this is not. but those movements are kept secret for a reason. this time, they tweeted it out to the world because they wanted the region, they wanted u.s. allies to know, this weapon is here, but they principally want u.s. adversaries to know. this is part of that broader message you've heard from president biden, blinken, from those two u.s. carrier groups that are in the eastern med, just near or off from where i'm standing here, and this submarine, which is to say, if other powers, non-state or state actors get involved, the u.s. will respond. >> that's a fascinating development. jim sciutto, thank you. and "cnn this morning" continues right now. good morning, everyone! in just two hours, donald trump will take the witness stand, and he will testify in a manhattan courtroom. the former president and current republican front-runner will be questioned in this civil fraud trial that could cost him hundreds of millions of dollars and bar him from doing business in new york. >> israel's military says it's carrying out, quote, significant strikes on gaza, as it works to

encircle hamas forces. the latest bombardment comes as the heads of 18 aid organizations, including agencies at the u.n. issued a rare joint statement, calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in both israel and gaza. >> president biden falling behind former president trump in key battleground states that he carried in 2020. this is a new poll from "the new york times" and siena college, and biden's campaign is downplaying the survey, but some democratic lawmakers are calling it all, quote, concerning. this hour of "cnn this morning" starts now. this is a minor case that could end up being a big deal if he mis-testifies. if he says something in court that is under oath, that is false, it's going to be a lot of trouble for him, particularly with a judge that is already given him two gag orders. so, you know, i know the guy pretty well. he'll be very subdued.

he'll be polite and respectful in that court. that's my prediction. >> interesting. is that the donald trump we will see on the stand today? anthony scaramucci thinks so. that's what he told us just moments ago about his former boss, donald trump, preparing to take the witness stand. you are looking at live pictures of trump tower. the former president expected to leave there shortly. he'll head downtown to a new york city courthouse, where he is set to testify when his civil fraud trial resumes. his business empire, reputation in the business world at stake. this case strikes at the heart of trump's identity as a real estate tycoon and prosecutors accuse him of exaggerating his wealth by billions of dollars and inflating the value of his properties. >> this all comes as trump faces 91 felony charges and multiple criminal cases, while also being the republican front-runner for the white house in 2024. just a few issues converging here. cnn chief legal affairs correspondent, paula reid is with us live on set. all right, there are a million questions that i have, but i want you to walk us through what's actually happening today, what we're going to see.

>> so today he is being called as a witness for the prosecution in this case. and his job is to convince a judge, there is no jury here, this is a civil trial, that he and his co-defendants did not defraud banks and insurance companies. now, the judge has already found that they are liable for fraud, and this is focused on penalties. there's a possibility that he may not be able to do business in the state of new york going forward. so he has a big task in front of him. it's interesting to hear in your interview with scaramucci that he's confident that he's going to be calm, cool, and collected on the stand, because while we have seen him be that person in depositions, he's done, he's said, over a hundred in his life, he has been on the witness stand before, he's never been on the witness stand as a candidate who's trying to portray himself as a martyr. this is really going to be interesting. we'll see if he's right. >> i was struck by that, too. i really was. >> paula seems conskeptical. >> i am skeptical, because of how we've seen him behave over

the past few weeks. we've seen him violate a gag order twice, he's been attfined twice for attacking the judge's clerk. that's not something most defendants would ever do. it's ill advised. he obviously thinks there's some sort of political advantage here to acting out, acting up. >> what do you think prosecutors -- it's notable that you said he's being called by the prosecution, he's not a defense witness. what will prosecutors ask? >> i think they'll focus on what's at the core of this case, which is the valuation of many of his properties. and this goes to something that could be a little triggering for him. this is very personal. he has built a persona as this billionaire tycoon and they're going to want to talk about valuation for various properties. his doral golf course, 40 wall street, i think one of the most sensitive is going to be the value of his mar-a-lago resort, down in florida. he has taken issue with the fact that the judge found that to be valued around $18 million. one of his lawyers suggested that it would likely be closer to $1 billion and said it was, quote, the mona lisa of real estate. legally speaking, he is likely going to be advised to just

