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good morning. welcome to "cnn this morning," sunday, november 12th. i'm victor blackwell. >> i'm amara walker. thank you for being with us. here's what we are watching for you this morning. an evacuation corridor is open near al shifa hospital now as intense fighting continues around the area. israeli prime minister vows the war with hamas will continue. michael jordan unveiled his play to keep the government open. the next critical step in the process and why some republicans a already saying they will not support the plan. former president trump addressed his slew of legal battles head on in a rally in new hampshire yesterday. his message to voters and why he wants his federal election subversion trial televised. an amazing medical breakthrough. an arkansas man receives a complete eye and partial face transplant. more on the first-of-its-kind surgery. in gaza this morning, israeli forces continue their ground assault against hamas targets. the idf says much of the fighting focused on locating and destroying the maze of tunnels that hamas has built underneath gaza. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu rejected growing international calls for a ceasefire in gaza. in a televised spech, netadoubl down and said the battle against hamas will continue with all our force, with all our might. authorities are expected to openet rafah crossing today to allow foreign nationals to leave gaza. officials say more than 6,000 foreign nationals were in gaza at the start of the month and since then as many as 2,000 of them have left. the hamas-controlled health ministry in gaza said three newborn babies have died at al shifa hospital since friday night. the idf has been engaged in heavy fighting but denies the hospital is you under siege. >> ed lavandera joining us now. i mean, it's hard to get a sense of what exactly is happening in and around al shifa hospital. this morning the idf says it's offered to evacuate infants and other patients from gaza's largest hospital. what do we know is happening there? >> reporter: it's viebd by health officials inside that hospital and have since evacuated in the last 12 to 15 hours as a catastrophic and dire situation. but it is not exactly clear if this transfer that the israeli defense force is offering to move the babies inside al shifa hospital to a safer place has happened. idf officials said saturday night that they would work on transferring those babies inside that hospital after the hamas-controlled health ministry said three babies had died yesterday. this area around the hospital has been the focus of intense fighting in a lot of -- it's unclear where exactly the fighting has taken place. people inside the hospital say that israeli forces laid siege to the hospital, surrounding it. israeli's defense force says that is not happening, but that there is intense and ongoing fighting in the areas around there. and it's important because this is the hospital that has been the focus for years of israeli military saying that hamas military fighters used this area underneath the al shifa hospital, the largest in gaza city, as one of its main focal points of its military operations and that's why there is such intense fighting there. a collection of arab nations leaders gathered yesterday essentially accusing israel of committing war crimes in in this military operation in gaza. despite that, prime minister benjamin netanyahu is remaining defiant, saying there will be no ceasefire and that israel will continue with full military force until hamas is eliminated. >> all right. ed lavandera, thank you very much. on saturday, saudi arabia hosted what it called the joint arab islamic extraordinary summit in riyadh. are. >> ed just mentioned, they accused israel of committing war crimes in gaza. tell us more about this summit. >> reporter: yeah. and very strong words. they are making it absolutely clear that not only arab league, but the muslim leaders from the region are watching israel's actions very closely and they have described it as war crimes. they are calling it barbaric and inhumane and that the war must stop immediately. they are condemning the occupation in the west bank and east jerusalem. this is a hoe of force. multiple leaders coming together in a rare meeting. usually they don't meet together. they came up with a resolution which has around 31 points full with condemnations as well as demand. in the lead up to the meeting, there was hope specifically from the arab world that there would be some kind of real tangible action, multilateral pressure that would be put on israel, and also the united states, which they have categorically said is complicit in many ways in terms of israel's actions in gaza. they mentioned the countries that are selling arms to gaza, making very clear that any country right now that is supporting israel and not -- and being silent about the humanitarian crisis in gaza, not calling for a ceasefire, also holds responsibility. now, what we're seeing on the ground in gaza plays a very big role in terms of the diplomatic discussion that are currently on the go. at the rafah crossing in egypt we are anticipating foreign nationals will be evacuated, a breakthrough deal going on for a week and a half. qatari leading that conversation. hamas leadership was in town thursday, same day the cia chief was here as well. in all of this, it's the humanitarian scenarios, the catastrophe on the minds of all leadership. i want you to take a listen to what the saudi crown prince mohamed bin salman had to say. >> translator: we are witnessing a humanitarian catastrophe that demonstrates the failure of the security council and the international community to put an end to the flagrant israeli violation as of international laws and norms and international humanitarian law. it confirms the double standards and selectivity in its application of these laws. >> reporter: so arab and muslim leaders calling on the u.n. security council, for the icc to investigate what they call war crimes. also importantly, iranian president said on saudi soil for the first time. it's the first time iranian president has been in saudi arabia in over 11 years. he is back in the important arab falls. we know it's a red line for the united states if iran becomes involved in the war which we know iran is backing hezbollah and hamas. the question becomes will we see sanctions, diplomatic pressure being exerted by the region on israel and perhaps the united states as well. i spoke to a expert here who says the show of force by leadership in the region is a very important and clear message but there is disappointment that we didn't see tangible action from the leadership that met in saudi arabia on saturday. >> thank you so much. