his own defense. >> this is his first chance to comment on the debate last night. the latest one he skipped. we're getting new reporting on what the campaigns themselves and key insiders think might have changed after that performance. >> and gun fire on a college campus. three people killed. one in the hospital still. the community of unlv completely shaken. what we're learning -- starting to learn about the suspect. i'm kate bolduan with sara sidner and john berman. this is cnn "news central." you are looking at live pictures of new york city outside the courtroom there. any minute now donald trump is expected to leave trump tower and head to court to attend his civil business fraud trial. the former president is also expected to take the stand again on monday as the last defense witness. trump and his sons were already found liable in the $250 million lawsuit brought by the new york ag. this trial is being held to find out exactly how much they will have to pay in damages. cnn's kara a nell is outside the courtroom for us. what can we expect to hear today and why is donald trump going today? >> good morning, sara. so this will be donald trump's ninth appearance at the civil fraud trial where he's askused of inflating the value of his properties to get better rates on bank loans and insurance. he has not attended the trial in a month the last time he was on the stand is when he was testifying. he will be here today and hear the final expert witnesses, going to be a professor of accounting from new york university, part of trump's defense is that the values they came up with for the properties all complied with accounting rules. so he'll be here to listen to this testimony, important testimony to his defense because they're saying there was no intent to do anything wrong, no intent to inflate the value of these assets. it's interesting he's coming today because the gag order in this case that prevents him from making any comments about the judge's staff is still in place. and one of the last time trump was here he violated the gag order by statements he made in the hallway. he will be here. did not participate in the gop debate last night. as you noted, this case is wrapping up, trump will be the final witness when he takes the stand in his own defense on monday. from there this will go quiet for a while. this case is before a judge. he will then hear arguments on this in january and then make a decision on the final outcome of this case early next year. sara. >> kara, thank you for the details. as you know, john, the debate happened last night and donald trump can say plenty of things when he goes into court we should probably expect that. >> that's a good point. there's a political reason for donald trump to show up today, there are microphones there and this is his first chance to comment on the debate last night but there are also reasons for him to be there legally. with us is ellie honing. let's leave the politics aside. legally this is a few days before trump himself will take the stand for the defense. what does that mean, and what might we see? >> john, i think donald trump if we get to the substance of the case is going to try to make a couple points. first of all i think he's going to extol the virtues of the trump organization, and i think that goes to the damages point that kara mentioned. remember, letitia james is seeking $250 million and seeking to put this business out of business for good. i think this goes to his lawyer's argument you should not do that, that's not a good thing for the taxpayers of people of new york more broadly. i think we'll have donald trump try to lend support to the no victim, that the banks making loans were happy to make the loans. they didn't rely heavy on the numbers the trump organization submitted not only did they make the loans willingly, they got repaid and so trump will argue there are no victims here and they shouldn't be held accountable for the outstanding counts. >> we saw trump on the stand before, he was a witness for the state and during that time there were fireworks, back and forth between the judge and trump. how much do you think we'll see this time? >> we will see fireworks, i feel safe predicting that. know that the order here, the procedure is going to be reversed. because this time his own lawyers, his defense lawyers are putting him on the stand. meaning, the first thing we're going to see is direct examination, trump being questioned by his own lawyers, that will probably be more friendly than the other way around. but when they're done, the ag's office will have a chance to cross-examine donald trump. donald trump is inherently unpredictable but the procedural order is reversed from last time. >> the gag order is still in place, what impact will that have? again as we're waiting for donald trump to arrive there, in terms of framing or maybe guardrailing what he can say there and inside court. >> important to keep in mind, john, this is a very, very narrow gag order that's now been reviewed by the appellate court and upheld. it should be the easiest thing in the world to comply with the gag order, all donald trump has to do is not comment about the court staff, clerks, deputies. he's free under the gag order to comment about the judge, the ag's office, the merits of the case against him. as long as he can restrain himself from making comments about the clerks and the deputies, he won't get in any trouble with the gag order. whether he can do that, i won't vouch for it, he's gone back to that sore spot over and over. we'll see if he continues to press his luck today or monday. >> kara noted the judge will rule on this case in january, the judge has already ruled on the corporation, finding the trump organization liable for fraud. what key evidence have we heard may sway him one way or the other? >> it's important to understand. there are seven causes of action here. in a criminal case we would call them counts. in a civil case they're causes of action. the judge has ruled for the ag and against donald trump on first of those causes of action for repetitive and persistent fraud. but there are six other outstanding remaining causes of action. so the judge will have to render verdicts for or against donald trump or the age on those six remaining causes of action. also the judge will decide the key causes of damage and that's two different ideas. first of all, how much money does trump and the trump organization have to pay? the ag