what's causing this, if you can in about 15 or 20 seconds? >> reporter: federal authorities are attributing some of this influx to human smugglers peddling what they're calling false information. and that's contributing to what they're calling a shift in migration trends that have put so many people at that arizona location. eagle pass, part of what we saw in september with the second highest number of crossings on record. >> morgan chesky covering it all. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow us online, on social media. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc in new york city. chaos and confusion across southern gaza today as israel expands its military campaign. the idf now dropping bombs on

the same cities where they've been telling palestinians to go to flee the danger. one man saying, quote, they'll tell you it's a safe area, but there is no safe area in all of the gaza strip. if donald trump wins his way back into the white house, would he ever leave? the strongest warning yet from former republican congresswoman liz cheney. could american democracy as we know it end in 2024. trump is going on offense. who he says is the real threat to america. a cuban spy busted after spending more than four decades hiding in plain sight. the nearly unevidenceable story of manuel rocca, former u.s. amend arrested and accused of being a covert agent. we've got those details coming up. we begin inside gaza where right now israel is escalating its ground offensive in the south

where many hamas leaders and fighters have believed to have fled. all ofhis creating dangerous confusion on the ground for exhausted, war-wear often very poor people who don't know what they're supped to do. making the wrong decision could cost them their lives. "the washington post" reports eight agencs and fleeing palestinians say the scattered strike locations and mixed messages from israel about where to go have caused panic and confusion leaving families no clear path to safety. one palestinian who already fled his home in northern gaza, like many currently in the south, shared his raw anger and frustration with reuters saying, quote, i swear i don't know where i'm heading. just take us to the grave and be done with it. nbc's raf sanchez is in tel aviv

for us. raf, we have been hearing from civilians on the ground for weeks there is no place that feels safe in gaza. where specifically is the israeli military telling them to go now? >> reporter: the israeli military is giving them suggestions, orders, you can decide for yourself. the first is a strip of coastline in southern gaza. the reelt is there's not a fraction of the housing, of the humanitarian infrastructure you would need to support a population that at this point is well over a million people who need to get to somewhere to safety. the other option is to go south to rafah, on the egyptian border. as we talked about before, the egyptian border is closed to palestinians. that's t last inch of gaza they can go to, down towards rafah.

i want to read you a tweet from the senior u.n. official in gaza, the director of unrah in gaza. he said even in raffa where people are being forced to flee, the sound of air strikes punctuates the day. people are pleading for advice on where to find safety. we have nothing to tell them. chris, we've been hearing this story over and over and over again from palestinian civilians. our team in gaza met a woman named fatma. she brought her children from the jabalia refugee camp to khan unis hoping they would be safe there, she said her older son mohammed was killed in an israeli air strike in the south in the place that was supposed to be safe. following secretary of state antony blinken's visit here where he told the israelis you have to do more to protect palestinian civilians, they've created a digital map that

divides gaza into 2400 different grid squares, if you will. they are saying they're using that map to give precise information, telling people get out of grid square 136, we're attacking there. we've heard continuously from palestinian civilians this map is not helping them. it's confusing. it's not at all clear if you're in the zone that is being attacked, where you're supposed to go to. as you said, it depends on having internet and depends on having electricity, both of which are in short supply. i was texting over the weekend with the israeli spokesperson's unit. it was not clear to me that they really understand how this map is supposed to work. i was asking them where can people get up-to-date information. it appears at this point that the only source of that crucial -- literally life and death information is the arabic language twitter account of the

israeli military. so people are following that account. they're doing the best they can to stay out of harm's way. we're hearing over and over again from parents, they just do not know where they can go to keep their children safe. >> raf sanchez in tel aviv, thank you. i want to bring in nbc's allie raffa from the white house. as you know, the u.s., the biden administration has been pushing for israel and hamas to return to the negotiating table, to pause the fighting again. where do things stand? >> reporter: chris, i'm sure that is going to be a question repeatedly brought up during today's press briefing that we know was just slid back just a bit, and we expect national security adviser jake sullivan to join press secretary korean jean-pierre to answer those questions. those questions have only grown larger as we've seen israel resume military operations in gaza. both sides are blaming each other for that cease-fire.

