conditions at gaza's largest hospital now described as catastrophic. newborn babies wrapped in foil to keep them alive. operating rooms out of service as fighting rages around the complex which israel says is a command center for hamas fighters. back on the witness stand, donald trump jr. is the first defense witness in the new york fraud trial against him, his father and their company. how their legal team hopes to undermine the case against them. and as the government shutdown looms, newly minted house speaker mike johnson struggling to control gop hard liners are following these major developing stories and many more. it's all coming in here to cnn news center. >> we start in gaza where essential units at the largest hospital are now in collapse. operating rooms are completely

out of service. doctors are taking drastic measures to keep newborns alive. more than 7,000 people are currently sheltering at the al-shifa medical center and that includes some 1,500 patients and staff according to doctors. with supplies drying up, some of the most vulnerable of gaza citizens are facing critical situations. power outages at the hospital forcing doctors to take premature infants off i incubators. today renewing the claim that hamas is hiding among civilian infrastructure, releasing this video. officials saying you can see clearly here a hamas fighter with an rpg launcher there outside of al quds hospital. the ids saying the forces near the entrance of the hospital, they killed someone in this exchange and that no israeli forces were killed in this exchange. the palestinian red crescent has denied there are armed individuals inside the hospital and said that the video shows

militants came from the street and put everyone in the hospital at risk. in the meantime, u.s. officials are revealing new details about some of the nearly 240 hostages that are still being held by hamas. the white house says a 3-year-old american is among those captive there in gaza. president biden holding a phone call with qatar as the pressure is mounting to secure the safe passage of those hostages. how dire is the situation with gaza's hospitals? >> reporter: well, thes can at al-shifa hospital, gaza's largest hospital, are being described as catastrophic. operating rooms are out of service. there is no clean water, food or milk for babies, according to the hospital's director general, and babies in the neonatal unit were forced to move from that unit after a generator was taken out by an apparent strike.

those babies wrapped in foil and put next to warm water to try to keep them warm. and over just the last few days, according to the hamas ministry of health, 15 patients at that hospital including six newborns have died as a result of the dire conditions at that hospital. the israeli military says that it has offered to help evacuate some of the patients and the staff from that hospital, creating one of those evacuation corridors in recent days for people to leave, but doctors at the hospital right now say that they are either too afraid to leave because they allege that they have been fired upon as they tried to leave that hospital, or face, have seen bombardments in the area of the hospital, or because they are concerned that if they leave the hospital, their patients will die. there are some 700 at-risk patients at that hospital. according to the director general of the hamas-run ministry of health, if those patients are left behind, quote,

they will die. all of this as the death toll in gaza continues to rise. more than 11,000 people have now been killed in gaza. among them, more than 4,600 children. >> israel's military says it killed the 2,100 militants near al quds hospital. what is the latest on the fighting inside gaza? >> reporter: that's right. the israeli military released this video where you can see what appears to be a militant at the entrance to al quds hospital, gaza's second largest hospital. and cnn has verified that the steps are indeed the entrance to al quds hospital. we can't say exactly when this video was filmed but the idf said that this 21 hamas militants were killed in this incident. they say hamas militants are operating inside and around al

quds hospital and that's why the israeli military is around several other hospitals. the israeli military has been trying to build a case, arguing that hamas has been operating beneath, around, and inside several of gaza's hospitals. namely, that they are operating a underground opportunities and complexes below several of these hospitals, including al-shifa hospital. the hospital we were discussing where israeli forces appear to be moving closer and closer as they say that they hope that hamas militants underneath the hospital will surrender. as of now that has not happened and cnn conconfirm the au authenticity about the existence of those tunnels. >> and president biden speaking on this. can you tell us what steps are being taken and maybe what steps could be taken? >> reporter: it is a significant discussion.

