right now on "ana cabrera reports," hundreds of desperate civilians waiting at gaza's border. crowds gathering as that crossing is open again today, we've learned 370 trapped americans are on the list to evacuate. how soon could they get out? and an update on the aid getting in. meanwhile, here at home, tensions boiling over, thousands protest outside the president's speech in minnesota while inside one protester interrupts his remarks. >> mr. president, do you care about jewish people? as a rabbi, i need you to call for a cease fire right now. plus, any moment now, we will have the first news conference from the new speaker of the house, as his stand-alone bill for aid to israel is expected to hit the floor for a vote today. also ahead, two of donald trump's sons could testify today

in the family's civil fraud trial. ahead, what don jr. already told that court under oath about the family's wealth and assets. we have breaking news as we come on the air at 10:00 eastern, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. thanks for joining us, and right now in gaza, americans and other foreign nationals, plus injured palestinians are all gathering once again at that border with egypt. the rafah crossing is back open today, and we have some new nbc news video showing people who appear to be checking a list to see whether they are cleared to cross. this morning we know some 370 americans are on the list to evacuate, this as israel continues its push deeper into gaza with the idf now claiming to have killed dozens of hamas fighters overnight. and as israel faces renewed

condemnation after confirming a second strike on a crowded refugee camp in gaza. kelly cobiella is standing by in israel, but first to nbc's meagan fitzgerald in egypt monitoring that rafah border crossing. meagan, it's back open right now. are americans able to leave gaza? >> reporter: we're seeing the rafah border crossing open for the second day in a row where we know people are moving through it. we have obtained that list where there's some 600 names on it, the majority, as you mentioned, americans. some 370 americans that are making their way right now through the rafah border. now, the process here we're told is an orderly process. of course they will have their passports checked, their identity checked. they will then move through. according to the egyptian minister of health, they will then undergo a quick medical examination. children will be vaccinated the minister tells us before they board buses and then make their

way to cairo where we are here and off to their final destination. but look, this is not an easy decision for people to make. we have been in contact with people in gaza who say they're actually not leaving. one man says his name is on the list, but he doesn't want to leave because his wife is not on the list. we're talking about some very tough decisions that people are making. there's another woman who didn't want to reveal her name, but she's on the list. she made the agonizing decision to leave, and i want you to listen to a little bit of this decision for her. take a listen. >> unfortunately, i'm not even excited to leave gaza because we have so many people that we love and care about, so right now i'm between -- i don't know if i'm ever going to be able to see the family that i left behind or the friends that i left behind. people are dying. everybody's dying, nobody's safe. we don't have bomb shelters.

>> reporter: yeah, ana, you know, you can't even imagine the grueling decision that people have to make to either leave or to stay, but leaving is leaving family members behind, not knowing when you're going to be back. according to the egyptian government, we understand that some 7,000 dual nationals will be allowed to pass through the rafah border crossing into egypt over the next several days, potentially even weeks, ana. >> and so how does this process work exactly? do people know in advance if they're on that list, meagan? are there officials there calling out the names of who can leave when? what do you know? >> reporter: it's a good question. you know, we have been in contact with people who have quite frankly told us that they are very frustrated with the state department. and obviously we know that diplomacy has been working. the majority of the people leaving gaza are americans, but the little details have been very frustrating to people who got last-minute notification they should head to the border,k

at the last three and a half weeks, people were told to go to the border twice. they went, it wasn't open. so a lot of frustration, but americans who were contacted today telling them to go to the rafah border crossing because their names would be on the list are finding that that, in fact, is the case. according to egyptian officials, they tell us that this is an organized process. it is orderly. there's a list of names in order. we talked to a woman who says that she's 100 and -- i can't recall the exact number, but 120 something on the list is the order that she will be processed. we just heard from her father who tells us that she's halfway through with her husband who managed to make it across with them. he is a uk citizen. he unfortunately is not on a list to go, but they're trying their luck. there's so many different, you know, situations that are at play here as people are desperate to try and get their family across, ana. >> and kelly, israel's coming

under intense scrutiny for its tactics in gaza, but by all accounts it appears the ground operation continues to escalate. what are you hearing there in israel? >> yeah, well, the israeli military says this is progressing as planned. they said that they're engaged in face-to-face fights now with hamas. they say that one battle overnight lasted several hours, and that air defenses played a supporting role. so very much a ground offensive at this stage. the idf also saying that gazan defensive lines in the north are collapsing. they claim that the -- they are taking control of some areas in the central part of the gaza strip, and they also did admit that they struck the jabaliya refugee camp a second time. they said that the target was a hamas command and control center and once again accused hamas of

building their infrastructure in and around and under civilian areas essentially saying that hamas is using civilians as human shields. hamas claiming that they are striking israeli positions as well, but that jabaliya strike once again is causing a lot of heat for israel. they are being condemned by countries yet again, the united nations human rights office really offering some of the strongest condemnation saying that it has serious concerns that those strikes are disproportionate and could amount to war crimes, citing the high number of civilian casualties and just the scale of destruction. you know, we don't have official numbers on how many people have been killed or injured. gazan health officials say the numbers are in the hundreds, but we've all seen those images, ana. >> those images are tough to watch, kelly, we are also learning that a hamas official

