spokesperson about the battle plan going forward and whether there is any new effort to protect palestinian civilians as the u.s. has been pushing for. also tonight, donald trump's lawyers in court and on camera. at the first hearing in the georgia election subversion case and the defense arguing if president trump is re-elected president he could not be tried until after leaving office. >> and we're following the drama up on capitol hill. now that republican george santos has been expelled from congress, santos storming out after the historic vote as he leaves his divided party with an even slimmer majority in the house. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." ♪ tonight, the skies over gaza have been lighting up again. israel and hamas back in combat mode after a week long pause in the fighting and the releases of dozens of the home hostages. matthew, what is the latest on these renewed attacks? >> reporter: well those renewed attacks are intensifying tonight. with israeli forces warning palestinians now to move from areas in the south of the gaza strip to avoid that military action. israel said it is pressuring hamas in order to -- in part to get more of the hostages released. but already the human toll has been high. with hamas run health officials, the health ministry saying that more than 170 palestinians have been killed since hostilities resumed. this is what israel vowed would happen if hamas stopped releasing hostages after a seven-day pause and more than 100 freed, graza is being poundd again. military pressure will force hamas to release more. >> having chosen to hold on to our women, hamas will now take the mother of all thrumpings. >> israel said it was hamas that broke the truce. firing rockets out of gaza striking israeli tanks. >> reporter: but it is inside of the gaza strip where the intensity of this war has resumed. hospitals already overwhelmed now facing a new flood of casualties. >> we cannot see more children with wounds of war. with the burns, with the shrapnel littering their body and the broken bones. in action by those with influence is allowing the killing of children. this is a war on children. >> reporter: amid u.s. calls to protect civilians, israel has distributing leaflets in gaza with links to this online map. deaf i'ding the entire territory into a grid. israel said it is warning palestinians which blocks to avoid. i'm asking you to look at this map carefully, this israeli military spokesperson said in arabic and move from your residence as instructed. but with unreliable internet access, it is unclear how many gazans will get the message. meanwhile, reports israelis officials failed to act on a intelligence dossier. warning of hamas plans to storm israeli towns and military bases. abducting and killing soldiers and civilians. exactly what happened on october the 7th. it is unclear also now when there will be more hostages released. mediators say talks to free more are ongoing despite the fighting. but until there is a new pause, relief for so many families may have to wait. well, wolf, behind the scenes, negotiations are continuing to try to negotiate a new pause and the release of more hostages. but for the first time now in more than a week, gaza is once again being shaken by israeli guns. back to you. >> matthew chance in tel aviv, thank you very much. joining us now also tella chief, the israel defense forces general cadris. what could you tell us after the paul and where that leaves talks for the release of more israeli hostages? >> yeah, thank you for having me on the show, wolf. we've said from the beginning that the two goals of the war are to take out hamas and make sure that october 7th will never happen again. and to return all of our hostages. and if there is an opportunity to return more hostages, through negotiations, then the idf definitely has the flexibility to adjust its posture again, if the government will tell us to do so. and we're always ready to seek and exploit opportunities to bring our people back home. but what we're focusing now on, if lieu of such directives, is to fight hamas, to bring the fighting again towards the enemmy, to attack hamas where they are hiding and to bring about a defeat of hamas so that we could return our civilians to the communities in southern israel and start rebuilding that has been destroyed by them. >> as you heard, lieutenant colonel, "the new york times" is reporting israeli officials obtained a document more than a year before the october 7th attack laying out hamas's battle plan point by point. how do you respond to this reporting and how did israel underestimate hamas's capabilities? >> you know, the chief of staff of the idf lieutenant general just a few days after october 7th, long before this was reported and it is been reported insinuated in israeli media, long before all of that happened, he said very clearly, in hebrew, to israelis, that the idea failed to deliver the very basic thing that we're supposed to deliver and that is security and safety. and what is reported on in this report, when we take note of it, and all of that will be analyzed, assessed and brought for conclusions at the end of the war. i'm not confirming what the report said, but i'm saying that we will take it into consideration. and t and the -- at the end of the day, what really matters is the lives lost. hundreds of israeli soldiers and 250 israeli hostages, that is the real result that we care about, not who knew what and when and before. it is important but it is not really what matters now. what we're focusing on now and