a tanker struck by iran an ocean away >>> plus, the post-message of peace and richard engel's rare access in bethlehem, a silent night in the holy land >>> covid, rsv, and flu on the rise the sharp increase of cases just as families get together for the holidays >>> and our visit to the tiny town where the iconic dolls are still being born 40 years after the nationwide frenzy. >> announcer: this is nbc "nightly news" with kate snow. >>> good evening i'm garret haake in for kate a near record number of americans have braved the long lines and the complicated logistics to get home this christmas eve. but for those waiting until the last minute, the outlook is foggy tonight after a key hub spent much of the day at a standstill in a storm system that left roads a mess in the plains is now tracking eastward, set to bring heavy rains from the great lakes to the southeast. still, it's nothing compared to a year ago when the luggage of southwest fliers littered carousels across the country shaquille bruster starts us off. and shaq, chicago is the epicenter of a lot of travel woes today >> reporte

plus, our richard engel in the israeli-occupied west bank, where palestinians face growing violence by jewish settlers. the confrontation they caught on camera >>> also tonight, ukraine's cruise missile attack on a russian warship. the moment of impact >>> the crisis at the border thousands joining a new migrant caravan heading towards the u.s. >>> bus drivers under attack the growing number being assaulted, punched, pepper sprayed, even threatened with a machete. can anything be done to protect them? >>> the latest version of the apple watch no longer for sale here the reason why >>> and music gave him hope, and still does powerful echoes of the past with th holocaust survivor band >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >>> and good evening, i'm tom llamas, in for lester we want to begin tonight with that big winter storm moving across the country with 6 million people under winter weather alerts, including blizzard and ice warnings the sprawling storm bringing blizzard conditions and heavy rain to millions traveling home for the holidays stretches of major intersta

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richard engel joins us what do we know about these alleged plots, richard? >> reporter: lester, the seven suspects were arrested in germany, denmark, and the netherlands. four of them described as long-standing hamas members. they're accused of plotting attacks against jewish institutions across europe the attacks were still in the planning stage. the danish prime minister describing them as serious as it gets it comes as the national security adviser for president biden came here in israel today to discuss the war in gaza as israel's war on hamas devastates the gaza strip, president biden was asked if israel needs to tone down its military operations >> i want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after hamas, but be more careful. >> reporter: national security adviser jake sullivan meeting israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu today. two u.s. officials familiar with the discussion tell nbc news sullivan told the israeli government the administration wants israel to end its large-scale ground campaign in gaza and transition to

acknowledging they killed three hostages with friendly fire after mistaking them for a threat our richard engel in jerusalem. >>> the urgent warning from the cdc as cases of covid, flu, and rsv surge around the nation our nbc news exclusive, the kremlin's top spokesman on the 2024 election what he said about vladimir putin and donald trump >>> america's fentanyl crisis inside the unauthorized clinic risking trouble with the law to save people from overdoses >>> and the bond between two boys, one american and one israeli, we first met in the wake of the hamas attacks. how their friendship brought some hanukkah joy to children of war. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >>> good evening, and welcome, everyone. breaking late today, a devastating legal blow for former new york mayor rudy giuliani. a federal jury in washington, d.c. handing down a $148 million civil judgment against him, ordering him to pay two election workers from georgia, workers who he falsely and publicly accused of trying to steal the presidential election in that state while he was helping former preside

richard engel, nbc news, bethlehem. >>> and now to breaking news out of colorado springs. police say one person is dead and two others are in serious condition after shots rang out at a shopping mall on christmas eve. officers believe the shooting was targeted and that two groups of people were fighting with each other. this was not considered an active shooter situation. the investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the colorado springs police. >>> and an investigation is under way in texas after a massive fire at a car auction facility in denten county. emergency crews were called out to a suspected grass fire after 1:00 a.m. sunday and arrived to find dozens of cars on fire. in all, 58 vehicles were damaged. the cause of the fire was not immediately clear. >>> as many are visiting loved ones for the holidays the cdc is warning about a sharp uptick in respiratory illnesses. nbc's jessie kirsch has the details. >> reporter: as millions travel this holiday weekend, covid and flu are also on the move. the cdc releasing this new map showin

