of those negative temperatures. meanwhile, drivers of electric vehicles are also facing challenges, because it is so cold, their batteries aren't holding charge. they're dying at a rapid pace. ana? >> that is an unexpected consequence, i suppose. adrienne broaddus, go get warm, thank you very much for giving us the update. that does it for us here today. thank you for being with us. i'll see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place. for now, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. and good morning. it is 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart at our nbc news headquarters in new york. at this hour, former president donald trump is back in a new york city courtroom as e. jean carroll takes the stand in her defamation damages trial against him. it comes as new polling reveals trump has a 16-point lead in the republican primary in new hampshire, less than a week away. in washington, we're just hours away from a critical meeting at

the white house between president biden and the top four congressional leaders as negotiators struggle to come to a deal on border policy and aid for ukraine. meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis at the border now overwhelming first responders. we'll talk to the fire chief and eagle pass, texas, who says his rescuers are, quote, tired of seeing dead people. and we'll speak with former el paso congressman beto o'rourke, who criticizes both sides for failing to act. and we begin this hour in a federal courtroom, right here in new york city, where former president donald trump is listening to writer e. jean carroll testify against him. this is happening in damages portion of the second defamation case she has brought against him. with us to start off our coverage this hour, nbc news correspondent garrett haake, manchester, new hampshire, nbc news rehema ellis, and jessica roth, former federal prosecutor in new york, who is now a professor at cardoza law school. rehema, what is happening inside

the courtroom at this hour? >> at this hour, jose, e. jean carroll, the writer, is testifying and it is expected she'll be on the witness stand for most of the morning. they say at least two hours. and then after that she'll be cross-examined by the defense team, by donald trump's team of lawyers. it has been a bit contentious from the start of this -- her testimony, both e. jean carroll is testifying, donald trump is also in the courtroom today. and it is a bit testy from the start. his attorney had asked for the judge once again asking for the judge to give them some lenience because she said alina habba said e. jean carroll doesn't have a death in her family. the former president's mother-in-law died, her funeral is on thursday, she said the former president should be given an opportunity to not have to be here. the judge told her that, this is before the jury came in, the judge said basically, he's already ruled on that, he says

your client does not have to be here as long as he is represented by counsel, and he told her to sit down. and at that point, the president's -- the former president's attorney said, i don't like to be spoken to that way. and once again, he told her, your request is denied and i want you to sit down. it went on like that when the jury was brought in and e. jean carroll started talking about her life, she's 80 years old, spent 50 years building a reputation which she said was shattered after the comments were made by former president trump from the white house. she said that her career as a writer began to plummet. she said she had been working for such magazines as "rolling stone" and "new york," "glamour magazine," "vanity fair," a writer on "saturday night live" and it all changed. and it is expected that it is going to go on like that for the day. one thing that did happen in reference to how the judge was

referring to the attorney for former president trump, when e. jean carroll started testifying about what had happened to her, and she mentioned that things started changing after the assault, donald trump's attorney objected and the judge said, sustained, and that's in reference to the fact that the judge said very clearly that they are not going to discuss and litigate what has already been litigated. and that is the terms of the sexual assault. that has already been determined. and he's not going back over that territory. jose? >> so, jessica, what is the impact of e. jean carroll's testimony today? it seems as though the judge is very clear that it is a limited scope. what is the impact today? >> so, this case, because it is so limited in its scope to damages, means that e. jean carroll needs to be presenting to the jury what the harm was to her, to her reputation, of the president -- former president's

statements essentially denying that the sexual assault occurred and essentially denigrating her character and characterizing her as a liar who is out to promote herself. she needs to persuade the jury she has been harmed by his statements. they're being asked to return a verdict solely about damages, to compensate her for those harms to her reputation and to punish the former president. she's seeking punitive damages to punish him for going on and on when reckless disregard for the falsity of his statements and also to figure out how to stop him. that's one of the points of punitive damages, not just to punish somebody for what they have done in the past, but to deter them from going on and doing it in -- >> so that objection that was sustained when she was, i guess, broadening the discussion of what had happened to her, it has to be a fine line, how do you describe the damage that was done to you, if not including the initial damage that was

