i ask him about his battles with former president trump, how he reacted when mr. trump suggested he be put to death for treason. the battle in the house after speaker kevin mccarthy reached a deal to avert a government shutdown. his fellow republican matt gaetz moving to force a vote to oust him. will he cut a deal with democrats to keep his job? the explosion leveling a home in detroit. the investigation tonight. what we're learning. and it's one of the world's most prestigious awards who are the surprise winners of the nobel prize in medicine? >> announcer: this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt good evening and welcome. this time we saw donald trump in court. the cameras allowed in new york today for the opening of a $250 million civil fraud trial that puts mr. trump's very image and claims of extreme wealth and success on the line with the judge having already found the ex-president fraudulently inflated the values of his properties by hundreds of millions of dollars to secure better bank terms, the case now centers on who's responsible and what the punishment should be tonight the former president, his company and control of his many flagship properties are at risk the case is unrelated to the many criminal indictments mr. trump is named in, but as he has in many of those cases mr. trump is attacking the judge and in this case the new york attorney general behind it. laura jarrett has details. >> reporter: tonight donald trump once again in a courtroom, with the fate of his business empire now on trial. >> today in court we will prove our case. >> reporter: new york attorney general letitia james accusing mr. trump, his sons eric and don jr., and his namesake company, the trump organization, of exaggerating the value of his real estate properties including trump tower, mar-a-lago, and 40 wall street by over $2 billion to receive better loan terms from banks. >> no matter how powerful you are, no matter how much money you think you may have, no one is above the law. >> reporter: just outside the courtroom doors the former president attacking james, a democrat, for bringing the civil suit >> every time they give me a fake indictment i go up in the polls. >> reporter: and going after the judge, who's also a democrat. >> we have a rogue judge who ruled the properties are worth a tiny fraction of 1/100. a tiny fraction of what they actually are. >> reporter: the republican front-runner arguing the banks were not victims of fraud and blasting the suit as election interference. >> they're wasting everybody's time for many months on this case where banks got paid a fortune loan money got paid money back didn't even need that money. >> reporter: but the judge already rejected that argument, pointing out the state only needed to prove his financial statements were false and misleading and mr. trump's, quote, clearly contain fraudulent valuations. the key issues now left for trial, who's to blame for that fraud and how much should be paid as a penalty. in a deposition video played today mr. trump suggested checking the accuracy of financial statements was the task of his long-time chief financial officer and co-defendant >> was allen weisselberg responsible for that >> object to the form. >> i would say yes >> so laura, in this case the state is looking for a $250 million penalty what else is on the line potentially >> well, lester, mr. trump already stands to lose his ability to do business in new york state but if he loses at this trial, he may also be forced to sell off his entire new york portfolio to pay for that potential massive judgment, lester >> all right laura jarrett, thank you. donald trump's attacks lately have not just been against those connected to his legal troubles recently going after the general who served under him as joint chiefs chairman, general mark milley, and suggesting milley's actions warranted the death penalty. i sat down with general milley recently, just days in fact before his retirement, to get his response to mr. trump's remarks as well as deeper insight into the tense and complicated relationship between the two men. much of general mark milley's military career was spent in harm's way, especially if you include the reported and rumored battles at the white house. your legacy and donald trump's legacy are intertwined. have you accepted that >> well, i think -- i mean, that's a fact. look, i'm not the president or was president. i'm merely an adviser to a president to two presidents, actually and our paths crossed. and i think that history will obviously connect the two of us together sure >> some people would say you're downplaying the significance i mean, you became a household name in many ways because of the reported clashes between you and the then president >> yeah. generals don't have clashes with presidents i think some of that is overstated, frankly, about clashes, like raised voices and arguments and all that kind of stuff. i rendered to president trump just like i rendered to president biden. i gave him various courses of action and options. >> reporter: but milley was often described as a guardrail against the former president's impulses and made this apparent parting swipe at the former president during his retirement remarks >> we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator >> reporter: a few days before the election you were making it known that the army, the military would play no role in determining the outcome -- >> sure. >> -- of the election. why did you feel the need to say that was that a specific concern that you had >> there was a lot of discussion in the open media about the u.s. military and what role we would play and so on so i wanted to make sure it was clear to the american people, to our adversaries, to our friends and allies overseas but also to our own force, to us wearing the uniform, that we have zero and i mean zero role in u.s. electoral politics >> and you assured the chinese at one point, your chinese counterpart, that essentially the u.s. was okay, the u.s. was stable is that a fair characterization >> yeah, that's right. and the secretary asked me to make a call and we did that >> reporter: last week in a social media post former president trump attacked milley for that call. >> with regard to your talking to the chinese he said, "this is an act so egregious that in times gone by the punishment would have been death a war between china and the u.s. could have been the result of this treasonous act. that's from a former commander in chief to a sitting chairman of the joint chiefs how do you respond to that >> everyone's entitled to their opinion and i've served my country faithfully for 4 1/2 consecutive decades in peace and war. and my family has made enormous