theyey want morere. you guys, we're all in this together. what do they need? what do they want? they have to make money too or else we're not going to have these opportunities. >> being billie jean king means fulfilling the destiny she proclaimed for herself as a very young girl. toto be a tennnnis champioion a use that success to be an advocate for equality. >> bring all of yourself to everything you do. >> 70 years later her goals are the same. >> i want to be a champion in life, on and off the court, in every way. >> happy birthday! ♪ hello and welcome to all our viewers joining us here in the

united states, around the world and streaming on cnn max. i'm rosemary church. just ahead, donald trump changes his mind when it comes to plans to appear in court today. we'll look at how that will affect his new york civil trial. i want to be a dictator for one day. >> the republican front-runner doubles down on a controversial comment. why he says it's a hoax. what the u.s. has to say about civilian protection in gaza. good to have you with us. just days ago, former president donald trump declared he would testify today in his $250 million new york civil fraud trial. but a few hours ago, he changed

course, announcing on his truth social platform, that he will not take the stand after all. new york attorney general letitia james said her office had proven he had years of fraud and unjustly enriched himself. du trump, and his sons and company, inflated the value to get better loans and insurance terms. he testified once and his attorneys advised him not to do it again. hear litman explains why. >> most dangerously, he would face cross-examination, which is rules permit a probing yes or no set of answers. that could put him in hot water to tell the truth or commit

perjury. this is a case he realizes he is going to lose. >> trump vehemently denies the charges the case has raised. secondly, the presidential front-runner has been taking heat for suggesting he would use a second term to exert executive power in unprecedented ways. and for his recent comments on whether he would be a dictator. but trump is trying to reframe the narrative that he would be a threat to democracy, using familiar accusations that it's all a hoax. >> reporter: well, donald trump speaking at an event last night, doubled down on comments he made with fox news earlier in the week. he essentially said he would be a dictator for one day if he reclaimed the white house to build a wall and, quote, drill, drill, drill. but trump attempted last night to undercut the narrative that he would be a threat to

democracy by characterizing it as a new hoax cooked up by democrats. take a listen. >> and the past few weeks, the radical left democrats and their fake news allies have unveiled their newest hoax, that donald j. trump and the republican party are a threat to democracy. do you believe this? it's a hoax. we call it now the threat to democracy hoax. that's what it is. >> reporter: the former president repeated claims last night he thinks joe biden is the, quote, real threat to democracy. there's a couple things worth pointing out here. there's a concern and i have spoken about this with donald trump's advisers and other republicans, that some of the ramped-up rhetoric is not going to play well outside of his loyal base, especially if he were to go on and win the republican nomination and advance to the general election. i think that's why you're seeing donald trump, as we've seen him do time and time again, to reclaim the narrative on this. and that's essentially what he

is doing. he is trying to flip the script and put this on joe biden. he is claiming this is an artificial narrative. being spread by democrats, when really, biden is the one who is using the government to go after him and his political enemies. pointing to the series of indictments. that's not an argument that seems to be resonating outside of donald trump's closest group of support. of course, there's no evidence that the white house has had any involvement in the indictments against trump. i do think it's very important for us to be clear about the greater context of this. that trump himself has said publicly if you were to reclaim the white house in 2024, he would use the justice department to go after his political foes. his team has been formulating plans to move the justice department under presidential control and try to strengthen the power of the executive branch. another thing i think is very interesting is the unintended

consequences of donald trump to talk about this. it's giving joe biden and the democratic party an opening. what democrats have been trying to do, is frame it totalitarian. two of donald trump's biggest rivals in the presidential race are looking to boost their profiles ahead of the iowa caucuses. the attacks between ron desantis and former south carolina governor nikki haley are vet getting personal, with haley accusing desantis as being a phony, saying he was too close to donald trump in a political ad. >> we're going to build a wall. >> judges are a priority. >> made in china and rushed here. >> what a phony.

