to be at his civil fraud case today, so why did he show up? the lead starts right now. if the microphone was on the former president repeatedly found that claiming his civil fraud cases in the way of his 2024 campaign. plus, this jamie is here to talk about not just trump, not just kevin mccarthy, but house speaker mike johnston, and her fears for what the u.s. might look like in 2025. plus, the one thing she agrees with donald trump about. it has to do with his assessment of kevin mccarty. and that shocking new investigation. the threats to public officials, lawmakers and election workers. who is making them and why? welcome to the lead. we start this hour with former president donald trump attended his new york civil fraud trial today while his rivals are out on the campaign trail. >> this is just a witch-hunt. i should be in iowa and new hampshire, i shouldn't be sitting at a courthouse. i don't have to sit here. >> actually doesn't have to be there. for trump this is a campaign strategy. he is not even supposed to testify for the second time until monday. he was just a spectator today, taking advantage of the presence of the cameras where he can make unchallenged accusations about how this is all a political witch-hunt as he runs for president again. he also believes having's attention does more for his campaign then attending any debate, hence why he skipped the fourth such gathering last night at a debate where he would have had to share the spotlight and might have been challenged, might have been criticized, might have had to defend his record. where he might have had to string together sentences and interact with other human beings for an entire hour. he would've had to have been standing in one place for an entire hour. so what actually happened in court today at this event donald trump did not have to attend yet complained about having to attend and what can we specs on monday? >> reporter: this was his nighttime attending his civil fraud trial. it is the first time he has shown that during a defense case. today he was here for the testimony of their final expert witness, a professor of accounting and new york university. he was unequivocal in his testimony saying the truck financial statements were not material in misstating. he said there is no evidence of accounting brought and asked about the attorney general's case, he said it has no merit. he said there were some mistakes. you remember the triplex apartment with stated three times larger than it actually was. he said that was a mistake and not fraud and repeatedly say over the hours that he has been on the stand today that there was no fraud. that the attorney general's allegations are absurd. the judge in this case has already found these financial statements have been inflated and trump has committed repeated and persistent brought by issuing this statement to banks. part of trump's legal strategy as his lawyers have make clear is they are laying the grounds for an appeal. that was the importance of this testimony. outside of court was praising the witness and making a lot of other statements. inside his demeanor was very matter-of-fact. he appeared to be listening to the testimony, one time walking back he stopped to talk to the sketch artist. another time he called over one of the security detail for his legal team, shaking the man's hand. he definitely had a more relaxed demeanor. as you say truck will be back on the sand on monday. the last time he testified his lawyers told him he had to control his client. this time around he will have a lot more leeway. we expect that testimony to go all day. >> thanks so much. his appearance comes after his republican rivals did have the spotlight last night in alabama. take a listen. >> this is the fourth debate that you would be bolded in the first 20 minutes at the most obnoxious blowhard in america. so shut up! >> your version of foreign policy experience was holding a bridge from new york to new york. to everybody a favor, walk yourself off the stage and get a good meal. >> i have a record of standing up and doing the right thing. >> you have a record of lying. >> listening to chris christie calling out his rivals for refusing to go after trump in any real way. >> the fifth guy who doesn't have the guts to show up and stand here, he's the one who as you just put it, is ahead in the polls. yet i have these three guys seemingly ready to compete. >> he also went after governor ron desantis for refusing to say rather trump is mentally unfit for office. we are about 39 days from the iowa caucuses. do callouts even matter at this point or are trump's legal troubles the only real threat he has? >> i think from everything we think it is the legal trouble. chris christie is the only one calling him out. with all due respect, he is not doing very well in the polls. you will remember that jared kushner once said donald trump had hijacked the republican party ron desantis knows that. nikki haley knows that. i don't know what vivek ramaswamy knows. this is donald trump's party. i will add one more thing about florida. look, desantis and trump are both from florida they cannot be a president-vice president team, but that could be a possibility for nikki haley so i do not think she's going to go after him. >> i think there is no chance that he would pick her. do you think? >> i'm not in the inner circles . she could be vice president, but he is very clear to people around him that he believes it was disloyal for her to run. he does not like the way she handled coming out against them and then essentially trying to meet with him, then saying she would never run and now running. it would be very unlikely. >> don't you think if you were to win it will be the 100% loyal rider die lunatics, and obviously you would have to agree with lunatics, but it would be people who you couldn't ever question the loyalty to donald trump. >> in terms of vice president? >> in terms of any position in his cabinet. >> is not just the loyalty that will be a huge component. >> i'm talking no one has ever said one word against them. >> it will be people who came out early to endorse them, people who never left his side or who quickly came back after january 6th. that is who he is going to be surrounding himself with. when it comes to vice president they're going to be looking at all of that. >> the other three, what are they even doing? if you are not willing to really take on donald trump and make