is vowing to repeat the october 7th attacks, and time again until israel is annihilated. what can you tell us about that and the response? >> reporter: that's right. so these comments came from a senior hamas official to the lebanese television corporation. he made those comments, according to a media watchdog group on october 24th in an interview on that broadcast. this immediate group translated the interview, and post it on its website just in the past 24 hours or so and said that the senior officia said palestinians rts victim of the occupation, therefore no one should blame them for the events of october 7th or anything else, adding everything we do is justified. he also said that the events of october 7th would happen over and over again two, three, four times until israel was

annihilated essentially saying that israel has no right to exist. the national security council spokesman john kirby called these comments chilling. he said everyone needs to take them seriously. he said this is what the people of gaza are dealing with, the fact that hamas is willing to continue the fight and also willing to kill innocent israelis. ana. >> kelly cobiella and meagan fitzgerald, ladies, thank you for bringing us the latest. back here in the u.s., any moment now on capitol hill republican mike johnson will hold his first press conference as house speaker. now, one thing he's expected to address is a stand-alone israel aid bill that house republicans say will come up for a vote this afternoon, but it already is facing stiff opposition in the democratic-controlled senate and the white house. i want to bring in nbc's julie tsirkin on capitol hill and nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander. julie, we're expecting this vote

as soon as this afternoon. what are we hearing from speaker johnson about this plan? >> reporter: well, this press conference will be unique in that we haven't actually heard speaker johnson take questions from the press yet. so this will be really the first opportunity for us to be able to press him on all of these issues including of course israel aid, which is expected to come up for a vote later this afternoon. this morning first they're going to get through some procedural hurdles when it comes to that. one of the biggest issues facing speaker johnson is that he decided to couple the aid to israel with offsets with spending cuts, in this case cuts to the irs, which is a central point of president biden's inflation reduction act. that according to democrats, they're calling it a poison pill, and i talked to one republican, for example, a moderate congressman, nick wa low ta of new york who told me he would vote for that bill with or without those spending cuts. republicans here trying to put democrats in a tough spot, particularly jewish democrats when they're looking at this bill. we'll see if it could pass the house chamber later today, but

certainly going nowhere in the upper chamber. >> we are watching live images as this press conference with the gop leadership in the house gets underway. that of course is stefanik, the conference chairwoman. but peter, first, democrats we know want the funding for israel and ukraine aid to go together. some republicans as well, and the white house has threatened, the president is prepared to veto legislation that doesn't include both. can you explain? >> reporter: that's exactly right. we did hear that threat from the white house, the budget office specifically saying that if this was to be separated where the israeli, the aid to israel was separated from other national security priorities in the words of the white house budget office that would have, quote, global consequences. that came as part of that veto threat here at the white house. we have heard from them in the days since that initial threat, karine jean-pierre the press secretary telling us among other things politicizing our national security interests is a non-starter. to be clear, the aid to israel

is roughly $14 billion that's being suggested here. there'd be roughly $60 billion going to ukraine as well as money to taiwan to help support the effort to sort of fight back china in that region amid threats there and to help reinforce security at the southern border in the united states. the white house, the president want thes all that included. aid to israel does continue at this point, the u.s. provides $3 billion in aid to israel each year and they have continued in the course of the last several weeks to give them munitions necessary to defend themselves given the onslaught of attacks from hamas, including that rocket fire that the iron dome has been fighting off. it's not just the white house and some democrats who were opposed to this separation of israel aid from others. it's also the congressional budget office that has said in spite of the republicans' claim that this would help cut the deficit, it would, they say in fact cost $26 billion in revenue over the course of the next decade because it would come at the cost of the enforcement by

irs agents. they wouldn't go after in the words of the white house tax cheats in this country, and the white house says that that should not have anything to do with this effort to support israel. >> okay. and as we await the speaker himself, we're looking at tom emmer, who is the majority whip now, addressing reporters there. again, this is kind of their usual gop leadership conference, but the first time we'll get to hear directly from the new house speaker at this conference and hopefully he'll take some questions as well. and we know, julie, that this first piece of legislation is his first big action as speaker. so what is at stake for johnson in this moment and the house after weeks of chaos? >> reporter: yeah, and right now in this press conference, his leadership team is talking about the importance of getting that aid bill to israel through. but again, there are some questions according to sources i spoke to specifically among republicans in the upper chamber, whether this was the right strategy for johnson to go ahead and pair this bill with some of those spending cuts, which could be considered a

poison pill among democrats. even if this israel aid manages to get through the lower chamber, we heard from majority leader schumer, who is the highest ranking elected jewish official in congress, that he is not going to even begin to take up that bill. he, of course, wants to see a fulsome package as you heard peter lay out. johnson behind closed doors this morning according to republicans i spoke to said that his plan was to potentially pair ukraine aid with border security policies, but that is very much complicating this entire process, which the white house wants to move as a package. when it comes to government funding, all of these dates could certainly converge because that deadline right around the corner, coming up two weeks from today, november 17th. we also heard johnson tell senate republicans yesterday that he wants to institute spending cuts potentially bringing a short-term government funding bill into mid-january. again, a lot on his plate. we'll see if he can make it through that first test today. >> majority leader steve scalise is now speaking.