>> meanwhile, desantis accuses haley of being two different candidates on the campaign trail. >> you can't have hawkeye haley here saying she is conservative and nuanced n d nikki appealin liberals in new hampshire. you have to have the same message everywhere. joining me now, senior editor for "the atlantic," ron brownstein. appreciate you being with us. >> hi, rosemary. >> you wrote about two theories for beating donald trump that concluded that neither one will likely dislodge trump from his commanding lead for the race to be president. why has nikki haley nor ron desantis found a way to challenge trump with just five weeks before the iowa caucus? >> yeah. they are common problems that neither is attracting a

coalition broad enough to really threaten trump. they have alsoly jointly made the decision they are largely going to defer to another day, making the strongest possible case against trump and focus on trying to edge out each other to get them into a one-on-one race. you know? they are operating from different theories about what it takes to beat him. desantis is running to trump's right. trying to peel away core supporters. if he gets it to a one-on-one race, the voters in the middle will have no choice but to rally around him. but that strategy, rosemary, hasn't paid a lot of dividends. he's alienated a lot of the centrist voters in the republican party that are most resistant to trump. that's filled the vacuum for haley, that will pass him as the most viable contrast to trump.

the last debate showed the limits of her approach, when desantis and ramaswamy came at her from the right and she didn't have the answer for the debates. >> how will the republicans looking for an alternative to trump, once the competitors are reduced to just one other. either haley or desantis, however that turns out. >> the question is if that happens earl enough to matter. haley and desantis are betting on different states to use as a spring board to eclipse the other. desantis has put all of his chips into iowa, like the last three winners of iowa, mike huckabee in '08, rick santorum in '12, and ted cruz in 16'16.

the problem is all three of the predecessors with the same strategy weren't able to parlay an iowa win into a full-scale challenge to the front-runner because they got pigeon holed. the religious right fell off the rails in new hampshire. haley is focusing more on new hampshire,electorate. allows independence to vote. and she is hoping that the strong performance in new hampshire will allow her to eclipse desantis and get the one-on-one race in south carolina. the problem they've got is it's possible that both of them may be viable after new hampshire. if that's the case, it's obviously going to be hard to overtake trump, given the breadth of his support in the party. >> if it is inevitable, this becomes a two-man race between trump and joe biden -- it certainly looks that way right now -- democrats usually win the

popular vote in u.s. presidential elections. that's not how elections are won. the electoral college system puts the happeneds in a few hundred thousand voters residing in the smaller swing states. what might that mean for the outcome of the 2024 election, aslings look right now, the numbers? >> first of all, democrats have won the popular vote in seven of the past eight presidential elections. that's something that no party has done in the history of the modern party system in the u.s. since 1828. no party has won the popular vote in seven of eight times since 1828. right now, joe biden would like to have that problem of leading in the popular vote but having an electoral college puzle, because he is trailing consistently in polling at this point to donald trump, which is something that was never the case in 2020. there was no point, in which biden was trailing trump.

we continue to see polls, with biden at a low ebb. and those polls do reflect a lot of dissatisfaction with him. his approval rating is stuck around 40%. it's sinking lower. cnn and others have him at 37%. but i don't think the polls at this point register fully the resistance that trump may face, if he emerges as a phenonominee. biden will be, where the last few points he needs to win, if he can win, will have to come from voters that aren't wild about his performance but reluctant to turn over the reins to trump. 40 states have voted the same way in the past four elections. that's the highest share of four times in a row. we're talking about wisconsin,

pennsylvania, arizona, nevada, georgia, maybe michigan, as our true swing states. and only a handful of voter in them. you see enormous effort in few places that will decide how 330 million people go forward from here. >> all right. >> ron brownstein, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. ukrainian president zelensky is wading into one of the biggest debates in u.s. politics right now. he's set to meet with president biden. he is expected to go to capitol hill, where aid for ukraine is bogged down, amid divisions of u.s. immigration policy. >> reporter: president zelensky's visit to washington will come at a critical time as lawmakers are working on a package that could include aid

for ukraine and rules on migration in the united states. the fact that president biden invited zelensky to washington tells you the administration is looking for a way to break the impasse on capitol hill. while he is in d.c., he will meet with president biden at the white house, to discuss what president biden's aides say is vital support for ukraine. he will be on capitol hill. he will meet, as well, with the republican house speaker, mike johnson. his challenge will be in convincing that the $60 million that president biden is requesting for ukraine, on the battlefield, as ukraine is bogged down in a counteroffensive that hasn't changed the battle lines so far.

