in gaza, new scenes of destruction after an israeli air strike rocks the same refugee camp that was hit a day earlier. israel standing firmly in defending the attacks as vital to destroying hamas amid mounting concerns in the middle east and in the united states about the civilian death toll. also tonight, donald trump, jr., takes the stand in the $250 million civil fraud trial against the trump family business. we're going to tell you what he said under oath in new york. and in florida, the judge in former president trump's classified document case is suggesting the trial could be postponed. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in tel aviv, israel. and you're in "the situation room." ♪ ♪ this is cnn breaking news. let's get right to the breaking news. on the first evacuation of foreign nationals and other civilians from gaza into egypt. officials say hundreds of people have gotten out, including americans. and hundreds more are expected to follow in the immediate hours ahead. our correspondents are covering all the developments in the israel-hamas war, from multiple angles and locations. first, let's go to cnn's becky anderson. she's joining us right now from doha, qatar. becky, qatar was instrumental in securing the deal that made these evacuations possible. that's what we're told. update our viewers. >> reporter: yeah, some hard-earned success for the qatar-led mediation between israel, hamas, egypt in coordination with the united states. to describe these talks as complicated, these talks have been going on now for some three weeks, would be an understatement, wolf. but today, relief at least for some. escape from a living nightmare. for the first time since the war between israel and hamas began, foreign passport holders are able to leave gaza through the rafah border, the sole crossing with egypt. equally important, dozens of critically injured palestinians allowed to leave. some to be treated in a field hospital opened in sinaikilometg sent directly to hospitals across egypt. with continued intense bombardment and more than 20,000 injured, much more is needed. >> translator: we want hundreds of those injured to receive treatment as all the hospitals have exhausted their capacities in every respect. medical supplies, medicines for burns have run out, as well. >> reporter: at least two americans have already made their way out of gaza and are now in egypt. other officials in washington hope up to 5,000 foreign nationals, including american citizens, will pass through the hamas-controlled border station and make their way into egypt in the coming days. it's all part of a deal mediated by qatar, between israel, hamas, and egypt in coordination with the united states. the small gulf country is uniquely placed to play a big diplomatic role. it's a strong u.s. ally and home to a major u.s. military base, while also hosting hamas' political leadership. just this week, it welcomed the head of israel's intelligence agency, david barnier, and the iranian foreign minister. against the backdrop of on goin talks to release more than 200 israelis held by hamas, those hostage talks were made more difficult when israel launched its ground incursion last week. sources close to the talks tell me there is nothing yet to report on a deal, but the negotiations, they say, are ongoing. with the first foreign passport holders arriving in egypt and hundreds more expected to join them in coming days, there's hope yet that diplomatic efforts can save some lives, even as the war shows no sign of stopping. and wolf, this is being described as a comprehensive plan. as i reported, the hope is that all foreign nationals, dual citizens who want to leave will be able to leave. as far as u.s. officials are concerned, that includes some 400 americans. 400 u.s. citizens and their family members. that would add up to about 1,000 people leaving gaza, getting into egypt and then being able to move on, many of those wants to get home to the states. that is the hope at this point. wolf? >> let's certainly hope that happens. becky anderson reporting for us. thank you very, very much. i want to get an update on efforts to get more of those americans out of gaza right now. cnn's m.j. lee is joining us from the white house. joe biden just spoke out about this a short while ago. update our viewers. >> reporter: yeah, wolf, certainly. a little bit of good news to celebrate after what has been a very dark few weeks. the president himself confirms that the first group of u.s. nationals had left gaza and are now in egypt. he confirmed that the process of getting these americans and wounded palestinians and other foreign nationals out of gaza will take place in a matter of stages and over the course of multiple days. becky mentioned this, but the state department has been clear that there are some 400 american citizens in gaza who have expressed interest in leaving, and their family members total some 1,000 people. that is in addition to some 5,000 other foreign nationals expected to try to leave. the president just saying in remarks that his administration has been working around the clock to lead to this arrangement. this is what he said. >> this is the result of intense and urgent american diplomacy with our partners in the region. i personally spent a lot of time speaking with the prime