all of our attention is geared towards defeating hamas and restoring security to israelis in southern israel and that is where we are. there will be a time for all of those things, for the soul searching and reckoning and for people to take responsibility, but that time is not now. >> as far as israel's operations in gaza, you've created this interactive map for civilians to follow where israel will strike. but how do people access this without steady internet and where are they supposed to evacuate to? >> fair question. and it is not a ideal situation in gaza. what we're doing is the best thing we can in order to disseminate the information to get it out to gazans and to give it to them in good enough time so that they could use it and could be something that helps them make the right decision. that is why we have been pushing it out via phone calls and text messages, and leaflets, of course, dropped from the air and internet-based services. and yes, we are aware that the service is patchy and sometimes even worse than that. but those are the means available. and what we want people to do is to listen to a warning sign, the purpose of this map is to provide very detailed level of information so that people of specific neighborhoods can get the information from us where we will say the people of certain fl neighborhood, designated by a number in a certain area, you need to evacuate and the place that we are requesting that you go to is an area and then the number that they need to go to. and of course, all in arabic and all accessible and understandable. the purpose here is again, we're showing and we're acting in order to get civilians out of the battlefield. we're definitely listening to criticism. we hear what our allies and friends around the world are saying. they're telling us that they support our justified mission to get rid of hamas for the sake of israelis and for the sake of regional stability. that is clear. nobody argues with that. and we're also listening to concerns about noncombatants and civilians and we want to minimize that and that is why we're taking another step. we have a humanitarian zone which is designated and our hope is that we will find partners and help within the international humanitarian community that will help us bring palestinians there into relative safety. >> thanks as usual for joining us. and just ahead, donald trump's lawyers are arguing against his criminal indictment in georgia and arguing for a delay in his election subversion trial. was the judge buying it guerring this key pretrial hearing today? and we'll break down the house vote to expel george santos and what it could mean for the republican party. ? georgia, an election pretrial hearing wrapped up just a short while ago in the criminal case against donald trump. the on camera gave us a new window into trump's defense against election subversion charges. correspondent paula reid is with me here in "the situation room." she's got details. so what are trump's lawyers arguing. >> we got a preview of how trump and his attorneys intend to defend him down in georgia. the first argument is that this entire case should be dismissed because they say that trump's claims about voter fraud was all political speech, protected by the first amendment. but the same judge has dismissed that argument for two of the former lawyers turned co-defendants and the issue of timing was a big thing here today. trump's lawyers have argued that he is going to be the leading candidate for the presidency and that this case should not go to trial next year. but the district attorney has been very specific. she wanted this case to go to trial in august. it is expected to last between four and six months. and let's take a listen to what trump's lawyers said in court today. >> i don't see how any way this court could set for trial in august, it is very possible that time my client will be running for election for president of the united states for the republican party. >> if you're client does win election in 2024, could he even be tried in 2025? >> the answer to that is i believe under the supremacy clause in his duties as president of the united states, that this trial would not take place, if at all, until after he left his term of office. >> that question of whether sitting president would be shielded from a state level prosecution, that is not settled law. so still an open question. wolf, we're waiting now for the judge to set a trial date or possibly multiple trial dates if they split this up. but it is a 2024 calendar and a busy year. >> and you're tracking a significant ruling around the january 6 attack and trump's liability. >> that is a big one. we've been waiting for this for a year. here the court of appeals in washington, d.c. finding that trump could be sued for his actions on january 6. now he had previously insisted that he was immune from civil liability because he was president on january 6. and that everything that he did that day was part of his official duties as president. and federal officials enjoy immunity for anything they do as part of their job. but here the court found that what he did on january 6, that quote pro-trump rally, that was more like campaign activity. they said that he was acting more like an office seeker than an office holder and therefore he's open to civil liability. now it doesn't mean that he's going to be found liable. but it means that capitol hill police officers and politicians, he this -- they will get their day in court and what this means for possible criminal liability. he'll make a similar