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will join "state of the union" this morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern on cnn. newly elected house speaker mike johnson revealed a gop backed plan to avoid the looming government shutdown. here is how this two-step plan will work. bill number one, extend funding to january 19th but only fund specific programs like veterans affairs, transportation and housing. the second bill fund the rest of the government until february 2nd and neither includes money for ukraine or israel's war efforts. so this plan is getting a lot of push back on both sides of the aisle with white house press secretary pierre calling it a recipe for more republican chaos. joining us for analysis, with "punchbowl news," good morning to you. tell me, i mean, this has never been tried before, never been implemented a two-tiered funding plan like this. what is the point of two separate funding, you guess, deadlines, because now you have the potential for repeated shutdowns as well. >> yeah. good morning, amara. this two-tiered cr approach is an attempt by spooej to appease the right flank of his conference. the irony is that this is very much a clean cr giving them delay to pass appropriations bills which is exactly what ousted former speaker kevin mccarthy in the first place. we have already seen some members say that they are not going to vote for this because it funds government agencies at the same level that it's currently at. the only thing it does is kind of buy more time in order for house republicans to pass a few more appropriations bills but it's very much a ladered clean cr. >> there is no funding for israel and ukraine as president biden has been pushing for and there are no sepending cuts as republicans want. we know that some republicans like right-wingers congresswoman marjorie taylor greene said she would not vote for this clean cr. what is the sense of support within the republican conference? >> yeah, there has been some members that have already come publicly, you know, against this. we wills saw -- you mentioned marjorie taylor greene. also chip roy from texas, who is, obviously, the number two in the house freedom caucus. congress wan warren davidson of ohio, another freedom caucus member, said he won't support the cr. with democrats, the white house does not take this proposal seriously as well as house democrats said that they would not do anything other than just, you know, a full normal clean cr. so right now speaker indian will have to buy republican votes on this. it's going to be difficult given there is a handful of members saying they are not. >> looking ahead to 2024, more members of congress announced they would be retiring or not seeking re-election and the one announcement that seemed to get the most attention was the one from moderate democrat senator joe manchin of west virginia. we know that west virginia is a deeply red state. so, obviously, that will likely go to a republican contender. you also wrote about a wisconsin -- about in wisconsin and how that is the potential pickup opportunity for republicans as well. >> yeah, absolutely. so i think we are seeing a lot of these retirements are coming from, you know, states and these members who are more pragmatic members than some of these firebrand senators and lawmakers in deep water, deep blue saturdays. wisconsin is vying for businessman eric hobdy to take on tommy baldwin, known as a pragmatic dealmaker. so, you know, i think that seems in play for republicans. they will have a challenge given the fact he hasn't announced and time is kind of running out in terms of when it comes to election time and campaign season. >> would you say the congressional map is looking more favorable for republicans? >> there are a number of states in play for republicans, particularly the senate. it should abfavorable map for the gop. on the house, i think the forecast more leaning towards democrats, especially kind of given, you know, how the house gop majority has played out. i think it's also going to be dependent on the top of the ticket here with trump and biden as well as the state of the economy and how bide's going to be doing when it comes to democrats and how trump going to impact the races for republicans. >> obviously, regarding joe manchin, i mean there are questions that remain about whether or not he will launch a third-party presidential bid with no lashls, but so far there are three third-party candidates. jill stein, robert f. kennedy jr. and cornell west. how strong is the possibility that these third-party candidates will be spoilers, major spoilers for either party? >> yeah, it's interesting to see these developments happen. i really don't think any of these candidates would be viable to take out, you know, either the republican or the democrat. but i think that it does show a sense of frustration among a lot of the electorate and maybe the demands of people saying that both sides are becoming too idealogically extreme and people are hungry for more of a pragmatic middle of the road candidate. i think that's -- a lot of the country has lost in the last decade or so, you know, before leading up to the trump presidency and the divisions that we are seeing now play out in both parties. i think people are hungry for that. i don't know how voyable it would be in terms of going all the way. it's definitely showing a sign that, yeah, like there is a need for this. >> yeah, it's remarkable, notable when you look at the recent polling from quinnipiac university. robert f. kennedy jr. polling at 22% right now, which is underscoring the state of discontent in this country with all of the candidates. thank you very much. ahead, what we will be watching for tomorrow when donald trump jr. testifies as the first defense witness in the new york civil trial against the trump organization. and after a life changing accident, an arkansas man receives the world's first whole eye transplant. that story ahead. and back to the middle east. out of gaza, we saw plumes of smoke rising above the skyline a few minutes ago. more from region ahead on "cnn this morning." . donald trump on stage in new hampshire last night, to get republican rivals out of the race early and shore up support from donors. >> trump focused attacks on president biden, but he also weighed in on his mounting legal troubles. cnn's alayna treene has the details. >> reporter: good morning. donald trump returned to the granite state this weekend