minister netanyahu of israel and president sisi of egypt and others to make sure we can open this access for people to get out. >> reporter: and just to give you a better sense of those weeks of diplomatic efforts to get to this deal, what we have learned is that one thing hamas had been pushing for was for wounded palestinians to be able to leave gaza, but notably they wanted some of their own fighters to be in that mix, and that was a specific demand that was denied. as far as the egyptians were concerned, they had a lot of worries about the idea of palestinians entering egypt and then permanently staying. so that was a conversation that u.s. officials had a lot with their egyptian counterparts. they also wanted to make sure as these people were starting to come into their country, that they could vet every single person that was coming in. wolf, i just wanted to note, something noteworthy that the president just said in minnesota. he said that israel continues to have a right to defend itself, but that it needs to continue adhering to the international laws. he said "every innocent life is a tragedy." this is noteworthy giving the growing outcry that we have seen in light of these israeli air strikes that hit this refugee camp in northern gaza. wolf? >> all right, m.j., thank you very much. there's more breaking news we are following in the war zone. a second blast at gaza's largest refugee camp in as many days. both due to israeli air strikes. the idf insisting the attacks were targeting hamas amid growing evidence of civilian casualties in the process. cnn's nick robertson is on the ground for us near the border, joining us live right now in israel. give us the latest that the new strike at this refugee camp, as it developed and give us more on israel's escalating ground war that's unfolding now. >> reporter: yeah. this second strike, wolf, the idf said they had precise intelligence data, pointing to hamas command and control facility at that refugee camp. that's why they targeted it. they reminded us again that hamas stays -- hides behind civilians. they reminded us again that they told and warned the civilians in the north and center of gaza to the move to the south where they would be safer. of course, many of those civilians are confused and worried and unsure about which routes to take and how they should get there. they're worried that they could end up falling in front of, you know, an israeli military unit on the move. and to that point, we've heard from the commander of the forces that are right there inside gaza. he said, we are at the gates of gaza city right now. the minister of defense has described it in even more blunt details, saying that it is fierce urban combat inside gaza city that the troops are facing right now, describing it as involving a lot of hamas' use of anti-tank weapons, and this does seem to be leading, in part, to the death and injury of troops. we know of 16 idf soldiers that have died over the past 24 hours. 15 of those in gaza. and i think perhaps an indication of what the troops are being prepared for came from their commander of the idf in a letter to all his troops saying, we are in the middle of a war t. it's going to be long war. we're going to fight to the end. we're fighting for our country and values. but he made the very clear point that you are on the enemy's ground now, so we will be using intense fire to support you. but it's a very clear indication for these troops going in that their commanders from the battlefield commanders right away to the minister of defense, really understand that the fight is going to get tough and intense as they get into these streets in and around gaza city, wolf. >> by all accounts it looks like it's going to heat up dramatically in the coming days and weeks. thank you very much. joining us now, a political and foreign policy reporter for axio. barack, thank you for joining us. as you know, the idf bombed the refugee camp for a second straight day. eyewitnesss report that the first blast killed many palestinian civilians. can israel credibly say it's minimizing civilian deaths when it's striking a refugee camp, a very crowded refugee camp? >> hi, wolf. i think that definitely raises a lot of questions. at least today, the idf spokesman, when he briefed foreign correspondents, he claimed that the reason that israel is attacking this area was because there is some sort of a regional headquarters for hamas in the refugee camp area. but at the end of the day, even if that's the case, you know, he still admitted that civilians were hit in this air strike. he didn't kconfirm how many civilians, but even if admitted that civilians were hurt. >> are there concerns in israel about the mounting deaths and humanitarian crisis in gaza? >> the israeli government understood, maybe a bit late, but it does understand it right now is that the humanitarian situation in gaza is directly connected to its ability to continue to have support from its allies around the world, especially from the united states. this is why, for example, the evacuation today, all wounded palestinians to egypt was something that was very important to israel, to the point that the israeli government agreed to commit to egypt, to the u.s. and to other allies around the world that any palestinian -- any wounded palestinian