sacrifices for this country and my mother and father before me and grandparents before them so i'll take a back seat to no one on loyalty to this country, and my loyalty is to the constitution it's to a document it's never to an individual and that's the loyalty of every single one of us in uniform. >> reporter: during milley's tenure there was the chaotic afghanistan withdrawal when 13 u.s. service members were killed in a terror attack. many of their families criticizing milley for a lack of accountability >> has anyone been held accountable to what went wrong with the afghanistan withdrawal >> well, if you mean has anyone been specifically punished in some way, no. but look, lester, that war didn't end the way anybody wanted it to end. this is a 20-year war. there were decisions made over 20 years that landed us where we did >> reporter: and a warning from milley about the threat from china following that spy balloon. >> how would you characterize their espionage efforts? >> chinese espionage is quite good. >> have they infiltrated the pentagon have they infiltrated the u.s. military? >> well, i can't imagine that they haven't tried anyway i'm not going to go over details of what they've infiltrated and not infiltrated. but they are a very capable intelligence collection organization >> part of my conversation with general mark milley. two days after congress narrowly averted a government shutdown there is a new crisis at the capitol tonight with the house speaker fighting for his job. and breaking news now about efforts to pry him from power just in tonight. ryan nobles has the latest >> reporter: tonight the chaos continues on capitol hill >> kevin mccarthy is kind of pitiful. he's the product of a corrupt system >> reporter: just days after congress narrowly averted a government shutdown florida congressman matt gaetz making his move, filing a motion to remove house speaker kevin mccarthy from his post. >> if somebody wants to make a motion against me, bring it >> reporter: gaetz is set to put into motion a process where mccarthy would once again be fighting for his job. with no guarantees the speaker will have the 218 votes necessary to hang on. south carolina congresswoman nancy mace is considering a new leader >> if you make a promise and you don't keep it, you know, all bets are off >> reporter: while new york's marc molinaro believes mccarthy deserves to stay on. >> the people i represent and i do not have the tolerance, the patience nor the interest in engaging in some sort of pseudo psychopolitical theater. >> reporter: if a small group of republicans decide to join gaetz, it will require democrats to help mccarthy keep his job. >> we are going to have to evaluate that together in a family discussion with democrats when it happens. >> reporter: katherine clark is the second ranking democrat in the house and said their conference has yet to decide on how they'll handle mccarthy's future. >> can you trust kevin mccarthy >> we have a lot of trust issues >> reporter: the trust issues exist in part because mccarthy backed out of a deal set in june for spending levels as part of the next budget now with a new 45-day deadline the clock is ticking. with the challenge of coming to a bipartisan agreement on the budget or face another shutdown >> i strongly urge my republican colleagues in the congress not to wait 44 days don't waste time like you did this summer. >> and ryan, another story i know you're covering there on the hill, california's governor has selected who will replace senator dianne feinstein. >> reporter: that's right, lester. and governor newsom said that he didn't want to tip the scales in the race to replace senator feinstein, so he chose not to appoint one of the three democrats that are vying for the seat instead he tapped laphonza butler. she's 44 years old she'll be the first openly gay black woman in the senate. butler has not said if she will seek the seat long term. she will be sworn in to the seat tomorrow lester >> all right, ryan nobles, thanks now to breaking news in the search for a missing 9-year-old girl tonight in upstate new york kristen dahlgren joins us live. and kristen, charlotte sena has been found okay, we understand. >> reporter: right, lester just an incredible end to this two-day-long search it was about 6:45 eastern when we started to notice state police troopers leaving here where they have been searching with their lights going, peeling out of here, and then we got confirmation from the new york state police that 9-year-old charlotte sena has been found alive. they do have a suspect in custody it was saturday evening around dinner time when she was biking with friends here at this state park and then she wanted to go for one more loop by herself, and that's when her family says she disappeared almost into thin air. they found her bicycle, but there was no sign. that tipped off a massive, massive search here over the past two days. but again, tonight we know that she has been found alive, lester. >> and kristen, what is the family saying about all this >> reporter: oh, just an incredible moment, lester they just came out to thank the media for keeping her story out there. they were celebrating. they were cheering they said she's alive. they said we'll try and keep it down they haven't been able to talk to her yet they haven't been able to see her but they are just ecstatic that the little girl that they have been looking for is now safe. she is with authorities. and they hope to reunite with her soon, lester >> and i'm glad we can report it. all right. kristen dahlgren, thanks very much a scene of devastation tonight in a residential neighborhood of detroit where authorities say a house exploded this afternoon. officials tell our detroit affiliate wdiv that the house was vacant and no one was inside there are reports of neighbors saying they smelled gas in the last couple of days. in 60 seconds, writers are back and late-night shows returning but more labor disputes are looming. how you might be impacted by the next wave of potential strikes, right after this tonight late-night shows return after the writers ended their strike as hollywood actors and the studios resumed their talks. but as miguel almaguer reports, many others remain on strike or threatening to walk out. >> reporter: with daytime talk shows back on the air today, tonight late night will make its long-awaited return. >> as you may have noticed, we've been off air for the last five months. >> reporter: several major productions no longer dark as the spotlight turns to actors >> we're going to do this >> reporter: in a sign of progress today sag-aftra resumed negotiations with the alliance representing studios and streamers. both sides hoping to