the u.s. is officially putting the blame for the cease-fire at hamas' feet saying the onus remains on hamas to be able to provide a list of hostages to be released. john kirby with the national security council was on several sunday shows over the weekend saying the u.s. is aware that hamas is holding more women and children that fit the requirements, the terms of release for potential cease-fire than they with admitting to. that no doubt complicates the whole situation as u.s. officials continue to add that pressure to get the cease-fire resumed again. of course, that gets more complicated as we saw over the weekend, israel pulled back negotiators from qatar. qatar, as you know, playing such a key role in spearheading those negotiations, the communications with hamas to be able to even reach that original cease-fire. kirby also admitting yesterday that while u.s. officials are hopeful this cease-fire can be

resumed, he wasn't even able to provide a possible timeline on when that could take place because of israel resuming its military operations in gaza. kirby saying the israelis have been receptive to that pressure from the u.s. to be more surgical in israel's attacks, to take more care to protect and avoid more civilian casualties in gaza. as you heard raf mention, that comes with its own set of challenges. as we hear, these palestinians saying they cannot access or aren't able to understand those leaflets that israel the providing. we expect to learn a bit more about this continued pressure by u.s. officials and how that's being received by the israelis during today's press briefing coming shortly, chris. >> allie raffa, thank you. joining us is carnegie endowment and negotiator aaron david miller. i want to talk for a minute about the hostages. a senior u.s. official say he's

been taken aback by israel's renewed campaign. i wonder if this puts the hostages' safety at greater risk? >> that's for having me, chris. i think that's a structural built-in challenge and danger that's existed from the very beginning. hamas needed at least during those seven days to trade hostages for time. that's factor number one. number two, i think there was miscommunication or failure on hamas' part to stick to the original bargain which was prioritize women and children, which is what the israelis wanted. they shifted somehow to wanting to trade adult males, elderly males. number i three, i think the israelis, frankly -- i think it

should come as no surprise, are really desirous of getting back to a ground campaign. they would argue it's only through pressure that they can do two things. number one, try to destroy hamas' military infrastructure above and below ground, kill its top leaders, which they are intent on doing, and put pre sure on hamas to free hostages. it buys time for them to relieve the pressure on palestinian civilians being killed and search humanitarian aid into gaza. i think this whole situation is fraught, and i think there's a good deal of magical thinking going on about how israel can actually operate in densely populated areas without bringing serious harm and injury to thousands of palestinians. >> israel says to palestinians

exactly what raf was talking about, here is where we want you to go now. many of them have only one option, that is to go on foot. many of them are able-bodied, but not all of them are. i want to play a little bit of stewart ramsey from sky news' reporting. >> they're disabled in their wheelchairs, pushed by friends and family. few believe anywhere is safe. but speaking to sky news, the ambassador to the u.k. insisted there's at least one safe area. >> israel made sure there is a place for the people of gaza to have their shelters. there is a place in gaza called the mow as si. it's a place where they can all have shelters together with international organizations, created shelters for the palestinian people. you cannot say israel is not facilitating that, together with humanitarian aid. >> reporter: this is where she's talking about. a desolate waste land of sand dunes next to the mediterranean

sea. there is no aid here. there are no aid agency tents. there are no food kitchens. there is no help here. >> aaron, is it at all realistic where israel is telling them to go, or is this more of a talking point tore the netanyahu government. >> this is what i mean when i say about magical thinking. this area doesn't have any infrastructure. it's completely ill suited and it's not able to accommodate all the palestinians who under circumstances might well go there. it's simply not possible. again, i reluctantly have come to the conclusion, i don't think the israelis are intentionally trying to kill and murder palestinians, but i do believe it is simply impossible, given their military strategy, to