monstrous? >> yes, and i imagine that might be a bit confusing for the jury, right? essentially what is happening is they are not hearing evidence about the assault itself. as i understand the judge's rulings. they are hearing only about the impact of the defamatory statements. judge already ruled the statements are defamatory. it is hard to entirely separate those two matters. but if i understand the judge's sustaining the objection today, it was in order to make sure that the trial does not veer into relitigating the sexual assault and whether it occurred, which has already been decided, but solely focusing on the impact of the former president's statements denying it. >> interesting. so, garrett, donald trump was in court for jury selection in the e. jean carroll trial yesterday. he then flew to new hampshire for a rally last night. he flew back to new york to listen to testimony today. he's flying back tonight for a rally. what is his political strategy here? >> well, jose, as rehema pointed

out, donald trump does not have to be this that courtroom. he's choosing to be in the courtroom. there is two reasons for that. one is personal, wanted to be involved in some case, in some measure in this case. i think the other is a political acknowledgement here he's basically doing what he needs to do in new hampshire nevertheless. a large rally last night in atkinson. another large rally planned tonight for portsmouth, new hampshire. he has as many events planned today as does nicky hail why, who is 16 points behind him and trying to play catch-up. he's not losing any ground by not being in the state. the other part is nobody has used sort of victimhood as much a part of their political purr sonia as does donald trump. throughout his political career. he has on the stump and in talking with supporters long made the case that all of his legal challenges, including this case, are results he believes of election interference, of joe biden or democratic prosecutors, biased judges, you name it, targeting him, trying to

essentially weaken his position on the ballot. so, from a messaging standpoint, whether he's there or here, and he's making this argument to supporters who do believe it, that works for him on a political level just as well as being here talking about the local issue du jour in new hampshire. >> we learned whether the judge is going to allow trump to testify in this case? >> absolutely. he is on the witness list. and he had asked for this case fural.is mother-in-law's e could the judge denied that. and said that, again, you have counsel re, but he him yesterday that you would be allowed to testify on monday of next week if he chooses to. so, yes, the former president is being allowed to testify, jose. >> so jessica, yesterday on the first day, trump posted dozens of times on truth social going after the judge, e. jean carroll, can that have any impact on the proceedings going on here in the courtroom?

>> well, it can in the sense that because the jury is being asked to decide whether punitive damages should be awarded and if so how much, the fact that he continues to make statements denying that the sexual assault occurred and really attacking miss carol's character, calling her a liar, these are ongoing statements that ar according to the jury's verdict in the first place that could go into the amount of the damages award if the jury is persuaded, if they hear about these ongoing posts, that he just has not been deterred thus far by the previous award, and that more is necessary to send a message to him to get him where it hurts and his finances, to stop engaging in this behavior. >> and meanwhile, what did the d.c. circuit court of appeals decide with allowing jack smith to access trump's twitter account? >> this is an interesting opinion that was really just a statement from the court, which is unusual in and of itself. you don't usually get a statement by judges not in the form of a opinion or concurrence, a statement we saw

recently from some members of the d.c. court of appeals, basically saying that it was wrong in the first instance, for the district court to allow the special counsel access to the former president's then twitter direct messages without the former president having the opportunity to raise claims of executive privilege. now, what is interesting is that the former president did not assert executive privilege when he learned about the fact that the special counsel had been given access to this material. and for that reason, the judges said in this statement that they issued that it was not proper for the d.c. circuit to hear the case to review what the smaller panel had done affirming the district court. but what is interesting about this statement, in and of itself, that it is this kind of statement, which is unusual, but the content was really just to assert the judge's interest in preserving claims of executive privilege. and expressing a concern that there may be future instances in which prosecutors seek information of a sitting

president or former president over which they might assert claims of executive privilege and the courts need to be careful to make sure that they don't just grant access without taking those claims and those concerns seriously. >> garrett haake, rehema ellis, jessica roth, thank you for being with us this morning. up next, how the biden team is reacting to what is happening on the trail with republicans. plus, kate, the wales after undergoing surgery and is expected to be there for ten days. what wenow ahead. we're back in 60 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. os you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. [trumpet music plays] 579 breaths to show 'em your stuff. every breath matters. don't let rsv take your breath away. protect yourself from rsv... ...with abrysvo, pfizer's rsv vaccine. abrysvo is a vaccine for the prevention of lower respiratory disease from rsv