you're hearing republicans oppose j.d. vance. zelensky will come to washington and demand that congress care more about his border than our own. our talks are tied together with the conversation of tightening the rules of migration into the united states. we heard sunday from the senators that are leading the discussions. it did not appear as if they were any closer to an agreement. listen to what they said. >> this is one of the most dangerous moments i've ever faced politics. i wish republicans weren't holding israel aid and aid to ukraine hostage to the resolution of immigration reform. >> can you get ukraine aid passed, separate from this? >> no. the focus is, why would we deal with other people's national security and ignore american national security. why would we allow people across our southern border, this administration.

we have individuals that are labeled national security risks in the country. >> reporter: president biden said he was open to significant compromise when it came to border provisions. he is caught in a bind here, feeling pressure from both sides. from republicans and democrats that want to do more. also on the other side, worried they could amount to some of the restrictive policies that president trump enacted in office. it remains unclear whether presidential involvement will break tim pass.

mr. zelensky spent sunday in argentina, congratulating the new president on his election. the two held a bilateral meeting after the swearing-in ceremony. the argentinean president posted that argentina and ukraine are united, saying we stand ready to strengthen it together. zelensky made time to meet with the presidents of ecuador, par paraguay and uruguay. urgent calls for more humanitarian aid for gaza as the war intensifies and expands in the south. details just ahehead.

welcome back, everyone. israeli forces and hamas fighters are engaged in intense battles in gaza, as israel expands operations in the south. the palestinian news agency says dozens of civilians were killed in air strikes sunday across gaza, including in the southern city and in the jabalya refugee

camp in the north. we want to warn you, the next video shows images that are disturbing. medical sources say those arriving for treatment are having to lay on the floor because there's no beds or medical supplies available. the palestinian crossing authority says 100 aid trucks arrived in gaza from egypt. that's consistent with the allowed average of the last week. it's less than a quarter of the aid that was going into gaza before the war. that's according to the u.n. the world health organization says the lack of basic supplies is allowing diseases to spread and warn that gaza health care system is, quote, on its knees and collapsing. >> as more and more people move

to a smaller an smaller area, overcrowding, combined with the lack of adequate food, water, shelter and sanitation are creating the ideal conditions for disease to spread. the capacity of the health system has been reduce d to one part of what it was. >> clare sebastian is joining us live from london. good morning, clare. what is the latest on the fighting across gaza, the loss of civilians and the dire humanitarian situation right now? >> yeah, rosemary, this phase of fighting here in, the second week after the week-long truce, shows no sign of winding down. the key focus in the north is the jabalya refugee camp. 45 civilians were killed in an

attack on a house on sunday. another nine in a square. israel says the social security adviser says they are closing in on a command and control center. the idf this morning saying they have uncovered stores of weapons, including ak-47 rivals. the u.n. relief works agency, in a civilian residence, a launch sight, they say containing 50 projectiles. they made it clear that the key focus is to root out hamas infrastructure and officials however they can. they are claiming they have killed some 7,000 hamas militants over an overall death toll we're getting from the palestinian ministry approaching 18,000. so, that is up in the north. separately, we're seeing very intense fighting in the south. that is an area where there was an urgent appeal by israel,

civilians to evacuate on saturday. they published a map. it shows very specific areas that civilians were told to evacuate from. you can see them highlighted in orange. they were told to evacuate to shelters in the west without being specific about where. this is something that the international community is watching very closely. this tactic to see if there's a sign that israel has somehow changed its tactics and is doing more to protect civilians now that it's operating in the south, where many civilians from the north have evacuated to. this is something that secretary blinken spoke about on sunday, choosing his words carefully, but saying that israel is not doing enough. >> i think the intent is there, but the results are not always manifesting themselves. we see that in terms of