excellent recording by richard engel as always. important to stress that israel, millions of israelis are under rocket fire. we also have displaced people. we have a quarter of a million displaced people who can't go back to their homes because hamas remains a strategic threat to the state of israel. so, there is another side to this story. strategic threat, i don't call it a strategic threat. there is grave, grave political and certainly diplomatic challenges facing israel here. hamas is hiding behind this population. israel has to destroy hamas in order to restore its security, in order to -- if we don't destroy hamas, large pieces of israel will be rendered uninhabitable. we have really no choice. and i think as richard engel mentioned, when the palestinian civilian population moved from the north to the south, hamas went with it. and it is continuing to use this population as a human shield. we have really no choice. secretary blinken gave us a dual instruction which may not be compatible. he said he wants israel to expedite th

richard engel reports. >> reporter: the u.n.'s humanitarian chief says every time it looks like it can't get more apocalyptic in gaza, it does. these images are from zarabela in central gaza today. lana was injured by an israeli strike and carried into a hospital by her uncle. "i want my mom, i miss her" she cries. she is 6 years old. gazans are escaping israel's expanding ground offensive against hamas by heading further south. rafah, at the southernmost part of gaza on the egyptian border is the end of the line. the town is now so overcrowded, families live on the curbs. gazans say they feel abandoned, that their lives don't count. a man notices our camera filming and says "don't bother. nobody cares." this man just saw his niece's body under what's left of his family home. zakaria returned to dig under the house hit this weekend to look for his relatives. "my love, my love," he says. his mother, father, sister and brothers and their children were all killed. israel says it's warning palestinians where to go to avoid strikes. >

joining us now, nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel, from jerusalem, and richard haas. richard engel, first to you. the families are outraged. we saw large crowds protesting in tel aviv over the weekend. that doesn't mean they're against the war. just the way the hostage situation is being held. >> generally in this country, this is still almost universal support for the war in gaza. for the war against hamas. there is however this one very vocal, very sensitive group of the hostage families and they gathered in tel aviv. they gather there every day in front of the defense ministry and they are urging a change of tactic but not a change of strategy. they want a resumption of negotiations. they want them to release how many palestinian prisoners are held in israeli jails as hamas is asking for and to get them out now because they're seeing their family members, distant relatives, friends, staying there. their condition clearly deteriorating as time goes on then this incident where the three hostages apparently abandoned by their kidnappers tried to run to safety and made

richard engel, nbc news. >> the horrors of war.ank you for that report. >>> joining us is evelyn farkas of the mccain institute and former senior adviser to the supreme allied commander europe. thank you for being with us. great seeing you. the u.n. security council is expected to vote on this resolution that calls for a sustainable cessation of hostilities in gaza. israel is under increasing global pressure for a pause, but how do they move forward? >> yeah, i mean, jose, thank you for having me on. clearly the way to go is to ratchet down the military operation. israel doesn't have to have a complete cease-fire, but they need to shift now to using precise means to ferret out as much as possible the hamas leadership, understanding that they're not going to get every one of these terrorists. but they have -- they have in the process of their military operation caused 20,000 palestinians to die. now, it is not entirely their fault, i think the world needs to remember that the palestinian hamas terrorists are the ones who allowed the

we're going to check in with richard engel who saw the hostility in one village.ho saw the hostility in one village and i saved hundreds. >> stop the camera! get into the car! now. >> okay. >> get into the car, now! now. >> okay. >> get into the car, now [dog ] no it's just a bunny! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ narrator: time is running out to give a year-end gift like no other, a gift that can help st. jude children's research hospital save lives. ava: it is my first time having cancer, and it's the very worst. woman: you just have to give. you have to give someone that hope. because of st. jude, she has a chance at life. narrator: every gift counts, and whatever you can give will make a difference for children like ava. make your donation today to help st. jude save lives. there's challenges, and i love overcoming challenges. ♪ when better money habits® content first started coming out, it expanded what i could do for special olympics athletes with developmental needs. thousands of bank of america employees like scott spend c