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donald trump declined to participate. a new new hampshire poll shows former president donald trump with 50% ofhe vote. nii haley with 34%. ron desantis with 5%. just a reminder, new hampshire is very hard state to poll because it is unclear how many independents who participate in the gop primary. nbc news talked with new hampshire voters who say the results of the iowa caucus have zero bearing on their decision next tuesday. >> does the iowa caucus impact how you're going to be voting here? >> no. >> no. why not? >> i'm independent. i'm going to vote for who i want to vote for. >> that happened in iowa last night, with the iowa caucuses, does that impact your decision here at all? >> no. >> not at all? >> does the iowa caucus influence your decision at all? >> no. no. we're independent here in new hampshire. haven't you heard that? >> joining us now, dasha burns in new hampshire and peter baker, "new york times" chief

white house correspondent and msnbc political analyst. so, dasha, i see you're in an automobile. the new poll we just mentioned shows florida governor ron desantis with 5% of the vote in new hampshire. what does this tell us about desantis' strategy in that state? >> well, look, jose, this is not his state. he's known that, his team has known that, we have all known that. this is a state that is friendlier territory for nikki haley given what you laid out there, this is a state known for independent voters, more moderate voters and potentially democrats who might decide to participe in the primary because of the way the rulesre structured here. still, though, he is out here on the trail today, we're driving to one of his events. he's making the case for himself here in new hampshire. he's got two events today. he was hoping to have that debate with nikki haley. he's out there saying that, you know, she's scared to get on the debate stage with him saying the same thing about former president trump. and watching him at the town hall last night, it is interesting to see the evolution

of this candidate who has started to hit his stride in sort of this final stretch here. it might be too little, too late, but he has been making an appeal in a way we haven't heard for much of his candidacy, where, you know, he was really trying to tack pretty far to the right of former president trump, with his battle with disney, his focus on wokeism. in recent weeks, he has not been bringing any of that stuff up. he's been focusing on the issues, on policy, where really that is something that he does well on when he's asked by voters. and starting to humanize himself a little bit. last time we heard anecdotes about his time playing baseball as a kid, stories about him and his son. but, again, the question is this coming too little, too late. i'll tell you from my conversations with desantis, campaign folks behind the scenes, they are really holding out hope, making it through new hampshire and getting to south carolina because they believe that is where nikki haley hits a

wall. they believe that she will not win her home state, which by all accounts she is very far behind donald trump in that state. and they think it is really hard to continue when you don't win your home state. thankfully for desantis, florida is way down the line. he also is not doing so well compared to the former president there. but he has that timeline in his favor and they're hoping that that will give him an advantage into making this a two-man race, once they hit south carolina. >> dasha, just because i'm always amazed at technology and how you're able to just give us the report from, you know, traveling down the highway, where exactly are you heading? >> where are we heading? my producer here is in charge of our travels. >> heading to hampton. >> to a restaurant called wally's. abbie is getting us there very safely. this little behind the scenes to

show you, it is not all glitz and glam on the road. i have my little makeup bag i have, i've been sticking my phone in there to make sure that you're all able to see us. this is life on the road for the traveling press here. >> i am so thrilled that you show us a slice of it. dasha burns, thank you so very much. so, peter, let's talk about how the biden team is viewing what is happening on the republican side so far. >> yeah, look, they're not surprised to see donald trump get a land slide victory in iowa. they assume he'll probably win the nomination once he dispenses with haley and desantis. and that's not necessarily a bad thing from their point of view. at least in a tactical sense, in a sense they believe that trump is the easiest of these candidates to beat because he's the one who has so much baggage, that the joe biden came to office specifically as the

counter to trumpism and to somebody willing to use -- instigate violence to overturn democracy and so forth. they got their critique of donald trump down pretty pat. and they think that polls suggest, of course, that trump is the most vulnerable in a general election context. if you look at the cbs news poll from sunday, it says that nikki haley has an eight-point lead over biden, hypothetical general election contest compared to trump who is at two points within the margin of error. having said that, they don't want trump to be the nomination either. they consider him to be an existential threat. they believe if he has any chance of winning in the fall, it is obviously dangerous to the country in their view, dangerous to democracy, and while nikki haley, they have a lot of criticism of, they don't see her in the same context. so they're looking at, you know, this push and pull between who is the easier candidate to beat and who is better forhe country if they won. and, of course, they have no say in this one way or the other, sitting on the sideline.