stick to the defense that there was a claus in there, banks should do their own due diligence, and that valuation is more of an art than a science. just stick with the "art" theme. i think that's what lawyers will do. >> but there is the question, this gets to the skepticism that is merited, which is, do you think he can do that? can he stick to the, art, not a science, i'm not going to stick specific numbers on it. his life is numbers. >> he can do it. he's done so many depositions over the course of his very litigious career and we've seen where he can be the consummate executive, a little bit of a cranky executive, but he can stay on script. but this is different, because he is once again running for the white house. this is not just what happens in the courtroom. it's also what translates to the court of public opinion. this is also, there's a human element. this is very personal. he's watched his children testify, two of them, ivanka will go, expected later this week, this is about his business, his identity. and that can make it difficult for anyone to follow a script. >> paula reid, thank you very

much. well, when trump testified about this case before the new york attorney general's office last summer, here's how that went. >> i declined to answer the question. i decline to answer the question. same answer. same answer. same answer. same answer. same answer. same answer. same answer. same answer. same answer. same answer. >> we counted so you didn't have to. he invoked the fifth amendment more than 400 times, though he did answer questions more thoroughly in a later deposition. let's turn now to cnn legal analyst, elie honig. so how will this play out inside the courtroom? >> this is going to get interesting really quickly. in this any case, the party who calls the witness to the stand gets to question them first. ordinarily, that's the easy part. that's what we call direct examination. it's usually a friendly witness, it's usually been prepared, and only after that do we get to cross-examination where the fireworks start. but really important to know, here, the party that is calling donald trump to the witness stand is the attorney general,

letitia james' office. so they'll get to question donald trump first. and only after that are we going to see donald trump's own team get to question him. a couple of other courtroom dynamics we need to watch for here. first of all, the dynamic between the judge and donald trump, there has been tension between them. the judge has made several legal rulings against donald trump. donald trump has made several non-legal attacks on the judge. will the judge be able to keep donald trump in line? and finally, really important to notice, this jury box is empty. there is no jury, the judge is presiding. he is also deciding the case, so he will be watching the witness with that in mind. also, one other thing we need to watch for the in the next couple of hours, will donald trump take the fifth? all indications are that he will not take the fifth, that he will testify coming out of his camp, but he does have that right to take the fifth. this is a civil case, but he can still say, if my testimony might be used against me, i can take the fifty, as we just saw in that clip, phil, in this case when he was deposed over a year ago, he took the fifth over 400

times. important to know, if he does take the fifth, there's some risk. the judge can draw an adverse inference. the judge can assume the worst about what donald trump's testimony would have been. so if he takes the fifth, there's a real downside here. >> if he doesn't take the fifth and answers questions, would you expect his defense to be largely in line with what his sons have testified, that the accountants did it, not us? >> i do. i think we'll see a very similar defense. the allegation by the attorney general is that the defendants, trump and his businesses, grossly inflated his personal net worth by billions of dollars. i think we'll see a couple of main defenses here. first of all, as his sons did last week, don jr. and eric, i think donald trump is going to try to push blame down the line and outside. he may say, look, those financial statements, i didn't prepare them, i just signed them. i relied on my accounts. that only gets him so far, because the trump organization as a whole is a defendant here. i think we also are going to see donald trump try to defend the alleged overvaluations of his properties. paula just talked about, if we