seeking $250 million, the judge can award that much or less in his discretion. and then the question of what happens to the trump organization's business certificates, which are necessary for it to continue conducting business? the judge can suspend those, he can revoke those or decide not to. those are the issues still in place, still important issues for the judge to resolve. >> we did see some cars moving around trump tower so it's possible that donald trump headed down to the courthouse shortly again. we could hear from him in front of the microphones, it could be a political moment, not about this trial itself but about last night's debate. we'll wait to see about that. on a separate matter, the house has called hunter biden to testify in the impeachment inq inquiry. hunter biden said he would testify publically but not behind closed doors. now house republicans say they'll move to hold him in contempt. talk to us about this, how difficult that might be for them to win. >> so james comer, the house oversight committee chair republican party has really gotten played here. he's played himself into a corner. let me explain how. james comer serves the subpoena on hunter biden saying we demand your testimony but behind closed doors, confidentially not in front of the public. hunter biden and his team, i think smartly, respond he's happy to testify but in public for everyone to see on camera. and representative comer then responds and says no, i don't want you testifying publically. i only want you confidentially. who has something to hide here? now comer saying, if you don't testify privately, i might hold you in contempt. representative comer and the house of representatives do have the power to hold hunter biden in contempt. it will take a majority of the full house. if that happens it goes to doj, which will decide whether or not to prosecute the case for contempt. we've seen steve bannon, peter n navaro prosecuted. there's zero percent chance the doj will prosecute when the person is i 100% will testify publically. it's symbolic, that's all. we should note we are waiting for donald trump's arrival at this courthouse in new york city. waiting to hear what he says not just about the case, where he's been found liable for fraud and also the debate last night, the first chance to comment on the debate he skipped. >> that's right. coming up also, new word on the possible motive of the man who opened fire on the unlv campus. three people murdered, another still in the hospital. another unlv student who was there, is our guest. and nikki haley swatted down vivek ramaswamy, and ron desantis. chris christie alone in taking on the front runner. last night's debate and what it means in the republican primary. we're getting new evidence of five hamas command ers that israel says they have killed. we'll be back. happening now, donald trump is on the move. we saw his motorcade leave trump tower and any minute he will arrive at this courthouse in manhattan for his $250 million civil fraud trial where he's already been found liable for fraud. if trump holds true to form, he will make a campaign speech on the way in. this will be his first chance to comment publically about the debate he did not attend last night where his main opponents largely ignored him. there are now just 39 days to go until iowa. according to the latest national poll donald trump is ahead of his rivals by 40 points. the question now are we seeing new evidence this morning that anything in the latest debate did anything to change that? did vivek ramaswamy espousing fringe conspiracy theories do anything to change that. did ron desantis and nikki haley going back and forth do anything to change that? did the few tempered and hedged mentions of trump, except for chris christie, do anything to change that? >> do i think he was kidding when he said he was a dig cater. all you have to do is look at the history. his conduct is unacceptable. he's unfit. >> it's not a job for somebody pushing 80. we need somebody that's younger. >> you can't defeat democrat chaos with republican chaos and that's what donald trump gives us. >> we have fresh reaction to all of this this morning jeff zeleny is in tuscaloosa. jeff, picking up the pieces for us, what are you hearing? >> reporter: john, good morning. you almost need a ven diagram to go through the alliances and attacks that were flying last night but one thing was clear, nikki haley, the former south carolina governor was at the center of the majority of the attacks. particularly from florida governor ron desantis. of course she is in his way. she has had a rise in the previous debates over the fall months and now last night she receded a bit from that, her advisers say by design. but look at the criticism levelled at her from around the rim. >> the only person more fascist than the biden regime now is nikki haley. i don't have a woman problem you have a corruption problem. that's what people need to know. nikki is corrupt. >> she caves any time the left comes after her. she will cave to the donors. >> he's mad because those wall street donors used to support him now they support me. i love all the attention, fellas, thank you for that. >> she loves the attention. the question is how will the voters absorb all of that. the one candidate who did not fire any or many arrows at nikki haley was chris christie. the rm former new jersey governor. but both are headed on the collision course in new hampshire which is a primary where independent, moderate voters -- both of those candidates are looking for those. but the bottom line to all of this is, there was little new information conveyed at the debate last night. if you've been paying attention to the campaign as it's been going along. but one thing to keep in mind, it was ron desantis trying to get his conservative railroad a -- get his conservative record and message across. and nikki haley trying to stay above the fray, showing she is indeed presidential. as we see donald trump headed to the courtroom in new york, it reminds us the legal problems are part of the campaign and that's the argument that chris christie was making, he could be a felon next year and he was frustrated the rivals on stage barely mentioned him at all. >> a great reminder trump is headed to the court right now, we will hear from him shortly. kate? >> joining us is terry sullivan, campaign manager for marco rubio's run and former republican governor of wisconsin, scott walker. here are my