they're looking ahead. and they're going to be facing donald trump and getting ready for that, what they have in the back of their minds what they have to do if it does turn out to be somebody else like nikki haley. >> trump is going back to one of his main methods of attack, trying to minimize an opponent this time, making fun of nikki haley's birth name. when he gets that, i don't know, dirty what is the strategy behind that, peter? >> well, you know, it appeals to his crowd or he thinks it does. the base seems to react with cheers rather than jeers when he plays the insult politics card. it worked for him before. he's going to try it again. he does try to demean people as you say, he tries to diminish their stature by mocking them, by giving nicknames, by criticizing their appearance. susan glasser has a book called "the divider," trump thought

about whether to make nikki haley a vice presidential candidate and he said he wouldn't do it because he didn't like her complexion, she had some sort of blemishes on her skin. he is a very visual oriented guy, somebody who makes judgments based on appearances. for him, you know, he definitely judges the book by its cover. >> peter baker, thank you so very much. good to see you. up next, following breaking news about the royal family. why princess kate is in the hospital. plus, heart breaking report from our own richard engel, how children in gaza are struggling to keep themselves alive. >> what we're living is horrible and we're having to live like animals. and we're having to live like animals. like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis, help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley.

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24 past the hour. breaking news this morning about the british royal family. kensington palace is sharing that princess kate was admitted to the hospital yesterday. nbc's meagan fitzgerald joins us from london. what do we know? >> reporter: jose, good to be with you. look, just within the last couple of hours we're learning some significant information about the health of both the princess of wales, along with king charles. i'll start with the princess of wales who is recovering from abdominal surgery behind me here. according to kensington palace, this was a planned abdominal surgery that took place yesterday. it was successful. it was not cancerous. she will continue the rest of

her recovery at home and according to the statement that we just heard from, basically they're saying that doctors are ordering her to try and stay out of any of the public duties that she has until after easter. so we're talking between two to three months that we will likely not see her and just for context here, we have not seen the princess of wales since christmas. so, the circumstances around this surgery are still unknown. but then, of course, just from the last hour, we're learning that king charles will be going to the hospital for a procedure next week for an enlarged prostate. now, they tell us that his condition is benign, and they're very clear to say that king charles is very intentional about releasing this information because he wants men all across the world to know that if you're feeling some symptoms, it is important to get it checked. he wants to be a role model here. but, you know, jose, i have to say, this is not in lockstep with what we typically see from the palace. we don't usually see this level of personal detail released to

the public. royal experts suspect that it is because of lessons learned from the past, the importance of putting out accurate information, the narrative you want out there to try and steer away any speculation or fueling any rumors. and that is likely what would have happened because we know that we will not be seeing kate middleton, someone who is so prominent in the public eye, for several months now, and we do not know exactly when we will see king charles return, but they say that recovery period is only expected to be a short time according to the palace. >> meagan fitzgerald in london for us, thank you. now back to the u.s., this afternoon, president biden is set to meet with top congressional leaders at the white house to discuss the fate of stalled immigrati and foreign aid deals. while a potential border agreement in the senate is coming to, house speaker mike johnson is receiving pushback from his right. the house would be ly to approve what comes out of the upper chamber.