look at seven springs estate, that was assessed at $30 million or so. donald trump and his organization have claimed that it was worth $260 million. obviously, a huge discrepancy. trump has said publicly, i think my valuations were low, if anything. we'll see. but that's going to be an uphill climb, because the judge has already found before this trial started that trump committed, quote, persistent fraud by submitting false and misleading statements of financial conditions. the trump will have to argue to the judge, you got it wrong, we undervalued our own assets. >> what are the stakes here? this isn't prison, this is a civil trial. what could he risk losing? >> his entire business is really the short answer to that. the attorney general is seeking financial penalties of up to $250 million and this is one of the things that is still in dispute. the judge is going to be watching for. and he could lose his business certificate. as of this moment, the judge in his pre-trial ruling has actually said, i will suspend your business certificate. if that holds, it will stop

donald trump's ability to do business in new york state and potentially more broadly. really, it is fair to say that his entire business and financial future is at stake with this testimony today in this trial as a whole. >> no pressure. none at all. >> small stakes, no big deal. >> elie honig, thank you. secretary of state antony blinken is wrapping up a diplomatic tour of the middle east. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has rejected calls for a cease-fire so far. we will ask israel's ambassador to the united states what happens next. and the biden campaign downplaying new polls where the president trails his predecessor in five critical battleground states. how democrats are reacting to those polls ahead. david axelrod questioning whether biden should eveven sta in the racace. he's g going to jojoin us, stath usus.

any minute now, donald trump will leave trump tower, he'll head downtown to the courthouse where he will take the witness stand in about two hours in his civil fraud trial. his business empire and reputation both on the line, with prosecutors accusing him of exaggerating his wealth by billions of dollars and inflating the value of his properties. our kristen holmes outside of trump tower waiting for him to head down. you can't overstate the importance of this. yes, it's not a criminal trial, but this is the crux, the core of what trump stands for. business. >> yeah, it's who he is, personally, but also politically. it's what he ran on. this brand that he was wealthy. that he had all of these assets. if he could do it for himself, he could do it for you, the american people. and this really goes to who he is. i am told that he is telling allies that he feels confident that he's not worried about testifying on the stand. but there are obviously going to be some concerns. anything that he says under oath

can be used against him in these multiple other trials that he is facing. and we talk about those trials. and this is so complicated right now. i talked to his campaign advisers all the time about how exactly they are going to navigate all of these trials and running a political campaign in 2024. and essentially, it is going to require the legal team and the political team to work hand in hand. the lawyers have to sketch out the days they believe that he will be in trial. that he'll have to actually sit there. then, they give it to the campaign who works out a soft schedule around that to try to figure out when he can actually host events. and it might just be weekends. one adviser telling me, it's completely unmanageable long-term. and this is really just the beginning. poppy, right now, we do expect donald trump to be done in one day. that is what we have heard from his advisers. however, if this does bleed over, which is completely possible, this could then conflict with an event he has wednesday night, meaning that he would go back to court on

wednesday, finish up his testimony, and fly directly to miami for his counterprogramming rally that he has to the debate on wednesday night. so there are a lot of logistical gymnastics that his team is going to have to do as he continues to run for president. >> certainly. kristen holmes, thanks for the reporting. >> joining us now is trump's former lawyer, michael cohen. he recently testified against trump in the civil fraud trial, the first time in five years they were actually face to face. he's the author of the book revenge and the host of the podcast, mia cullpa. thanks for joining us. i want to start with what we heard from antony scaramucci last hour. we played it at the start of the show. he prevented that trump would be calm, cool, collected stay within the normal bounds of things on the witness stand. what do you think? you spent more time with him over a lengthy period of time than anything. >> i don't think the same way as anthony does. at the beginning, he's going to try. he's going to try very hard to stay within the lane, because he already knows that he's -- he and the judge don't clearly see

eye-to-eye, so he'll try to stay in the lane, but as the prosecutors continue to drill down on him with information and with allegations that he overinflated his net worth by billions, that's goingt to irritate him. because his net worth, his statement of financial condition, it's really a combination of his id, his ego, his super ego, all mashed into one narcissistic sociopath. >> you testified in this trial and you said on the stand he, being trump, would look at the total assets and he would say, quote, i'm actually not worth $4.5 billion, i'm really worth more like $6. and then you went on to testify that allen weisselberg, the former ceo of the trump organization, would reverse engineer the properties to make that math check out. did trump know how that all worked? >> of course. what we would do is we would