after a week of bouncing between courtroom and the campaign trail. his rally this weekend on the heels of his-time in his new york city fraud trial earlier in the week, and this is something is that donald trump talked about during his speech. he brought up his legal battles. specifically, he talked about something that his legal team is trying do in one of his case, the federal election subversion case. they are asking for that trial which is supposed to come early next year to be televised. trump himself said that he wants a camera in every inch of the courtroom. take a listen. >> i want everybody to see all of the horrible things that took place, all of the horrible charges and all of the things that were done with respect to a very corrupt election and let's let the public decide because i want cameras in every inch of that courthouse. >> reporter: now, victor and amara, donald trump's visit to claremont is one of several trips he will be making to new hampshire in the weeks ahead. his team tells me that even though donald trump is doing very well in the polls right now, he is leading, his primary challengers, they recognize he can't get complacent, especially because they want to win not only the primaries but big. they want are to have momentum, to carry them into a potential general election fight with joe biden. and that is something as well we heard a lot from donald trump this weekend. he spoke about the president's handling of the israel/hamas war, said that he thinks he would do a better job of bringing peace to the country during this time, and really set this up as if it were a general election rematch between himself and joe biden. not between himself and his pri primary challengers. back to you. >> thank you. as elana noted, trump is facing major legal headwinds. tomorrow in new york his son don jr. is expected to take the stand again as donald trump's attorneys begin their defense in his civil fraud trial. we are joined by joey jackson, criminal defense attorney and cnn legal analyst. joey, good morning to you. all right. so don jr., eric, donald trump, former president, they have already testified when the assistant a.g. called them. don jr. is first. what is the goal and what do you expect? >> good morning, victor. i think the overall narrative will be as follows. there was not an intent to defraud any bank at all. the banks made money. the banks had their due dial vence operations. they didn't raise complaints. they didn't see there was anything amiss with respect to financial statements and the valuation as it relates to properties are subjective and there will be expert witnesses in that regard. i think in, you know, in trials, any trial, there is primacy and recency. that means you start off strong. you end strong. and i think to put the son back on the stand, the notion that we have the best account its, best lawyers, relied upon everybody. this is victimless and what are we doing here? and i think that's the narrative that will be propagated to begin out the gate by his son tomorrow. . on expert witnesses, the assistant a.g. said that some of the expert witnesses that the trump team, that they want to call, i think four of them, said that there is no reason to call them again. this is about valuation and accounting practices. the assistant a.g. says it's irrelevant. the judge said let the trump team have all their witnesses because the i don't want this to be reversed. what do you think about the judge's decision considering how long trump's defense expects this to go on? >> so i think it's a good move. the answer to the question, you have to give people their due process. what does that mean? it means, you know, they have an opportunity to be heard. you may disagree, even if you're the judge, with respect to what the experts might say. the subjectivity of the evaluation, the best accountant practices, best business practices, protocols of the company. you may not if you are the judge as the fact finder, because it's a bench trial, not a jury, you may not be in accord with what the expert witnesses say, but when you limit testimony sand say i only want to hear from certain people, even if you are right. we have these arguments all the time in terms of whether an expert should be permitted to testify or not. i think the judge is being very cautious with respect to allowing all the evidence in it to say that the trump team was not hampered in given any defense, but it limits the appealable issues. >> one more element of the civil fraud trial. this disclaimer clause mentioned. trump himself, donald trump sr., former president, mentioned it on the stand saying this is the responsibility of the banks to do their due diligence, to determine if these numbers are accurate. how much of a defense is that? how much is that worth to this team? >> so, listen, the bottom line is i know that that has been noted that, you know, that clause is meaningless. it has value, yes. i mean, obviously, everyone who participates in a deal, right, buyer beware, has to do due diligence. no one should go in blindly. if you are a bank you have an obligation to protect yourself, people who bank with you. at the same time, it's not a license to engage in fraud. so, yes, while it is important and does put the other party on notice who you are negotiating with to do your own homework, it doesn't mean that you can do or say anything in a bank statement. you could mislead in a bank statement. you could put what you want in any of the statements and say, oh, but i have a clause that says forgive me. that's not how it should be or could be used and i think that was the judicial determination as well. classified documents trial now. the judge says this is scheduled to begin in may of 2024, puts it right in the middle of the campaign season. if this does not go in former president trump's favor, does the timing play into a potential appeal argument? i guess attorneys can appeal on any grounds, but is that a credible one? >> it's not a credible one. the reality is, is that justice has to come first. and to the justice system is really not concerned about your campaign schedule. they are not concerned about other things that may be of importance in your life, right. it's concerned about the notions of justice. are your attorneys prepared? have they been given all the discovery? has there been adequate opportunity to scrutinize that discovery. that is the analysis. not would it impedes or interferes with your ability to campaign. so i don't think that alone would be a credible argument at all with respect to an appealable issue. >> election subversion. the question of glcameras in