protection and humanitarian assistance. as israel has taken steps to designate safe areas in the south, to focus on neighborhoods, not entire cities in terms of evacuating them. >> he said he wants to see more pauses in fighting for civilians to get out. more than one route out, which is something they are not currently seeing. the u.n. coordinator went one step further saying, designated the patches of land, where there's no infrastructure, food, health care or hygiene as safe zones, she really questioned the validity of that. as for what comes next, secretary blinken said, once the military operation is over, this is not over. there has to be discussions on a durable, lasting peace, that should include a palestinian state. we don't see any sign of this operation winding down. the prime minister saying on

sunday, he says there is less willingness on both sides than before the truce. rosemary? >> clare sebastian, joining us live from london. many thanks. still to come -- a show of support for harvard university's president, as she faces pressure to step down after her testimony to congress on anti-semitism on campus.

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(♪♪) (♪♪) the new festive family meal. starting at $24. now celebrating at el pollo loco. welcome back, everyone. at least 600 members of harvard university faculty signed a petition, urging officials to resist calls for the removal of college president claudine guy. she was among three university leaders who failed to say unequivocally that calling for genocide against jews would violate the school's code of conduct. the harvard petition urges

individuals to defend the independence of the university and resist political pressures. meantime, the university of pennsylvania has apointed new leadership, after its former president, liz magill, resigned on saturday, after her testimony before congress. the chairman of the school's board of trustees also resigned. julie platt the board's interim chair, said the change of leadership was necessary and appropriate. cnn's paula sandoval reports. >> reporter: the university of pennsylvania will begin final exa exams this week, after new leadership controversy resulted in the resignation of two officials. among them, liz magill, the former university president. she along with the heads of harvard and m.i.t. have been criticized since last week, for failing to recognize that calling for jewish genocide is a

direct violation of the university code of conduct. here on campus, we have seen reaction and heard reaction from one student who was the vice president of the jewish heritage program. who told cnn over the weekend, who said he felt it was a step towards accountability for the university administration. separately, we heard from the governor of pennsylvania that spoke at a local synagogue joining jewish and non-jewish community leaders. strongly condemning violence against all faiths. >> in whatever form, anti-semitism, islamaphobia, racism, homophobia, it has no place here in pennsylvania, in a place founded on the promise of william penn. we will not tolerate it. >> reporter: the governing organizations of harvard continues with scheduled meetings. the president has issued an apology recently. a harvard spokesperson declining

to comment. much more to come here on cnn. we'll go live to beijing for the latest on a string of confrontations between china and the philippines in the south china sea. back with that in a moment.

welcome back, everyone. tensions between the philippines and china are flares once again in the south china sea. both nations are accusing one another of dangerous maneuvers and a collision that happened this weekend in the contested waters. the philippines has summoned the chinese ambassador to complain about what it calls aggressive actions. it is the latest in a string of maritime confrontations between the two countries that have heightened regional tensions. steven jung joins us now with more.

what can you tell us about this latest stint? and what's the reaction to it so far? >> as you said, both governments claiming each other as the culprit of the cause of this over the weekend. the root cause is the long-running dispute. china claims sovereignty of almost the entirety of the south china sea. there are strategic reasons why we're hearing more of these dramatic encounters. the philippine presidency has been publicizing these incidents, trying to draw more global attention and more support for the philippines because they do have the sense of urgency. what manila did, was run ashore a world war ii vessel to stake

its claim. over the last 20 years, for the most part, they've been able to use that ship as a military outpost, rotating and resupplying it with ships. that's changed since xi jingping took power with the chinese military more assertive and more aggressive. that ship being so old, the filipino ship is rusting away. the philippines need to repair it urgely to shore up its claim. that's why we've seen reports emerging that the u.s. is advising manila on that front. that's why strategically, president marcos has been d deepening and expanding cooperation with the u.s., by allowing more access to filipino bases by military of the u.s. and also, restarting joint sea and air patrols and stopping in hawaii to visit the command. that's why beijing sees the