create a situation where you can move people in advance into secure, habitable locations. i think because of internet shortages, because of confusion, because of the map which i think confuses many israelis, this is simply not going to be possible. the only way to preserve palestinian life is for the israelis to stop attacking densely populated areas. 21,000 humans per square mile in gaza. they're not going to do that. the other piece of magical thinking is on the part of the biden administration. it somehow believes there are real liss alternatives for the israelis to follow. if joe biden had better alternatives to solve israel's problem of how to spare innocent palestinians while they carry out their campaign against hamas, i think he would have offered and provided that guidance by now. the reality is, chris, i don't

think the biden administration has any better ideas. if you talk to military experts, they will tell you this, yes, it's critically important to maintain the safety and well-being of the civilian population when you're trying to defeat an unsur genesee, in this case a terrorist organization. you kill one terrorist, you create hatreds of generations of palestinians. i don't think it's possible for the israelis to operate and achieve their objectives without putting thousands of palestinians at risk. that's the cruel dilemma and the tragedy we're watching unfold. >> and the argument on the other side is that the cruelty of it is that it will not solve the problem, as you say correctly. you kill one hamas leader, more appear. aaron david miller, we could talk for the entire two hours. i hope you'll come back soon. thank you. a dire warning from a former top republican in congress.

liz cheney says the u.s. is sleepwalk into a dictatorship and how candidate trump is trying to flip that script to his advantage. we're back in 60 seconds. we're back in 60 seconds we always thought that whatever we did here would be an emblem of what small communities can achieve. trying to give a better life to people that don't have the means to do it. si mi papá estuviera vivo, sé que él tuviera orgulloso también de vivir de esta viviendo una vida como la que estamos viviendo ahora. es electricidad aquí es salud. (carolers) ♪ iphone 15 pro, your husband deserves it! ♪ (mom) carolers? to tell me you want a new iphone? a better plan is verizon. (dad) no way they'd take this wreck. (carolers) ♪ yes, they will, in any condition. ♪ ♪ get iphone 15 pro and ipad and apple watch - all on them! ♪ (mom) please forgive him. (carolers) ♪ it's all good - just a little awkward. ♪ (soloist) think we'll wrap this up. (vo) for a limited time, turn any iphone in any condition into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium and ipad and apple watch se - all on us.

that's up to $1700 in value. only on verizon. new signs today that the 2024 presidential campaign may hinge on critical questions about what exactly constitutes a healthy democracy and who is in the best position to keep it intact. liz cheney, not long ago a member of house republican leadership, says she's so concerned she now hopes democrats win in 2024, cautions that the u.s. is sleepwalking into a dictatorship. >> a vote for donald trump may mean the last election that you ever get to vote in. again, i don't say that lightly. i i this it's heartbreaking that's where we are. people have to recognize that a

vote for donald trump is a vote against the constitution. >> in recent weeks, president biden has been ramping up his warnings about donald trump as an existential threat to the country. trump is telling voters in iowa, that the real threat is biden himself. >> joe biden is not the defender of american democracy. joe biden is the destroyer of american democracy. it's him and h people. they can do whatever they want, break any law, tell any lie, ruin any life, trash any norm and get away with anything they want. >> biden's campaign responded by saying, quote, donald trump's america in 2025 is one where the government is his personal weapon to lock up his political enemies. you don't have to take our word for it. trump has admitted it himself. i'm joined by elise jordan former white house and state department aide under george w. bush, an msnbc political

analyst. jake sherman is co-founder of punchbowl news. jake, what's your take on the strategy of donald trump, going on offense, defending democracy matters actually to voters. do you see this working for him? >> whether it's working or not, it's the strategy he's going to employ. i think it's a distinct advantage for joe biden considering that donald trump has said flat out, if he becomes president, he will put his political opponents in jail, he will do all of these things. he's trying to flip it on its head and say that joe biden is doing the same. i will say this, i think from up here, from capitol hill, there are a lot of republicans -- they don't have a ton of courage here, so they're saying it behind the scenes, who say they do worry that donald trump will be more unchained in a second -- potential second administration than he was in the first.

