we are seeing is that, you know, this public sentiment about vaccines has definitely fostered some immunization hesitancy over the last number of years, and, you know, going way back to the beginning of the pandemic, chris, we saw between march of 2020 and september of 2020 a significant decline in vaccinations. before vaccines, the whooping cough vaccines were routinely recommended for infants, there were been 10,000 deaths every year in the united states, but since the vaccine was routinely recommended there have been less than 20 deaths every year. and the kids who are most vulnerable are under 3 months of age. the series -- the vaccine -- the initial vaccine series for kids, it does sound like it is a lot and all parents know this, two months, four months, six months, 15 to 18 months and between the ages of 4 and 6. it is a five-shot series to be

fully protected and then a booster again as an adolescent for youngsters to be fully protected. >> we also know as you just said, the lives it has saved. we have been talking a lot as you know about the bird flu, now that virus has been detected in raw cat food and it is raising some concerns for pet owners, a house cat in oregon died. what can people do for their pets and themselves to avoid this deadly virus? >> yeah. so, pets are vulnerable. just like humans are. and the culprit here is definitely going to be raw or undercooked meat. and any exposure or certainly eating a sick or infected dead bird and eurized milk, a lot of those things hold true for adults and pets. these recommendations to avoid what i just mentioned, particularly these raw foods, these pet foods that are raw, even if they're frozen, is

coming from, you know, veterinarians in this country, who are making this recommendation for pet owners. you know, i would say that just like with adults, chris, keep your eyes and ears open and listen for these recalls. definitely you need to be aware of what's in your freezer and what you are feeding to your pets to be aware of any of this and to get rid of any of these products if you hear there is a recall. >> i flew over the holidays and i did notice that virtually no one had a mask on at the airport, very different obviously than what we all got very used to. as people travel across the country for the holidays what are best practices for travelers to keep in mind? what viruses should people be aware of that are out there? what can we do about not getting sick for the holidays? >> yeah, well, unfortunately, you know, even though i would still recommend a seasonal flu

shot and a covid shot, if you are, you know, eligible for one and you haven't received one, the winter is still long, it might be a little bit late to protect yourself for the holidays as it takes about two weeks to build up antibodies after you have gotten the vaccines, chris, but between flu, covid, rsv, whooping cough here in the u.s. and norovirus, which is a gastrointestinal or the most common cause for foodborne illness in this country, good practices remain the same as we always said. hand washing, avoid touching your face, if you can, and if you are one of those vulnerable people, a well-fitting n 95 or kn 95 mask while traveling still makes sense. >> dr. natalie azar, happy holidays and thank you r the good advice. heading to court, the suspect in the gruesome fiery death on a new york city subway train. stay close. more on that next. city subway train. stay close more on that next.

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the man charged with a gruesome murder on a new york city subway train will be back in court tomorrow. sebastian zapata, a 33-year-old undocumented immigrant from guatemala, has been charged with first degree murder and arson after allegedly lighting a woman on fire and not only watching her burn, but using his t-shirt to fan the flames. joining me now, charles coleman

jr., former prosecutor in brooklyn, new york, host of the charles coleman podcast and an msnbc legal analyst. this is obviously a deeply disturbing story, charles. zapeta was raigned on tuesday. his last known address was listed as a homeless shelter for men with substance abuse and mental health problems. he has not entered a plea. but what would you imagine his defense might be? >> well, chris, if i'm his defense attorney, one thing i'm thinking about is how i can use circumstantial evidence such as his statement to police about not knowing what happened, along with his last known address as substantiating some notion of substance abuse. what this is going to do, you're not going to get a temporary insanity defense from a judge, but what you quite possibly will likely do would be able to knock down the notion of intent with

respect to what the prosecutors charge as the top count. so you may not be able to get, for example, murder one, you may have to go to a manslaughter type of charge or a reckless charge with respect to manslaughter because you won't be able to make out the mental capacity or the mental state necessary in order to maintain some of those charges. so, that's what i would expect defense attorneys to do in the situation as they look toward how to strategize around going about defending his case. >> "the new york times" interviewed two men at the shelter where he lived. one said the suspect worked in construction, that he sent money home to guatemala every week, to support his wife and two young daughters, that he often called them at night and talked to them about the day. another one said he would get very, very, very drunk, he would get sick. but none, none of the half a dozen people that "the new york times" interviewed said he was ever aggressive. what might that suggest for his lawyers? >> well, i think, chris, what they're going to likely use as

this -- to substantiate the notion that this was someone out of character and this really did speak to him not having the frame of mind necessary in order to have some of those higher level charges brought against him. but at the same time, if i'm the prosecutor on this case, chris, i'm saying to myself, i'm saying to the jury, two things can be true. the fact that he may not necessarily have had any aggressive history, the fact he may have sent money home to his family and worked hard during the day has nothing to do with what he could have done and what he's accused of doing in this instance. i think it is important if you're the prosecutor in this case, you bring out both of those dichotomies, one do not negate the other such that both of them cannot be true at the same time. he could have in fact not necessarily always been a violent person, he could have, in fact, sent money home to his family and at the same time he could have in fact done the crime he's accused of having committed in this instance at the same time. >> the fact that he was in the united states illegally what impact does that have on the case, charles? >> not very much.

