i'm martha maccallum. we have two big breaking story at 3:00 p.m. eastern time this afternoon. israeli forces pressing in to the heart of gaza city now. this is the moment that many have been knowing would come in all of this. it is now underway. we assume that hamas terrorists are digging in in many of the tunnels that we have seen uncovered by the idf. this is really being called an unprecedented city-street-to-street battle. civilians, many of whom have been trapped by hamas essentially, can't get out in a lot of these situations. there's hostages, more than 200 of them some where in this space, including americans that we understand are held somewhere in the city. this is an extraordinarily tense situation with a lot of lives at stake. so our coverage will continue as we get new images from the fight in throughout the course of this hour. also, iran continues to attack us at our bases in the region. our u.s. service members. what is our response? john kirby will join us from the white house and we'll talk about that. also, ivanka trump's day in court defending her father and her family's business practices in front of a judge who clearly told the former president the other day, he didn't really want to hear what he had to say despite there's no jury in this case. that's the only way for the former president to lay out his defense. this case was brought, as you know, by the attorney general, letitia james who has said that she would get trump if elected to this post. she's been a lot of her time and energy doing just that. here's letitia james and the judge smiling for the courtroom cameras. during the trial, during the course of this. andy mccarthy is standing by. we'll speak with him in just a moment. first, go to federal legal editor, carrie urbine. what can you tell us about what happened when ivanka trump took the stand in there today? >> ivanka has been calm, composed, pleasant. the lawyer on the other hand has been pretty aggressive, which is different than the lawyer that questioned her father on monday. that lawyer was pretty polite, mild mannered. this lawyer has been i think remarkably aggressive given that ivanka is a witness and not a defendant. however, there seems to be some vacillating by this attorney in to treating her as a defendant and not the witness. the reason why that is problematic is because the appellate court had ruled that ivanka was no longer a witness to this -- no long area defendant to this case, that she was not guilty of wrongdoing. yet the attorney general came out in the front steps today and acted as if she was still a defendant. that's a problem. she's not acting and operating consistent with what the appellate court has already ruled. >> martha: what is the impact of that, carrie? feels like without a jury in this process and we've gone over why that is at this point. you can't rewind the tape on that part of the situation. you know, what was your sense in there of what direction this is headed in? she's the final member of the family to answer questions for them as you point out. she's not a defendant in this case. >> i would say not a good direction. in fact, the lawyer for the state kept questioning her again and again about e-mails dating as far back as 2011. ivanka's lawyers raised objections to this. how is this relevant? it's beyond the statute of limitations. the judge continued to overrule again and again. it was challenging for ivanka. she would answer a question and then give an answer and the lawyer would raise his voice at her and really grill her if he wasn't satisfied with what she had said. >> martha: very interesting. thanks, kerri. joining us from outside the courthouse now. let's bring in andy mccarthy, former prosecutor and fox news contributor. andy, everybody watched as ivanka trump went in to the courthouse today. she did not want to be there. she tried to have herself removed from this process because she's a witness and not a defendant. what is your take on what you heard so far, andy? >> i think the a.g.'s office, the new york attorney general who brought this case are recentful of the fact that e ivanka is no longer a defendant. they look at her that way. their calculation is that it's not that she's been cleared, it's that the statute of limitations ran and the stuff that they wanted to press her on is time-barred. it's still relevant in their mind in the case against former president trump and ivanka's two adult brothers, eric and don jr. as well as against the company. it's one of those situations, martha, where some of the scheme allegedly happens before the statute of limitations period and some happens after. ivanka was only in the scheme, according to what was alleged, prior to the period of time in 2016 or so when the statute of limitations would run. so they can't go after her for her conduct because she was not involved after that. but they can go after the other defendants that are still on trial. they're treating her as if she's -- this is a civil context, not criminal. they're treating her as if she was a guilty criminal defendant rather than a witness. >> martha: andy, if you had to look ahead, where do you think this is going? we know the testimony today is about deutsche bank needing a $3 billion complete asset picture for the client. in this case, the trump enterprises in order to give them a certain rate on loans. so the suggestion is that they inflated it to make it sound like he was in the $3 billion category so that they would get this better rate. so let's just assume for a moment that that happened. what is an appropriate punishment for that given it doesn't appear that anybody was harmed by it? deutsche bank got paid. >> it's a so what, martha? they're doing what all businesses do, what is shopping around to lenders for a better rate. knowing the lenders themselves would be evaluating the assets that were at risk including trump's entire net worth. so again, if you want to say that trump inflated the values of his assets, fine. this is like the death penalty for jaywalking. you know, there's no victims in this case. they not only want to put him out of business, they want to take a quarter of a