he will be less tethered to the extent he was tethered to any norms the first time he was in office. he will be tethered to fewer norms if he wins again. >> it's worth noting, i think, elise, in the past -- in 2013, for example, donald trump had people around him who had a lot of experience in government, understood the constitution and who, after they left the administration, say they had felt they needed to stay because they served as sort of a block against donald trump's worst instinct. mike pence all the way at the end on january 6th, right? but what would a trump administration look like in 2025, 2026? is liz cheney overstating it? >> i don't think liz cheney is overstating it. the irony right now is donald trump has a better political team. he doesn't have experienced policy hands backing him up. you see some of the staffing memos and reporting on how he

envisions his administration, or whether his strongest, most staunch supporters envision his administration. you look at how he has been openly bragging about the authoritarian moves he will take. number one, front and center, he'll put his political opponents behind jail. doesn't really get much more autocratic than that. jake getting the calls when he said this is going to be trump unhinged -- i don't think it was his exact words. we had an insurrection. where this could go is petrifying. i don't think liz cheney is overstating it. >> she keeps saying, jake, she's going to do whatever she can to keep trump from being re-elected. she also had another warning for the country. let me play that. >> do you believe if donald trump were elected next year, that he would try to stay in office beyond a second term?

he would never leave office. >> there's no question. >> you think he would try to stay in power forever? >> absolutely. he's already attempted to seize power. he was stopped, thankfully for the good of the nation and the republic. he's said he'll do it again. he's expressed no remorse for what he did. >> does that resonate are people who might still be persupersuad? >> probably. i think there are people who voted in donald trump in 2016 who wanted to take a chance on somebody who would do things differently. the question is, is liz cheney the best messenger for this? i have no idea whether she's the best messenger for this. she's been very vocal in her opposition to donald trump for some time now. but i think -- listen, i think it is so extreme that it is almost unbelievable, but i think there are people who clearly believe it's true.

i think -- the polling on democracy has never been so great, unfortunately. if people believe he's going to stay in office past another term, i think that should obviously give people pause. >> we talked about the people in the administration in his first term, elise, who frankly served as a kind of guardrail. what we haven't talked about is the number of republicans, the number of moderates who are leaving congress because they felt they cldt get anything done, that i being dominated. i wanto read from a "washington post" opinion piece. quote, if donald trump does win the election, he will immediately become the most powerful person ever to hold office. not only will he wield the powers of the president, but he will do so with the fewest constraints of any president, fewer even than his own first term. is there anything to august jests to you that there is a

rhett line. for mike pence, for example, it was certifying the election following the constitution. is there a red line in congress? >> i don't know since there are plenty of republicans in congress who witnessed and lived through the insurrection, and yet they are downplaying it. so i really don't know that there is a red line anymore. i guess the concern has to be that this go-round donald trump might have had some of those autocratic ambitions. he might admire someone like victor or watt in turkey -- in hun gary. he wasn't actually capable of taking that and putting it into action because he was lazy and not -- didn't have the best people around him who were able to do it. this go round he might have people who have learned during this four years and the years they served for him. >> elise jordan, thank you.

jake, stick around. tonight you can hear directly from liz cheney right other on msnbc. she'll be joining rachel mad dough for the interview at 9:00 p.m. eastern time republican doug burgum's shot to win the nomination is over. announcing today he's dropping out of the race, shrinking the gop field to just six. burgum was never able to crack 1% and failed to meet the qualifications for this wednesday's republican debate. how close are republicans into launching an impeachment inquiry? you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. is jansig reports" only on msnbc and you can help take control of your symptoms - with vraylar. some medicines only treat the lows or highs. vraylar treats depressive, acute manic, and mixed episodes of bipolar 1 in adults.

