good morning, to our viewers in the usa and around the world. i m john avlon. it is monday, december 18th. it s 5:00 a.m. here in new york, noon in tel aviv, where the u.s. defense secretary is scheduled to meet now with his israeli counterpart. secretary lloyd austin s mission is to press israeli officials on specific milestones for progress in israel s war against hamas, as civilian casualties climb. here s democratic senator chris van hollen talking to abc this sunday. we do have unacceptable levels of casualties. we see loose rules of engagement, way looser than anything that the united states would exercise. we would not drop a 2,000-pound bomb on a refugee camp to target a hamas commander. a senior defense official tells cnn that austin will, quote, want to hear very clear articulation of the israeli self-assessment today. that same official has confidence in the israeli military and so he s there to ask questions and learn more about their plan. elliott gotkine
leaders of the world s wealthiest democracies sent a message to russia and china during the second day of the g7 summit. ukraine president volodymyr zelenskyy is among the non-member leaders invited to the summit. he is boosting support for his country in the war with russia. zelenskyy is expected to address some leaders tomorrow, but today he held sit-downs with some leaders. providing military aid to ukraine was one of the items for the g7 leaders, but the leaders of japan, germany, italy, united kingdom and the u.s. issued statements on china to help end the war in ukraine and establish sustainable economic relations. ongoing negotiations over the debt ceiling have been a subject of interest at the gathering. during a meeting with australia s prime minister, president biden was asked about the talks and said negotiations are progressing as he expected. we have team coverage. jasmine wright is live in washington. nic robertson is standing by in ukraine. let s start with
challenges as he makes a third run for the white house. today, he made a virtual appearance at a hearing in the manhattan d. a. s hush money case. it was his first court appearance since pleading not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. this afternoon, the judge told him the trial would begin on march 25th 2024, the heart of the presidential campaign season. the judge also issued an order of restricting trump opposing about some evidence in the case, nbc legal analyst lisa reuben was in the courtroom. the judge did not obey the protective order to trump line for line, but definitely wanted to make sure on the record that trump had reviewed it line for line with his lawyer and that he understood most importantly that it is a court order that if he violates, he risks a wide range of sanctions including and up through criminal contempt. was my clinic believes this is an infringement of a first amendment right and i have assured him, your honor, that was not yo
we made it to saturday. i m amara walker. i m victor blackwell. there is a story coming up that has 95,000 comments ook cross t across the country. the usda banning chocolate and strawberry milks in school. and some people say this is how they get their calcium. so we ll have that for you. and a high stakes summit, president zelenskyy arrives at the g7 summit to boost support as russia escalates the war. he is expected to meet with president biden who faces challenges of his own here at home, dead lockeded on the debt limit. can a deal be reached before time and money run out. and plus signs of possible survival. colomblolombian officials race d four children after a plane crash. and brittney griner back on the court for her first regular season start. we ll show you her emotional return. and national guardsmen accused of leaking a strove of classified documents to social media and the defendant remains in custody. off the top, president zelenskyy is in hirosh
solidarity with other industries. while this incident came about spontaneously, they did find that organizers from amazon and starbucks unions showed up to help them and vice versa. sneets. thank you so much for joining me. i m fredericka witfield. president biden will be meeting with president zelenskyy at the g7 summit in japan. ukraine already scored a key victory after the u.s. has signalled it will now permit allies to send f-16 fighter jets to the war-torn nation. other g7 leaders issued a statement of support, saying, quote, we reaffirm our unwavering support for ukraine for as long as it takes. high on the agenda, western leaders are also weighing in on how to confront china s increasing military power. phil mattingly is in hiroshima, japan. what can we expect from this highly anticipated meeting between biden and zelenskyy? reporter: you know, the symbolism is obvious. we ve seen it not just here in hiroshima, but also over the course of the last ten days with pr