billion dollars in what the trump revenue has been over the last number of years. i just think that it's such a mismatch between the penalty and the infraction, hard to imagine that will hold up. >> martha: it is playing out quite openly across the media who are grilling down on every single scintilla of what is going on here. when you summarize it the way you did, andy, it's a head-scratcher. let me ask you about the subpoena that came down from congress for hunter and james biden today. your reaction to that. what does it mean? what do you expect to see next in that? >> hunter is under indictment. i'd be surprised if he testifies. he's got a live fifth amendment privilege. jim biden gave an interview to the fbi and did not claim the fifth amendment. it will be interesting to see whether he's willing to testify in front of congress. i think if you're the lawyer for them, there's a paper trail here. you know, when checks are popping up and you see the bidens paying other bidens and jim biden's wife paying joe biden, if i'm the lawyer, i want to see all the paper before i let a guy testify. >> absolutely. i saw james comer talking about family loans and there's no backup paperwork to show what the loans were for, what they covered. not a lot of depth in terms of what happened in the background there. andy, thank you very much. always great to have you with us. so president biden has asked according to reports for a pause in israel's hamas offensive, which you have seen. we showed you this video on the way in. that is very underway. very difficult to hit the brakes on this. they are deep in to gaza city right now. the prime minister, netanyahu, has vowed that they will march on until every last hostage has been freed. both sides of this story from major spielman of the idf, who will speak to and admiral john kirby with his side from the white house next. veteran homeowners, need to save money every month? 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(car engine revs) (engine accelerating) (texting clicks) (tires squeal) (glass shattering) (loose gravel clanking) >> martha: inside what the israeli military says is the mysterious underground tunnel system that is used by hamas in order to prepare for attacks, in order to hide from the israeli idf forces as well. it is the gaza metro, according to the idf to reportedly half the size of the subway system here in new york city. idf says that parts of it are located under structures such as hospitals. we've shown you the graphics of the al shifa hospital and what the idf says exists under there. all of this obviously are opportunities to turn civilians in to human shields around amusement parks and hospitals and all of these areas. idf spokesperson major spielman is standing by live in tel aviv. first to northern israeli for the latest on the ground with alex hogan up near lebanon. hi, alex. >> hi, martha. cross-border attacks continue here between israel and lebanon injuring two soldiers just today alone. as the tension continues, a u.s. aide to president joe biden travel to lebanon, on the other side of the hill where he urged caution. >> the united states does not want to see conflict in gaza escalating and expanding in to lebanon. >> meanwhile, in the south, israeli forces pressed further in to gaza in the last day destroying hamas command centers and tunnels. so far the idf destroyed 130 tunnel shafts. the problem is some of these tunnels have doors that close them off protecting them from further damage. before the idf's latest discovery, i talked to a professor that wrote a book about the tunnels. show explained the dire conditions for hostages likely being held there. >> the lack of air, low level of oxygen, the complete loss of -- sense of time. is it daytime, night time. i wouldn't be surprised if some hostages actually hose their mental cognitive capabilities when faced as what is going on right now. >> a major concern for the families of these hostages. now we're learning about qatar and the potential brokered deal with reported conversations that a humanitarian pause might be involved to bring the hostages home. tonight prime minister netanyahu stressed there will be no cease fire until the hostages are home safe. martha? >> thanks very much, alex hogan on the northern part of israel. let's go to tel aviv now. israeli defense forces spokesman major spielman. good to have you with us today. you hear this back and forth over whether or not there should be a pause. there's reports here in the u.s. that the president is urging prime minister netanyahu to have a three-day pause in order to release hostages. is that true? can you tell us what you know about that? >> thank you for having me, martha. what i can tell you is that every day over the last five days we've had humanitarian pauses. even today between 10:00 and 2:00 p.m., we had pauses of fighting in the area of the humanitarian corridor. we saw pictures of 50,000 gazans heading towards northern gaza. that's been the plan. we know this is an impressive number even though hamas is trying to stop them at the edge. from a military point of view, we're pressing forward with the diplomats and the politicians speaking about, i can tell you on the ground. we're under the operative command. we're closing in on hamas in very thick door-to-door alley-to-alley fighting and making great progress. this wouldn't be the time to allow our enemies to regroup. exactly when we're closing in on them. >> martha: we have heard that argument clearly. there is obviously a lot of protests. there's protests happening in the united states, in other countries as well, including in the u.k. this is from the u.n. chief, antonio gutierrez talking about the loss of life in gaza as a result of the idf action. listen to this. this is a quote. there's violations by hamas when they have human shields, but when one looks at the number of civilians that were killed with the military operations, there's something that is clearly wrong. what do you say in response to that, general? >> i can tell you that one thing i certainly agree with, something is very, very wrong that wrong things is hamas. all of these