questions today about last night, gentlemen. what was the moment of most impact, what was the moment that had campaign teams essentially shaking their heads? first to our beloved debate truth sayer and republican primary sincynic, terry sulliva. asked you what the moment of impact was and you say? >> the moment donald trump decided not to show up in the t. it dictated how everything went. turns out it was a very smart move for him. i don't know if there are any more debates but it doesn't matter if there are because no one is engaging him. it's made for an abysmal showing of these other candidates. there's a reason why they're 40 points behind him. >> governor, you said that ron desantis had a strong night, maybe the strongest night if i'm reading into your words. and you said, if donald trump wasn't in the race, this debate could have catapulted him. tell me more. >> i think -- yeah, i think there's no doubt about it. he had a good one, two punch the last few weeks between a positive reaction from primary voters for his head-to-head with gavin newsom, the governor of california and last night he had a chance to put more attention on his really positive conservative record in florida but as terry e lluded to, none the candidates last night were able to counter the lead that the guy that lives north of boca has in the polls. and it's really his to lose as terry says. i don't see anything on the debate stage that chips away at that lead in the early states. >> it's been this way all along, donald trump is going to have to do something to lose support and you're going to have to come up with what that is. versus someone on the debate stage or in in the field doing something to chip away at him. when it comes, terry, to the moment that had campaigns, any of them, shaking their heads, you said it was the moment when chris christie came to nikki haley's defense after vivek ramaswamy was attacking -- as he said, ramaswamy was attacking her basic intellect. let me play a portion of that defense and we'll talk about it. >> if you want to disagree on issues that's fine, and we disagree on issues but i've known her for 12 years which is longer than he started to vote in the republican primary, and while we disagree about some issues and we disagree about who should be president of the united states, what we don't disagree on is this is a smart accomplished woman and you should stop insulting her. >> terry, chris christie was on cnn this morning and he said that inferring any tactical motivation from that moment, taking anything from that other than it was just sincerity is cynical and wrong. what do you think? >> yeah. look, they share the same base. nikki haley and chris christie. and that's gop donors. and so, the reality is, is that both of them are likely to be going to those same donors looking for a job in just a few short weeks. so they're going to play nice. they don't want to alienate those donors and that's the reality of it for those two. from a campaign standpoint it's perplexing as to why these folks -- you know, they are competing for the same base in new hampshire as well. only one of them gets out of new hampshire alive if they both get to new hampshire. i agree with the governor that desantis had his strongest night last night. if donald trump gets hit by a meteor, ron desantis is the clear front runner. but that may not happen as the governor and i we've been waiting since 2015 for there to be something that's with trump from the standpoint of he has to -- look, donald trump was right in 2015 when he said he could shoot someone on fifth avenue in new york and he wouldn't lose support. it's just the case. >> so governor, when it comes to nikki haley, it was very clearly that she was the center of the stage, really, and she was the center of the attacks because she's gained a lot of momentum from the other debates. her campaign team was telling reporters ahead of the debate to show that she's presidential. did that happen? was it successful? >> she came in with that approach and we saw it months ago in milwaukee where she elevated her candidacy by her performance, particularly the pushback against vivek ramaswamy where she said he didn't have any real understanding of foreign policy and it showed. she's been progressively getting better in debates and that's attracted the attention of the donor class. unfortunately for her, she was attacked last night. and one of the things she went after governor desantis and used a phrase used by the left. it might be appealing to some of the donor class. >> a hot take from chris christie on what -- he clearly is showing his distandain for vk ramaswamy. i think the way he put it was he was a drunk driver on the debate stage. is that how you see it? >> i think two those two are in a competition to see who can find more republican primary voters to dislike them. it's a close race among the two of them because after every debate their negatives go up. that's not the objectives of the campaigns i've been on drive up the negatives that way. i'm not sure what they're trying to do, fighting each other in the single digits and taking pot shots. but it's not helping them. >> sometimes when you have a microphone and you really doesn't like the other person that's just the only motivation there is. it's good to see you guys. thank you so much. sara? >> thank you. still ahead, we are going to hear from one of the university of nevada las vegas students who was forced to hide yesterday as he's listening to gun shots go off on a campus where three people were killed and one person injured. and a strong warning from the white house on russia after the senate failed to advance a funding bill that helps aid ukraine's fight in that war. that's ahead. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? did we peak your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible, it's happening. new this morning, just a short time ago we learned the identity of the shooter at the university of nevada las vegas who killed three people and critically injured a fourth. we also learned a possible motive. lucy cavanaugh is in las vegas for the latest. what have you learned? >> reporter: that's right, john. law enforcement sources telling cnn that the gunman has been identified as 67-year-old anthony palito and a working theory on the motive. investigators telling cnn they're looking into the possibility he may have applied for a job, a position at the university but was passed over f