julie tsirkin, peter alexander stay close. we'll bring you back to capitol hill when speaker johnson begins to speak. embattled new york congressman george santos is still serving in the house this morning, and this is a big deal because there was a vote last night, a bipartisan push to expel him from congress, which failed last night. it needed a two-thirds vote to pass. didn't even get a simple majority, so santos, of course, was defiant last night when speaking on the hill. >> this is a victory for the process. due process won today, not george santos. >> unless you're the ultimate and end all be all arbitrator of truth, then i'm not debating this in the press with you. >> george santos still faces 23 federal charges. he has pleaded not guilty to all of them. up next, donald trump jr. returns for day two of testimony in his family's fraud trial. what he told that court under oath about the company's account

tenant. plus, how soon could his brother eric follow him on the witness stand? we're live at the courthouse.

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all this cash. if you own a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more, you can sell all or part of it to coventry. even a term policy. for cash, we're back with breaking news and the new house speaker has taken the lectern. >> our members were allowed to go home for the weekend and do some district work, everyone met with constituents. most everyone got to go home, and they came back with glowing reports about the sentiment that is felt out in the grass roots amongst the american people, and not just amongst republicans but amongst all americans. what happened is we went through three weeks of tumult here, obviously, everybody watched it. you all walked through that valley with us, but we came out even stronger and i'm telling you that right now this group is ready to govern, and we have begun that already in earnest. we share enduring core principles, and i referenced this on the floor wednesday

night before last week before i took my oath of office. what we stand for are the core principles of america. i call them the seven core principles of american conservatism, but as i said from the chamber there up in the rostrum that it's really america's principles. it's individual freedom and immaterial willed government and the -- limited government, and the rule of law, fiscal responsibility, free markets and human dignity. these are the ideas that have guided our nation since its founding and we are the greatest nation in the history of the world. we are proud to say that and proud to defend it and preserve those principles. because of all this we have really healthy debates, even inside our own conference, sometimes about tactics like every family does. but during a perilous time at home and abroad we are united in our pursuit of very clear objectives. we want to rein in reckless spending. we want to reduce inflation.

we're going to support our close friend and ally israel. let me explain a few of these things. on appropriations, we want americans' voices to be heard in washington. that's what the republicans here in the house are dedicated to, and that's why we're restoring regular order. we're finishing our appropriations process, and we're doing this in a way that is very transparent. we have accountability to be assured here. we have participation from all members of congress and we're moving quickly on that agenda. last week as was mentioned after i was sworn in as speaker, we passed our appropriations bill for energy and water development. yesterday we passed our approach bill on the legislative branch, and later this week we're going to bring up two more appropriations bills, and that's interior and environment, and transportation housing and urban development. they all share one thing in common, they're fiscally responsible. they ensure that our government is funded in a responsible manner while finding critical savings for the american people. as conservatives we understand

that savings are needed now more than ever. you all know we crossed the terrible landmark of $33.6 trillion in federal debt, and that threatens our security, our freedom, our way of life. treasury department announced earlier this week, we have to borrow. the american people need to understand the scope of this. we are going to borrow an additional $1.5 trillion just to fund the government over the next two quarters. six months, we're going to have to borrow the money. this is not a sustainable trajectory. what's happened is the effect on the american people has been really devastating. you have record high inflation that's causing real pain for hardworking american families, it's leaving their futures uncertain, families are having to make very tough life altering decisions because the cost of living is too high. meanwhile the skyrocketing interest rates are quickly turning the american dream into a mirage for millions of americans. we feel that acutely here. that's why house republicans will not stop until we get this job done. we're on pace now to have eight of our 12 appropriations bills passed by fly out tomorrow, as you heard, and we'll be right

back here over the next two weeks to finish the job. if you need a reminder, that's eight more appropriations bills passed than the democrat-led senate, which has passed as of today zero appropriations bills. we're doing our job, and we hope and expect they'll do the same. regarding israel, we're leading the charge to support our cherished friend and last week we pass add resolution reaffirming our commitment to israel in its moment of peril, and now as israel begins the next phase of its war, it's been kind of disturbing to us, i've heard democrats suggest there needs to be a cease fire. let us be clear. there was a cease fire. it was before october 7th and hamas broke it is and israelis suffered unspeakable acts of evil as you've heard even recounted here this morning. israel doesn't need a cease fire. it needs its allies to cease with the politics and deliver support now, and that's what we're doing. house republicans plan to do that. we're going to do it in short order. it provides israel the aid it