qatar has been leading the mediation efforts for the release of some of these hospitals. we know that in recent days, there appears to be some kind of a proposal on the table that would include the release of a significant number of hostages being held by hamas and other militant groups in exchange for at least a three-day cease fire. in fact, in addition to the president's call, one of the president's top advisers on middle east issues who has been heavily involved in these negotiations, he is heading to the region, expected to be in israel tomorrow to pursue these negotiations. what we know is that in recent weeks, we have watched as there appear to be momentum behind the talks. there appear to be deals that might have come to fruition. instead, it appears the timing again, the talks have broken down. the president speaking with him. they apparently discussed the state of the hostage negotiations. the possibility of some kind of a cease fire emerging from this deal as well is significant.

and we will see if if the officials' discussions this week lead to anything concrete. >> certainly we'll be awaiting that. a very important trip that he's taking. live for us from sderot, thank you. let's talk more with peter lerner with the israeli military. the idf said saturday they will provide assistance requested by al-shifa hospital staff to move newborn babies to a safer hospital. has the idf provided that assistance yet? >> thank you, yes, indeed. the idf is facilitating with fuel but also looking into the ability to bring in incubators in order to conduct a safe evacuation of babies as this develops. i want to draw your attention to something we've just revealed and i think it is really important for this debate.

i was hearing the reports about the hospitals. we've just exposed the hospital after our forces were able to search the premises. we found there an extensive network of a bunker. it appears hostages have been held there. the ploik that had been used by the terrorist on the 7th of october. we've seen diapers, we've seen in the basement of the hospital, we've seen weaponry, suicide belts. everything we've been saying over the last month has been proven this evening once more and i think we need to really ask ourselves, when the idf is saying we know that hamas is using hospitals as command and control centers, we are telling you, this is the reality. and you choose to bring hamas's words and refute and say that's not true. >> i just want to -- colonel, we're $saying that.

we are reporting that u.s. officials believe that there's a hamas command mode under the hospital. we're talking to you about this. i want to be very clear. up there are diapers. is that an indication to you that there is, there have been hostages who are obviously small children or babies? can you tell us more about that? held there. >> yes, that's what we've found. this is obviously the premises being investigated. to identify. there are hair bands, diapers, there is a baby bottle that we found. indeed, the hospital has been used for terrorist activities. the extent of the presence there, and it appears, and this is a hospital that we've been evacuating over the last few days. the civilians and the terrorists escaped from the hospital and

perhaps there was even hostages that were taken also with the civilians, with the terrorists that got out of the hospital premises. >> i want to button up the news here. what can you tell us about the motorcycle? we saw a lot of videos from the 7th. were there motorcycles used? is it one of those or what can you tell us? >> we found a motorcycle in the hospital itself. it appears the motorcycle has a bullet hole in its fuel tank. it looks like one of those motorcycles we've seen in all the videos coming out from the 7th of october. we also found a tunnel that appears to connect a senior terrorist's house, the commander. a commander from hamas's naval commandos connecting to the hospital. so it is a merciless network putting the people of gaza at risk. this is what we've been saying

throughout the last 38 days. and indeed, today there are still 239 israelis and foreign nationals. the youngest, a 10-month-old baby being held hostage by hamas this evening. >> i want to ask but that. i want to get back to my question about the al-shifa hospital. i didn't get the clear answer that i was hoping for. you mentioned fuel. what fuel are you talking about for that hospital beyond what was delivered that as we understand would only power the hospital for a half-hour? is there more fuel than that? >> the fuel that they didn't take because hamas told them not to take it, would have been sufficient to energize and manage the energy for emergency essential needs. of course, if you want to run the whole hamas hospital complex, then of course, it won't be sufficient. but if hamas didn't let 300 leaders in, why would they allow