looming over all of this, the partial government shutdown coming this saturday. last hour, house republicans gave a preview for their meeting with the president. >> i'm going to tell the president, what i'm telling all of you, we told the american people, border, border, border. we have to take care of our own house. we have to secure our own border before we talk with doing anything else. >> joining us now, gabe gutierrez and ryan nobles on capitol hill. it has taken time for house leaders to come together, to meet with the president on this. what are the expectations for this meeting? >> reporter: well, they shouldn't be very high, jose, to be honest with you. normally when you get to this stage of a negotiation, and when all the leaders were called into one room, particularly the oval office, you expect it would be to just dot the is and cross the ts and announce a grand bargain. that's not where we are in these negotiations. the senate leaders continue to go back and forth over border policy proposals that will be enough to get at least ten

republicans and enough democrats to support it to get it out of the senate. the real issue has been on the house side, where conservatives have been insistent their border policy package, hr-2, a long list of policy proposals that many democrats are very much opposed to and will never pass the senate is either -- that's going to be what they agree to or nothing at all. i pressed speaker john on that this morning. and this is what he said. >> i don't think now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform because we know how complicated that is. you can't do that quickly. i do think it is past time to secure the border. that's what hr-2 reflects. >> so, he wouldn't say definitively that it is either hr-2 or nothing. what he said is the house is going to insist on the elements of hr-2 as part of these negotiations. they don't know exactly what is coming out of the senate right now, but it does appear to fall short of that. it seems as though they got a long way to go and perhaps

today's meeting will not be enough to get to this to a point where we feel something could actually pass. >> gabe, can you hear me? >> hey there, jose. >> how are you? >> yes, so, from the white house perspective, sorry, i could not hear your question, but what the white house is focusing on is they say this meeting will be focused on ukraine aid. as you heard there, as ryan was reporting, house speaker mike johnson seems extremely focused on the border. this is something that the white house has been chastising republicans now for the past several months. the white house insists that it is putting forward the supplemental package more than $100 billion for ukraine for israel and for border enforcement, and that includes more than $14 billion for border enforcement to hire more border patrol agents. the white house has been increasingly frustrated that what they feel is that house

republicans are holding this hostage. so, again, not a lot of movement as ryan just said, expect that later today, but this is significant, jose, this will be the first time, and, look, house speaker mike johnson and president biden spoke by phone last week, but this will be the first face to face meeting between the president and the house speaker since late october, jose. >> gabe, we also on the other story have the 911 call from when defense secretary lloyd austin was hospitalized earlier this month. >> that's right. we're just getting that, nbc news obtaining that 911 call through a freedom of information act and it sheds new light on the hospitalization on new year's day, it happened just after 7:00 p.m., and in this 911 call, you hear an aide for secretary austin called 911, this is part of that 911 call. >> can i ask, can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? we're trying remain a little

subtle. >> yeah, i understand. yeah. usually when they turn into a residential neighborhood, they'll turn them off, but they're required by law to run with them on the main streets. >> so, that 911 call reveals at least one aide to secretary austin did want to keep that hospitalization as quiet as possible. of course, secretary austin left the hospital on monday. he is now working from home. the president says he has full confidence in him, although he did acknowledge it was a lapse in judgment. meanwhile, the pentagon's inspector general will be reviewing all of this. >> gabe gutierrez and ryan nobles, thank you both so very much. up next, new details about the horrors of the humanitarian crisis at the border. plus, former texas congressman beto o'rourke will be with us. what he wants to see from both sides of the aisle to end this crisis. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ', your eye symptoms could mean something more. that gritty feeling can't be brushed away.

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36 past the hour. at the southern border, the humanitarian crisis is growing every day, more dire, and every day more deadly. this weekend, a young woman and her two children drowned while trying to cross the rio grande near eagle pass, texas, which some lawmakers were calling the epicenter of the crisis. the eagle pass fire department says it recorded 43 migrant drownings the last year, up from 8 to 12 a year, they were seeing before 2020. joining us now is the chief of the eagle pass fire department,

manuel melo. thank you for your time. your team is one of the first responders to any crisis. what kind of calls have you been seeing? >> it ranges from minor calls to major calls. the example, you get people with cuts and bruises, hypothermia, you get females that are pregnant crossing the river. within minutes going into labor on the side of the river. we have one call where we had this person comes over, he's got a broken femur, he crossed the river with a broken femur. that is incredible. and so much pain. >> yeah. what has the last year been like for you all there? >> it has been tough. we had several ems calls to the river's edge.