argument in his criminal case. and that is really the question now going forward. >> potentially liable. very important. paula, thank you very much. and let's get some analysis on all of these developments. our legal and political analysts are with us. michael moore, let me start with you. today's hearing in fulton county, georgia, how do you read the arguments against an august 2024 trial date? >> well i'm glad to be with you. and i think it is a good argument. and what the district attorney has tried time and time again to skirt around is that the law applied to everybody so we shouldn't do anything here. an the truth is and there is an article about a week old in the atlantic talking about the backlog of cases and somehow to shoe horn this case in it a problem an it is a good argument for team to be making here. there is no reason the case had as to be tried that early. there is likely to be a federal trial going on and the idea that somehow we're going to make it a special exception to get a candidate for the president of the united states before a state court to be tried on a case pending since the last presidential election, basically, and i think it is a little bit of a stretch and i think judge will take that into account. it doesn't mean co-defendants can't be tried and maybe meta case or giuliani case, other people can't be lumped together out of the rico group. you may see spl separate trials. but we already know the case has been estimated to take at least five months. with additional time for jury selection and i think that is pretty much an unworkable situation going into next year. >> going into november 2024 and the election. elie honig, you said an august 2024 trial date is totally unrealistic. what do you see as the most likely outcome here. >> yeah, wolf, i stand by that. i think if we do the basic math here and if we look at a proposed trial date in august of 2024, that would mean donald trump is physically required to be in that courtroom, physically pulled off the campaign trail and in august through the general election, september and october and through and during election day and beyond, in november. i just don't see any practical way that a judge allows that to happen. but very important to keep in mind, the other election subversion case, the federal one in d.c., that one is scheduled for trial in march of 2024. i do think that one is very likely to happen. in that time frame. and to be completed before the election. so we will as an american public at least have the resolution afforded by one of the two trials before the election. >> ab gloria borger, how much would the trial and the others already scheduled impact trump's ability to campaign in 2024? what would this look like in the heat of the election season? >> well it would affect it tremendously. because he could be stuck in court. and, you know, he might be able to get some kind of special dispensation to not be there every day. but when you have jury trials, you -- it is protocol that you do show up. when you're the defendant. and so i think this has a huge impact. now, could trump turn it around and use it to his advantage, to say i'm being victimized here, look at what they're doing to me, this is a political prosecution, sure. he would do all of that. but i think to not have him on the campaign trail would really illustrate that he's got some real problems and might make voters think twice about whether they would want to vote for somebody who could be convicted of a felony. >> good point. how is this ruling around trump's presidential immunity in this civil case relevant in his criminal case? >> well, wolf, the stakes will get even bigger here. because donald trump already has argued that he's civilly immune but he's arguing that he's criminally sued and so he can't be prosecuted. he's going to have to convince our courts of two things. first of all, that there is such a thing as criminal immunity for a federal official. we don't know the answer to that. we probably will get an answer yes or no from the courts in the course of this case. but second, donald trump has to convince the courts that even into there is such a thing as criminal immunity. he was acting within his job as president and here we have a court of appeals saying, no you were not. you were acing outside of your role as president. now different courts of appeals might differ. but this is headed up to the u.s. supreme court. we're going to get some real ground breaking decisions here with massive consequences. >> michael, do agree it is likely heading to the u.s. supreme court? >> yeah, i think we're watching the regular old football season and nothing really matters until we get to the super bowl. that is where this thing is headed. you've got different courts saying different things and it is just not going to matter until we get there. that is also something to keep in mind about all of the scheduling for the trial. the defendants here and trump's lawyer in atlanta is doing a good job of laying out the constitutional argument about the first amendment. these are going to be reviewed by much higher courts and that is going to throw a monkey wrench in the scheduling just as well. but i don't know if i agree with everything that ruling said today when it comes down to it. i hope no president is ever out on a campaign event and has a car wreck because they could get sued. i think there is more the supreme court will have to weigh in on. >> there is a lot the stake because this is the heart of presidential power. ab i think it may be difficult to distinguish