a case why you over him and not just because, you know, donald trump was great, but now it's time for someone else. a real aggressive case as if you are actually running for the most important office in the land? >> it turns out they all liked the attention. some may have other all teary or motives for what that attention gets them, but they like the attention. >> nikki haley, chris christie and ron desantis, all three of them actually think they would be good presidents. >> one they are running on hold in hopes that something happens to donald trump. otherwise, it's about cable tv contracts, book contracts and things like that. what is interesting to me, the sound that you played earlier tells me how republicans can and should of been going after donald trump earlier when he said i should be in iowa, south carolina and new hampshire. if you are nikki haley make that the case. donald trump is not fully focused on beating joe biden. say that he might not be able to be the nominee we want him to be because he is distracted by these legal issues. >> he doesn't even have to be in court today. that is the joke about it. he could be in iowa and new hampshire. >> there are days that he has to be in court. >> not today. >> but on monday. you can make the case once these trials really heat up donald trump will be too distracted to take on joe biden with a laser focus. nikki haley or ron desantis scan. they are not even making that point. >> cnn will host two debates on january 10th and 21st. donald trump invited. any chance he would calm? >> never say never with anything related to donald trump, but they have been very happy with their decisions to not participate. i think there was a moment where they were not sure if it was the right play that they were concerned at least some advisers that they might be missing an opportunity. the fact that his poll numbers have continued to go up and that his popularity remains. really they feel these debates have become a sideshow and it seems unlikely that he would participate. >> what if the debates have become moments of the other candidates criticizing donald trump instead of vivek ramaswamy criticizing nikki haley and her daughter and the four of them going after each other, what if they actually spent a lot of time trying to convince voters why their front runner was the wrong guy for the job? >> i was a no questions are will it be reflected in the polls? i'm going to say he's never going to show up for any of these debates, because he is so far ahead. he does not want to raise their stature. >> that is certainly their posture right now. >> he is looking at the numbers. he thinks he has this. >> but that is not the only reason, i don't think. i think he is in a bubble. i think he is kind of campaigning in his basement in a way. he is only in the secure places. he speaks with sean hannity who gives him a very friendly audience and then you. he doesn't have the most active schedule. he really outworked hillary clinton in 2016 and even joe biden in 2020, but he is not doing that now. >> that is something they have said. when i talked to his advisers there citing the commanding lead in the polls. they also say the debates will turn into everyone attacking him the entire time, and why does he need to be on the stage to experience that if he's already leading in the polls? >> is not like he is running for president. he's golfing, he's enjoying his life. he does some rallies here and there. how many events does he do we? >> next week he has three and then one court appearance. >> that's a campaign event. >> look what he did last time. enter your point, he actually doesn't have to appear on monday. >> three campaign events in a week if not a rigorous campaign schedule. >> but it's working for him. >> i'm not saying it's not. i'm also say he is also taking it easy. it worked for biden. i'm saying the basement strategy worked for biden in 2020.'s head he is eight years older. you are not going to get a 99 county iowa strategy from him. >> that's my point, ron desantis would visit london i counties. donald trump doesn't need to and i also don't know that he could. i didn't say he couldn't. it is yet to be proven. i thought ron desantis doing it. i don't know the trunk. the next big event will be two cnn town halls. next tuesday and moderated conversation with ron desantis and i will facilitate his conversation with iowa voters. on wednesday abby philip will get the rare treat of doing the same with vivek ramaswamy. look for both and 9:00 eastern. plus, today marks two months since the start of the war between israel and hamas. the egyptian foreign minister will be here and will ask about his country's role in this conflict and also what is to come. stay with us. today marks exactly 2 months since israel launched its war to destroy hamas. israel defense forces release a new photo showing 11 tie- breaking leaders. idf says the five circled in red have been killed. they also say they have surrounded the home of a hamas leader, although officials are not certain whether or not he is inside. >> reporter: this video of hamas fighting against israeli troops, released by the militant group, shows not only how intense the battles are, but a propaganda message that they are still resisting. the israel stated goal of eradication has driven troops. they believe the most senior hamas leaders may be there, including the top official who remains on the battlefield. the shadowy head of the military wing is also believed to still be alive. the prime minister claims israeli forces surrounded his home. the idf admits they believe he is hiding out underground. two months after hamas carried out the deadliest attack in israeli history the response has led to a colossal catastrophe. experts and officials say hamas has been degraded, but israel still has a long way to go to achieve his goals. >> what the idf has been tasked with is disabling hamas as a military threat by killing terrorists, by destroying infrastructure, and by eventually getting to the leadership of hamas. >> reporter: the effort is very much underway. the idf released this photo, circling five commanders that the idf says it killed in a tunnel. cnn reached out for comment. israel claimed to have killed other senior and mid-level commanders as well as several thousand rank-and-file militants, just a fraction of what the idf estimates is 30,000 fighters. >> i think there have been some successes. my point is