it has been hectic. the ems personnel, they're tired of it. one of my hard working guys that go out with the swift water team, they mentioned one day that they were tired of seeing dead bodies. that really hits home and it really hurts me to hear these guys say that. >> and what kind of an impact has it had on your infrastructure, on the city? i know you all have a number of ambulances, what kind of impact has that had? >> it has a big impact. the cost itself, the maintenance of the vehicles. right now, we have two trucks out at the city shop, getting repaired, due to the wear and tear of the vehicles. over time, i think we, in six months we carried about $375,000

worth of pay for that fifth ambulance. >> these are men, women, and children. what are the things that stick out to you that will forever be engrained in you from what you all have seen, just in this last year? >> just in this last year, the injuries, the drownings, the children that have drowned, that's what actually stays in your mind most of the time. >> chief, thank you so much for being with us. i very much appreciate your time, sir. >> thank you. and with us now to continue our conference, former texas congressman beto o'rourke. congressman, always a pleasure to see you. just i know you're an el paso guy, you're someone who is so committed and so sensitive to the reality of what is happening in large parts of the border. just thinking, what do you hear, and what do you see, and what do you think when you hear what the

chief was talking about? little babies drowning and people with broken feelers who still cross that river. >> we're just seeing a tragic absence of leadership on the part of congress, on the part of our governor, who has politicized this situation and contributed to the tragic deaths that we are learning about. and the failure, frankly of presidential administrations going back as long as i can remember, who have failed to make this a priority. and the result of that is in that vacuum you have the chief and his department and the taxpayers of eagle pass having to front hundreds of thousands of dollars to address a crisis that is not of their making. in that vacuum, you have governor greg abbott taking control of a federal responsibility preventing border patrol agents from potentially rescuing some of these people, who have drowned in that river, including the two children and that young mother.

right now, today, in fact, the president is going to meet with congressional leaders from both parties, from both chambers. he has an opportunity. i want all of us to help them make the most of that, to exert the kind of leadership that we have been missing right now. let's make sure there are safe legal orderly pathways for people to come here that ensure that we can secure our border and also guarantee the safety of migrants who want to come here and legitimately contribute to this country. let's speed up the asylum process, so those who don't belong here are sent back to the country from which they came, those who belong here can legally and orderly and safely stay here. make sure there are more opportunities for economic migrants to work, work authorizations from the president, hopefully working with congress to do that will help. but, jose, the deal on the table today from senate republicans is a reversion to trump-era policies that contributed to the crisis we're seeing right now. the president must reject that and work toward something much better. >> we just heard a little while

ago, i don't know if you got a chance with garrett haake, the speaker of the house saying now is not the time to even talk about immigration reform or comprehensive immigration reform. my question would be well, when is a good time to talk about comprehensive immigration reform and when is a good time to actually deal with things that, as you so eloquently remind us, it is costing the life of men, women and children who are making incredible sacrifices just for the opportunity to request asylum. what is it, congressman, that needs to be done, that isn't being done? >> well, you're absolutely right about the republicans. representative troy nelles of texas said he's not willing to work with president biden because he doesn't want to give him a success in election year, even if it means securing the border and addressing this crisis that we see. speaker mike johnson has said essentially the same. so i think the president has an opportunity right now, if congress will not work with him,

to use his executive powers to improve that asylum process, to make sure we're dealing with any fraud within it, to ensure there are more work authorizations for those who want to contribute to the economic success of this country, and pay their own way while they're here, to use that parole authority judiciously as he did with haitians and nicaraguans and saw their apprehension numbers drop by 92%. so there is a way that he can control this chaos, and then it is important for all of us to support him in his re-election because a second term, if he chooses to make this his number one priority, could mean comprehensive immigration reform for the first time since ronald reagan was a president of the united states. so, it is a tall order, but this is a big crisis and i think we need to focus on it and see it through. >> do you think do you have any optimism that the president could indeed put that as a top priority anytime? >> i do. and, frankly, i think if he does