take in a document from the year earlier and give it to donald and he would make that mob-style statement, i'm not worth 4.5, i'm worth 5 or 7 or 8. you and allen go back to allen's office and figure it out. that's the way he would speak. it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what he wants, but being with him for over a decade or allen weisselberg for over four decades, we knew exactly what he wanted, we accomplished that task, and returned to his office in order to provide him back with the document for his sign-off. >> but then you also did testify on the stand that essentially trump had not specifically told you to do that. he implied it. and trump used that to go to the judge and say, look, here, clear me, and the judge said, no way. but it does seem like your testimony contradicted itself. >> no, because it's the word, "specifically." in other words, he never "specifically" used the words. no different than a mob boss. michael, allen, go to the back and reverse-engineer the numbers

to inflate my assets. it was a matter of the words specifically. i wanted to be truthful when answering that question. no, he did not. but it doesn't need the term "specific," the difference between implied, right, and implicit. >> would there be repercussions if you had not done it? and i think one of the questions, the implication of what he wanted, you knew, because you and allen had worked with him for so long. if you had not delivered on that, what would have happened? >> probably would have been fired. but there was no such thing at the trump organization, if donald trump tasked you with something, you did it. >> even implicitly. >> even implicitly. >> it's just so interesting that this poll that's really good for trump in "the new york times" this morning, in a head-to-head matchup against biden, comes on the same day that he's testifying and could potentially lose his entire business empire and the ability to operate it within new york. you know his mind. how do you think he's processing those two things on the same

day? >> it's very difficult for him. you know, he's very myopic in how he thinks. right now, he's concerned about what's more important to him. and that is, his net worth, that is his company. because, again, that is him. that is who he is. >> more important than the presidency? >> yes, for right now. because he believes that when he -- in his mind, he thinks that he'll be victorious in this new york attorney general case. and he will use that to propel him into the white house. the poll has all sorts of issues that i personally don't understand, when i was watching your show this morning, for example, how he's rising in the polls with blacks. to me, it doesn't make any sense. this is a man who could not utter, for example, george floyd's name during this horrific, horrific time in american history. and yet, he's rising in the polls. or even amongst muslims, who refuse now to vote for biden, will only vote for trump, let's not forget, the very first thing

that he did, when he was in office, in 2017, was try to enact a muslim ban. >> i don't think we should group groups together like that. it's not a single vote for muslim voters or black voters. >> no, but what they're saying is that it increased and it doesn't make any sense to me. i think there are a lot of issues with this poll. >> one of the questions is, if he were to win and have a second term in office, what would he actually do? and i think it's important to note, they haven't been subtle. he and his advisers, people who are close to him, they have policy proposals, they have plans, and "the washington post" is reporting that critical to those will be the justice department and really kind of punishing some of the people that went against him. you're talking about former chief of staff, john kelly. people like his former lawyer, ty cobb. what do you think about that? do you think that's a real possibility? >> donald is a very vindictive human being, so the answer is 100%. and it should really give people pause, to start to reflect back to like 1939 germany, where hitler did the same thing.

what is he going to do? he's going to start now turning around and going after kids on campuses who express their first amendment rights. he's going to make them wear, what, palestinian flags on their arm bands, as arm bands. i don't -- again, everything with him is violent rhetoric. and the country really better wake up and they better start thinking twice before they start answering questions, even in "the new york times"/siena poll. >> michael cohen, thank you. i know you'll be watching coverage today. >> you know i will. >> we'll have it all live here on cnn. anti-semitism rising dramatically since the october 7th mosque terror attack. new england patriots owner robert kraft is spearheading a big effort to counter that hate and he joins us ahead. >> and secretary of state antony blinken urging israel to pause its war to let more humanitarian aid reach civilians in gaza. israel's ambassador to the u.s. joins us, next, on what happens.