i would -- i would be very surprised if a judge even allows that to be brought into evidence. i think that the sentiment around migrants and illegal immigrants in this country right now is so sensitive that ultimately bringing something like that in would be prejudicial and i would be surprised if a trial judge, if this goes to trial, allowed that piece of evidence to be admitted. >> charles coleman, always great to have you on the show, happy holidays my friend, thank you so much. loving the sweater, by the way. >> we're learning more also about a grim discovery on the united airlines flight that landed in hawaii. officials say a dead body was found in the wheel well of the plane. it traveled nearly nine hours from chicago. in a statement united airlines said the area is accessible only from the outside of the aircraft, and it remains unclear how or when the person accessed that wheel well. the airline is now working with local police and the investigation is ongoing. well, major storms across the country are threatening

holiday travel during the busiest time of the year. the pacific northwest being hit with heavy snowfall after a week of heavy pritation and southern states like texas, louisiana, and arkansas are bracing for the potential of isolated tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds. now nbc meteorologist michelle grossman joins us. what are we looking at here? a lot of folks going to be heading home over the next several days. >> i know, hi there, chris. really busy couple of days ahead of us. today, the weather not cooperating in some spots, you mentioned the pacific northwest, we had storm after storm move on shore, we're going to see that once again today. we saw another storm on shore this morning, another one tonight, that's racking up the rainfall and also the snowfall. we're going to see up to three feet of snow in some of the higher mountains. the south also looking at really tough weather right now. radar showing us we had strong storms moving through portions of texas. that will be the case as we go throughout today. your holiday forecast, holiday travel forecast, as we go

throughout today, we're looking at severe storms in the south this is something i will be tracking most of the rest of today because we're going to see the daytime heating enhancing those storms. we have the threat for tornadoes, we have the threat for hail. we already saw some hail earlier and really heavy rainfall. right now we have some flash flood warnings. pacific northwest, that remains the big story, we're looking at rain and snow falling today, tomorrow, through the weekend, and in the east coast, looking good, cold, sunny, looking at temperatures in the 30s. we're dry, that's good news. few showers throughout the carolinas. most likely in terms of the airport travel, we're looking at delays throughout the west, the south, also where we're looking at those strong storms moving throughout the south. it is confined to oklahoma, to arkansas also through texas. and then tomorrow, we're looking at the chance of some rain in portions of the south. tough go there as we go throughout this thursday. chris? >> curveball, michelle, are you ready? there are some people, i'm not among them, but there are some people who want to know about the ball drop in times square in

new york city. coming up on new year's eve. is it going to be wet, is it going to be cold, is it going to be a peect night to stand outside with millions of other people? >> let's see. let's get you there. here is the forecast. if i hit play -- i don't know if that is going to come up. looking at showers unfortunately for the ball drop. of course, i feel like it is either, like, freezing cold, you know, where you're shivering out there or it is raining. it is never just that perfect temperature or that perfect weather. so we will see some midnight showers. not expecting heavy rain, but bring some layers. you can't bring a whole lot for that ball drop. look how pretty that looks. but really the rest -- >> did you ever do it? did you ever go, michelle? >> no! no! did you? >> once. >> i couldn't even do it -- >> you did? i am, like, nearing 50. >> i was working. >> i was cheating.

i had a good position. >> where is the bathroom? that's what i'm concerned about? are we going to use the restroom? there are so many questions. >> so many questions. but, you know bucket list for a lot of people. michelle grossman, thank you for handling that curveball. home run. still ahead, the battle for the final frontier, a look at all the ups and downs of a wild year in the space race. plus, nfl fans dreaming of a glitch free christmas largely get their wish. netflix kicks off its first foray into live sports with a splash broadcast. that's not their first foray. they had the boxing match with mike tyson. second foray. and beyonce. we'll be right back. second foray and beyonce. we'll be right back. ah, this one lets me adjust the bass. add more guitar. maybe some drums. wow, so many choices. yeah. like schwab. i can get full-service wealth management, advice, invest on my own, and trade on thinkorswim. you know carl is the only frontman you need... oh i gotta take this carl, it's schwab. ♪ schwaaaab! ♪ have a choice