that would leave the gaza strip would be allowed to go back after the war. >> jordan announced today that it's immediately recalling its ambassador to israel in the wake of the strike of the refugee camp. how is this impacting israel's diplomatic situation in the region and around the world? >> i think what we see in the last few days is growing international pressure. you saw three countries in latin america announcing that they're cutting ties to israel or recalling their ambassadors. we saw the jordanian statement today about recalling its ambassador. but i have to tell you, i personally thought that the jordanians would recall their ambassador long before. the fact that it took them more than three weeks also tells you something. but i think it's clear that the -- as this ground operation continues, as you have more civilian casualties and the humanitarian situation in gaza continues to deteriorate, israel's diplomatic situation will get much, much more difficult. >> yeah. i suspect you're right. thank you very much for that update. coming up, there's a lot more we're following. more live reports from here in israel. more on the devastation after the idf confirms it struck a refugee camp for the second time sense yesterday, saying it was targeting major hamas fighters. and a son of former president trump is on the witness stand testifying in his own defense. lots going on. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." much more on all the breaking news here in israel, that's coming up. but there's other breaking news in the united states, including the eldest son of former president donald trump, testifying under oath today in the civil fraud trial against the family and their businesses. donald trump, jr., was pressed by prosecutors on his involvement in financial documents right at the center of this lawsuit. joining us now, cnn legal analyst -- donald trump, jr., is trying to distance himself from the organization's financial statements, saying he leaves these matters to his accountants. what do you make of that? >> well, the center of the new york state case, wolf, is that in his roles in the business and as a trustee of these enterprises, he can't pass the buck completely. he has some legal responsibility to make sure they're accurate. of course, we've seen a ton of evidence that they were not accurate. so i think today, new york state set him up. he was already visibly uncomfortable with some of the questions. we're going to see the payoff tomorrow. probably not so good for trump, jr. or for the trump family's standing in this case. >> let me follow on that point with elliott. what risks, elliott, is donald trump, jr., taking by testifying today under oath? >> well, any time a witness testifies under oath, wolf, they run the risk of saying something that can trip them up. also note that donald trump, jr., has given a prior deposition in this case. so he has provided testimony already. if he contradicts himself or says something that doesn't quite gel with his deposition, that's something that the judge could find. it speaks to his credibility and so on. so it's always risky. the other thing is that it's one thing to answer questions from your own attorney, statements -- or testimony that you prepared, questioning that you had rehearsed. it's another thing when a prosecutor that you haven't met before takes a crack at you and can really pin you down on your prior statements or, you know, other questions they may have about you or your history. and so it remains to be seen how tomorrow's testimony will go. but that's when the unpredictable questioning might come up. >> good point. ivanka trump is appealing a judge's ruling ordering her to testify in this civil fraud trial next week. how do you see this playing out? >> i think he's unlikely to be successful in that appeal, wolf. it is true that she was dismissed from the case because her management responsibilities in these businesses came outside of the statute of limitations. but she still has firsthand evidence about these gaps in the valuation, where they shift. sometimes there are many times the actual value of the properties. the judge and the state are entitled to that testimony. she also could be potentially a very damaging witness against her father and her brothers and the trump organization. and i think he is going to be forced to testify. >> we shall see. down in florida, elliott, judge cannon is signaling she may postpone trump's trial in the mar-a-lago classified documents case after trump's attorneys raised concerns about the amount of time they would have to prepare, given trump's other trials. is that a valid concern? what's your assessment? >> absolutely it's valid, wolf. i think we've got to get over this charade, and i think norm disagrees with me on this point, we've talked about it before. but that they can get that case to trial in a matter of months, when a criminal matter deals with sensitive information, classified documents, defense-related information, there's got to be a lot of litigation back and forth over how to put that information in front of a jury. i have long said, it was very ambitious to think that case could be brought to trial by may. i don't think it's unreasonable. it's not a slam dunk. it could go either way, but i do think it's an entirely fair