we know the deep concern here for the terrible toll that gaza has taken on palestinians on men, women, and children in

gaza and civilians. a concern that we share. and that we're working on every single day. we've engaged the israelis on steps that they can take to minimize civilian casualties. >> that was secretary of state antony blinken, leaving turkey after his multi-day trip to the middle east, as cia director bill burns arrives in israel, both officials urging israel to trailer pause its war against hamas to allow more humanitarian aid to reach civilians in gaza. just this morning, smoke was seen near refugee camp, a clear sign that there is no pause. prime minister benjamin netanyahu has continued to reject the idea of a cease-fire, arguing that won't happen until hamas releases all the hostages. joining us now, israel's ambassador to the u.s., michael h herzog. we appreciate your time. there have been reports of humanitarian corridors operated by the idf that would allow gazans to evacuate south.

is there a commitment by the idf that there will be no strikes near those corridors as they are operational? >> absolutely, yes. the only strikes that we have experienced are hamas attacking these kor dors in order to prevent civilians from going south. we are calling on all civilians to go away from the war zone, from the north to the south, where we provide the humanitarian solutions and we are building humanitarian zones there. unfortunately, hamas is trying to prevent it. but we are doing everything possible to wrap up solutions in the south, as we speak. we are in the process of allowing into gaza 130 truckloads of humanitarian assistance and we are doing it in close cooperation with the u.n. and with egypt. >> i want to play something that one of your colleagues, israel's ambassador to the u.n., told my colleague on cnn yesterday. take a listen. >> there is no humanitarian crisis in gaza, in coordination with the u.s. and the u.n., we

allowed the number of trucks entering gaza now with food and medicines to reach almost 100 trucks every day. so we don't see the need for humiliate pauses right now, because it will only enable hamas to rearm and regroup. >> i think the question is, the statement that there is no humanitarian crisis in gaza, that's not assigning blame to anyone, israelis included. is that the position here, that there is no humanitarian crisis in gaza right now? >> there is definitely a major humanitarian challenge in gaza, because this is a war zone, and people like to move away from this war zone and try to get them away from others. we are very mindful of the humanitarian situation. we see it as both our obligation to provide solutions, but do it in a way that does not fuel the

hamas war machine. they have troves of fuel, food, and medicine, which they use for their own war meech. they started this war, not we. but as i said, we see it as our obligation and interest to provide solutions. we opened a joint operations room with the u.n. and with egypt, in order to provide this solutions. in fact, we are leading these efforts, so when people talk about a pause, let me explain that. if we are talking about a pause that's designed to allow time for the release of hostages, we are all in. most of the hostages are israelis. so we are the major stakeholders in that. if you are talking about humanitarian solutions, we are in any way wrapping up humanitarian assistance into gaza, as i said today, we intend to send in 130 truckloads, and we'll increase the number. if you're talking about the

citizen, no, because we will not stop until we destroy the hamas war machine. and disable them from attacking us again and again. let me remind you and all of our viewers that on october 6th, there was a cease-fire. >> right. i do -- i want to ask you, because i think one of the questions has been, as this face of the offensive continues, our counteroffensive, however you want to frame it, it will be a particularly difficult urban combat. do you believe that house-to-house, door-to-door, going into tunnels types of fighting that the israeli people are prepared for what that will entail, including the potential deaths of idf forces. >> our ground operation is well-planned and well calculated. it doesn't mean that we have to go from house to house. i think we have-developed tactics to deal with the tunnels and with the terrorists.