what i just described right now, not only will it help to alleviate the crisis we're seeing, i think it will improve his political prospects in november of this year. if he takes the republican deal that is on the table it will only worsen this crisis. you'll have more unauthorized apprehensions, you'll have more chaos and disorder on the border. that's what donald trump, that's exactly what greg abbott wants, that's why republicans are doing what they are doing right now. it is part of the constitutional crisis that greg abbott is provoking, in part to damage and harm the president's political prospects. i hope he doesn't walk into the trap that republicans are laying for him right now. let's support him in doing the right thing. >> former texas congressman beto o'rourke, a pleasure to see you. thank you for your time. up next, the children of gaza, they're suffering. we have an inside look into how they're struggling just to stay alive after losing their parents.

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repeated attacks on ship, white house security adviser jake sul sullivan said, these attacks fit the textbook definition of terrorism. they have endangered u.s. personnel, civilian mariners and our partners and threaten freedom navigation. in the october 7 terror attacks in a deal brokered by france and qatar, medicine will be delivered to israeli hostages and for every box of medicine, thousands will be to them. >> richard engel has the report on the children of gaza. >> reporter: to the 1 million children of gaza life has become unbearable, mohammed is 13 years old and now has more

responsibilities than he ever imagined with his mother killed in an israeli air strike, and his dad presumed missing, mohammed is taking care of his seven brothers and sisters. israel ordered them to come to gaza for their own safety as israeli troops battle hamas. a file of blankets and clothing is all mohammed has left. i want this war to end and to be back in school with my friends he says. instead, every morning, mohammed collects firewood and has learned to cook for his siblings. with no money at all, neighbors sometimes give him handouts but it's not nearly enough, so he joins the scramble at the food lines. children can wait up to eight hours for a single pot of soup. mohammed's youngest sister is still a newborn but he can't get her to drink the formula the shop keeper gave him. he tries to sing like his mother

did but doesn't know how to soothe the baby. also in raf fay, nadine and jude abdell. >> and treated like animals. and we should live like human beings. >> reporter: medically vulnerable children have been pushed over the edge. in october, we visited a home for disabled children in gaza city. and saw this child blind and with debilitaing needs. he and others have been displaced to rafah, now living in a garage. he's become very stiff without the medicine he needs to relax his uncontrollable muscle contractions. >> i don't want the future to live like this. i want it to be changed. >> richard engel thank you for that. up next, it could have been

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it's not just possible, it's happening. 57 past the hour this morning, growing fallout from aalaska airlines panel that blew out after taking off, four more passengers are suing the airlines and boeing which manufactured the 737 max 9 plane. cnbc dominic chu is with us this morning. dom, good morning. what is the latest here? >> so, jose, this is the first lawsuit that actually targets boeing and alaska airlines with the four plaintiffs as you just pointed out. there was a suit filed last week with six others and a family member that targeted the aircraft. this particular lawsuit from the four now have basically said from the plaintiff's attorney

that there were not only physical injuries alleged that happened because of this, but also the psychological turmoil, emotional turmoil, that's been caused from this, as well as the expenses tied to the overall, i guess, you know, health and well-being and medical and travel expenses that were incurred because of what happened here. this is important, also, as we kind of progress through this whole process, the faa and federal aviation officials are still trying to ascertain whether or not this boeing 737 max model jet is air worthy. to that point, what we've seen so far, jose, is the initial inspection of 40 aircrafts of that 737 max 9s has now been completed. they're going to analyze the data, the faa will, to determine whether or not it's safe to resume flights for this particular model jet. as things stand right now, a lot of fast-moving developments but the lawsuit the latest in the saga, jose.

>> and federal judges shut down a merger with spirit? >> this goes back to the spring of 2020, jetblue can no longer buy spirit airlines. and the u.s. district court judge that blocked this particular deal said it was because it would eliminate consumer options for those fliers out there who are more accustomed to budget airlines. what the next step is whether or not spirit pursues another merger partner or can be economically viable on its own. so, in this case here, jose, there's a lot of scrutiny fof for faresoverall. dominic chu, thank you. that wraps up the hour, i'm jose diaz-balart. you can watch me at jdbalart. you can watch clips of me on