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house republicans with expected to vote as early as next week to authorize the biden impeachment inquiry, despite having any direct evidence of any wrongdoing by the president, speaker johnson is claiming republicans have a duty to do it. impeachment takes time away in a compressed schedule this year from major legislation including that brand new warning from the biden administration that the u.s. won't be able to keep providing weapons and equipment to ukraine if cgress doesn't approve additional funding by the end of the year. in a letter to speaker johnson,

omdirector shlonda young writes there is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. we're out of money and nearly out of time. cutting off the flow of u.s. weapons and funding will put at risk the gains ukraine has made but increase the likelihood of russian military victory. jake sherman is back with us. sahill, how are they responding to this letter? >> reporter: the foreign aid negotiations on capitol hill are not going well. republicans have conditioned the entire pack only on asylum and parole it broke down on friday according to two congressional aids we spoke to. the view from democrats is they're willing to put ideas on the table to streamline and speed up processing of asylum claims at the border. they even put, according to one aide, the incredible fear

standard. democrats say republicans are demanding extreme proposals that in their view would end asylum as we know it and create expansive presidential powers on the border and they simply will not accept those t. view from republicans is this is a cries sit, that now is the time for a major rewrite. it's notable that james lankford is not quite as pessimistic, that they'll continue to work until they get this right. speaker johnson has weighed in here. let's put a statement on the table, i think this is significant. quote, the biden administration has failed to sub stan live address any of my conference's legitimate concerns about the lack of a clear strategy in ukraine, raising questions about ukraine funding by itself and also accusing the administration of, quote, ignoring the catastrophe at our own borderment he reiterates that any national security package has to begin with border and immigration laws. it's also notable, chris, johnson faces pressure from his own hardliners to stick to that

more aggressive house package known as hr 2 if he compromises with democrats on something short of that, he could face issues from conservatives there. that's the dilemma. unless this gets resolved, the senate might vote to move forward. aid to ukraine, israel, taiwan as well as border funding could be on a path to collapse, chris. >> jake, another situation that defies voters' understanding. impeachment looks ready to move ahead. mike johnson has said that. as you report in punchbowl, there's clearly an element of payback for the trump impeachment, but it's a dramatic escalation of impeachment as a political weapon. how much could the feelings about this potentially impact the ability to get critical legislation done which already both sides are so far apart? >> well, these are not able to be divorced, chris.

the overarching dynamic here is the rights, frustration with johnson whether it's the pace of legislation, the actual legislation, whatever. there's a lot of frustration with him right now which is why if you're a cynic or a political real lift, which is why probably he's stepping on the gas a little bit on the impeachment inquiry which le says substantively will allow house republicans to get more answers, more documents with more legal fire power from the bidens, from the white house, et cetera. impeachment obviously poisons the well. the more immediate thing is what sahill laid out so well, which is the fact that there's a need for weapons to ukraine, there's a need for money to israel, a desire to get money to taiwan, and republicans have conditioned it on the border which, bay the way, is a real problem. i will say this, though, adding complicated issues to otherwise

complicated issues does not make those two issues less complicated. i don't understand why people think it does. we've seen leaders do this for many years. so adding another complicated issue, impeachment, in the mix of all of that, makes us do a lot of very complicated issues. remember, the house is in this week. it's in next week and then the year is over. they could add another week. but three weeks is not a lot of time here on capitol hill. then we're in the new year where we have a funding deadline in january, a funding deadline in february, fisa surveillance authority will run out in february. this is getting more and more complicated for this congress. >> the further you kick the can down the road, the further you are from any success. 15 to 20 moderate republicans have gotten on board with impeachment after hearing from their constituents over the holidays. he claims the party is unified,

that he'll have the votes. how tough of a vote can this be, particularly when you look at moderate republicans? >> i think it's very complicated, incredibly complicated. i do agree with his assessment that the party is, if not totally coalesced around this, coalesced for the most part, leadership has made the argument to moderate republicans that this in and of itself is not impeaching joe biden. this is an inquiry that allows republicans to get more information, allows republicans to go into court fully armed if it comes to that, fully armed with all the legal standing that they need. but i do think that they will have the votes when it comes time to do this. they won't bring it to the floor unless they do have the votes. >> sahil kapur and jake sherman, great to talk to both of you. thank you. well, it's something out after a spy thriller. a decorated u.s. diplomat now accused of spying for another country where he was once stationed. an overwhelmed border crossing in arizona is closing

