targeting a safe house and training facilities used by iranian affiliated groups. that s according to the pentagon. we ve got the latest on the significant escalation in the middle east amid rising tensions. plus, on defense, donald trump jr. back on the stand, the first witness for the defense in the new york civil fraud trial calling his dad today a visionary. what impact will his testimony have. and could the qanon shamon go back to washington, after serving 27 months behind bars, he s filing paperwork to run for congress. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments. i want to begin in gaza with one doctor in al-shifa hospital saying 600 patients need care, there isn t food and water among other things needed. erin mclaughlin is in tel aviv. you talked to a doctor inside al-shifa this morning. what did he tell you. reporter: that s right, chris. as the israeli military has pushed further and further into gaza city, there s desperation at a numbe
defense s first witness. meanwhile, we ll tell you why the former president is asking for his federal 2020 election trial to be televised live. new this morning, republican senator tim scott abruptly drops out of the presidential race, even shocking his staffers. what he told them on a call right after. overseas, the world health organization says gaza s main hospital is no longer functioning with several babies dying and more still at risk. also, the u.s. military launches air strikes for the third time on locations in syria used by iran in retaliation for attacks on u.s. troops in the region. and back at home, there are only five days left for congress to come to a deal to avert a government shutdown. the new house speaker has a plan, but does he have the votes? and we begin this very busy hour inside a new york city courtroom where former president trump s eldest son, donald trump jr. has taken the stand again. this time he s the first witness for the defense in
options. i believe that if ivanka, or don jr., or for that matter already giuliani, had received pardons, that we would know about it. they would be public record, and would ve been released on the pardon list. joyce, let me ask you this. despite the fact that it seems as if all roads are leading back to the former president and the testimony that we ve seen so far, is there a weary, is there concern, a possibility that the former president could use eastman as a fall guy, in fact saying i was taking my legal advice from my attorney who add trusted. sure, i mean donald trump always has a fall guy in mud. we have seen that play out over and over again. and it is why he has been such an elusive target for prosecution, and even for investigation. in this instance, we heard some really interesting testimony in the third hearing. we heard from greg jacob, pence s legal counsel, that eastman in this meeting on the fourth had acknowledged that the course of conduct that he wanted them to
so what does it mean? number one, this is an order that donald trump and his children, donald trump jr. and ivanka trump, must testify. they must comply with these open subpoenas from the new york attorney general s office and the family members have just three weeks until they go under oath until this is appeals or blocked. two weeks, and that s not all, you know, you would be forgiven for saying, well, ari, i have heard about thesis kind of cases before and losses before. but i have to tell you, reading this late today, it is a different kind of rebuke. scathing in parts. it finds that the attorney general has the clear right to put these people under oath, to question trump, ivanka, and don jr. given their roles in this company that has all these money problems and accused lies. it s a major win for the attorney general, and it comes after trump s accounting firm just cut ties and bailed on him, saying that whatever it had previously attested to or
differences in the financial statements. that really is going to be an issue of fact, ultimately, for a jury to decide. but the reason that matters is what they are signaling is a legal argument that the defense can make, which is look, you know, you have to prove that if we said something wrong, it was material. and the accountants are on record as saying we don t think the discrepancies are material. that doesn t absolve them, but it certainly doesn t say that you then can t ask the principal, the person making the decisions, the person who signs checks, the person who is making public representations, about how much money they had all over the place for years. and what their properties are or are not worth. that person, donald trump, or ivanka trump, or don jr., can t then stand up and say, you don t get to ask me any questions about it. if anything, it just heightens the need to ask them questions. yeah, one would think. and claire, you re known as an