question to ask whether you can bring a complicated national security case up to trial in just a matter of months. >> clearly, trump wants it delayed as much as possible, including after the presidential election. if the judge does delay the case, norm, is there a chance it could still happen before next year's presidential election? >> i do, wolf. the case is currently set for may. mar-a-lago documents case is not an unusually complex one. we have seen national security cases, like the paul manafort case, move on even faster timetables. the judge, if she relaxes that may deadline, she could move it to the summer. it is important to get that trial in before the presidential season starts in earnest. she'll know more about whether donald trump is or is not the candidate of the republican party by then. so i do think it is possible to get it in. if you compare the judge, wolf, she's not accepting these excuses. she's pushing that case forward, the federal january 6th case for march. and that is the way to manage a trial docket, in my view. >> interesting. guys, thank you very much. lots more news coming up here in "the situation room." up next, we're learning more about the impact of a second israeli air strike in gaza's largest refugee camp. residents and doctors are speaking out. as some u.s. citizens and other civilians have been e evacuated from gaza today, i'll speak to a palestinian american woman still stuck in gaza, trying desperately to get out. c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game? yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. we're back with more breaking news here in the middle east. the israeli air strikes that have left large parts of the gaza refugee camp in ruins. israel confirming the second attack in two days, defending it as necessary to take out leaders of hamas. cnn's correspondent is following it for us, joining us live from jerusalem. a lot of disturbing images from that refugee camp are coming in. >> reporter: absolutely. we've been seeing the horrifying videos from the latest air strike on the refugee camp, and the aftermath of yesterday's air strike. two air strikes taking place in less than 4 hours. now, as we know, this is one of the largest, most densely populated refugee camps. it is now really an urban community and has been for many years. it is home to more than 100,000 people, according to the u.n. so you can imagine the sheer devastation that has been brought by this latest round of air strikes. you can see in the videos, we've been hearing from medics on the ground. they have described this as a nightmare. take a look. tales of horror at gaza's refugee camp. wounded children rushed to nearby ambulances. the latest casualties of israel's relentless aerial bombardment. this densely populated neighborhood, ripped by panic and sheer disbelief. a second israeli air strike in less than 24 hours. "i lost my whole family," this man says, holding a list of those killed just today. "my sister's house was struck with her children inside. my brother's house, too, with all of his children. there is no one left except for me and my younger brother. they were innocent. what did they do to deserve this?" israel's defense force says it was targeting a hamas command and control headquarters. this is home to more than 100,000 civilians, according to the u.n. and while the full extent of the civilian death toll remains unclear at this stage, gaza's civil defense authority has described this latest disaster as a massacre, with more casualties and more fatalities, added to the list of hundreds said to have been killed or wounded in tuesday's air strike. this situation is beyond belief. many have been killed. bodies have been left burned and charred by the air strike, this doctor says. there isn't a hospital in the world that could cope with this kind of situation, we are having to treat patients on the floor and corridors. the scale of decestruction is difficult to grasp. many are still buried beneath the rubble. rescue workers and civilians dig side by side, desperate to find survivors. "this house had 15 people in it, but we haven't been able to find any of them," he says. "we have no equipment, we are digging alone." northern gaza continues to come under heavy bombardment, warned by israel to evacuate southwards. but air strikes continue to rain down across both central and southern gaza, too. and for the more than 2 million palestinians living under an israeli blockade, the fear is that there is nowhere safe to turn. we have heard widespread condemnation over the bombardment of the gaza strip. we have heard reiterated condemnation from the u.n.'s human rights office. they said, given the high number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following air strikes on the refugee camp, we have serious concerns these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes. that is the message from the u.n.'s human rights office, echoed by human rights groups across the board. wolf? >> thank you very much. as this war rages in gaza, some americans just got out of this first wave of civilian evacuations that took place today. but others are still anxiously trying to evacuate. joining us now on the phone from gaza, palestinian american lina buseso. i understand you just heard from the u.s. state department. what