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just moments ago in miami, former u.s. ambassador appeared in court after the justice department charged him with clandestined activity for allegedly working as a covert

agent for cuba for decades, since 1981. 73-year-old victor manuel rocha was an american diplomat for 25 years, including at the state department's u.s. intersection in havana. nbc's guad vin vin nag ga is keeping a close eye on this. >> reporter: that was what it felt like inside the courtroom. we were there when the charges were read, accusing rocha of acting as a spy for a foreign government. we know with the complaint filed by that this relates to cuba. he was born in colombia, became a u.s. citizen and worked as a diplomat all across latin america, a resume that included mexico, argentina, the dominican republic, at one point the ambassador of bolivia. of course, this complaint

indicates that the fbi was involved as they found this information that they say makes him an agent of the cuban government, gathering intelligence that would have been used, according to the complaint, against the u.s. government. here is the u.s. attorney speaking about this just minutes ago. >> this action exposes one of the highest reaching and longest lasting infiltrations of the u.s. government by a foreign agent. rocha repeatedly referred to the united states as, quote, the enemy. he told the undercover that his efforts to infiltrate the united states government were, quote, meticulous and very disciplined. he repeatedly bragged about the significance of his efforts saying that, quote, what has been done has strengthened the revolution immensely.

>> reporter: u.s. attorney merrick garland speaking about this complaint against rocha. now, when we were in the courtroom we saw rocha waiting before the hearing began. at one point wiping his eyes, blowing his nose. we saw his attorney arrive, tap him on the back. he looked like he was very emotional. at some point the judge also spoke to the prosecutors about a video. the judge said that he was able to see a video and he asked them to share that video which we assume was evidenced with rocha and his attorney as they moved forward. the prosecutors are asking the judge to keep him detained. the next hearing is set for next week for which they will be arguing for him to have the ability to continue with this process after posting bond. that would be the next hearing. as of now, we're learning more and more details about this. like you mentioned, chris, it's like a spy movie. what we know now is they're accusing him of working for cuba for decades. now, the prosecutors also said

they plan on filing more charges tomorrow. we might have even more details of what could have been done or what they're accusing him of doing during these decades as they say he worked for the cuban government, chris. >> guad venegas, thank you for that. today the biden administration is making a move that arizona's senators and governor call unacceptable. they're closing a major border crossing near tucson. customs and border protection says it needs to stop using that point because of a record number of migrants, so personnel can focus on processing the recent arrivals. critics say it will further destabilize the border and damage the economy. nbc's morgan chess ski is reporting on this for us. i understand the nearest crossing are two hours away and floor people that use this entry point daily, even to go to school. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: chris, the impact on arizona is only becoming more clear as every day goes by with

that crossing permanently closed. here in eagle pass, we're seeing an impact of a different kind. that's more and more men, women and children coming across by the hundreds as of just this morning. this is who is waiting to be processed by border patrol agents, being assisted by federal agents who typically work on a bridge nearby that's been closed down. right now, chris, while numbers aren't officially in yet, they do fear they can only grow more. >> texas and arizona feeling the brunt of what authorities are calling a new border migration trend. >> the numbers are increasing. they really are. >> new groups of migrants arriving so rapidly, federal authorities are closing the lukeville port of entry in arizona. the border patrol there reporting more than 17,000 arrests in just the last week. those numbers rising as temperatures drop, leaving migrant men, women and children in perilous conditions.