10,000 or 10 million meters in? >> up there was fuel. they said they were afraid. they said they were afraid to get that fuel because they were surrounded by israeli forces. do you put any credence in that? >> there is absolutely no concern for that. the idf has been willing to coordinate the access to make sure. we jeopardize our soldiers to bring the fuel to the gate of the premises of the hospital. all they needed to do was pull it in and take it in order to energize the essential service that's could keep people alive. why are they not doing this? hamas told them not to. the people we've been talking to go say that he said not to collect the fuel. so this is the reality. hamas wants the people to die in the shifa hospital. we are extending our hand. we are encouraging people to evacuate. thousands of evacuated the

premises over the last five, six days and this needs to continue. and we're operating to get incubators to evacuate the babies as soon as possible. this is a challenge that we're facing. unfortunately, hamas are euthanizing, as i said, the hospital compound, around the hospitals in gaza. they are doing it intentionally. this is how they operate. this is the enemy we are up against. >> do you believe, sir, i'm really sorry to interrupt you. i'm really sorry to interrupt you. i just have a limited amount of time and i did want tote get hostages. you mentioned they were under the children's hospital. do you believe they're under the al-shifa hospital where you believe this command noted is? >> i don't know to say for sure. we have to work on the operational working assumption that's indeed' possibility.

the evidence at the rantisi hospital indicates clearly there were what appears to be hostages on that site. the whole set-up of the basement appears to be a lockdown quarters where there are videos for ransom and psychological terrorism can be made with a curtain behind them with no window. all times of indicators like this. we've shared this footage extensively with cnn and i hope you'll be showing it. there is the reality that we're facing. this is an unfortunate reality. hamas, you know, we're not surprised. we saw what they did on the 7th of october. butchering babies in their bedrooms. we're not surprise that had they're euthanizing hospitals. >> we have geo located this ourselves and we're certainly aware that hamas uses palestinian civilians as

shields, obviously. that is well known. this is a difficult problem that you are confronting. there is a humanitarian crisis. utmost degree there in gaza. just to pin down the babies in al-shifa hospital. it sounds like at this point you haven't been able to get in with incubators to move the babies or help the babies. is that correct? >> i can't report currently that problem has been solved. we need to solve it. we're working on it. we're trying to get the assistance in order to evacuate them. there is a time frame and we're trying to work that. we've been working on this the last two days. unfortunately, hamas have been preventing aid to the hospital. >> we've seen videos where there is an apparent rpg launcher close to one of the hospital. tell al quds hospital. we're familiar with the tactics here. thank you so much.

>> thank you. good day. >> jessica? we're also getting new details about attacks on u.s. and coalition forces in syria. the pentagon says troops were targeted at least four time since yesterday following u.s. air strikes on iranian proxies. natasha, what more are you learning about these attacks on u.s. service members? >> reporter: this was an attacker. i should say the last four attacks in the last day. they were conducted by drones and one-way attack drones and rockets by these iran-backed groups and proxies. they have launched yet another round of air strikes on eastern syria that the u.s. says were being used by the islamic revolutionary guard corp. clearly they have not been deterred. the rounds three times in the last three weeks.

yet the attacks just keep coming to the point where over 50 u.s. service members have been injured, including more than two dozen who have suffered traumatic brain injury in over 50 separate drone and rocket attacks by these iran-backed forces on u.s. and coalition forces and military bases in iraq and syria. the u.s. is saying they don't want this conflict to escalate any further. these are limited strikes in self-defense that are plenty not only to send a message to iran and its proxy groups but also to try to degrade the infrastructure and the weapons they are using to carry out these attacks. the question remain as to whether there is a sustainable approach. the groups again do not seem deterred even though the u.s. has communicated directly to iran that they expect iran to rein in these groups. we'll have to see if this latest round of strikes will deter anything in the future, given that it does appear to have

destroyed some of the group's training facilities as well as safe houses. >> thank you so much. still to come, donald trump's defense begins its case in the new york civil fraud trial. their first witness, go the former president's oldest son who just wrapped up his testimony and he spoke outside the e courthousese, as you see there. we'l'll take youou there.

moments ago, donald trump jr. completed his testimony in the civil fraud trial against the trump organization in new york. trump's defense team started presenting its case today with donald jr. as its first witness. we have cnn's reporter outside the court. the new york's ag office briefly cross-examined donald jr. before he made a few remarks when he left the courtroom. what did he say? >> reporter: he just left in his car saying the same things that we have heard from him before.