needs to defend itself, free its hostages and eradicate hamas, which is a mission that must be accomplished, all of this while we also work to ensure responsible spending and reduce the size of the federal government to pay for that commitment to our friend and ally. we cannot waste any time getting israel the aid it needs. we're going to work on that. we'll take a few questions. >> you say the gop -- is that to mean you've been able to flip thomas massie and mtg in the last couple of days on this israel package? >> i've had great discussions with thomas and marjorie, i don't disagree with them on many issues and principles. they understand the necessity of us getting our appropriations bills done and sent over. also the peril that israel is in. steve scalise mentioned on saturday we were in las vegas, we flew over there for the night to be with the republican jewish coalition, and there was a gentleman there who was on stage

who spoke before us, and he shared harrowing firsthand accounts. he was a support worker in israel of the things he saw with his own two eyes. i won't even repeat them here because it's so -- it is so jarring to hear it, but what they're doing to small children and pregnant women and the rest. i spoke with prime minister netanyahu on the phone on saturday evening. he used the terms the next day he use instead a public statement. he said this is a battle between good and evil, between light and darkness. i could not agree more. there is no equivocation here. we have to stand with israel. so even our most hard lined, you know, fiscal conservatives and those who typically oppose the idea of foreign aid and principle, they understand the necessity of this and what it means, so i'm optimistic we'll get those -- i'm not going to speak for either of them. i'm continually speaking with them, we'll see how that goes. >> you stressed the need to be able to pay for the israel funding. as you know, president biden has issued a veto threat on this bill.

would you consider putting a bill on the floor that includes funding for israel but does not have spending cuts, or is that a non-starter? >> no, listen, we are in dire straits as a nation. if you talk to leaders at the joint chiefs of staff, the pentagon, sometimes even in recent years under oath they've testified before the house armed services committee where i served until last week, if you ask them what the greatest threat is to our national security, most people would expect china, russia, iran, terrorism. they say it's the national debt. we have to address it. we have obligations and we have commitments, and we want to protect and help and assist our friend israel, but we have to keep our own house in order as well. and i think people at home, i think the american people understand that. at home you have to balance your budget. at home you have to make tough decisions, and washington should run the same way, and so we are here to change the environment, to change the paradigm the way washington thinks. if we continue on the trajectory we're on, it's going to hurt our country terribly, and it's going

to hurt hardworking americans even more, seniors and the rest. so we have to -- while we take care of obligations, we've got to do it in a responsible manner. i made this very clear to the president myself in our cordial meeting we've had, i made it very clear to house republicans, senate republicans, i spoke at their luncheon yesterday, every cabinet official i've spoken to all the way down the line that we're going to do this in a responsible manner. that's a very important principle for us. >> right here. >> can i get a time limit for you on your thoughts about impeachment? chairman comer has suggested that his investigation is winding down. do you feel right now that there is enough evidence to move on articles of impeachment? and how quickly could we see that process play out? and if you've already decide that had you're heading towards articles of impeachment, or is there more you need to see? >> so many of you know my background, i'm a constitutional law attorney. i believe this is a very serious matter. i was called upon to serve on an impeachment defense team in the house twice under president trump when the democrats used it for raw partisan political purposes, and i decried that

each step of the way. the reason is because the impeachment power that we have in the constitution, in the house specifically next to a declaration of war, you could argue it's the most -- it's the heaviest power that we have, and it cannot be wielded for political purposes. i have been very consistent, intellectual consistent in this and persistent that we have to follow due process, and we have to follow the law. that means following our obligation under the constitution and doing appropriate investigations in the right way at the right pace so that the evidence comes in and we follow the evidence where it leads. we follow the truth where it leads. so as we stand here today, i've not predetermined that. i do believe very soon we are coming to a point of decision on it. we're in the impeachment inquiry phase, as you know, which is an important step in that due process, and what you're seeing right now, although a lot of american people are anxious about this, many, you know, republicans across the country are anxious to get to the end point on this, and i think some democrats want to know how it ends as well. what you're seeing right now is a deliberate constitutional process that was envisioned by

the founders, the framers of the constitution. this is how they envision this to go, not the way the democrats did it, snap impeachments, sham impeachments and all the rest. i know that people are anxious about it, but i will say chairman comer, chairman jordan and judiciary, chairman smith in ways and means. they've done an extraordinary job very methodically and i would say outside the scope of politics. we're going to follow the evidence where it leads, and we'll see. i'm not going to predetermine it this morning. >> mr. speaker, this has obviously been a whirlwind week for you with a lot of changes. you have a security detail now. people want to take photos with you in the capitol. it's been probably a jarring transition. can you talk on a personal level what this week has been like for you and your family back at home? >> well, i'm from louisiana so i describe everything in either football or hurricane metaphors. let me say this is like an f-5 hurricane.