are they saying about when you and your family will be able to pass through that rafah border crossing gate into egypt? >> well, it's really unclear, wolf. we get our hopes up, because we received emails from state department saying that we can departure and leave, and then going four times to the border and finding that the border is closed, i get my hopes up. i'm looking forward to tomorrow to see if we have the opportunity to go back up there to the border and trying our attempt to leave. so we're just worried and concerned. i felt that my country had abandoned me and my family. it's been a horrifying night fair. we get our hopes up, we go to the border. sometimes it's getting bombed as we're there. and it's just been a living nightmare. everybody here with me, all the distru destruction, all the killing and innocent life taken, it's just horrifying. after tomorrow, it's not updated yet, but there is a list of names that people who are -- should be able to pass through the border and see if their name is on that list to make it through the border. >> lena, what exactly does this latest email that you just received from the state department say? can you share that with us? >> sure. it says -- let me see. let me open up on it. it says, you and your immediate family members are expected to be on a list to be allowed to enter egypt in the coming days. the palestinian authority published a list of those permitted to pass into egypt on november 2nd, and we believe they will do so again daily. we urge you to consult that list, and if you find your name and the names of your immediate family members on that list, please go to the rafah crossing on the appropriate day with your u.s. passports and other valid travel documents. we expect there to be many people at the crossing, and there is likely to be some confusion at access and entry points. please be prepared to wait in line. >> i know you've described, lena, these last 3 1/2 weeks as so scary and frightening. that's totally understandable. how are you and your family holding up? >> we are all holding up with hope and faith that we will be able to leave. another thing is an end to this massacre, to this war, to the war against innocents. because these are innocent lives, and the destruction of homes, the whole city, buildings, hospitals. the third most oldest church. everything is getting demolished. it's leveled down. it's evil and so sad, because so many lives are being taken. so we're jus holding up -- >> good luck to you, lena -- i was just going to say, good luck to you and your family. please stay in touch with us, and let us know if there's anything we can help you do. we want to see you get out of there with your family as soon as possible. appreciate it very much. >> thank you, wolf. and just ahead, funding for israel appears to be a popular measure among both parties in the u.s. congress. why is it in danger of becoming a major showdown? that's just ahead here in "the situation room." a potential showdown for aid for ail is brewing between house and senate republicans. mitch mcconnell not backing down from his insistence that the national security supplemental bill must include funding to address all global threats, not just israel. that's in direct opposition to the newly elected house speaker mike johnson. manu, what specifically are we hearing from mcconnell and other senate leaders? >> reporter: well, they met behind closed doors with speaker mike johnson today, the first time they have met since johnson became speaker. johnson maid clear he does not believe aid to ukraine and israel could not pass his chamber. as the house plans to move on its own plan, $14.3 billion in aid to israel. punt on the issue of ukraine. johnson said he would be open to moving on the issue of ukraine, but tying that to stricter border security issues, new immigration policies, something that democrats almost certainly will not accept. democrats also are not going to accept the israel plan, because johnson is advancing spending cuts to the irs, something that democrats in that senate say is a non-starter, raising questions about how any of this can be addressed. now, in talking to a number of senators on both sides of the aisle, many are aligning with mitch mcconnell saying it's time to address ukraine now. otherwise they fear there will never be another opportunity to pass more aid to ukraine and it could slip away to russia. >> the world -- [ inaudible ] >> -- we're going to address the national concerns of our own nation, border security, continue the fight against russia by helping ukraine and help israel now, because we're running out of time. >> this will be the end of the ukrainian effort to stop putin's aggression. it is not just another political decision, sit a life or death decision. i hope that speaker johnson will reflect on that. >> reporter: even republicans in the senate are divided about the question about how to deal with ukraine. the number of crmembers -- they are calling on the members to align themselves with the new speaker. mcconnell is aligning himself with democrat chuck schumer as they try to cobble together a broader package, $105 billion emergency national security package that the white house has proposed. the senate could move as soon as next week, but wolf, the question is if the house passes its plan tomorrow, just dealing with israel, that was no chance of passing the senate. what will happen then? because if the senate moves, it has no chance to pass in the house, leaving israel and ukraine waiting for money at this critical moment with major uncertainty here on any of this and how it can be resolved. wolf? >> manu raju in washington, thank you very much. coming up, there's more news we're following. that student arrested for allegedly making anti-semitic threats against cornell university's jewish community makes his first court appearance. i'll discuss that story and the growing number of antisemitic threats in the united states with the head of the anti-defamation league. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game? yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. a 21-year-old student has been arrested for making anti-semitic online threats against the jewish community at cornell university. he did not enter a plea during his first appearance in federal court today. this is happening as the number of anti-semitic threats is clearly on the rise across the united states since the hamas attacks against israel. for more on this story, i'm joined by jonathan greenblatt, the ceo and national director of the antidefamation league. jonathan, thank you so much for joining us. as you heard and as you well know, this cornell university student is now in custody in connection with the series of threats against jewish students at cornell. this comes as the fbi director, christopher wray, is warning of attacks from individuals inspired by hamas. before this, he appeared to be, this college student, he appeared to be a normal college student at cornell. does that make this incident even more disturbing? >> yeah, look, this incident is terrifying. the idea that someone would post to a message board at an ivy league university that he wants to "slit the throats of jews," that he wants to rape jewish women for what's happening in gaza, i mean, look, jews are no more collectively responsible for what's happening in israel than asian americans would be for what's happening in china or any ethnicity for what's happening in another part of the world. anti-zionism is anti-semitism, wolf, and it creates the conditions in which these kind of things happen, which jewish people and the israelis are dehumanized and demonized so people think they can say these kind of things with impunity. >> the fbi director, christopher wray, is also warning that anti-semitism in the united states is reaching what he calls, and i'm quoting him now, "historic levels" since the october 7th hamas attack against israel. what worries you most about this alarming increase? >> look, i talked to you almost five years to the day, wolf, about the shooting in pittsburgh, which, at the time, was the bloodiest attack on jewish people in the history of the united states. it still is. that happened by far-right wing, you know, white supremacists, and now we have these hard left radical anti-zionists threatening to kill and attack jews, celebrating the worst massacre against the jewish people since the holocaust. it is outrageous. and i think chris wray is right. the conditions are here, in which something explosive could happen, but the way that we can stop it is if we move from a cancel culture to a consequence culture. you post death threats against jewish students, you should have a knock on your door from the fbi, and you should get arrested. by the way, as we saw at harvard yesterday where jewish students weren't allowed to walk across the quad, they were stopped and harassed by militant pro-hamas demonstrators, i'm sorry, if you harass jewish students, if you incite violence against them, you should be expelled from the university. no questions asked. and if you make it difficult, if you bully students because they're jewish, if you threaten them because they're from israel, there should be a zero tolerance policy on such intolerance in our universities. period, full stop. >> as you know, the united states has been viewed as a refuge for so many jews in the wake of the holocaust. that was certainly the case, by the way, for my family. has the recent rise in antisemitism shaken that sense for american jews? >> i will tell you this. jews are certainly concerned but they are also more united than i have ever seen. my family came here, my grandfather was a german holocaust survivor. my families escaped persecution to come here to this country, and now to see the rise of anti-semitism, we've seen a nearly 400% increase in incidents in just the past two and a half weeks, wolf. it's shocking, and yet, i will tell you this, wolf. we aren't going anywhere. if these anti-zionists think we're going to intimidate us, they've got another think coming. we're going to push back, and we will win to make sure america is as good to us as it's always been in the years ahead. >> jonathan greenblatt of the adl, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. all right, coming up, israeli forces are advancing toward gaza city right now as the country comes under a lot of criticism for a blast that hit gaza's largest refugee camp for a second straight day. we're live in the regionon with alall the latete-breaking g developmpments. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com