sometimes between what is an official act and what is an unofficial act. and that is the case that donald trump's lawyers were making today. which is that when you're president, everything is an official act. and we have to wait and see what the court decides on this. if they decide to take this case. but i think it is a really important question when it comes to presidential authority. >> these are really critical legal issues and it is only just beginning, guys. thank you very much. coming up, congressman george santos is expelled from the house of representatives after less than a year an the job. what comes next for the totally disgraced new york republican? and i'll get reaction to that and much more from republican presidential candidate chris christie. he's standing by live. disgraced republican congressman george santos has officially now been expelled from the house of representatives on the heels of a withering ethics report detailing stunning allegations of fraud. cnn's lauren fox has the latest from capitol hill. >> in light of the expulsion of the gentleman from new york, mr. santos, the whole number of the house is now had 34. >> a historic vote as new york republican george santos becomes just the sixth member of the house to be expelled from congress. >> reporter: santos leaving the capitol before the vote was announced saying he has no plans to return. >> why would i want to stay here. to hell with this place. >> reporter: 105 colleagues joining with all but four democrats after a bipartisan enlices committee report concluded santos saad to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his house candidacy for his own personal financial profit. >> he defrauded the voters of his district. his life was made up and it was a lie and then he used his campaign as though it was a scam the whole time, taking money from donors and turning it into his personal use. it is not that deep. it is theft. >> reporter: the ethics panel finding that santos stole from his campaign. including for travel, botox and even only fans and one republican congressman alleged he was personally impacted. >> mr. santos took my credit card personally, he took my mother's credit card. this man has cost my family $30,000. >> reporter: the vote comes even after gop leaders raised concerns about expelling a member before they were convicted of a crime. speaker mike johnson took the rare step of voting against the resolution. >> i personally have real reservations about doing this. i'm concerned about a precedent that may be set for that. >> reporter: majority leaders also voting no. santos has pled not guilty to 23 federal charges. >> if it is your choice to change precedent and loop me in with three confederate turn coats and two members convicted in a court of law. >> reporter: santos' ouster could have a major impact on the gop already narrow majority. all eyes are on kathy hochul and when she will schedule this special election which has to be held within the next three months. obviously democrats already trying to compete for this seat. which joe biden won in the 2020 election. democrats vowing they're going to invest a lot of money in this race, wolf. >> lauren fox on capitol hill, thank you. joining us now, chris christie. thank you so much for join ug. i want to get your reaction to george santos's expulsion from congress. what does it say that top republican leadership voted against it? >> well, i disagree with them and i think it is the right thing to do to expel george santos. he's a liar and a thief. he needed to be expelled from congress. he should have never been there in the first place. and so, from my perspective, the 105 republicans did the right thing and if i were there i would have done the same thing. and a federal appeals court ruled that president trump doesn't have presidential immunity from civil lawsuits over the insurrection. how big of a blow is that to trump, governor? >> it just continues to pile on his already existing problems, wofrl. it means he's not going to be able to skate away from having to defend the civil cases in court. and let's face it, it was not an official activity of his. it was an activity of his campaign to try to stay in office after the election results had already been returned. he was attempting to stop the election results from being implemented. that is not an official action of the president. that is an action based upon his political campaign and i think the court made the right decision. >> the fourth republican presidential debate is now set for next wednesday. only governor desantis, nikki haley and vivek ramaswamy appear so far to have qualified for the debate. are you confident you will be on that stage and will you reassess your campaign if you are not? >> wolf, i'm not going to of to do any reassessing. i'm confident i'll be on the stage. the same reports were made before the last debate about tim scott. that he was not -- he did not appear to qualify. you know, politico an the other publications don't know exactly what is the rnc criteria is, don't know what polls they consider or don't. and so, i'm more than happy right now with where i'm situated. we're surging in new hampshire and we'll be on the stage in tuscaloosa. >> i know you dismissed nikki haley's rise there this primary. calling her soup of the day. a soup of the day moment. but you're still polling behind her in new hampshire. are you getting in way of haley who seems to of a better chance of taking on trump? >> i doann't know why you say she's got a better chance. if you look at polling over last few