end their stalemate over issues like pay and the use of ai. >> i think the studios finally realized they've got to stop playing games. >> reporter: like the deal that put writers back to work, an agreement with actors could come together quickly. but it does seem like high-profile strikes are lasting longer and longer >> uaw >> reporter: as the uaw approaches its third week on the picket line, ford and gm announcing over 1,000 non-striking employees have been laid off fallout, say the companies, from the strike >> everyone across the nation it's been like the summer of the labor movement and it's gaining momentum >> reporter: in nevada 60,000 culinary workers just authorized a strike. while 75,000 kaiser employees could picket wednesday for a three-day stoppage that could become the largest health care strike in u.s. history. by one estimate more than 360,000 workers have walked off the job already this year. >> there is a domino effect when workers stand in solidarity with one another it encourages other workers in other industries >> reporter: tonight as some return to work others are digging in. miguel almaguer, nbc news and up next, record numbers of migrants and the difficult ripple effects. we go inside the country's oldest hospital, now overwhelmed. we're back now with a record number of migrants crossing into the u.s., pushing resources to the limit in many american cities now hospitals are sounding the alarm saying they're also overwhelmed, including some far from the border julia ainsley has our report >> reporter: tonight the border crisis surging. officials telling nbc news there were over 200,000 illegal crossings at the southern border last month. and a record 3 million migrants crossed the border in the last year now a new warning 1,000 miles away in new york city where officials tell us resources are overwhelmed. across public hospitals in new york city a quarter of the patients are now migrants over the last year nearly 30,000 visits by migrants and 300 new babies born to migrant moms staff here at bellevue hospital tell us they're eager to help but the numbers are tough. >> this has been the hardest work that i've ever done but it's been the most impactful work that i've ever done >> reporter: and most of the visits to the taxpayer-funded legal clinic here are by migrants >> our clinics are full and there are waiting lists and people are turning people away or referring them to other places >> reporter: randy redkin from new york's legal assistance group says so many migrants are asking for legal help on asylum representation and health care access, now she says american citizens who need legal assistance with issues like eviction and insurance have to wait up to ten weeks >> if you ask me do we need more resources for legal services, i would say absolutely, yes. >> reporter: meanwhile, new york's governor now slamming the situation at the border >> it is too open right now. people coming from all over the world are finding their way through, simply saying they need asylum >> reporter: and new york mayor eric adams saying providing services for migrants will cost city taxpayers $12 billion. but biden administration officials have blamed adams' response. "it is not an operationally sound effort," one senior dhs official told nbc news meanwhile, migrants on the streets are desperate for city help we met orlando, who fled violence in venezuela. he didn't want to appear on camera, telling us he slept on the street before coming to bellevue for cancer treatment how is that for you given your medical condition to be sleeping on the street "you have to make believe it's a good bed, a king size, and you lie down wherever and go to sleep," he says orlando tells us he came to new york because he heard about the social services the city would offer to migrants like himself who were trying to start a new life the biden administration recently granted temporary legal status to nearly half a million venezuelans, allowing them to work. today governor hochul announced there are 18,000 jobs now available to eligible migrants lester >> julia ainsley, thanks up next, we speak with the scientists who just won this year's nobel prize their inspiring message to the next generation a big tribute this evening to ruth bader ginsburg a short time ago the u.s. postal service officially unveiling a new stamp commemorating the late supreme court justice. it features an oil painting of ginsburg based on a picture taken in 2017. and it's available now on the postal service's website. and finally tonight, their discovery led to a monumental medical breakthrough but even they were surprised when they learned today they're receiving one of the world's most prestigious awards here's andrea mitchell >> reporter: the nobel prize in medicine, the last thing a pair of scientists expected when the phone rang at 3:40 this morning. >> my husband picked up and he was talking to somebody and then he just handed it over and said this is for you. >> reporter: did you believe it at first? >> not really. you know, because you know, people can make jokes. >> i also thought it was a prank or an anti-vaxx joke or something. >> reporter: especially surprising because their work had been ignored, even ridiculed for decades. they were working in different departments at the university of pennsylvania when they discovered each other at the copying machine. >> i have to say that working together, that was the real reward. >> reporter: born in hungary, kariko came to the u.s. in the 1980s. we first talked to her and drew weissman two years ago when the covid vaccines were becoming more available. >> talk to me about how skeptical people were about the value of rna >> i don't know, did we listen to them? not really >> i mean, everybody was skeptical. but we didn't care >> reporter: together they found a way to create a vaccine that got past the body's defenses but still prompted the immune system to make antibodies to fight disease. now their discovery is leading to new vaccines for aids and sickle cell anemia, even gene therapies to prevent some cancers her message to young people >> just hang on and be resilient and have fun and enjoy. >> katy and i certainly didn't go into science for money or for awards. we did it because of interest and curiosity. >> reporter: and the joy of saving millions of lives andrea mitchell, nbc news, washington >> that's "nightly news" for this monday. thank you for watching, everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night >> right now, nbc bay area news tonight, a deadly drowning at this daycare. you see the pool there. two children dead. what happened and is the daycare licensed? and the missing swimmer get attacked by a shark? the search continues in the