tatiana vera from ecuador sharing she could barely sleep during the frigid desert night. meanwhile in texas, migrants facing another danger. a number of people struggling to cross the rio grande had to be rescued as the debate overstate rights on the river rages on. a u.s. appeals court ordering texas governor greg abbott to remove the 1,000-foot floating buoy barrier. the governor calling the ruling clearly wrong, promising to go all the way to the supreme court. another federal judge also denying texas the ability to block federal border agents from cutting through state-installed razor wire. the ruling coming amid reports migrants became trapped while trying to cross. it's not just southern states coping with the influx. chicago released its latest numbers sunday, reporting over 13,000 migrants in 26 active shelters. the city building temporary

shelters to protect even more from wintery weather. >> now, it's an international crisis that i inherited. so the work, of course, is ongoing. winter is coming fast. >> reporter: as for what has brought so many people to both eagle pass and near that lukeville, arizona crossing, federal authorities say they do attribute some of this to misinformation being peddled by smugglers, pointing hundreds of people to different locations. they're calling that a shift in the migration trends we've been watching over the last several years. chris. >> the complications at the border continue to astound. morgan chesky, thank you. coming up, a judge blasting rudy giuliani ahead of his election worker defamation trial. what that could mean for the case. next hour, protesters outside one of the biggest climate summits of the year as one of the top players in fossil fuels tries to steer the

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we have some breaking legal news in rudy giuliani's election worker defamation trial. u.s. district court judge beryl howell is blasting giuliani calling his claims ahead of next week's jury trial quote, simply nonsense. nbc's ryan reilly has the latest

reporting on this. i know it just break. walk us through the case and exactly what the judge is saying ahead of the trial. >> this goes back to the lawsuit brought by ruby freeman and her daughter shea moss. one of the outrageous claims that rudy giuliani made about the pair was that they were passing what turned out to be a ginger mint. he alleged it was a usb drive, passing it like a vile of crack. seeking here the damages it had on their life. the presentation showed how they were afraid to go anywhere, and receiving all of these threats from trump supporters as a result of these false claims against them. as it stands right now, rudy giuliani has been found civilly liable for this because he failed to comply with all of the discovery obligations in this case. a judge declared that he was found civilly liable. this trial that begins next

week, this jury trial is solely about how much damages rudy giuliani will ultimately have to pay out as a result of the words that he said against this pair. so right now, rudy giuliani would like to move this to a bench trial. the judge said that's not on the table and he's had notification for two years almost that this was going to be a jury trial. she made that declaration this was going to be a jury trial and a jury would be deciding how much he'll be forced to pay in connection with this case. >> we're almost out of time. how complicated is this expected to be? is this a long trial, something that's expected to be fairly concise? >> pretty quick. four days, jury selection could take a couple of days extra. it will be a relatively quick turn around. it will be up to the jury to decide whether they will give up to $15 million to $43 million is what the plaintiffs are seeking

here. this will be all up to the jury, chris. >> ryan reilly, thank you for coming on quickly for that breaking news. appreciate it. coming up in our next hour of "chris jansing reports," voting is underway on that historic deal to end the hollywood actor's strike. the key issue that is now drawing late criticism before the plan is finalized. first, a night that captures the spirit of the arts, the 2023 kennedy center honors in d.c. last night. you see the president and first lady, they were greeted with a standing ovation, and shortly after the jokes started. actor robert de niro said 75-year-old billy crystal has had a long career but still is a few years away from the prime age to run for president. that got probably the biggest laugh of the night. among the other honeys, the bee gees barr barry gibb, queen lat congrats to auchlt all.

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it's going to be back with you in this second hour of "chris jansing reports." at this hour, searching for safety, civilians in southern gaza are now being told to flea as the israeli military ups its ground offensive against hamas. for those trying to get out, the big question is go where? the white house is under increasing political and diplomatic pressure over the issue. we do expect to hear