gaza is the biggest terror complex on the globe. we have over 500 kilometers of tunnels, not shelters for the population. but tunnels for the command and control, for the leaders, and for the rockets. we have tens of thousands of rockets, tens of thousands of armed people, and we have to uproot this infrastructure. and we are doing it slowly, carefully, and i can say that until now, our ground operation is effective. of all of our encounters, we have overwhelmed them and we can do. >> one more before i let you go. axios is reporting that in order for the u.s. and the senate to sign off on a weapons purchase made by israel related to rifles, there was a commitment given. i believe your name was mentioned that those rifles would not be given to civilian teams in the west bank. can you confirm that? >> the rifles that we are talking about, and we are purchasing these rifles in the

u.s., are meant to be given to an emergency unit, which are basically police units, and they carry police mutations. there was a long process between us and the administration, making sure that we comply with the u.s. law and with policy requirements, and we satisfy their questions and that's how we got the license. that's all i can say. >> ambassador michael herzog, we appreciate your time, sir. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> well, the number of anti-semitic attacks is rising around the world. the fbi director warns the number has increased to historic levels. new england patriots owner robert kraft is spearheading an effort to counter that hate and he joins us next. >> and the president's campaign downplaying new polls that show biden falling behind in important swing states that he won in 2020. one of president obama's senior advisers is questioning whether biden running is in his best interest or the country's. david axelrod will join us just ahead.

in a crisis caused by a terrorist massacre. warning civilians to clear out, while hamas forces them back.

allowing in food and water, which hamas steals. we are on the brink of a catastrophe, even here in the united states. we see now thousands of people

chanting death to israel, death to the jews. this is truly unacceptable, this situation right now. and as i said, we are on the bring of a catastrophe. at any moment, we might see a terror attack against a jewish community here in the united states. >> that was israel's ambassador to the united nations, warning about the rise of anti-semitism in the u.s. it is a call that has been echoed by leaders in the wake of hamas' terror attack on october 7th. fbi director christopher wray told congress last anti-semitism is reaching historic levels. >> the jewish community is uniquely targeted by pretty much every terrorist organization across the spectrum. and when you look at a group that makes up 2.4%, roughly of the american population, it should be jarring to everyone that that same population accounts for something like 60%

of all religious-based hate crimes. >> the antidefamation league says anti-semitic incidents in the u.s. have risen nearly 400% since october 7th. our next guest, new england patriots owner robert kraft is spearheading an effort to counter that hate. you're looking now at a new add that they've put out. it is part of a $25 million campaign, launched earlier this year called stand up to jewish hate. robert kraft joins us this morning. robert, thank you very much for being here. i should note, you're sitting in the command center, where your team at the foundation tracks all of the hate incidents that are happening. do you agree with what we just heard the israeli ambassador to the u.n. say? that we are on the brink of a catastrophe in the united states? >> well, it's really disheartening to see what's going on in this country. you know, when i started this

foundation four years ago, i saw signs in this country of what was going on in germany in the 30s. and that's why we started the foundation to try to educate and help all people understand that we have to stand up to jewish hate, but all hate. and we've tried to do that through a sense of commercials and if we don't do a good job controlling it, i think hate leads to violence. and what we're seeing going on in this country now is really scary to me. and it's something we want to work very hard to try to prevent. >> one of the approaches you take that i think is interesting and different is you try to reach non-jewish audiences, but you say some of the approaches are too academic or two adversarial. your team is right to use empathy. how do you teach people not to hate in a moment like this?

>> well, i don't know if you've seen any of our ads. we had a group of adds that went out over nine weeks, and we reached two-thirds of the american public, seven to ten times. and you know, this is the greatest country in the world. i know myself, i went to school on a scholarship. i was able to live my dream. i wanted to keep it that way. and i see things that are going on internally that are changing it. and that's why we started this foundation, to try to educate people, good people in america, most people are good, but when you start seeing hate and it starts with jewish hate, there'll be hate against all minorities. you're next. and i just think of, you know, what's going with hamas and that's a terrorist organization, that in their charter, calls for