. >>> our nbc news exclusive, richard engel's interview with a released hostage, what she told us about the conditions inside the tunnels. plus, her concerns about those remaining, including her husband, as so many face starvation as fighting intensifies in gaza. >>> the special counsel asks the supreme court to decide if donald trump is immune from prosecution, or trying to overturn the 2020 election as our new poll finds him with an unprecedented lead in iowa, battling counterfeit drugs, undercover video of a crime in progress, and our exclusive inside look at how a major drug company is fighting back. >>> and the comeback kid, bronny james takes the court months after his health scare as his legendary father cheers him on >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening, welcome, everyone, there are late breaking developments to report in the case of a pregnant texas woman who went to court for the right to abort her baby that doctors have told her will not survive, and that could harm her own health a lawyer for kate cox cites a deterioration of ms. cox's

richard engel, bethlehem. >>> our climate crisis means it's harder to predict snowfall.ers and resorts. so this year one resort is making its own. the tahoe cross country ski area. bringing in new machines to make snow. appointment the first cross country resort to make the snow. they've been considering the option for years. a scientist with the uc berkeley snow lab think others will follow suit. >> the resorts are preparing for the eventuality that snow will become less predictable. >> they'll consider using the machines more in the future. regulators say it's nice to know they can rely on that but it's nice to see natural snowfall. >>> take a look at this beautiful christmas eve sunset over santa cruise. you have the bagpipes playing. this from our garvin thomas taking the video. this is west cliff drive down there in santa cruz this evening. >>> busy night for the big guy. looking at the norad san a tracker. they make it easy to track santa's trip around the world. right now he's in canada. >> he's in north america. >> he's going up north and he's headed here shortly

that doesn't mean they couldn't resume, but for now they're on hold lester >> richard engel tonight, thank you >>> with fighting renewed and so many hostages still being held, it means more anguish for the families of the captives including some americans here's david noriega. >> reporter: tonight, the renewed sound of missiles and mortars in gaza dashing yair moses' hopes for an imminent reunion with his father, gadi >> how are you feeling now that the war has resumed? >> i'm very worried. very worried >> reporter: his father 1 of nearly 140 hostages still held in gaza taken by hamas terrorists during the october 7th attack his mother, margalit, was also kidnapped, but she was released on day one of the cease-fire we first met yair soon after. how does it feel to have on the one hand your mother back with you, but on the other, your father still in gaza >> so, for the first two days, we allowed ourselves to be happy, and one more day, and she could have been dead. >> reporter: his is one of many israeli families split between joy and despair. mothers and kids released, fathers and s

richard engel now with late details >> reporter: israel is pushing ahead with its devastating ground offensive in gaza, fighting door-to-door to overthrow hamas and tonight, a u.s. official tells nbc news israel is pumping seawater to flood hamas tunnels in limited areas of gaza, saying it's unclear if it will work >> there are assertions being made that they're quite sure there are no hostages in any of these tunnels. but i don't know that for a fact >> reporter: israel's military campaign is now sparking tensions with the white house president biden speaking earlier at fundraiser today, saying israel is right to take on hamas and has most of the world supporting them. but they're starting to lose that support by indiscriminate bombing in gaza. and that israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's government has to change. "you can't say there's no palestinian state in the future. the administration wants the more moderate palestinian authority to take over post-war gaza. but netanyahu is rejecting that, saying overnight, "i will not allow the entry into gaza of those who educate for