philippines doing the u.s. bidding to stir trouble in the region. to contain china's rise and challenge the beijing supremacy. that's why the u.s. is seen as part of the saga, despite the recent thaw in u.s./china ties. that's why a lot of cwarring terms if the latest incidents not boding well for where the situation may be headed. rosemary? >> and the united states has urged china to abide by a 2016 arbitration ruling over the disputed waters. clearly, china is not doing that. what is china's goal here? >> china does not recognize the legitimacy of that tribunal. they will ignore the ruling handed down by that court. the ware is that china could wait for the filipino ship to be washed away by waters, to see the reef and militaryize it, as

they have done so so many other reefs in the south china sea. that's something the philippines and the u.s. don't want to see happen. thank you for joining us. i'm rosemary church. for our international viewers, "world sport" is up next. for our viewers in the united states and canada, more cnn newsroom in a moment.

a warm welcome back to our viewers in north america .

i'm rosemary church. >> -- baker today in "the new york times." he said that i want to be a dictator. i didn't say that. i said i want to be a dictator for one day. but "the new york times" said -- and you know why i wanted to be a dictator? i want a wall. right? i want a wall. and i want to drill, drill, drill. >> donald trump, doubling down on his dictator comments that are causing concerns in some circles. but the former president's staunchest supporters don't pay those remarks too much attention. focusing on matters discussed around the dinner table and making ends meet as the halladays approach. ell reeve takes us to one deep state in indiana to gauge the mood there. ♪ >> reporter: this is the annual

redneck christmas parade. >> it's not your typical christmas parade. we have a motorized lazy boy. >> it's hilarious. it's always a good laugh. this part of our town, i don't think there's many rules. pretty much anything goes. >> reporter: we hind the jokes, there's a tough reality. the parade serves as a toy drive. >> i was a child less fortunate growing up. i had the red neck parade, the fire department, give me and my brothers christmas gifts. this is my way of returning the love. >> reporter: these ladies run the nonprofit that gives food to the needy. is there a lot of need? >> my lord, yes. there's a need for clothes, food, housing. there's many homeless in this area.

>> a lot of abandoned homes and trailers they are living in. >> and in the woods. they weren't managing to survive until everything got so exp expe expensive. they couldn't afford the apartments they had or the houses. >> interest rates skyrocketing. fuel skyrocketing. milk, $5 a gallon. >> reporter: do you have any thoughts about the upcoming presidential election? >> we hope trump gets back in there. maybe he can straighten it out. >> reporter: why do you think he would straighten it out? >> it wasn't in this turmoil when he left. all this managed to happen in the last three years. >> i think we're going downhill. a parent like me, that's a single mom. feels like you keep getting mutt in a hole. >> reporter: biden's campaign saying the economy has gotten

better since he's been in office. while by some metrics is higher, wages are higher, inflation is falling, public opinion shows that people think it's bad. >> there's some punditry, that says, inflation was bad. now it's lower. unemployment is lower. what do you say to those people? >> i say that's a big, fat lie. >> reporter: why? give me details. >> look at our pocketbooks. what little people may have been able to save, from the stimuluses we got, it's gone. people are living off credit now, if they have that. i don't know how these families that come to this redneck parade, this community even can buy groceries. you got to either choose to buy gas or do i buy groceries or do i pay my electric bill? >> reporter: louisiana is a deep red state. and neither presidential campaign will spend much money

to win over voters here. there were a few trump flags at the parade. but support for the president had a different feel. >> no comment. >> reporter: many didn't want to comment on politics. but those that did focused on the economy. >> economy. economy. economy is horrible. we're ready for trump to -- can i say that? >> reporter: totally. >> we're ready for trump to get back in. can't wait. we're counting on it. i think he cares. i may be wrong. but i think he does. we know, you know, a lot of things he does -- but for the most part, when he was in office, even with everything going on, he accomplished a lot. >> reporter: do you think that biden doesn't care about people down here? >> i don't think he has a clue. >> reporter: you've probably seen a lot running a convenience store? >> oh, yeah. got problems with the drugs and the meth and the fentanyl. that's here.