it's been a whirlwind, but in a way, scott. we're so humbled and blessed to have been asked by our colleagues to do this and to have a unanimous vote on the floor was an extraordinary thing, and we needed that to unify our conference, and the energy that's being felt around the country, im under no illusion. it's not about me. it's about this idea that we can unify, this team can pull together and get this job done for the country. it's a historic moment. i don't believe i overstate it had, and i think i said this on the floor wednesday night. i genuinely believe that the future of our republic may well be decided in the next 12 to 14 months. this is a heavy time. if you look over the scope of all human history, i'm an amateur historian myself, you'd be hard pressed to find a moment in our history where there are so many challenges compounded upon us at the same time. maybe the time of the civil war. i think arguably even in the world wars and the great depression, we've not seen the collection of challenges upon us we face right now. we go into that very sober

minded. the first week in the job has been a whirlwind. we've spent time with three heads of state, cabinet officials, you know, secretaries of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs and individual members of the senate and all of them collectively and everyone, and my message has been the same to everyone. let's stay the course. let's be steady. let's provide principled leadership, and i commit that that's going to happen in the house. we're serious about it, and we'll continue. >> mr. speaker, you have some appointments to make as well whether it be to -- you said you've been thinking about chair, and you kind of want to launch that this week. have you thought about who's going to chair the commission and who you would appoint on intel as well? >> i've thought a lot about it, but i'm not going to reveal it here. we have great candidates to chair the debt commission, it will not only be bipartisan, when i mentioned that on the floor last week, many of our democrat colleagues applauded that as well. that's a very encouraging sign

that we -- this is not a partisan issue. the debt is something that we all have to contend with. it's not only going to be bipartisan but also bicameral. i had lunch with the senate republicans yesterday, they were all there, and i mentioned that, and the idea was met with great enthusiasm. so i believe we're going to have very thoughtful people on both sides of the aisle in both chambers come together and have some very productive discussions about that. and by the way, i believe it's also an important principle that the speaker not predetermine the outcome of that or dictate, you know, objectives or benchmarks. i think it needs to be an organic decision process made by thoughtful people who have a passion about the issue and have expertise in the subject matter. and we have, thankfully, an embarrassment of riches because we have so many people in our conference, for example, who do have great expertise and many ideas on this, and i think that the time has come for it. when i said i wanted to do it immediately, i meant that, and it's a top priority right now. let me take one more.

>> mr. speaker, one more, please. >> let me get jake. >> you're two weeks away from the government funding deadline, is your plan to move forward with the cr into january and when do you plan to move on that? >> well, it's yet to be determined. i mean, i think everyone here recognizes that just because we're running out of time that we may not get all this done by november 17th. as quickly as we're proving the bills here, the senate's a little behind and we have the conference committee process and all of that. so there's a growing recognition that we're going to need another stopgap funding measure. i've made clear that my initial idea was to extend that to january 15th to get us beyond sort of the christmas rush and the things that typically jam us in the house. i think there are some good arguments for that. some of my colleagues have other ideas as well. one idea that was pitched this morning is a laddereed cr.

you would do a cr that extends individual pieces of the appropriations process, individual bills. we'll see how that goes. i think we can build consensus around it. i think there's a recognition that we have to complete the job, and we've run out of the clock on this, but we want to do what's right for the american people. stay tuned for further details. last question for jake. >> on israel, i want to nail you down. you're saying you will not pass israel aid bill unless it's offset. is that the correct interpretation of your -- >> that's what we're going to do, and the reason for that is -- >> when it comes back from the senate, that's your -- >> look, right, right. >> their decision -- they have to make on their own, but our decision is, look, the reason we pulled it from the israel fund is that's a pile of money, $67 billion that's sitting over there to refurbish buildup and hire new irs agents and the rest. if you have to look at the scope and the importance of our commitments right now, my belief is that this dire situation in israel is so important that it's more immediate than that, and if

democrats in the senate or the house or anywhere else want to argue that hiring more irs agents is more important than standing with israel in this moment, i'm ready to have that debate. i did not attach that for political purposes, okay? i attached it because, again, we're trying to get back to the principle of fiscal responsibility here, and that was the easiest and largest pile of money that's sitting there for us to be able to pay for this immediate obligation, and so we're going to stand for that. i'm going to continue to message that for the american people. you know what, i suspect they're with us on. >> on ukraine, just how do you -- >> ukraine will come in short order. it will come next and you've heard me say that we want to pair border security with ukraine because i think we could get bipartisan agreement on both of those matters. look, the american people feel very strongly about this, and i do as well. i can tell you house republicans do. we have obligations, and we have things that we can and should do around the world, but we have to take care of our own house first, and as long as the border is wide open, we're opening ourselves up for great threat,