civilian casualties is hamas' responsibility. the worst day, october 7, since the holocaust. grieving families all over israel, children being held in gaza. to make that statement and not to really focus the entire time on the 240 hostages that are being held underground i feel is somewhat disconnected from the reality of what we're dealing with. the only way to deal with what is seriously wrong here is to completely eliminate hamas. the civilians on the israeli side tragically and on the gazan side tragically are part of hamas' plan at the very beginning and the responsibility is hamas and hamas alone. >> martha: thanks, major spielman. good to have you with us. when we come back, reaction from john kirby at the white house next. ♪ ♪ ♪ we're building a better postal service. for more on-time deliveries. and easier, affordable ways to ship. so you can deliver even more holiday joy. the united states postal service. delivering for america. when you're looking for answers, it's good to have help. because the right information, at the right time, may make all the difference. at humana, we know that's especially true when you're looking for a medicare supplement insurance plan. that's why we're offering "seven things every medicare supplement should have". it's yours free, just for calling the number on your screen. and when you call, a knowledgeable, licensed agent-producer can answer any questions you have and help you choose the plan that's right for you. the call is free, and there's no obligation. you see, medicare covers only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. that's why so many people purchase medicare supplement insurance plans like those offered by humana. they're designed to help you save money, and pay some of the costs medicare doesn't. depending on the medicare supplement plan you select, you could have no deductibles or copayments for doctor visits, hospital stays, emergency care, and more. you can keep the doctors you have now, ones you know and trust, with no referrals needed. plus, you can get medical care anywhere in the country, even when you're traveling! with humana, you get a competitive monthly premium, and personalized service, from a healthcare partner working to make healthcare simpler and easier for you. you can choose from a wide range of standardized plans. each one is designed to work seamlessly with medicare and help save you money! so how do you find the plan that's right for you? 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[chanting]. >> martha: okay. in the face of the heated attacks from pro palestinian protesters, president biden appealing to prime minister netanyahu for a temporary pause. both countries race to get hostages out of the war-torn gaza strip. joining us now, john kirby, national security council coordinator for strategic communications. john, thank you for being here. good to have you with us. i want to remind everyone of the president's words when all of this first began right after october 7th in his first statement. then we'll hear from one of these protesters at the white house a couple this genocide now, you will not get these votes. >> martha: what does the president think about those two things? is he still rock solid behind israel in all of their ways as they try to achieve their goal to eliminate hamas and what rings in his ears from inside the white house when he hears this woman saying we have a whole generation of voters out here? >> a lot to unpack there. yes, he's solidly in support of israel and the right to defend themselves. the security assistance is continuing to flow to israel and we're going to keep that up. they have a right and responsibility to protect themselves from that never happening again. the president is solidly behind them. he also understands there's a lot of emotions attached to what's going on. he certainly respects people around the country will have a different view. that young woman used the word genocide. that's a word we would not ascribe to what's going on inside gaza. that's not the goal of israeli military forces. casualties are happening. we don't want to see one to ascribe what israel is doing is genocide is untrue, false and doesn't subscribe to the definition of what genocide is. that side, hamas very much has genocidal intentions. their whole purpose is to wipe israel off the face of the earth. >> martha: is there something in the works right now to get the hostages out and is that why the president wants a three-day pause and has he heard back from benjamin netanyahu? he said he was waiting to hear. >> i don't want to -- i'm not going to confirm this reporting about a three-day pause. what i can confirm, martha, is that we continue to talk to the israelis about the benefit and the idea of humanitarian pauses, plural. there's multiple reasonses and locations where pauses can be useful. certainly getting the hostages out and humanitarian assistance in. we've had discussions with israel about the benefits of pauses. the prime minister says he's open to considering pauses. that's a good thing. we'll continue to do that. it's important to remember that pauses have already occurred. this is not like a new idea that hasn't been tried. it helped us get the two americans out and the two israelis out. >> martha: two things. we just talked to major spielman. we've been showing video of this intense battle that is underway inside gaza city. there wouldn't be a pause in that, correct? >> it's important to remember on pauses, they're temporary, short in duration, localized on the man. >> martha: is there a request or not? was there a three-day request? that's a long pause. that would give hamas a lot of time. >> i'm not going to confirm those reports about a three-day request. it's important to remember that a pause doesn't mean you have to pause across the battlefront. a pause is localized for a certain people of geography over a certain period of time. >> martha: we can all understand that. okay, they're going to be walking through this area. so we need to allow these hostages to leave and get through this area. we can understand that. what i'm trying to figure out, is it a promise