that's prevailant. i blame biden for that, too. >> reporter: who do you think you will vote for in the 2024 election? >> trump. >> reporter: why? >> he's the only president in my knowledge who has given back to the people and helps the people. if he's in jail, i would vote for him. in tennessee, at least six people are dead and dozens others injured after multiple tornadoes and strong thunderstorms tore through the state over the weekend. cnn's rafael romer has more on the recovery efforts. >> what we are able to see is the devastation caused by the 13 tornadoes in the tennessee office of emergency management. said that's how many tornadoes were spotted here on saturday. in this particular neighborhood, here in madison and the north side of nashville, many homes

are a total loss. there are downed power lines and trees. total devastation here. 22 structures have collapsed. governor bill lee has declared a state of emergency. i was talking to a gentleman on this block. him and his wife were watching tv when they realized their area was in the danger zone. they ran to the kitchen. a decision that ultimately he says, saved their lives. take a listen. >> what i remember is, we got in our safe place. the next thing i know, all you hear is stuff started flying and glass was breaking. it seemed like it lasted forever. but it was probably 30 seconds. >> restoring power is a huge challenge.

according to officials, tens of thousands of people are without power. and it's not a matter of hours but days when they can turn the power back on. >> we expect some of this to be prolonged. and we'll know more as crews assess the damage. >> reporter: the damage to the power grid is so extensive, that two are operating on generator power. >> that same storm is currently impacting northeast u.s. with heavy rain, high winds and snow. parts of connecticut, rhode island and massachusetts are expected to get the heaviest rainfall. and over 40 million people are under flood watches from eastern maryland, delaware, parts of maine, philadelphia and new york city. winter storm alerts are also forecast across parts of the

appalachian mountains and the northeast, through monday evening, likely accompanied by snowfall. the children of an iranian activist accepted the nobel peace prize on her behalf. she was awarded the prize in october for her decades of human rights activism, for which she has been sentenced for a total of 31 years in prison in dtehra. at sunday's award ceremony, her children delivered a lecture written by her from her prison cell. >> translator: i am confident that the light to freedom and justice will shine brightly on the land of iran. at that moment, we will celebrate the victory of democracy and human rights over tyranny and authoritarianism. and the anthem of the streets of iran will resonate worldwide. >> in her lecture, she

highlighted how young people in iran have been a catalyst for civil resistance. adding the iranian people would dismental destruction and desperatism through persistence. have no doubts, this is certain. bronny james, the son of nba star lebron james, has made his long awaited college basketball debut, months after a major health scare. james scored four points in 16 minutes of play for his team, the university of southern california on sunday. the freshman suffered a cardiac arrest during a practice in july. he was diagnosed with a congenital heart deflect. last month, his doctors cleared him to return to basketball. his team lost on sunday. but lebron james was there to see his son's big moment. dozens of swim set-clad people in santa hats, all for a

good cause, of the 20th budapest speedo run shouted ho, ho ho, as they ran through the city. they appeared to enjoy themselves despite the cold. >> translator: we love it. we are having a great time. we support a good cause. what more can one want? we don't need anymore. >> translator: at last we don't feel hot. we had enough heat. i have been running for 19 years. at first, we were just 11. now, we have a good crowd, a good mood. and it's a good feeling to help. >> organizers of the run donate their participation fees. this year, the donations will benefit the tiny ray of hope charity, which supports families raising severely premature babies with disabilities. we want to thank you for joining us this hour. i'm rosemary church. we'll be back with more cnn newsroom in a moment. stay with us.

hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the united states and all around the world. you're watching cnn newsroom.