and again, it's just a matter of principle that we're going to take care of a border in ukraine, we need to take care of america's border as well. i think there's bipartisan support for that idea. thank you for your time. >> that was house speaker mike johnson in his first news conference since he took the speaker's gavel. let's go back to the hill and nbc's julie tsirkin standing by. he talked a lot about fiscal responsibility in that news conference, julie. what are the top takeaways for you? >> reporter: yeah, ana, it was certainly a window into what we can expect from the rest of his speakership. he said the deficit is the greatest national security threat, that's a direct quote, he made that point he said to officials in the white house, to his partners among republicans in the senate yesterday. he also went on to talk about israel aid and said he is not in favor of decoupling it from those offsets, the irs cuts that he wants to make. which i should note the congressional budget office, a nonpartisan office said that would add to the deficit that. comes of course after democrats

said, even ones who want to support israel, unraveling one of the president's signature legislative items. he also said on a short-term government funding bill, he introduced an idea of a laddered stopgap funding measure, extending various appropriations mechanisms one at a time. i'm not sure how that will work, quite frankly. that is an idea he said was raised during the conference meeting this morning. he clearly wants to project this idea that he will allow rank and file members to have input in this process, something that the former speaker kevin mccarthy was criticized for allowing his members of every faction of the conference to have input in various legislative processes. he also said a debt commission that he would start a debt commission that would be not only bipartisan, he said, but bicameral. he spent so much time talking about the need to cut the deficit, and we can expect that in addition to israel aid, that will continue to happen when it comes to ukraine aid, certainly a bigger pot of money. when it comes to funding the

government as well in the last two weeks, but that was certainly a revealing press conference from speaker mike johnson and what we can expect from him. >> we watch to see what actions he would take. julie tsirkin, thank you very much. turning to what's happening inside a new york city courtroom right now, donald trump's two oldest sons could be on the witness stand today in the civil fraud trial into the family's business empire. here are don jr. and his brother eric arriving at the courthouse not too long ago and don jr. is at the defense table. we saw him there moments ago. eric could take the stand as soon as this afternoon. both have served as executive vice presidents of trump org since their father stepped down for the presidency. and msnbc's lindsey reiser is outside that courthouse in manhattan for us. here with me is our legal analyst and former prosecutor charles coleman. walk us through don jr.'s testimony yesterday and what we can expect from him today. >> reporter: he appeared relaxed

yesterday, ana, sometimes even joking with the judge. at one point the judge asking him to slow down, and he said i moved to florida, but i kept a new york pace. he's been testifying yesterday and today, as you mentioned, that proceeding is underway and he and his brother eric arrived in tandem today. attorney general james in her usual seat in the front row of the gallery. he's been testifying to his role as executive vice president, his titles, his involvement with the company and specifically those statements of financial condition that contain his signature that the a.g.'s office alleges contain those over valuations. that is how the trump organization, the former president himself and his co-defendants, according to the a.g.'s office got favorable terms like lower interest rates because the bank thought they had more money than they did. and so yesterday we actually heard from a discouragement expert who testified that the banks missed out on $168 million in lost interest. the former president has said the bank's got ei money,

everybody's walked away happy. what's at stake here is potentially $250 million in s, but also control of their properties, their ability to do business in the state, and so i want to go over a little bit of some of the testimony we're hearing today, ana. one big issue that we heard today is don jr. essentially saying that his typical process would be to get the relevant parties together like donald bender, the former president's former accountant and rely on information from them. donald bender has previously testified in this trial he was relying on information on those vague valuations from the trump organization. >> what we heard i think from don jr. in his testimony, if we were to kind of summarize it yesterday at least, was i didn't know better. i was relying on my accountants. >> right. >> so is he off the hook then? >> he's not, and i'll explain why. he is trying to take the route of plausible deniability to

basically say i don't know what my experts were saying. these are the experts, these are the people who were responsible for that. there are two problems with that, ana, chiefly he is a named party on the revocable trust that donald trump set up with respect to his business, which means that he has a fiduciary duty to make sure that those documents and that those reportings are in order. but on a bigger level, the biggest issue that he has is that those accountants, those experts he's saying he is relying on, he had to get that information from somewhere. on some level, you can't say i was relying on whatever they put in the documents when you are one of the people who's charged with being the source for what actually goes into those documents. so while he may have an ability to separate himself more than someone like his brother eric, for example, he still is not scot-free because of the fact that the information that was in those documents ultimately would have come from someone like him. >> real quick, if you will, just a follow here. we expect eric, we expect trump himself, we expect ivanka to all

be questioned as well in the next few days into next week. what is the most important thing for the a.g.'s office to get out of their testimony? >> i think ultimately the notion of plausible deniability being thrown out and the fact that this was intentional. the fact that it was deliberate, it was known, and it's not a thing that you can sort of say, look, i did not know this was happening. either you knew or should have known that this level of mise evaluation was taking place in these critical documents that you were filing for the purposes of being able to secure credit, being able to secure loans, and furthering the profitability of your business. that's going to be what the a.g.'s office is going to try to establish. you should have known this was intentional and deliberate. >> the buck stops with the person at the top usually, right? if you're the leader of the business there's some level of responsibility. let's talk about a different case. the classified documents case.