palestinians to receive evacuation orders and information from the israeli military lester >> richard engel tonight. thank you. >>> nearby, in the red sea another dangerous situation appears to be escalating. in the latest chapter a u.s. navy destroyer rushed to the aid of commercial ships that the pentagon says came under ballistic missile fire from iranian-backed militias we get late details now from courtney kube at the pentagon. >> reporter: tonight the white house pointing the blame squarely at iran after an hours-long drama at sea sunday that saw a u.s. military warship rush to aid three commercial vessels under fire >> that gun, the weapons here are being supplied by iran and iran we believe is the ultimate party responsible for this >> reporter: it began around 9:15 a.m. sunday when a ballistic missile landed near a commercial ship in the red sea. then at noon the "uss carney," a navy destroyer, intercepted the first of three drones fired towards commercial ships and the "carney" itself. ballistic missiles later hitting all three of the cargo ships, one after another. none of the sh

families of americans still being held in gaza today, and those families are now speaking out richard engel now with late details >> reporter: families of american hostages met president biden behind closed doors in the white house in person for the first time >> it was a terrific, terrific meeting and conversation. >> reporter: at least eight americans are still held in gaza 4-year-old abigail edan is one of the few to have been released. both of her parents were executed by hamas. her great aunt tonight. >> they are just not numbers, and they're just not faces they are sons, they are sons, they are grandparents, they are mothers, and that is what the president and his team understand. >> reporter: in a statement, the group saying, they asked the president to do everything in his power to negotiate a swift and total release of the remaining hostages 24 hours after president biden's rebuke of what he called israel's indiscriminate bombing in gaza and an overwhelming u.n. vote calling for a cease-fire prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying, israel will press on with its campaign against ha

. >>> in gaza, the fighting raging as the war reaches the two-month mark richard engel with a freed israeli hostage as she finally returns home >>> and typing out tunes. the orchestra making music in a whole new key. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >>> good evening and welcome. just hours before this evening's start of the jewish holiday of hanukkah, shots were fired onto the grounds of a synagogue in albany, new york, further stoking concerns over the holiday and rising acts of anti-semitism in this country. officials say no one was hurt, and a 28-year-old man has been taken into custody. the shots were fired outside temple israel in albany, where two dozen preschoolers inside were immediately placed on lockdown they are now safely reunited with their families police tonight are quoting the shooter as having said "free palestine. authorities saying the case is being investigated as a hate crime. new york governor kathy hochul tonight has put state police and new york national guard on alert, saying the safety of jewish new yorkers is nonnegotiable. emilie ikeda ha

with qatar reporting progress and multiple reports that they'll continue tomorrow in egypt. >> richard engel tonight, thank you. you can see much more on israel's hostage crisis in a new nbc news digital doc, "the kidnapping of noa," with correspondent raf sanchez streaming now. >>> let's get to the crisis at the southern border now and the staggering new record, more migrants crossed into the u.s. on monday than any other day in history, and now texas is being sued after giving state law enforcement sweeping new powers to arrest them. morgan chesky is there. >> reporter: tonight, stunning images from eagle pass, texas, where thousands of migrant men, women, and so many children now fill entire fields the groups lining the rio grande clinging to blankets, huddling to stay warm, all waiting for hours to be processed, and most likely to be released into the united states of all our trips to eagle pass, this is the largest group we have ever encountered. sources tell us the majority of these families are venezuelan, and we just learned from authorities nearly 3,000 were apprehended just yesterd

israel says the men were apprehended in a hamas stronghold here's richard engel >> reporter: israeli troops lined up more than 100 palestinian men, many stripped to their underwear. palestinians call it collective humiliation. the images sparked global outrage tonight, the israeli military said hamas fighters are dressing as civilians, and the men were detained in what it called hamas strongholds in northern gaza and questioned about why they didn't escape to the south, but southern gaza now is where israel's offensive against hamas is intensifying around the city of khan younis. at the start of the war, our camera crew captured this moment of volunteers digging through rubble they cheer and pull out a young girl, somehow alive, 14-year-old miral nijim. her mother, grandmother, and two siblings were killed our crew found miral again in black along with her 9-year-old sister mira also rescued that day they're back in the line of fire sheltering in khan younis they've already been displaced seven times. "we keep everything we have ready here in case we need to move again," miral says h

