a new phase-in israel s ground offensive in gaza. the israeli military has plans to pull back some troops and shift to more localized operations. we ll go through that development and the escalating tensions in the red sea. also ahead, a look at the very long to-do list for congress in 2024 with several crucial items that were not addressed late last year. plus, the supreme court has a tight time line to rule on the most consequential case involving the presidency since the year 2000 decision that sent george w. bush to the white house. good morning and welcome to way too early on this tuesday, january 2, 2024. happy new year, everyone. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day, week, and yes year with us. it is going to be an extraordinarily busy year. we re so grateful that you re with us. we begin this morning overseas where the israeli military is planning to withdraw some of its troops from gaza. reservists from at least two brigades will be sent home t
external challenge. the third-party candidate question hangs in the air, but they think they have this in terms of the democratic side locked up, and they ll slowly ramp up this contrast question. that is the key. we ve also been asked ad nauseam, i m sure, about how this will shake out. biden s people are looking for a contrast between him and donald trump. joe biden says, don t compare me to the almighty. compare me to the alternative, who they expect to be donald trump. that ll help them focus their messaging. we ve already seen it, even last month. that i essentially treating trump as the nominee already and hoping biden will get a boost from that. this comes together. they want the jobs numbers to stay strong. they want consumer sentiment to improve, in other words, people s moods to improve, and they want donald trump to be the contrast. of course, biden says trump is the reason he ran in the first place. the contrast key for the swing voters. give us a brief sense of biden s p