that's the federal case, and we just heard from judge aileen cannon that she might be open -- the trial. the classified documents trial is scheduled for may of next year. trump's lawyers want it pushed back for after the election. do you see them getting in the way in this case? i think it very well could happen. this is a situation where you're talking about a tale of two judges, when you compare judge caersus judge chutkan in and what's happening on the federal level, not to mention what we're talngbout with donald trump at the state level fani willis and fulton county in georgia. going to aileen cannon, this is not a surprise. we knew that judge cannon was essentially in favor of moving this further and further down the road early on because of the dates she set far out. she hasn't given trump's defense team everything they've asked for, but she's given them quite a bit. it should be no surprise, she's a trump-appointed judge, and she's consistently shown herself to be amenable to many of the

arguments trump's team has made. whether it will go beyond the election, i do not know, but i fully expect that his defense team will try to use the date in this case as it was the first one filed by jack smith, as a benchmark to set the pace for the other cases going forward. it doesn't seem like that's going to work in d.c. but i do expect him to continue to try. >> charles coleman, as always, it's good to have you here. thank you so much. next on "ana cabrera reports," a look underground at hundreds of hamas tunnels in gaza, the challenges they pose for the israeli military. plus, building tensions, the new efforts to tackle a rise in hateful rhetoric as college students fear words could turn into violence. my biggest concern, i mean, violence obviously, you know, and it's not unfounded. violent threats. threats. drippi. plop plop fizz fizz with alka-seltzer plus cold & flu relief. also try for fizzy fast cough relief. right now get a free footlong at subway.

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is it possible my network could take my business to the next level? it is with comcast business. powering all your devices with gig-speed wifi. and you get fast downloads and uploads. pick it up! pick it up! oh we got this! because it's powered by the next generation 10g network. more speed for your business? it's not just possible. it's happening. get started for $59.99 a month for 12 months. plus, ask how to get an $800 prepaid card with a qualifying internet bundle. comcast business, powering possibilities. this morning ramped up efforts to quell anti-semitism and islamophobia here in the u.s. as tensions continue to boil over. the biden administration is vowing to fight the rise in hate

crimes as the israel-hamas war enters its next phases. nbc news correspondent blayne alexander has more from georgia. blayne. >> reporter: well, i've spoken with several students who say they have experienced a range of actions from chant thes shouted across campus to troubling social media posts, even a poster with the faces of israeli hostages being defaced. all of it makes them feel unsafe on campus. all of this comes as jewish and muslim leaders say they're facing an unprecedented rise in threats of violence. >> thousands of miles from the escalating violence in the middle east, the cloud of war is smothering many college campuses here in the u.s. at emory university in atlanta, more than 100 jewish students gathered wednesday, one of at least six schools statewide to hold solidarity walks after a rise on anti-semitic incidents on campuses nationwide.

>> we had hung up posters of the hostages in gaza, and there were students who went and vandalized them. as someone who knows people who are a part of that group of hostages, it's horrible. >> what's your biggest concern? >> our biggest concern -- i mean, violence obviously, you know, and it's not unfounded. violent threats. >> reporter: threats like those made at cornell university, which has canceled classes friday citing extraordinary stress on campus. patrick dai a 21-year-old junior at the ivy league school made his first court appearance wednesday after authorities say he posted online threats to kill members of the school's jewish community. he did not enter a plea. all of it comes as tensions are rising across the country. the biden administration is vowing to fight a sharp rise in anti-semitic and islamophobic incidents. >> we are focusing on efforts on confronting illegal threats wherever they rise. >> reporter: similar to reports of anti-semitic incidents which have skyrocket instead recent

weeks, the council on american islamic relations says it's seen a large uptick, noting many more often go unreported. >> overall there is a sense of anxiety, uneasiness. our community is on edge. >> reporter: as the incidents of violent threats soar, many are just hoping for a common understanding. >> there's been deaths on both side, which is a horrible thing. there should be no deaths on any side at all. >> reporter: and here in georgia, the leader of a statewide organization for jewish college students is calling on campuses across the state to increase security writing in an open letter that students literally are afraid to be on campus. back to you. >> blayne alexander for us, thank you, and let's bring in former senior official at the office of national >> blayne alexander for us, thank you. let's bring in former senior official at the office of national intelligence, andrew boreen. thank you for being here. the biden administration is saying there is an increased threat environment, hate crimes are on the rise, we know people are afraid of potential violence

happening here in the u.s. what are you watching for? >> yeah, so, at flashpoint, national security, we have an expression that good intelligence is driven by good data. and that often means we need to back up and we need to take a look at all of the factors that are driving what information is being put out, and what the interests are of those that are putting out the information before we pass on kind of assessments to our customers whether they're governments or private sector senior leaders. and undoubtedly when we back up and we look at that data and look at conversations that are happening, some really dark corners of the internet, we know that there are political agendas at play. we know that threat actors in some cases hamas and in some cases perhaps aligned with other political groups, are trying to promote and incentivize or accelerate political violence, far from the battlefront in gaza or far from israel, in regard to that context.