the eradication of israel and all jewish people, wherever they are in the world. and then, also, all infidels. and to see the kind of support they're getting, it's really disheartening to me. and i think a lot of that is what's going on on social media. you know, 25% of social media are bots. and there's a lot of misinformation that young people are taking in and believing, and we have to push against that. >> you know, in fact, in this new add that we've been playing for folks, it says, hate moves faster. and i believe you guys are talking about that. can you address specifically what you're seeing happen on tiktok, and how worried you are about that for hate, and spreading it? >> well, yeah, we've seen statistics that show us that 25%

of all of the data that's coming out through there are bots. and then it is being re-posted by another 25%, so that you get 50% of what's being spread is lies. and not accurate. and young people unfortunately are believing. and they're very sophisticated, they've done a good job, but these are bad people. these are terrorists. these are people who cut off babies' heads in front of mothers and do things -- just think about, if mexico came here and went to one of our music festivals and killed people and raped women and paraded them on the street, beheaded the little babies, how would we accept that? and these people, people are out on the streets, marching in support of that?

it's just a lack of education. and we have to do a better job educating. >> and we should note the difference between supporting the palestinian people, right, and supporting hamas. robert, you're wearing the blue square. and that is a symbol of fighting all hate. you're a powerful voice in this conversation and i wonder if you could share with people your own experience. i know it was when you were young, with anti-semitism, what you went through. >> yeah, well, i had people who didn't want to do business with me. they thought that i had horns in my head. they never met someone from my background, and, you know, it just allows you to work harder. i mean, think of people with different skin color or people of different religions. they've all experienced it. and when hate goes in one direction, it doesn't stop. i mean, you're next. and any minority should feel

that and understand it. and we have to keep the fabric of this country the way it's been for all of us that have lived our dreams. and what's going on now is very, very concerning. and that's why this symbol of the blue square, which is a symbol of unity and solidarity, and having all people understand how our neighbors really think and lock arm in arm, pushing back against hate. and we're going to continue fighting it. you know, i'll just tell you, i had the privilege of being in gaza about 30 years ago and met with gazan fishermen and israeli fishermen. these are great people. i feel bad for them. and i think if you took a vote, 90-odd percent wouldn't want these terrorists running their property. >> yeah, the majority of the

polling does show that the majority of palestinians do not support hamas. but before you go, if you could speak to -- i know you've put a lot of your personal wealth to this cause, a lot of big donors, corporate and individual, but i'm struck by the amount of people that have been giving very small donations, robert, like $11 to you guys, since october 7th, right? >> yeah, you know, well, thank you, poppy, for, one of the things that's been amazing when you start something like that, we've had a website. in the last five months, we've had over 11,000 people coming in with gifts of $10, $50, $100, just small people. we don't solicit. and most of them are not jewish. we can till by the names, and it really made me feel good and just motivates us more, because it shows, americans just instinctively want to do the

right thing. and we have to continue to support them. we are going to continue our education campaign. and i think -- i don't think most people in this country understand the way this hate has grown. and we will continue to educate and try to get people to build bridges. >> well, as a foundation -- >> and that's what the blue square symbolizes. >> and as the foundation says, when one hate rises, they all do. robert kraft, thank you for the work that you and your team continue to do. >> thank you. and can i just say, if we don't control it, i think we see violence erupt. and that's what we all want to protect our people against. >> robert kraft -- >> thank you, poppy. >> robert kraft, thanks for your time this morning, very much. well, the president's complain downplaying new polls that show biden behind trump in important battleground states, but some outside democratic advisers are sounding the alarm. one of them, david axelrod, joins us next.

soon, donald trump will take the stand, the witness stand, to testify in a manhattan courtroom. he'll be questioned in the civil fraud trial that could cost him hundreds of millions of dollars and bar him from doing business in new york. more on that, straight ahead..