cycles, you know who is win the race in 2007 on thanksgiving, it was mitt romney. who was winning the race in 2011, it was newt gingrich and then it was ben carson in 2015. polling is very unreliable. and more unreliable by the day. i know what i'm reacted to on the ground. i was last night in concord, new hampshire, and we had to close the room because it was overflow and we had no more room for standing room in the room. i'll worry about this when voters vote. not when pollsters poll. because if the pollsters were right, wolf, we'd be getting ready to end hillary clinton's second term. so i think we've had a lot of experience with pollsters over the course of the last number of years. >> i know, governor, you visited israel recently. the military has relaunched the offensive in gaza after its truce with hamas broke down. how would a chris christie presidency advise israel right now? >> i would advise israel to continue to be aggressive to eliminate the hamas military capability. i was in a kibbutz, wolf, 600 yards from the gaza border. i see the inhumane destruction that hamas brought to the people of that kibbutz and quite frankly how you could ask any of the people who survived that attack to go back to their homes and until you could assure them that you have degraded the hamasmill capable. so i think israel made a smart decision to have a temporary pause in the fighting to get as many hostages out as they could. quite frankly, hamas should release all of the women and children. the fact that they haven't is completely inhumane as well. but i think israel is correct to go back into the fight. they have to eliminate hamas military leadership and hamas military capability to assure the safety and security of the people of israel. and america under a chris christie presidency would be supporting israel in that fight 100%. >> governor chris christie, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. and just ahead, we'll remember the life of former supreme court justice sandra day o'connor who died today at the age of 93. the former u.s. supreme court justice sandra day o'connor, the first woman to hold a seat on the nation's highest court, has died at the age of 93. cnn's jessica schneider has a closer look at her life and career. >> reporter: sandra day o'connor grew up a cow girl from arizona. 25 miles from the nearest town. >> i tend to be a bit of a pragmatist, probably. because we had to solve all of our own problems out on the ranch. if the truck broke down, we had to fix it. if some animal needed medical attention, we have to provide it. there wasn't much we didn't have to do. >> reporter: she had the toughness ranch life could breed. >> she was fearless about life and part of that was because her early life was very hard. her parents died, her grandmother died and she was shuttled back and forth between the ranch and relatives in texas to go to school. and she just became very self-sufficient. >> she wasn't to stanford in the same law class as william rehnquist. they dated for a time and he even proposed. she turned him down but they stayed live long friends. upon graduation, no law firm would hire o'connor so she helped start her own. later becoming a powerful state lawmaker. then judge. >> president reagan today settled the question of when he would nominate a woman to the nation's highest court. >> she is truly a person for all seasons, possessing those unique qualities of temperament and pairness and devotion to the public good. >> in 1981, president ronal reagan nominated her to be the first woman on the supreme court. the senate confirmed her unanimously, 99-0. >> reporter: in 1988, she survived a breast cancer scare and returned to work ten days after surgery. her dry western wit was in tact. >> the worse was by public visibility, frankly. there was constant media coverage. how does she look? when is she going to step down and give the president another vacancy on the court? >> reporter: overtime she became known as a moderate conservative and the swing vote on hot button social issues, a reference she didn't like. >> we have an equal voice and i'm no more powerful than anyone else on this court. that is for sure. >> reporter: some criticized her as a fence sitting waiting to see which way the wind would blow. >> those would be the people who never met her. anybody who met her knows she makes up her own mind and she's not concerned about where anybody else is on the spectrum. >> reporter: her most well-known votes upholding abortion rights in planned parenthood versus casey. supporting the university of michigan law school's affirmative action program. and siding with her conservative colleagues in favor of george w. bush in bush versus gore. in 2006, she stepped down from the court to care for her husband john who had alzheimer's disease. she became a passionate advocate for alzheimer's research. >> it does take a staggering toll on families and the caregivers. i could certainly attest to that. >> reporter: in 2018, o'connor revealed she too had been diagnosed with dementia and withdrew from public life. the retired justice was grateful she wrote, for her countless blessings and experiences including helping to break the glass ceiling. >> it wasn't too many years before i was born that women in this country got the right to vote for heaven sakes. and in my lifetime, i have seen unbelievable changes in the opportunities for women. i think it is important that women are well represented. that it is not an all male governance, as it once was. >> an thanks to jessica schneider for that report. i