so, director wray of the fbi, in the past few days, went public and said he has seen dramatic increases in anti-semitic violence. we're also seeing growth in other ethnically-based violence such as islamophobic violence. and then a very concerning observation in the dark web, closed telegram channels, the unification of an axis of anti-israel, anti-u.s. sentiment that includes hamas, a terrorist organization, lebanese hezbollah, and their support from iranian-aligned group like the irgc and quds force to promote any violence anywhere against israel, u.s. allied interests. >> it benefits them and their message, their narrative, feels like it gives them some kind of strength, right? >> yes, and that is absolutely the concern is that we're seeing heightening by threat groups to induce people who would be well

meaning in peaceful protesters to potentially engage in political violence or worse we see things like lone wolves or inspired terrorist actors acting out against any ethnic or religious group or national origin group, you know, without distinction, but we have to, of course, take into account what is happening on the ground and what happened on october 7th. >> so, how can officials be proactive? how can they ensure that there isn't a full boilover into a violent act? >> and i think that's the challenge. i live in london, i have not seen london on a security footing this significant since the july 7th attacks underground. you have to think also about america after 9/11. but in some ways, to put this in perspective, a much smaller country like israel and really the severity of the heinousness of those terrorist attacks by hamas, and the small diaspora. i believe there are less than 20

million jewish people on earth, and so that community is not very large and that ripple wave caused them all a great amount of concern. and so, i guess the risk has probably not been higher, i don't believe, for inspired terrorist attacks by a lone wolf or a small group or some of the accelerationists and i will add that it doesn't matter which group it comes from. a violent extremist terrorist who wants to cause civilian suffering and harm doesn't care who they harm. muslim terrorists don't care about harming muslims, right? right wing terrorists don't care about harming the ethnic group they want to support if they're white supremacist terrorists. this is creating a dangerous situation globally and public officials worldwide are really trying to keep eyes on potential indicator of violence. they have to rely on the public at large to share information as well. >> we appreciate you shining some light, raising all of our awareness. great to have you here. thanks. >> thank you. and turning back to gaza, we

have a look at one of the biggest challenges for the israeli military, getting inside the labyrinth of hamas-built tunnels, serving as an underground highway and all purpose military compound. nbc's josh lederman is joining us from tel aviv. it feels like the hamas tunnels are a big x factor that make this fight very complicated and extra dangerous. what have you learned? >> reporter: huge x factor. the israeli military has known this has a huge problem for them for well over a decade. they destroyed dozens of the tunnels during the 2014 war and draw on comparisons from everything from the isis tunnels and i spoke to a former israeli general now advising the idf who told me, look, it is hard enough to fight what you can see, far harder to fight what you can't see. as israel fights intense ground battles in gaza, the greatest threat may be underground.

hamas tunnels, hundreds of them, promoted on their social media, some storing weapons and fighters, others command posts, concealed from israel's drones and spy planes. hamas claims it built more than 300 miles of tunnels, half as long as new york's subway. crisscrossing an area 25 miles long. >> it smells. it is dark. it is closing in on you. it is scary. >> reporter: it is also where many of the roughly 240 hostages are believed to be held. >> we have to measure twice and three times that they are not in those tunnels we are bombing. >> reporter: one of the released hostages said she was held in a tunnel with four others. >> it looks like a spider web. >> reporter: in this hamas video, fighters are seen popping out of tunnels, simulating an attack on israeli tanks. it is a threat not unlike what the u.s. faced in iraq. isis ambushing troops from tunnels under mosul and fallujah. ben milt from iowa came face to face with hamas when his idf

unit destroyed tunnels in the 2014 gaza war. >> we would fire at them, and then they would go into their tunnel and run and pop up in another location. israel says the tunnels have gotten more sophisticated, as deep as 230 feet. fortified by concrete, wired for electricity and ventilation, and booby trapped. and no one knows exactly where they all are. nobody but hamas. >> we have a good grasp of the network, but it is only part of the picture. >> reporter: destroying them won't be easy. israel says hamas built tunnels under homes and mosques, risking civilian lives. experts say israel could hit some with u.s. made bunker buster bombs, but likely with severe civilian casualties. tunnels can also be flooded with sea water and israel could use new technology, a sponge bomb, described to nbc news by someone shown the device by the idf. a mix of chemicals dropped into a tunnel creates a foam that expands, hardens and seals the entrance, least temporarily. imperfect solutions to a lethal

threat lurking under ground. one example of how complicating this is making it for the israeli military, in those strikes that we saw on the jabalia refugee camp, there were tunnels that collapse and brought residential buildings above ground down with it, creating a far more dangerous situation for all of those civilians there. >> fascinating reporting. thank you, josh lederman. that will do it for us today. thank you for joining us. we're back tomorrow, same time, same place. until then, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. yasmin vossoughian picks up the coverage after a quick break. yasmin vossoughian picks up the coverage after a quick break treating your thyroid eye disease may still be possible. and a new day is within sight. learn how you could give your eyes

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