distancing himself from those financial statements, which did he when he was on the stand for the state's attorney. as far as for the defense, when he took the stand. he was there about three hours, really going through the portfolio of trump properties and glowingly giving interpretations of how the properties were when the family bought them and how much money they were spending to do such things. calling his father an artist when it came to real estate. painting the picture of what trump organization is today. how many employees they employ, how much taxes they pay. that was the most of what the defense spent their time with don jr. talking about. listen, we know the defense in the coming weeks will talk more about really, you know, banks didn't, aren't victims in this case. that's the crux of what their case is saying these financial statements are minor in the argument that the state is making, and that they aren't placed huge value on the

valuations, or giving bank loans with these properties. we'll see how they play out. they didn't get to that with don jr. when he left the courtroom today, he did talk about his aunt who we know passed away earlier today. >> yeah. obviously, a little bit of a rough time but i have to deal with this. you have to keep doing it. that's the nature of all this. it's a rough day for myself and my family. a very close with, especially, her grandson. and it's a day. at this stage in our lives, it's just another day. >> reporter: it is expected this case will take about a month. we'll likely see eric trump return to the stand and even possibly donald trump as well. next up, the witnesses for the defense. >> thank you for that. jessica? south carolina senator and

gop presidential hopeful tim scott has ended his run for the white house. he surprised his staff and supporters when he unexpectedly dropped out last night saying voters have been really clear telling him, not now, tim. eva, it is so rare that you get a surprise like this. he was live on television. and you've reported that his staff, a lot of his staff was genuinely shocked by this. >> they were. all indications were that he was in it for another two months. he was saying all in on iowa. he had moved his staff there. when you spoke to them just last week, they were telegraphic they were going to put all their resources there. ultimately we know senator scott is informed by his faith. when he was speaking to his friend trey gowdy last flight, it was clear to him that he did not have a path forward to secure this nomination. >> what happens now? all eyes turn to iowa.

to remind anyone, that's where we will see the first actual voting. how does this shift the die animalic? >> many people are looking to see if ellen doris one of his opponents. it sounds like right now no. >> i'm going to look that they each study their candidacies and their paths and make their best decision for the future of the country. the best way for me to be helpful is to not weigh in on how they should endorse. i was not called on to win but i was certainly called on to run. being vice president has never been on my to do list for this campaign and it is certainly not there now. >> perhaps he's tapped by the nominee as the vp candidate. he said at least for now, that's not the role he was interested in. we know that things can change. something that was interesting about senator scot, he was the only one at this age robustly

defending a 15-week abortion plan. something of interest to those evangelicals in iowa. we'll see who might close in on that in the coming weeks. >> abortion has been such a conundrum for republicans as they try to get the messaging for that moving forward for 2024. thank you. here in about 30 minutes, republican speaker mike johnson will see the house, take its first step considering his plan to avoid a government shutdown. the money runs out at 11:59 p.m. eastern friday night. the house rules committee is meeting at 4:00 p.m. today. and the new speaker selected last month is seeing an old problem rear its head. hard right members of his party getting in the way of a deal. the republicans said they will oppose his two-tiered stop-gap measure. let's get to anchor in chief, manu raju for the latest. well that many republicans

against his plan, johnson will need democrats to avoid a government shutdown which isn't that what got kevin mccarthy in trouble the last time, if i recall correctly in. >> yeah. that's what led to his ouster. many of those hard liners could not afford politically to allow a government spending bill to pass with the support of democrats. the new speaker mike johnson will have to do exactly that. allow to it pass with the support of democrats. there are no threats to his speakership. some of those members giving him a honeymoon period but it is unclear how this will play out because of the opposition. he is announcing a spending plan that does not include spending cuts. this is an unusual one though. would it slice it into two efforts. one, extend partial government funding until january. then the rest would be extended