a new poll from "the new york times" causing concern for the biden campaign this morning. the president is trailing donald trump in five of the six key battleground states that helped him clinch the election in 2020. biden is also losing support with two key voting demographics, black and hispanic voters. the poll numbers are raising concerns among top democrats including cnn political commentator david axelrod. he says in part, quote, the stakes of miscalculation here are too dramatic to ignore. if he continues to run he will be the nominee of the democratic party. what he needs to decide is whether that is wise, whether it

is in his best interest or the country's. david axelrod joins us now. appreciate your time. you know when you're typing out these two tweets what the response is going to be and i guess i would start with what's the intent here? what do you want him to decide is in his best interest and the country's? >> look, only he can decide that, phil, but -- and i don't -- i'm not reacting to one particular poll, but, you know, a whole body of research and conversations with people, and my concerns -- i want to make clear i think biden has been a great president, i think he's done things that have generational -- will have generational impact and importance. i think he's, you know, been honorable in the office. i have nothing but good things to say, but as i've said for like a couple of years now the

issue is not -- for him is not political, it's actuarial. you can see that in this poll. there's just a lot of concern about the age issue and that is something that i think he needs to ponder. just do a check and say is this the right thing to do? i believe if he does run he will be the nominee and i'm not encouraging people to challenge him. i think the party should fall in behind him if he's the nominee of the democratic party because at the end of the day this is not a normal race, this is a race about democracy and the state of our democracy and the survival of our democracy. that's the threat on the other side here. and i know how deeply the president feels about that. so he just has to ask himself, you know, is this the best path? i suspect that he will say yes,

but time is fleeting here and this is probably the last moment for him to do that check. it's probably good if he does. >> you use a lot of if's in that answer and there's the if in your tweet, if he continues to run. do you have information from reliable sources around him that that is still and if in his mind and if not him, then who? >> to the contrary, no, i don't. but that doesn't mean that he shouldn't pause to think about it. he's got enormous pressures on him right now, he's managing two global driese crises and i thin doing it with great -- with great vigor and great passion. he's got -- we've got a host of things at home. and the question is do you add a campaign to that and what's your ability to do all those things at the same time well and how

does that contribute to people's concerns that are expressed in this poll. polling numbers, i should point out, we had lousy polling numbers at this time in our campaign in 2011 when i was working for barack obama and we overcame those numbers and we won, but the two things that are different are that obama was 50 and not 81, and -- and we didn't have donald trump on the other side. so those are two factors that have to be considered. >> two really significant factors. david axelrod, i know we will see you a little later this week. thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> yes, looking forward to it. thank you. president biden speaking of, he is in delaware this morning preparing to make a speech on the economy, specifically on bidenomics, these remarks come as the poll shows him trailing president trump in key swing states. the actors have received a best last and final offer from the studios. a deal would have to be ratified

before any return to tv and movie sets. sources tell cnn tonight at a rally in iowa governor reynolds will endorse ron desantis. overnight trump called reynolds, quote, disloyal and claimed the endorsement will be the, quote, end of her political career. this morning jury selection will begin in the trial against the man accused of attacking nancy pelosi's husband. he could face up to 50 years in prison if convicted. and the holocaust museum will honor around schwarzenegger tonight. he is the son of a nazi officer in world war ii. it is a big reason for his actions and activism. he is being honored for his long-time advocacy against anti-semitism and bigotry. >> and that's the five things you need to know for this morning. don't forget to download the five things podcast every morning. any minute now the former president -- former president trump will leave trump tower and head downtown to testify in the civil fraud case against him.

his business, his reputation, perhaps political future at stake to some degree. "cnn news central" continues our coverage after this break.

>> announcer: this is cnn breaking news. okay. the breaking news this morning, donald trump about to take the stand in the $250 million civil fraud trial against him, his kids and his family business. under oath in minutes, a former president, a current presidential candidate, a current defendant in at least four other cases. among the other questions will he take the fifth? will he attack the judge or intentionally create a spectacle? will he implicate his children? or will he s