had a chance to speak with justin o'connor back in 2010 and she said she's like to see more female justices appointed to the court, listen to this. >> how do you assess the obama administration in the first year in office as far as judicial issues are concerned, sonia sotomayor becoming the third woman on the supreme court? >> i was pleased to see another woman selected. we don't have many that -- that brought it back up to two, that is the most we've ever had in the supreme court. our nearest neighbor canada has at least four of the nine, in the canadian supreme court are women. and their chief justice is a woman. so we could do better. >> our condolences to her family and friends. and we'll be right back. tonight, the expulsion of george santos is a long history of scandal up on capitol hill. our brian todd is taking a closer look for us. how does santos compare to other disgraced former members of house? >> wolf, he's right up there with legends. members of congress who have taken bribes, engaged in racketeering and some members who joined the confederacy. >> reporter: george santos wanted to be thought of as exceptional and tonight he certainly is. historians say you have to be a special kind of scoundrel to be expelled from the house of representatives. >> it is very rare for the house of representatives to expel a member. it is only happened five times before and now george santos makes it number six. >> reporter: the last one was james trafficant, known for evoking a star trek phrase when he was particularly outraged. >> beam me up. >> reporter: he was expelled from the house in 2002 after being convicted of racketeering and bribery and tax evasion. he served seven years in principle. >> he wore a wig that looked more like a dead muskrat. he was a well colorful comedic members but also a crook. >> in 1980 michael myers was expelled after being convicted for taking bribes. part of an investigation called ab scam. this fbi sting video shows myers accepting $50,000 to help a fictional arab sheikh. in 1861, they were expelled for joining the con fefederate armyd those whose corruption were legendary. $90,000 in cash hidden in a pie crust in the freezer of the home of william cold cash jefferson and convicted of bribery in 2009. >> there are a lot of places to hide $90,000. a freezer is a very inventive and creative. >> reporter: prosecutors said republican congressman duncan hunter took $250,000 in campaign funds and spent it on video games and groceries an other household items and a $14,000 italian vacation. then he claimed it was all his wife's idea until she called him out on it in court. >> when you're a thief and a cad simultaneously with your own wife -- >> in 1838, congressman william graves of kentucky killed a fellow house member in a duel and he went expelled and he wasn't even censured. historians say scandal has become part of the fabric on capitol hill with more than 11,000 people having served in the house throughout american history. >> i suspect that as long as money and power, the same place and corrupt individuals will try to take advantage of that nexus. >> reporter: michael meyers, the congressman convicted in the ab scam case is back in jail sentenced last year for taking bribes in a ballot stuffing scheme in democratic primaries. wolf. >> brian todd reporting for us. thank you very much. and we'll be right back. in russia right now, lgbtq people are being targeted by a ruthless new government crackdown. cnn's fred pleitgen has our report. >> reporter: as vladimir putin continues his brutal invasion of ukraine, at home the kremlin is prosecuting a legal war against the lgbtq community. russia supreme court labelling members as extremist. >> the court decision to ban the activities of the lgbt movement and the structural sub divisions shall be subject to immediate execution. >> that means this may be considered extremist behavior in the future. >> reporter: saffron is a drag artist often performing at an underground club. >> translator: what scares me is that a large layer of interesting people and interesting creativity will be lost. i fear for the safety of this people. if they continue to do what they are doing, they could be in danger. >> reporter: sodomy and pedophilia, that is how tv has been labelling the lgbtq community for years in a sustained media blitz. >> translator: sorry i don't want to talk about these. i won't say this disgusting word out loud. in my choice, they would be shot for what they do to each other. >> reporter: what he sees as behavior propagated by the u.s. and european allies is part of vladimir putin's rational for the war in ukraine and one of his propaganda points in a confrontation with the west. [ singing ] >> reporter: putin styling himself as the defender of what he called traditional christian values as he recently praised russia's cultural diversity. >> reporter: our diversity and unity of cult you are ooze and languages and ethnic groups simply does not fit into the logic of western racist and colonialists. >> the lgbtq community has long faced violence and arrests in russia. but some lgbtq activists believe now things could get much worse. as vladimir putin gears up for a presidential election next march. >> it seems to me that this is part of the presidential election campaign. but the elections will pass and the court decision will remain. >> fred pleitgen, cnn, berlin. >> and thanks to fred pleitgen repoporting. and thank you for watching. i'm wolf blitzerlitzer in "the situation room," erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, new