here's richard engel. >> reporter: the cargo giant maersk joined bp in halting traffic through the red sea in response to attacks by the iranian yemeni militia known as the houthis who have hijacked and fired on several ships. lloyd austin in bahrain today home of the u.s. fifth fleet announced the formation of a ten-nation coalition to defend the red sea, but the houthis vow to keep attacking ships until israel ends its blockade of gaza. the showdown sending oil prices up again today. while the palestinian islamic jihad tonight put out a video of two israeli men it's holding hostage, yesterday hamas released a video of three elderly hostages taken under duress. the man on the right is 83-year-old yoram metzger. his son, guy, told us he takes comfort in knowing his father is alive but worries about his treatment by hamas. >> he looks very, very tired. he looks very sick, also his friends. we are really, really worried about their condition. >> reporter: he says the israeli government should do more to get a deal to free the hostages. >> you don't have confidence in prime minister netan

richard engel now with late details. >> reporter: israel says it's destroying hamas in gaza above ground and below targeting what it says are 300 miles of hamas tunnels. military officials showed nbc news videos they say were taken in the northern gaza city of beit hanoun. a soldier points to a hamas tunnel outside a classroom. israel has blown up some. now a u.s. official says the israeli military is exploring a new tactic, flooding the tunnels with seawater. >> is that under consideration? >> i can't comment on any of our future operational activities, what we're planning to do in the future. we are focusing on dismantling the terror infrastructure that hamas has embedded within and underground. >> reporter: some of hamas' hostages may be inside those tunnels. at tuesday's tense meeting with prime minister netanyahu, a released hostage accused the government of playing roulette with their lives. this 12-year-old and her family now live in tents near the egyptian border with other children. she walks barefoot to collect thorn bushes to burn for cooking. the thorns pricking their hands.

>> richard engel, thank you. >>> harvard said today its president claudine gay is still the right person to lead the university. harvard's fellows said gay apologized after intense criticism of her response to questions in congress about antisemitism on campus. this comes after the president of the university of pennsylvania liz magill resigned over the weekend following the backlash. >>> new evidence today that inflation is easing up. up 3.1% last month from a year ago, a new sign the fed's campaign of higher interest rates is working. christine romans is here for us. what does all this mean? >> lester, it's more evidence that inflation is cooling without a recession, that so-called soft landing the fed wants. inflation topped 9% a year and a half ago. this is enough progress toward the fed's goal of 2% that it probably is unlikely to raise rates when it meets tomorrow. gas prices a big part of the story, below $3 in 23 states. consumer sentiment beginning to improve as inflation cools, despite some high profile job cut announcements. the job market overall has been resilient. and mortg

lester. >> all right, richard engel, thank you. >>> tonight, we have a closer look at the toll of thisthe people of gaza. the humanitarian crisis from inside a tent city now home to some of the nearly 2 million people displaced. nbc's hala gorani has that story. >> reporter: three miles from southern gaza's border with egypt, a makeshift tent city in the sand for thousands of displaced gazans. this is where the israeli military says they should be safe. bathing in plastic buckets, the blistered feet of those who have walked a long way to this camp. "i swear i'm asking to die in my house, not on the border," this woman says. they are running from the bombs and the shelling, but it's the dirty water that could become the next big killer here. >> we have the most serious, acute gastroenteritis we have ever seen in our practice due to bad sanitation, due to bad water, to dirty water. >> reporter: at this hospital in southern gaza, children wait to be treated in overcrowded hallways. "my son's condition, this woman says, diarrhea and stomach poisoning, flu-like symptoms, because of the cold