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today the reviews are coming in avnet flix made its biggest move yet into live programming, via the $100 billion plus industry that is the nfl. despite a few early technical difficulties, the streaming giant pulled off coverage of two back-to-back games, largely free of the buffering and freezing issues that plagued last month's big mike tyson fight. and then, of course, there was the halftime show, beyonce bringing a little country to christmas. quite a kickoff to a three-year deal between the streamer and the most valuable name in american sports. joining me now, nbc news entertainment correspondent chloe melas.

this is a massive deal for netflix and its future in live sports. bring us up to speed. >> first of all, beyonce, she delivered what felt like a super bowl worthy halftime show. it was nearly 13 minutes and she rode out on a white horse, a real one, and massive marching band, she had performances with shaboozey, post malone, her daughter blue ivy carter made an appearance with her. it was in beyonce's native houston, texas, but obviously this was a first in terms of why it was so big, because this is the first time that netflix has ever aired the nfl games on christmas day. this is part of a three-year deal with the streaming giant and the nfl. and, you know, netflix, what do they want to really admit it or not, they are going into live programming. you said the fight had 65 million concurrent streams. that was the biggest streaming event in streaming history and they have now wwe events that they're going to be live

streaming in about two weeks, which is a big moment for them. and they just said they have a deal with fifa to air the world cup in the next two -- i think 2031 and 2027 or something like that, but it is a big moment. >> let's talk about the other big moneymaker. you have to leave your couch, though for it, and that's the movies. usually a big base at the box office. certainly the time arounerblue ivy voices one of the characters as well. and another movie that is doing very "nosferatu," a lot of people are going out to see that, a scary dark horror film. >> scary, no. >> a movie my kids love "sonic the hedgehog 3," this is a movie that people are really loving

this is -- yeah, "sonic the hedgehog 3," haven't had enough coffee today, this is done incredibly well. i think over $11 million at the box office. and now paramount has already said they're going to make another sonic the hedgehog movie. and "wicked" has crossed the $400 million mark at the box office, one of the top 50 highest grossing movies of all time domestically. it is a huge moment for "wicked" fans. >> i thought it was a great movie. i don't know if i would go to the sing alongs which are very popular? >> they are very popular. i was singing along. i don't have a good singing voice, but i was singing along. >> chloe melas, thank you. from the box office to defying gravities miles above the earth, 2024 delivered plenty of big moments in the space race. and nbc's senior correspondent tom costello takes a look back at a year that was truly out of this world. >> touchdown, starliner is back

on earth. >> reporter: america's 2024 space odyssey had drama. >> the troubled boeing starliner capsule back on solid ground, but the two astronauts it took to space didn't make the return trip. >> reporter: -- breakthrough ies and international intrigue -- >> we have liftoff. >> reporter: -- but above all it was yet another year of triumph for elon musk's spacex, test flying six uncrewed starship rockets that one day will carry astronauts to the moon and maybe mars, with stunning new capture technology for the booster rocket. spacex will soon provide the ride home for astronaut suni williams and butch wilmore which will be there until late march after nasa brought the starliner ship home empty, concerned it

wasn't safe for the astronauts. 2024 was also another big year for the chinese space program. landing a second robotic mission on the far side of the moon. then, returning home with soil samples that suggest ancient volcanic activity. china is moving at full throttle to land its own astronauts on the moon by 2030. that's also nasa's goal for its artemis program. >> you need to use -- for us to land on the south pole so that we do not cede portions of that south lunar south pole to the chinese. >> but nasa is now delaying an artemis loop around the moon until 2026 to improve the heat shields needed for re-entry. the goal now, a moon landing in 2027. new astronaut dr. chris williams. >> have you dreamed of being among the first to return to the moon? >> i absolutely hope it's me.

and, you know, i get a chance to do that. >> spirit now opening dragon resilience. >> reporter: jared isaacman became the first commercial astronaut to perform a spacewalk in 2024. he's now president-elect trump's choice to lead nasa. 2025 will be a year of private business and china pushing to go farther faster. >> and our thanks to tom costello. that's going to do it for us this hour. make sure to join us for "chris jansing reports" every week day 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. lots more news ahead. richard lui will pick up our coverage after a quick break. happy holidays, everyone. afterk happy holidays, everyone

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good afternoon. it's 2:00 p.m. eastern, 11:00 a.m. pacific. we'll start with breaking news about the passenger plane crash that happened christmas day in kazakhstan. early information shows a