to mid-february. the white house is not a fan of this approach. strongly criticized it. joe biden has not said whether he will sign it into law but democrats recognize on capitol hill this may be their only option to avoid a government shutdown. t it indicates there may be the ability to avoid a shutdown. so how many republicans will vote against this plan in how many democrats will carry it over the finish line? we don't have the answer yet but the democratic leadership have yet to take an official position as they watch for this continue to play out. and a key thing to watch will be the first procedural vote to set the parameters for the floor debate. that's along party lines. there are some voting against it. johnson can only afford to lose three republican votes if they vote against it to scuttle it on its first procedural vote, then democrats will have to push it

over the finish line. what concessions do they ask for when they go along for it? all questions as they race to avoid a government shutdown by week's end. >> an interesting week ahead. thank you for that. coming up, an international outcry over gaza. president biden is set to host the leader of the world's largest muslim majority country. we have a live report frfrom t whitite house,e, next.

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in minutes, we will see president biden with the leader of indonesia, the world's largest muslim majority nation, and indonesia's president will pass on a message worldwide for israel to have a cease-fire in gaza. instead, they are having humanitarian pauses. what more are you learning about these important meetings with indonesia's leader? >> reporter: well, president biden invited the indonesian president to the white house as he seem to try to strengthen alliances in the indo-pacific region as china's influence has

been increasing. the meeting is also playing out in the conflict between israel and hamas and the indonesian president has been quite vocal in calling for a cease-fire. he is coming to the white house after meeting with arab and muslim leaders in saudi arabia. he has told reporters that he is here to convey their belief that this war needs to stop. that a cease fire must be conducted. now, president biden has refrained from calling for a cease fire. they've been calling for humanitarian pauses, and national security adviser jake sullivan moments ago acknowledged that there are quite a few differences specifically when it relates to the israel and hamas conflict between them. they will be working toward moments of progress. one of the goals as president biden invited him to the white house is trying to launch this comprehensive strategic partnership. that is elevating the status of

relations between the u.s. and indonesia. it is pulley putting it on par. all this come at a critical time as president biden is about to led out west to the summit which will include a plaegt with xi jinping. in this meeting here at the white house today, they're expected to talk about improving ties between the u.s. and indonesia when it come to mineral and climate but those differences about the approach to the conflict between hamas israel are expected to come up with national security adviser jake sullivan saying they will respectfully exchange their views. >> this is a meeting to watch. at the white house, not the lighthouse. you knew what i meant. thanks. here up next, a simple and inexpensive way to lower your blood pressure. what a new study found right after the break.

turning to some other headlines we're watching, a secret service agent on security detail for president biden's granddaughter naomi fired a weapon while trying to stop some people from breaking into a government vehicle. it happened last night in the georgetown neighborhood in washington, d.c. the secret service says it believes no one was hit but the agency and d.c. police are investigating. the trump international hotel is ditching the former president's name and will debut a new name next year.

this come after the trump organization announced it reached a buyout of the hotel licensing agreement with the hotel's owner. with the departure of the hawaiian hotel, the number of trump hotels and resorts is down to eight across the world. today in atlanta, police used tear gas to confront dozens of protesters who were marching to stop the construction of a controversial police training facility dubbed cop city. video shows demonstrators blocking the roads as officers tried to stop that crowd from moving forward. no one was injured or arrested. the project has faced strong opposition over environmental and social justice concerns. a new finding that cutting back on salt in you are why diet can help lower your blood pressure the same amount as some common medications in just one week. cnn let reporter jacqueline howard joins us now. that was the line there. in just one week. how much salt did people need to reduce to see that benefit?

>> reporter: that's right. we're talking about one teaspoon of salt. that's equivalent to about 2,300 milligrams of sodium and that's the recommended daily limit of salt that we should be consuming each day. and to think about what that means in real world terms, it's about four of those snack sized bag of chips or about one really large pickle. so that's a way to illustrate what i'm talking about here. what researchers did in this new study, they did look at people who were consuming a low sodium diet. these people were consuming less than 500 milligrams of salt each day. and researchers compared them with those consuming a high sodium diet. in just one week, researchers found that the low-sodium diet resulted in an average 8 millimeters of mercury. those are eight digits in the people's systolic blood pressure. the people taking the low-sodium diet. that was in comparison with