chief foreign correspondent richard engel has late details. >> reporter: the war in gaza is back in full force with hamas firing rockets tonight into israel, and the israeli military carrying out at least 200 strikes, many in southern gaza where the hamas-run health ministry says around 200 palestinians were killed and hundreds wounded including ibrahim who cries for his dad. he's carried to an ambulance. israel says hamas brought this down upon gaza by breaking a seven-day truce when it refused to release more hostages and fired rockets. the u.s. also blaming hamas for the end of the cease-fire. >> it came to an end because of hamas. hamas reneged. in fact, even before the pause ended and committed an attack in jerusalem. >> reporter: hamas offered to release older male hostages instead of the women israel was asking for, but israel seems to be in no mood to accept edicts from hamas. in tel aviv, the relatives and supporters of israeli hostages gathered to light candles, weep, sing, and pray. on wednesday, hamas released yarden in the sweatshirt reunited with her husband and 3-year-old

i want to bring in nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel. richard, what is the latest on the ground? the last i saw you, adding to the misery, is was pouring rain. >> reporter: it certainly is making this situation even worse that it is raining now here in jerusalem, it is raining in gaza, and there are many people, particularly in the south who have been unable to find shelter. so they are either crammed into apartments if they can find space or sleeping on the streets, under tarps if they can find those. the situation is one that people feel depressed, they feel abandoned. we spoke to a woman in gaza a short while ago, and she was wondering how can the world be watching this. how can the world be watching this tragedy unfold and do nothing? and just watch as the situation gets worse day after day, and express sympathy and condolences, but take no actions. so, there is a tremendous sense of delusionment, disappointment, and in addition to the suffering. and that's just among the people who are stuck in rafah, waiting for the next phase of th

richard engel, nbc news, bethlehem. >> richard engel, thank you. >>> when we're back in 60 seconds, how the president and first lady are celebrating christmas at camp david this morning. plus, you may be dreaming of a white christmas. only a fraction of the country would see one. the latest on this disappointing december trend. >>> and a little later, pressure is mounting for congress to strike a border deal. we'll check the pulse on capitol hill, can lawmakers get the deal done in early january. lots more to come this morning, so keep it right here on msnbc. . only on verizon. my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. whenever you're hungry, there's a deal on the subway app. buy one footlong, get one 50% off in the subway app today. now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what are you doing?! get it before it's gone on the subway app. ♪♪ liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i s

richard engel joins us now.hard, what are your teams seeing throughout these various locations in southern gaza? >> reporter: well, right now a lot of misery. as you may or may not be able to see behind me, it's pouring rain here. there's a heavy thunderstorm in jerusalem, lightning, a downpour. there's one in gaza. we spoke to our team in southern gaza. the rain is heavy there as well. the reason that's important is we have an internally displaced crisis. people in rafah are out on the streets. hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to the southern tip of gaza, that there isn't enough room for everyone, not enough spaces, not enough beds, not enough shelter for them. there wasn't enough even about this part of the israeli ground offensive began. so there's a real feeling of misery. the u.n. humanitarian chief said that every day you think it can't get more apocalyptic, and then it does. right now, the situation is quite terrible. because of this latest phase of the ground fighting. first people were p

richard engel joins us now from jerusalem. , richard, as you have been telling us, bringing it to us night after night now for two months. what's the latest on the ground in gaza and in israel as the country marks the start of hanukkah last night? >> reporter: in gaza, the situation is increasingly dire. we are running out of words to describe how bad it is. when we speak to our colleagues, they are running out of food, not enough water, children in some areas are walking barefoot, cold at night. the situation according to the u.n. secretary-general is untenable. the u.n. says that its humanitarian aid programs are on the brink of collapse. in some cases, aid trucks are being looted. people are throwing stones at them. there was a woman who appeared on al jazeera said hamas was taking the food. there's a degree of chaos that's starting to spread in gaza because hamas, which was the government, is now fighting and has gone underground. when you put that much pressure on society, they are under attack, they are moved from place t