judge s gag order still in place, so he can t speak about certain things. he has to be so careful. that is so unconstitutional, in my opinion. we have first amendment rights. we have rights as attorneys. sixth amendment rights. those are all being violated, and he still wants to take the stand even though my advice is, at this point, you should never take the stand with a gag order. but he is so firmly against what is happening in this court. trump lawyer alina habba previewing the former president s testimony in the civil fraud trial against his business organization. now, it appears trump will be a no-show. we ll show you what his legal team is saying about the last-minute reversal, and who will take the stand. plus, the latest from the middle east. israel continues to strike what it calls hamas strongholds in southern gaza. an area where the u.n. has warned about dire humanitarian conditions. it comes amid new reporting that israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu no
supreme court s first female justice. also, a guy who claims to be all three of those things. elon musk met with benjamin netanyahu this week and agreed that israel must destroy hamas. i think musk could destroy hamas almost instantly by becoming their ceo. good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is monday, december 4th. we ve got a lot to get to this morning. israel expanding its offensive in gaza with ground forces moving into the southern part of the territory. it comes as israeli officials have withdrawn from negotiations for another humanitarian pause. we ll get the very latest on these major developments in just a moment. plus, an update for you on the string of attacks on an american warship and multiple commercial vessels in the middle east. also ahead, the dangers of a possible second term for donald trump. we re going to go through a special feature from the atlantic. a major effort to detail all the threats our democracy could face. here s what th
using civilians as human shields. they re hiding behind and among civilians. they re putting rockets and other terrorist infrastructure in civilian areas. that creates an added burden for the israeli defense forces, but it does not lessen their responsible to distinguish between terrorists and innocent civilians and to protect the lives of innocent civilians as they conduct this military operation. that s true of striking from the air. it is true of going in on the ground. this is something that we talk about with the israelis on a daily basis. national security adviser jake sullivan on the responsibility of israeli forces as its troops are moving farther into gaza this morning, days into its ground operation. we ll get the latest in a live report from the gaza border. plus, what the new speaker of the house is saying about aid packages for israel and ukraine and how soon the funding could pass in the lower chamber. also ahead, there s much more to report on donald trum
good morning. thursday, march 11th, 5 a.m. exactly in new york. i am christine romans. president biden gives his first primetime address to the nation tonight. the american rescue plan becomes law when he signs it tomorrow. he calls the measure a historic victory for the american people. there are stimulus checks, unemployment help, tax credits to lift children out of poverty. money for schools, states and local governments. support for schools and small businesses. more, help with rent, money for vaccines, internet for kids stuck with remote learning. bottom line, a lot of help for the poorest americans. biden is now armed with his first major legislative achievement. cnn has new information about what we will hear from the president tonight. our congressional reporter daniella diaz is live. good morning, daniella. now the president taking this on the road. reporter: that s right, laura. president biden is going to talk to americans directly tonight in the primetime ad