there is going to be a lot more ground combat to come. i think that you see over the coming weeks more precision targeting going after hamas leaders as they, you know, show themselves. >> reporter: in the next month or so u.s. officials say israel is expected to lower the intensity of its operations, which have killed thousands, and displaced more than 80% of the gaza population. israel hears the international pressure and global calls for a cease-fire, but insists there is still much more of hamas to root out before the diplomacy starts. >> we are getting to a tipping point where the major question will no longer be how many people were killed. it will be what happens the gaza? so that situation becomes different and nothing like hamas can grow again to be a threat against israel. >> reporter: i me at the intense fighting the death toll is going up. almost 90 idf soldiers have been killed. one of the soldiers killed today was the son of a well-known senior minister who served in israel's war cabinet. he was 25 years old. his father served as israel's top military general for three years. >> all rights, thanks so much. let's bring in the egyptian foreign minister. yesterday for the first time in his tenure the united states secretary-general invoked article 99, which asked the un security council to declare a cease-fire in gaza. he posted on twitter: the call for a cease-fire -- i'm sorry, the israeli prime minister responded. he posted: the call for a cease- fire in gaza constitutes support of the hamas terrorist organization and an endorsement of the murder of the elderly, the abduction and of women. anyone who supports world peace must support the liberation of gaza. what is your response? >> definitely think he is invoking article 99 in terms of his responsibility. all the reports are there is a calamity that will befall the humanitarian conditions currently prevalence in gaza. the civilians are suffering tremendously from lack of food, water, shelter and medical conditions. sanitation and healthcare is absolutely disastrous. this is an issue that has to be addressed. it is a moral perspective that the secretary general must bestow upon the security council and they must take the responsibility. >> today egyptian authorities published a list that included 63 u.s. citizens and other foreign nationals allowed to exit gaza. why has it taken so long to get people out of gaza? >> this is all contingent on the agreements that we are able to make. >> with hamas? >> with hamas, with israel, and with the assistance of ambassador satterfield. it is totally up to israelis to provide a list of those who can come out. when they do, we facilitate their repatriation. this is all to maintain the rafah border crossing and not affect the flow of humanitarian assistance. we conform to the arrangements that have been agreed to with the help of ambassador satterfield. >> i know that egypt doesn't want dozens -- gazans to permanently relocate to egypt. there are those who think egypt could let more people out into the sinai to temporarily relocate until israel is done with his military campaign and let them back in. it israel and the united states will guarantee they could go back when military operations are over, why not let them escape? >> this would constitute a violation of humanitarian law. any form of displacement is a violation. will not be party to such a violation. the palestinians themselves do not want to lead and thereby should not be forcibly displaced. the liquidation of the palestinians caused by removing them from the territory is unacceptable and a violation of international humanitarian law. >> ever since hamas took control of gaza in 2006, egypt has also helped enforce a blockade of gaza. hamas is an outgrowth of the muslim brotherhood, which the president is no fan of, i think it's fair to say. do you think the palestinian people would be better off governed by a different group than hamas? >> to begin with i do not think it is accurate to say egypt participated in the pudding gaza. the rafah crossing has constantly been open for medical attention, to bring people out. >> you have it dissipated in any blockade at all? >> we haven't. palestinians have been coming to seek education in egypt. rafah is a coffin for people. it is the israeli crossings that are responsible for that and it is the obligation of the occupying power, which is israel, to provide the needs of the palestinian people. rafah has never been closed. he continues to have the support of the palestinian people. at no time was a close. >> in any case, do you think the palestinian people would be better off with a group other than hamas given how the government feels about the muslim brotherhood? do you think they will be better off with a different group? the group were willing to engage in a peaceful coexistence with his neighbors the way that egypt does that hamas? >> what i think this is something for the palestinian people to decide. we have always recognized the palestinian authorities as the proper governing authority of the west bank and gaza. its removal from gaza was a violent removal. until now it has been unable to return. i think that it is necessary for the palestinian people to demonstrate who they will accept as governance of the strip. >> the last question, and it can be quick, when the filing is over, and hopefully that will be soon, will egypt be willing to play a role in helping the palestinian people rebuild gaza and have self- determination? >> before this conflict we had contributed half a million dollars to the reconstruction of gaza. this is the six confrontation between israel and hamas and the subsequent disruption of infrastructure in gaza. we will always be supportive. we will always contribute to the best interest of the palestinian people. >> the egyptian foreign minister, thank you so much. as always we pray for peace in the region. next, what we are learning about the professor turned government behind the tragic murders on the campus of unlv. stay with us. 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. the stunning rise in thrice to lawmakers and election workers. often they come by voicemail. we have analyzed more than 500 federal cases. the rare glimpse of who these people actually are and why it is so difficult to prosecute many of the offenders. a warning, some of the language is disturbing. >> reporter: this is what it sounds like to work for the american people.