those taking a high-sodium diet. low sodium, you can lower your top number in your blood pressure reading by eight digits. that was a pretty major finding. >> that's huge. what should we be cutting out of our diet to reduce how much salt we eat except the four bags of chips or this gigantic pickle that some people are munching on every week. >> according to the cdc, the top sources of salt in the average american diet are breads and rolls, pizzas, sandwiches, deli meats, cold cuts and soups. so some swaps we can make, if you like a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, maybe swap it out for oatmeal. if you like your salad tossed in dressing, maybe ask for it on the side. sauces and dressings are sometimes hidden sources of salt. these are some small tweaks we can make on our daily diet that can actually yield major

benefits for our health. >> you're taking my pizza away. i hear you. all right. jacqueline howard, thank you so much. still ahead, iceland bracing for a volcanic eruption n with state of emergencycy ahead.

iceland is on high alert as a volcanic eruption has the entire country under a state of emergency. this follows an

. >> well the icelanders say it could be extremely dangerous and that is why they have an evacuation order in for the city down there and the whole country is under a state of emergency. and when they're talking about a series of earthquakes, we saw some of the pictures of that town where the streets are completely cracked and the local authorities are saying that in a 12-hour period today, where they were monitoring activity, they registered 900 earthquakes in that area. yesterday, was a thousand earthquakes in that same area. so, they are saying the seismic activity has decreased a little bit but they say still the threat of a massive eruption is still very high because under the town there is a huge river of magma that wants to make its way to the top. that is why we're seeing all of the earthquakes and that is why an evacuation order is still very much in effect. the residents of that area, they've been able to go back to

houses today but only for a short period of time and only with a local police and other first responders because they say that they have to get out of there as fast as possible because that massive eruption could happen at any time. >> that is so scary and i'm sure has everyone very nervous. so many flights from the u.s. to europe or europe to the u.s. fly over iceland. is there any potential that transatlantic flights could be disrupted in this happens. >> that is something that airlines are looking at. and a lot of business travellers are looking at as we think back to 2010 where transatlantic air travel was disrupted for a long period of time because of the a big volcanic eruption in iceland. that spewed ash well high into the air and planes couldn't fly past there. right now, the authorities in iceland are saying they don't really see that as a scenario. but their staill not sure where the eruption is going to take place and how strong it is going to be.

but definitely, when a lot of businesses around the world, whe airlines hear volcanic eruption in iceland, obviously there are a lot of questions, right now it doesn't necessarily seem that that is something that is likely to happen but nevertheless the danger is always there. >> sure, fred pleitgen, thank you. and a circus lion escapes in italy and roamed the streets for hours before being tracked down and captured. it is a wild story. we'll tell you about it when we comeme back.

this lion named kimba is finally back in its cage after escaping from the circus. a little bittersweet on this one. but he was roaming the heavily populated streets a rome suburb. >> he was on the loose for hours. putting the community on edge. before finally being krcaptured. we have the story. >> reporter: it may seem straight out of a film but it happened in real life in the seaside town in italy. a 8-year-old male lion named kimba escaped a local traveling circus and roamed the town which is about 12 miles west with a population of a little over 40,000 people. it roomed the town for about five hours an the mayor calling for people to stay inside and make sure their children were safe while they tried to capture this male lion. now they were finally able to shoot it with a dart and sedate

it while they captured it and returned it to the circus. now the use of live animals in traveling circuses, which are very, very popular across italy, has been widely condemned by animal rights groups. now they have even more reason, it is not just the welfare of the animals, they could complain about it, it is also the danger to the local communities. cnn, rome. >> when you see it walking through the streets, you notice how that is a muscular animal. >> and that is what the mayor of that small town was saying, which was, you know, on one end, they're glad the lion is caught but they're not fans a lot of them of the fact that they are there in circuses. >> you do kind of think, maybe it just wanted to be free for a little bit. i don't know. >> he just wanted a break. >> he wanted to take a break from his job at the circus and you could take a break from us. with "the leadth